City of Craft!

I'm in! I'm in!

Waited oh-so-patiently and it paid off! I was accepted into City of Craft's holiday show and I'm just so thrilled! I was neglecting my little Etsy shop over the summer. I shelved it to attend to more pressing matters like: patios and brunches and music festivals and mojitos and canoes and picnics and outdoor movies and hammocks, of course. Then I spent early fall recovering from those hardships.

I'm back, puppies.

Now I need to get motivated to cut and sew and design like crazy. Probably I should set aside some weekends, but they're filling up so fast. Yikes. It's only, err, 3 weeks away; that's closer than it seems. And it seems close.

I'm in trouble. Especially because I can't say no to anything! 

Luckily, I somehow secretly slipped a clause into my marriage contract that basically means hubby must (by law!) cut fabric shapes and iron seams until his hands bleed. Anytime I ask! JK, you guys! OK, it's not a law. It's just a reeeeealllly big debt accumulated over years of band-wifely support. JK?

Stop by and see me December 8th & 9th, won't you? It's one of the best holiday craft shows of the season and I'm so stoked to be a part of it! 

(Aside: can I get away with saying "stoked"? Like, am I too old?)

p.s. Eventually I will need an awesome graphic designer/web-wonderperson to help me revamp dudleyandbea.com and this blog. Barter, anyone? I have to stop pretending that I know what I'm doing. I have other talents. Sewing, I mean, SEWING. Geez. (That's enough out of you.)

Side Dish

I can't just do one thing. Maybe I've finally made peace with the fact that I'm not going to be the kind of girl with a "5-year plan" or a "career path". I've been pretty lucky to have jobs (like my current one) that let me do a million different things and appease all of my conflicting interests. It's not that I don't have dreams or goals, it's just that there are a lot of them and I might be shooting around wildly hoping to hit a few.

Imma just gonna do stuff I like.

I guess I'm afraid to not indulge my every whim for fear that my true calling will get missed. It's why I can't say no. It's why I have 5,674,936 hobbies. It's why I come off as flighty, directionless. Maybe, though, my true calling is "DOING AWESOME THINGS". I agonized forevs about choosing one career over another (Should I have pursued journalism? Is corporate retail where I belong?), about what I should have studied in school  (I had the math grades for Engineering but I wanted to design clothes), about how I saw my life in 5, 10, 20 years (panic!).

 { grade 8 // this is clearly not a new problem }

Can't I just dabble in everything? Why isn't that allowed? So, as it turns out: it is. It's a little frowned-upon, but in a city is rife with floaters and dreamers and slashies, I fit in. I romanticize living in the sticks, but I'm pretty at home here with aimless weirdos like me.

On top of being insanely busy at work (but I'm getting an intern! yay!), I've also signed myself up for some pretty big side gigs leading into the holidays. I have to sew my face off for a City of Craft – it's coming up in less than a month. But I haven't even started because of another project that just wrapped up on Sunday.

Thanks to some work I did on some videos for my day job, I made some friends in the movie biz. Heh. Dan was our DOP on a few GelaSkins vids (and he directed my directing, too!). When a personal project came his way – a music vid for his hip-hop artist friend, Muneshine – something possessed him to hire me. As a stylist! Oh boy. I was totally in over my head but I wanted to do an awesome job because getting paid to shop is pretty much my dream (OK, one of seven billion dreams).

I was excited but nervous about the role. My challenge: to outfit 5 girls in the style of 60s-esque stewardesses. On basically no budget. Hey: my look-expensive-while-being-broke superpower is paying off outside of my own closet!

I was also somehow smooth-talked into being "talent". Totally against my will. If you know of my not-so-secret and completely unattainable Broadway aspirations, you are rolling your eyes. But honest: I didn't want to be in the vid. Mostly because I hired 4 mega-babes who completely out-babe me. Seriously, you wanna juxtapose me against teeny dancer bodies and high cheekbones. Crap.

 { sneak peek! photos: shlomi amiga }

Once I have a chance to wade through the photo-aftermath, I'll post some behind-the-scenes eye-candy and my thoughts on make-believe career #5,674,937. Let's manage expectations here, though: it won't be anytime soon. I'm diving straight into sewing while attempting to dodge holiday-ish invites with minimal FOMO and working longer-than-normal hours at my uber-busy day job. Blog neglected again.

See? I have so many side dishes that I don't even have time for my very favourite among them! I would like you to know that I currently have NINE draft posts sitting in the wings. All becoming less relevant and timely the longer I wait. 

I am well-meaning. 

"The road to hell...", yeah?

a fairy tale.

Once upon a time (oh, about two weeks ago) one girl sewed and cut and bled her heart out to get ready for an Etsy holiday sale. Now, that sale has sailed. It wasn't quite the success she had hoped, but she shared good cheer with friends and fellow crafty folk. So, what of the oodles of crafted wonders leftover from the show, hauled lovingly by her Prince back to their shared castle in the kingdom of the Annex? Well, a good fairy swooped in and bought the whole lot for her little shop in wee Roncesvalles Village. Need I mention that they all lived happily ever after?

---

Yeah, that was my Etsy/West Elm sale experience. Maybe a little sour but mostly sweet. I am SUPER happy to have been included, and am overwhelmed by the love and support from friends, even if I didn't have a heap of sales.

 [ my little nook ]

[ dudley & bea - squeaky bones and jingle mice! ]

My fairy is Nadia, the lovely owner of Fetch, a cute little pet boutique in the west end. It's my first foray into the wholesale world (at least since I became Dudley & Bea) and it's just the right fit for a girl who's also holding down a full-time job. Who knows, maybe I'll branch out in the springtime. But for now, I'm pretty happy to have a little brick-n'-mortar action, especially in the 'hood which may soon become our new home. OK, that's premature, but my sights are set westward! It's all a part of my master plan: Project Babymaker. In good time, my pets.

[  367 Roncesvalles Ave in Toronto ]

 

In other craft news, I lament my tardiness in getting my City of Craft application done in time. 

It was darn good this year, at least traffic-wise. As a customer, elbowing my way through the shopping process was less than pleasant. But those crafty sellers had dolla-dolla-billz-y'all in place of pupils. Darn, I could have used some of that action. Ah, well. I did OK, though: I sold Lindsay two of my squishy pet bowls bootleg-style in the middle of the aisle. Illegal soliciting. One step away from a meth lab, right? Also, I snagged some stocking stuffables for Alex and some yummers cinnamon lip-balm. 

Other highlights were Bespoke Uprising (burlesque tea-towels!), Julie Moon (ceramic poppy earrings!) and homemade curries. 

I'm still a far cry from Christmas completeness, but mom passed down her superior shopping gene so I'll be allllright.

[ happily ever after image by type posters on Etsy ] 

a handmade holiday!

This is happening. Today.

And I'm only blogging about it now at the very, very last minute because, well, I've been busy sewing my face off to get ready for it. Oops. But if you know and love me, I've already told you and you're already coming. The rest of you: go. Spontaneity is good for you.

While I had planned to write a proper post, this will have to do. Short, sweet and riddled with typos. 

So yes, stop by your local West Elm store for snacks, DIY workshops and shopping local Etsy sellers. But most importantly, visit the Liberty Village location in Toronto. That's where I'll be. Bleary-eyed from all-night sewing and baking. I'll be selling my Dudley & Bea goodies, including new products that you'll just have to see in person!

Oh, and BRING CASH. I'll accept PayPal via the iPhone app, too. Many small vendors are unable to accept debit and credit cards.

I'll be sharing the spotlight with these lovely folks - my fellow T-dot-Oh Etsy-ers:

The Penny Paper Co.

Better Stay Together

Tiny Poppies

Setsuko Studio

Every Bear Jewel

Get there: 109 Atlantic Ave., Toronto

handmade heaven

I'm all aflutter. 

I was handpicked by Etsy to be one of five Toronto designers to showcase wares at a holiday sale at West Elm next month. Wow. I wasn't actually ready to do any shows this year, but for this, I can make miracles happen. My definition of "miracles": all-nighters, bribing hubby to pull crafting duty and sustaining stress-related injuries/ulcers while I bite off more than I can chew. This ain't 34th Street. Magical, yeah? Depending on my success at the show, I may end up with heaps of stock... which could actually mean that I might (just barely) squeeze in a wholesale deal before Christmas. See? Deadlines are good for me (aside from the ulcer part).

Yet still, here I am: blogging instead of sewing.

In the spirit of handmade (a spirit I'm summoning a lot these days), I'm sharing some of my recent Etsy faves - handmade and vintage wonders from little vendors (like me!) all over the globe.

While my last picks revolved around mustard hues and cozy textiles, I'm getting a little darker this time: It must be the weather. And the early-setting sun. I'm nestling in for hibernation (ahhh, if only!) and this is my gear.

• rust, wool, capes, dreams, woodlands, photographic memories •

 just for show. too hipster or what? (brando's funky finds $30)

 i believe in fancy panties. (hopeless $65)

travel itch. (hunt and found $58)

 dog obsession. always. (photo by Lucy Snowe $20)

 oh beautiful tweed camera bag, where WERE you when I needed you. see what you've put me through? (Mari Forssell/Stash $189)

 dreamy, nostalgic fear. (protostar prints $11)

 mmmm, man-smell. (Roots Soap Co. $25)

 i could live in the woods forever. if only i had this uniform. (Cape, Stray Cat Studio - $65)

 whimsy. (silk purse, sow's ear $15)

baby-fever seeps into blog-land again. my kids will obviously wear orange plaid hooded capes. they will be peculiar. inevitably. (by April Scott - $55)

My future. (Photo by Amanda Keaton $30)

stomp. (Ann Marino booties - Mountain Meadow Vintage $65)

---

Oh, and come see me, won't you? At my show in December, remember? West Elm, Liberty Village, Toronto - December 1st, 6pm.

Staycation (Craft Week!)

 

(from The Repurposed Library)

I booked the week off. For no reason whatsoever.

It's great. It's really just the greatest.

Except that I'm sick. I spent Day #1 pouting and eating soup and watching back-to-back episodes of so-bad-it's-good TV (err, Drop Dead Diva. Any fans?). But yesterday, Day #2, I said eff you bubonic-devil-cold, eff you. I DID sleep in a little, but was far more productive.

The purpose of this week was inteneded to be productivity + relaxation. I can't quite manage the latter. Unless it's forced upon me by, say, being sick. Well, there you have it. Success?

Anyway, I'm trying to prep for the holidays, Etsy-wise and just maybe get my Dudley & Bea goods into at least one retail shop before Christimas. It's not that the interest isn't there. Really, I've has wholesale requests from shops in Toronto, Florida, Austin, and even Australia. It's my readiness. I'm not ready. During my previous crafty venture, I rushed things. I didn't nail down my methods or patterns or even a cohesive style. This time, I'm doing it right, dammit! So that's what this week is about: getting closer to "right".

Also, this week is about: hot yoga, brunches with mat-leave moms & night-shift friends, finally getting my passport updated, blogging like crazy, cleaning out the basement, painting the washroom, painting (as in canvases! as in art! as in omigosh I'm using my big expensive art school education for once!), finishing the art wall in our bedroom, and crafting while devouring season 3 of The United States of Tara. All while Alex is at work. I might also book a facial or a massage or a pedi. There should be something a little lavish in this mix, yeah?

Since much of my Staycay (or as I've been calling it: Craft Week) will be spent DIY-ing, here are some images that have inspired me:

So we bought some old maps at a flea market in Kingston this summer (that's Alex thumbing through the box)...

I've framed a vintage Pacific Ocean Floor map and I'm contemplating these for the rest:

On the same antique adventure, we snagged some burlap coffee bags and they'd be pretty awesome as a makeshift bulletin board:

All of this is part of one big masterpiece: the yet-untouched accent wall in our bedroom. It's been sadly empty for so long, but I've been working on Alex to recreate something like the below. He's in.

I'm also painting. "Starving Artist" is one of my many alter-egos. I put enough money and time and blood and sleep loss into becoming the illustrator that I never actually became. It's nice to get a little pay-off occasionally. Even though I was never really cut out for starvation. 

I'm painting jellyfish. Too much Blue Planet, I guess. Or Saturday-morning Spongebob. Too much TV.

I'm still fussing with the water. I'm no longer fully confident wielding a brush.

This inspired me:

My equally craft-loving friend Cathie bought me this book (The Repurposed Library)  for my birthday. A book-cum-lampshade project is calling my name. If painting in the living room has taught me one thing, it's this: the place is a bloody cave. DIY lamp to the rescue! How does once craft project always spawn six more!?

I'd like to say that's it, but I've managed to fill my to-do list with an impossible number of projects for just one short week. During half of which I've been sick. 

Stay tuned for the craftermath....

Sa-weet!

 [ happy, happy! ]

So, I guess all of my fretting over interview attire and cutting my Ottawa vacay short were not in vain! I landed the job! OK, it's not official yet - still waiting on the offer letter and am in the middle of negotiating a post-Fashion Week start date ('cause I'm covering it for blogTO!!), but it's probably safe to break the news. And, really, I've been unemployed/freelance/self-employed for a whole YEAR, so obviously it's big news that I'm dying to share (and I'm bad at secrets).

So, back to the 9-to-5. I wasn't entirely convinced, at first, that I wanted to work a full time office job, but it sunk in as a necessity over the holidays, and now? Now, I'm excited about it. Pencil skirts! Office coffee! Co-worker chatter! A sense of purpose? Yeah, I've had some lows lately, and I think that the working-from-home thing, combined with being pretty broke was getting to me. I'm the designated breadwinner for the next couple of years, while Sweet Thing makes their steady climb to music fame (*fingers crossed*) and the Mister starts bringing in some dough.

 

[ Alex soundchecks somewhere far from here. He'll be back. Photo c/o Sweet Thing ]

The challenge - and I'm ready for it - will be balance. I want to ride the momentum of Dudley & Bea and keep working at it in my spare time. I'd love to keep writing, too (Alex is somewhere out in the world frowning right now). It's ambitious, but I'm pretty adept at multi-tasking. Idle hands are not my friends.

This good news opened another door: since I'm no longer bogged down with job hunting, and I don't start work right away, I can spare a few days to hit the road with the boys on their mini tour south! First stop? New York! I'm hitching a ride and then staying for a bit to visit one of my bestest girls (a one-time Canadian transplant high-ranking in my favourite-people-ever list).

 [ getting in trouble in NYC is the most fun with Tabor ]

The guys will continue on to play some Austin, TX shows during SXSW. This little jaunt comes on the heels of their latest cross-country tour with Down With Webster. They play their final show tonight at Massey Hall in TO! So, Alex is back in the city after being away from me for 3 weeks, but I can't see him yet. I've been trumped by soundcheck. The truth: I took too long to get ready and missed a little window. He'll be on his way home very, very soon, though. FINALLY!

I have a feeling that this will be a good year for the band (and maybe bad for me, if that includes a lot of touring). It will all pay off, though. Right? Right? They just played Much Music AND Breakfast Television. Leah just heard Change of Seasons on a Disney program. We also heard it landed a spot on 18 to Life although I've yet to hear it. The little song that could.

2011 is looking up. My mom was right. "You'll be fine."

Magic numbers.

[Me n' Mr.Dudley. Totally pose-y. photo: Mark Hatfield]

I should be blogging for blogTO right now, but I feel like blogging for me. Maybe that's because my blogTO working hour-count for last week was 93. NINETY-THREE! Yup, and I still only managed to get 11.5 stories completed. Serious burning of midnight oil. Another magic number: 16. That's how many posts I'm supposed to be writing each week. 

Let's do some simple math:

11.5 is to 93 as 16 is to x

So, x= (16x93)/11.5

Therefore, x=129.4

Ah, I friggin' love math. It's just so logic and unchanging. There's something kind of reassuring about it. Have you seen this, by the way?

Hilarious!

Anyway, back to the equation: so, in conclusion, I have to work 129.4 hours per week to make quota?!? Not happening. Last Monday, the only thing I ate was a stale blueberry scone. While walking. I don't have to tell you that we're back at the drawing board. But I will keep you posted on my results from week 2, and the re-negotiations. New job = death (so far), but this week I'm not going to kill myself over it. Promise. I expect that my story-count will be much lower. Yikes. Check out what I've been up to here.

In good news, I am liking the job despite clearly unreasonable expectations. In even better news, Dudley & Bea has been getting a ton of interest lately. Party just from people randomly finding me on Etsy and partly from a post that just went up on the site of CBC's Steven & Chris! Check it out here. Yup, all of that sewing has paid off. Make this pillow with step-by-step instructions (by me)! Look, I even did my nails for you.

The sad thing is that I obviously have ZERO time to devote to making more puppy sweaters and dog bowls, even with all of the interest. I need balance. Hopefully by my next blog, i will have some. Turning down retailers just KILLS me! Isn't this what I've wanted??

Oh yeah, and toats random: remember how Dudley and I "modeled" for some iStock photographers at PawsWay last month? No. Oh, I forgot to tell you. Yeah, we did. Anyway, I thought it would be a good way to get shots of my product (professional ones). A few have come in and this is a sample, along with the one at the top:

[photos by Mark Hatfield, not to be used/reproduced]

Anyway, I really do have to go now. I'm writing a couple of time-sensitive event pieces so I should get them done tonight. One is a profile on blog-girl about town, Raymi the Minx. Going to her big 10-year party on Thursday, too. Ooh, something social. Much needed because Alex is outta town again. More on THAT excitement/travesty later.

Toodles.

XO