Some Blog Awards :)

Hi All,

Sorry I’ve been quiet; I’m not really feeling like sewing lately, although I continue to be inspired by all of you

I have however, been nominated for a few awards, which I’d like to acknowledge and thank the givers of said awards

First off, has anyone on WordPress noticed that sometimes when you get an email notification of a new post from someone you follow, and then click on the link it says “post not found” or something along those lines? The reason I ask this is because this happened to me today, and I did find the post, and it reminded me that there were several that I got which did this a couple months ago, which then reminded me there was one where Vicki Kate nominated me for an award as well! However I just thought the post had been deleted at the time, so hence my very bad manners in not acknowledging it til now

So, thank you wholeheartedly to the lovely Vicki of VickikateMakes, and to CalicoStretch for nominating me for the One Lovely Blog awards – you are most generous and thoughtful and are very lovely yourselves!

I also got nominated again for the Liebster award, by MontanaDesigns, so thank you very much for the recognition, I truly appreciate it!

The rules of the first one seem to be that you need to write some stuff about yourself, and MontanaDesigns has provided me with some questions I am required to answer for the Liebster so I figured we could do it all at once, right? Here goes:

• What food would you be and why?

Chocolate, because I’m sweet, honest, naughty, and just so damn good LOL

• If there were no repercussions, would you tell people how you really felt about them?

I do, and that’s why I have very few friends LOL

• What animal would you be and why?

A cat; I’m pretty sure I have some cat in me as it is

• What is your favourite colour?

red, and sometimes orange

• How would you describe your style?

the style I STRIVE towards is: classic, elegant, timeless, sexy, sometimes edgy

• What music are you into?

Depeche Mode mostly, as well as eastern European and Meditteranean music (I discovered my love for this through belly dance)

• What would you tell your younger/older self and why?

It gets better. It really really does. Hang in there – you’re so effing smart and beautiful, and one day you’ll see it.

• Tea or coffee?

both!

• How long have you been crafting?

all my life, in one way or another

• What season do you like best?

definitely fall I absolutely LOVE the coolness, the fog, the smell of bonfire, the frost on the ground in the morning, and a perfect sunny cold October day which includes ALL of these things

• What is your favourite shop?

My happy places are Opus art supplies (I’m an artist first), Fabricland, and Chapters.

Thanks again, ladies, for the nominations, it means a lot to me!

I am supposed to nominate recipients, but I’m going to be naughty and say I refuse to choose only 11, or 7, or whatever it is, so you ALLLLLLLL get awards!! Whoop Whoop! Love you XO

Cheers,
Symon

Someone pressed my ‘pause’ button

Yes, I’ve been a real slowpoke this past week, and definitely feel like I’m on pause

The main reason is that it’s been a week on this diet, and while so far I’m doing really good, the first few days were really tough; I suffered from some pretty crappy detox symptoms, which apparently is normal when you cut starches and sugars out of your diet.

As a result I’ve been incredibly unproductive the past week, and barely got anything done.

The other problem is that now that I can see this program is probably going to work for me, I don’t see the point in continuing to make stuff that won’t fit me in a month or two. I’d rather wait and save my time, energy and pretty fabrics for when I can actually keep and wear them longer

I have been working on a cardigan, however, cause I had it started and I figured it’s ok if a cardi is a bit big I just haven’t made much progress, because of the aforementioned lack of energy from detoxing.

Now that that’s over though, I have more energy and am feeling great! I suspect I’ll have something to post maybe by the end of this week – next week at the latest

Cheers all! ^_^

Technical Difficulties

Hi All!

Recently, MrsMole notified me that my comments on my last few blog posts were not working, and since I generally do all my blogging and commenting from my iphone, I hadn’t actually looked at my blog on a computer for awhile, so I gave it a check.

Not only were my comments ‘stuck’ but my formatting had gone all whacadoodle, so I temporarily installed a new theme to see if that solved the issue, and it did. Which is why we’re looking a bit boring at the moment!

I’m sorry for any difficulty and I am trying to fix the problem, but in the meantime comments should be working, and I’ll be extending the Pattern Pyramid draw til next week to give any more hopefuls a fair chance!

Cheers, all!

Giveaway Winner!

The giveaway winner, chosen randomly by my awesome iPhone app, Answer! is:

Congrats!! I’ve sent you an email with the deets!

Thanks to all who entered & be sure that though this was my first giveaway, it will definitely not be the last, so keep reading!!

Giveaway! First Annual Blogiversary!

October 18, 2012, marks the one-year anniversary of my first blog post on this here project blog. Little did I know what an amazing community I was yet to discover and become a part of!! I’m gonna get all down & personal here now, so if you wanna sit this one out, or just skip down to the giveaway, I’ll totally understand

A lot has happened in a year; I’ve learned so much, and come so far!!

In sewing, I’ve participated in my first sewalong, made my first pants, did my first FBA, sewed my first buttonhole and used boning for the first time, along with so much more! I’ve learned so much about fitting, fabric, and technique. I’ve begun to discover my own personal style & have started my first planned capsule wardrobe!

In my personal life, I’ve spent the last 10 months trying to improve my health, inside & out. For me personally, unless I follow a strict diet & exercise plan, my self esteem suffers greatly. I have a really slow metabolism so I easily gain weight, become lethargic, and just feel generally gross – physically and mentally. Through tracking calories & a daily exercise regime, I’ve lost over 30 lbs! I still have a ways to go but I’ve come a long way & I’m on the right path^_^ I am also very blessed to have a wonderful man and mum in my life who are loving, supportive, and patient with me no matter what I’m going through

In my professional life, I just recently lost my job of almost seven years. No boo-hoo-ing though; this is one of those transitions that was meant to be. As emotional as it was, (after so long, the people there are like family to me), I was going stagnant there from lack of creative stimulation. With the changes in the company’s focus, there was less and less work for me, so while I still do work for them a few hours a week, I’m free now to try & find a new home that will challenge & grow my creative abilities… and that’s exciting! (even if I have to be poor for awhile lol)

Over the last month, two lovely bloggers I’ve met along the way have nominated me for blog awards. Thank you to A Gastronome’s Closet and PunkMik!! Since I have already received one recently and handed out the honours to others, this time I would like to, instead, give back by hosting my first giveaway!!

The giveaway is for a set of three patterns; one for each of my award nominations and one for my one year anniversary! ^__^

The first two are brand new, unused patterns:

Simplicity 2339 Amazing Fit blouse:

And Simplicity 4192:

In addition to these two, you will get one of your choice from the vintage patterns shown here

Alternatively, if you’re not a sewist, I’m offering a personalized blog header for your blog, designed by me (you tell me what you want & I’ll design it!)

This is my thanks to you all for being so awesome!!! Feel free to pass the giveaway info on to your friends; anyone is welcome to participate!!

To enter, please leave a comment on this blog post by the end of October and let me know what prize you prefer I’ll draw the winner on November 1st Happy October!!

Fabric Shopping for the Environment!

In my beautiful city of Vancouver, there is an amazing non profit movement to help keep waste from the apparel and movie industries out of landfills. It’s called Our Social Fabric, and these wonderful volunteers host a sale every month to local crafters & fabric enthusiasts.

The fabrics are generously donated by various companies, and OSF volunteers then take them and set them up for each monthly sale.

Fabrics in remnants are sold by the bag, and on the roll by the yard. Like thrift store shopping, you really have to dig through everything; it takes time but is so worth it!! It was pretty crowded but everyone was so nice and polite ^___^

Large paper shopping bags are provided and believe me, they hold a LOT!! Check out what I got for a mere $25!!!!

3m plus two half meter remnants of black cotton batiste – so awesome! Not ‘fun’ perhaps but always useful for lining/underlining Check it out; one of the remnants is already partly interfaced! lol

Some lovely medium weight wools:
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5 m of a linen cotton blend; I wasn’t sure on the colour but couldn’t pass up such a large cut; most fabrics are only a meter or two at best; the rest are remnants.

Some interesting coating material which upon burning, revealed itself to me as cotton (maybe enough for an Anise?)

Couple more cottons:

And some various mystery fabrics:

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All in all I spent less than $2/meter!! Considering my recent financial downfall, this is great news for me! And I'm helping the environment! Thanks OSF!

Love & Loss; Fun & Games

Hello friends!

It’s been a heckuva 2 weeks or so!

So after my last post I haven’t done a darn thing in terms of project work. The last day of my job was approaching and honestly, it was too hard for me to focus, with trying to figure out finances & job searching.

Then last Friday was my birthday, and my partner and I (who are huge gamer nerds, FYI) trekked down to Seattle (just a few hours from here) to attend NA’s largest public gaming convention, Pax Prime!!

Here’s us on the bus very early Friday morning:

Pax Prime is 3 days of gaming bliss: nonstop panels, shows, parties & demos – we had a blast!

We even attended a party held offsite for a game we’re both super excited for; Dishonored – the party was a murder mystery held in the mansion of Lady Boyle; a character from the game.

It was an awesome weekend but I’m glad to be back home – I missed my kitties so bad & my fluffy one (Mama’s boy, Starsky!) still hasn’t forgiven me entirely yet ^__^

Now we’re back & reality must set in. But before I became a hobo (LOL) I had ordered some custom labels with my logo on them – very nice quality embroidered damask – and they arrived today to help cheer me up!

I love them & can’t wait to start adding them to my creations! I know this will help me really focus on attention to detail & think of my clothing as I do my design; as representing me and my quality

It’s still hot here – summer isn’t through with us yet! Hopefully I can get back my focus & deal with all the business-y stuff so I can get some project work done too!

Hope you’re all well – I’m trying to catch up on posts missed so forgive me if I’m a bit behind!

Jamie Christina Mission Maxi #2

Hi All!

I’m not dead… no, far from it! After finishing the Bombshell I needed something quickly to wear to a client meeting, and since it’s been super duper hot here, I wanted something comfortable, so I made a lovely black version of the Mission Maxi. I banged this baby off in just a few hours, including a serger mishap that took me an hour to figure out, (entirely my fault, more on that another time LOL)

However that being almost two weeks ago, we didn’t get around to shooting this dress ’til just the other day, and I’ll tell you why, before I unveil this photo to you.

Readers, I HATE getting my picture taken. Why? Because I guarantee, without a shadow of a doubt, I am absolutely the LEAST photogenic person on the face of the earth. I am not exaggerating, or being modest. I don’t think I look bad in person, but the camera would have you believe otherwise. The camera, my friends… HATES me with a burning white hot passion! Not only do I end up looking ten years older, and twenty pounds heavier than I actually am, I am always being caught making the most horrific faces, or doing something ridiculous. I know everybody says that, but I have the proof!!! Hundreds of totally embarrassing unusable pictures mocking me, and every time I anxiously go to look at pics of a holiday or a new make, I’m constantly disappointed and sometimes even depressed.

Now I know what you’re thinking… “but Amanda, we’ve seen some decent shots of you!” That’s true…. but these shots are not taken without a considerable amount of effort on both mine and my partner’s part…. often (I admit) there are tears involved, and always frustration. Sometimes dozens are needed just for one decent one, and then often they require shopping (that’s Photoshop for you non-designers LOL) just to make them presentable. I’m not talking about changing my features, making myself skinnier, or anything like that (I know I ain’t perfect but as tempting as it is, (because I totally could) I’m not gonna pretend I am just to totally scare someone who might meet me in person one day LOL) … I’m talking stuff like.. there’s a giant chunk of my hair sticking straight outwards or I’ve got the freaking crazy eyes going on… and I swear to you that there is nothing at all, even with my considerable Photoshop skills, i could do to salvage most of them.

That said, even though this dress is pretty darn wonderful, as usual, I couldn’t find a single decent shot of me in it. This one of me getting totally exasperated is the only one and I blew out the exposure and did some shopping on my crazy eyes just to make it halfway decent. I still look like a bitchy old fart. LOL

 

Readers, do any of you have any suggestions for me on how to get a better picture? Body wise, I know all the tricks, though I rarely use them LOL… it’s my face I have issue with the most. I always have these wide eyes or a stupid look on my face, or look like I’m smelling something bad. Or if I smile I look demented…. HELP?? ^__^

Bombshell Promaballoona

It’s Promaballoona! And what better way to celebrate than to don a bombshell dress and hop on a cruise with your sweetheart?

I’ll save the commentary on the making of the dress for another post; this here post is for fun and eye candy lol

We started off our evening with class: a 1 hour ride via public transit; it was 32 degrees out and we were a little more wilted looking than when we left!

A couple Bellinis at a local restaurant while waiting for our boat to board helped with that, then it was off to sea!

(gratuitous pic of my sexy prom date)

As it got dark and we sailed around the harbour, we watched the finale of the Festival of Light – a spectacular fireworks exhibition ^__^

However, the boat was having troubles anchoring and we ended up crashing into two parked boats, making it difficult to concentrate on the festivities lol. We were outside but here’s a pic of the damage incurred down below:

Nevertheless after being escorted back to the docks by police, waiting for a cab, and getting home at 3am, we still had a pretty entertaining evening!

Happy Birthday, Oona! Hope you had a great birthday & as much fun (but less cops lol) than us!!

New look for Symon Sez!

As you can see, I updated my blog header!

As I’ve recently been designing my identity, logo etc for professional purposes, I thought it would be nice to extend that to my personal endeavours as well, since let’s face it… as a professional artist, sometimes the lines between the two are a bit fuzzy ^__^

I’ve also got business cards and fabric labels with my logo coming soon!!