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5th Annual Studio Sale this Sunday

My good friend and fabulous artist Charlene Brown and I are doing a one day studio sale this Sunday. The sale is taking place at clayhaus studio at 1178 McMillan Avenue, 10am to 5pm.

Looking to get some Christmas shopping done? Do you have an eco-fashionista on your list? A piece of my jewelry might be the perfect gift for her. I have a line of silver jewelry that is made from recycled pure silver, beach glass I collected on my travels and recycled fresh water pearls . All pieces are handcrafted and one of a kind.

Or are you looking for a beautiful piece of pottery for someone on your list? To find out more about Char’s amazing pottery check out her website clayhaus.com

Come by the studio and get your Christmas shopping done this Sunday, Dec. 1 – 10am to 5pm! If you can’t make this Sunday and prefer online shopping go to anjastudios.etsy.com

Ciao

Anja

Recycled silver and sterling silver
Recycled silver and sterling silver
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DIY Christmas gifts – T-Shirt quilt

My favorite time of the year (except summer) is the time leading up to Christmas. I love how friendly people are, the beautiful Christmas decoration, Christmas music and I love giving gifts. The process of looking for the perfect gift or even better making the perfect gift for somebody you love. The anticipation of them opening the gift and the happiness and surprise on their face. I often make many of my Christmas gifts for my family and friends and this year was no different. I made Christmas ornaments for my friends (watch for DIY part 2 for instructions), I framed one of my screen prints for K. and the pièce de résistance this year is the quilt I made for him. He is a huge Star Wars fan and has been holding on to his old Star Wars T-Shirts. They have been sitting in a bag in our basement for years and he has refused to get rid of them. Years ago I had seen a quilt made from old T-Shirts and I thought that it would be a perfect way to recycle his shirts into something he can continue to use. He absolutely loved it and we have been enjoying naps on our sofa over the holidays covered with our warm and eco-friendly Star Wars quilt.

It was easy to make, so if you have a collection of band T-Shirts or souvenir shirts from your travels, this is a great way to make something that you can continue to cherish for many years to come. Here are step by step instructions with some pictures.

T-Shirt quilt
T-Shirt quilt
  1. Wash all your T-Shirts.
  2. Layout your shirts on the floor and decide on the size for each square (I made them all the same size but you could have different sizes. I decided on the size based on the shirt with the largest graphic).
  3. Create a template from a piece of cardboard.
  4. Place the template on each shirt and outline using a fabric marker or you can also use a Sharpie and then cut them out using scissors.
  5. Once you have all shirts cut place them on the floor and decide on the layout (I didn’t have enough shirts so I used the back of some of the shirts to add blank squares).

    Decide on the layout
    Decide on the layout
  6. Start sewing each horizontal row by placing the first squares together (with image area facing each other) and sew using a straight stitch. Then add the next square etc. until you have each horizontal line sewn together.
  7. Before you sew all the individual rows together, press the seams apart on the back and pin in place.
  8. Place the first two of the horizontal rows together (image area facing each other), make sure to line up the seams and pin in place.
  9. Sew using straight stitch and repeat with all rows.

    All squares sewn together
    All squares sewn together
  10. Decide on the size of your quilt (the size of your sewn together T-Shirts or do you want to have a border around).
  11. Choose a fabric for the back (I decided to use a nice warm fleece), and buy quilt batting (make sure to get some extra batting).
  12. Place fleece on the floor add quilt batting and place T-Shirt front on top.
  13. Use large safety pins to connect all 3 fabrics together (I used one safety-pin per square).
  14. If you are making a border with the fleece like I did, fold over the fleece and pin together.
  15. Pin corners.
  16. Sew along the border of the quilt.
  17. Sew the corners (I sewed them by hand with a blind stitch).

    Hand sewn corners
    Hand sewn corners
  18. Connect all 3 layers together throughout the quilt by placing a couple of stitches wherever the panels meet. This will ensure that the fabrics don’t move around. Remove the safety-pins.

    Place a couple of stitches to connect all 3 layers of fabric
    Place a couple of stitches to connect all 3 layers of fabric
  19. Snuggle up on the sofa with your warm quilt and have a hot tea or a hot chocolate.

If you have any questions just let me know. Enjoy!

Love

Anja

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Holiday art show & sale

I am joining two amazing artists (Charlene Brown and Colleen Leduc) to put on a holiday art show/sale. Come and join us at Clayhaus on Nov. 24 & 25 (12 to 5). A great chance to see some great local art and to get some Christmas shopping done. There will be pottery, paintings, photography, screen prints, jewelry and accessories made from recycled materials to choose from.

Hope to see you at the show!

Ciao!
Anja

xmas_show_and_sale

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Humane Society visit

Over lunch a few of the girls at work and our dogs (Luna, Ninee and Guss)  went to the Winnipeg Humane Society. We had seen on twitter that they were in need of rawhide for their dogs, so all of our dogs gave up their allowances to buy them some treats. We even got a tour of the entire facility and got to see all the puppies. On top of having wonderful staff and volunteers, the building is also very beautiful and environmentally friendly. They tried to include as many local building products as possible and they even have a rainwater collection system. Just all around an incredible place!

Here are a few pictures of our trip. Luna also got a new winter jacket from their cute little store.

Ciao

cutie
sharing the love
will keep me warm this winter
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Xmas sale

I can’t believe it’s that time of the year already when we all start thinking about Christmas shopping. My good friend and fellow artist Charlene Brown and I have joined forces this year and are putting on a Christmas sale at Charlene’s studio. Please come visit us….drink some coffee….do a little shopping (pottery, jewelry, photography and textiles)….Nov 26 & 27, 12-5p, 1178 McMillan.

Xmas sale
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Green Christmas Gifts

I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas filled with quality time with you friends and family. K. and I had a really nice Christmas. We went a bit overboard again with gifts. It’s just so hard because there are so many things I think he would love. I absolutely loved the presents I got from him. I got a new winter jacket and hat made from hemp (hoodlamb.com). And they are not just pretty and warm! The outer shell is made from 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton and the lining is made from hemp and recycled plastic. I absolutely love it!

I made most of my Christmas presents again this year. Here is what I gave as presents: my jewelry made from recycled silver, beach glass, beach/river rocks, hand-made pottery, eco-friendly cup cozies made from recycled clothing, homemade hot chocolate mix and homemade cookies.

Did you get or give any green gifts for Christmas?

I apologize for the bad pictures of my jacket (K. was having a hard time with my camera 🙂 ).

Ciao and happy new year!