I've been busy!

I've inadvertently been on a bit of a hiatus from the blog. I thought I would be able to blog over Christmas, but in the end gift deadlines took priority. I made a crazy amount of gifts this year! Here is just a small sampling of some of the gifts I had been busy making.

I bought a wood burner, and used it to create a bunch of gifts including this jewelry box for Britt, 

Handmade lotions and potions 

Homegrown Tea (packaged into tea bags)

What my sewing table looked like!

Garden Markers (made with my burner and some free paint sticks)

(back side of garden markers)

Wood burned bookmarks

Wood burned spoons

(back of Acorn spoon)

My first piece of pyrography (given to my Grandmother)

Hand-knit gloves for Britt!

Hat and scarf set for my mom

And that's not everything! I made a bunch more gifts, but I won't bore you with photos of everything. 

We visited my mom's side of the family on Christmas. I took the opportunity to wear this great hat I purchased a few weeks ago. I made a long Edwardian inspired skirt to go along with it, 

Something else that has been keeping me very busy:

Yes, I adopted a kitty! Her name is Aggie (short for Agatha Christie), and she is a total sweetheart. 

I adopted her from a local shelter, but am admittedly disappointed with the experience, She was supposed to be around 1 year old, but when I took her to the vet he surmised she was closer to 10 years old. She is also missing all but 3 of her teeth (which was not mentioned in the medical record provided by the shelter). I was rather saddened to realize I will about around 8 or 9 less years than I thought with her. However, she is otherwise healthy and super energetic. We are hoping her hard life has contributed to her teeth loss, and to be honest she seems to be closer to 6 or 7 years old just based on exuberance. I will strive to give her the best life possible, regardless of how long she may be around.

Well, I suppose that's it for now!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Printing Press

A couple weeks ago, my family was invited to attend a printing demonstration at Black Creek Pioneer Village. (My mother's grandfather originally donated the press back in the 1960's, hence the reason for the invitation.) The press has been restored to it's original 1860's condition and they were printing on it that day as a special event. My mother's family owned and operated a local newspaper, and my mom has often talked about growing up around the newspaper office. It was fantastic is finally get a chance to see this part of my family history.

(I don't think this will actually play on here as a video, but it gives you an idea of what it looked like in action)

While we were there, we did the full tour and checked out all the great historical buildings. The house pictured below was my favourite. I wanted to move in!

I love heritage breeds!

I didn't take an outfit photo that day, as I've had a wicked cold and wasn't looking my sparkling best. However, I thought I would tack on my work outfit from a couple days ago. It was supposed to be Victorian inspired, but came out a bit more 1930's to my mind. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

That's All.

Free Victorian Labels and Stickers

With Christmas fast approaching, I have been busy whipping up my usual lotions and potions to give away as gifts. Of course handmade gifts need handmade labels. I created two pages filled with Victorian labels and little images which could be used as stickers (I may seal my Christmas card envelopes with them). In keeping with the holiday spirit, I've uploaded them below so you may use them for whatever you wish as well. Just open the image in a new tab and print on 8 1/2 by 11 sticky label page, or use regular paper and glue them on. Enjoy!

Winter Fashion (1912)

With the weather quickly turning to ice and snow, I've been pondering my winter wardrobe. I'm dreaming of long Victorian/Edwardian style skirts, paired with warm sweaters and lace-up boots. I'm on a "no spending" kick at the moment, so any new pieces are going to have to come from my fabric stash. Time to get creative! 

That's All.

Nature Walk

I love going for walks in conservation areas. A couple weeks ago Britt and I went for a walk at one nearby that has a ton of animals. People feed the birds so everything is very tame. I tend prefer more "wild" areas, but Britt is a sucker for cute chipmunks so we made a trip there just before the weather turned. We didn't see many chipmunks, but there were a ton of blue jays, chubby squirrels, and very bold wild turkeys. 

 I actually didn't use the camera zoom for these turkey photos. Yes, we were that close!

 Britt dressed casually and practically for our walk. I decided to be silly and dress up in a nature inspired outfit. At least my shoes were practical.

Outfit Details:
Dress and belt -Made by me
Boots- Ariat Riding Boots

Hair Ornament- from the Christmas floral section at Michaels

Now that there is suddenly snow on the ground, it is much less conducive to nature walks. However, I'm trying to make an effort to get out more often regardless of the weather. I'm going to need boots with a better tread through. My riding boots are a great practical boot, but they don't have good tread for winter. 

That's All

Home-made Coiffure Decorations (1911)

(Open images in new tab to view larger)

Aren't these pretty? I've been extremely busy crafting Christmas gifts for everyone, but if I get a chance I may have to make one of these for myself to wear during the holidays. 

That's All.

Work "Uniform"

These photos show one variation of the outfit I wear most days. Bright tights (with matching hair flower of course), comfy skirt, and top. This has become my work "uniform" lately. It looks nice, is relatively practical, and super comfy so it fit my criteria for a tutoring outfit.

As you will notice in these pictures, I put a red streak in my hair. While I liked the hair-chalk, I wanted to try something less messy. I know I'm allergic to most hair dyes, but thought maybe I would be ok with a temporary dye. Nope.  It's a shame because I really liked the red. I did one large streak, then some more subtle streaks throughout the rest of my hair. Anyone have an suggestions for natural yet non-permanent hair dye? I'm starting to think such a thing doesn't exist. 

With winter fast approaching, my work "uniform" is going to need to change. I'm thinking of getting some warmer tights and wearing a sweater on top. While dressing up is always fun, it's great to have an easy "no-thought-required" outfit for when I only have 5 minutes to get ready. 

That's All.

Halloween

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! This month has been rather exhausting for me, but it was great to kick up my feet and spend a night with my bestie. We both dressed up to hand out candy, but it was pouring rain so we didn't get many kids. That didn't stand in the way of our fun though! We watched The Nightmare Before Christmas (Britt hadn't seen it before), ate candy and snacks, and took a bunch of photos. There was some video taken as well of an "epic battle" between us, but that is much too embarrassing to show to anyone. Ever.

We both made our costumes. Britt is dressed as "Link" from Legend of Zelda. She made her cape, tunic and matching hat with the help from my sewing machine. 

My costume was mainly an excuse for fun Halloween fabric. I'm a spider web! The top is a beautiful spider-web lace, and the skirt has a printed white web and glittery green spiders. Unfortunately the glittery green spiders got glittery green sparkles EVERYWHERE! But at least it looked good :)

The cute little black spider was handmade by a lady Britt works with.
 We named him Fred Astaire.

I took a short video of my costume so you can see it in motion. The best part of the top/skirt is twirling in it! It's so swishy!

That's All.