the final countdown begins...

in a week I will say good bye to this house. seems weird. seems like I am going on a vacation and then I'll be back except that I won't be. it feels like I am getting ready for a trip. typically I pack the clothes, the food stuff and the art stuff is always last. I rush to pack my art supplies cause then I have no choice, no time, just chuck it in the bag and go. yesterday was a big day. lots of boxes, bubble wrap, packing tape and coffee. I was a non stop packing machine. I think I was packing so fast so as to justify sneaking in some art. well, part of the packing was happening in the studio and so that is where I am at now.

except that I get inspired and forgot about the packing and decided that I will paint! and so I started to transform these two suitcase type boxes. one had a coat of black on it which will not work for my plan in the new studio. the other one was teal and again not gonna work so how about some sunshine?

and then I had all this leftover paint. yikes! what to do? oh look there is a canvas that had a plan and lost the blueprints and so heck ya get that yellow on there and think about it tomorrow.

I have my to do list for today and all I want to do is slap some modge podge on it, stick it on the canvas and paint over it. I just wanna PLLLLLLAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!! I will! pretty much part of my daily life. kind of like brushing your teeth.

d.i.y art journal

I'm at it again! just cannot stop creating! in the midst of packing up the studio I came across a painting, a vision board and some scraps of watercolour paper. what to do? pack it up? throw it out? I cannot bear to waste it. rule #1 - reduce, rule #2 - reuse and rule #3 recycle. in this case I went for reusing. I took the pile and ripped into strips of 8" x 16" pieces. yes, I said ripped. no need to use scissors or exacto knife! I needed to get this done - NOW! I ended up with 12 sheets. I took the sheets and folded them in half. mixed them up a bit and made a stack. I used some binder clips to keep everything from shifting while I sew. then I took my awl and poked three holes for the binding. one at 2", 4" and 6". I cut a piece of bookbinding thread twice the size so 16". then I began the super simple pamphlet stitch binding. from the outside middle hole go in, then go to the bottom hole out, from the outside bottom hole go up to the outside top hole back in and finally from the top hole inside go back out the middle hole. tie a knot and done.

I added an elastic to keep the book closed as I know that as I fill it up it will get bulky. I love how all the pages are mixed up. a bit of the vision board collage, some of the painting and the blank pages.

the plan is to take this journalwith me while we are homeless. yes, homeless. we need to be out of our house(this house) on the 15th and then our new home will not be ready till the 30th. in the meantime and in between time we will be living with my mom and dad. ha! I KNOW that I will need a place to jot down feelings, do some scribbling, drawing and painting.

I am really looking forward to playing in it. in the process of taking pics to share I found out that I had a scrap piece with some calligraphy from a friend. the cut off piece still reads "and blue far away" which I think is awesome! our new wall colour is a beautiful serene blue and it seems like it is so far away from here!

so did I stop? HELL NO! I kept finding more papers and scraps that I couldn't just toss away so I made up some journals to share with you!

each journal is 6 1/2" x 9 1/4" and has 40 pages. the pages are assorted papers and even a black sheet to see how colour works on dark paper! I am off to put them up in the shop! each one will include a collaged postcard personally addressed to you with a reminder to "play everyday!.

DIY pet bed

I just cannot seem to stop sewing and cannot bear to part with any of my fabric scraps. I love to reuse when possible and so today I came across a couple of old shirts, some jeans and some left over quilt fabric and I was inspired. I figured my puppy needs a new bed for the new home and so off we went. one old shirt...

I cut the squares 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" to allow for seams. some batting which I cut 16" x 18" big enough to cover the kennel floor.

I started sewing my squares together in strips. and then sewed the strips together. I did not pin anything. I am not a professional, just having fun!

I had my top and bottom pieces all sewn and put the quilt batting in between. I did pin this together to try to keep it from shifting around while I sewed it all together.

here is the top after the squares were all sewn together with the batting and back piece.

I needed some binding for the edges and so I grabbed another old shirt and cut 2" strips. I folded these in half and then unfolded and folded the sides to the middle fold. make sense? easy peasy! you can press it if you want. I prefer to just go with it being that time is limited these days.

so if the strips are too short because you used an old shirt just sew the strips together to form a long enough piece to bind the edges!

here is a picture of how I folded the strips to create the binding.

I pinned the binding to the piece all around and mitred the corners. then I sewed all around once with a straight stitch and then again with a zig zag stitch.

pet tested it for approval.

and one last quality control in the kennel and joey gave it his paw of approval. I have more sewing to share because as I have been sorting through it all I have been inspired to create instead of tossing.

on a rainy day...

this song started playing on i-tunes just as I was putting together this post. how appropriate. awesome! the rain is falling down outside and I am inside continuing on with the sorting, packing and procrastinating.

you know how it is. you open a drawer, a door or a box and "wow" it's christmas! you find all sorts of things that you forgot about. and today was fabric sorting day. and being as how I am feeling all out of sorts and kind of like I could use a soft place to fall. I made myself this:

some left over fabric from a quilt I made for beautiful baby mia. they were already cut into strips so super simple. a piece from an old pair of jeans well worn and loved. "it is ok" is from a t-shirt and I love that statement. no matter how much junk you are dealing with or sorting through it is always a good idea to stop for a bit.

I should mention that I did not use a pattern. grab and sew, chop, sew and away we go. kind of like life for me right now. no method, no set system, just letting go. I love it and it will be a wonderful addition to the new studio!

looking back...

in sorting through all my documents and pictures I had a few giggles yesterday. this poem about "my dog" from elementary school.

where I erased my name and replaced it with "leslie". I never liked my name. I guess leslie was the pick of the week.

a picture I drew. the part of the drawing where the window peeks into the salon and the hairdresser is doing the ladies hair made me laugh. I guess that I spent a few hours in a salon watching mom get her hair done.

an entry from my diary. today I went to italy - that's it no big deal! lol!

apparently at one time I was questioning my sexuality. proof that switching teams has always been something I have considered.

script from a play I did in drama with my friend joanne. we still keep in touch.

my first "italian" accordion recital. oh yeah baby! this girl studied for eight years. if you were italian you played the accordion or you played soccer. sometimes both. I still have my accordion and in listening to music these days it is making a comeback. you never know! all that training might just pay off someday.

my work experience form from high school. I opted out of working at the bank and chose to work at the grocery store as a cashier. more than likely one of the first of many times I held myself back for fear of failing.

my driver ed card. one of the happiest moments of my life was driving off in my own car. the freedom that gave me had believing that I had it all. the reality was that I couldn't handle it all and was no where near ready to have the responsibility of a vehicle.

peter walsh would tell me to take a picture and discard this. thoughts?

the documents stating that I was in fact italian at least until I was eighteen. this kept me in italy a little while longer. then the choice had to be made whether to accept roberto's proposal and stay in italy or go back to canada. I often wonder what might have been had I married him and built a life in italy. I studied to become an interpreter and I still love translating and helping people communicate with each other.

fast forward over the yucky times. thank goodness there are no photos from those years whew!

and then came the best moment of my life:

this photo needs to go on "worst professional photos ever". what was with the hair? and red? I seldom wear red. must have been feeling spunky with my new do.

yes, believe it or not I was once a power ranger. a proud moment indeed! I think I also have the orange pumpkin from the back wall that danny made that year.

"my mom is funny when she dances"? I like to think I have "fun" when I dance, but everyone is entitled to their opinion. mom is good at making cards. love that he picked that out as one of my assets.

and the next best thing that happened to me. despite mom's statement of no one wanting me with a child I managed to scoop up this gem. he took it all on. me, my son, my parents, the ex and a whole lotto drama wrapped in buckets of love. I still keep in touch with him too.

he wanted to be a scientist and study blood so that he could cure people. adorable!

yes, someone actually let me leave the house with that hair again. I look like a midget in this picture!

his wish list at 17. love that number one was find a girl. and number 10 was spread peace and love.

and so I continue to sort through the pics, the pages and the souvenirs of our past. one thing I know for sure. I wish I would have taken the time to put the pictures into albums. and I always laughed at mom and dad for putting the date on cards. surprisingly it is quite helpful!

I think of the man I met at the hospital the other day who recently lost everything. I listened as he told me the story of evacuating and driving through the fire. all that he has lost and how he has no idea where to start. I told him there was no way I could understand what he was going through, but reminded him that he was alive and so was his family. no one was hurt and no one died and at the end of the day it is all just "stuff".

as I continue sorting and packing up I think of him and all that he has lost. many people have lost a lot. I have come across prayer cards and photos of people and things that are gone forever. little reminders to be thankful for today and all that I have.