Camera 2: Brownie Holiday

The Brownie Holiday was produced from 1953-1962. The particular camera that this was modeled after was bought by my dad at a second hand sale in the early '80s and is still in it's original box. I've always been attracted to this camera, I love its boxy shape and the tiny handle.

My mom's birthday

Today was my mom's birthday. I finally finished weaving her the table runner and place mats that I had begun at Christmas. I am never weaving with a linen warp again. I was given the gift of a huge bag of linen in a rainbow of colours several years ago and it was so rough I knew I couldn't make scarves with it so table linens seemed like a great idea. It caused me so many problems though, the threads kept matting together and snapping and it ended up taking twice the time that it should have to finish.

Marty Mink

I met Lianne Perry, creator of Marty Mink at the Halifax Pop Explosion Zine Fair last October. Her Marty Mink zines are great, be sure to check them out if you get the chance. Lianne asked me to create Marty in three dimensions for her and here he is:

I have been hard at work trying to catch up on my overdue camera. I'm so disappointed in myself for getting behind so early on in the project but I refuse to give up. I've also been busy making my mom's birthday present and also making something for Wren. I'm hoping to show you both projects later in the week.

Yikes!

Only a week in and I'm behind already on my camera a week project. I've been working on another project that I'll show you tomorrow when I have taken some photographs. I'm going to have a busy weekend making not one but two cameras! It's been snowing like crazy here all afternoon and I have my fingers crossed that Spencer will have a snow day tomorrow so that I can spend the day sewing.

Here are some pictures from the weekend of Wren having her first ride in a sled. She wasn't that impressed. I don't think she approved of her dad's matching hat and coat ensemble.

Wren's Bedroom

To get me started on my house tour here's a peak of Wren's room.

Wren's room was a challenge. The room only measures 10' x 10' and we had to redecorate it on a really tight budget. It had been the office and it was painted a coffee colour when we moved in. It made the room appear a lot smaller so we painted it white with a slight hint of blue to make it look bigger and brighter.

The only large purchases for the room were the crib and mattress and paint. Everything else was brought together from other rooms in the house or bought second hand. The bed was mine when I was a child and the dresser was a Value Village find a few years back. The shelf going around the top of the room to display my vintage book and Fisher Price toy collection was a gift from a family member. Gifts of carpentry are the best!

The closet doors opened too close to the foot of the bed so we took them down and replaced them with a vintage Kate Greenaway curtain. My mom passed on her thrift store addiction to me. She had been collecting vintage textiles for me for a while and they all came together so beautifully in the room. My favorites are the Alice in Wonderland curtains on the window and the pink quilt with the puppies and bears hanging above the crib.

The Jessie Wilcox Smith print of the girl and kitten above and the bunny hook my mom painted for me below were both on my bedroom walls growing up.

The beautiful framed illustrations above were a find on Etsy and are pages from an antique children's book. If you can bring yourself to take illustrations out of old books you can get yourself some wonderful cheap art for your walls!

I love having the hooks on Wren's walls to display some of my favorite of her clothes. It's amazing how many beautiful hand knit baby sweaters you can find in thrift stores. I guess people don't have the patience to wash hand knits anymore.

I know the room is really busy but I absolutely adore it. I wish it was my bedroom!

Wren seems pretty happy with it.

Camera 1: Rolleiflex

For my first camera for this year long project I have revisited the Rolleiflex camera. The first Rolleiflex camera I made was one of my first ever felt sculptures and it was featured in Craft Magazine number 4 and on the cover of local newspaper The Coast's Buy Local Guide for 2009.

Now that I've finished this camera I cant stop thinking how great it would be if the viewfinder on top actually opened. If I ever end up making another one I'm definitely setting myself that challenge!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone and here's to an amazing 2011!

We had a great New Year's Eve with friends playing board games while Wren and her friend Mitchell tried their hardest to stay up until midnite with us.

My hopes for 2011 include the usual eat better, exercise more but I also plan to make a new felt camera every week for 2011. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep it up but I'm hopeful! I also want to get my house completely organised once and for all and that goes especially for my studio. It is such a horrifying mess and I am so embarrassed when people come over. Not to mention how difficult it makes my life when every time I start a new project I have to hunt down all the supplies. I also hope to redecorate my bathroom and kitchen and I plan to share my house with you room by room as they get finished.

Christmas

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday. We gave the pictures above out with our Christmas cards this year. While organising my winter hats and scarves I came across 3 vintage balaclavas with ears that I bought years ago and had the brainwave to take ridiculous photos of ourselves. I think silly Christmas pictures are going to become an annual affair.

Wren's first Christmas was wonderful. Of course she was spoiled rotten by the whole family. Here she is under the tree with all her presents.

We really tried to stick to a budget this year and for once I was actually pretty good with sticking to my handmade Christmas plan. I even got my weaving loom set up and wove rag rugs for Spencer's parents and a table runner and place mats for my parents. It felt fantastic to be weaving again and I know there will be lots more weaving in store for the new year. On top of handmade gifts Spencer and I also gave each other vintage gifts. My favorite from Spencer was an Ebay find of 13 vintage toy cameras that you'll be seeing at some point in the future.