the plan

i've had some time off from work lately, and look what happens.



magic.
i'm turning to my home again. this is just a tiny bit of a huge amount of fabric/scraps that i've been collecting for years, but seldom had the time to do anything about. now i'm planning to cut into the stash, and actually make something.

so i made this blouse/dress thing out of my grandma's old shirt. i'm not sure it will be my daughter's, as it is a teeny bit too small - it'll only last for a couple of months before she'll need wool underneath and that'll probably rip the whole thing.

but it was fun taking pictures, though.

i guess i got a bit carried away....

good things

friend staying the night.
being crafty together.
sweet life.


{thanks for the comments on my last post. i hope i didn't insult anyone. the questioning of motives was ment for me. i got some encouragement and a smack on my (norwegian) hands... }

ambivalence is my middle name

seems i have to figure out how to set the clock on my blog. the last post WAS written on friday, even though it says thursday. it was also my 101st post.
i've had this sneaky feeling you're supposed to do something at those round numbers, but what?? crafters throw giveaways, competitions etc. but this isn't really a crafty blog (and a competitions requiers competitors - at least, it would help...) so it made me think a little about this whole blogging thing. i'm pretty ambivalent towards it. so much fun, but on the other side, quite embarrassing. i can think of a number of people i would never, ever want to read this blog. it's private. and there's the paradox; a blog is basically an online diary. a public one! are we just indulging in self exposure, hoping, waiting to be seen? for those magical comments, the blogrolls?
but then there's the fun of reading blogs. the inspiration to be gathered, the good laughs, the fascination with other peoples lives in so different countries. and the wish to be part of this - this something.
i started this blog for three reasons; 1: i wanted to explore this (to me) new phenomena, because it fascinated me. i wanted to play. 2: i already had a crafty blog in norwegian, but i felt limited by the craft theme and the language. 3: i wanted to use the blog to try and help me sort things out in my life. i thought maybe i could find some sort of pattern after a while. i have too much education in too many (completely different) areas, am far too interested in far too many things, and i am paralyzed at all the opportunities in life - how can i pick just one path for myself and be content? impossible. so i use the elimination method; educate myself in all my interest areas until one of them stands out clearer than the rest. well, it's not happening. and it turns out, i have a hard time writing anything here, because writing in english is either bad english or taking forever. finding patterns or paths among a bunch of photos of my messy house is not leading anywhere. so.
ambivalence.
i actually believe that writing a good old paper and pen diary in my own language would be far more helpful to me.
but then there wouldn't be colourful photographs. there wouldn't be other bloggers sharing their life. there wouldn't be laughs and inspirations. there wouldn't be embroidery, cool ugly retro fabrics, beautiful interior, groovy collages, stunning minimalist aesthetics, sweetness and kindness and tips and people who share your interests and..... it just wouldn't be as much fun.
so i'll go for post number 200 before i evaluate again.

grateful friday: little helper

right now i am grateful that my daughter is taking such a big interest in all things creative, 'work' oriented. i tried to stimulate my son in that direction when he was younger, but he just wasn't interested - it almost became something negative, his surroundings wanting him to do, see, talk about etc things he himself was not interested in, even though i never felt that i pushed him. this one, on the other hand, has never been (consciously) stimulated like that - she's brimming with it from the inside out.


i tried to get some time to myself, cutting a new pair of leather viking shoes. but it's like playing solitude; you know it won't take long before someone's looking over your shoulder, eager to take over your play. annoying at first, but then, when i step back - ah. i am truly grateful for her enthusiasm.

practicing

sad to say, my rather newly (and proudly!) aquired embroidery skills weren't much of anything compared to the work of the women in gudvangen. (seems we were wrong, visty ; they did have time for more than just pillaging - most of the embroidery i saw was reconstructions of originals.. damn!).
i made this woolen mantle for sale before gudvangen.

can you see the runes missing inside of the dragon's body? can you?
i can.
but hey - one has to start somewhere! besides, i did discover their tracing paper trick. AND someone did buy my chainstich, rune missing dragon mantle :)

body changes: silhouette

i guess i chickened out on the body changes theme that shelley inspired me to start.
so here you go; the silhouette of a chicken.

grateful friday: birdie mail

today i am grateful for this:
that i am able to buy beautiful handmade artwork from etsy every now and then, walk out the door and pick it up from my mailbox just down the street. i hope i will continue to do so. these birdies arrived some days ago, all the way from geninne in mexico. i think they're lovely! thank you, geninne! i have more of your birdies on my wish list.