guilty pleasure: the wild life

This is a way overdue post for the Guilty Pleasure Movie Club. If you're new to the Sadie blog, the GPMC is a little get together I have with some friends, usually every Sunday, where we have a great dinner together (usually with a theme that can range from "The Depression" to "French") and then watch a movie that we are sort of embarrassed about liking. Usually. Sometimes we don't even know what the movie is going to be like,  most times the movie is actually awesome and watching it again (or for the first time) is pure pleasure, not much guilt. It's casual.

The last pick we had, before we all fell prey to finals and holiday madness, was made by Ryan and it was a beauty. A 1984 barely-heard-of (is that a fair assessment?) Cameron Crowe-written flick starring the likes of Chris Penn (R.I.P.) and Eric Stoltz: The Wild Life. Check out the trailer below. I wanted to post this in anticipation of our Christmas extravaganza Guilty Pleasure gathering. I can't wait to take a break from paper writing and watch what has to be one of the best Christmas movies ever made (hint: cotton-headed ninny muggins!) with some friends. And it's our last chance to host in our current apartment, which has a dishwasher. A bonus when lots of food is being consumed, which it surely will be tomorrow night. It's casual.

P.S. It is worth noting that The Wild Life has one of the most off-putting strip club scenes ever, and not for any reason you might be able to guess at. Let's just say it. is. so. 80s.

d.i.y. gift guide

So, after saying I'd just be too busy to keep up with posts here, I had an idea that I thought was best suited to getting out there now, rather than later. So, here it is, fresh finds (I hope some of them are new to you) for d.i.y. holiday gift ideas. I know some people like to shop till they drop this time of year, but for others it's a chance to make things by hand (and on a budget). Here are some homemade gift ideas that I think will make you look really thoughtful AND talented. And they're relatively easy, depending on what you have a talent for, so just making something already!

photo from Lune Vintage

Let's start with this tutorial to make a tassel necklace with Lune Vintage. So easy and awesome. I was at Dressew earlier this week and found a beautiful piece of navy leather in their giant leather scrap bin and made one for myself. It's going to be my new keychain, but I think the necklace idea is pretty swell too. The rest of the leather that I have leftover is for a project I'm hoping to get my mom's help with when I go home for Christmas (look out!). Follow the link above for a complete and very easy how-to guide on Lune.

Next up, make your own terrarium with instructions from Make Something. These look like really well laid out, easy to follow instructions, and we all know that terrariums are super hot right now. Perfect for those balcony-less apartments (just like the one I'm about to move into).

photo from make something

I feel like a bit of a 70s theme is emerging, so I won't encourage you to make a macrame plant hanger, but rather suggest the Delores Park cowl from Six One Seven. Super easy if you're not an advanced knitter. Circular needles are an easy way to start knitting in the round, and this pattern just uses really simple stitches and chunky yarn, which means you shouldn't still be working on this one come next Christmas.

Finally, if it's deliciousness you're after, need you go any further than Martha? (And I do like to believe we're on a first name basis.) If you can somehow still find peaches, this rosemary peach jam (which has been renamed "dignified fun" in our house) is amazing. It goes with every kind of cheese that you can think of and is pretty easy to make. For something a bit more seasonal, I've made these hazelnut-espresso cookies before and they are disgusting! Just kidding! They're amazing and they're a great pick-me-up during finals studying. Oh yeah, school...back to that.

Enjoy this extra-long, extra-amazing song by Sufjan Stevens while you get to work on your Christmas projects. When you've listened to both parts you're half an hour in...and you won't even notice the time going by! I think I might have to make those espresso cookies this afternoon.

light at the end of the semester

the new place could use a little paint; Lola seems to like it

We have a lot going on right now, so I know that my posts and shop listings are going to be slowed a little over the next couple of weeks. We're moving, I have two big papers due (one is my thesis), and I have two jobs at the university that are keeping me busy...not to mention jewelry! So, over the next few days I'll be writing, packing, writing, packaging up Christmas orders, wrapping presents, booking a truck, packing...well, you get the idea. Having said that, there are a couple of new listings in the Sadie shop for items I had at Portobello West: raw garnet meteor and polished quartz necklaces. Welcome to everyone who has just discovered the Sadie blog and shop! I'll be back soon with a special Sadie post. Keep checking in!

Here's a little video tour of Vancouver in the meantime. Black Mountain always reminds me of a certain night next to the Elbow River in Alberta, of all things. A bonfire, a blizzard, one of my favourite nights of all time.

let me tell you about my weekend

This post might sound like I'm gushing...because I kind of am right now when I talk about all of the things I'm about to cover. Besides the fact that school is extremely stressful for me right now, I have just had the most amazing weekend that has really helped put things in perspective and has given me motivation to just get 'er done between now and when I hand in my final draft of my thesis paper.

the sadie set up, portobello west

First of all, I did Portobello West this weekend and had a really great time meeting a ton of Vancouverites, talking about the jewelry that I make, and seeing (and tasting!) what other people make. Amazing and so much hard work and fun! Thank you to everyone who cruised our table, stopped to chat, or bought something. Every purchase means a lot and I'm so happy that my work is off to loving homes! And thanks for eating our candy, too...there was no way I wanted to bring all of that home with me tonight!

antique photo from the edmonton antique mall

Last night after the fair ended we went out for dinner with some friends to a restaurant that I'd had recommended to me a long time ago, but I still hadn't made good on my promise to go. Woah! I've been missing out! Check out the size of that dosa. Jeff is pointing at it for scale. And the before and after photos? A little explicit maybe, but I'm pretty proud of how much food we packed away. Saravanaa Bhavan specializes in all vegetarian South Indian cuisine. It's really affordable, central, and delicious. You should really go!

After the craft fair today I swung past my friend Matt's because he finally made good on his end of a trade we made. I gave him a couple of records from my record collection and he made me cookies with pretzels in them. He used pretzel M&Ms, which I think it a brilliant way to make pretzel filled cookies, and I'm definitely enjoying them more than I would enjoy the records I traded! Everybody wins!

AND THEN...I came home and saw this extremely lovely post on Dinosaur Toes. I sent a holy mountain necklace to Danielle as a thank you for all of her support in the first few months of Sadie and certainly had no expectations that she'd share it with her readers! I really love her work, and you should all check out her blog and shop. Her support has meant a lot to me, and if you like what I make, I know you'll like what she makes, too!

One more thing and then, I swear, I'll get back to work (and eating dinner). My very amazing, incredibly awesome babe-of-a-friend Heather just gave birth to her second son! I am so excited to meet him at Christmas and give Heather and Doug and their entire beautiful family a big squeeze (well, not too much squeezing on the baby!). I feel like my family just got a little bigger and the cuteness factor in my life has definitely just been taken up a notch or ten! Congrats a million times over to Heather and Doug and the new big brother. I love you guys!!! I promise you apple doughnuts are in our future!

Thanks to everyone who was part of making my weekend so awesome! I hope that you all had a great weekend, too! Now, back to those CAD drawings for me!

portobello west preview

crystal diorama by Jeff

Hi all, I hope you've had a great week. I am happy to have had my last class yesterday and now I have time (not enough?) to focus on writing my thesis paper (and another paper) and get ready for the holidays...oh, and move. So this is going to be a quick post with a few pictures of some of the things I'm going to have at Portobello West and available in the Sadie shop soon. Above is another one of Jeff's great crystal dioramas. This one is on beautiful, mossy green wolfinite and just so you know, that's a lumberjack, not a hunter! Below are some amazing faceted raw garnet chunks that I found this week. I can't wait to have a chance to turn them into something wearable, and I'm hoping to have the chance to do that later tonight, just in time for Portobello West. Garnet is supposed to keep you emotionally balanced and safe from bad dreams...just what every student needs at this point in the semester! I'm a bit of a skeptic about the powers of crystals, but not about the beauty of all these crazy rocks. These garnet chunks are a really deep red, which translates as a very warm, rich black from a distance. I love them.

faceted raw garnet

Finally, I'd just like to say hello to all who are finding me here through Lune Vintage. I'm super excited to have a sponsorship spot on Lune this month and am looking forward to reading all of the features on great designers and bloggers that will be on Lune in December. Thanks again to Jill for this great opportunity. I hope you'll all keep checking back! Welcome!