Ready to ship!

People who have known me a long time know that I make jewelry. I make jewelry and intend to sell it then I look at what I have made and decide it isn't good enough to sell. I also used to buy supplies to manifest my inspiration and either not have time to develop the idea or by the time I do get around to it I am no longer inspired.

When I worked at Workshop I was surrounded by hugely creative women and a lot of inspiration. I ended up selling *gasp* some of my work, yet I still lacked confidence when it came to designing for a purpose.

Earlier this year I was inspired to do some research and development with some felt. Nothing really came of it because it required large chunks of uninterrupted time and life with a sidekick, simply does not afford that. Hopefully this summer, in between gardening and other life activities I will be able to put sometime into teaching myself the art of wet felting.

Lately I have been playing with polymer clay and I find working with it quite enjoyable. I have not been very confident that any of it is saleable but alas Workshop ordered 12 robot barrettes, so maybe.

With all the travel I have been doing I haven't had time to sit and work on the order but I finished the barrettes today and I am ready to ship them. I am hopeful that they will do well but if not I did have a lot of fun making them.

Now it is off to work on setting up an Etsy shop for my other latest venture; stuffed felt letters. I made them for G and Chicken for the bedrooms and Bridget thinks I may be on to something.

Home again home again

A darling friend of mine has flown me and G down to visit her in Montreal. We had a lovely whirlwind of a weekend with the sidekick and introduced him to some urban living. Most of you know that the sidekick and I used to be urbanites but I think suburbia has caused him to forget how awesome urban living can be. I think he was a little shocked at our packed calendar but he is adjusting.

One day in Montreal and I am in love again. If I could just have one Montreal thing follow me everywhere it would be the cafes. Twelve kinds of pate and the most divine hotchocolate! Why is the rest of the country so uncivilized?

The sidekick and I spent a day exploring the hood (I miss having a hood). We tried Mama et Bebe cafe on for size but the coffee was overpriced and they charged a ridiculous sum (which I paid) for the boy to play with boring toys. Happily, K saved the day by bringing us to a great cafe in the late afternoon and out for awesome Indian food. G slept almost the entire day away in the stroller allowing me to (gasp!) read most of a book.

As my dear friend has a busy week day schedule (having a real j-o-b) G and I have borrowed her car to whisk ourselves back home.

Ah, home! I need to stop thinkng of Ottawa as home as we do not live there anymore but it just feels like the place I/we belong. G and I plan to hang out with allour bestest Ottawa friends and visit our favourite Ottawa places. Blowing my monthly budget on pretty handmade clothing at "The Workshop" is also in my "homecoming" plan.