Maybe it was a little deja-vue or maybe just a little 'been-there-done-that-before", but when I said that that lonely little last rose of summer would probably end up being an inspiration to me, I was right. I guess I just hadn't planned on it happening so soon.

This is a fairly long and involved story, but I will try and make it short.This little rose reminded me of some really pretty hand cross-stitched napkins I found at an antiques store (I thought they were beautiful when I bought them, and I also thought that it was such a shame that some woman had probably spent a lot of hours stitching these things and there they were thrown casually in a bin in the deepest corner of the store, so I took them home). I don't know why I was reminded of the napkins - of course they are both roses - but I think that it was more the shape and colour of this particular rosebud. They were almost a match.

But - so what if I was reminded of these napkins....?

Well, my first thought was that maybe I should duplicate the design somewhere else, but I was quickly reminded that my cross stitching skills leave a lot to be desired.

Then, I thought that I was much better with the paintbrush than I was with a cross stitch, and maybe I could just paint a faux cross stitch copy of the design. But then I thought of all the really bad painted cross stitch look alikes I have seen, and rethought this.

Hmmm....

Undecided, I thought that the next best step was to draw out my own version of the napkin rose, and figure out the rest as I went. So that is exactly what I did.

And, while I was drawing this sketch, it all came together. I had caught a glimpse of 'Valerie Pringle has Left the Building' on CTV last weekend. I don't really know where Valerie was, but think she was in some remote section of Austrailia, not too far from the Barrier Reef. In any case, when I saw the show, she was sitting down with an indigenous artist. They were using a dowel-like object to make circular painted imprints on the paper, forming the overall image. With this in mind, I knew that the cross stitches were meant to be circles.

Where did the project go from here? Tomorrow is another day, and blog...

Isn't it great when creativity and mundane household tasks find themselves intertwined?

My theory is that this happens more when mundane household tasks take us out into the great outdoors, but this is just my humble love-of-gardening-and-all-things-outdoors theory.

I don't know why I have been putting off the garden maintenance (it seems kind of strange because I love to garden, but procrastination has been my main gardening practice for the better part of the summer), but October is here, the frost has come, and soon the snow will follow. It was definitely time to get outside and do a little fall cleanup.

I suppose I could break out into some mantra about the beauty of the coloured leaves and the depth of the blue sky and all the great things about fall (I could, except fall is NOT my favourite season... okay, but even I must admit that the sky was a brilliant blue), but I won't. Instead I will say that my creativity was peaked when I stumbled across the very last rose of the summer.

There it was - sitting all alone - a beautiful pink bud.

It was at that moment that everything changed for me. This was no longer drudgery work! There were still really pretty flowers out in the garden (even if I had to look a little harder for them). And I was going to find them and bring them in to adorn my dinner table. In the end, I actually had enough flowers for two simple arrangements: my last rose of the summer is sitting by my computer as I write this (and it is a really beautiful reminder of warmer summer days), and I managed to fill a whole other vase with a few other miscellaneous flowers.

Not only was this a creative way to make the chores go quickly, but now, I have a little creative inspiration sitting near me as I work (and I had some fun taking the photographs too!).

Cut flowers are, for me, one of the best reasons to garden. And I intend to enjoy this one last burst of my garden for as long as these flowers will survive.

That - and it is probably a very safe bet that this pretty little rose will serve as great inspiration in the days to come. What is your great inspiration lately?

Okay, so hopefully without sounding too crabby, I just want to say that I went to the mall today for something wonderful to wear to a wedding, and came home with nothing. Seriously. After 3 or more hours of shopping. Nothing

But enough about that. The real reason that I bring my shopping habits to your attention is more about what wasn't in the stores than how frustrated I was searching for that perfect outfit. I was dismayed that everything was the same. What was lacking was style. Sure, if I was looking for a cool t-shirt and a pair of jeans, I would have found that lickety split. But I wanted something more. I wanted something to express me (and besides, as much as I tried to convince myself, jeans just are not wedding-wear).

Once I got back to the studio, I took a moment to read a book that has been sitting on my bookshelf for a couple of weeks : Handmade Nation by Faythe Levine. This is a book of creative people who have decided to do something about the lack of style in our malls.

It is most definitely an interesting, inspiring and thought provoking read (I recommend that you give it a glance through).

Faythe is actually turning this book into a documentary, and there is a trailer on youtube (just a warning - some of the artwork shown here can be considered adult). The trailer introduces some of the creative people featured in the book and explains why they do what they do.

Interesting.

And very timely after my shopping experience.

In the second half of the book, Faythe Levine introduces Annie Mohaupt of Mohop. Annie makes some really fabulous shoes. Yes - shoes! I was surprised too - this isn't normally what I think of when I think DIY... Shoes?

I don't know that I would have the guts to make myself a pair of shoes. But Annie's shoes are amazing.And it was her work that inspired me most today whileI was reading the book.

Particularly because my first thought was...'shoes? I could never make shoes...'. But this thought is really what gave me the motivation to try my hand at something I have never attempted before. No, not shoes (I still don't think that I have enough guts to try that). I am thinking a handbag. This is a project that has always seemed so tough, so out-of-reach, so 'something only purse designers should undertake'. But then I thought about this. How, after all, does a purse designer become a purse designer?

Why not give it a try?

I don't know whether I will use any aspect of my previous projects... maybe a little smocking or button fabric, or some weaving... or whether I will try something altogether new... that inspiration will have to come once I decide on the shape of the purse.
But my question for you today is all about inspiration. What would you be inspired to make if you thought that you could? Shoes? Purses? Paintings? Furniture? Beautiful Gardens? A Beautiful Cake? Gourmet Meals?