Swap Love and Gallery Goodness

Well I guess it's a good thing that I didn't sign on for blogging everyday in November, because I'm obviously not good at this game! Pooping out in the first week - pah!

I do have a nice little something to talk about today though! Swap love! I received my pin cushion swap package from Stacey. It's a cute wristlet pincushion. The top piece of fabric is a vintage kimono and it's backed with blue felt and a little pompom closure. My pictures don't do the kimono fabric justice. It's a much more vibrant pink. Thank you Stacey!

Yesterday I went over to my parents' house to work on candles for Christmas presents. My mom bought molds this year, so we won't repeat last year's paper towel roll fiasco. (Summary: Yes Martha, they do have a lovely textured rough look, but they are almost IMPOSSIBLE to seal. Running wax everywhere!) I scored three pounds of Acacia beeswax on Ebay, so we melted that down. I'm not going to use color or scent this year, because the wax has a lovely honey smell. I cannot wait to see how they turned out, because I had to leave before we could release the molds.

After the candle making we went to down town Rochester. Now this is where I grew up, and I can tell you that I never really felt an ounce of pride about it. Rochester has always kind of been scuzzy by reputation. However, the downtown has really cleaned up in the past couple of years. There are actually restaurants that are worth eating in and a few interesting shops. We only had minutes to spare so my mum took me to Artstream Studios. My goodness! It was a crafty oasis. For the first time in my life I actually saw "art" in a store that I'd be willing to shell out for, if I had any money worth speaking of. They had smaller hand made items that were completely reasonable as well. Claudine Hellmuth prints. Artists I had never heard of that were amazing and many local! I was so proud that something like this would be open in my hometown!

The studio is hosting a collaboration between dance students from
Elysium Dance Project, which is run by a former teacher/mentor of mine, poets and visual artists. They'll be doing an in studio performance this Saturday evening! I'm so there!

Artstream also has a very cool online store as well. I think I'll be checking out the "art under $30" section. Whoo hoo!