Still miss you, Mom

It's already been five years since my mom died. Kind of hard to believe. I still miss her, but more often than not, I'm smiling when I think of her... even when I'm missing her. She was a funny, generous and warm person, a wonderful mom and the best Bachan (grandmother).

Our hip & happenin' family in 1975

She loved her games and was deadly at our family favourite, RACK-O.

A "friendly" game of pool in 1972

Pedal-boating with Evan in Edmonton

A friend to all animals, here she is with Ringo of Coquitlam

At our 2002 wedding, Mom was in her glory with her collective pride and joy, all 11 of her grandchildren!

A much-loved activity - drinks and snacks with her big sister

I'll think about you when I pass through New Westminster, as I do every year on my trip to Vancouver. Love you always ♥

Getting back into the rhythm of things...

Slowly getting back to the work-from-home routine, to motivating myself to get my butt into gear, to working on some new designs that have been floating around in my leeeetle brain. Still have to work on not getting sidetracked by this thing we call the computer. For a professional procrastinator, the computer is not always my useful and practical friend - surfing has led me to many an unproductive morning. But I digress!

My contract finished a few weeks ago and after a bit of a down, followed by a mad rush of job-searching and online application sending, I am now psyched to get back into my creative work. I'm doing a couple other big events later this summer, but this Saturday is the Journée des bons voisins, hosted by Rue Publique which I'm really looking forward to! St-Viateur will be closed to traffic and there'll be food, activities, yoga in the street and a bike repair workshop :) The craft show is organized by Old Skool Crafts and we'll be in the basement of St. Michael's Church, right on the corner of St-Urbain and St-Viateur.

Hope to see you there!

Benefit concert for Japan!

Been working hard on this show, and it's all coming together...

Arashi Daiko will be performing some of their favourite and most powerful pieces. Don't miss it!!!

♪ ♫ Ch-ch-ch-changes... ♫ ♪

"Turn and face the strain..."

Well, it's now 2011 and I've finished week 5 of a temporary work contract which will end in mid May. I am learning to enjoy working outside the studio again and it helps that it's a pretty easy work environment to be in. The biggest adjustment is not having ANY time in my studio to make or work on any jewellery or cards; frustrating at first, but this is temporary and with time, I might even muster up some energy in the evenings to head into the studio. Another big adjustment has been getting up early and going out every day, which means having to care about my hair and if I have crust in my eyes - generally the cats and the mailman don't care about that stuff.

My first week had me marvelling at the fact that I was part of the "work force" again - a bit of an odd feeling after trying to make it on my own (so to speak) for the last few years as a self-employed artisan (again, so to speak). I now feel useful at work, which is a good thing, but I still have a lot to learn - by the time I feel like I totally know what I'm doing, the contract will over :)

I was ridiculously nervous leading up to my first day, but everyone has been super helpful and welcoming. Very different than the people I'm used to, but I am actually enjoying the daily contact with such a variety of people - in spite of my mole-like tendencies, I do like seeing and chatting with people. Really interesting too, in terms of personality dynamics and interactions.

Clothing has been a bit of an issue for me. I got lots of clothes from my sister in Edmonton (thanks Nance!) - kind of standard officey stuff and I did do a fair bit of shopping as well. I often feel like I'm wearing a costume though; I guess I should see it more as a uniform, which a lot of people have to wear at their jobs, right? Now after a few weeks at work, I'm now allowing a bit of my personality into my wardrobe, although I cannot get too granola or grungey or "way out there" since this is a government office and pretty clean-cut... anyway, it's no biggie really. Work costume, it is!

The best thing about this job is that I am contributing substantially to our household and I am so grateful for that. Jean-François has been so amazingly supportive these past several years of my very sporadic business and it feels good to have a regular paycheque to deposit. It is also a very low-stress job, in that I do my stuff when I'm there and I leave it all there once I leave the building. I guess that's a choice as well, but I have made a conscious decision that nothing is going to freak me out at this job. Little daily issues aside, I cannot think of anything at work that is worth getting so worked up over, that it will spill over into my actual LIFE (ie, outside the job).

My creative side is on hold for the moment (well, not really, but you know what I mean) but I'll be back. I cannot really complain about anything. I have my health, my honey, my family and friends, my cats, my passions, a roof over my head, more food than I can eat, more clothes than I could possibly need, a great temp job and a great job to go back to once this contract is over.

Life is good.

We know it's winter when...

... kittehs cannot see beyond the piled-high balcony. My poor Chibi was confused - alas, it doesn't take much to confuse her... Second dumping of snow coming this week-end, but hopefully it will hold off until the end of Sunday, since I'm doing my last craft show of the season:


We'll be 70 sellers strong at St-Michael's Church on the corner of St-Urbain and St-Viateur! Lots of wonderful local talent, great eats, and unique handmade gifts for your friends and family. From 11am to 6pm both Saturday December 11 and Sunday December 12.

Onsight there will be collection boxes for Dans la Rue (meal-type canned goods) and CTV's The Spirit of Giving campaign(lightly used clothing, toys, non-perishable foods), so please bring what you can to make someone else's holiday season a little more merry and bright (^_^).
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The show in Edmonton, Make It Edmonton!, was great! Well organized, well attended (despite the Grey Cup parade on Saturday and the game on Sunday) and lots of fun. Tons of amazing artists with beautiful stuff, made some good purchases and trades! Had a super visit with my sister (aka Nancy, my sales associate) and her family too - icing on the cake! Thanks to everyone in Edmonton who came out to the show!_____________________________________________________________

Change is a comin'... I'm starting an outside the studio/house job next Tuesday!!! It's a temporary position until May next year which is perfect since the winter months are pretty scant for me as an artisan. I got a call a couple of weeks ago - out of the blue - to go in for an interview, so I didn't have time to freak out too much, phew!

And well, here I am, ready to start in a few days. I am nervous as heck, but really looking forward to it at the same time. I'll let you know how it all unfolds...

Holiday shows - already!

I'm a bad blogger. I feel better now that that's out of the way.

Some fresh sushi platters...

You can find these, my other jewellery lines and my greeting cards at my upcoming craft shows! Here's my line-up for this holiday season:

Friday November 19: 11am to 9pm
Saturday November 20: 10am to 5pm
Art Etc. Exhibition and Sale
50, Westminster Ave S., at Avon Road, Montreal West
(Bus 90, 123, 105 from metro Vendome; bus 162 from metro Villa-Maria)

Thursday November 25: 4pm to 9pm
Friday November 26: noon to 9pm
Saturday November 27: 10am to 5pm
Sunday November 28: 11am to 5pm
Make It Edmonton!
Alberta Aviation Museum, 11410 Kingsway Avenue, Edmonton AB

Sunday November 28: 1 to 4pm
Craft & Bake Sale
Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre of Montreal, 8155 rue Rousselot, Montreal
(Bus 193 from metro Jarry, or bus 45 north from Fabre - 15 minute walk from either metro)
*I will be in Edmonton at this time, but my husband, Jean-François, and my good friend, Yukari, will be at this show to get you whatever you need (^_^) As with all events at the JCCCM, you'll find LOTS of great eats too!

Saturday December 11: 11am to 6pm
Sunday December 12: 11am to 6pm
Holiday Bazaar presented by Old Skool Crafts
Eglise St-Michel, 105 St-Viateur W., corner St-Urbain, Montreal

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Can't forget about my kitties, it IS Friday after all! So for Friday Cat Blogging, here's my Chibi (aka Cheeb, la Chibette, Chicken Sally, Cheechee, Chili con chibi) having a snooze. Look at that face.

I tell ya', if I did not have my two cats, I would be a cranky, nasty, smelly (Chibi grooms me), crafty person with crazy high blood pressure. Well, cranki-ER and nasti-ER, my smelliness would stay about the same since I would then resort to grooming myself. Anyway, they can make me smile even on a horribly stressful day.

OK, to the studio. Now.

Um, NOW.

McGill's Farmers' Market!

September always whizzes by, a month of changes and the start of autumn crispness in the air. Love it!

This Wednesday September 22nd, I'll be at the McGill Farmers' Market, on the main campus of McGill University in downtown Montreal. I'll be there from 11am to 6pm at Three Bares Park (not a typo), along with Norma of CaraCarmina and the wonderful fresh produce of our local farmers of course! Looking forward to bringing home some fruits and veggies, as well as organic tofu, raw milk cheese and chocolate, mmmmm... Full list of this year's farmers is here.

I won't bring ALL my stuff since the tables are small, but I'll have a little of everything. Worked on some cards today... doo dee doo ♪ ♫ ♪