Sigh....

Its been a busy month. First the preparation for a winter market, when I really wasn't prepared for it. In this the hard work paid off and everything turned out splendidly. Then the usual Christmas chaos - so very worth it for the love and community of family. Now the craziness, hard work, and overeating has passed.

How am I recovering...I finally get the time to move back into my yoga routine. I'm celebrating with a nice long Sarvangasana.....then an even longer shavasana....

Photo Credit: Kelly Loves Whales

Sigh...good to be relaxed...

Last minute shopping...Check this out!

Exciting and very busy times. I'll be selling my leather wares at this Holiday market this Saturday.
Only 4 more days to go!
Back to the needle and sinew. Hope to see you there.

Crafts Day with Sis - Bleached Tights

My Sis and Me, we love the crafts. And we love the Pinterest. Put them together and it can step your crafting fun up to a whole new level. What we do, is Pinterest heaps of ideas which interest us, then look through it together to decide what to do on our craft days. This day...we found something pretty rad.

This is a Tutorial for Drawing on your Tights with Bleach

Step 1 - Aquire a Bleach Pen

Most of the online tutorials mention using the Clorox bleach pen - which I'm sure would work even better then what we used. However we're rural, so couldn't run to the store to get one, so we got creative.

Make your own bleach pen - take a Crayola fat tip, or similar, marker. Take the bottom end out, and take out the ink tube. It should be a plastic straw filled with fuzziness, or something like it. Soak it in a disposable plastic container of bleach. Watch (you can see the bleach taking over the colour) and wait a few minutes. When the colour tube is white, you're good to go. I also soaked the nib to make sure bleach was coming out from the start.




Step 2 - Test on some scrap material.

It's important to test everything first, and get used to how it works. It only take a few seconds for it to go from nothing - to bleached. It will also continue to bleach once applied, until you wash the bleach out.

Step 3 - Place sheets of cardboard in your tights. This will stop the bleach from soaking through to the other side.

Step 4 - Begin to draw - we both modelled ours after a funky tribal design we found on Pinterest. We did one side, then flipped it over to draw on the other.

*We found the felt tip would go a little dry at times - this could be fixed by re-soaking the colour tube, or dipping the nib in liquid bleach.

Step 4 - Once done drawing - wait until the design has reached your desired bleached-ness. It continues to lighten once applied. Then rinse well in the sink with cold water. Put in the washing machine on cold/delicate. Then either hang or machine dry.

I've only worn mine once, and I got heaps of compliments. One of the better crafts days I've had, and I especially love having something practical, fun, and fashionable come out of it.

!!!Remember - Bleach is poisonous! - If you try this make sure the area is well ventilated and that you do not consume any of the bleach. Make sure any containers used to hold bleach are not used for anything else! I would not recommend this activity for kids.

Paint by Textiles

Just to start off, I have recently discovered what many of you are probably already familiar with. Pinterest. All amazing crafty, DIY, fashion, style, garden knowledge all in one place. This is where I discovered the topic of this post. I wouldn't have thought it, but you can print on fabric! With your standard inkjet/laserjet printer!

So here's the how to (I've lost the original link).

First, get some fusible paper from your local fabric store. (used for making fabric fusible to be ironed onto other fabric).

Cut a piece of the fusible paper the size of a 8"x11" piece of paper (or a little bit larger to be safe).

Place this on top of a piece of fabric, the same size or larger. Then iron according to directions, pressing a hot iron, no steam, on the paper/fabric for 3 seconds.

Trim to exact size of a piece of printer paper. You are ready to print. Put through printer as usual, and you'll have whatever design you want on your fabric! 

Its pretty exciting for me as an easy way to make professional looking labels for the slippers I make. I don't think the ink is washer safe, buy you could always treat it with something from the fabric store to lock in the ink.

Always...enjoy every step of the journey...

Ah, so home for a visit is turning into a longer excursion than expected. I will still embrace the winter...however I do still think of sunny warm ocean beaches. 

"With All that has been, take lesson and be grateful  Let go, let go and move on..."

As I deal with a few setbacks at the moment, I need to remember to enjoy where I am at, wherever I am. And I need to make the most of any situation.

I have been keeping busy, my business has been taking much of my time, leaving me to neglect my lil blog here. One advantage of my delay, I'm managing to make some winter footwear (slippers), and get a whole whack of accessories made. Check it out at www.selkiedesignshop.etsy.com. 

Here's some pics of what I have been up to. Also, I have been doing some neat winter crafts, will post those ideas soon.

Baby and Adult Moccasin Slippers

 Beaded Wrap Bracelets

go to

Sleep Well

I was just loading the slideshow to my favourite pre-sleep yoga sequence, and I thought I'd share.

Often I'll get to the point where I'm tired and very ready for bed, but my mind is still going and going, and my body won't quite be still. A while stumbled upon a very simple, comfortable sequence which helps to get into a still restful state which almost always results in a good nights sleep.

Photo from Womens Health Mag

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/yoga/bedtime-yoga

Enjoy.

Preparing for Winter, Welcoming the Change

The other day, actually it was a few weeks ago now, I woke up to a landscape covered with this white fluffy stuff. Beautiful, very, but also a very clear reminder that a cold winter season is on its way. 

I have spent much of my adult life avoiding winter, and this cold white stuff which often comes along with it. For the first time in quite a few years I am spending a winter in my homeland of Canada. I have enjoyed spring, summer, and even the cooler temperatures of fall (which brought amazing leaf colours and opportunities to wear some rad sweaters). I am sure, once I am into it, I will enjoy winter as well. 

Canada is privileged as a country to experience such dramatic shifts of season. The seasons are great experiences for learning, growing, and experiencing many different aspects of the world around us. I realize now, after living in temperate climates, that the seasons all have their place in my life. Spring as a time to wonder in new growth, summer to be active, play, and enjoy our amazing waterways. Fall is when we start to slow down, contemplate a bit more, watch the birds a little bit longer. And winter, just as important, I think is our time to rest and rejuvenate our weary bodies after a long year of work and play. It is a also a time to come together as a community, the way a warm fire on a cold night draws a crowd to cuddle in tight.  In this way, I look forward to the season ahead. 

I have decided to embrace the snow, my new winter boots were an experiment in moccasin making. I've made them white to match the snow. They are waterproof, will be insulated as it gets colder, and make me dance every time I put them on. With this on my feet I will embrace the cold and this seasons restful attitude. I will romp through the snow to wherever a warm fire glows... 

My Start as a Sandal Maker - Selkie Design is on the Web

Hi all, some of you know (and have been my guinea pigs) for my new leather sandal making endeavour. I now have a nice lil' stockpile of supplies, and an Etsy shop too! Here is the shameless promotion - checkout www.etsy.com/shop/SelkieDesignShop

Some photos of the frolicking forest loving footwear!

Peace all...thanks for reading.

Walking on Water in Algoquin Park

The view from a mid-way portage.

A couple weeks ago I went on a beautiful back country trip through Algonquin Park. I thought I'd share some of the photos of my journey.

Cooking dinner over the campfire...

The path from the water to my first campsite on Burnt Island Lake

My 'boat' (a paddleboard) after a very long
hard day getting to my first campsite.

My paddling setup

My camp

River paddling, my favorite!

Bartlett Lake, I had this all to myself for 1 night,
and had a beautiful evening of paddling on a mirror-like surface.

Beautiful loons, their calls were a constant
soundtrack to my time in the park.

Last day and conditions couldn't be better.

My point of view for four days, someday I will hopefully make another long trip this way. I completely fell in love with stand up paddle boarding on this trip.

The Importance Of Being...

"Wherever you go, there you are"

I came upon my current sit spot the other day while exploring a narrow path following a small ridge-line near where I'm living at the moment. It's been a short while since I've taken the time for this, and I've  been feeling the lack of this set aside time. As soon as I walked along the path and saw the bowl shaped depression with this one boulder halfway up the slope, i knew I had found a special place for myself. The kind of place where just being there sets you apart from all the usual in life. A place that calls upon you to sit quietly, listen to the birds, watch the trees in the wind, notice the wildflowers growing all around. A place where you can just be.

"All you need is to keep quietly alert, enquiring into the real nature of yourself" 

- Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

I think its important to be able to take time to calm the mind and find peace within any lifestyle. It's important to always notice the beauty in all that is around you. For myself, a sit spot is a way of keeping present, wherever I am in the world. 

This is one place, where I find extraordinary beauty, at which I can get away from the usual,  sit, and watch the world around me.

A Little Walk Through The Woods.

I had two days off in a row this week, and took the time to go on a longish walk and overnight trip to a nearby waterfall. The walk ended up being very very buggy, but the reward of a beautiful camp spot at the end was worth every mosquito and deerfly bite. The waterfall was beautiful, and even better, bug free. I camped the night in my new Hennessy Hammock (tent meets hammock), and walked back the next day.

I took pictures along the way to share the journey with anyone interested...

The path started out on a road, but slowly got rougher and nicer to hike.

 Plenty of swampy areas, a mosquito's paradise. Eventually the trail met up with a somewhat swift river, and the bugs lessened.

The Cardinal Flower (Lobelia Cardinalis) was in bloom at the riverside. These beauties told me I'd found my campsite for the night.

And this is where the roar was coming from. Around the corner and to the waterfall. 

If you look closely at the bottom left of the picture you can see a Great Blue Heron. He was kind enough to share his home with me for the night. I spent the evening watching him fish at the base of the falls.

Top of the Falls!

The path at this point is a well maintained Portage, with a fire-pit /campsite at the top.