Gypsy Princess

Didn't know what else to call this...

Fall-ing For Gold

Gold - that's the color most evocative of Fall, don't you think? 

Everything is turning amber, honey and caramel - delicious!

Long dangly earrings - all gold upon gold. 

Gold is timeless, but especially perfect for this season.

Hello, Fall!

Life and Learning

Idzie, who writes a thoughtful and illuminating blog about unschooling, was one of the speakers at the Toronto Unschooling Conference this past weekend.  For those who couldn't attend (like myself), she has broken down her speech and is posting it on her blog in installments. 

I just read the first part, and I really like these words of hers:

Unschooling, at its heart, is nothing more complicated or simple than

the realization that life and learning are not two separate things. 

And when you realize that living and learning are inseparable,

it all starts to truly make sense.

There are many reasons why some parents choose to not send their kids to school.  For me, it's less about the cons of institutionalized learning than it is about the pros of learning from real life, and most importantly, playing an active part in that learning - it's so much fun to discover the world along with my LittleOne, why would I not want to be part of this wonderful journey?

Do you homeschool, or unschool, and why? 

Be Jeweled!

UPCOMING SHOWS:
September 17: The Brocante Lux
September 18: The Glenridge Artisan Show
 
Reclaimed fabric scraps + beads + sequins = yummy loveliness...

Fully lined at the back, these earrings are finished on both sides.

Their organic shapes are completely hand-sewn and embellished.

They are ever so slightly different from their pair, and of course,

absolutely one-of-a-kind!

Funky fabric jewelry.

Eid!

I'm always sorry to see Ramadan go, but Eid is a wonderful way to say goodbye to this month of blessings.  It's great to make your own decorations and gifts - handmade rules! - and I wanted something that would do double duty, since I already have two shows in a few days that I need to prepare for as well...

If you remember, some of the beautiful rocks I collected last summer
I turned into this:

It took me a LOT of time!

I had more rocks left over that were so inspiring in their lovely, soft shapes, but I did not have the hours to cover them up in fabric. 
I still wanted to use them for an Eid decoration idea.

So I decoupaged them with used gift tissue (hey, I love the three R's!) and then remembered my white pens, with which I'd had a lot of fun
until I forgot about them.

Remember these?

So this is what I did:

The layers of tissue paper created a wonderful, subtle leathery texture, and the varnish gives them a very lacquered look, with their
deep, deep, shiny, shiny red. 

I'm also making some in my favorite, black and white!

They look great as Eid decorations,
but will also make wonderful gifts, InshaAllah.

If you are celebrating it, have a wonderful Eid!

Colors

Colors always excite me.  I think my favorite thing to say about anything is that it has a juicy color!  The sky, water, a lovely fruit, a piece of silk,

color is an incredible thing to behold. 

I recently got some beautiful Fair Trade felt bags from Nepal that I am working on.  These bags were hand felted and hand dyed by women, and I feel good about supporting them in their livelihood.  They usually sell them with felt embellishments attached to them, but I ordered them plain so that I could finish them up with my own personal touches. 

Here's one.  I stitched up an assymetrical strip of a whole bunch of layered fabrics, and then sewed on trim, beads, sequins, leaves and the rose.  The back is studded with more beads.  A nice little purse for day and night!

The colors in this one are blues and greens with metallics thrown in.  Blue with green is my all-time favorite color combo, and it really tones down the indigo of the felt.

The other bags are in other shades, and I'm working on similarly exciting color layerings on them too!  More pics soon!

Sorry, this one is in yellow light!