two worlds collide.

two worlds, one space.

and then we performed at the etsy labs in berlin.

huge thanks to anda, matt and dave for helping make this wonderful evening happen.

and thanks to kayla for a fantastic tour.

packing light.

in all the kickstarter hubbub circling 'round the campfire here, i have hardly had time to talk about my impending trip to europe. for the most part, it is not a craft-related trip (although i will try to find the time to take small side-trips and report on crafty happenings). i am going on tour to perform a string of dates with one of my improvised theatre collaborators, kayla lorette. you can find out more about all of that and our work together here.

phew! what a whirlwind of ups and downs this past few weeks have been. i can hardly believe the date of departure is upon us. as split as over-burdened as my multiple projects/lives can make me, i am sure am happy for the opportunity to travel so far afield and to perform with such an incredibly talented young lady.

to slovenia and beyond!

as promised.

here is a fruit of shannon's labours.

fast work and stunning results. it's hard not to love her.

again, these are images for one of my performance projects, the sufferettes (soon to be touring europe).

sufferetiquette.

photo by dustin parr

this is not very craft related (yet) but i thought i would pipe up at the end of this family day to mention another project that has been theiving my time of late. as some of you may or may not know, i have another life as a comedy/improv/theatre performer. it's a dwindling life as i work towards fully committing myself to art and craft, but i am still allowed some pretty exciting flourishes. and man do i love the rush of the stage (if not the gnawing anxieties that come with it).

one of these flourishes is quickly rumbling towards me in the form of another european tour, this time with kayla lorette (that's us together up above) as the sufferettes.

whenever a tour or project like this pops up, i end up extra thankful to have access to the incredibly talented people in my life. with all of two emails, i had dusty on board to make us look appealing and an agreement from shannon to make us some artwork for gig posters and online promotion. we did a photo shoot with shan today. you can be sure i will post the results of her labours here and there when we get them.

the sufferettes' european tour is still taking shape, but you can find our tour plans (and maybe other stuff) here.

peaks.

did you know that twin peaks (the best thing ever to appear on television) is twenty years old? twin peaks had a lot to do with me becoming an actor (and nothing to do with me mostly quitting).

but that kind of has nothing to do with how i start hats more than i finish them. sometimes, i just run out of harmonizing colours and have to wait. the one on the far left is made from the yarn i just spun, the little one is made of a plying example that kristyn gave me and the other one is scratchy lopi that nobody but me will ever love. maybe i should give up on hats. when i look at their beginnings like this, i just want to crochet a mountain range.

then i could live in its shadow, eat pie, tuck my blouses into my skirts, smell like a pulp mill and possess dark secrets. i should pull those dvd's out again.

demands of an alternative existence.

where did becky go? well, to tell the truth, i really want to be here with you, internet of crafty people. but my life and time has been abducted once again by this other life i used to/secretly have as some sort of performer.

in this case, i have had the great honour to be asked by the theatre centre and harbourfront centre to co-curate a mixed program cabaret night with my #1 enemy, bob wiseman, as part of free fall '10. enter the bob and becky cabaret!

i am pretty excited about the show. between the two of us, we have the ability to book an incredibly eclectic evening of creative performances. i am very much looking forward to it. many of bob's picks are people that i have never seen, so i am going to be seeing much of this work for the first time, too. bob and i have also been working together on a couple of new collaborative pieces. so far, they both involve me trying to be musical (for my part, i tend to be supplying some sort of narrative structure to the goings-on). for a #1 enemy, bob is a very good teacher and supportive friend - even when i cry because he tries to make me sing and i am so bad at it.

we will return to your regularly scheduled nonsense after the weekend is over. but for now, i highly recommend that you check this evening out if you are in toronto on saturday. i perform a lot on the sly, but feel very urgently about getting people to see this show. i believe this will be the kind of thing that has never happened before and will never happen again (my favourite kind of show). watching me and kayla kick asses at catch23 is also a good idea, this only more so.

and that poster? tyler made it.

graphing sales.

tonight, aitor got serious about organizing the trampoline hall merch table (my post at the show when i am not away). oh, ephemeral pursuits, why do you woo us so?

vandalous and scandalous.

just a quick note to say that the torontoist vandalist column used another one of my pictures. i wish i could take credit for the art itself. instead, i make pale images of it. but at least my non-neighbours among you can share in the joy.

in other news, aitor and i are off to do a comedy show together (kinda). this will perhaps be our first performance collaboration, unless i appeared in his stage debut in edmonton where he played a travelling moustache salesman in an improvised kids show - but i think i just watched. it's only kinda because he is judging catch23, the weekly improv showdown i co-produce here in toronto (my other not-so-secret life). it will be our valentine's edition, filled with real life couples, romance counsellors, a series of trists, and my ex boyfriend sitting next to aitor and playing music on his gameboy. you know...a happening you will only be able to see once. tonight.

typeface the facts.

this was fun. altough, i do doubt my own ability to self-assess (a requirement for this fun questionnaire.)

van doesburg. see, i wasn't even aware of this font. looks like i have another thing to research.

(this came to me via davis, by the way.)

bunting and birds.

i made a little visit to the tail end of quilt sunday at the workroom today. really, i was just having some rendez-vous and picking up trunk show flyers.

i am glad that the bunting is still up everywhere. it made the grey day look nice.

craftanthropy.

so, i am curating tomorrow night's trampoline hall (a local weirdo lecture series, for those who do not know) and have found a way to meld worlds by including a lecture about crafts.

actually, through cross-pollination of the multiple worlds i inhabit, i discovered that one of my theatre world friends had a pronounced aversion to crafts. in a way, monday night's loose theme of aversions came from this discovery.

anyway, steve obviously had to lecture about this craft-hate, but i also wanted to torment him a bit so he has been on a mini-gauntlet of handmade skill. i figured he had to experience some of his repulsions if he wanted to properly report on them. above are pictures of him a) knitting a pin cushion with kristin at the knit cafe and b) book binding with leah of the coldsnap bindery in my kitchen.

he got off so easy by avoiding paste, clay and anything else icky. don't think i don't know this. scheduling was really your friend, steve.

shannon gerard will be lecturing on whales and jen goodhue will be lecturing on other lives, too.

trampoline hall is tomorrow night at the garrison in toronto. the show always sells out and a few rush tickets go on sale at the door at 6:30 (but they go so fast).

i couldn't have said it better myself.

time and space capsule.

this is what this was all about. it was done for this. here it is bigger.

thank you to aitor, serena and anahi for illustration and companionship.

cake.

what i have been helping do for the past two days. i am too exhausted to write much.

this is cathy.

this is nuit blanche.

put them together. giant cake!

happy birthday.

happy birthday, aitor!

the celebrations began last night with an outing to see our favorite yodeling country crooner, petunia, who just happened to be passing through town and playing the dakota tavern. if petunia is in your town, you should see him.

today we celebrated with roti from mother india and cupcakes from our corner cupcakery, yummy stuff (he chose bacon chocolate while i went for a classic red velvet).

gifts had to be minimal this year as it has not been a flush one for us, but bourbon and coffee always seem to sedate the reverend's baser needs. he seems happy. and full.

welcome to another year on earth, sweetie!

private screening.

on thursday, i was lucky enough to get to spend some evening time with shannon and willy who were kind enough to help me screen print some new shirts for my improv duo, iron cobra.

it was my first ever attempt at registration (even though shannon did all the hard work of pulling). and i think the end product turned out very well. the artwork is by the ever-brilliant reverend aitor.

if you know where to find iron cobra, you know where to find one of this small run of shirts (i'll give you a hint: we're going to atlanta this week and starting a monthly show in toronto at the end of the month).

thanks shannon and willy and aitor. the shirts look rad.

and special thanks to willy for being our biggest/smallest fan and getting a custom shirt on the spot. well, he's a fan of aitor's artwork, anyway. he has yet to see iron cobra. but willy has threatened to come out to shows with his swear jar. he'd clean up!

prairie tales.

i made these special buttons today as gifts for my friends lee and steve who had aitor and i on their weekly radio show here in winnipeg. these buttons (made on the new 3" machine) represent some great technological leaps for me - ribbons, duotones (although you can't tell), etc.

we had a great time on the show. the boys are very fun and attentive hosts. we also got to field call-ins from folks like janet and another fellow who liked to spread gossip about her. thank, you 'peggers! we always enjoy ourselves in your breezy folds.

the crumbs show is every monday at 5:00pm on umfm in winnipeg (but also streaming live on the internet).

window dressing.

photo by massdistraction

i am not ashamed to announce that i will be coming out of my button making shell this sunday when i will find myself on delicate display in the window of one of my favorite chicagoland stores, uncle fun. i will be there making buttons for your amusement and fascination (and my own stamina challenging). since many people make buttons (chicago is not wanting for button prodigies by any stretch), i have decided to do more than just make buttons. instead, i am focusing on a redoubling of efforts in the security envelope department. were i seven different people, security envelope button production would never have slowed. but i am one person and there is sometimes rent to pay.

regardless of any of that, this sunday will see me turing a big heap of envelope guts into a smaller (but still impressive) heap of 1" buttons. marvel at the calming monotomy! wonder at the smallness of modern day factory manufacture! watch garbage become accessories! press your faces against the window and weird me out!

saturday will also see aitor doing unflattering portraits in the very same window. just sayin'. at the time of posting, there are still appointments left. scoop 'em up!

brokeback pontiac approaches.

i just got all the final artwork from the magnificent tyler brett for the upcoming fundraiser i have thrown together to make some much-needed car repairs after the last sweetie pie tour. the show, named brokeback pontiac (thanks, emma), will be a big evening of comedy, art and craft. i am very fortunate to have a lot of talented friends, many of whom have borrowed my car or benefited from it in some manner. so playing the guilt chip, i got to book a pretty superb line-up - not to mention the small silent auction of very special goodies.

for both a mini web page about the show and a preview of the items up for auction (a growinggallery), please look here. and mark your calendars! it's going to be a pretty fun evening.

stolen images from last night's event.

...from mr. graeme bunton. thanks, bunts!

piggy bank/lawn ornament from serena mccarroll's set/honest ed's

beautiful bokeh + low depth of field buttons.


andrew gardner predicts the future with a big bag of money in the background.

thanks to everyone, i had a great time! and special thanks to misha for putting up with me, my demands and the discomfort i put him through.