We didn't get very many Christmas presents this year--mostly because we were away from our family and friends--but the ones we did get were great and made us feel so special! Our friend Petra gave us the sweetest gift, it made me cry a little, especially since I have been missing Toronto lately... She put together a bunch of little things from different Toronto crafters or from Toronto stores!
What a wonderful time I had yesterday at the workroom for the kids trunk show! Sorry for not even mentioning it sooner, I completely lost track of time! It was a really great day and I got to meet some great people too : ) Karyn did a nice little interview with me on her blog as well at make something.
I borrowed some pictures for this post from Karyn's flickr, because the ones I took turned out really awful. She took some really nice close up shots that my camera would never have been capable of... Check out the rest of the photos from the show there too!
What do you think of the setup? I bought these two suitcases in Welland, one for $3 and they gave me the other one for free (what a bonus!) They seem to be a match, aside from the slight difference in shade of blue, but maybe one is just more used than the other. The best part is that they are from ACME Luggage, and ACME are my initials (Aprile Christina Marie Elcich). Weird, I know. I would much prefer a brown suitcase I think, but for the kids trunk show I thought the blue was perfect. I even made some little buttons and books just to go along with the theme.
I meet so many people through the internet these days, and I met Jen that way and then in real life yesterday! She is a fellow collage artist and is super excited about getting some of us together in the area. I love hearing/meeting about other collage artists online and through Notpaper, but I rarely get to meet anyone in person (but I feel like I know people all over the world somehow!).
I also got a chance to connect with Lisa a second time, who brought me a HUGE stack of envelopes for my thesis project (it's a secret! shh!) and now I don't have to look for any more... ever again... I really have more than I need, and I am very grateful (you're so awesome, Lisa!). It's going to be nice to do some more collage material swapping in the future.
Oh, and I can't forget I had a great time getting to know Kalpna (aka Ghost Face Knittah) who was one of my "neighbours" at the show! Also Debbie who I work with at Anthro! Seriously, so many wonderful people...
Anyway, it was such a nice event and I felt quite welcomed, I would love to do it again, and I will surely be attending ALL of them in the future! I can't wait to start learning how to sew...
Hello! I'm still recovering from Big on Bloor on Saturday (which means there is still stuff everywhere). It was the rainiest day we have had in a while, and it was a bit disappointing—because Friday was beautiful and Sunday was as well—but I still had so much fun! I forgot to take any photos, so thanks to Petra for taking some! Above is my and my table covered in plastic. It was NOT a good day for paper products.
It was my first show ever, and I'm going to call it a practice run. I'm happy to know we were well prepared, and I loved my display! I made friends with my table neighbour, Xenia, met Lisa from Girl Can Create who had recently just discovered this blog (and I've even been on hers before!), and Anabela and Geoff stopped by as well, and brought home one of my Nest collages! It was such a good day, despite all the difficulties, and I am definitely going to do it again because I love meeting people! I never thought I would be one to say that, even. I'm not the most social...
All the pictures you will see from my studio right now are messes, messes, and more messes! I'm almost ready for Big on Bloor tomorrow, which is a street festival that runs from Christie to Lansdowne (on Bloor of course). It is a BIG festival, and I am excited to be a part of it (it is my first show ever). Unfortunately, there is rain planned for the entire day. I am sort of in denial, because it was so beautiful today, and will be beautiful again every day next week, but Jory said the likelihood of error from Environment Canada is slim to none. Darn. My main problem is that all of my stuff is made out of paper...
So if you're in Toronto and you want to brave the rain, stop by! I'll be at table E30, and I'm there with friends Petra, John, and Carmen at tables E31 and E32. It should be fun regardless of rain, right?
One of my favourite stores in Toronto is the Paper Place, and right now they are having a little giveaway, they are literally giving away a huge package of chiyogami paper (which isn't cheap)! All you have to do is go to their website and comment, and if you want more entries, you can promote it on your blog, i.e. this little post right here. Good luck!
image via flickr.
I spent almost all day at the archives today, I'm doing research for a project on the history of my home (which is an apartment building, actually). It will be 100 years old in 2 years. This is a picture from Allen Gardens, it used to look like this! I don't live here... but it's in my neighbourhood.