i’m NOT doing the Portobello fair this Sunday but will do the next one. which is the last Sunday of August. i’ll blog when that happens.

hi all! i love that you visit my little blog over here at SDR. i would be even happier if some of the lurkers unlurked!

come say hi! introduce your sweet selves.

i’d <3 to hear from you…

this is so brief. i am recovering from working too many all-nighters and still have a small pile of orders to go. it’s funny, it’s not actually that i have hundreds of orders over here. it’s just that each tote takes a fair amount of time.

but here is something i often think about and have for a long while. i am starting to have those “i want a sweet space” feelings again, instead of studio-work-vault tricked out with laptop/sewing machine/tripods that i never leave. and in this sweet space i would love some antique Black Forest furniture. i love animal carvings in wood but i’m pretty specific. i don’t really like cute. i like austere, mysterious, mythical, gentle, majestic and a little naive. at least for this. and in dark woods, old endlessly rubbed woods, and Bog wood. my favourite. it’s black, just like it shared space with some dinosaurs in a tar pit.

here is a small example. a hand carved Victorian/Edwardian era deskbox [or casket].

Box information and photo credit here.

i’ve been up until 5 a.m. a lot lately. working. it’s pretty rough on my mind & body. but seems to be the only way to get things done right now. deadlines piled up in some sort of forest that i had to chop away at. the oddness of that metaphor i think reflects perfectly my messy state of mind. but i just wanted to say thank you to my patient friends & family. many who have & are visiting this summer, and i’ve had so little time for you. just thank you for your patience and support.

and thank you for the orders i have been getting too. without them, there would be no SWANny nothin’. [and thank you for Honey-Nut Cheerios while i’m at it…]

ok, yesterday i made this swan chariot tote with accompanying chains and star charm and headband for a local Vancouver Urban Outfitter charity auction. it’s based on my SWANclothing STRAIGHT totes. the chariot customizes a Mini Munny by Kid Robot. people do this, it’s a thing they do. see here for proof…

i’m not sure exactly when the auction is taking place but will post when i know.

it was really really fun to make something i wouldn’t normally and having it actually work out is a bonus. even if people think it is odd, i totally love it :) i mean if i was that small i would certainly want to be carried around in a SWAN chariot mini tote. barking irrelevant [or squeeking?] orders at useless giant humans. demanding grapes! glittery things! and the companionship of butterflies! [see, i told you i was tired].

heck watch the video! feel free to hum along…

tote with Mini Munny in the shots are in my Flickr stream here…

when i started this blog [January 14 2006 and approximately 400 entries ago] i wrote a couple “shop talk” entries. i’ve let that slide, but think i will start it up again. because, you hear the best things in stores!

also, when i started the SDR blog i worked part-time in a clothing store. but now i work part-time in a craft store. i think i prefer to help people out with making things instead of fashion talk. i like to do fashion talk here.

i get a lot of funny requests at work- “how can i make this mousetrap into a car?”, “how can i fill this shoebox with a miniature japanese meditation room?”. and yesterday i got- “can you sell rockets to people who are mentally ill?”, more about this later.

for anyone who hasn’t figured it out through my online “broadcasting”, i live in Vancouver Canada. and live & work in a neighbourhood near the ocean, once populated by quiet money WASPs, hippies and west coast dudes/dudettes but now somewhat overrun by Hummers, specifically those Duecks. i’m not saying the past or present is better, i’m just saying. i have always had a love/hate relationship with my hood. but i do like my $3- a visit, floor-to-ceiling-glass community center that overlooks a a cricket club. and i do like the trees.

anyway. sometimes i work at the store on Saturdays. which i like. people with a lot of “personality” come in, i like people with a lot of “personality”.

the 1st interesting incident that day was my intercepting an elderly hippie women from antagonizing another client about using a plastic bag. guess what? i am against plastic bags too. i mean i make reusable bags that can work very well for shopping. that’s what i do with mine. she was very aggressive about it. and since that previous customer and i had already talked about her guilt over using this ONE plastic bag i felt like another customer having a go at her was a bit much. so she then turned her “concerns” on me. amazing. especially since i was on her side. ahem.

let’s get back to rocket guys. we sell A LOT of rockets. these 2 guys were so funny. one very preppy in a pink polo button-down. both pretty yuppy. in response to the “mentally ill” question, i said it wasn’t my job to judge other people’s mental well-being. that was just the beginning of this awesome-type conversation. i unlocked the rocket engine cabinet for them. they argued amiably if not spastically over using the 7 or 10 second delay engines. they mocked each other’s ability to even count to 10. they clutched expensive rockets in their arms. they were totally wasted on a hot summer afternoon.

on the way back to the cash pink shirt guy says to me- “it must be weird for you to work in a craft store, i mean all the nerds you have to deal with and you are a hot babe”. i said i was a “combo deal” and a nerd too. they told me they were engineers, and sort of argued amongst themselves about that too. i wish i videotaped this because it was like talking to Bert & Ernie imitating yuppies telling me they were engineers. at this point i noticed what looked like “icing sugar” dabbed above one engineer’s upper lip. “icing sugar”. well maybe he likes donuts. this is Canada after all.

they asked if i worked for commission. i didn’t say anything. but suggested since we were all being so honest today, they could just give me more money if they felt like it. with the transaction almost, finally complete we got talking about google. pink shirt icing sugar guy says suggestively- “so you like to be googled huh…”. yuppy #2 apologizes. i do the eyebrow raise, roll-eyes, shnortle-laugh, headshake, walk away thing.

it was pretty hilarious.

for wardrobe remix and other wardrobe groups on Flickr. full length pic and details in my Flickr photostream.

the Ocean Cloud tote is in my SWANclothing.etsy.com store.

from Prada F/W 2008. though it is lighthearted enough for summer right now i think. photo: style.com

i’m a little bit excited. SWAN is going into a boutique in L.A. that i love. i’ll post more when the order is close to completion :)

and P.S. i’ve updated my links. it is still a painfully incomplete list but better than before. just wish the darned internet would stop growing so fast.

in an outfit for the many & varied Flickr wardrobe groups and for ANOTHER rainy day in Vancouver…

Details
-AA t-shirt
-thrifted vintage men’s tuxedo pants with that satin stripe down the side
-80s vintage sorta cowboy brogues from Ebay
-vintage thrifted cowboy belt from years ago, probably 60s
-thrifted tiny Gap jean jacket
-silver wolf ring from the Rock Shop, a Vancouver landmark
-gold Baby ring from Mexico
-gold eagle earrings from the Rock shop again
-my own SWANclothing Moonshine Twins tote

this outfit is pretty simple i know, but i really like to make outfits from my vintage & thrifted clothes that work well and aren’t necessarily over the top. they are modern & chic. and there are elements which are just really personal to me. things i have owned forever… my tiny jewellery… it also didn’t cost much in total. actually, darn, those shoes were that Ebay bidding nightmare for me… oops.

more in my Flickr stream…

this is all still new to me. still learning what a good price for you AND for me is. so! i did a slight price adjustment to my tote prices, as i have in the past to keep items moving out of my store and into your hands.

check new prices in my SWANclothing.etsy.com store.

some don’t like the code… some don’t like the code of behaviour… some don’t like the weighty load… but i don’t mind… for its chutzpah, naivety, and partyparty atmosphere, MySpace is still fine with me.

and i’ve revamped my little corner of that universe. i may not go every day, but i’ll always have a little SWAN parked there…

so like- ADD ME!