Pumpkinhead

Hi! Long time no see, hey?

I couldn't let my favorite season go by without making a little something, so I whipped up an autumn drawing that I'm fairly pleased with. I made this illustration for the Instagram Drawloween challenge for jack-o-lantern and now there are a few Pumpkinhead products available in my Society6 shop. I hope you love him.

I adore vintage images of pumpkinhead characters so much, which have obviously inspired my drawing. L. Frank Baum's Jack Pumkinhead is my very favorite. Follow this link to read Baum's Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse short story online. We watched Baum's Return to Oz last weekend and it was just as great as I remembered it being as a kid.

If you're on Pinterest and you love pumpkinheads and Halloween as much as I do, you might like my Halloween Pinterest Board.

On a personal note, to say that this year has not turned out as I had expected, is an understatement. In the springtime I found myself in the throes of extreme adrenal fatigue and anemia. So, I decided to pull myself away from everything unnecessary and nursed my way back to health with homeopathy, herbs, nutrition and lots of napping. I've changed my life and psyche drastically since then to ensure that I don't slip back into the same state that landed me in exhaustionland. Not checking in here was part of that process, so I apologize for disappearing again. Anyway, I do have a few projects I'm chipping away at in my own time that I will finish eventually and I do hope to check in here more regularly again. Thank you so much to those of you who continue to stop in here to see what I'm working on.

It is my hope to be back again before Halloween, but if not, happy haunting!

♥ Andrea ♥

Handmade Dress

Hello! I just finished making this dress. I'm so thrilled with the way it turned out. My confidence has increased tremendously with this dress and I feel that I will no longer shy away from sewing clothes. In fact, I'm pretty hooked now.

I recently purchased Tilly Walnes' book, Love at First Stitch: Demystifying Dressmaking. This book combined with the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing, have helped me a lot in my quest to learn how to sew well. If you are new to sewing or feel you would like more of a helping hand through sewing clothes, I highly recommend these two books.

Tilly's book includes six patterns that increase in difficulty with each project. I've almost completed the first one and have ordered fabric to complete several of the others. This really is a great book. And her blog, Tilly and the Buttons, is fantastic as well. I notice her most recent post is a tutorial on buttonholes- sure could have used that last week...

And apparently I've turned a new leaf... I've fallen in like with binding.

But the true test of a dress is it's twirlability and I am delighted to report it has passed the test. The pattern I used is Butterick 6486 and the fabric is a vintage sheet, both picked up at a thrift store.

Happy sewing!

♥ Andrea ♥

Lace-Trimmed Vintage Sheet Nightgown

This is the nightgown I promised I would share that I made for my daughter for Christmas this year. I just love the way it turned out! I think the style and colours of this nightgown are just about as lovely as can be. I did start off with a pattern, but patterns and I don't always get along so I changed it up quite a bit in the end, mostly around the neck. I got frustrated with the instructions and I think sometimes I don't like being told what to do. Ha!

I've had this fabric for a very long time and always had a hunch that the large vintage sheet might someday become a nightgown. I cringed slightly when I cut the sheet. I may have to at least make a pillowcase or two with the left over fabric.

This dress is reminiscent of the pillowcase dress I made for a dear friend years ago. It's amazing to me to think that was four years ago now!




I haven't been posting as much lately. One of the reasons is that I have been loving going to bed really early and reading. I feel myself becoming quieter lately and wanting to spend more time alone; reading, writing, and just thinking things over. It's been very nice. But I'll be back soon to share some photos of a sweet little pom pom trimmed pillow I made for Winnie as well.

I hope your January if off to a wonderful start!

♥ Andrea ♥

A Small Town Ontario Adventure

Last week we went to visit our dear friend in a little town just north of the city. On our way, we had to make an emergency stop at the side of the road. When I stepped out of my car I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the scene around us.

*thank you to Madisyn for taking this great photo*
Madisyn lives in the loveliest little home and her backyard is simply amazing. While playing in her yard, we found a sweet wee frog.

We were really hungry and decided to go to the nearby town of Alliston to eat at one of our favorite restaurants.

If you are ever in the vicinity of Alliston, Ontario, do yourself a favour and pay a visit to Spring Basil restaurant. The food here is so amazing! Although we had three kids in tow, we managed to have a very civilized lunch :)

Then we drove into downtown Alliston for a coffee and a little thrift shopping.

I picked up just a few little things.

There are so many great little towns in Ontario. I really love exploring new places I've never been before. Especially, with a friend. It's a great bonus that the kids enjoy our small town explorations too! Oh, I just found this list on Trip Advisor of Quaint Small Towns and Villages in Ontario. I've been to many of those towns but not all of them. I think I should make an effort to visit all the recommended places there. And check out this list of Central Ontario Ghost Towns! I've only been to Ball's Falls, which is beautiful. If we get a chance in the next couple of weeks, I'd like to visit a local ghost town.

I hope you're having a great week! I started my new job this week and I really love it! And each day our new house feels more and more like home.

♥ Andrea ♥

A Little Trip to the Beach

Last week we took a little trip to the beach as we often love to do in the summertime. It was so hot, the sand burned the bottom of our feet, but the water in Lake Ontario was incredibly cold. We really do love to go to the beach and let all of our concerns of this world roll away with the tide. I'm sure we'll continue to visit the beach once we move to the other side of the lake.

This was the first time I've worn this beautiful dress from Rock This Vintage. I just added this one to my little collection of vintage Hawaiian dresses. I'll be wearing this dress a whole lot this summer.

Today's the first day of summer holidays and it's rainy and overcast so it looks like it will be a good day for crafting and packing to move. Have a good one!

♥ Andrea ♥

Birthday Loot and Silliness

*image courtesy of ♥ Elycia*

Well, a month has passed since my birthday and the fabulous day Elycia and I spent at the thrift store and getting up to a whole lot of other trouble fun. And I promised to share some pictures of our thrift store finds and us just goofing off though I expected to share them a lot sooner than now. Anyway, here they finally are. I got my polyester shirt and skirt and Elycia her sweater along with a whole bunch of other stuff that day at the thrift store. Also, my handsome hat was handmade by Elycia for my birthday (thank you sooo much).


Once we started shooting we got silly and brought out one of Elycia's Blythe dolls.

*image courtesy of ♥ Elycia*

A couple of other things I found at the thrift shop that day, these great little shoes...

And these two lovely dresses for $5 a piece! I really can't believe my luck with these dresses. They are so well made and they fit like a glove.

Also, I wanted to show you this beautiful hummingbird skull pendant. It was a birthday gift from my dear friend, Helen (I adore it, thank you ever so much).

The last thing I want to mention about my birthday is that Johnny and one of my best friends, Madisyn, thoughtfully arranged special adventures for me that I appreciated so much. I feel so fortunate.

Anyway, that Teetoo giveaway I was speaking of last week is going to happen this coming Tuesday. So come by here and Elycia's blog to see the brand new and totally adorable Teetoo 2012 Christmas item and enter for a chance to win a Teetoo gift certificate.

I hope you're having a fun weekend!

♥ Andrea ♥

Masquerade

I got to go to a masquerade birthday party this weekend for one of my very best friends, Helen. It was fantastic fun! I wore one of my favorite vintage dresses that I've had for a decade but that I've only worn once. At first I thought that I was going to be making a mask but it didn't pan out. So I did a Google search for masquerade makeup and fell in love with this girl's makeup on her beauty blog, the Notice. I tried to mimic her makeup as best as I could with what I had on hand. I was thrilled with the results.

I only use natural makeup on a daily basis but I do use some Annabelle products now and then. I use Annabelle because their makeup is made in Canada and they don't test on animals. For this masquerade mask I used Annabelle's KOHL black eyeliner, Annabelle's Cool Mint Eye Dust and Annabelle's Snowflake Eyeshadow.

*Outfit Details*
vintage necklace ★ thrifted
earrings ★ thrifted
black scarf ★ thrifted
shrug ★ thrifted
vintage dress ★ Deja Vu (I can't find a website, it's in Hamilton Ontario)
vintage boots ★ Kenaione

Going to this masquerade party made me realize that I want to go to a lot more themed parties. It was so much fun to get dressed up.

♥ Andrea ♥