Alteration experiment

I found this shirt and a few others like it while thrifting. They were all constructed similarly huge and billowing, in different polyesters, and I'm certain were handmade. The prints were wonderful though the shirts were far too giant. So that's where the alteration project started.

Picture a blouse this ample and billowy...

Altered down to make a little fitted crop top vest thing with cap sleeves, darts, tucks, and pins.

Pair it with silver leggings from LABEL

I like the concept, but still need to work on the execution.

Curb Alert Toronto #1

I've wanted to do Curb Alerts for a while now, and this is my first one! My Curb Alerts are of interesting pieces that I see lining the streets of Toronto, which are up for grabs. I post the location and a picture within a couple hours of sighting, and it's first come first serve!

Here we have a small table or nightstand, about 24" x 8" and 24" tall. Made of real wood, it has some water damage but would be wonderfully restored with a quick sanding and application of stain and tung oil. It's located at 149 Euclid Ave. Good luck!

I want to ride my bicycle, bicycle, bicycle

$45 bought me one beat-up beautiful bike off the end of the driveway of an old italian guy. After two full days of work on it at Bike Pirates, it was finally rideable. Yesterday, it got a makeover of new bar tape and a new seat! In Belgium this summer I saw people using deflated tubes as bungee cords for the back rack and tried to remember how they did it. Very excited to continue riding this beauty. Thanks, Bike Pirates!

Meet Samuel Lamp

I found Samuel on October 22, 2011, somewhere between Harbord/Markham and Dundas/Crawford. I don't generally name inanimate objects, but Samuel Lamp spoke to me. He is a beautiful retro style desk lamp in the perfect shade of mustard. I can picture the lamp in a hypothetical home sitting on a stained wooden sideboard with umbrellas inside in a white painted front hallway with fine wainscotting and hardwood floors, of course. It would illuminate an old cork board with postcards, grocery lists, and movies to watch. See the listing for Samuel Lamp on Etsy.com! 

Souvenirs from Spain and Sweden

I took it upon myself to find some really unique souvenirs during my trip in Europe. Among them were a sign saying "WC," the ubiquitous indication of a bathroom (asking for a bathroom likely brought visions of a Roman bath house to the local people, judging from their facial expressions). I also learned that Tove Jansson was not only Finnish, but half Swedish! It brought to mind the charming stories I read as a kid which my mom found in a garage sale or used book store, and also a Finnish store I went into once in Toronto which had a whole mural painted of the characters.

So when we discovered a new fruit (nisperos!) in Barcelona,

I saved the large seeds, and I'm going to use them as beads.

In Stockholm, I found a set of brass buttons which will be perfect to replace the (plastic!) ones on my thrifted black leather jacket. For 30 Swedish Kronor!

Bird Collage

This collage is another old creation from Famous magasine, and one I've been consistently proud of. There was no real prompt in making it. I just started cutting out interesting shapes from the magasine and it turned into this fantastical bird. I would like to get into collaging again. Maybe I should go back to the movie theatre and start collecting free magasines!

Two pieces of wall candy

I worked on these projects during the winter, accompanied by some red wine. Outdoors was ugly, slushy, and grey, contrasting these colourful fun pieces. The stencilled damask one, done with acrylic and gloss medium, was an experimental foray into stencil work and the craquelure effect. I need to find a way to prevent the stencil from sticking to the painting as I'm workign on it. Perhaps make it out of something other than paper? The craquelure effect should have been done with a matte medium on top rather than gloss. Definitely will be doing this again. The other piece was a mixed-media collage incorporated surreal sort of space invaders thing, and I am quite happy with it.

Garbage Room Finds

I make a habit of visiting the recycling room of my apartment building as often as I can, and it has paid off. In addition to electronics, which I can turn into e-art, I have found umbrellas, some very interesting jewelry, and shoes.  

Call it a Comeback - Handmade Necklace

I constructed this light pink chunky necklace out of a thrifted old cotton men's dress shirt, brand "Leo". This statement piece looks great with knits and edgy outfits. Personally I think this would be a great outfit:

If I don't sell it by the time I have a camera, I'm excited to take some more pictures!