February 25, 2010

fun, quick projects continue . . .

Here I am going for 'destructive, yet pretty'. 
I was inspired by an idea from "Generation T", but am not much of a cut-out
heart kind of gal. So I made a house instead. And just in case you can't tell
that it's a house, I embroidered "Home" on the bottom.

fun, quick projects

I've been playing with old t-shirts this week, attempting to give them new life. 
The pictures aren't great for showing texture, but you can get a broad idea of the styles.

February 22, 2010

Veruca Salt Revelation

I took a trip down memory lane yesterday.
I listened to some Veruca Salt after hearing an old song of theirs in a movie the night before. They were one of my favorite bands in Grade 7. I even went downtown to see them and the Muffs play at the Vogue Theatre, un-accompanied by parents, no less. They symbolised freedom and girl power to me before the Spice Girls even came up with the phrase.
But i was rattled listening to them again. The music was loud and angry. I don't remember it being so loud. Maybe I'm old now because it totally gave me a headache.
And the anger! It got me thinking, 'was I an angry child?'
no, i don't think so. I was probably just angst-ridden, like every other 13 year old.Or just listening to it because my friends and our older siblings listened to it.
No matter what I think of it now, this music evokes a whole period of my life - wearing plaid shirts, light-wash, baggy denim and listening to Hole, Nirvana, Green Day, Veruca Salt, Pearl Jam etc. I remember watching Lollapalooza on MuchMusic and thinking it looked so cool. I thought moshing in the rain and the band throwing dirt clods into the crowd and swearing at you looked cool. And no one was telling them to act that way, not like the micro-managed acts today. No one had to design a clothing label and be on a television show and have their own perfume scent to be taken seriously as musicians. They just played their instruments to death and rocked out!

February 9, 2010

The Olympics are coming, the Olympics are coming. . .

Apparently, this long-talked about event is finally upon us. Already, in the last few weeks, there have been more people coming into the city - more people wearing Olympic gear, more people with blue jackets and Olympic i.d. tags on Olympic lanyards, more people cramming into buses and sky trains.

Vancouver 2010 has been talked about for so long that I hardly believe it is really going to happen (or is most likely already beginning to happen behind heavily secured doors). Like that family trip your parents talk about planning when your 6 and are still planning 20 years later - it feels like something other people do and you just talk about.

What does it look like for 250,000 people to come into a city anyway? Where do they all stay? Where do they all come from? I just can't imagine the sheer volume of it! I guess I shall begin to find out this weekend. I'm both nervous and excited. I'm nervited or excivous. Not as good as smad, but I tried.

February 3, 2010

"Let Your Freak Flag Fly"


My sister-in-law has informed me that the Boba Fett ski mask I made and posted on Etsy last year has been put on the Club Jade blog. This is a blog for and by female Star Wars and Sci-fi fans.

This is quite amusing to me since I am only a mild Star Wars fan (i liked the ewoks) and only by sheer coincidence ended up knitting 2 Star Wars themed toques last winter. The other was an R2D2 hat (seen below on my husband).

What a small, funny world we live in!

Northern House


The Olympics bring, along with many inconveniences to my daily travels, many cultural gemstones that we are lucky to have access to.

Among them is Northern House, and exhibition of the life of The Northwest Territories, The Yukon, and Nunavut. Overlook the tourism and marketing spin and enjoy a free art gallery of Inuit works.

There are beautiful soap stone carvings (apparently all lent from 1 man's collection!), embroidery using parts of moose hide as thread, beading, moccassins, and paintings. All making me marvel at the beauty that can come from simply using and being creative with what is available in the environment around you.

Northern House is located on Hastings St. (at Seymour) and is open and free to the public through the end of March.

February 2, 2010

Cover your Bum, PLEASE!

Here's something I've been wanting to get off my chest.

LEGGINGS ARE NOT PANTS!

I'm sure others have already stated this, like, a year ago, but apparently more emphasis is needed.
Seriously, I love myself a legging, but they are not a replacement for jeans.
This whole trend of young (and not so young) girls wearing a t-shirt, jean jacket, black leggings, and boots is not flattering. It is basically what happens when a trend goes out to the masses - we get comfortable with it and take it too far. It's not long before we're back to Peg Bundy or thinking black leggings and black dress pants are the same thing. You know who you are. The first step is admitting it.