Sewn by Blythe

Wren wishing her new friends farewell

2012-02-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

Wren's new monster chums are now on their way to Distill Gallery in Toronto where they will hopefully be getting new homes soon.

And here is the same shot just over a year ago!

Wow she has changed so much (except the hair)

Making Monsters

2012-02-05T19:45:00.001-08:00

A newly thrifted basket makes great storage for body parts in the process of becoming monsters.

Two Dimensional Embroideries

2012-01-16T18:47:00.000-08:00

I've been trying my hand at some two-dimensional embroideries. I have been hoarding embroidery hoops from thrift stores for a while now so it's about time I used them. These were all done with wool felt and cotton DMC floss.

Violet

Rolleiflex Camera

Azul

Serif and Eli

A Belated Happy Hallowe'en

2011-11-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

I hope that everyone had a great Hallowe'en. I'm a little ashamed of Wren's obvious store bought costume (Value Village at least). I had great plans to make her something wonderful but with all the new projects I have been working on for my new business making baby things I've been swamped. My mom's a Mickey and Minnie fan and she found the costume and Minnie toy. I wasn't that impressed with her choice until I saw Wren wearing it and I almost died laughing.

Kid Stuff at Distill in Toronto

2011-10-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

If you're in Toronto be sure to check out the "Kid Stuff" show starting Wednesday at Distill. I have sent some child sized snake scarves (try saying that 10 times in a row) and some monsters for little ones with rattles inside. It sounds like it's going to be a great show. I wish I was there!

New Treasures

2011-08-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

I admit it, I'm a hoarder. I love the thrill of the hunt when I enter a thrift store/yard sale/estate sale. I'm actually still on a high from my Value Village trip 8 hours ago. It was probably one of my best shops in months though. Amongst a bunch of other things I came away with the most amazing knitted suit for Wren with an elephant on it by Danish company Me Too and it is brand new. I'm crossing my fingers it will still fit her by the time the weather cools down.

Here are some of my recent favorite vintage finds:

A weather house! When I was little and it was really cold my mum used to take me for hot chocolate on the way home from school at a place called the Chocolate Box. I was always mesmerized by the cuckoo clocks and other decorations that they had hanging up and this weather house reminds me of them. I've had it 2 weeks and the little man has yet to go inside. I haven't figured out whether it's broken or it's just Halifax and our beautiful weather.

The most amazing/creepy Santa. His head is attached with a spring so he nods. I love his hand painted face. Too bad he's lost a shoe.

Pyrex coffee pot. I'm going to have to start entertaining again so that I can make use of this coffee pot. I was instantly drawn to the shape of this when I saw it on a table of china at a yard sale. It was a steal at $4. It has space for a tealight underneath to keep the coffee hot. It's funny I've always disliked gold, well anything metallic really and suddenly I'm drawn to everything gold and shiny.

Vegetable Garden

2011-08-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

This year we tried our hand at vegetable gardening. I really don't have much of a green thumb but our garden is so large we really don't have an excuse to not give it a go. It's been frustrating. First it took so long to warm up and then there was all the rain that washed away half of the pepper plants. What remained got mostly devoured by birds and slugs. I never imagined I'd be out in the garden with a salt shaker cackling at the slugs shriveling up (a trick I learned from my grandmother, who I thought was completely loopy when I caught her doing this, now I completely understand).

Thankfully the cherry tomatoes, peas and beans survived. Our first harvest was pretty pathetic but we're happy nonetheless, especially Wren who has a penchant for raw green beans.

And just for fun let's compare our harvest against that of our fruit and veggie CSA from Taproot Farms. YUM!!!

"Home is where the art is" in The Coast

2011-08-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

Here's the kitchen AFTER as I promised

Our house was featured in the local newspaper The Coast yesterday! You can read the great article by Stephanie Johns here. I guess all the work has really paid off!

Scott Blackburn took all the beautiful photos. I LOVE the family portrait he did of us. Wren is so funny, she refused to smile for the picture.

Working on the kitchen

2011-08-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. Not only have I just started back at work after a year long maternity leave and started working on a business making baby stuff (more to come on that later) but I've also been trying to get our kitchen and bathroom finished. The kitchen is directly opposite the front door when you come into our house so it's the first thing that you see. I was fed up with cringing at the sight of our kitchen every time we came home and something had to be done. New cabinets were definitely not in the budget so we had to be imaginative to create a vintage inspired kitchen that wouldn't be ruined by the 1980s melamine and wood cabinets. I had the brainwave to paint all the wood trim a dark red, thinking a bright colour against the melamine might detract attention away from it. We painted the walls a really pale shade of blue and laid new vinyl tile in burgundy and grey/blue. It definitely ties in way better with all of our vintage accessories.

Before

This cabinet was found at a thrift store (before you start getting jealous it wasn't that cheap). Someone had gone to the huge effort of stripping it and I would never paint over wood on a piece of furniture normally but it just didn't look right. It probably explains how it ended up in the thrift store. Besides painting the cabinet, I lined it all in oil cloth and I polished all the chrome handles. I used a permanent marker to draw red stripes into the grooves on the handles to match the other red accents on the piece. I am so happy with how it turned out, it's definitely the centre piece of the room now.

We wont talk about how I was up until 3:30 am laying this flooring and how at 2 am I discovered I didn't I have enough red tiles to finish the room. I also shouldn't mention the huge scratch we made in the floor putting the fridge back.

I'll share some pictures of the finished kitchen in my next post.

Stay Still Exhibition at Katie Gingrass Gallery

2011-06-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled to be invited to be a part of the show "Stay Still" at the Katie Gingrass Gallery in Milwaukee. I just wish I could be there for the opening. The gallery looks beautiful and carries the work of some stunning artists. I'm honored to have my work shown alongside theirs. If you are in the area the show will be up from the beginning of July until the end of September.

Wren's Birthday Party

2011-06-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

I had a hard time coming up with a theme for Wren's birthday. In the end I decorated with lots of bright colours and an image of Wren's face.

Hanging paper lanterns, a bright table runner and freshly picked tulips and lilacs.

I didn't want Wren's first taste of sugar to be too much so I made banana cupcakes with whipped cream instead of frosting. She devoured the entire thing so I guess it was a hit. I also made bird's nest cupcakes with chocolate frosting and mini eggs for those with more of a sweet tooth.

I sliced up lots of fruit and veggies to make rainbow trays

Layered jello

Don't put pineapple in your jello mold, it will end up looking like a creature from a horror movie!

Balloons and a fabric bunting I sewed alternating stars with images of Wren's face that I had printed on fabric using my Print Gocco

I also sewed a bunting with Wren's name using vintage floral sheets. This will look great in Wren's room afterwards

I sent the guests home with loot bags featuring the same image of Wren's face. The adults got gummy candies and the 2 babies got a board book and a toy each.

Camera 4: Imperial Lark

2011-06-26T17:25:00.000-07:00

We're half way through the year and I am finally admitting defeat on my camera a week project. It quickly became a camera a month project and now I'm completely abandoning it for a new project that I will be sharing with you soon. Anyways here's the last of the sculptures for a while, the Imperial Lark.

This cute little camera from the 1960s has been on my to do list for a while now. I put it off for a long time because I didn't know how to approach the flash bulb and the domed piece the flash sits in. I knew that I wouldn't be able to construct a dome shape with flat felt but I finally came up with the idea of wet felting around a styrofoam ball to achieve the shape. I thought it would be fun to be able to take the lightbulb out so it's attached with a snap. The camera also has a working viewfinder.

Wren's Birthday

2011-06-12T18:04:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late posting this. Last week was Wren's birthday. It is so hard to believe that my little Wren is one year old. We celebrated with a small party of a few friends and family.

Wren certainly took an interesting approach to eating her cake. Something she had never done before and has yet to do again. I guess it's her party piece.

Felt Toy Storage

2011-02-24T18:47:00.000-08:00

We've turned a corner of our living room into a play area for Wren. It's crazy how quickly the toys overtook the entire room so I decided to make some storage bins to contain and organize all her toys.

I made them out of industrial felt that I dyed one end of with food colouring.

Camera 3: Agfa Silette LK

2011-02-22T17:54:00.000-08:00

Okay I admit it, I've been too embarrassed to post since it has taken me so long to finish this camera. I'm more than a little behind on my camera a week plan. I'm thinking a camera a month (and that is probably pushing it) is more my speed what with this little thing called raising a baby! I've also had out of town visitors and been strangely more social than I have been in a long time. My weekends and even some of my week days have been booked solid meeting up with friends which has been great. I've also been doing a lot of Spring cleaning. I started to attack the basement this morning, it's pretty scary down there.

Anyways onto the camera:

This camera is modelled on the 1970's Agfa Silette LK camera that belonged to Spencer's grandfather. Spencer has shot a few rolls of film through it and says it's a fun camera to shoot with.

This felt camera has a working viewfinder, you can look through and line up your shot.

I think that this is probably the most detailed camera that I have made to date. I have started incorporating clear vinyl in my last few felt sculptures to mimic glass lenses and plastic screens. I'm really enjoying the contrast between the shiny, artificial material and the warm, soft felt.

The lightmeter and exposure counter were created by layering embroidered felt and clear vinyl underneath the main piece of felt.

Camera 2: Brownie Holiday

2011-01-20T19:28:00.000-08:00

The Brownie Holiday was produced from 1953-1962. The particular camera that this was modeled after was bought by my dad at a second hand sale in the early '80s and is still in it's original box. I've always been attracted to this camera, I love its boxy shape and the tiny handle.

My mom's birthday

2011-01-18T17:21:00.000-08:00

Today was my mom's birthday. I finally finished weaving her the table runner and place mats that I had begun at Christmas. I am never weaving with a linen warp again. I was given the gift of a huge bag of linen in a rainbow of colours several years ago and it was so rough I knew I couldn't make scarves with it so table linens seemed like a great idea. It caused me so many problems though, the threads kept matting together and snapping and it ended up taking twice the time that it should have to finish.

Marty Mink

2011-01-15T20:01:00.000-08:00

I met Lianne Perry, creator of Marty Mink at the Halifax Pop Explosion Zine Fair last October. Her Marty Mink zines are great, be sure to check them out if you get the chance. Lianne asked me to create Marty in three dimensions for her and here he is:

I have been hard at work trying to catch up on my overdue camera. I'm so disappointed in myself for getting behind so early on in the project but I refuse to give up. I've also been busy making my mom's birthday present and also making something for Wren. I'm hoping to show you both projects later in the week.

Yikes!

2011-01-12T16:57:00.000-08:00

Only a week in and I'm behind already on my camera a week project. I've been working on another project that I'll show you tomorrow when I have taken some photographs. I'm going to have a busy weekend making not one but two cameras! It's been snowing like crazy here all afternoon and I have my fingers crossed that Spencer will have a snow day tomorrow so that I can spend the day sewing.

Here are some pictures from the weekend of Wren having her first ride in a sled. She wasn't that impressed. I don't think she approved of her dad's matching hat and coat ensemble.

Wren's Bedroom

2011-01-06T17:36:00.000-08:00

To get me started on my house tour here's a peak of Wren's room.

Wren's room was a challenge. The room only measures 10' x 10' and we had to redecorate it on a really tight budget. It had been the office and it was painted a coffee colour when we moved in. It made the room appear a lot smaller so we painted it white with a slight hint of blue to make it look bigger and brighter.

The only large purchases for the room were the crib and mattress and paint. Everything else was brought together from other rooms in the house or bought second hand. The bed was mine when I was a child and the dresser was a Value Village find a few years back. The shelf going around the top of the room to display my vintage book and Fisher Price toy collection was a gift from a family member. Gifts of carpentry are the best!

The closet doors opened too close to the foot of the bed so we took them down and replaced them with a vintage Kate Greenaway curtain. My mom passed on her thrift store addiction to me. She had been collecting vintage textiles for me for a while and they all came together so beautifully in the room. My favorites are the Alice in Wonderland curtains on the window and the pink quilt with the puppies and bears hanging above the crib.

The Jessie Wilcox Smith print of the girl and kitten above and the bunny hook my mom painted for me below were both on my bedroom walls growing up.

The beautiful framed illustrations above were a find on Etsy and are pages from an antique children's book. If you can bring yourself to take illustrations out of old books you can get yourself some wonderful cheap art for your walls!

I love having the hooks on Wren's walls to display some of my favorite of her clothes. It's amazing how many beautiful hand knit baby sweaters you can find in thrift stores. I guess people don't have the patience to wash hand knits anymore.

I know the room is really busy but I absolutely adore it. I wish it was my bedroom!

Wren seems pretty happy with it.

Camera 1: Rolleiflex

2011-01-03T17:14:00.000-08:00

For my first camera for this year long project I have revisited the Rolleiflex camera. The first Rolleiflex camera I made was one of my first ever felt sculptures and it was featured in Craft Magazine number 4 and on the cover of local newspaper The Coast's Buy Local Guide for 2009.

Now that I've finished this camera I cant stop thinking how great it would be if the viewfinder on top actually opened. If I ever end up making another one I'm definitely setting myself that challenge!

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone and here's to an amazing 2011!

We had a great New Year's Eve with friends playing board games while Wren and her friend Mitchell tried their hardest to stay up until midnite with us.

My hopes for 2011 include the usual eat better, exercise more but I also plan to make a new felt camera every week for 2011. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep it up but I'm hopeful! I also want to get my house completely organised once and for all and that goes especially for my studio. It is such a horrifying mess and I am so embarrassed when people come over. Not to mention how difficult it makes my life when every time I start a new project I have to hunt down all the supplies. I also hope to redecorate my bathroom and kitchen and I plan to share my house with you room by room as they get finished.

Christmas

2011-01-01T16:35:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday. We gave the pictures above out with our Christmas cards this year. While organising my winter hats and scarves I came across 3 vintage balaclavas with ears that I bought years ago and had the brainwave to take ridiculous photos of ourselves. I think silly Christmas pictures are going to become an annual affair.

Wren's first Christmas was wonderful. Of course she was spoiled rotten by the whole family. Here she is under the tree with all her presents.

We really tried to stick to a budget this year and for once I was actually pretty good with sticking to my handmade Christmas plan. I even got my weaving loom set up and wove rag rugs for Spencer's parents and a table runner and place mats for my parents. It felt fantastic to be weaving again and I know there will be lots more weaving in store for the new year. On top of handmade gifts Spencer and I also gave each other vintage gifts. My favorite from Spencer was an Ebay find of 13 vintage toy cameras that you'll be seeing at some point in the future.

Park

2010-11-14T17:50:00.000-08:00

While out for a walk this week with Wren I discovered a great park. Unfortunately she had fallen asleep so Spencer and I went back today. The weather was so beautiful, really sunny and warm. Wren had so much fun on the swing and watching the other kids. We're so excited that this park is only a few minutes away from our house.

Church Sale

2010-11-13T21:33:00.001-08:00

Before I was on maternity leave I worked every Saturday so I missed out on a lot of church sales. I love them, especially in the run up to Christmas when there are tons of great Christmas crafts and bake tables. This morning we got up bright and early and I was lucky enough to find some real treasures. Believe it or not these are just the highlights!

A really old coffee tin, a vintage Dutch cracker tin, a 1950s birthday card and 3 miniature Santa mugs/candle holders.

1936 Singer sewing machine. I haven't decided yet if I'll invest the money to get it up and running again. If it's not too expensive I definitely will.

These strange vintage place mats appear to be hand screenprinted. There's about 8 of them and these are my favorites. I'm definitely going to do some fun sewing projects with them.

About 2 metres of amazing vintage fabric

2 Wooden cars

Bass River rocking chair for the little miss when she's a little bigger. I LOVE the kittens on the back of the seat.

I have no idea what this is but I couldn't resist the beautiful bark cloth. It has a ring at the top and the 2 sides are open. It's far too big for toilet rolls and it couldn't hold bags as the sides are completely open. Any ideas?

I love the colours in this crochet blanket. It's wool and in great shape.

On top of all this I got a bunch of hand woven linen place mats and napkins that I will probably emboider on, some embroider hoops, a few other toys and some vintage clothes for Wren that I'll show you later. The best part of all I only spent $40!

Shiny new floors!

2010-11-04T08:33:00.000-07:00

Wow it's been a while since I've posted anything. We didn't realise when we moved into our house that the floors needed to be refinished. They looked pretty good but any time we spilled any water it soaked right into the wood and left a mark. We figured we better do something about it before Wren starts crawling. Moving every single item of furniture into our office and kitchen (the only 2 rooms we weren't refinishing) seemed like a feat of Tetris proportions. The sanding and varnishing was another huge task but luckily for me Spencer did most of the work. We're finally home again after staying at my parents for nearly a week. Now to put everything back where it belongs.

High Chairs

2010-11-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

I took advantage of the beautiful weather to fix up these great high chairs I've thrifted for Wren. She's just starting to sit up in the Ikea highchair at my parent's house so before too long she'll be able to use these. I cleaned them up and put a few more coats of varnish. The one on the right can be converted into a table and chairs when she's bigger. I love the bear image on the back and the red beads going around the tray. I wish I knew how to clean up the metal rail though. It has some spotting and a few bits of rust.

Baby's First Watch

2010-10-22T15:48:00.000-07:00

Here's Wren sporting a new watch and it's a calculator watch at that. She thinks it's great for adding up all her nap times to prove to mom and dad that she can stay up later. Unfortunately felt batteries aren't too reliable so it doesn't keep time that well. At least it's right twice a day!

Wren busy at work

Uh-oh Wren just realised that she's late for lunch

Bloesem Kids and Fat Sheep

2010-10-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

I've been following a really great blog called Bloesem Kids for several weeks now. I find it really inspiring to see so many beautiful and original things for children. She also has a feature called Mom Story where she interviews different extraordinary moms. Reading it definitely motivates me to strive to be more creative everyday.

A few weeks ago I entered one of her giveaways for a gift voucher from FatSheep and I was lucky enough to win a beautiful dress for Wren. It's a little too big for her right now but it still looks really cute on. I can see that it's going to be a piece that she can wear for a while because it's quite stretchy and being merino wool I know it's going to be really versatile. It will keep her warm when it's cold and cool when she's hot. I also shouldn't have to wash it too much because wool is naturally antibacterial and any little mishaps can just be spot cleaned. Wren has some knitted wool diaper covers that were originally my brothers in the early 1970s and they are wonderful. It's amazing, they look brand new, there isn't a stain or a smell on them and they are almost 40 years old!

Bird Mobile

2010-10-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

I have finally finished a mobile for Wren's room. I feel like a terrible mother. Making stuff is my 'thing' yet for some reason I haven't found the energy to make Wren something until now. The knitted cat doll (made to look like our cat Hank) that I began while I was on bed rest during my pregnancy is still sitting in a bag in my closet. It's not even close to being finished. I'm hoping I can be motivated to finish it for Christmas. I love the sight of a hand made toy poking out of the top of a stocking.

My first attempt at a mobile took forever and looked terrible (don't try and colour foam core with markers, for some reason it dries them out and you end up ruining pens and getting really frustrated) and I got really disheartened. I wanted to make Wren something that wasn't too babyish, something she can use to decorate her room as she gets older. I thought the bright red and blue would be a good colour choice for this, and at the same time would be eye-catching and interesting for Wren now.

I hand stitched wool felt, stuffing it with polyfill and embroidered Wren's name and the bird's eyes. To hang it I repurposed some old embroidery hoops. I'm pretty happy with the results and best of all when Wren is in her bedroom she can't take her eyes off it. I'm so happy!

Gocco

2010-10-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my friend Andrea and I had a Gocco date. Every few months we try to get together and spend the day Goccoing. We spent the day printing cards and later discovered that by coincidence it was World Card Making Day!

We have found that clothes drying racks come in really handy when we're dealing with lots of cards with fresh ink.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-10-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Wren got all dressed up for her first Thanksgiving and she got to watch us consume not one but two turkey dinners!

Wren also spent the weekend dancing to her favorite David Bowie song.

Wren Pendant

2010-09-24T06:17:00.000-07:00

My great friend Angie Arsenault (be sure to check out her flickr) made me the most beautiful gift to commemorate Wren's birth. Her jewellery is so striking and not too girly, which is perfect for a tomboy like me who doesn't wear much jewellery. Angie and I have been friends for over 10 years now. We met when we lived together in the halls of residence our first year at NSCAD and discovered that strangely enough we were born on the same day. Over the years we've always tried to give each other hand made gifts, so I'm lucky enough to own several of her jewellery pieces.

Felt Music

2010-09-23T04:34:00.000-07:00

The wonderful Felt Music have used another of my works for an advertisement.

It's so exciting to see my work in print.

Blythe & Wren

2010-09-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

Blythe

Wren

Since my mom has saved a lot of my baby clothes I thought it would be fun to stage a photo of Wren to look like me. So here I am in my dad's arms at 1 month old and Wren in a similar pose in her dad's arms at 3 months old. I think we have the same eyes and nose but she definitely has her papa's mouth.

In Favor of Fuzz interview

2010-09-21T07:42:00.000-07:00

I have just been interviewed by the lovely Kelsie of In Favor of Fuzz and she asked some really great questions. I have been following her inspiring blog for a while now and I'm excited to be featured in it.

You can check out my interview here.

Life with Wren

2010-09-21T05:34:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that in 2 weeks Wren will be 4 months old. Time has gone by so quickly but at the same time I can't remember a time without her.

My days have been busy reading Peepo, playing with finger puppets, joining in with tummy time by lying in the middle of the living room floor and of course nursing and washing diapers. I think I'm finally into the routine of things and have great ambitions of getting sewing again. We'll have to see if Wren is willing to share me!

Wren

2010-06-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry the blog has been so quiet, I've been a little busy the last few months making a new kind of monster.

Toys under the tree

2009-11-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make toys that I felt were timeless and would be nostalgic for viewers of all ages.

The circus train has a masonite base, with painted wooden dowels for the bars, that is covered in hand dyed wool felt with embroidered details. All of the animals are needle felted and then stitched in place.

The wagon filled with building blocks was made with felt covered foam blocks and a felt covered coroplast base for the wagon. Each of the blocks is removable so they can be stacked and rearranged.

The toy oven door opens and inside is a tray of chocolate chip cookies.

The knobs on the Etch A Sketch turn.

Christmas Tree

2009-11-10T18:16:00.000-08:00

I have finally finished the project that I have been working on all year.

I was asked to make the "Founder's Tree" for this year's Festival of Trees fundraiser for the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia. The tree will be auctioned off on November 28th. Fingers crossed it makes lots of money for the charity!

I painstakingly stripped an artificial tree of all its needles to use as the base. I used hand dyed wool felt fringe wrapped around each branch and then anchored with wire to create felt needles. I decorated the tree with "glass" ornaments based on vintage designs, yarn tinsel and twisted "metal" icicles.

Domus Opus

2009-08-06T13:43:00.000-07:00

My 2 coworkers and I had a show at the Anna Leonowens Gallery here in Halifax, Nova Scotia that opened July 20th.

Jesse's pearl covered work boots, Dianne's metal pillows, quilts and rug and my felt alarm clock, hair curlers, iron and sewing machine

To the left Jesse's hammer and saw, miniature pink anvils and pearl covered work boots

Dianne's metal quilts on the wall

My kitchen scales and radio

My alarm clock and hair curlers alongside Dianne's pillows

My digital alarm clock on a nightstand

Haircurlers

Sewing Machine

Iron

Hair Curlers

2009-08-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

These vintage Clairol hair curlers were calling out to me at a recent Value Village visit. They proved to be a really big challenge. I was really hoping to have the lid open so that you could remove the curlers but I couldn't find a vinyl strong enough that could hold it's shape on its own. In the end I had to sew the lid closed and the curlers give the lid its shape. I'm a little obsessed with power cords these days, I love adding them to all my pieces.

Funnily enough last week I picked up a 1975 copy of the Eaton's Catalogue and inside were the exact curlers!

Felt Music

2009-08-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

My felt microphone was used for an advertisement for Felt Music in Campaign magazine published 7th November 2008. It was so exciting to see my work full page in a magazine!

Gaming Magazines

2009-08-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

I've been without a scanner for about a year now so I've had work piling up to be scanned. Thanks to Dianne and Shawn I have a scanner again finally, so here's some older stuff that I've been wanting to share.

The following are some gaming magazines that featured my felt Nintendo system:

Games Master May 2008

GEE July/August 2008

Nintendo Power June 2009

New Smith Corona Typewriter

2009-06-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

Before our big move I made a different Smith-Corona typewriter. For some reason I've always steered clear of using purple. It wasn't a dislike of the colour, more a fear of it for some strange reason. I'm really glad I did it, I love how the colour turned out, you can call me cured!

printcutsew.com

2009-06-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

It's been far too long since I've updated this blog. I blame a broken scanner and buying my first home with my boyfriend Spencer. I'm also insanely busy working on a really large piece that I'll be letting you know more about later.

Back in February the lovely Michelle SaintOnge (who you may have seen on Martha!) interviewed me for her website printcutsew. If you're interested in screen printing she has some amazing tutorials including how to build your own screens on her site. My interview is here.

You can also check out a tutorial I made to create a monster brooch.

Michelle also has a great interview with Roisin Fagan of Bespoke Uprising with lots of tips for any of you interested in selling your work at large craft fairs.

Luv-able Hug-able 2008

2008-11-13T18:57:00.000-08:00

For this year's Luv-able Hug-able show at Gallery Hanahou in New York I sent an array of monsters and a couple of sculptures including this digital alarm clock. The show opens December 4th. It's going to be awesome, I wish I could be there!!!

Repixx

2008-11-13T18:45:00.001-08:00

Repixx is opening tomorrow night at Argyle Fine Art.

Photographer Chr!s Sm!th assigned 15 different artists different band photographs that he'd taken and each artist was asked to make their interpretation.

I was given this photo of Wintersleep. The way Chr!s had photographed sections of each person's body seperately reminded me of the different sections on an insect's body and having just been looking through the framed bugs at a museum, I came up with my idea. The embroidered details on each bug's back are inspired by the Wintersleep's guy's clothing.

Check out the reviews in this week's Coast

and on Things of Desire

Plush You 2008

2008-09-14T12:07:00.001-07:00

For this year's Plush You show I decided to make a couple of robots and a ray gun. Both of the robots have a little hiding space in their chests. The ray gun is mounted on a canvas board with hooks so that it can still be played with, you never know when a ray gun can come in handy!

Kitchen Scales

2008-09-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a set of vintage kitchen scales inspired by a set that I found at Value Village.

Like the set it's modeled off, the dial at the front spins so that you can adjust the weight.

Hungry monsters

2008-09-14T11:58:00.001-07:00

These hungry monsters appear to have eaten some of their smaller friends. It doesn't look like the little guys mind though, I guess it's a pretty comfy hiding place in there!

Trip to Toronto

2008-09-14T11:46:00.000-07:00

Yikes, I can't believe I haven't posted anything since May! I blame a very busy summer, a sick computer and moving to a new apartment.

Back in June I took a trip to Toronto and got to see the lovely Alli and her beautiful gallery in the Distillery District. I took along a sewn tape deck, complete with removable tape and when you press the radio tuning knob it activates a radio static noise hidden inside the tape player.

Softies Awards

2008-05-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

Yay I won!!!!
Thanks so much to everyone that voted for me.
You can check out the rest of the winners here.

Softies Central Awards

2008-04-27T14:31:00.001-07:00

My felt Underwood typewriter is a finalist in the embroidery section of the Softies Central awards.
Please vote for me!!!!!!

The Coast

2008-04-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

This was in Thursday's Coast:

Click on the link to read the article.
http://www.thecoast.ca/Articles-i-2008-04-17-151982.113118_Sew_Cool.html#mail

The Pitch of the Stitch Opening

2008-04-16T16:56:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Friday's opening at Argyle Fine Art.

My friend Tom enjoying the record player

Musician Joel Plaskett trying out the guitar

Singing with Alicia

Halifax Metro Article

2008-04-16T16:53:00.000-07:00

Montgomery

2008-04-06T06:39:00.001-07:00

Montgomery is getting really excited for the show opening on Friday!!!!

The Pitch of the Stitch

2008-03-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a sneak peek of my new show opening April 11th at Argyle Fine Art in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I'm busy sewing more pieces so there will be lots more to see. Come to the opening and see the boom box in action!

Radio

Telephone

Boombox

Microphone

Snarves

2008-01-31T17:26:00.000-08:00

Introducing snake scarves: Snarves!

Craftster Best of 2007

2008-01-31T16:33:00.000-08:00

My embroidered Nintendo made it onto Craftster's Best of 2007 list for Toys, Dolls and Playthings. Yay!

Pre-Shrunk 2007 at Argyle Fine Art

2008-01-31T16:10:00.000-08:00

I was really excited to participate in Argyle Fine Art's Pre-Shrunk Show this year. As described on their website: THE EXCITING yearly, fun...PRE-SHRUNK: small works of ART made especially for you by your favorite gallery artists-over 70 artists participating! All priced at $175! Get ready for wonderfulness.....just in time for the gift-giving time of year! A gallery of all the works can be seen in the "Past" section on their website.

I decided to make 3 cameras each with working viewfinders.

Beastie

2008-01-31T15:26:00.000-08:00

My computer was displaying the blue screen of death for the last 2 months but it's finally up and running again which means time to get back on track with my blog posts!

At the end of November I was in the Beastie group show curated by Anna Taylor. It was an awesome show and my little Beasties had a great time!! There's a gallery of everyone's work on Facebook for anyone interested.

Luv-able Hug-able show

2007-11-18T08:23:00.000-08:00

Six more monsters just made their way out to New York to join their friends at Gallery Hanahou's Luv-able Hug-able Show.
Azusa at the gallery sent me these awesome pictures of the show. I love the way she hung the monsters on the wall. They look hilarious!
You can check out all the other great plush creations in the show at the gallery's online store.

Softies Central Holiday Softies Awards

2007-11-06T06:40:00.000-08:00

I made it into the top 5 finalists for the Let It Snow category of the Holiday Softies Awards for my felt Guggenheim Museum.
Please vote for me here!

Guggenheim

2007-10-24T15:37:00.000-07:00

I was asked by Eric in Illinois to make a felt version of the Guggenheim in New York. It was a really fun project and a little challenging but a great learning experience. It took a lot of sewing, every detail is hand stitched and since I had never made anything to scale before it took a lot of sewing, unpicking and resewing!

Gallery Hanahou

2007-10-24T15:30:00.000-07:00

Last week I sent off a large box of 15 pieces to Gallery Hanahou in New York for their Luv-able Hug-able Christmas show of plushes. I'm really excited to be part of this show.

2007-09-04T15:11:00.000-07:00

I just finished up my pieces for the Plush You show in Seattle. (http://www.plushyou.blogspot.com/)

There was a lot of pressure to be done in time but I did it and I'm really happy with the results.

The first piece is a Keystone 8mm Movie Camera from 1958. I found it at Value Village and for $9.99 I thought I had to buy it and make it in felt. The viewfinder really works. There is vinyl either side of the viewfinder and a channel to look through. I think I'm going to need to do this now for every camera! The side also opens up and you can see the film inside. I had a fun time trying to sew the film in place, it dyed my hands yellow.

The second piece is a Northern Electric 500 Telephone from 1957 that belongs to my landlord. I fell in love with the phone as soon as I saw it, it's ring not so much, I unplugged it! So here it is in felt! I used a real telephone cord and wrapped it in wool so that it still has the same elastic coil quality about it.

Craft Magazine

2007-08-03T18:09:00.001-07:00

I got a mention in Craft: 04!!!!

Underwood Typewriter

2007-08-03T18:04:00.001-07:00

For the past three weeks I have spent every waking minute working on a felt Underwood typewriter. The typewriter belonged to my boyfriend's great-great-grandfather, Mr. De Wolfe. Excuse the cat hairs, my cat Rocket loves to think he's helping me sew.

Lester and Roy's Screen Debut

2007-07-31T05:15:00.000-07:00

Lester and Roy have made it to the big screen and boy do they look handsome!

http://www.floobynooby.com/wippets/EP68.html

http://www.thewippets.blogspot.com/

The Wippets

2007-07-14T05:10:00.000-07:00

Check out my monster puppets Lester and Roy in their new home at http://www.thewippets.blogspot.com/

It looks like they're having a lot of fun!!!!!

Pentax Camera

2007-07-13T20:22:00.000-07:00

I decided to finally make my favorite camera. I've had it since I was a teenager and I adore it, such a reliable camera and now it is immortalized in felt. The lens cap is removable and the back of the camera opens to reveal a roll of film.

Puppets

2007-07-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

I made some monster puppets as a special request. They're double the size of my regular monsters and do they ever like to talk!!!!

Online Recognition

2007-06-29T06:06:00.000-07:00

Yikes it seems people all over the net are discovering my work! Exciting!!!!!!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/27/sewtendo-brings-the-hand-sewn-nintendo-nostalgia/http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gaming/hand+sewn-nintendo-entertainment-system-272998.phphttp://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/06/sewn_nintendo.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/snuggle_up_with_blythe_churchs_nes_gaming_plushies_6686.asphttp://kotaku.com/gaming/adowable/cuddly-snuggly-nintendo-entertainment-system-272190.php

http://www.cpluv.com/www/feeditem/3650

http://www.techiediva.com/weblog/2007/07/mario-immortali.html

http://www.roadsidescholar.com/2007/06/27/blythe-church-textile-maven/

Plush You Interview

2007-06-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't see it a while back I was interviewed by the lovely Schmancy on the Plush You blog: http://plushyou.blogspot.com/2007/04/blythe-church-interview.html

Display at Argyle Fine Art

2007-06-24T14:24:00.000-07:00

I have a display of work up at Argyle Fine Art until the end of the week. I sold my gumball machine yesterday and I'm a little sad to see my first piece go.

Nintendo

2007-06-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the Nintendo I have been working on for 2 weeks. I was so rushed to finish it I didn't get a chance to get any decent pictures before I dropped it off at Argyle Fine Art, so here's some quick pictures I took of it at the gallery. The Nintendo comes with with 2 games: Duck Hunt and Mario 3 , has a controller and a gun that can be unplugged and switched around, and 2 interchangeable screens so that you can either "play" Mario or Duckhunt depending on your mood. The game slot opens so that you add or remove games. Unfortunately I haven't found the right combination of hitting reset or blowing on the game cartridges to get the games to advance!

HFX

2007-06-24T14:12:00.001-07:00

I had a small article on my work printed in this weeks HFX.

Cameras

2007-06-20T18:53:00.001-07:00

I have been having a lot of fun recently making cameras. Of course the first piece I made was a camera for Spencer for Valentines Day. It helps having a collection of really fun vintage cameras and now that I'm taking an extra interest in them I have been finding some really quirky looking ones at Value Village. Here's the first piece I ever made and some more recent cameras. I have about 6 other cameras waiting to be made as soon as I can find the time.