Enchanted Chameleon

~ peace, love and a happy purse ~

This was the first project that I completed last week.  For some reason I just wanted a new bag. I did think that maybe my collection of reusable bags that I had accumulated over the months since I've started at Whole Foods and have yet to clean out could use some progress.  I thought having a new bag (or two! oh yeah there's another) might be just the right thing that I needed to keep my bag usage to a minimum.  So far, I'm wrong.  I have a new bag that I've already started to fill and a pile of bags to clean out still.  

But whatever, I have a new bag!  I'm sure someday when I need something that's in one of the bags or when I'm tired of looking at the pile of bags that I created in order to inspire me to clean them out, I'll actually get inspired and clean them out!

The pattern that I used for the bag comes from the book Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule.  It's the Mama Bag.  This is the second time I've used this pattern.  I used it previously as a guide to create C's first school bag, otherwise known as the blue and white denim striped bag in the bottom right corner among all the culprits that need cleaning.  So yes, I like the pattern! And C would like his bag back!  Of course, only because I'm 'using it'.  

I went with a vintage sheet that I had mostly already chopped to bits for a wedding present last summer.  I made the Beach Blanket To Go pattern, coincidentally, also from the same Handmade Home book.  I just love this sheet and kept the scraps close knowing I would someday make something for me.  My only problem with the bag is how light it is.  The pattern did call for something heavier for the outside fabric, like a used curtain or bedspread.  I went with the sheet and will, ahem, just have to fill the bag up, I guess to make it sit a little more weighted on my shoulder.

Here it is in all it's awesome vintage coloured glory.  Complimented by a vintage brooch that my mama gave me.  Just perfect for the Mama bag don't ya think?  LOVE!  

Maybe your mama might want one too?  XO.  S

~ tv free crafting adventures :: doily collar ~

Hope you had a wonderful weekend.  There was some pretty sweet sunshine in these parts for us to soak up as best we could!  It was nice to feel some summer sun on my face.  

My one week TV free has ended and I'm missing Mulder and Skully less than I was in the beginning.  In fact I could easily go a few more days or more without them.  My week of getting things done, turned out to be a far more EPIC journey than I originally anticipated.  I had a couple of extra days off from Whole Foods, no Caboose days and a whole lot of time on my hands.  My one project for the week turned into a project, at least, a day!  My pendulum of sitting watching the tube swung far in the opposite direction and I was on creation binge.  I'm ready to assume a nice Switzerland position between crafting and lazing about.  

I think it may be possible that I have blog posts to spare at this point.  I caught up on photographing projects, took the extra time to be thorough and to anticipate posting about what I was up to and it feels great and inspiring to be on track with my blog again.  I've been really hoping to take things to the next level around here and it's possible that this past week gave me the first step in that direction.  

So shall we begin?

Easy, peasy, lemon, squeezy my friends!  I transformed a boring grey sweater that I was no longer inspired to wear into my new favourite shirt!

Before = Blah

After = Suzy Fashionista!

Look.  I even got out of the house and commandeered another photog to take a picture of me. Originally I just started out looking for inspiration on embellishing clothing and making hair accessories.  It's hard to see but I'm also wearing a new black felt bow that I made with a few other new hair accessories (will post soon!).  In my searches I came across a blog post from Oh Renee on an Embellished T-shirt with a doily collar that she did.  I decided to take the plunge.  I mean, I really don't make that much stuff for me, let alone for me to wear.  This was an exciting little trip.  And super simple.  I took the plunge and cut my doily in half with the intention of taking great care in washing it in the future.  I never thought I would be this excited to wear my new shirt.  In the end it cost me only a couple of dollars.  The shirt had been $1 at the thrift store as well as the doily.

And this is just the beginning!  XO.  S

~ mending ~

::  2 pairs of C's socks

::  2 pairs of my socks

::  2 crotches in C's PJs

::  2 crotches in C's pants

::  1 cardigan armpit of mine

::  1 hem of Jeff's jeans

::  1 hem of my jeans

And a partridge in a pear tree.

Or in this case, one free basket of storage space.  What to do, what to do! The best part of mending is deciding what to put in the space that is now free!  

Hmm.  An inspiration for daily life too...?  XO.  S

~ rocket ~

I love making handmade things for C's friends for their birthdays.  It brings me a lot of pleasure.  I love that they have something unique and special and well, shucks, I love the feedback that I get back on how much they love their stuff.  I couldn't find the perfect present anywhere for the little ones, the way I do when I go on a google search for tutorials and patterns in their favourite things.  Little J was the most recent birthday celebration.  He is faithful in his love of rockets like no one else.  I was happy to search out and find ideas.  It was a toss up between a stuffed rocket and the t-shirt.  The t-shirt won out because C still wanted J to have a wooden rocket that he could play with and we did find a pretty simple rocket craft for him to do at the craft shop.  C wanted a t-shirt as well and I'm happy to oblige as well. It gave me a chance to test out the pattern and washing instructions and it also gave him something to wear that both he and J were excited about.

I was impressed with C's colour choices.  I let him pick the felts for the rockets.  You can't really tell in the pictures, but the pink, lavender and grey that C choose for his shirt turned out better than I thought it would.  Both t-shirts were $1 each from the thrift shop but they were already sitting in my closet... waiting.  The Free Pattern for the Rocket Ship Applique is found here at the Lil Blue Boo blog.

So I guess in the end the moral of this story is, if you want cool handmade gifts, be our friends.  XO.  S

~ heart felt ~

A man is not where he lives, but where he loves.

Latin Proverb

Turns out I did have some time for a Valentines Day project, not that much time is really required for this little bunting.  The free tutorial is by Betz White found here.  It really is a tiny tutorial, this bunting fits on my fridge and combines two favourites:  hearts and felt.  It's just missing some cute little heart washi paper tape to hold it on over the plain jane scotch tape.  Next time I'd love to make it super long long long and traipse it all over my house!

Happy Valentines Day.  XO.  S     

~ a toadstool ~

I managed to squeeze in a small project this week.  It was a little treat to me and C.  We've been good. We've worked hard.  We've both had colds.  Originally I was just going for the toadstool top.  The free tutorial that I used is found here at the Tao of Craft blog.  However, as soon as I mentioned that Smurfs lived in toadstools a door was required, at least according to C.  That's when we got really creative.  I didn't have enough white felt, in fact I hadn't even had red felt to make the top.  I had bought a $1 red t-shirt from my favourite thrift stores dollar rack just for this project (I lucked out!).  So I rooted through my supplies and came across a felted sweater, or at least the body portion of it was left and wondered... could I squeeze it on.  Sure enough!  I did squeeze it on but it got a little hairy when it came to the door. All I needed to have done was just cut a slit and there would have been enough room for Papa Smurf to get through and enough rim for the door to close more easily but alas that is my professional opinion based on the experience of cutting a little too much for the door.  Oh well.  It still looks awesome!  It's stuffed full of recycled bottle stuffing and the stool is the ugly boring one that has been hanging out in C's room for some time.  Oh so ugly.  Oh so glad to finally have come up with something to cover it.  

And he loves it!  Even hubby can't resist its awesomeness!  I especially love the accent that the red brings to C's room.  Not pictured here but it's just so perfect with the sky blue and brown.  Oh and wait till I finish knitting the grass rug!!  EEE!  XO.  S

~ craft, juice, love ~

I wanted to put my name and 'face' (as seen above) on a crown and cape that I donated to a friends silent auction.  She (a fellow mama) is currently raising funds, you can check out her fundraising efforts here at Indie GoGO, for a female version of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple.  Hubby filmed and edited their grant proposal video.  We are on a tight budget these days and can't necessarily afford to attend or contribute to all the fundraising efforts that go into the projects that all our creative friends are pursuing.  We understand, as we fundraise for the Juice Caboose ourselves, that any little bit can help.  I decided to take my karma into my own hands and help out with something I could afford and that was to donate some of my sewing.  My thought is as of late, the more I'm able to help others, the more help that will come back to me.  Honestly, I was happy to let them have a crown and cape set that I had sitting around for just the right occasion.  Here'e the best pics I could muster.  That darn 5 year old does not stand still!  

Another way to help out is at their rocking Divas and Dudes 80's Extravaganza going on tonight at the Waldorf in Vancouver.  I hope they make lots of money and go on to get rave reviews.  Break a leg ladies!  XO.  S    

~ 1000th post :: a giveaway ~

Back in September 2008 I set out to eat raw foods for 3 months and I tracked it on Facebook for all my friends and family to see and to keep me accountable.  During that time I was at a local bookstore and I came across a book called The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule.  I noticed she had a website and I decided to check it out.  I spent the night going through all of her old blog posts until that present day. I had discovered the world of blogging.  I had discovered that there were women, real women, women like me that wanted to be at home, to sew, to bake, to be with their children.  This had been my dream when I was 18 years old.  Everyone else was going to University and I wanted to get married, have a farm house and raise a herd of children.  I felt out of place, but no longer.  My people were out there and now with the incredible invention of Internet I was closer to them than could be imagined.

I began the Enchanted Chameleon a few months later and just started experimenting.  I started that year off with a blast.  I would try everything that I wanted to do and start narrowing down what I really loved from there.  Knitting was a surefire keeper.  By the end of that year I was a knitter.  By the end of the next year I was dabbling more into photography and the next sewing and now Juice Caboosing.  I made a lot of dreams come true through the inspiration of other bloggers.  I love writing.  I love posting here.  I am probably my biggest blog fan.  I am probably the one that goes back and reads the most.  I love seeing changes.  I love seeing my growth.  I love this place.  

And I love you.  Sure this ain't no SouleMama blog, I'm okay with that.  I'm still figuring out my place in this world and your support and following helps me along.  I once read from cover to cover The Artist's Way.  I did every single exercise and followed through on Morning Pages for nearly a year.  Just finishing it was a milestone.  I learned a lot.  Carved out space for myself, my artist.  I started to appreciate me more.  When I stopped doing Morning Pages it was because this space took over.  These are my morning pages now.  As well as my photo album, my recipe book and my life's work.  I love coming here and I just want to say thank you for coming here too!

Today Enchanted Chameleon is 1000 Posts Older!  To celebrate I wanted to Giveaway 1 of the buntings posted in the photos above.  There are 3 to pick from:  Retro Kitchen, Japanese Doily and Courduroy Butterflies.  Just leave a comment on this blog post on the blog (not Facebook) about what you love or what you don't.  Help the Enchanted Chameleon make it to another 1000 posts but sooner!  Comments are open until Midnight PST on Monday January 16th.  XO.  S

~ solstice jammies ~

Three years now and running strong!  I especially love this years jammie fabric.  I bought it an eon ago, or at least in the Spring I believe when I walked into Fabricland and there was a 50% off sale on all flannels.  I made that my opportunity to afford the super cool batik tie dyed flannels that I had been drooling over and wouldn't have bought otherwise.  

I have yet to master my patterns for these yet.  I need a little bit more front on mine and a little less on Jeff's.  C's turned out the best so far of course, his will change every year based on the best fitting pair of pants that I will trace.  

Photo session with C!  

Even Georgia got a set of flannels this year.  I tied up some fabric as a chew toy for her.

This year I felt some new sentiments over the solstice jammie tradition, a tradition that we are embracing from Soule Mama.  This year they really represented warmth.  Not that it is especially cold in these parts.  I just liked that they meant more to me than another present and I could pass that message along to my little guy.  Perhaps solstice shorts will be a new tradition for the summer?  We'll have to wait and see.  In the meantime, I just like enjoying the fact that we've done something long enough now to enjoy a tradition.  Looking forward to more!  XO.  S

~ waldorf birthday doll ~

Have I ever mentioned how much I love the Waldorf school?  I love it.  It is the answer to my struggles raising a child in such a modern and fast paced time.  It is my compass point that I always try to return too when things are 'too'.  Too fast.  Too stimulating.  Too loud.  Too much.  Too many.  I love C's current teacher who has such a wonderful way about her.  She protects and cares for the children and communicates so easily with the parents.  She is a great and knowledgeable example to turn to.  There is no guilt or lecture in not being the shining example of Waldorf parents ourselves.  There is just the humble leader showing us all the way.

And in the midst of all the hands on work that she does in the class with the children, and on top of that caring for her own family at home, she is lovingly sewing the most cherished, cuddly Waldorf dolls for each child to celebrate their birth day.  It is hard to imagine such devotion from teachers elsewhere.  If only all schools gave teachers such a chance to shine.  

Here is Eve Logan.  Eve, because that is what the mumble sounded like when C named him and Logan because, that's what all his toys get called, at least at first.  I love how C cuddles him into the crook of his neck and shows him such love.  I love how C's intensity can be diffused from a little Eve Logan kiss on the cheek.  How everything that was screaming outwards is now quietly whispered inwards.  Just when I think that the only things that he is interested in are plastic, gawdy, crappy toys and that our ultimate goal of simplicity is completely evading this household, there are these precious moments of complete purity with a simple, beautiful handmade toy that assure me, my child is soaking up plenty of goodness here and there. And you can never have too much of that.  Thank you Helga.  Thank you Waldorf.  XO.  S