Books & Button Details

There was the gym, groceries, and a quick "we could fit you in today" dentist appointment before I could - finally - sew. At the start of the week, it seemed like there was lots of time and instead, it's been filled with this and that little things. Funny how that happens.

The Francine purse is finished. I love the button detail on the front. It's a perfect match for the hand. The strap is made from the same fabric that I quilted for around the sides only it's a 1 3/4" strip tri-folded and stitched like you would the belt loops on jeans. Works wonderfully.

I received a few books in the mail this week. One was the Japanese book Unique Clothes Anyway You Like ordered from pomadour24 on Ebay. She gives great service. This is the second time I've ordered this book. The first one was donated to the international library at Pearson College (one of 13 United World Colleges) where my friend worked. I decided to order it again after admiring the clothes Carolyn from Handmade by Carolyn has sewn from the book. I want to try some of the simpler shapes - like the vest on the front - out of a sweater knit.

When I place orders on Chapters.ca, there's always a prompt that says others who bought this book also bought... and it makes suggestions. Style Statement: Live By Your Own Design by Carrie McCarthy and Danielle LaPorte was one of those suggestions and it seemed like the type of book I'd enjoy plus... it was discounted to $7.59.

The concept is to create a two word style statement to use in your decision making process not just with fashion. The first word represents 80% of you and the last word represents 20%. Getting to those two words requires answering a lot of questions. It's not just a matter of trying this or that quiz and being prompted through. I like introspective work and I found this book intensive and I was only reading, not answering the questions. I'm not sure I'll ever go through the entire process as I feel I know myself fairly well now. It's a LOT of work.

I'm debating taking some courses at the Academy of Learning downtown mainly to get a piece of paper that says I can do what I say I can do. The academy is a cross between formal training and correspondence school and would allow me to work at my own (faster than a university course) pace. Meanwhile, I think the Teach Yourself Visually workbooks are extremely well done so I ordered the Word and the Excel 2010 versions to make sure my skills are up to date partly because I've just upgraded these programs on my home computer and partly for applying for jobs. When I say I have a working knowledge of the programs, I want to feel confident that I do. That said...

... it was very disappointing to learn yesterday that one of the jobs I applied for at the university was filled internally. Usually, when there's an external posting that avenue has already been explored. An external posting means that someone - and I had hoped it would be me - has an opportunity to get their foot in the door. It didn't happen. Hopefully it will with the other posting.

I'm not sure which purse is next. It'll be whichever hands are closest to the edges where I cut off the first pair. I'm approaching this project quite randomly. I'll work on it today and tomorrow. Sunday is Canadian Thanksgiving. Monday is both a holiday and Howard's birthday. We don't have any big plans. On long weekends, we tend to stay home and move slow. Hopefully that's how it goes. I need to clean house before...

... Tuesday. My friend Barb is coming for the week. If it's clean before she gets here, then I don't have to worry about it until she goes. I had wondered if I'd need to clean for potential viewings this weekend only our realtor said that long weekends are usually very slow. Hmm... slower than nothing. We've had two viewings since September 15th when we listed the house and those were in the first few days. From what I hear, that's happening everywhere. It's not just us however...

... I did pray that the move would be obvious and easy. I see that there are two choices. Either we are not meant to move at this time or the house that we are meant to move to is not yet on the market and when it is, and we discover it, then everything will click into place. Time will tell. We'll let the listing run out and see what happens. For now, no move.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - that I'm quite laid back about the lack of interest in the house instead of fretting and although we have a list of potential places, I'm not attached to any particular one. This is atypical and good.