production mode photo dump pt:2

yet another photodump! which you may see more of, i'm beginning to be a fan. 

i used to always want to write longer posts but sometimes you just can't beat a good ol' picture show.

now go on, git to it!

hand sewn little ears, these are my two favourites. miss pinky there has already been adopted!

not even the entire litter, craftlife satisfaction is what that is

  

i just love packaging these cutie pups up for adoption, them quiet little ears!

i gave a couple pups blue eyes and it won't be the last, oh my heart

finally got to use my handcarved moon stamp on the pup's care tags

individually hand written, when english begins to not look like english

leave no scrap behind. 

dipped into my scraps jar for a new batch of scrappy bracelets

each has a button closure with a vintage or reclaimed button,

these measure about an inch wide and 8" long for a loose fit

found a few favourites, some just always stand out

just so you don't forget, hand stamped cotton canvas backing.

i'll have just one more photo dump and a little announcement so peek back on here soontimes!

internally yours,

sister valentine

bust a wolf!

before the always busy buzzing of christmas i was part of a pretty fun show at Hashtag Gallery in toronto. every piece of the show had to be no larger than 4x4 inches and can be in any medium you wanted. i've always been a fan of small pieces, the viewer has to step right up to the piece for a more intimate viewing.

 i wanted to do something dimensional and decided to make little portraits of my forever loved wolves.  i got to meet some of the true hearts that bought these wolves right off the wall and it made me feel so great knowing how excited they were to take one home. 

my favorite part of making wolves is adding the little noses and eyes bringing so much life to each one, but i never knew how much more life they could take on with a monocle or cutie peter pan collar. putting them into little frames makes them more about the little personalities the accessories gives them like a quirky or interesting family member and (hopefully for the veiwer) not like hunting trophies. ready your true hearts 'cause they are a lot of adorable!

these were more fun to make than the standing wolves, making me of course wanting to make more of this new kind of wolf pack (talk about craftlife troubles) and so, i did just that.
with certain things involving a certain imaginary boy who lives on the moon planned for the spring, i wanted to knock out a good little pack of these before this production laps over with the one.

with this new pack of wolf portraits i wanted to play and experiment a little with larger patterned fabrics then i came across a classy black velvet in my fabric stash that maybe made me gasp. 

yups, velvet. how could i pass up making a top shelf class act wolf? i see another monocled one in my craftlife future and i'm perfectly ok with that.

stuffing the 'experimental' ones gave me a little surprise of how good they looked, they tend to look quite different without stuffing...or ears. 

my other handmade wolves have always been in the gray-black-white colors like the gray wolf but along with the patterned fabric i've decided on some beige and brown wolf bust portraits. the subspecies of the gray wolf, the timber wolf, usually has more brown and beige with a touch of black in their coat colors so i wanted to play with that this time.

unlike the first little pack i made, these wolves will be in decorative vintage thrifted frames so they'll be ready to hang. 

my instagram is on the fritz again but at least i'm able to upload photos at least to share the progress with this pack so peek on there or my twitter feed. 

i'll post again when these pups are good and fully dressed for your true hearts!

internally yours,

sister valentine

thrifty reads: chapter one

this thrifty heart post very well could be from a favourite blog Turning Pages who amongst other greatly designed eye candy, collects different kinds of vintage books and that is ok by me because other than yarn and crocheting, my other big obssession is the vintage book. i've mentioned this before but let me indulge a bit more, oui?
i've been told i once lived a life as a hermit scholar which can completely explain why i love vintage books and office supplies even. i still remember of when i was a wee bean, it was always a good day going into the office supply isle with my dad and like a little weirdo, got to pet the different pads of paper... not even joking.
back to books though; there really is something about old letter pressed covers, the different textured bookcloths, the brown aged paper and sometimes that certain type of text that tickles my bum ticker so hard. i've stopped questioning it and just try to control myself when i see too many old books for a great deal.

i knew i had a few vintage books but not until this post did i realize how many until taking these pictures.

this first one is the one book i walked away with from McCloed's bookstore in Vancouver.

i absolutely had to walk away from that lovely bookstore with something and found this little book. there was no publishing information anywhere inside so i asked at the cashier if they knew how old this elegy book was. it looked as if he flipped through a rolodex in his mind and said " it was published around late 1800's and the early 1900's" i was floored and the lovely lettering inside won me over before even hearing its age. i still have given it a straight read just yet but the fact that it's an elegy satisfied my morbid side, that and the little birdies it has sprinkled throughout satisfied my brighter side. 

this small song book i scored from the free shelf at the re-use center. the pages are so thin and delicate and great for collaging...one day. the inside had some scribbling in it which i love. the difference of cursive writing people had before compared to some of the chicken scratches seen these days is always so beautiful. i really should use these pages for a collage sometime since i don't know how to read music nor can sing very well, this is just in possession for eye candy right now. like the elegy book, there wasn't anything inside that gave it's age but i'll pin it at about 1960's or 1970's.

this book caught my attention with it's pretty adorable illustrations and soft coloring. it reminded me of those love is... cartoons from the 70's but different. on the inside sleeve it mentioned that this book is a companion to the "a friend is someone who likes you" book which i definitely would love to peek into. 

i think most of these would be pretty adorable for tote bags, the line work is perfect for silkscreening!

feathery thrift finds

as i promised, here are some more thrifty finds that came home with me earlier in the year.
i'm kind of big on a few things when it comes to vintage and thrift finds, which maybe totally includes figurines, birds and owls.

these birdies were just to lovely to pass up on and make my bathroom a little more interesting. the two birds on a branch reminds me of something that would be from a neoclassical painting. the pair of cuddling doves were actually bought separate times. i limited myself for the one dove but then at another thrift store just weeks later i came across the other one for nearly half the price! it's both great and horrible when that happens.

this hot plate made me laugh out loud in the re use center. i don't even know why i was peeking in the hot plate section but i'm glad i was to find this one. the owl and little acorns are pretty cute but then what the tile plate says just popped my bum ticker. it actually fell out out of the frame and had  to be glued back in but i'm hanging onto this when i get my dream kitchen.

thrifty heart beats

during my second year in textiles, i was really big (and still am) on buying recycled materials for nearly all my projects. to buy little to no new material was my little way in living a little greener. next year i'll be focusing on using mostly naturally dyed and recycled materials to create less waste and be more environmentally friendly in a craft that can tend to be kind of harsh on this funny planet we're floating on.

i've always been a fan of thrift shopping and have definitely come across some pieces i just could not walk away from. so here is the deal: this is the first of many posts about those things that made it home with me. also a small way i can keep up with posting during the summer

last week i was in the always wonderful re-use center in burlington looking for a new planter for my venus flytrap lovingly named Leatherface...and i found one!

i'm not sure what plant is illustrated on the sides but the size and depth was perfect. it has holes for the option of hanging it also with a rubber plug at the bottom for easy draining. now all i have to do is get the right soil for Leatherface and wait till he's out of winter dormancy. the tricky thing is that venus fly traps tend to look like they're dying when it's in dormancy so really i'm waiting to see if the little guy is coming back to life *crosses fingers*

those of you who have gone to the re-use center, know of the front entrance book shelf. a horrible thing for a book lover like myself. all the books and old records in the front entrance are for free! oh goodness greatness, i'm normally there for almost half an hour looking through all of them for potential collage pictures or something simply old and beautiful. needless to say, i'm  giant sucker for vintage and way old books.

   

green and red. the green one is a science textbook from 1951 and yea it's a little torn up but there were some pictures that really tickled my collage loving heart. i even plan on doing something with the cover and spine. the little red book i just had to grab! although the cover has a bit of water damage, on the inside a date was written that took my breath away. nearly 100 years old? beautiful! looking up more information on the novel, its not one i would actually read. but again, it gave me some ideas for collaging...though it would be a sad thing to tear apart such an old and pretty little thing. we'll have to see how i feel about using it when i'm looking to use old aged paper and text.