CHICKPEA SEWING STUDIO

The week so far has been a blur of same old, with very little time to create. But this morning's terrible weather gave K and I the perfect excuse to sit down, sip some tea and carve a few eraser stamps. White erasers are limiting because of their petite dimensions. I also struggle with small designs but it is a good challenge no less.  Plus I am pretty happy with the end result so it's a win for Wednesday morning.

We tried the design on a brown paper bag in white ink and you will just have to trust us (the bags stayed at K's house): It was very effective. I plan on making sheets of gift wrap with it and procured a gold pigment ink pad this afternoon.

The only sewing of the week took place on Monday, the lemon verbena harvest was so prolific this year that I had to think of something to store it in. In a rush I put together a cheese cloth bag (very unpleasant to serge or sew) and twisted some butcher twine into a rope. The stars were an after thought, as in I tried putting them on after the verbena leaves were in, holding a book for support with one hand and stamping with the other, terrible idea!  Sometimes when you do something you know will end badly, but much like a five year old, you have got to see it fall apart, it was one of those times. Human nature?

Finally, Let me share a curious collection of mostly 18th century keys my Tata sent me (MERCI TATA! je les aime et les tripote tout le temps!). This is an example of complete overkill. We were looking for skeleton keys to top gift wraps and instead she found those, all fourteen at once and I suspect not for a song. To find yourself the caretaker of this instant collection, it's a little overwhelming but I should recover no worries (pfffft!).