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Satin & Sand

Category Archives: Design

David Bowie and Beautiful Repurposing of Ticket Stubs…

20 Monday Feb 2023

Posted by Satin & Sand in Art, David Bowie, Design, Photography, Reflections, Repurposing, Travel

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Art, beautiful, David Bowie, Photography, Repurposing, Ticket stubs, Travel

© Joan Currie – Some of my old ticket stubs.

An art book is a museum without walls. – Andre Malraux

A while back, I came across a box of old art museum, music, and attraction ticket stubs from my various travels. I am so glad that I saved them as not only do they serve as touchstones for wonderful memories but because they are quite beautiful – miniature works of art in their own right! I took them out of the box and now use them as bookmarks in my art books. I have also done the same with airplane boarding passes, tram and train tickets.

During my travels last year, scan codes were used for all the attractions and I did not come home with a single ticket stub from any of the venues I visited! Photos, postcards, and maps will have to suffice but will not be the same as ticket stubs. Now I have no tangible connection to the time and place I visited nor do I have a beautiful work of art or photograph that was the best part of the art museum and attraction tickets.

My David Bowie concert ticket stub (above) reminds me of David Bowie performing on stage in a torrential downpour in Wellington, New Zealand! A scan code on my phone would not evoke that memory the same way the ticket stub does.

Beautiful Atomic Habits and Needlepoint Projects…

16 Thursday Feb 2023

Posted by Satin & Sand in Crafts, Design, Needlepoint, Sewing

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Atomic Habits, beautiful, Elizabeth Bradley, James Clear, Needlepoint

Changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound and turn into remarkable results if you’re willing to stick with them for years. – James Clear

I began the needlepoint project, pictured above, in October. It is entitled Hedgerow, from Elizabeth Bradley’s Natural History Collection. After I started working on it, I realized that it would take me about a year to complete due to the size of the canvas, the number of color changes (24 different colors of tapestry wool!), and the amount of time I had to devote to it – typically on a catch-as-catch-can approach. It usually takes me about three months to finish a needlepoint, so this one was a bit daunting by comparison. I knew I had to just get on with it. The needlepoint wasn’t going to get done by itself, but I wasn’t sure how to speed up the process.

However, last month I read James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits, after which I decided to make some changes to my morning routine. I now get up an hour earlier every morning to work on my needlepoint. The needlepoint canvas and wool are laid out on the sofa ready for me to pick up in the morning so I am able to start working right away – no set-up time is required. This activity may or may not be accompanied by a podcast or new music stream or just thinking about how I am going to structure my day to get the tasks done on my to do list.

Although it is still early with my new habit formation, I have to report that I am thrilled with my progress! I only complete a tiny square of stitches each day but I can see that over the last few weeks these tiny squares are accumulating nicely and the textile will, indeed, be completed by the summer – probably four months earlier than my projected finish date! Yay! (I will still have to sew it into a pillow, but that is another story.)

I have so many textile, studio art, and home improvement projects in the works that I have been somewhat frustrated (more like overwhelmed) wondering how I am going to get them all done. This needlepoint project is only one positive data point, but I plan to apply this process to the other projects and I am looking forward to the results!

Five Beautiful Tips on how to Upcycle Clothing…

29 Sunday Jan 2023

Posted by Satin & Sand in Crafts, Design, Fashion, Sewing, Tips, Upcycling

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beautiful, Five tips, Sewing, Upcycling

© Joan Currie – From blouse to bag. Simplicity pattern #2685, style D.

Upcycle definition: reuse discarded objects or material in such as way as to create a product of a higher quality or value than the original.

Last summer, I made a last minute purchase of a blouse to wear at a family celebration. Although I liked the fabric, it never really fit me properly despite my best tailoring efforts to salvage it. Yesterday, when I needed a black bag to go with an outfit, I thought it was time to put the blouse to a better use. I am happy with the result and thought I would share some upcycling and sewing tips:

  1. Source the fabric for your project from your clothes or family and friends’ donation boxes, garage sales, and thrift stores. Look for the largest sizes to yield the most fabric yardage.
  2. Be resourceful and don’t limit yourself to just clothing: wraps, and even sheets. drapes, and tablecloths can work well.
  3. Find a simple sewing pattern that will be easy to modify. I had found Simplicity pattern #2685 on Etsy. It required more fabric than what I could harvest from the blouse, so I decided to use a different, but complementary, fabric from my quilt stash for the lining. The lining fabric I selected wasn’t quite wide enough, but by decreasing the size of the lining pleats by a little, I got it to fit.
  4. Be creative by adding embellishments such as buttons and piping on the outside placard to make the bag truly your own. In this case, the fabric was so busy, I decided to eliminate the decorative placard all together.
  5. Don’t be afraid to mix and match pattern pieces from the various styles within the pattern package to meet your needs. I usually lengthen the straps, add an interior pocket for my phone, and attach a carabiner for my car and house keys.

There you have it. Happy Upcycling! xo

Simplicity pattern #2685 D.

Returning to a New Normal…

17 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by Satin & Sand in Design, Photography, Reflections

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coffee shop, Dublin, Normal, Normalcy, Routine

© Joan Currie

In the rush to return to normal, use this time to consider which
parts of normal are worth rushing back to. – Dave Hollis

Although I don’t like to think of myself as bound to a daily routine, it is this routine that gives me
perspective, stability, and structure, and makes stepping out of it all the more wonderful and exciting!

Home for Christmas…

23 Wednesday Dec 2020

Posted by Satin & Sand in Art, Crafts, Design, Photography

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Christmas, Humber River, I'll be Home for Christmas, Michael Bublé, Old Mill Bridge, Toronto

© David Dodds – Old Mill Bridge, Toronto

I am dreaming tonight of a place I love
Even more than I usually do
And although I know it’s a long road back
I promise you 

I’ll be home for Christmas
You can plan on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree.
from I’ll be Home for Christmas by Gannon, Kent, and Ram
sung here by Michael Bublé 

Best wishes to those who have been in lockdown and have perhaps spent too much time at home this year.
And Godspeed to those finding their way home in time for Christmas.

Finding time…

20 Sunday Dec 2020

Posted by Satin & Sand in Art, Crafts, Design, Photography, Reflections

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Art, Creativity, Georgia O'Keeffe, Photography, Reflections

© James Currie

To create one’s world in any of the arts takes courage. – Georgia O’Keeffe

Grateful for a day dedicated to my creative pursuits…

A snapshot of the day….

07 Wednesday Oct 2020

Posted by Satin & Sand in Design, Fashion, Photography, Reflections, Writing

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Happiness, Jane Kenyon, Photography, Poetry

© James Currie

There’s just no accounting for happiness
or the way it turns up like a prodigal
who comes back to the dust at your feet
having squandered a fortune far away.
from Happiness by Jane Kenyon

It was a day of happiness and it was wonderful!

Tea Time…

24 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by Satin & Sand in Art, Design, Food, Photography

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Afternoon tea, Tea ceremony, Tea time

Navy teacup by Joan Currie

Teacup in acrylic © Joan Currie

The Tea Party

I had a little tea party
This afternoon at three.
‘Twas very small-
Three guests in all – 
Just I, myself and me.

Myself ate all the sandwiches,
While I drank up the tea;
‘Twas also I who ate the pie
And passed the cake to me.

By Jessica Nelson North (1891-1988)

A lovely cup of tea punctuates the day…

Designing a New Year …

01 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by Satin & Sand in Design, Photography, Reflections

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Danielle LaPorte, Jonathan Fields, Lauren DiMarco, New beginnings, New Year's Resolutions, Photography

Lauren DiMarco - Happy New Year's

Design is love. Good design is love – it’s well-thought. Good design considers everybody. It considers your emotions, it considers the ecology. There’s beauty in it. Good design – there’s always some kind of elegance to it.
by Danielle LaPorte in an interview with Jonathan Fields

Designing a big, beauteous, beguiling, and bodacious New Year!

Model: Lauren DiMarco

A life worth living…

16 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by Satin & Sand in Aging, Art, Design, Garden, Reflections

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Alfred Austin, Art, Charcoal sketch, Poetry, Summer, Youth

Joan Currie Iris

African White Iris © Joan Currie

When Summer, lingering half-forlorn,
On Autumn loves to lean,
And fields of slowly yellowing corn
Are girt by woods still green;
When hazel-nuts wax brown and plump,
And apples rosy-red,
And the owlet hoots from hollow stump,
And the dormouse makes its bed;
from Is Life Worth Living? – by Alfred Austin

This poem brought me back to the delicious summers of my childhood…

RP-T-1948-88

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