New Year

The new year is almost here!  New projects, new job (when I get one), recently single so I can look for a new boyfriend, and a new gym, brand new fancy gym in downtown Vancouver that looks out onto the water and towards North Vancouver.  I'll get a picture of it when I go there in the daytime.  I finished my classes at the beginning of the month, had Christmas events to go to, then flight prices went down so I was able to get an affordable flight to my parents, and I go home tomorrow and get all this newness to myself.

Do these heels (that I won at a female adult secret santa party) make my head look big? No, well, they still aren't enough to have me eye-to-eye with my bestie.

Some shots near my parents and mittens I've been working on. My belated gift to lower income families of Vancouver. Found this lovely organisation here and will be dropping them off about 10 pairs to a school in January. In other quick new NEWS, I will be selling some of my knitted items. Still not sure how I'll do it, right now it's order it and I'll make it, but I'm hoping to have it well organised for next winter. Have a happy new year, y'all.

UPDATE ;-)

I have had a bit of a social life over the past 8 weeks but not much of one. It's hilarious looking at the few pictures I've taken over this time (I usually have tons of pictures sitting on my computer), but there is only 4 more weeks to go and I can start job hunting! And I'll be able to go to the gym on a regular basis!

First off - Halloween. Spent the evening with my wife, bumped into the boyfriend and then her and I left him and went back to being fabulous. The best part of our costumes is that I'm 10 inches shorter than her (I'm Batman).

Topshop opened up in Western Canada, apparently it's the biggest one outside of London which is weird. I've been to the one in Manhattan and ours seems smaller. The layout is different than most stores, it does seem like you are going through an odd maze of medium sized rooms. I like their clothes, they look like a better quality then most brands but I don't know, it's very trendy. It looks like a higher end version of Forever21, which just opened up in Downtown Vancouver as well, so I don't know how much I'll spend at Topshop. But it is fun to walk through. Right across the street from Topshop is my fave, HandM, and lucky me I walked in during their $15 sweater sale, 2nd year in a row that I've caught it!

I'm very proud of myself over these past few months, my school is located exactly one block from these shops. I'm trying my hardest to not over-consume as it's not only hard on the wallet but also hard on the environment. Yes I donate as much as I can but what's the point of buying more so the companies have to make more clothes. There are too many shopaholics on this planet and I'm going to distance myself a little bit more from it.

I've invented a new meal during this busy time - the effortless omelet. I don't get to eat dinner that often (evening classes) and it's hard for me to keep food in the house when half of my week is only spent sleeping there. I really miss dinner, I really do. Eggs keep a bit longer than other proteins but sauteing and preparing vegetables can take away precious moments sitting with the tv. Simply whip up some eggs in a bowl, add a few chopped veggies of choice to the raw egg, maybe a bit of cheese and any spices you may like, pour it into a heated mini frying pan and you'll have an omelet in under 5 minutes. If you put a lid over the pan, keep it on lower to medium heat the egg should cook almost through and then flipping it over is no problem. No folding or tucking required with this guy, it's a college boys dream come true!

If you slice the veggies a bit thinner you don't really notice that they aren't fried, they still get nice and warm and the cheese melts and even gets crispy in some spots.

Wow, I can't wait to be done school. Accomplishments include not shopping and easy omelets?!? Haha, at least my relationships with friends and loved ones aren't being affected, they've actually improved and have become even stronger.

Well then,

I just started my first full week of evening classes (right after work) and it's what I expected. I get home and have enough time to breath and get organised for the next day. Lists to help with my organisation will be my best friend until December 10th when I finish the course. So here is a lazy post to keep things going.

AAAAAaaaaaaand I just burnt my tongue while waiting for this picture to upload. That is the wife and I having a coffee before our flight over to Victoria for her sister's bachelorette. Then a quick shot of me reading Joel Stein's new book (had to tweet it to him and he got back to me, still a little starstruck). And finally downtown Victoria was closed off and it was a pedestrian madhouse party with lots of chalk and artwork.

I got to hangout with little Miss Myra for a bit and then it was party time. Lots of events, food and drink to keep us going all night, I didn't go to bed until 4 am and I have no idea how I've survived this week. The bride to be ended up hungover and tired from the drinks and volleyball and still had a smile on her face, job well done!

This is me today, trying to fit in some studying so I can catch up but this mini bottle of orange nail polish is really distracting me. Must keep control until I watch a movie tomorrow night! Also, I've come up with a new project for ladies only, I'm really hoping I'll have an hour to make it this weekend.

Bridesmaid dress done!

I've finished altering my bridesmaid dress!  I just have to finish up the inside stuff that no one will see, a few loose threads, etc. I have to send out a thank you to Suzannah from Adventures in Dressmaking.  Her posts have taught me how to get back on the sewing machine and to just fix the clothes you already have.  Here is the original post and here is the dress in it's original form :

While working on it, I couldn't see the changes that I made, but now looking back at the pictures it was like a tent on my body!  And here it is now.  I got my friend to take a quick picture before we ran off for more accessories, sorry for the bad lighting:

I shortened the dress by 2.5 inches and I brought in the 3 seams that it has.  It also has a side slit that will be lengthened a tiny bit more, time to show off the gams!  And here is one last shot that was sent to the bride and the other bridesmaids - my strike a pose.  I wasn't planning on posting it here but it has better lighting and really shows how cute the dress turned out! (mind the loose threads)

The wedding is less than a month away, no traditional (Canadian) Thanksgiving for me this year, but it's so exciting now that it's all coming together. 

Tonight is back to school for me, it's been a couple of years since I've taken a course and it's time to upgrade.  In 3 months I'll be ready to work administration in dental offices.  No more ordinary administration jobs for me, and no more competing with thousands of other girls with the same skills.  The next 3 months will have very few crafts, oh so sad, but I'll still have the rest of the winter months to get my fill of knitting and sewing!  So I'll be around, just not as much, as I also have to find a bit of time for a handsome guy I've been dating - who will also be super busy with his 3 month intense course.  He's lucky he's handsome, considerate and polite, or I'd be a goner ;-)

Air Fresheners

I love essential oils and I usually put them in those special candle holders with water. It's great, but the intense smell does go away. I've been scouring the thrift shops lately for the perfect oil burner and after going through a few (thankfully they are only $3 when used as apposed to $18 brand new) you end up realising how poor the designs are. I'm currently cleaning up oily water that has splattered on my desk *grumble*. While reading through Free People's site I saw that they had a DIY air freshener and I decided to give it a try! This way I get the long and softer, lingering effect of the oils without the constant watch over the candle, water level and little bits of splattered oil.

I grabbed my essential oils, some glass jars from the dollar store, baking soda and a glue stick. I used Lavender for under my bed to help me relax during my sleep and peppermint for my closet.

The jars are a bit smaller so I pretty much filled them up with baking soda and poured 10-12 drops of oil on top. I just shook the baking soda around a tiny bit to cover the oil and made sure that most of the oil stayed on the top. This way, when the oils lose their power I will just remove the top part of the baking soda and dispose of it, stir the remaining powder to freshen it up and then add more drops. I kept the safety seal that was included with the jars and punched holes in it with the pencil.  I then glued the safety seal to the top of  the jars.

And there are my air fresheners!  I didn't bother making them too fancy and cute as they won't really be seen.  I made these last week and wanted to test them before posting about them and while looking for something in my closet last night I did get a light lingering peppermint smell, SUCCESS!  I ended up realising that the glue to hold the seals down did nothing and that the holes were much too small, so I cut them larger to be the size of a pencil and I just used an elastic to keep the seal on (for the time being).  I live in an older, wood home that has it's old, wood home smell and I've been trying to figure out how to help keep it fresh during the winter months and I'm sure this will help. 

Chia Seeds!

I first tried Chia in the Holy Crap cereal.  I didn't notice a huge difference in my energy but after following Styleactivist on Instagram and seeing picture after picture of her preaching its amazing benefits, I decided to give it a full try.  It's amazing.  I'm a low energy, low metabolism type of gal, and even though I work out 4 days a week, bike commute to work and eat a very healthy diet, I get the yawns and need my down time (it's genetics, both of my parents don't have a lot of energy). 

They aren't that big at all, if anything they remind me of super teeny tiny pearls in bubble tea (they remind me of dinosaur eggs too).  They have no flavour but come with a bit of a crunch.  They only take a minute to soften and form a gel around them and you just drink 'em down.  I prefer them in my smoothie as it's already a thick drink.  It's been 3 weeks, I hardly yawn, don't need coffee (although I still drink it because it's awesome tasting), and my workouts are better than ever.  These little seeds are full of omegas and protein, all you need is a tablespoon a day, and hey, it's VEGAN!

Here is Style Activist's blog :-)

Death by Chocolate

Do you like chocolate, and coffee.  Then stay away from this:

It is the most AMAZING combination of chocolate and coffee that I've ever tasted.  Seriously robust.  I was secretly hoping that it would taste way too strong, like 3 cups of concentrated espresso. 

I don't know if I'm disappointed at how amazing it tastes, therefore I'll eat as much as I can get my hands on, or if I'm super happy at how amazing it tastes.  Self control will be very difficult over the next while.

Is this goodbye?

My parents are trying to sell their house and move from the Kootenays to the Okanagan.  There are so many positive points but the only negative is that I'll lose pretty much all ties to the area that I grew up in.  This may have been my last visit to that area with it's small towns, beautiful mountains, high altitude, clean air and few jobs ;-)  It was very sad to leave, felt like I wouldn't see my parents or dogs again which is so silly because I see them every 4 months.  So here are some memories of the town I'll never live in.

My mom and I went to the farmers market conveniently located a block from their house.  It was less than a block long and most of the product hasn't changed in the past decade but it was comforting to see, such as the old man in his Wrangler jeans selling the salad spoons and forks that he carves out of wood, I could have sworn I took a picture of him.  These cupcakes (whose company name is something I never even thought of getting) were amazing.  There were traditional cupcakes, some were gluten free and I picked up a pack of the sugar free chocolate and the vegan coconut lime.  And I LOVE the litte egg cartons to pack them.  Made it easy to transport them and they were really cute for serving.

Of course the puppies and I went on many walks in the bush.  It has been great spending quality time with them over the years, building a trust and respect with animals is such an amazing feeling.  Tasha, the smaller dog with the tanned face, and I grew even closer on this trip.  Poor puppy was abused before she came into our home and it's taken her years to trust people.  I'm so proud to have helped her accomplish so much and because of this I am her favorite person, she never leaves my side.  I've taught her to no longer start fights with unknown dogs and she even lets the odd person pet her on the trails.  I don't know if I'll ever connect with another dog the way I connect with her, there is so much loyalty, trust and love.  And now to find new trails to explore outside of a new city when my parents finally move!

DIY Bride(smaid)

Countdown is on, October 6th is when I need to be ready for my best friends wedding. I'm having to do a lot of adjustments and diy for my outfit so I thought I'd share the progress. We are all to be in black cocktail dress, lbd, and she wants us to pop with colour. For us to look like a group she suggested blue shoes as the colour will match the groomsmens colours. The major problem is that there aren't a lot of blue shoes out there, the ones that are filling the stores are more of a lighter, turquoise blue and she wants a darker, closer to royal shade (we have paint chips to match the colour). Most of the shoes available in that colour have a gross fake velvet texture, are 6 inches high and strappy and just GROSS. I came across a pair of white shoes while I was shopping with my mom and they fit my thin feet in an incredible way. I have a very hard time finding heels and I end up with a lot of maryjane styles (I still remember my shoe flying across the church when I was a little girl during a song I performed that had a few small dance moves involved). I knew these white shoes were the one but how to make the man made material blue and make it stick. SPRAY PAINT. We ran back across the street to the hardware store and picked out a colour and the results are PERFECT.

As you can see there are some mistakes, I should have put more painters tape on the inside toe and the side seems need to be touched up with a small paint brush. After I had taped the parts of the shoe that I did not want blue (it was a lot of tape to be safe - and TAPE THE INSIDE OF THE SHOE TOO) I did a thin coat on one half of the shoe, let it dry for an hour and a half and did the other side. After it had dried for 3 hours I did another thin coat all over the shoe. Note: while doing the first coat there seemed to be some spots, almost like little bubbles that took no paint. Rest assured, they were completely covered with the 2nd coat. Don't try and completely cover the surface during the first coat as you'll end up with blobs in some spot and it won't be even. I'm very happy with the results and I'm excited to do this for costumes in the future. Although I packed my suitcase well, the paint did chip off a tiny bit in a few corners on my flight home. Don't think of this as a permanent colour change, it's more of a temporary as the paint will crack in a few spots over time.

Next step is the dress. My beautiful friend in Seattle gave me a dress to wear and she is also a childhood friend of the bride. Although her and I are very close in size, her bosom is a little more generous than mine. I've slowly taken in the side and now need to finish the fine details. I'm also going to shorten the dress by a couple of inches. Here is the before and I'm hoping to have the after in a week!

And yes, my head is turned because I'd been up in the bush with the dogs, working in the backyard with my parents and it just didn't match the dress :-)

Shoes from paylesshttp://www.payless.com/store/

Odds and Ends

The last thing I wanted to work on during the summer months were these slippers, but Vancouver gets cold in the evenings and I knew come September I would be regretting the wait. A girlfriend gave me these wool and sheepskin slippers a few years back when she accidentally shrunk them in the wash. They are the best slippers ever, but I haven't been the nicest to them. The bottoms were just black from dirt and I knew it was time to replace them. I found basic sheepskin slipper bottoms at Michaels and removed the old ones. It was a lot of work, but I did it. I strung a bright colour of wool through the stitches that would be attached to the new bottoms. This would stop the tops from fraying and it would be a good eye marker for myself. I matched up where it looked like the half marks would be and then counted to make sure I was correct and then I started stitching the two together.

In this situation you need to pull each stitch as tight as you can each time, there is no chance to go back and pull them. Both the wool and sheepskin are just too thick to deal with.

I did my start and finish at the end so that the closure would be easy to deal with. I also kept the coloured yarn in just in case something happens and I have to go back in and fix it. These puppies should last me another 3-5 years, I just need to be a little more gentle with them so they don't look so worn out.

And there we go, new slippers! They look a little funny at the moment but once I get walking around in them the wool and sheepskin will stretch out together.

Also, here is another picture (a much better representation) of the quilted coasters from last week.

Hehee, I need to stop being lazy by taking pictures with my iphone, the quality shows!

Crafty Crafties

Just finished a belated house warming gift for a friend, coasters. Yay, now I just have to get them to her.

Summer Vacations Part1

In my early 20's I traveled alone, at the time my work schedule only allowed me to go away during May and/or October, not exactly the high season. Although I went to far off exotic place, met loads of friendly people, dealt with culture shock and learned a lot about myself, nothing beats going away with friends. I now focus on short trips with girlfriends to major cities (preferably USA). Nothing will change my views or experiences overseas, but hanging out with a couple of girlfriends in an awesome city is what I prefer these days.

A few weeks back two of my girlfriends, their significant others and myself went to Toronto, a wedding outside of T.O. and then my one girlfriend and I headed to the Windy city. More pictures to come!

ICE CREAM. We left Vancouver in pants, cardigans and carrying umbrellas. :-D

CHAMPAGNE after the I do's. Lake Ontario is the darker blue line behind us.

Two cute Canadians being Missourians for the day.

About to leave Canada for Michigan! Road trip.


And here is my adorable puppy (who lives with my parents) who is too hot and lazy to bend down for a drink. All together now, Aaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Summer has arrived...

And I am oh so late on everything. I'm behind on updating and I'm going to start making notes of when to keep on top of this. This is suppose to be my quick and easy diary to look back on, so no more excuses.

Just a few pictures I found on my phone (the rest are on my computer at home and there is so much editing that needs to be done before I can post). I don't have a lot of excuses as to why I haven't posted in a while, I haven't been feeling as creative lately which is bull as I always seem to be doing something. I think it's because I've been transitioning into sewing from knitting and needed to get a little bit more comfortable with the change in fabric. I have my next sewing projects lined up and I'm grabbing the fabric this weekend!

There has been a lot of out of town trips, a little bit of recovery from a bike accident :-( which made me a bit scared of bikes and changed this entire summer. It was suppose to be one of my most active summers yet while training for a biking event but landing on my hip had me barely walking for a week and now I'm just getting my groove back with riding. Next year will be the year!

So for now I need to work on regular blogging, regular hobbies and if I have to I'll have to buy a calendar to remind me what to work on next :-)

CBC - The Passionate Eye - Episode - Diamond Queen Part 1

CBC - The Passionate Eye - Episode - Diamond Queen Part 1

Wowzers.  This link takes you to CBC, so only available in Canada for streaming from this site.  It's a BBC production so search for it within your own country.  3 parts, interviews with the Grandchillins, and one fascinating, hard working woman that will bring tears to your eyes (well, my eyes).  

End of season projects

I finished up some more fingerless mittens. Although their days are numbered, they'll be nice and new for next winter. I based these on my favorite mitten pattern and just stopped them where I thought it would be best.

These are some baby booties that I made for family and friends. Unfortunately they are small and the picture doesn't give them justice. They were super easy to make and they fit like a glove.

And thanks to pinterest I found these cute little guys for an easy baby shower game.

What to do next, it's something I've been trying to figure out for a week. Any suggestions?

Saved Instagram

I love saving Instagram pictures and I think posting them will help me remember to try new ideas.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have had over 30 Valentine's days and only 2 were spent with a special someone and I didn't properly celebrate them because I don't really like Valentine's. It's not that I have a sour view towards it, I just don't like the commercial market machine behind it. I love the idea of Valentine's and love it even more when couples just spend time together doing something they love, but I do feel bad for those who take it personally and get upset during this time of the year.

Besides all that, I received what every girl wants.

I entered a giveaway this weekend at my bank and they gave me this gorgeous bouquet last night. It's incredibly beautiful and thankfully I have 2 lovely roomies to share it with.

I really really really really wanted to wear my red pants today as it's been a few weeks, but stopped myself at the last minute remembering what day it was. I didn't want to be That Girl that is too excited for Valentines. So I wore my new burnt orange cardie instead. Oh, and got to work with a valentine's chocolate waiting for me.

And to top off the day I get to spend tonight with my bestie at the gym. Yay, even though I'm a single old lady ;-) I'm really enjoying this year.

K-nitting

I've realised that I haven't been producing a lot of knitted products lately. I have spent most of my knitting time making my own patterns for my body by trial and error. I have almost perfected a fingerless mitt for my tiny hands, but there is still room for improvement (and although this yarn is beautiful, it is very stiff and I think I will save it for other projects).

I find most fingerless mitten patterns to have a very long arm and wrist in them. Yes, they look great but if you are already wearing a sweater under your jacket it is just too much fabric. I'm hoping that this experiment period will be over soon and I can have multiple pairs for next winter!

SHOES

SHOES by heatherdeacon1 featuring aldo flats

Crop tank
$28 - topshop.com

DVb Victoria Beckham zipper jeans
£179 - harrods.com

H&M flat shoes
£7.99 - hm.com

ALDO suede wedge
$143 - asos.com

Aldo flat
$70 - zappos.com

ASOS high heel boots
$81 - asos.com

ALDO flat heels
$70 - zappos.com

Canvas shoes
keds.com

All I can think about lately is how I want cute shoes in all the colours of the rainbow. And I want to wear them now but it's still a bit too cold.