Felt Toy Storage

We've turned a corner of our living room into a play area for Wren. It's crazy how quickly the toys overtook the entire room so I decided to make some storage bins to contain and organize all her toys.

I made them out of industrial felt that I dyed one end of with food colouring.

Camera 3: Agfa Silette LK

Okay I admit it, I've been too embarrassed to post since it has taken me so long to finish this camera. I'm more than a little behind on my camera a week plan. I'm thinking a camera a month (and that is probably pushing it) is more my speed what with this little thing called raising a baby! I've also had out of town visitors and been strangely more social than I have been in a long time. My weekends and even some of my week days have been booked solid meeting up with friends which has been great. I've also been doing a lot of Spring cleaning. I started to attack the basement this morning, it's pretty scary down there.

Anyways onto the camera:

This camera is modelled on the 1970's Agfa Silette LK camera that belonged to Spencer's grandfather. Spencer has shot a few rolls of film through it and says it's a fun camera to shoot with.

This felt camera has a working viewfinder, you can look through and line up your shot.

I think that this is probably the most detailed camera that I have made to date. I have started incorporating clear vinyl in my last few felt sculptures to mimic glass lenses and plastic screens. I'm really enjoying the contrast between the shiny, artificial material and the warm, soft felt.

The lightmeter and exposure counter were created by layering embroidered felt and clear vinyl underneath the main piece of felt.

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.