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sarah norwood

Woot!

Uncategorized June 13, 2013
Yesterday was one of those super productive days that left me feeling like She-Ra! Princess of Power! I got so much done, and I think I might be knocking down my wait time.
I feel like a tool sometimes.  I’ve been doing this “full time” since January (quit my job in October, but actually still worked there for much longer!) and I only feel like now am I getting the hang of my production level.  I am feeling good, meeting deadlines, and hoping to reduce my processing time soon.  I am an impatient person, so knowing that I make people wait stresses me out.
Anyway, I feel accomplished and ready for another day of sewing…
Today I should be receiving some freshly printed tags, which I am very excited about.   I have been working with a graphic designer on some new banners and print materials for packing my items.  I really enjoy wrapping up a finished garment, so it will be nice to have some professionally designed & printed stickers and tags to accompany my handiwork. 

Let there be sun

Uncategorized June 11, 2013

I’m just going to say it.  So far summer has sucked.  It rains all the time.  It’s cold.  Our furnace still runs.  It’s June. C’mon.

That being said, it looks like some nice weather may be approaching.  I want to go camping.  We have gone out for a few hikes over the last week.  Oliver is becoming a real outdoors man.  He balances across logs, has no fear of the mud, he does all of these things he used to be afraid to do.  It is wonderful.  He loves it.

I have been feeling stressed lately, lots going on, mostly good stuff, but still stressful.  Being outside, wandering through the woods is the best medicine.  I really hope we can go camping soon.  I want bacon and eggs cooked over a Coleman Stove, and S’mores and hot dogs cooked on a stick over the fire.  I want to stay up late and talk and stare at the stars, then crawl sleepily in to the tent and snuggle with my husband with the sleeping bags zipped together and the dog at our feet, and wake up bright and early with the messiest hair and drink too-strong camping coffee with powdered creamer… Camping is just the best.

I have a few fun things coming up.  Next week I am making a trip to Wonderland, an amusement park outside of Toronto, with my cousins and my best-bud, Abbey.  I am really looking forward to it.  I love the rides, and the funnel cake.

I also have a birthday coming up soon, and thus far I have no plans (still).  I am contemplating treating myself to a mani-pedi and hair cut & colour… maybe having a few people over for a BBQ.  I dunno. I’m not a party person (I also only have like 3 friends here lol).  I gotta do something… It’s stressing me out.

I have also been working on some pieces for Finery Boutique, and trudging through my backlog. I am at least staying within my 8 week production time, but my goal is to get it down to 4-6.  I keep reminding myself of the “fast, good, cheap” adage, and that you can only achieve two of those three things…

On that note, it’s time for me to get to work.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

  

Poor Baby

Uncategorized June 6, 2013
My poor baby.  Yesterday was quite the day for Oliver.  He has been sleeping since he got home yesterday afternoon, only occasionally getting up to stumble around the house.  It nearly broke my heart when I dropped him off at the vet.  Aside from when he was a puppy, he hasn’t had to have a trip to the vet where he has to stay by himself.  The look in his eyes when I had to leave was horrible.  When I came to pick him up later he was so drugged and dazed I don’t think he even knew what was going on.  Poor thing ended up having two teeth out, one if them right in the front so now Oliver looks extra special when he smiles! I think he will probably be pretty sleepy for the next day or so.  The molar they removed was very large so I can imagine it must kinda hurt…  The one nice thing is I get extra cuddle time now.

Yesterday ended up kind of being a write-off work wise.  My stomach was in knots about having Oliver at the vet, so I wound up taking a friend of mine, and his little boy, out to a few of the hiking trails just outside of town. That kid is a trooper, he hiked for hours! We had a great time.  It was nice to spend the day outdoors, kept my mind off my poor little dog.

Today I will  bundle Oliver up in his bed and catch up… It’s rainy and cold outside so I won’t feel like doing much else.

In other news, I finally upgraded my crappy old Blackberry to an iPhone, which came in the mail on Tuesday.  It is nice to have a phone that I can actually work from.  I was ready to throw mine out the window.  I was paying an arm and a leg for a data plan that I could barely use wtih my old phone.  Cell phone plans in Canada are ridiculously expensive… The fun thing about my new phone is I can finally get on Instagram.

Lastly, Anna is hosting a Give Away for my Lola Panties Pattern! The Give away ENDS tomorrow, so get on over there and enter!

Around the House

Uncategorized June 3, 2013
I mentioned before that Dan and I have been doing a lot around the outside of the house.  Yesterday we got out and finally picked up a bunch of things that we have been wanting for a while.  Dan and I are pretty frugal and not at all impulsive when it comes to buying things, I think as a result of years and years of ‘artists’ budgets.  We tend to hmmm and haaaa over purchases for weeks, which is a good thing (though we occasionally miss a sale or two as a result).  Yesterday we came home with a fire bowl for having fires in the back yard, solar lights, new rugs, new sheets, new pillows, and less excitingly, a new dehumidifier for the basement.
We extended all of our gardens this year.  When we first moved in, there were no gardens at all, though there was a hosta growing through the gravel driveway, and an iris in the grass.  Last year we put in small gardens, and this year we have extended them a lot.  We still have more to do, I want the gardens to go along either side of the new path we made in the back yard (which also still has to be finished).
Before & After! Not much left to do, except for the plants to grow.

I planted many more perennials this year, most of which I was able to take from my mom’s gardens. My yard is very shady, with the exception of a few spots, so it was kind of challenging to plan the garden.  I mixed my vegetables in with my flowers instead of doing separate beds, and I planted wisteria to grow along the lattice on our back porch.  I am surprised at how well it was doing, I didn’t really think it would take here…

Our garden last year, next to our garden this year.
Our yard was such a mess when we moved in.  There were rocks everywhere, the grass hardly grew, the driveway and front lawn had become nearly indistinguishable from the other. I really like looking back at the house before we moved in, and comparing it to what we have done.  It feels good. I still remember how much I hated this house when I first walked in the door.  It’s funny because I absolutely adore it and all of it’s quirks now.
A work in progress, that garage needs to go!
Aside from finishing digging the rest of the gardens, I also want to paint the back wall of our house.  As you can see, something has happened that has caused them to have to re-brick the back exterior wall.  For whatever reason, they didn’t even attempt to match the brick… so we will paint that part.  It is something that really drives me crazy, and I hope we can take care of it soon.  Our garage is also falling down, so we need to tear it down and rebuild. I want to plant hostas and lilies along the back fence to hide some of the patchy parts of the fence, and once all of that is done, I will be satisfied! We will have a backyard oasis!
Oliver is wondering which plant he should crush next. 

Oliver is not taking well to his new diet.  He is such a stubborn dog and he hates change (Dan and Oliver are so a like!).  He refused to eat for a day and a half, and finally ate last night around 7 after Dan coaxed him into eating.  The worst part for Oliver is that he can’t have any treats or bones right now until we get his potential allergy thing figured out.  I feel bad for  the little guy…

Our pebble path and fire pit

Love these flowers, they look like jelly fish

My rhododendron in bloom

Our new-ish front door!

The Every Day Stuff…

Uncategorized June 1, 2013

I’ve gotten out of the habit of blogging! I like to blog a few times a week – it’s theraputic and I love writing, but I’ve fallen off the bandwagon.  I haven’t been able to sleep the last few nights. I got up around 4:30 this morning and got a head start on some work, and now finally have some time to devote to a non-lingerie related post.

Yesterday I took the day off.  I didn’t sew a thing!  I had to take Oliver to the vet for his annual checkup and shots, and then afterwards I spent the day with my mom, visiting antique stores, wandering downtown, visiting with my aunt, and enjoying a nice lunch at a little bistro! It was really nice, very relaxing.
Oliver’s vet visit was interesting… He has been having re-occurring ear “infections,” though they don’t really fit all of the symptoms of a normal infection.  They are itchy and gunky and bothersome, but not smelly, and they occur very often.  So, that combined with his itchy feet has my vet suspicious that he may have a food allergy.  This is tough news for Oliver who loves to eat table scraps at my parents house, and whatever else he can scavenge.  I was really surprised to learn that dogs often have allergies to proteins, like the meat in their diet.  So… I’m going to try him on a new diet and see if it will make my little love more comfortable.  It breaks my heart when I know he is uncomfortable… Anyone else have a dog with skin/ear issues related to diet?
When the vet checked his mouth she also found a fractured tooth which was very surprising because I brush his teeth every so often with a finger brush and hadn’t noticed it.  The tooth has fractured straight up towards the root and probably looks worse than it is!  I have a “tooth thing” so it really freaks me out to think about. We will get it fixed this month, when his bloodwork comes back.  He will be an expensive little dog this month, but for me, it is worth it.  Oliver is my baby, and I couldn’t fathom having anything happen to him… I don’t think that it had really been bothering him, but I noticed that he won’t let me pull his lip back to see it anymore (without a little struggle), so I think that the poking and prodding might have bothered it a little.
Cheese! Smile for the Camera!
Oliver will be six this year.  I can’t believe I’ve had him that long.  He is just the best little dog.  He has enriched my life and changed me in ways that I never thought a dog could impact a person.  He is just an interesting little creature, full of personality.  I am so grateful that Oliver & I found each other.
Playing with the Kong in the pool
Oliver has done a lot of cool things lately.  He is a timid dog around new people, and a little unsure of himself.  Since we had the birthday party at the agility training center, and he had such success on the equipment, he has managed to balance across a log to cross a river, and even went into the lake up to his belly! Those were two things he would never do before! It is really neat to see his confidence build.  If we can afford it, I would love to enroll him in some agility training classes this winter.

Today, Dan and  I are heading up to our old High School today.  It is being closed, so they are having an open house for former students.  I’m really looking forward to a little nostalgia.  I am one of those rare people who really loved high school, though I was definitely not a popular kid.  But, I had Latin Class and Latin Club and German Class and teachers who nourished my little mind and a library full of books with comfy chairs and a small group of weird, artsy, goth friends, and it was just a wonderful, enriching time in my life. I walked past the high school a few weeks ago, and it was so faded and worn out.  It was a little sad to see a monument of such a fondly remembered time of my life in a state of disrepair.  I really hope to see my Latin Teacher there.  Though I didn’t end up pursuing a career in the classics, as was my original plan, she had a huge impact on my life and my interests and opened up a whole new realm of language to me.  

Other than that, not much is going on.  We are slowly landscaping our back yard, adding more gardens and a pebble path using rocks we are pulling out of the gardens.  It’s hard work, but it looks good and I enjoy the gardens.  I am also turning 30 in a month, so I am trying to decide how I would like to spend the day.  I’m not a party person, but I want to do something to mark the day…

Nautical Mix…

Uncategorized May 29, 2013
I like stripes.  Maybe you haven’t noticed.  But for me, stripes are the best pattern, even better than floral.  Stripes can be easily mixed with other patterns, they add a variety of colours to your wardrobe, they are somewhat masculine feeling to me, so I like to pair them with feminine details. When I was looking at the fabrics I had pulled for my latest pieces, I realized I had blue and white, black and cream, charcoal and white, yellow and white, and red and white stripes… I don’t think I’ve left any out!
Sleep Tight

Adrift

A Classic

Nautical Trio

Navy

Chrysanthemum
Photography by Franey Miller (http://franeymiller.net)
Modeled by Alida
Makeup by Cassie Lynn Young 
Hair by Jade Mulgrew

Chrysanthemum

Back

Uncategorized May 27, 2013

I’m not even sure where to start… I completely overhauled my Etsy shop this weekend.  I had so many old pieces, with photographs I wasn’t 100% satisfied with so I took an inventory, re-shot old pieces, and added a ton of new items.  Basically everything in my shop is new, save for a few old standards.  I don’t even know what to show first.

I had the pleasure of working (remotely) with a photographer currently based out of Louisville, Franey Miller (http://www.franeymiller.net/).  She, along with a very talented Makeup Artist, Hair Sylist, and Model, did an amazing job capturing exactly what I was feeling with my new pieces. I just love, love, love these photos to pieces.  I wasn’t entirely thrilled with my last collection.  I felt under pressure to make new items, and wasn’t feeling inspired by anything in particular.  The result were pieces that were nice… but not really cohesive, and not entirely ‘me’. I am much, much, much more happy with these pieces.  I have introduced a new style – a brazilian cut panty (kept these samples for myself, I LOVE these), and some cropped camisoles. I added more basics, I branched into Neon, I added more nautical. I focused on the fun, quirky things I love.

So, I think I’m out of my funk. I think I worked right out of it.  I am happy with my shop – everything looks consistent and ‘me.’  I played around with my camera more, and tried some new techniques.  I am happy as a clam.

Rose Cropped Cami
Photography by Franey Miller (http://franeymiller.net)
Modeled by Alida
Makeup by Cassie Lynn Young 
Hair by Jade Mulgrew

Rose Panties
Honeysuckle Cropped Cami & Linen Panties
Photography by Franey Miller (http://franeymiller.net)
Modeled by Alida
Makeup by Cassie Lynn Young 
Hair by Jade Mulgrew

Sheer Mesh
Peony Lingerie Set
Photography by Franey Miller (http://franeymiller.net)
Modeled by Alida
Makeup by Cassie Lynn Young 
Hair by Jade Mulgrew

Peony Lingerie Set

Bow Sleep Mask

Another week bites the dust…

Uncategorized May 18, 2013
Remember when you were five years old and a half an hour seemed like an eternity? I have this very vivid memory of being a kid, eagerly anticipating when my favourite show, She-Ra, would be on.  I remember asking my mom how long I would have to wait to see the Princess of Power in all of her sword-wielding glory.  “Half an Hour.” Half an hour felt like it could have been forever.  I remember thinking, “what the heck can I do for half an hour to make the time go by?” Half an hour was an eternity .. Now, a week flies by in a blink.  It’s scary, really. 
Thank you for your thoughts and comments on my last post.  I’m still feeling a little “blah” but had a better week.  I got a lot done, especially yesterday. I think I will have about 6 orders to pack up and send out this afternoon.   I finally am caught up and keeping up with orders and wrapping my head around the fact that it’s good to have a never ending “to do” list.
I did a few things I enjoyed this week.  I went to the park with my cousin and her little boy. I watched him run that funny, teetering way kids run, and watched him swing, and slide, and climb, and giggle.  My cousin and I took turns on the swing ourselves, which was way more fun than I remembered.  I planted some flowers in my planters by the front door, and sunk my hands right in the dirt which was cool and felt good on my sore hands.  I am not really a very good gardener, but I really enjoy gardening.  It reminds me of my grandma, my parents, summer days as a kid. I listened to two audiobooks – one great and one so-so (and I will take book recommendations please! I’m into thrillers / mysteries / historical non-fiction / some horror).  So, overall, it was a nice week.  I feel like I’m getting back in the groove.
This weekend is Victoria Day Weekend, which is the unofficial start of summer (oh, and a day to honour Queen Victoria with fireworks).  Dan has three days off and I am looking forward to spending more time in the garden (weather permitting).
On Thursday I photographed some new items on the new backdrops I made.  I think I have stencil-fever because I want to stencil an entire wall now.  Anyway,  I also pulled out a couple of my antique magazines from my collection to use as backdrops  I totally forgot that I had picked up a copy of Delineator Magazine from 1906 a few months ago.  I never really considered myself a ‘collector’ but I suppose I actually do ‘collect’ fashion magazines, pre-1930.  There is an antique store downtown that I visit on a monthly basis, and snatch up any magazines they may have.
The Delineator is a magazine I’ve always wanted to own, so I was really excited when I found this.  The only thing that upsets me about this purchase is they stuck the price sticker right on the front cover.  Doh! That was disappointing, but it was inexpensive and I love it anyway.  I just love the illustrations in these magazines.  I love imagining what it would have been like to wear these clothes.  This magazine is from 1906, when you think about it, that’s not really that long ago and look at how much fashion (and the world) has changed.

Sunday Morning

Uncategorized May 12, 2013
Ho hum… that ‘down’ feeling that I had talked about a month or so ago still hasn’t seemed to have left.  We had a week or so of some nice, warm weather, but it’s cold again… cold enough that there is a risk of snow/rain over night… Perfect timing too, since I bought a bunch of plants yesterday. I was feeling better when it was nice enough to get outside, but I’m back to feeling “blah… nothing matters… what’s the point…” again.
I had a disappointingly unproductive week.  I felt like everything this week was a massive effort.  Just dragging myself out of bed was horrendously hard.  I normally am a morning person, so sleeping in is unusual for me.  I don’t know what it is.  Nothing is wrong, everything is going well, business is steady, Dan’s work is going well, we are all healthy, I have no perceivable reason to feel anything but content… but I just feel blank. Not happy, not sad, just nothing at all. If you get to really know me, you will find I am a bizarre mix of extremes – I love things, and I despise things, I do things to the max, so feeling “meh” just feels absolutely bizarre.  I desperately want to feel excited about something.  As a result, I have been unusually quiet on my blog.  I feel guilty about talking about feeling down, when there is nothing particularly wrong.  I feel like a crazy person, unjust in my feelings, like I should just zip-it because other people have it much harder than I do. I know it’s going to be hard for me to click the “Publish” button on this post, but I will do it anyway.
I have been working on summer pieces, and stenciled some new backgrounds to take photos on.  That was kind of fun.  I like doing crafty things like that… My new summer items are mostly cotton, with some linen, crochet lace details, and some flapper-esque sequins, lots of peach & pale yellow.  I have a few more stripey items to finish up.  I can’t help it, I just love stripes.  I realized the other day, while preparing some new pieces, that I had 3 stripe variations that I was working on.  Stripes are just the perfect print.  I also am working on a bunch of cropped camisoles.  I like the idea of cropped cami’s for summer… I got some gold metal sliders, which I like very much.  I feel like they give the straps a jewelry feel.  The only other thing I want to incorporate into this collection is some fine silver chain.  I’m not entirely sure how I will do this yet, I have a vision in my mind’s eye which hasn’t come quite clear yet, but it will reveal itself to me…
The worst thing about the way that I am feeling right now is that I feel like it’s really reflecting itself in my work – not in the quality or creativity really, but in my perception of it.  I look at things that I finish and instead of giggling gleefully, I stare blankly and add it to the pile.  I’ve shown a few pieces to my husband, and they have elicited an unusually excited response, a wide-eyed “ooooo.” But that hasn’t stopped my pile of unfinished, unphotographed pile of lingerie from growing. I feel like I woke up one day with all of my confidence and zeal just drained out of me.  What happened?  When will it come back?

Refreshing…

Uncategorized May 6, 2013
I am no longer allowed to complain about the weather… at least until it starts getting too hot.  We had unseasonably warm weather last weekend, which was great because we went out of town for a wedding, which happened to be outdoors.  It was absolutely beautiful, one of the nicest weddings I’ve ever been to, so full of love and personal touches.  The groom was an old friend of Dan’s who I hadn’t met yet, and I’d only had the pleasure of emailing back and forth with the Bride.  The ceremony & vows were so sweet it actually brought a tear to my eye! It was wonderful.  Totally made me want to have another wedding.
The location was pretty far, about a 3 hour drive for us, so Saturday was a pretty long day, considering Dan worked in the morning.  We left the wedding around midnight, crashed at our Motel.  I couldn’t sleep, which isn’t unusual.

We woke up really early on Sunday, packed our bags, and headed into town for breakfast.  I thought Orillia was small.  Goderich, which is on the edge of Lake Huron, is very, very small, and pretty remote! It’s a beautiful town though.  Staring off over Lake Huron feels like you’re looking over the ocean, it is so vast.

We took a very long, very winding way home, up around the lake.  I think it took us about 5 hours in total to get home… Along the way I saw a sign for “Eugenia Falls.” I remembered a few years back, my parents, brother and I decided to head out for a family road trip and went to “Eugenia Falls.”  We quickly took the turn up an old, desolate county road and followed the signs.  It was just as awesome as I remember.  The area is fairly hilly, though not nearly as rocky as the area just north of us, so the landscape is really unexpected. The other side of this canyon is a sheer drop off, just one flat rock wall.  In the picture below, you can see a tree leaning dangerously over the ledge…

The coolest part of Eugenia Falls is this abandoned shell of what I think is an old mill (?).  I have to admit, there was a sign, but I didn’t read it.  A few years ago, Dan’s mom gave Dan a framed print of a photo she had taken of some graffiti.  It turns out that she had taken the photo here, because we recognized the exact piece. The building is very cool, but has started to crumble a bit since I was there last.

As we got closer to Collingwood, the views from the hills were amazing.  We were surprised to see snow still on the ski hills, considering it was 28 degrees Celsius! We pulled over at an Entry Point to the Bruce Trail, and took a bit of a walk. The view was amazing! I love driving across Ontario because the landscape changes so drastically.  It is such an amazing large province.

Our weekend away was exactly what we needed.  Everything was just perfect.  I think it gave me a little perspective over my life, and the importance of work/life balance, which I’m still trying to get a grasp over. 
This week will be busy. I am pretty caught up on my orders, just two stragglers to catch up with this week, but I am also preparing for a photoshoot at the end of the month.  I am meeting with someone from a local fundraising group this morning, hoping I can get involved in a local Bra Decorating event, which I am looking forward to.  I am also looking forward to hopefully another weekend of great weather, because Dan and I are planning our first camping trip of the season!  I think this might be the year that we try backcountry camping.