My Creative Space: a yoga gift

what am I doing with my face here?

So I've noticed something... I seem to make the same 2 things over and over again: clutches and yoga mat bags. The only possible conclusion that we can draw from this is that I'm boring as hell. At least as far as crafting goes :)

Next week I swear to you I will attempt to make something different. Maybe even something I've never made before! But for now, you're stuck looking at another yoga mat bag. Sorry. This is one I made for my friend and amazing photographer, Sonja Sipala, to thank her for taking my yoga pictures. It's made from some gorgeous Anna Maria Horner fabric (you can see a skirt I made from the same fabric here) and I even found a yoga mat that matches it perfectly. Yay me.

For more creative spaces go here. Happy crafting!

Do you have an accent?

Source: Uploaded by user via Gabriela on Pinterest

That's a silly question because the answer is, of course, yes. We ALL have accents. So what I mean is this: where you live, are you the one with the accent?

It's something I've never given much thought to, until I moved here that is. Here in Australia, my Canadian accent is an ever present part of my life. Anytime I meet someone new, the first thing they say is "Where are you from?" And quite often when I'm just taking part in a boring transaction like buying a coffee I'm asked "Where are you from?"

Sometimes it's nice. It's been pretty easy for me to meet guys here (hello, I married one of them!) and to make new friends because people are curious about my accent.

But on the other hand, sometimes I get sick of having the exact same conversation over and over again. And sometimes I just want to buy my coffee and not have a conversation about the person's great aunt Mildred who may or may not live in Windsor, Ontario and perhaps I know her?

So I'm curious... do any of you live somewhere where you're the one with the accent? And if yes, how do you feel about it?

The shore

Yesterday my friends and I road tripped it out to the Royal National Park (see pics of my last trip there here) after my morning class at lululemon. Two of us are Canadian, and one is British. We got to talking about how very grateful we are to live near the shore. My British friend said that growing up without a beach nearby meant that there was nothing to do; you made do with the park.

As for me, I've always lived by the sea and for that I am grateful. Oh so grateful. And this week I've also been grateful for this country that I call home. Spontaneous trips to pools and beaches have been a daily occurrence. As have icy poles (popsicles), cold pints, bike rides and spending time with friends. I think it's going to be a good summer...

Yoga love

Source: ihavenoideawhatiamdoing.com via Gabriela on Pinterest

Last week in one of my night classes I had a guy who brought his girlfriend to class. She's fairly new and so when I started to explain that it was time for savasana (final relaxation) he went over to her, grabbed her an eye pillow and a blanket and tucked her in. It was kind of the cutest thing ever.

AND THEN on Sunday I was teaching a morning class and when I was wandering around the room at the end doing savasana adjustments (a.k.a. head massages) there was a couple who were holding hands. Their fingers were just lightly interlaced in that casual, intimate way of real couples. It was really lovely. And it made me think about love and yoga, and how sweet it is when the two meet.

The Tea Parlour and vintage lovin'

kelly doust speaking, the tea parlour

Saturday was a day devoted to vintage. A.k.a. it was a perfect day :)

It started with 2 hours of yoga, followed by my friend and I meandering over to the vintage fair here in Sydney. We listened to Kelly Doust talk about vintage (which was fabulous) and then got lost in a sea of beautiful vintage frocks.

Next, we rather serendipitously found ourselves at The Tea Parlour where we drank tea (lavender, yum), got a tarot card reading and marveled at how quaint it all was. I'm pretty sure this is my new favourite spot in Sydney; it's just perfect in every way. I can't find a website for it but here's their facebook page. For all of my fellow Sydneysiders, make your way over to 569 Elizabeth Street in Redfern. You can thank me later. xx

p.s. apologies for the crap iphone pics

My creative Space: the week of the clutch

I'm not sure why but this has definitely been the week of the clutch. This week I have, no joke, made FOUR clutches. Three of them have been the Meet Me at Mike's Cute as a Button Vintage Clutch (see other versions of this bag that I've made here and here). See above (the other 3 clutches remain in the possession of my unofficial sewing club buddy).

And the other clutch is the artsy clutch from Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. This is actually my first go at it and I LOVE it! Super cute, and sews up in an hour. And it looks nice with fun fabric on the inside, like bright orange, in this case.

For more creative spaces go here.

Minxy Vintage and a tale of a blue dress

Last week when I saw that Kelly Doust's newest book was out, I excitedly grabbed a copy and ran home to start poring over its pages. It's a stunning book, full of gorgeous photos from Kelly Doust's seemingly endless collection of vintage. But more than that, it's chock-a-block filled with useful tips and tricks on how to buy, wear, and customise vintage.

Yesterday I popped into a local vintage shop with my friend, a shop where everything is pretty pricey (damn you Mad Men for making 50's dresses so unaffordable!). But then I found this dress hiding in a bin, on sale for $10 because it had a couple of stains. Normally I would've just passed over it thinking it would be too much of a pain to deal with. But not this week, not with Kelly Doust's words of wisdom in my head!

Instead I fished $10 out of my wallet fast as I could and brought my new blue dress home to clean. And voila, stains almost all gone this is going to be an awesome dress for summer! There's one slightly stubborn mark on the front (that my friend insists she couldn't see until I pointed it out) which I may cover with a flower or a brooch.

Do you have a favourite vintage find?

My life in iphone photos: round 7

Sewing with a little help from my favourite kid around.

There he is again, homemade granola.

Vegan muffins and pie, so impressive (not made by me).

blooms

Lunch at Nourishing Quarter (so yum!).

Jack in a bag (I didn't put him there, just so you know), my new favourite book.

coconut at the market, apples

What I'm reading right now, vintage score from today.

Spring cleaning

I sometimes joke that I'm like an 80 year old in a twenty-something body because I'm so very domestic. That probably comes across loud and clear in my blog, but I really do love staying home and puttering about. This week my puttering has turned into spring cleaning frenzy.

It started with my room, and has now spread to the rest of the house. And I'm not just cleaning, I literally want to re-arrange everything in my house. This is just one of the corners that fell victim: a little bookshelf that I keep meaning to paint (and probably never will) filled with my craft books, old magazines and now topped with some greenery. Ah spring, there's nothing like it...