On the Edge

If these were my shoes... where were my feet?

In celebration of the new CK on the Edge festival, July 8 – 18, 2010, ARTspace – our local artist-run gallery – is asking artists throughout Chatham-Kent to submit to the “On the Edge” juried community initiative! Participating artists are asked to respond to an edge through their artwork. This edge can be a physical edge, an artistic edge, or even a psychological edge. As the outline states, “This is a perfect opportunity to push your limits as an artist or artisan; all medium and subject matter are welcome.” and as I always state…

It’s time to push my growing edge!

I’m a busy girl this summer, so when another local artist – Christy Dekoning – invited me to join in on her On the Edge submission, I was over joyed. Christy, another artist on the CK Etsy Team, is an amazing fine artist, focusing many of her pieces in water colours. She does a lot of custom portraiture and how tickled pink was I when she asked me to pose for her painting?

Last weekend we trekked out to Lake Erie and pushed our edges. It was windy and the water was FREEZING. The sky was overcast and my clothes were blowing every which way… but we captured some (24) interesting shots and I am intrigued to see what Christy comes up with.

A little sneak preview.

This initiative is open to anyone in Chatham-Kent and submission is only $5 (exhibiting members discount available). A cash prize will be awarded to the curator’s choice! All submissions are due at ARTspace by Wednesday, June 30th, 2010. No work can be accepted after this due date. An opening reception for this initiative will occur at ARTspace on July 8th 2010 @ 7:00! The exhibition will be on display at ARTspace from July 7 – 31, 2010.

Wow… I made this!

Hmmm.. what's this?

I have been coveting rag rugs for years – ever since I realized that the rug in the basement of my mom’s house was made by my dearly departed (and unknown to me) Great Gran. It is a braided beauty made from scraps of navy, white and red fabric, and it certainly has served its purpose.

Last month I sat staring at my collection of fabric, puzzled over what to do. Not ready to give it away for free, I wanted to do something for myself. Make something for me! I decided to consult my trusty WISTlist, Etsy favourites, and Flickr faves too. First project upon which I feasted mine eyes?

Rag Rug!!!

Nice, eh?

Awww.. Bernie likes rags too!

I’ve gotta say – this was an AMAZING way to use up my fabric scraps. I am now down to very few metres of fabric, which may be put together in an additional rag rug. Hmm… or a placemat!

Finished product – quite the line-up of colours!

Anyway, the details, right? I followed the tutorial from Vintage Chica pretty closely, eyeballing when I needed to decrease and increase my double crochets. I ripped the fabric into thin strips – I found the thinner, the easier, although I had to fold several so that the colourful side of the fabric faced the out.

Drawn to colour and rainbows too, I threw it all in together and ended up with a rainbow for my kitchen floor. The cat likes it, the rabbit likes, it… Mark likes it (he’s a friend of mine with an inclination towards rainbow hues in his art installments) and hell… I freakin’ adore it! I’m going to enter it in the Big Spaces Small Animals Community Art Initiative… wait to see how I make it work.

27.

Purple Tulips - from my Mom for my birthday.

It’s true, I’ve now rounded up to 27 years. It doesn’t really mean much to me… I suppose 30 is the turning point, but turning towards what? At least at thirty people will take me serious. I had a client the other day who thought I was 18. She was quite surprised when I told her I certainly wasn’t still  in my teenage years. I wonder if I will ever look my age?

A birthday note and gift from my mom.

Anyway, Tuesday (March 30th) was my birthday, and when I arrived home from work, I saw this pot of tulips next to my computer. My mom had left a note about how the tulips reminded her of when I was a wee lass and would bring them to her from the garden – 3″ stems and all. I’ll try not to pick these tulips.

Did I mention that a few weeks ago I sold my Digital Rebel? It went to a nice girl who told me that she’s been looking since October for a DSLR. She was overjoyed to receive the camera – which made me feel all warm and gushy inside. I sold it because I haven’t been using it as much lately. I can’t take macro shots with it because of the zoom lens, and it’s just so heavy. It’s not ideal to take on trips, and with England looming only six months away, I knew it was time to down grade. I settled on a Sony Cybershot DSC-H20 and I am incredibly pleased with it. It’s light, compact, takes good shots, and even takes video! To boot, it was 100$ off at FutureShop… can’t argue with fate. I’ve been taking a lot of macro shots lately – perhaps reveling in the joy of close-ups. But even more than the macro shots of these tulips, I enjoy this one with the sunspots. They look so magical!

.·☆´¨¸.·☆

Sunday’s To-Do List

Oh Sundays – the day that I chose to be a sloth. To engage in sloth? To un-engage and commit sloth?

Anyway, here’s what I should accomplish by the end of the day:

1. Wash remaining dishes
2. Complete Assignment #1 – Awaken the Divine Feminine
3. Put away clean clothes – almost done – just one basket left!
4. Change sheets
5. Review GSCC application and seal envelope
6. Put out rubbish (heh, preparing for England!)
7. Update ‘The Daily Plate‘ for the weekend
8. Five flowers for Dos Palomas‘ scarf-trade. (Yes she does want to trade one of my flower scarves for one of her delicious scarves!)
9. Finish getting ready.
10. Be at Aunt Cindy’s for 5 pm for dinner… Cousin Jordan just returned from Europe – I need stories and photos!
11. and… a last minute addition – bring wallet to brother who forget it on his way to work.

Now to actually accomplish this task. Le sigh…

Persephone’s Giveaway!!!

It seems that spring may be on the way… blue, sunny skies; temperatures above freezing; I even saw some crocuses poking their heads above soil. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for the warm season.

Win this scarflette!

In celebration of Persephone’s Awakening (and welcoming in of Spring – get the reference? If not, read up on Persephone’s Greek myth), I am giving away the scarf in the photograph above. This scarflette/necklace is made from red acrylic yarn and features circles that measure 1″ in diametre. I think this looks like kelp or sea weed when worn. This scarf measures 68 inches long.

The contest is open to residents of the world. It closes on March 30th (my birthday!) and if you would like to enter your name to win, here are the details:

1. Visit my Etsy shops Persephone’s Awakening and Persephone’s Plunders, and chose your favourite item.

2. Come back to my blog and leave a comment on this post and tell me which is your favourite item.

3. On March 30th I will randomly select a name from everyone who has entered the contest.

4. Open your mailbox once the prize arrives and enjoy!

Easy as pie, right? If you promote this contest somewhere (facebook, twitter, your own blog, etc.), leave a second comment on this post with a link to the promotion, and that will count as a separate entry.

Good luck!

Win this scarflette!

Cupcakes

Passion Fruit Chocolate Cupcakes

Saturday evening I had a few friends over for craft night, and being hostess, I put together a few treats… The Mermaid‘s hummus recipe with carrots and celery; cupcakes; and hot chocolate with Baileys. I was going to make air-popped popcorn, too, but we walked to 7/11 for candy, instead.

Pre-bake

Back to the cupcakes – the important piece of the story. A few years ago my best friend shared her cake secret: a can of pop. Apparently it is a Weight Watcher’s recipe that lowers the calories because the pop substitutes in for oil, eggs, milk, etc. It has also resulted in some funky cupcake mixtures, including pomegranate (perfect for Persephone) and these, which used passion fruit pop.

I was really excited to use my new cupcake papers. I bought them from The Cupcake Baker on Etsy, but they have been sitting in my cupboard waiting for the right moment.

Post-bake

It had arrived.

I tried to follow Julia’s butter cream recipe, but it didn’t make sense and I didn’t have beaters so I free-lanced it and now it’s a bit too sweet, but whatever – the icing is the most delightful shade or pinky red. (See above photo.)

Taste verdict? Delish. And the red sugar crystals don’t hurt, either!

One more scarf!

All done! This scarf, that is. I finished it last weekend, actually. I seem to be losing my crochet drive. Perhaps it’s due to the sunshine outside. Perhaps its that I’m not adjusting well to the decreased heat in my apartment (16.5 C, a wee bit chilly). You’d think I’d want to wrap myself in yarn, wouldn’t you?

As I sit here watching Relocation Relocation (a British real estate show following people who want to buy new property in England), I realize I haven’t updated my blog in some time. Here’s a tiny glimpse into what’s new in Persephone’s world.

This scarf is made from reclaimed yarn from various projects, patiently crocheted using a size 5 hook. A total of 26 flowers, this scarf is designed to wrap at the throat for warmth and lay flat beneath your jacket or coat. A 26 flower scarf measures approx 58″ end to end, and approx. 3″ wide. At this time it is for sale in my Etsy Shop, but will soon be shipped out to With Love boutique in Wiarton, Ontario. If you want it now, go buy it! 25$ US.

Like the idea of this scarf but not the colours? If this is the case for you, you might consider designing your own colour combination for a custom-made flower scarf! Listing here:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32435693