Marche Creatif Etsy MTL - Picture post!

Get ready for a whoooooole lot of pictures! Last weekend on Saturday April 30th I had an unexpected day off but I knew I wanted to check out the Marche Creatif Etsy MTL happening that weekend. A large number of local Montreal Designers and Artisans gathered at Technopole Angus to sell a variety of handmade goods. I had never been in the area before and saw a few metro stations on the way that I had never seen before either. It was a really fun day of exploring the city I've lived in for most of my life.

After waiting about 10-15 minutes in line, the sight upon entering was quite spectacular. Although the space wasn't the biggest, it was packed with so many vendors and beautiful things to see! Including this little "Etsy MTL" photobooth wall made by and old school University school mate Tania Mignacca (if I'm not mistaken), who also runs the Ponto webcomic based on a character she designed and created. 

I love me a good market and was brought back to the markets I saw while on a short trip to London  5 years ago. ~_~

The first booth that caught my eye was this lovely display by Vuela Vuela Bijoux. With mini magnetic terraniums and vintage earrings, I had to buy a few of these delicate an unique pieces for myself!

Pictured below: A doll and bunny charm bracelet, a tea kettle rings, and fabric scissors earrings. 

To be honest I wish I would have bought more and do intend to in the future, just look at these!!

The next booth I spent a bit of time at was that of Marie Calude Marquis. Her work was satire + puns at its very best. Mixing Quebec popular culture and slang kitschy crafts and house hold products. A total work of genius. And I regret only buying some pins! (I didn't want to over spend but those mugs and cards are so good!).

Her greeting cards were fantastic! And the watercolour illustration ones brought me back to my childhood, seeing various Quebec kid shows that were popular with children in the 90s. Including les club des 100 WATTS! Which my elementary school had a program for so for a few weeks instead of going to recess a few other students and myself got to do experiments and put our hands on an electro magnetic ball that made our hair stand up!

http://www.marieclaudemarquis.com/

My humble Marrie-Claude Marquis purchases. 

A few more of the beautiful booths I had a gander at:

http://unikprintshop.com/

https://www.etsy.com/shop/notsewstrange

http://www.couleurmoi.ca

http://www.pops-art.com/

The flavour I got: strawberry and mango.

http://ommasae.com/fr/

http://tablewearebykatylemay.etsy.com

 http://ahippiewithaminivan.etsy.com

http://www.pontomontreal.com

Ponto and his mum Tania!

More ponto plushies (she makes them all herself!) and the pins and stickers I bought :)

A black and white selfie after picking up a few groceries at the Provigo nearby. 

This day was absolutely one of my favourites.

Lovely sticker showing a compiled cityscape of a few recognizable Montreal buildings.

And lastly a few nature shots including the Olympic Stadium in the wild. It was very important to remain quiet so as not to disturb it.

I had a Gudetama making this ;)

So now that the intended owner of this needlebook has received her package, which included Mr. Sloth and Apathy Egg man, I can share with the world my superb craftswoman skills! I had initially made this needlebook for my etsy (*cough* still available for sale) and shared it to my fb. She had commented that she wanted one so I said send me your addy and I'll make you one! But, (hopefully unbeknownst to her), I knew I wasn't going to make any ordinary egg needlebook..*mischeif foreshadowing*. Around Halloween we had shared pictures of a Japanese egg yolk character from Sanrio called Gudetama. This little guy is irresistibly perfect and strange. Exhibit A:

It was a natural choice, and I couldn't wait to get started. But I had to choose the right image... This part took a little a while. But by the grace of some divinity the perfect image fell into my lap. I was browsing my Instagram feed when this person I follow posted a pic of their phone case and guess who it was, Egg man! I wasn't sure how to go about cutting the felt pieces at first, should I draw it out, cut the paper and then use those as a pattern? Or draw directly onto the felt? Eventually I chose to just dive in and free-hand cut the pieces which turned out to work perfectly! Although I would recommend using smaller scissors, some of the small parts were hard to cut with large tailor scissors.

I enjoyed making this so much I absolutely cannot wait to make more.

Some more pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Detail of Egg man before he was stitched together.

Me with gudetama in process 1. Very happy with the first shapes.

In process 2. Impressed.

In process 3. Pleased with myself.

And this is the amazing package I received in return before she got her's! I couldn't believe all the gooooodieeessss!!!!

I had a very lovely xmas and new year's and I hope you did, too!

Halloween 2015: The solo edition

So this Halloween had great promise. It wasn't all bad but I was so excited about going to a party and figuring out a costume to make and wear, but sadly I never made it.. I don't usually make plans or get dressed up but the times that I have, I've had a great time so when I can I really try to!  Since having to live a bit further away from the island however it's been difficult to go to fun things due to last bus constraints and next-day work obligations. I've been graced by lovely humans who let me sleep over, but it's a lot of back and forth and carrying bags and bags of things, so I prefer to plan out my routes when I can. I thought I had it all figured out for that night though, but miscommunication and no more data on my phone led to me solemnly travelling back home late at night..

But let's talk about the fun part! I was invited by a very lovely friend to a gathering of ghouls and immediately started thinking about what/who I should dress up as..

I was browsing the internetz when a picture of Beetlejuice popped up and I thought YES! I've always wanted to dress up as Lydia! Question was, which outfit?.. I had something in mind for the one where she initially investigates her new home and finds the ghosts, but it wasn't complete. I could carry my camera around as part of the costume and randomly take pictures, which I planned to do anyway, so there was that.

Then I thought about her red wedding dress outfit and realized I had the perfect dress pattern that could go with the theme. It's not exactly the same as the original in the movie but I could just add a whole bunch of tulle and I should be ok. I also had a really quick flash of a Beetlejuice doll I could make as a prop and drew a quick sketch so I wouldn't forget it. The final result wasn't too far off!

Working on the dress and a lil beetlejuice sketch.

Process pics of the Beetlejuice doll. It was exciting to see it come together so quickly. I also traced patterns of the shapes in case anybody else would want to make him, too.

Tada! Little bunch of green stuff at the corner of his mouth is a touch I'm quite proud of.

Looking very un-well rested despite my face being covered in makeup. I did use purple eye shadow under my eyes to accentuate my naturally occurring bags. The youtube tutorials I found were very helpful. My result turned out a bit different but wearing the outfit + makeup felt/looked great!

So although Halloween 2015 was a bit of a bust, I'm keeping my hopes up for the next one and ideas are already starting to brew :)

Yesterday I had an absolutely fantastic evening. My friend and I  made plans to meet up since we were both free and she mentioned a place I had heard about before and had made a mental note to visit but then completely forgotten about in the last couple of months.. That is until she said "Why don't we go to the Cat Café??"

And I said yessss!!!! Of couuuurse!!!! And so we went.

We met up a bit earlier in the day and walked around downtown visiting a clothing store (Anthropologie), and then a book store (Indigo Books) to look at some pretty things and catch up. Then we arrived at Sherbrooke metro station, which was closest to the Happy Cat Café (Café Chat l'heureux), it was about a 15 minute walk from the metro stop. It was getting cold and we were eager to have a seat and have something to eat. And to see the kitties! 

Stopped to take a picture of a window with various graffiti and stickers. Recognized Stela Starchild's work among it.

Finally,  we arrived!

 We were immediately welcomed with a feeling of such warmth and coziness.

There was also a guestbook in the first entrance where people could leave notes (or super cute drawing in this case).

The cash/desk was beyond adorable..

With steps and shelves for the cats to hang out on and various trinkets to buy for cats and cat-lovers alike,

A little lounge chaise and a portrait photo of one of the cats, Milady,

The column had steps for the cats to climb and in the top right there was a Plexiglas walkway for the cats as well.

Here we see a Mr. Dappercat with his yellow bowtie,

Miss Luna and Luzerne, also known as fluffyfluff and cowcat.

Looking over the menu and admiring the interior decoration, which was totally my cup of tea. I need those cat pillows they're so perfect.

All the cats were relaxed and sleepy and kept to their resting spots. One of the kitties, Luzerne (the youngest) was more curious and would investigate the surroundings, even nestling in between two ladies who were chatting on one of the long couches. Every now and then you hear a squeal and a "Oh my god, so cuuute".

Me with my lentil soup (YUM) and being super ecstatic about being in amongst the glorious cats.

When our order arrived, Luzerne popped up out of nowhere to make sure we were satisfied with our food. Then just as quickly as he had appeared he disappeared back to another spot of the café.

Close-ups/picture time.

Bottom cat is our faces when we tried the brownie. It's worth mentioning that all the vegan and gluten free options are identified on the menu.

Also, next to our table there was a book shelf with all sorts of books on cats. This place is literally cat heaven.

My friend modeling a cat hat/scarf/paw thing I quickly made from a Simplicity pattern I got at work (although we don't carry that manufacturer anymore) at the sewing lab in my old school before meeting up.

We stayed until closing time which was 8pm, this little fluff parked himself on a table near the cash and let us pet him for a little bit. His little pawsies are so cute.

And to commemorate the first visit, my friend and I each got ourselves a little ring that was sold at the front desk. We were officially cat blessed by the powers that be.

Last view of the logo and the wall-of-live-in-cats.

And it looks like two more will be joining soon!

Final rating: 10000/10

A few days before Halloween, two lovely friends of mine whom I have known for many years came by to my studio for a little cooking and sewing lesson. We had talked about having a craft day for a while and were finally able to set up a day to do so. They even brought little puppy poo, my new best friend.

Another friend had shown me how to make onigiris a few years ago and since then I've been making them every so often simply because they're so easy and fun to make. So I decided to pass along the knowledge and we spent the first part of the day making onigiris with different fillings such as tuna, egg, seaweed, etc.. The results were an adorable and delectable success.

Next we worked on some reversible tote bags. I first learned how to make them through my previous job and have continued teaching it to many people afterwards. It's a really easy and fun way to learn how to use the sewing machine and end up with an original and useful bag. 

Poo was pretty pooped, we worked well into the late evening. We even had to order some pizza because we started to get hungry, the onigiris were digested long ago..

This little prince is so sweet, but he has a bark and a bite!

I had found some amazing glass stickers for our drinks at the dollar store.

Poo poo with his momma, look how happy he is!!

And voila! Two gorgeous ladies and their gorgeous bags!!