Good title for this blog. Where the heck have I been? I restarted the blog and then I disappeared! Well, alot has happened in the last week. I got an internship with an eco-designer named Nicole Bridger in Vancouver and also lined up an apartment in Kitsilano. So very exciting. Big change and its happening very very fast. I move in April 1st so everything is changing in just a couple weeks.
This is just a quick update because I have soooo much to do! I'm going to keep doing the DIY stuff but no schedule or promises as to when I will post anything. Not very good at commitment! Most people who know me know that though...
So starts yet another chapter. Hope its a good read. Cheers to Year of the Rabbit!!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Project #2 - Done at last!!!
2 weeks in and I have already messed up my commitment. This last week has been a chaotic whirlwind, but finally here it is! The finished necklace, made up of wood and glass beads from my extensive pack-rat collection and seed beeds from Peru. I will take a photo of this necklace with an outfit very soon, but for now here it is!
Necklace making in progress
The final look...
This weeks DIY project is to recover a couple pillows that have been floating around my bedroom for a while - how long you ask? They are covered in fuzzy zebra stripes. They have to go. Enough said...
I will try my hardest to get photos up by Friday!
Necklace making in progress
The final look...
This weeks DIY project is to recover a couple pillows that have been floating around my bedroom for a while - how long you ask? They are covered in fuzzy zebra stripes. They have to go. Enough said...
I will try my hardest to get photos up by Friday!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Thanks Michaels...
Alright. In the effort to make this DIY blogging a consistent thing, here is my second installment.
About 5 years ago, I found myself living and working in Kelowna with a year off between high school and uni. I was working at LOR, started my first retail job at MEXX and when LOR closed down for the winter, I started on at Michaels. It was an extra couple hundred bucks a paycheck that was easily bankable...or so I thought. Me working in a craft store? Kind of like a bouncy ball in a crystal emporium, or a mouse in an elephant pen, or cookie monster in a bakery, or whatever cliched scenario you can think of. Regardless of your referenced imagery, its a disaster. Each and every paycheck went to the next coolest thing I spotted, the best craft project I had every thought of or scrapbooking (yes, its a category all on its own). Problem? I was working over 60hr a week - when exactly was I thinking I would make all these things? Unless I started sleep-crafting, and don't put it past me, I would never get the projects started, let alone finished.
So what does that leave me with? Piles, boxes, bins and crates of incomplete projects, leftover crafting items and really cool things I never even touched.
Present day: I have plenty of time, little money. Like I said before, I'm making pretty things out of old pieces and thanks to Michaels I have lots of bits and pieces. This week I'm focusing on my bead collection. I bought some awesome beads in Peru as well and didn't know what to do with them until now.
I saw this awesome necklace on anthropologie.com (probably my favorite store) and figured I could make it. So I shall try - check back friday for the final product!
About 5 years ago, I found myself living and working in Kelowna with a year off between high school and uni. I was working at LOR, started my first retail job at MEXX and when LOR closed down for the winter, I started on at Michaels. It was an extra couple hundred bucks a paycheck that was easily bankable...or so I thought. Me working in a craft store? Kind of like a bouncy ball in a crystal emporium, or a mouse in an elephant pen, or cookie monster in a bakery, or whatever cliched scenario you can think of. Regardless of your referenced imagery, its a disaster. Each and every paycheck went to the next coolest thing I spotted, the best craft project I had every thought of or scrapbooking (yes, its a category all on its own). Problem? I was working over 60hr a week - when exactly was I thinking I would make all these things? Unless I started sleep-crafting, and don't put it past me, I would never get the projects started, let alone finished.
So what does that leave me with? Piles, boxes, bins and crates of incomplete projects, leftover crafting items and really cool things I never even touched.
Present day: I have plenty of time, little money. Like I said before, I'm making pretty things out of old pieces and thanks to Michaels I have lots of bits and pieces. This week I'm focusing on my bead collection. I bought some awesome beads in Peru as well and didn't know what to do with them until now.
I saw this awesome necklace on anthropologie.com (probably my favorite store) and figured I could make it. So I shall try - check back friday for the final product!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Project #1
Here it is ladies and gents - my take on the bentwood rocker. Just to remind you all what it looked like before....
I painted it white to go with the bookshelf I remodelled in September, but the fabric was an awesome find. I was planning on going with something subtle, but this was too awesome to pass up for a number of reasons:
#1 - Its paisley. enough said
#2 - One of the many colours is a dark indigo blue. Like an awesome pair of jeans, it can go with anything.
#3 - There are a ton of other neutral colours in the print, like a pale sage green which is ironically the colour on my parent's walls.
#4 - The rocker is an accent piece. I wouldn't do this to a couch. But there is tons of fabric left over for me to make pillows to throw on a solid couch...(lets make that project #3, the couch #85)
So here you go. Its funky and now, its way more comfortable than before. I'm also remembering back in the day why it was pulled out so far from the wall.....
it rocks... a lot...
Next project to be set out on Monday!
vs. my take on it!
I painted it white to go with the bookshelf I remodelled in September, but the fabric was an awesome find. I was planning on going with something subtle, but this was too awesome to pass up for a number of reasons:
#1 - Its paisley. enough said
#2 - One of the many colours is a dark indigo blue. Like an awesome pair of jeans, it can go with anything.
#3 - There are a ton of other neutral colours in the print, like a pale sage green which is ironically the colour on my parent's walls.
#4 - The rocker is an accent piece. I wouldn't do this to a couch. But there is tons of fabric left over for me to make pillows to throw on a solid couch...(lets make that project #3, the couch #85)
So here you go. Its funky and now, its way more comfortable than before. I'm also remembering back in the day why it was pulled out so far from the wall.....
it rocks... a lot...
Next project to be set out on Monday!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
New Beginnings
Picture the board game 'Life'. You took the long way around by going to University and getting an education, a ton of life experiences and a hefty pile of debt. But now you're done and you're back on the road dubbed 'the real world'. So where do you go now? Especially when this economy keeps stealing you die and preventing you from moving forward. Its hard to keep on down the path when the jobs you want aren't appearing. So what do you do? Everything else.
Thats where you'll find me at the moment. Post-uni I have travelled (Peru), taken advantage of free time (summer in Kelowna), started my own business (Lilly Nichols Accessories) and sewn random contract projects for friends and family. I've also relapsed back into living at my parents. The thing is, I know what I want. I have a plan. But my generation wants everything now, or so I'm realizing, and that can't happen. So I'm looking at the steps and figuring out what tiny little things I can do to get me to my goal.
I guess the question now is why am I writing. One tiny little step is for me to stop spending money so I can save up and make a big change, aka moving to Van. However, I'm obsessed with pretty things and find myself constantly spending money. If you've ever lived with me or seen my house, you've noticed how I already have way way way too much stuff, so my goal is to make pretty things out of old. And not just counter-clutter. I want to turn all the craft-materials, excess clothing and old furniture into items that I will fill my new place with when I finally get to the coast.
So let the creativity begin! I've been missing it so....
Project #1
The Bentwood Rocker
This awesome chair rocked the 80s (pun intended). For anyone my age or older, you will remember this as a staple in not only your living room, but also in you granny's, aunt's and friends. However, the last time I sat in one of these I was under 4 feet tall and had foot braces on. But thanks to my wicked cool aunt, I now have one of my own. And I quickly discovered they are not so comfortable when you are 5' 7"
Check back soon to see how it looks when I'm done!
Thats where you'll find me at the moment. Post-uni I have travelled (Peru), taken advantage of free time (summer in Kelowna), started my own business (Lilly Nichols Accessories) and sewn random contract projects for friends and family. I've also relapsed back into living at my parents. The thing is, I know what I want. I have a plan. But my generation wants everything now, or so I'm realizing, and that can't happen. So I'm looking at the steps and figuring out what tiny little things I can do to get me to my goal.
I guess the question now is why am I writing. One tiny little step is for me to stop spending money so I can save up and make a big change, aka moving to Van. However, I'm obsessed with pretty things and find myself constantly spending money. If you've ever lived with me or seen my house, you've noticed how I already have way way way too much stuff, so my goal is to make pretty things out of old. And not just counter-clutter. I want to turn all the craft-materials, excess clothing and old furniture into items that I will fill my new place with when I finally get to the coast.
So let the creativity begin! I've been missing it so....
Project #1
The Bentwood Rocker
This awesome chair rocked the 80s (pun intended). For anyone my age or older, you will remember this as a staple in not only your living room, but also in you granny's, aunt's and friends. However, the last time I sat in one of these I was under 4 feet tall and had foot braces on. But thanks to my wicked cool aunt, I now have one of my own. And I quickly discovered they are not so comfortable when you are 5' 7"
Check back soon to see how it looks when I'm done!
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