November 29-30: Second Storie Indie Market

It's that time again. The Holiday's are quickly approaching and everyone's getting present buying fear. The simple solution? Handmade gifts!

Stop by the Second Storie } Indie Market at Visual Studies Workshop- 31 Price Street- on November 29th from 11-6 or the 30th from 11-4 for some unique gift ideas from some of WNY's best and brightest.


I'll be there too with my latest items including my new hand etched glass pieces! I've been laboring away in (unintentional) secrecy and can't wait to set them out to share.

Some of the glass pieces are purchased at local craft stores but many more are found at garage sales, thrift stores and even my own recycling bin. It feels good to get some more mileage out of that often overlooked R: REUSE!

I will of course have more funky knitted breast sachets, washcloths, hats, and tea stained greeting cards. Only 1 week left to go and oh so much work left to do!! Wish me luck. See you there!

Pauline VandeMortel: Nov. 3, 1924 - Nov. 6, 2008

At 6am last Thursday my grandmother exhaled for the last time. My mother called me around 8am and I immediately packed my bags and headed for home. My brother got on the first plane back. Everything from that moment on is a blur of tears.

A close friend encouraged me to make use of my tears. He said, so much has happened and you've been through so much let it all out. When you cry, cry for everything. I tried to, but I don't think its all out yet. The pain is out there, waiting for me. I brush against it without knowing and it takes my breath away. I can't move past how much I miss her.

There was an open casket for the family at the viewing hours. When I walked up to her side I saw she was holding one of my pillows. At the age of 9 or so, I was obsessed with making these little pillows. Grammie loved them but it had been so many years I had long forgotten about it. Seeing the small rumpled pillow underneath her small hands broke my heart.

We went through her things, I took some small tokens. A nightgown, a pin, some sweaters and a small picture she had bought at a garage sale that seemed to sum her up. "A giggle a day keeps the glums away." Most importantly a ring. My mother put it on a chain for me to wear, the band had worn so thin, and I haven't taken it off since. My grandfather bought it for her before they were married, almost 70 years ago. They would've celebrated their 64th anniversary this December.


Grammie was a fighter. She had a hard time growing up, harder than most but she always saw the glass half full. And so I try to fight too. Life keeps testing me and its getting harder to stay positive, but I'll try, for her. It's what she would've wanted me to do.

form behind tired eyes

I made a small step today. I set up an etsy account crudecrafts.etsy.com. No items posted yet but at least there is a place to put them!

Soon my humble little shop will be filled up with drawings, greeting cards, knitted oddities and my newest venture, etched glass pieces. I got my little etching tool and have been playing with it, experimenting with the different tips and the degree of pressure I can put. I think I'm going to really really love this. I'm currently designing for some vases and tea candle holders. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

For now I need to harness all my energy for my next group of students...

i haven't forgotten about you.

Dear Sweet Blog,

I am so sorry I've been gone. The forces of life have taken me away and the winds have left me without words. At night my brain feels the urge to write, to share all of the things are happening and all the ways my life is changing but when I open my mouth the words don't come out.

Grammie has taken yet another turn the worse and navigating this is next to impossible. The doctors say she has no more than 6 months and tragically I feel that would be too many. Her body is giving up on her and even opening her eyes is becoming too much for her. To say it breaks my heart would not cover the pain. I'd give anything for one more day with her, the her she used to be. All I can do is sit quietly at her side, knit and make sure she isn't alone.

I will be moving soon and I believe that when my life settles a bit more I'll be better prepared to handle these things. I promise to come back blog with pictures and insights. You have my word, but for today I will share a small bit of inspiration. It's a drawing I found so so long ago that I no longer know to whom it belongs, which is sad because I'd like to see more. I love its simplicity and something about it seems to suit my mood.


xo
lizz

Back to Basics

I heard once that "its a fool who fails to return to the place of his last happiness." I don't think you can ever really go home again- the wheel is always turning. But I think there's truth in that statement anyway.

I've been talking about and thinking about school for a long time. Wanting to teach, wanting to be taught. Daydreaming about freshly sharpened pencils. And now I'm going to go back. This time its back to playing teacher. I've been hired to teach three introductory drawing courses and Villa Maria in Buffalo, and I don't think its possible for me to be more excited.

Going back to Buffalo feels like going back home for me. I can't wait to get my hands dirty with charcoal again. It'll be awhile before I call B-lo my home- but all things in time!

nerdy knitting

A friend of mine, Robyn sent me this link tonight and it was just too amazing not to share. The above is the emission spectrum of Iridium, in a scarf form. Yea, I'm not kidding. Go here for the rest of the article. I think it's fair to say that I have perhaps found some of my people...

here comes the sun..

Like so many others i've been waiting for a sunny day to take photos of my new pieces. I've loved the rain we've been getting, but the cloudy skies don't make for good photos.

This isn't terribly new but I did finally get some photos. I turned my tea stain drawings into tea stained cards with some success. People seem to like them and they aren't hard to make which is always nice. I recently inherited a royal academy typewriter that I want to use to add text to these pieces. Trouble is I haven't been able to find a ribbon for it! I'm still looking but am a bit discouraged. I've wanted a typewriter for years now.



This is my purl bee rabbit, I'm making it for my favorite little girl Marta. It's not finished yet- I rarely make such small things so it's taken some fussing. Marta really loves ducks so I'd like to make her a duck doll too but one thing at a time. Her favorite color is pink so the dress is too. A doll for a doll...