STELLA!!!!!! STELLA!!!!

I’m way behind in my blogging.

Last weekend we went to Ellensburg to pick up Stella from our friend Barbara. Kevin and I first met her when she was a wee little kitten (back in August) and he fell in love.  She was the runt of her litter and such a sweetheart. He carried her around for our entire visit.  Unfortunately, though, she already had a home and it wasn’t ours.

A few weeks later we found out that Stella could be ours.  The home that she was going to had a different request, so Barbara offered her to us.  We were excited, and a little nervous since we had planned on getting two boy kittens.  Neither of us had ever really bonded with a girl kitty in the same way we had bonded with our boys.  But, we figured since he’d fallen so in love with her initially, it was meant to be.

So we talked about her, and Kevin suggested that we name her Olivia.  I love the name, so last Sunday we went to pick up Olivia.  As we’re sitting in the living room of Barbara’s house, I’m holding the kitten, thinking, I don’t really want to name her Olivia.  I think she is more of a Stella.

We have our visit, pick some plums, squash, carrots, and all sorts of other amazing things that Barbara has in her garden for us, get in the car, and hit the road.  We are in the car for about ten minutes when Kevin says to me:

“I bet you don’t want to name her Olivia.   I bet you want to name her something like Stella.”

To which I respond with a series of half words, gasps, squeaks and other forms of startled exclamation as I try not to veer the car off the road.

“How in the world? Did I say that??? HOW DID YOU KNOW???”

He never did answer me.  And I think I asked him about every five minutes for the entire drive home. 

So Stella it is.  And when we call her, we say “STELLA!!! STEL-LA!!!!”

And she sits on my lap, and my desk, and cuddles and purrs, and lets the baby pick her up.  She is a sweetie.  I really, really adore her.  We all agree that our home feels better with a kitten in it.  It just hasn’t been the same without our meows!

xo

c

 

 

(and to those of you who ask why we didn’t rescue a kitten since there are so many that need homes – we would have, but my husband is allergic.  And there are not many Siberian kittens to be rescued.  Kevin was sweet enough to put up with Oliver for seven years because we were a package deal, but new cats have to be hypoallergenic).

Shoe School

 

So in late September I traveled to Port Townsend and learned how to make shoes.  This post has been a long time coming, and has backed up some other posts I want to make (like about the kitten!!!) so I have to get it done.  Anyway, here are some photos of the process.  It was amazing in many ways, and very stressful in others.  I’m not used to being away from my daughter (who is 15 months), so this was the first time I really ventured out into the world.  And I’m not used to following instructions – one of the pleasures of being self-taught – so there was a little bit of an adjustment there for me as well.  I did learn some new tricks for my own work, made a pair of shoes, drank a lot of coffee, and made a new friend.  It was, all in all, a good five days. 

And here are some photos….

Beginning  of day four, I think, with my shoe outsides all stitched together.  And a big cup of coffee.  Seriously – 24oz Mocha.  INSANE!

 

“Heel Counters” on the backs of the lasts.  Basically tooling leather molded to the back of the shoe last to keep form/structure in the shoe.

 

Alan, the instructor, on the left showing Mark how to last the liner on his shoes (pulling it tight, gluing in place, hammering down, to create a smooth upper on the shoe).

 

Shoe uppers waiting to be lasted.  I think those are John’s in the front, and mine in the back.

 

Uppers lasted, heel counters on, waiting for the “toe puff” or toe cap.

 

Toe puff in the toaster oven, me waiting to see it.  Coffee in the foreground.  Lots of it.

 

Me smoothing out the toe puff.

 

THEY LOOK LIKE SHOES!!!!  Toe puff in, uppers fully lasted, just waiting for some sole!

 

Shoes sitting on the sole.

 

John lasting his shoes.

 

Me breaking the shoe off the last.

 

LOOK! IT’S A SHOE!!!!

 

Shoe insides.

 

Lasts after having been broken off the shoes we made.

 

John modeling his new shoes.

 

All of us with our shoes.  You’d think we would be happier about it!

 

My new shoes.  Blucher Oxfords, with a little of my own style added in.  Don’t they look fast?

 

xo

c

Pick a Pattern!

So the entries are in!! And there are a lot of them.  So in no particular order, here they are.  Choose your favorite based on the descriptions, and leave your choices in the comments below.  Some people did submit drawings, but I have left those out so as not to skew any voting.  Good luck to all those who entered!

 

1.  Crowned Kitty: Kitty with a crown sitting on a moon.  Stars in the background, and lines of little diamonds that look like strands of jewels.  A Victorian chandelier is hanging from one of these strands.  The pattern would be just one color, with the design branded in. The feel would be Victorian and glamorous.

2. Dachshunds: Simple dachshund dogs playing in different positions/stances, and a few bones and paw prints to fill in the empty space.

3. Woodland Forrest: The center would be a big knotted Lord of the Rings style tree with woodland creatures - bunny, skunk, chipmunk, owl, fox, raccoon, hedgehog – and some mushrooms at the tree base.  Colors would be traditional browns and greens.

4. A Bit Witchy:  Simple black background with suns, moons and stars in warm tones.

5. African Language:  This pattern would incorporate elements of an ancient West African language called Adinkra which is composed of symbols.  The symbols are simple graphic elements, representing strength, adaptability, energy, harmony, unity, and other qualities.

6. Blackberries: Prickly, but with the reward of a sweet fruit, this pattern would be composed of blackberries and brambles.  It represents the person who is slow to warm up, but worth the reward.

7. Unity: Two wolves sleeping together, with their heads towards the center of the image.  One wolf has her head down, sleeping, while the other has his head up, keeping guard. 

8. Wings: Angel wings in creamy whites against a caramel colored background, at all sorts of angles.  Dreamy and rustic,

9. Aspen: This piece would incorporate the seasons of the Aspen tree, and the complexity of the leaves (simple at a glance, but complex close up).  It would have leaves in the changing colors, and trees in several seasons.

10. Grass:  Blades of grass in different shades of green with one tiny red ladybug.

11:  Dragonfly: Fluffy white clouds with a turquoise sky and one dragonfly.

12: Minimalist Hiker: Dark brown leather with leafy vines as the border to the pattern.  In the center, a top-down view of a stump.

13. Roots: A tree laying down roots in many directions, trying to find the most stable structure.  The result would be more like a texture than an image.  Colors would be muted shades of red, green, and some purple, with brown to represent the earth, stability and body.

14. Peacock:  The body of the bird would be smaller, and the tail feathers would be the focal point (tail feathers closer to the viewer).  The colors would be blue, green, purple, gold and black and the lighter colors would be spattered/dripped as accents. The eyes of the feathers could be cut out (on items that can have holes).

15. Night Gardening: Dark blue or antique black background with white flowers in the foreground, moon above and moths flying up to it, possibly the green Lunar Moth.  Stars in the sky and a moth silhouette against the moon.  The design would evoke the feeling of walking through the garden in the moonlight – quiet and peaceful but awake and magical.

16. Anteater: Tamandua anteater (smaller species) with black and gold coloring with its tongue out, eating up ants, stars, hearts, snowflake, flowers, berries, and all sorts of other things.  The design would be flexible and customizable by changing what the anteater is eating.  The design would be sweet, fun, original and quirky with meaning enough to make it special.

17. Pegasus: A Pegasus inspired by Roman myth. Colors would be night blue and an elegant black creature.  Deco style pattern to evoke both the ancient Egyptian and Roman styles.

18. Flamboyan Tree:  The pattern would be a Flamboyan tree with the 2 o’clock sun casting an elongated shadow, and the branches blowing in the wind with flowers flying off.  There would be a wild brown goat taking shelter from the sun in the shadow of the tree.

19.  Pictures + Words: Inspired by surrealism, this pattern would combine words and images.  One example would be a piece inspired by the Chinese proverb “Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think”  where the words “its later than you think” are written in a circle, making the face of the clock, with the hands of the clock being made up of the words “enjoy” and “life”.  Or a pattern with a sunset and the words “tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week” (Spanish proverb).

20. Thrifting: Inspired by handmade cotton doilies, this pattern would have a single round doily carved into the leather as though it was just placed there, off center, in unexpected colors.  Dark brown and black against lighter colors, as though someone forgot to move a doily before painting the table, or they left it there for decades exposed to the sun, and when they took the doily off it revealed the beautiful damage – a happy accident.

21. Summer Squash: Inspired by gardening and farms, the pattern would be a combination of squash, squash blossoms and squash leaves.

22. New Nouveau: This pattern would have vines and roses, buds and flowers with a few leaves and thorns.  The vines would be twisted and climbing with butterflies in between. It would symbolize growth, development, transformation, and pure beauty with a bit of sadness and unspoken pain (the thorns).  Roses would be red with deep green leaves and vines, the butterfly would be off-white for purity, some would be teal/turquoise, orange and yellow, and an antique black background.

23.  Banjo: A banjo fretboard that has come to life. Silver lines representing the strings and climbing around these lines are vines with deep orange Japanese lantern flowers and small teal lotus flowers. A few little scrolls in silver to represent the inlay. 

24. Crazy Quilt: This pattern would be made up of fan shapes that are formed by vertical bands of colors in varying widths with pointed tips.  The bands would be outlined by branding marks for the “stitching” and the colors would be teal, orange, magenta, pink, purple, black and metallic.

25. Archer:  For the straight-shooter, this pattern would be made up of boldly striped arrows in teal, orange, red, black and silver with simple feather tails and copper tips.

 

Thanks to all those who entered!!! There are a lot of amazing ideas here.  I look forward to seeing who the winner is!

xo

c

A Space of My Own

After seven years working in the basement, on the kitchen table, and anywhere else in the house that was unclaimed, I’m finally getting a studio!! It isn’t move-in ready, but I’ll get it all spruced up and ready to move into by spring, I hope.  Yes, it’s far away, but there is a light.  Hopefully a lot of it, with windows and skylights, and ventilation.  Better than my basement hovel.

Until then, I will draw pictures like the ones above (from Brendan’s Leather Book – which is FABULOUS if you can find it) of my own workshop.  Complete with log stools, and beadboard walls.

xo

c

There is hope

So yesterday after being told that I couldn't make a shoe in vegetable tanned leather I decided I would find a way.

Then today I find, in the studio, a pair of continuous wrap sandals.  I asked the instructor what they were made out of.

"Veg tan"

Huh.  Couldn't you have just said that yesterday???

Then someone in class showed me abk shoes, based in NYC.  She is obsessed with the shoes, which are very simple, tooling hide shoes that aren't dyed on the inside.

Interesting, I think.  I could do that.  But with flowers.  And lace cut-outs.  The world is too beautiful to fill with brown shoes.

Night,
C

Think Shoes

 

I'm at Shoe School this week. 

9.5 hour days, away from my daughter and husband.  I'm spending the time after she sleeps looking for Vegetable Tanned leather shoes. I've been told that I can't make Vegetable Tanned Leather shoes.  

At first this was depressing.

It is morphing into inspiring/motivating, as I remember that I've never been one to do what people said I should do, and to stop when they said that I could not.  Telling me I can't have something is always a fabulous way of making sure that I will obsess over it.

I will make some fabulous shoes out of vegetable tanned leather.

Soon.

xo

C

The photo above are Think! shoes, and I find them pretty inspiring.  The Aida shoes remind me of shoes Gretel would wear when she grows up.

Festive Leather

 

Eventually I’ll make myself a leather house, one piece at a time.

Here’s my first Christmas stocking – it will be available on the website soon – and I have ideas for many more.  It is the least hairy leather stocking you will find.  And it’s big, and fabulous, just waiting to be filled with goodies.

But for my Jewish friends and fam – any ideas for leather Judaica?  I’m stumped.  I don’t think a leather menorah is a very good idea…

 

xo

c