Life in an ancient town surrounded by grape vines and cyprus trees is wonderful.
update
Thank you for your response to my post selling the pouches. They are all gone!
Tomorrow I leave for two weeks in the south of France. I hope to post from there, so please do check once and a while. In the meantime here are a couple of things I have made for the trip.
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A while ago I got some wool felt from Germany. It is thick and durable and very nice to handle--not to mention that it is red! I made a case for my ipad, camera and ipod. They should be great for travelling!
hooking workshop
On October 15, I will be giving a hooking workshop at Bookhou in Toronto. We will be making a small trivet so I have been experimenting using different colourways. Above you see two samples of the same simple pattern. (The topmost one is Arounna’s lovely photo.) Below is the pattern again, not quite finished, this time with a light background and dark flowers. For fun, I added a wavy ground and a sun. Each time I hook it, something different happens!
Arounna will have all the details posted on her blog before too long. So if you are interested, circle the date!
new pouches and wallet
I am making new pouches to be for sale soon. I think I enjoy the linings as much as the screen printed exteriors. This particular lining fabric has the most wonderful birds and dots of colour.
I have been using my pouch now for several months to store the extras like cords and battery charger for my camera and ipad. It is perfect
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I also needed a new wallet to take on my holiday. I had a piece of rejected leather with the cattle brand on it. Since it was 313, the luckiest of numbers for me, I decided to incorporate it into a wallet. I had to attach a heart to cover a hole from the brand. The first photo is truer to the colour.
fireworks update and more
For now Fireworks resides at the cottage. We spent a few wonderful days there this past week and I managed to finish one side of the border. It is a BIG rug. However, sitting by an open window with a view of the water is the best.
There was also time for other activities including picking blueberries which are amazingly abundant this year. While we do eat them now (best with Kawartha Dairy ice cream) I love to freeze them for a taste of summer warmth in the darkness of winter.
detail of yellow pot
partially finished pair of pears
thinking of france
I am travelling to France later this month and I needed a new carry-on. I made this one from upholstery ends and a black leather jacket. I tried to incorporate all the features that I like in a bag so I have a shoulder strap as well as padded handles. Pockets on the exterior and interior. Not sure if I have the right shape or size, but the trip will be the test.
summer weekend
drawing and making
I find if I paint what I am making, as limited as my skills are, it helps me to understand what I am doing. I am not working from a pattern or a prototype, but just a general sense of what the piece should look like and what the leather seems to dictate. The top is my new carry-on bag, quite a big one. I combined leather remnants and a black pebbly jacket. The bottom two, espresso and grape, as I have photographed before.