Jane Down The Lane

Kill to the Joy

2012-02-24T17:21:00.001-03:30

All these photos are in a random order and not in sequence. My blog has started to turn into more of a photo collection lately due to sheer and utter laziness. It's funny how much I used to update this thing on a regular basis and now when I think about posting I always decide watching something or snooping on Facebook is much more important. The Internet is my biggest frenemy. I spent 2 hours of my time yesterday just on YouTube looking at videos. I spent another hour discussing legging patterns with Meghynn. I spent a forth hour looking at funny pictures of cats just because. Those are 4 hours of my life I will never get back again. Living the dream over here.

I am working on the mother of all baby mobiles right now for my future nieces nursery. I may be in over my head on this one but I'll figure something out I'm sure. I always do. I have to start working on some jewelry for a sale soon but I'm kind of already planning on procrastinating until Harlow's birthday is over with.

Can you tell how motivated a person I am lately? Winter is such a Jane buzz-kill. Soon my lovelies, soon we will bask in all the rain,drizzle,and fog our hearts desire. Spring fever.

Time to go feed the booger monster, I mean Harlow.
Happy weekend!

- Killjoy .... Err.. Jane xo

She's making jewellery now, She's got her own website...

2012-02-19T19:12:00.001-03:30

Dora the Quebecois Explorer

2012-02-16T22:40:00.003-03:30

Falling asleep in my cereal.

2012-02-03T01:53:00.001-03:30

I'm a rattlesnake babe, I'm like fuel on fire.

2012-01-30T21:52:00.001-03:30

The curse of being born in January

2012-01-28T12:53:00.005-03:30

Another snow day in St. John's. Am I surprised? No. I've gotten pretty used to the fact that every year when I make some sort of plans for my birthday, they either get snowed on or fall on Super Bowl Sunday. It's just how it's always been. My birthday doesn't actually happen until Tuesday, but me and some friends have made plans to go out to a bar tonight for an early celebration. The snow may keep some people from coming out but I'm at the point in my life where if it ended up that I get there and no one else shows, I would be fully content just sitting at the bar by myself, having a few beer, and then going home to bed. "It's no matter" my mother would say ( and you're right ma, it doesn't matter).

I have been working away all night and will continue on all day to get some jewellery made to bring into the stores next week before I go away. I am not having the easiest time with it today, I am finding myself really forcing pieces out and I have yet to make something that I'm really excited about. Maybe tomorrow mid hangover will be better..... probably not but maybe?

Break time is over. It's back to the beads.

Have a good weekend everybody.

-Jane xo

Blue Steel

2012-01-24T23:50:00.003-03:30

Jane-uary Fail

2012-01-19T20:30:00.003-03:30

I didn't feel like myself this week, or the past 2 weeks really. I had my death flu last week and this week Harlow was still getting over her cold while also just being really hard to deal with(terrible 2's). I found myself losing my patience with her a lot more then usual which bummed me out a lot. I don't ever wanna be a bad mom but she's at the age where you have to discipline her and it's really hard to do (Time outs/Cry it outs).

January always has this way of bringing me down when I'm feeling good after the holidays. I fell asleep last night dreaming of running away on vacation in Bali and was suddenly interrupted this morning with Harlow yelling "PANCAKES" in my ear. Let's just get these next few weeks over with already so I can try to start February off on a good note.

I have decided to do a jewellery sale in March this year rather than the usual February sale. There is just too much going on these next few weeks to have the time to make anything. I'm going to focus mainly on keeping the stores stocked right now, and worry about a sale come March. If people are looking for custom orders or repairs they can contact me by email.

I had a job interview this past week that I'm feeling pretty confident about and I'm travelling for a week in February with Harlow. We're going to visit Meghynn and look into a school program I'm interested in at a college downtown (Montreal). Harlow can fly for free while she's under 2 years, so I figured it was a good time for her to go and see a new place and get a sense of how she and I would do in a bigger city.

Tomorrow is a brand new week. A brand new start, I'm getting my act together this week and getting out of this evil January slump. Maybe I should start taking vitamin D or something?

Here's to the destruction of the winter blues.

- Jane xo

Monday don't Mess with Me.

2012-01-16T15:48:00.002-03:30

Weekend at Bernies

2012-01-15T20:49:00.002-03:30

THE END.

-Jane xo

Sleepless in Logy Bay.

2012-01-12T14:48:00.006-03:30

There's no business like snow business.

2012-01-12T01:01:00.003-03:30

Party on Wayne, Party on Garth

2012-01-10T01:13:00.000-03:30

Future Epicness

2012-01-09T11:35:00.004-03:30

I heard Bry Webb on Q with Jian Ghomeshi a month or so ago. I remember it well because I had missed the part where they said who the artist was and was scrambling to find the name after and write it down to investigate him further. Jian said that this song would probably be one of those songs that people will cover in years to come and I think he's so right.

Bry Webb - Rivers of Gold from fotomuse on Vimeo.

Sick it to me.

2012-01-09T01:52:00.006-03:30

A Weekend of Sick.

I think I'm on the mend.. finally. This week is going to be crazy with all the work I have to do. This month is almost half way over, my birthday isn't very far away, and my trip with Harlow to Montreal is going to be here before I know it. I have to get moving with my to-do list immediately.

You know its time to do groceries when all that's in your fridge is oranges and popsicles (My sick girl menu). I know what we're doing tomorrow Harlow...

-Jane xo

Glass Half Full

2012-01-07T16:55:00.001-03:30

Homebody Happiness

2012-01-07T00:49:00.008-03:30

Hibernation Station

2012-01-06T01:15:00.004-03:30

If you couldn't already guess from my last post's title, I have come down with something. I think I caught it travelling home from Montreal, the man sitting next to me from Montreal to Halifax was coughing all over me. I sound like an 80 year old smoke-a-holic when I speak. I have so much work to do but I have absolutely no energy. Wake me up in a month?

Popsicles and Cough Drops

2012-01-05T15:21:00.001-03:30

What's Good and What's Gold?

2012-01-04T16:39:00.007-03:30

2012. Holy. Fucking. Shit.(Sorry!). I realized after reading back over stuff I've written from other new year's that it all sounds pretty well the exact same(and that I have a potty mouth). Every year there are things to celebrate and then there are things to mourn or be sad about. One usually outweighs the other, but for the most part you experience a bit of the two. It's hard to be able to pick yourself up and dust yourself off when there's a death of someone important to you, or a long lasting relationship or friendship ends. It's also hard not to smile about something you're excited or happy about. If life was easy it wouldn't be interesting.

2011 was an important year for me. After becoming a mother the year before, I was re-starting up my business from a hiatus/ maternity leave, I was (still am) a mom in training complete with live toddler named Harlow, and I was still coming to sorts with things that were holding me back from being able to be truly happy.

When I read my entry from last New Years Eve today, I was really happy to see that I had expanded my business like I had hoped to. This time last year I had just hosted my first Sale at Raymond's and really didn't know where or what I wanted to do with it all. I took baby-steps and tried to manage hosting sales every 2-3 months while taking care of Harlow and Liam throughout the week and making jewellery at night.

By September, Allison at Opal+Onyx had approached me to see if I would be interested in putting my stuff there. I was really nervous that the people wouldn't take interest in it, but was pleasantly surprised to learn that they were buying it, and to the point of having to restock quite often. (Thank-you for buying my stuff!!)

Just hosting my sales alone with keeping up with Opal+Onyx was becoming more and more a full time gig that I pulled many all nighters to get stuff done. Then Model Citizens/Our Humble Abode, and Melanie Jacqueline Designs started carrying my stuff . I am still struggling to keep up with it all but that's to be expected when you're one person with 2 arms/hands. I'll do what I have to do to get by.

"I'll do what I have to do to get by," is kind of a reoccurring mantra now in all areas of my life. That is definitely an attitude I've developed since becoming a mom, so much so that I felt like a completely different person around Harlow's 1st birthday in March.

That is actually what spurred the transformation to Blonde Jane on St. Patricks Day. I was having a mini identity crisis panicking because I didn't feel like my old self anymore, when I just really had yet to come to terms with the fact that I'm getting wiser each day I spend with Harlow as to what's important and what's not for me.

I don't count my blessings everyday but probably should because having Harlow has shaped me into a way way better person then I was on the track to becoming before. I honestly had ZERO ambition to do anything with my life and was wasting my time hanging out in bars with other people who were lacking ambition.

I don't think that anybody ever is completely free of insecurities, I just don't see how it could be like that. But, that's another way having Harlow has changed me. I used to care so much about the stupidest things. Even thinking about the examples of the stupid things I could list here, I am almost ashamed to think I gave a shit about them.

When I got myself together after my mini identity crisis I set forth on my mission of not caring about anything other then what's important to me; Harlow, Family, Friends, Business, Happiness, etc. Doing that has made me such a happier person.(And so I ditched the blonde and was reborn Ginge Jane).

The happiest memories I have of the entire year were those on the beach with Harlow. I always hated the beach as a kid because I hated all the sand in my shoes and the smell of smoke on me after a bonfire. I was such an idiot. Beach-combing is a new favourite summer activity now for sure.

For my year I think the only truly horrible thing that occurred happened just before my trip to Montreal, when Joey died. As I had said before we weren't close friends but because so many of my friends valued him as an integral part of their social circle, it hit close to home for me. It is definitely an eye-opener of a death to me because it made me think how quickly life could be over.

I'm a complete procrastinator and have this big mental list of things I would like to do or get done in my life time. After seeing the list of things that Joey accomplished in his short time here, it was like a wake up call to get moving on doing what I want and need to do with my life. I am still so shocked and saddened that he is no longer with us, yet I'm inspired to get more done with the time that I have left.

So when it's all said and done this year wasn't necessarily Gold or Golden or the best year ever in the history of years. Yet at the same time it wasn't the absolute worst year either. I will definitely be looking back to this year in the future as a significant moment in time for me.

But yeah... 2012!! I have no idea what to make of you, yet all I can hope for is health and happiness for the ones I care so much about. I think this will be an interesting year. I'm ready to see what's next.

I hope the arrival of this new year treated you well and I wish you all the best in the next 12 months.

- Jane xo

P.S. I can't believe how much Harlow has changed/grown from the start of the year up to now. She looks sooooooooooo much older... from the pictures in the beginning to the picture at the end I would never guess that it was just a year difference... but yeah... that is all.

La belle vie

2012-01-03T18:30:00.003-03:30

The sun will come out tomorrow

2011-12-28T12:34:00.003-03:30

At a time like this you gotta be with your friends. I'm pretty lucky that I will be flying to my Best Friend tomorrow. See you tomorrow night Meghynn (and Montreal).

Distractions are key.

2011-12-28T00:11:00.002-03:30

GRAMERCY RIFFS - Little One from Mitch Fillion (southernsouls.ca) on Vimeo.

The Saddest Song Ever Wrote

2011-12-27T21:25:00.005-03:30

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post as it was determined today that Joey died last Wednesday shortly after he went missing. There are not many known details right now but all that's really important is the fact that we have lost a great person.

I will never ever forget the first time I met Joey Basha because he immediately put me at ease in a room full of strangers. It was one of the first real parties that I went to with Scott when we were going out. There were so many people I didn't know and I felt really out of place until Joey came and introduced himself. "Jane you look so much like Nico from the Velvet Underground. Wanna make out?" His smile was contagious. I don't look anything like Nico from the Velvet Underground, and Joey probably would have enjoyed making out with Scott more than he would have making out with me, but I really appreciated how he made me feel more comfortable instantly.

I would run into Joey out or at other parties and it was always the same. Big smile, cracking jokes, belting out music, and always always being the life of the party. I was by no means super close to Joey, but I am close to a lot of people who were and it is undeniable that he was just this great great being that everyone and anyone who met him instantly liked if not loved. Scott used to tell me story after story of their adventures, each one was a little more insane then the last. If there is one thing for certain this guy really lived it up in his 25 years on earth.

Joey moved to Hong Kong in 2008 just a little before I found out I was pregnant with Harlow. I remember Scott asking me if I was using drugs because I was so moody lately and he had gone and discussed it with Joey and they figured that could be the root of the problem. Little did they both know it was pregnancy hormones. And I'm sure they both felt pretty stupid when they did.

I have experienced a lot of deaths of people close to me, which a lot of my friends haven't, and it makes my heart ache so much to think that all these people are going to go through losing such a huge part of their inner circle of friends. All day I have felt sick to my stomach going over the different situations. Being a mother myself now, I cried thinking about his mom and how much it would hurt to lose your child. Then I cried thinking about how much it would hurt to lose my brother or one of my sisters. Then I cried a little bit more thinking about if I lost one of my best friends. And not just losing someone like that but being continents away from where it happened and feeling completely powerless because of it. It's just really really so much to handle, and right smack dab in the middle of Christmas.

Joey formed a band called Milkteeth when he moved to Hong Kong and they have been becoming more and more known and discovered. Just a few weeks ago they opened for Deerhoof , who I'm a huge fan of, and then just last week they were taped for MTV. Joey was an insanely talented musician. I hope the band will continue on in Joey's memory because it really seems like they could go pretty far with it all.

The only thing that has gotten me through this day is my little Harlow. She was playing around with her toys when I got the message about Joey and I instantly broke into tears. She watched for about a minute and then came over and put her hands on my head and stared me right in the eyes and said "Mama. I Loveeeeeeeeee youuuuuuu." It actually made me break into laughter because it was really the cutest thing she could have did. I decided after that moment to just hang out at the house all day with her to help with the sadness of everything. I have discovered that children are the best medicine for sadness or any type of blues. Harlow especially.

Joey I'm thankful to have met you and I know without a doubt you're in some amazing place bopping around with your too big pants falling down over your hips like they always did, laughing your ass off and playing incredible music. So much love to you. Rest in Peace.

-Jane xo

It was Christmas eve babe...

2011-12-24T23:05:00.001-03:30

(these are not in order cause of phone blogging... Going back to my wine now... Merry Christmas!)

Joey Baby don't get crazy.

2011-12-24T18:48:00.002-03:30

My stomach has been in knots all day when I read about Harlow's dad's best friend who has apparently not been seen or heard of since Wednesday. He is a really talented musician and hilarious guy. I am really really hoping that he comes home safely and it's all just a misunderstanding.

This is a total shot in the dark but if any of you have friends or contacts in Hong Kong maybe you could ask them to keep an eye out.

Santa Jane does the Lane.

2011-12-23T00:35:00.007-03:30

I took a blog hiatus due to insanity. I was so spent after preparing for my sale and then had to fill all the stores with new stock, Christmas shop, and watch the children with mom, that I just didn't have the energy to sit at my computer and do anything (besides waste time on facebook here and there, and watch bad television). I still feel exhausted and here we are 3 days away from Christmas and 7 days from my trip to visit Meghynn in Montreal. I don't know how I will find the energy for any of this, but I'll get by somehow.

I finally got my other frames filled with my prescription. God knows where my other glasses are. I am so used to squinting to see everything now that it feels weird to wear glasses and see everything perfectly.

The sale went so so well. I had my sister help me set up and sell the whole day which was amazing, (Thanks Heather!) My mom came down and made Hot Chocolate for everyone and brought cupcakes and snacks, Harlow showed up with her Nana and had a little run around. It was great. Lot's of familiar faces, some new faces, couldn't have asked for it to go any better. A big big Thank - You to all who came out and all who continue to buy my stuff. It really means the world too me!

Harlow is at the perfect age for Christmas this year. I'm actually really really excited to see her reaction come Christmas morning. I don't wanna brag.. but, I think I bought her the coolest stuff possible. I have a feeling she'll be opening so many gifts that she'll start to get sick of opening new stuff. Which is a pretty good complaint to have. Christmas morning is going to blow her socks off. She is such a busy busy little thing, always into everything she's not supposed to be. She will take something that you tell her not too and then run and taunt you with it. She has the most evil laugh too it's so funny/scary.

I like this picture because I look like an Alien .

I am trying to curb any spendings from here on in until I get to Montreal. I can't believe it's almost time for me to go there. It feels like I booked this trip sooooo long ago and it was never going to be time to actually leave. It's impossible for me to even fathom what is going to happen on this visit. Meghynn has "surprises" and things planned for every breathing moment I'm there. I feel like I'll probably wake up back at home and not know if I was actually there or not. God, I hope I survive the Whiskey Train that will most likely occur. I've been out of the woodwork for so so long. (It's funny that I should be turning 80 but I'll actually be turning 28 next month)
This is what I'll look like in Montreal. Drunk Jane trying to keep her balance.

What else is there for me to possibly blog about right now. I'm 2 necklaces away from my mini vacay from the business. My head feels fried. I have the biggest bags under my eyes. I am dying to just do nothing. Soon. So so soon.

Expect an abundance of photos after Christmas Day happens.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone!!

-Jane xo

Bonia's do Christmas over 23 years ago

Ice Cream makes me cough...

2011-12-20T19:05:00.002-03:30

This just gets funnier and funnier the more I watch it.

Merry Jane-mas

2011-12-14T00:33:00.002-03:30

Wind city up in here

2011-12-09T01:00:00.002-03:30

I look like such a greaseball today. I have been working around the clock to get things finished for Sunday. I finished necklaces tonight and have a full day of earrings/bracelets and Rings tomorrow and then Sewing the rest of scarfs and bags and doing hair pieces on Saturday.

I set up candles all along the table that I'm working on because there is a crazy windstorm happening here and I was sure we would lose power.. The patio door has actually blown open randomly 3 times tonight from how strong the winds are. I was sat here alone each time it happened and started convincing myself it was a ghost. I go crazy when I'm alone in this house sometimes.

(My Mom bought me 2 scratch tickets when she was in Ontario and I still haven't checked them... maybe I'm sitting on a million dollars and don't even realize it)

I'm really hard on myself about my work. I am a tough critic of my own designs. The past 2-3 sales I was in a complete creative rut and was just forcing myself to make stuff . I was sure the stuff I had at those sales were garbage, but everyone else ended up loving them. I'm freaking myself out this time because I'm really happy with everything I've been making. I don't know where it came from or how I climbed out of that rut but I have just been pumping out jewellery no problem this time around.

I need to get as much sleep as I can tonight. Tomorrow and Saturday will probably end up being all nighters.

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY! GAH!

-Jane xo

Serious Business

2011-12-07T13:16:00.003-03:30

I dropped almost $300 on beads and chain this morning. The sale is 4 sleeps away.... things are getting serious.

Here it is after days of empty promises:

To Infinity and Beyond

2011-12-06T01:26:00.001-03:30

I don't know if you would classify them as infinity scarves, but they are scarves none the less and I will be selling them at my sale on Sunday.

I have yet to post all the sale info because I am up to my eyeballs in 101 different things but I will make a solid effort on that in the morning.

So much to do! So little time!!

- Jane xo

Duck tales

2011-12-04T23:33:00.005-03:30

It was a regular thing with Harlow, that we would go and see the ducks before I dropped her off to her other Grandmother's house on Sundays. We stopped going during the summer because there was always to many cars in the lot. We were out early today so we stopped by and it was amazing. There were ducks everywhere and they all started hoarding us once they realized we had food. Harlow was loving life. Other people eventually came and were letting pigeons perch on their hands and feeding them and stuff. Harlow was following around this one family of ducks trying to waddle like them. I love that we used to do that religiously every Sunday morning, have to make that a regular habit again.

Video:

I sewed a few scarves tonight until the needle broke on my machine. I'll have to replace it tomorrow and dive hardcore in to getting stuff made. I can't believe my sale is a week from today. I am always such a procrastinator up until the last week and then I lock myself away until I have everything made.

If I don't blog for a few days that's why, I'm going into work mode.

Au Revoir.

-Jane xo

Past in the Present

2011-12-03T12:56:00.002-03:30

I was looking at old pictures from when I was Harlow's age and thought that I could definitely see resemblances. At the same time I see so much of her dad's side in her too, it's crazy . In a span of 5 different photos of someone, you can probably say they look like at least 3 different people in their family. I have gotten it all my life, "you and your sister are twins", "you look just like your brother," "you're definitely a Bonia", and whatever whatever.

I am in panic mode about the tidiness of the house/ working on stuff for jewellery sale/ mommy mode.

Must. Go. Work.

- Jane xo

Jane:

Harlow:

Jane:

Harlow:

The State That I Am In

2011-11-29T15:06:00.001-03:30

I'm phone blogging to kill time while Harlow and Liam are napping in their carseats. I have the both of them today and it would have been impossible to settle them both for naps on my own so I put them both in the car, put on quiet music and turned the heat on bust. By the time I reached the drive thru to grab a coffee they were both out cold.
I woke up yesterday with my annual end of November flu. Cold chills, runny nose, sore throat, exhaustion, the usual. When you have a child colds suck 100 times more then they did before because you can't just lay in bed feeling sorry for yourself anymore. I told Harlow "mommy's sick" and she just laughed at me. Meals still have to be cooked, house still needs to be cleaned, Child still needs to be entertained. No rest for the wicked.
So here I sit, coffee in hand, bags under my eyes, nose pouring, kids snoring, I can't wait to be snoring myself.

I had brought new pieces down to Model citizens on Saturday and already they have placed an order for more. Very exciting. I also have to get moving on stuff for my Christmas sale, but can guarantee that today, like the 2 past days, will probably be a write off. So so cold, so so weak.

I'll post a link with info for the event sometime tonight and the poster as soon as Heather finishes it (my most favorite poster yet) .

Die November and your ridiculous looking mustaches.

I am such a state today.

-Jane xo

November just go away already.

2011-11-29T01:09:00.001-03:30

Itunes, youtunes, Metunes, Janetunes

2011-11-25T15:06:00.003-03:30

Finally switched up the grooveshark playlist. This is all just a jumble of stuff my Iphone told me I was listening to lately.

Everything is coming up Roses

2011-11-24T00:20:00.002-03:30

I was mentioned in the Paper today in a business article about Opal+Onyx. It's nice to read that people think you're talented after giving yourself a hard time for choosing to go this route of jewellery design. I second guess my self a lot after I put together a collection of designs to go out for sale. I tend to get nervous about what the customer response will be. So far, so great!

Amazing Day.

"Cause if you stay with us you're gonna be pretty Kookie too"

2011-11-22T21:28:00.004-03:30

Mac's are so confusing. It honestly took me about 7 months, maybe longer, to figure out how to copy and paste something on this stupid machine (Heather's laptop).

I've been playing my ukulele a lot to Harlow lately, it's really hilarious. She sings along and makes up words to her own songs and stuff. These pictures are just screen-stills from the videos.... the videos.. Oh the videos. These videos are going to be dragged out when Harlow is older and she tries to talk smack to me or tells me what "she's going to do whether i like it or not." Yes those days are coming and I'm preparing for them now. If I was any example of the daughter that I potentially have on my hands, I need to start planning now. These videos are the perfect leverage.

I'll probably teach her how to sing along to something cool so we can go on the Ellen show, like David Bowie "Kooks" or even some Robert Johnson , just something a little challenging for a 1.5 year old to be singing. For now we're just starting with the basic kid stuff until she gets the words all down. So far she's a pro at "Twinkle Twinkle," "Wheels on the Bus," "ABC's" (although she always gets to h-i-j-k and rolls her tongue a few times in place of lmno, and then continues) and really funny at "Baa Baa Blacksheep."

She gets bored pretty quickly or maybe her attention span is just so small that she focuses on something else. You can see that in the order of these pictures pretty good actually.

Something Crazy,

2 Years ago exactly today :

Some Belly.

I can't believe that was only 2 years ago. Well, I can and I can't. It feels like Harlow is growing up so fast, yet it also feels like just yesterday I was waddling around town with my big baby bump.

Time to get sewing.

-Jane xo

2011-11-21T23:19:00.001-03:30

Computer issues still happening. Phone Blogging must suffice!!

I went on a fabric shopping spree Saturday and plan to make scarves, mittens, ear warmers, makeup bags and lipstick holders to have for my sale at Raymonds. Event info and poster to come in the next few days.

The mobiles are thankfully finished. I will dump some photos on here so you can see what they look like.

Otherwise life is grand, Harlow is good, no one is sick (knock on wood), and business is keeping me busy.

My mom leaves for her yearly visit to my oldest sister's home in St. Catherines, Ontario on Wednesday. I will have Liam and Harlow both to look after on my own while she's gone and be down a regular/ and amazing babysitter for 1.5 weeks. This is a bit of a blow but nothing I can't handle. Coffee is fully stocked so I'm good to go.

Back to sewing Machine for me. Here goes the photo dumpage. All out of order most likely ( smart phone curses).

- Jane xo

Age of Aquarius

2011-11-20T10:00:00.002-03:30

"A most profound realization will help you discover a way to accomplish something magical and wonderful. Something in you knows exactly what must be done. Uranus strongly suggest you should summon your courage and take a small calculated risk for the sake of a big gain."

Swamp Water

2011-11-19T01:32:00.001-03:30

These pictures are completely out of order but no biggy.

Photo dumping

2011-11-16T22:41:00.001-03:30

Skype Dates with Meghynn

2011-11-15T22:38:00.001-03:30

the blood of a ginger.

2011-11-15T15:38:00.002-03:30

I am using Heather's laptop while she's at work. I tried blogging from my phone earlier but it was way to frustrating and the autospell kept making me say ridiculous things. Both me and Harlow are still in our PJ's and it's going on 4 pm. I'm falling down on the job today.

I worked on the mobiles until midnight last night and called it quits because my fingers were bleeding from all the papercuts and I didn't want to mess up the paper with my gingerblood. I have to finish them tonight. I will post photos later.

Harlow loves this song. We always break into a huge dancefest when it comes on. Yesterday it came on in the car and she started going crazy. "MOMMA DANCE! DANCE MOMMA!!" It was cuter then any of the cute things you've ever seen before. Seriously.

I guess it's time to put on some clothes and start the day. We can't go out looking like people from peopleofwalmart.com .

Phoneblog'yah later (Booooooo.)

-Jane xo

Missing Distractions

2011-11-14T19:57:00.001-03:30

I am without my laptop for a few days because it is being tuned up. I knew I was dependent on that thing, but you would swear my puppy died or something. I keep thinking about shows I want to watch, or music I want to listen to or time I want to waste on Pinterest.

Now I am forced to sit down and get some work done. Tonight is the night I finish the mobiles so I can get down to model citizens with them. I got tired of paper cuts and cutting out the circles so I took a 4 day vacay from working on them... ( I'm horrible! )

Heather went to Toronto for the weekend so I gave her some money to purchase some beads for me. She done good. I have all kinds of new stones and shells and glass beads to use for the stuff for my Christmas sale. I have to pick up a few more things at Michaels and Fabricville and then begins the designing again.

Blogging from an IPhone blows!

- Jane xo

Everyday's a holiday on your Jane-cation.

2011-11-10T00:46:00.005-03:30

After the amount of work I did last week I took a 3 day hiatus from anything and everything work related and decided to be as lazy as possible. It was necessary, I was so drained that I fell asleep sat up for 2 out of the 3 nights of my Jane-cation. I napped with Harlow in the daytime each day and was in bed no later then 11 if not earlier each night. I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me until I woke up feeling well rested and back to myself today.

Sunday Harlow was with the Cowan's so I had the day to myself. Heather and I went out for supper to Piatto. As we walked in we heard some guy in a booth loudly name dropping our brother's name which we kind of laughed about. We were sure he had no idea that we were Jeremy's sisters, and if he did he probably wouldn't have been talking so loudly (not that he said anything bad, he was just bragging about knowing him/ wine/ etc). The food was fantastic as was the service, (as was the wine). If you haven't been to this place yet, go. It's excellent. Price is reasonable and it's really cozy, especially if you're coming in out of the cold like we were.

Monday Harlow came with me to Opal + Onyx to bring Allison some new jewellery. The display case was almost completely empty. I am pretty pleased with how well it's doing there, I never imagined that I would have a following as it seems that I do. Very very flattered that people like my stuff! I brought Harlow in her stroller so she would be restrained from tearing apart the place. The first time I went in to see the shop and bring Allison jewellery, I brought Harlow and she went rampant on the place. Climbing displays, throwing clothes around, hauling clothes off hangers, it was complete and utter madness. Allison grinned and laughed it off like it was no problem but I was mortified on the impression / state we left behind. Stroller, Snacks, Dora episodes on iphone, key to any outing with an active 18 month old named Harlow.

Tuesday I hung out with Liam and Harlow all day. I can't believe how much they are both growing up right in front of me. Liam's speech is unreal, and is wearing off on Harlow. It's funny listening in on the two of them playing together because they have really funny/cute conversations. Both are potty training. Liam is almost fully converted over to pottyville to the point where he's wearing underwear now instead of diapers. And Harlow is asking to use the potty at least once each day now. My future smells way less shitty.

I've been immersing myself in Old Hollywood movies lately. I grew up on them. My entire childhood I remember them playing in the background everyday because my babysitter loved them. That's where Harlow got her name in fact. Everyone immediately assumed I was copycating Nicole-Richie-Hilton-Simple-Life-Gross-Face, when in fact it was Jean Harlow.

(Jean Harlow)

I was going through the same Old Hollywood kick during my pregnancy so my list of possible names for baby-to-be were pretty much entirely made up from names of the starlets in the movies I had seen. If Harlow wasn't Harlow, she probably would have ended up being Ava after none other than Ava Gardiner. Harlow's second name is Grace coming from Grace Kelly ( not to mention it kept my mom happy enough to leave me be on the naming).

(Grace Kelly)

Anyways I just like how real these women are, they aren't the size 0 / starving actresses you get nowdays. I won't lie, I get caught up in the worldwind of these tiny models and actresses that we're subjected to now. After having Harlow I realize it's pretty unrealistic for me to think that I'll ever go back to looking how I did before my pregnancy, but it sure makes it hard not to feel shitty about it when you flip through the pages of a fashion magazine. That's why you watch as many movies with Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and company as you can. It appeases your lacking self confidence.

Time to sleep. I have to finish 4 mobiles tomorrow to complete the list of things to bring down to Model Citizens. It was a nice Jane-cation while it lasted.

-Jane xo

Sweet Serenades

2011-11-05T22:56:00.002-02:30

As a kid, mom always read stories to us before bed, which we loved. I remember we'd always be able to twist her arm to read us "just one more story" and then possibly even another after that with the proper negotiations. I will do this with Harlow eventually but since she was born I've always sang to her when giving her the bedtime bottle.

We sit in the rocking chair and I sing either one of my 3 go-to Harlow bedtime songs.

1) Moon River ( The scene with Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffanys, Amazing),

2) The Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant (My fave Blogotheque take away show), or

3) The Beatles- All My Loving .

It's always one of the three and never this usual baby lullaby stuff (Twinkle Twinkle, Rock A Bye Baby blah blah blah). What's great is that Harlow has no idea what the lyrics are so when I can't remember the words I just sing about stuff that happened during the day to the same tune and she still gets drowsy. "We're after the same rainbow, then, we went and got ice cream, Harlow licked her bowl clean.. " , "Close your eyes and I'll kiss you tomorrow I'll miss you, remember to buy some laundry detergent, " whatever you know?

I wasted my parents money doing voice lessons because of my crazy stage fright anxiety, (not to say I wasn't good, because I was good) but when it's just me and Harlow in that room I feel like I'm freaking Diana Ross or something (I also perform in the shower or when I'm driving without passengers in the car).

I would have liked to be sang to as a child. I remember when our dad and mom used to go away to the Mayors Convention dad was a part of every thanksgiving. There were 4 of us kids and our parents didn't wanna dump all of us on one family, so we'd get divided. Me and my brother happened to have friends that were siblings so we would go there, and my sisters usually went to my Aunt's and Uncle's. My friends mom was the music teacher at our school and she she used to sing us songs before it was time to shut off the light for bed. It was really comforting. I think that's why I started singing to Harlow initially. Whoa, I guess took little trip down memory lane tonight.

I had the craft sale this morning. It went well! I got there at 9 to finish setting up and there was a line of ladies at the door waiting to get in. The craft fair didn't start until 10 so I didn't understand why anyone would drag themselves out of their house at 9am to line up for an hour to get in to a church craft sale. When I commented on it to one of the other ladies selling there she said "Ohhhhh yes, they came for the salt buckets." Salt buckets? Yes. Salt Buckets. It's essentially a tin or metal bucket that you keep in your front porch area filled with salt to sprinkle on the driveway when it gets icy. I didn't fully believe it until they officially opened the doors and about 20 or more ladies sprinted over to the table and were pushing/ nudging their way in to get a bucket. There were people who came with their young daughters to have them carry as many buckets as they could manage. I found out after that there were 40 buckets and they sold within 4 minutes. I guess we all know what I'll be selling next year.... (Screw jewellery!).

(This was at the end of the day so I had sold a decent amount of stuff by then)

(I kind of want to keep this for myself not going to lie)

(From the Holiday Barbie collection)

I was still setting up at this point because I was finishing my pieces off into the wee hours last night. I hadn't had a coffee yet and was working at the slowest pace possible. All I remember is flashes of women asking me how much things were and handing me money. I didn't really think I had sold all that much until I counted my money at the end of the day. I just had so much jewellery made that whenever something sold I didn't notice it I guess.

(I had a visit from Handsome Hank... way way too cute)

(Christopher Moltisanti wanting some attention)

Tomorrow with the remaining Jewellery I have left, I will visit Opal and Onyx to restock, bring some pieces to Chelsey at Model Citizens, and bring the remaining pieces to Melanie Jacqueline Designs on Duckworth Street. Then I will have nothing and will have to start designing all over again. What a life.

Ah Yes, Daylights Savings Time. The clock has now gone back to 11, time to cash in on that extra hour of sleep.

-Jane xo

I'm on Fire

2011-11-04T00:45:00.003-02:30

Me and Meghynn have been swooning over Bruce Springsteen all week, actually it's been almost 2 weeks now. Linking each other to pictures, videos, etc. we're like 2 highschool girls with googly eyes.

I have stopped working for the night. I have one day left to make as much as I can before the sale on Saturday. I'm kinda freaking out a bit but I'll pull myself together , I always manage to get it together at the last minute.

Sleep training day 3 with Harlow, she went down with a slight whimper but nothing compared to day 1. Even day 2 wasn't too bad. I feel pretty accomplished that she is learning to go to bed on her own. It should make for a much easier nights in the future.

I'm tired and just babbling at this point. Back to Bruce Springsteen...

Babe'n

-Jane xo

There are no words.

2011-11-02T22:25:00.001-02:30

Sleeping Beauty and the Beast

2011-11-01T23:49:00.003-02:30

I'm Sleep training Harlow because after the past 2 nights she thinks she rules the roost and it's not very good for anyone. It's so hard to listen to her cry up there in her room. It makes you feel like a really horrible mom even though people reassure you that it's what you need to do, and my doctor assured me that she did it with all 3 of her children. Sometimes I worry that because I'm a single mom and the one doing all of the rule setting and punishing, that Harlow will end up hating me down the road. I really hope not. :(

( Look how gorgeous my sister is! This is back in her modeling days when she lived in Toronto)

I have a crazy 3 days ahead of me. I kind of left all this jewellery making go until too late in the game. The craft sale is Saturday, I need to restock Opal and Onyx with jewellery, and I just got a message from Chelsey today at Model Citizens looking for some jewellery to put down there. I made a few pieces today but not nearly enough. I kept letting myself get distracted with other things. (Harlow being sleep trained today is not helping).

I should probably just sleep on it and try to take a really good stab at it all tomorrow. I'm praying my creative juices get replenished overnight because I'm in the biggest slump over here.

Something lovely to put you to sleep:

Good'nights. Good'morrows.

- Jane xo

Happy Harloween

2011-10-31T23:53:00.004-02:30

Harlow won't go to sleep. She did this last night too. It's 12:10 am and she's running around screaming "pumpkin pumpkin mommy pumpkin." I just want to go to sleep!

I threw up on a cowboy that I didn't know on Saturday night. Everytime I think about it I start to laugh a lot. I think it's important to be able to laugh at yourself when you do something embarrassing. I am never ever allowed to drink vodka ever, I warn everyone!

Yeeeee- Hawww.

-Jane xo

Hangover Sundays with Jane

2011-10-30T11:09:00.001-02:30

Special Guest, Hey Rosetta

Hey Rosetta! - Bandages from Sonic Entertainment Group on Vimeo.

Can't. Wait. For. Naptime.

Banded Stilts

2011-10-29T01:05:00.001-02:30

Banded Stilts - Along The Way from HEAVYWEATHER on Vimeo.

I'm Sorry's

2011-10-28T23:02:00.004-02:30

When I went to visit Maggie in Halifax I noticed she had started to become a bit of an extreme coupon-er. I also continued to make fun of her for it ever since then. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize (this is as public as it's getting Maggie) for ever having doubted you and your couponing ways. Maggie saved me about $500.00 or more last night on my trip to Montreal (which is now officially booked!!). Maggie, You're the greatest, I'm a horrible human being for making fun of you, I'll buy you a beer when I see you in Montreal for New Years!

Super excited to be going to see my Montreal family. It was looking to be too expensive to manage until Maggie swooped in with her magic coupon code. I am flying Porter for the first time, which I hear is not bad (unlimited drinks!) despite all the stopovers (boooooooooo Halifax aiport). I get there on December 29 in the evening and will be there until January 2nd! I'm staying with Meghynn and her Bf Owain (who I haven't met yet, but feel like I have known for years which is really strange) and don't really care what we do the entire time I'm there, it'll just be awesome to be back in my french haven. I'm rambling like crazy and I've only drank 1 beer.

I am fighting the flu, I can feel every ounce of me saying that I'm sick and to give up but I won't let it happen. I have taken Advil Cold and Sinus throughout the day and had the heating pad on me to beat the cold chills. I wanna go out tomorrow damnit! I haven't celebrated Halloween since the one before I was pregnant. That's a long time ago. I drank a beer to see what would happen and it just lead to more sniffles and shivers. Not a good sign. Maybe I'll go as a disease tomorrow and it'll just be part of my costume. Harlow may be brewing something too, she "ralphed" on me today (One of the joys of motherhood). She woke up from her nap hyper and normal, so I'm hoping it was just car sickness or something.

Heather flew to Halifax for the weekend to visit her friend Allison. I was helping her with her costume before she left because she had to throw something together different then she had planned originally. Her friend in Halifax and a group of girls were going as sailors so she wanted to rig up a sailor costume. I made her some shoulder patches to put on her blouse.

I used to hate Halloween before I moved back here. Everyone gets so excited about it that I can't help but get into it now too. It's a little more exciting having Harlow to bring around trick or treating also. This is going to be her second Halloween. How the hell did that even happen so quick? I feel like yesterday I was pregnant with her, eating all the candy I was supposed to be handing out. It's just so so unreal how fast it's going by. My little Harlow Grace Poppy is growing up.

Time to get back to the finishing of my costume. Again Maggie, You're the best!!

Happy Halloween'n

-Jane xo

Work it out.

2011-10-27T21:41:00.004-02:30

I think I'm caught up! Today I posted about an entire months worth of blogs that I had saved up.

I have a lot of work ahead of me. Opal + Onyx needs more jewellery, another shop that I had been in talks with to take jewellery contacted me recently asking me to bring some stuff down, I have the craft sale, and my Christmas sale at Raymonds all coming up this month. It's going to be an insane few weeks.

My mom leaves to visit my sister Steph and her Family in St. Catherines later in the month so I'll have Harlow and Liam both to look after for a week or two while she's gone. They are like best buds one minute and hitting and screaming and wrestling eachother the next. It's crazy.

Without any other delay here is the info for the Craft Fair I will be taking part in

I will only be one of the many vendors out for the day. There was a long list sent to me by email of other people going to participate and they will be selling things like knitted goods, local prints, embroidery, handmade greeting cards, tole paintings, among other things.

My mom and Aunt live to go to things like this on the weekend so even if it's no interest to you spread the word to your mom's, aunts, nan's whoever. They promise tea and coffee and cookies... yah knows Nan will be loving that!

Facebook event poster: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=175281605888875

And that's that. I am done with blogging, for another month... well, we'll see.

Adios Amigos.

-Jane xo

Enroute to Raymonds

2011-10-27T21:18:00.005-02:30

Family is and will always be number 1 to me. Today was a huge day for my family because my brother Jeremy (General Manager and Sommelier) and his best friend/ business partner Jeremy Charles ( Chef ) won the Enroute Best New Restaurant in Canada award for their restaurant which I often mention, Raymonds. They were on Canada AM this morning to accept the award.

I can't even really express just how happy and proud I am of them and for them. This restaurant has been their blood sweat and tears for over 2 years now. The restaurant itself has only been open not even a year yet, but the construction and planning that went into it was another year entirely.

The restaurant was named Raymonds as a tribute to Jeremy Charles grandfather, and to our dad, both Raymonds. I know that my dad would have been going around bragging about all of this today and celebrating long into the night. I'm sure he's smiling wherever he is right now though.

Jeremy had shared the news with us at Thanksgiving dinner when I had returned from Halifax but swore us to secrecy where it hadn't been announced yet. It has eaten away at me for weeks that I couldn't share it with anyone but today it was finally celebrated. I couldn't really sleep last night thinking about everything that was going to happen with it today. I'm not really involved much in the restaurant, they let me have my jewellery sales there, and I enjoy having a drink at the bar or a meal from time to time, but I just know how important it is to my brother and how huge a deal this award is for them that I was just so excited for them.

So for the billionth time, Congrats Raymonds Restaurant, the Jeremy's, the staff, and everyone involved. This is so well deserved and I know all of us couldn't be happier for you!

If you haven't been to Raymonds yet and are thinking about going down for a meal, get a reservation made asap as there is already a pretty lengthy waiting list which is bound to get longer with this award announcement.

Check out Raymonds online at http://raymondsrestaurant.com/

Dan the Man..gan

2011-10-27T20:40:00.003-02:30

Harlow was 18 months old on the fourth of October. It's blowing my mind all the things she can do and say now. She's starting to form legit sentences, she sings her ABC's, has no fear of anything, it's absolute madness. I've started potty training which has been pretty successful for her being one and a half years old. I am so looking forward to a future where I don't have to change her after her bowel movements.

Her obsession with Dora has gotten worse, but I will say that she knows some words in spanish from it all which can't be bad, right? Nothing wrong with knowing a second language... but yeah it's pretty brutal. It's to the point now where if she's asking about people she'll ask about everyone in the family and then go on to ask "where's dora?" "what's boots doing?" and so on. She's pretty sharp in general. I had Dan Mangan on in the car the other day when I was driving to chapters with her, and all of a sudden I hear her singing along to the song, singing the actual lyrics to the song. That's crazy! Lyrics "There are leaves in the trees, there are trees in the forest" Harlow "leaves in trees, trees forest." I have a super smart baby on my hands.

So back on Dan Mangan. I went to see his show at Cochrane Street Church last Thursday with Heather and have not stopped listening to his album since. I haven't seen much of Heather lately where she's working two jobs, and we have been pretty tight since she moved home so it was nice to go out to grab sushi before the show and catch up. We had another hour to kill after we ate, so we went down to Raymonds to have a drink before heading to the show. We walked up to the Church about a half an hour before doors were set to open and there was already a huge line up the street and around the block. The show sold out and there were over 400 people attending so we were lucky we got there in time to grab good seats.

Local band "All the Wiles" opened and were amazing. The Crackling (also Dan Mangan's band) I had never seen before but were really good also. And then Dan Mangan completely killed it. I have seen a lot of good shows this year, from Elliot Brood, to Matt Costa, and some in between, but this definitely blew all of them out of the water.

I had seen Bonnie Prince Billy about 2 months before at the same venue, and the sound was amazing then, but it was even more killer at this show. I love being able to feel the heaviness of music in my chest at a show, and it was like this to the point where after a song would end my fingers had vibrations going through them. Unreal.

My pictures are really terrible quality because it's just from my Iphone but for the last song the entire band went out into different parts of the crowd and they finished with a really popular song of his and he had the entire audience singing along. His audience involvement was pretty impressive not just for that song but for the entire show. He said at one point that he felt like he has just been playing in a living room for friends for 3 hours, and that is exactly what it felt like.

I was never overly a huge fan of his before but I definitely definitely recommend checking out that show and album.

Beards and Plaids are just fine with me.

-Jane xo

Get you're Hali-facts straight.

2011-10-27T14:50:00.004-02:30

I have never been away from Harlow for more than about 12 hours since she was born. I had my first weekend away from Harlow for Thanksgiving weekend when I went to Halifax. That morning when I was at the airport waiting to board my early early morning flight, I was a sobbing mess. Feeling guilty about leaving her, didn't want her to be upset, blah blah blah. In reality Harlow was loving life because her Nan was spoiling her to death while mom was away. It's funny how at times I would wish nothing more than to be away from her for a while and then when I actually get that I'm bawling my eyes out missing her.

I've been to Halifax during lay-overs on flights many many times but I had never been outside of the airport before so I had no idea what to expect. Someone told me before I left how Halifax was just like St. John's and it would be just like I was at home. Once I got there I saw for myself that it was nothing like St. John's at all and as my good friend Meghynn put it " whoever told you that is obviously a big fat stupid idiot liar."

First night was a night of childhood nostalgia. We went to the dal campus bar where a disney song cover band opened for Fred Penner. It was open Mic so Fred Penner would perform some songs and then Dal students would get up and perform with Fred Penner, back and forth like that. It was ridiculously hilarious to watch these students go from stone cold sober to completely smashed within a couple of hours. The student president was my favorite because he was just a complete and utter mess.

Day Two was a lot like day one. We shopped around, I picked up groceries to cook for Maggie, We met up with our friend Amber who came to town. It was great to have no schedule and just relax and live an easygoing life for the weekend. Not used to that anymore since having Harlow.

It was absolutely freezing in Halifax compared to when I had left St. John's. I left something like 17-18 degrees only to arrive to 1 degree with a windchill. I had barely any warm clothing and luckily grabbed a tuque, (mostly for the bad hair days that were sure to entail ) it came in handy none the less.

Being the huge "foodie" that I am and coming from a whole family of "foodies", I love to cook. I get it from my parents who were/are excellent cooks.I insisted on cooking for Maggie which she detested to at first but easily gave into. Maggie's a vegetarian so I decided to make her a Thai Thanksgiving spread, Cold spring rolls, peanut dipping sauce and Shrimp Pad Thai. It was my first time making Pad Thai but I figured it wasn't something I could really mess up very much.

That evening we met up with some friends at the Economy Shoe Shop. I have never walked around so much since I lived in Montreal. Not used to it anymore, pretty sad that I depend on a car so much now.

By the last day of my trip I was pretty tired and starting to miss Harlow a lot and was happy to be with Maggie but glad to be going home the next day. We checked out the Farmers Market (Way Way better then the St. John's farmers Market), Went to a few shops so I could get some stuff to bring back for everyone, grabbed lunch, and lazed around. My sister Heather was also in town visiting her friend so we stopped to see them for a little while before heading back to Maggie's.

My Mother, upon leaving to go to Halifax, wanted to send along some things for Maggie from here. If you don't know my mom she is exceptionally giving and loves to do nice things for people, especially for our friends or family. Anyways, I thought it was a nice idea until that morning when she decided she was going to pack a few pounds of Codfish in my luggage. I didn't understand why it had to be a smelly package of fish that she sent but she was like "Jane anyone would DIE for a bit of fresh cod." I didn't argue and just let her go about packing it in with my things. She did a decent packing job so none of my stuff was smelly once I got there. Anyways, the Cod came in handy for supper on my last night when we put together Cod Au Gratin. Never doubt you're mother and her motives, they are right 99 percent of the time.

I dragged Maggie out of bed again at 6 am the next morning to be walked back to the hotel to catch my shuttle. Such a trooper.

Good times in Halifax, so nice to see friends and have a break from being a mom for a few days. I actually think it made me a better mom to have that break away from Harlow. I came back super excited to see Harlow and refreshed from a weekend to myself. She was pretty excited to see me too, or maybe for the toys I brought her back.

Already planning my next voyage. Next trip will be to Montreal as I have been long overdue to visit Meghynn, not to mention my other friends from there that I miss so much. I have been saying I'd go for a visit since this past May and it just never worked out timing or moneywise. At this point I'm looking at New Years because I have an insane November and December ahead of me. Ideally I could go tomorrow because I have been missing Montreal life terribly. I don't know what it is about that place but nothing compares for me. I love St. John's because it's where I grew up and where my family resides, but life in Montreal was the highlight of my life so far.

So there you have it. Jane did Hali. Done and done.

-Jane xo

Opal + Onyx

2011-10-27T14:35:00.003-02:30

Newly opened Opal + Onyx Clothing is now carrying Jane. Down. The. Lane!

The lovely Alison Halleran opened up shop less than a month ago now, and carries some beautiful beautiful clothing that is exclusive to St. John's. Brands include Blu Moon, Boulee, Lovers and Friends, Blue Life, and many many more.

Go visit the store located at 140 Stavanger Drive, Alison is about as nice as they come and will help you find something great whether it be for you or for someone else. Don't forget to check out my stuff while you're there!

Big thanks to Alison for including me in her venture!

Check out Opal + Onyx on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Opal-Onyx-Clothing/205840726145904

Or follow them on twitter:

@opal_onyx

We All Fall Down

2011-10-27T14:11:00.002-02:30

These are all photos from my Fall Sale at Raymonds that happened back in the beginning of the month (Oct. 2). I can't believe October is almost over.

Surprisingly a great turn out for a sale that was thrown together at the very last minute, and at such a hard time of the year when people are saving up their spending for Christmas. A big thank-you to all that came out and for all your enthusiasm about my work. It makes it easy to love what I do and continue doing what I do when you have great people interested in wearing you're jewellery.

I will be participating in a Christmas craft fair the first week of November (I know you don't wanna hear about it almost being Christmas but it's time to face reality folks). I'll post a poster and event link for that in one of the next entries. Also hoping for another sale at Raymonds in time for Christmas either late November or early December.

O Hai.

2011-10-27T00:01:00.005-02:30

I am trying to change things up a little bit, slowly but surely. I have a lot of pictures uploading, and I'm working on a new playlist in between trying to design copious amounts of jewellery and getting everyone here Halloween ready.

I woke up yesterday with a seized neck. I had to actually feel around on my nightstand for my cell phone and call my mom to come help me get out of bed because I couldn't move. It was so scary and so horrible. After a day spent with a heating pad on my neck at all times I'm better but I still feel strain when I move certain ways. Mom thinks its from my posture when I'm making jewellery, which it very well could be, but Harlow isn't getting any lighter, and toting her around probably isn't helping. I thought arthritis in my hands would come first before neck/back problems. 27 going on 80 over here.

I've been scouring back over my posts and have noticed that a lot of the photos aren't view-able anymore. I don't know why that is, but I don't really have the time to figure that out and will probably just continue posting with new stuff until I have the time and energy to see what the problem is there. I can't believe people actually read this shit, I'm such a nerd.

Anyways, I'm just posting to say I still exist, I haven't completely disowned this blog (yet), and I have so much stuff to catch up on. (Maggie I updated, I hope you're happy!! I'll post the Hali pictures soon!)

I leave you with a video of Dan Mangan and his band (The Crackling). I saw them last week at Cochrane Street church and they blew my mind. Probably the best show I've seen up to now, that's including Beck in Montreal, Feist, and soooo many others. It didn't hurt that the majority of the band had beards and were donning plaid, I have a "slight" love of lumberjacks.

Warning First song is great, second song they are pitchy as all hell but no bigs.

- Jane xo

P.S. Check out Canada Am tomorrow (Thursday) morning for a really really exciting announcement !! That's all I can say without spoiling it.

Shiny Happy People Holding Jewels

2011-09-19T23:17:00.002-02:30

The date is set, the jewels are being made. My hands are already sore thinking about the upcoming 2 weeks. I have some pretty cool stuff going to be available at this one. Come get a nice piece to add to your fall wardrobe!

-Jane xo

She’s so fat, her blood type is Ragu

2011-09-14T21:56:00.002-02:30

I've been in a design slump for the past few weeks. I lay around procrastinating the stuff I need to get done, avoided any mention of work, and mostly spent my time "liking" DIY projects on Pinterest.com, my new home away from home. The more I procrastinated, the more gloomy I got until I felt myself turning crazy and anxious. My sale will be here in no time and I have nothing started. I went to bed last night sad because I had absolutely no motivation to get started on anything whatsoever.

Maybe it was the burger at suppertime, or maybe it was the 12 am milk and cookies trip that did it, I dreamt I was Tony Soprano getting shit done. I woke up feeling ready to attack the studio in all its clutter and get moving on stuff.

The place was a mess. Beads everywhere, not in any order just dumped into random containers, it was an absolute disaster.

This is the reason I have been so slow to start on everything. I couldn't stand to be in that room with the state it was in. I couldn't bring myself to start sorting it out. So I sucked it up today and went about matters.

Then I procrastinated a bit again and learned how to tie a fishtail braid.

I did get back to work eventually.

I spent the morning time with Harlow. We had McDonalds Breakfast and went to the park. Harlow attacked the ducks that people were feeding, laughed like an evil villain while doing so, you know, the usual. We napped in the afternoon together for a few hours also. It was magical.

What was I saying? Oh yeah. The studio is in an organized chaos now so I should be able to get moving on some jewellery. I stuck out all the stuff I have made already and actually have a decent number of pieces from the last sale.

I have Heather working on a poster for me for My sale at Raymonds. I'm still trying to decide whether to have it on Sun Sept. 25 or Sun Oct 2. I'm back and forth about which would be better.

I'm ready for the biggest sleep there ever was.

Back on track and ready to pump out a ridiculous amount of accessories.

- Tony Soprano....

Err...

I mean,

Jane xo

Beach'n and Complain'n

2011-09-08T11:56:00.003-02:30

Love and Marriage

2011-09-06T17:52:00.003-02:30

Summer 2011 has been the summer of weddings for JaneDownTheLane. 3 different brides but fairly large orders.

I posted about Felicia a little while ago who had me make necklaces and earrings for each of her 5 bridesmaids. She came to me looking for a bracelet to match. I did up a bracelet but when I got to see the earrings she planned to wear I realized it wasn't quite a good match.

(This is the one I wasn't happy with)

So back to the drawing board. I met with Felicia at Michael's and we had a look at different beads and found some diamond like beads to try out. I kept this one more simple and pretty standard.

(The winner)

Looked a lot better with her dress and other jewellery so she was quite happy. I'll get some pictures from her as soon as I can.

This was a piece I did for a bride, but she didn't order it for herself, her friend did. This friend was giving it to her as a wedding gift. I haven't heard back yet about how it turned out and if the bride liked it but hopefully she did. I only knew the dress was a halter top dress and went off of that info. It's hard designing for someone to give to someone else because you'll never know what that person is into wearing jewellery wise, their neck measurement, yadda yadda yadda.

My favorite client, let alone bride, of the summer was most definitely Kelly Barry. Kelly heard about me through a member of her bridal party and wrote me about interest in having a hair piece made. We met up one lunchtime at Rocket Bakery and had a great chat about her wedding and my jewellery and she gave me an idea of what she was looking for. She also wanted earrings made for herself and her bridesmaids.

Kelly saw this online and gave it to me to use as an example for size and what not.

I did up a demo of 6 earrings to show her different styles to see if any interested her.

(Style 1 & 2)

(3&4)

(5&6)

Kelly loved the earrings and went with style 1 for her bridesmaids and 4 for herself.

I was nervous about the hairpiece as I have only ever made one other one for Sarah's (my sister in law) wedding and knew feathers were going to be brutal and messy to work with. Feathers are sooooo expensive, I used 2 white ostrich feathers and each one was 11 dollars. I found the flower at Michaels and it seemed to match Kelly's dress pretty well so went with it over the average silk flower.

I added gems and pearls to the center because it was just some tacky mirror thing before.

Kelly's daughter was going to be the flower girl so I made her a necklace and bracelet.

I set out one night to finish the headpiece and made a huge mess of the house. It looked like I had sacrificed several chickens and an ostrich. I had glue in my hair, all over my hands, glued things to the table i was working on. It was just an overall brilliant Jane moment in time.

I managed to finish it despite the mess made and was happy with the finished product.

the whole set for Kelly

I can't wait to see her pictures, her wedding plans sounded really beautiful and I was excited to see her daughter with her little jewellery and Kelly with her set. I will post them as soon as I get some.

If you have any brides that you know that are in need of accessories or anything for their wedding day perhaps I could be of assistance! Email me at janebonia@gmail.com

Oh baby baby

2011-09-06T17:44:00.002-02:30

More baby shower gift making.

The "sookie" blanket (I think it needs a better name, I'm just following the pattern from another blanket that everyone told me was a "sookie" blanket.)

The baby has since been born! Welcome to the world Hank Walter Parker Charles. You have some really great parents.

Catch me on my Mobile

2011-09-06T13:46:00.004-02:30

I was invited to a baby shower for someone I considered to be very special and didn't want to just go out and buy baby clothes or the usual baby shower gifts so I thought about what I could make that other people probably wouldn't pick up for gifts. After looking through some websites and at the stuff I got at my own baby shower I decided I was going to construct some kind of Mobile.

I wasn't sure if there was already a theme planned out for the babies nursery or the gender of the baby so I just went with a few bold patterns and colours that could be considered for a boy or for a girl. I remember having read something about babies responding well to black and white patterns so I wanted to incorporate that somehow too.

The paper I was using was scrap booking paper, and pretty thin, so I had to glue a layer of card stock between 2 sheets. You have to be careful about lining up the patterns properly.

The most frustrating and time consuming part of this entire project was cutting out the god damned circles. It took me 2 nights to finish cutting them all.

I had paper cuts for days.

Once you get the circles cut out you'll be finished in no time. Lay out your pattern and join the circles together with jump rings.

I was to afraid to mess up the dowel part of the mobile so I got my brother to connect it for me but I could have easily done it myself. I bought mine at Michael's for less then a dollar.

I bought hardware used for hanging pictures to use to connect the dowel to the jump rings cause I didn't want to drill through the wood and potentially have to start all over again.

Connect all the finished jumpringed circles to the dowel and bam, Mobile.

Humid, Humyuck.

2011-08-29T20:02:00.002-02:30

The Blog has been down for almost an entire month. I don't even know what happened. I came to post one day and none of the pictures were working and it was just a complete disaster so I closed the window and never went back to the blog until today. I have fixed things up and have a back log of projects to post and things to update, but that will be in the next coming week or weeks.

Hurricane Irene/ tropical storm Irene gave us a crazy Humid day up in here. I do not handle heat well at all and spent the majority of my day either parked in front of the fan in my room, in the car with the ac, or in the basement with the clutter. I don't know how I survived in Montreal during the summer for 4 years. I went to Eastern Edge to pick up whatever stuff of mine they have left and had to walk up the stairs to the St. Michael's Print shop and nearly took an asthma attack when I did. Dry Air, everywhere. I paid my mom not to turn on the oven today. For lunch we had only cold items and for supper we ate out in an air conditioned restaurant. I'm telling you, I'm hardcore ginge. Where is my crisp, cool fall that I thrive in?

I have a lot of designing to do. I have 4 different stores wanting to carry my stuff, a sale to put off in September, and an Etsy site to fill. It's time to get my shit in order and start making the money I could have been making this whole time. SLACKER JANE NO MORE.

Harlow is getting huge. She's so tall, and has the biggest feet I've ever seen a toddler have. She's saying so much now and starting to actually form sentences. I have a very smart baby. Very smart, but extra klutzy. She trips in everything, runs into things, falls into things. She should probably have her own tv show.

Time to blow the fan up on bust and make a new playlist for this puppy.

I would also like to thank-you for toning down your emails to polite letters of encouragement pushing me to get the site back up and running. Bravo to you and you and you.

Jane's Back Bitches.

-Jane xo

August Is Here?!

2011-08-01T12:26:00.002-02:30

Amethyst

♥ Increases nobility ♥ Spiritual awareness ♥ Psychic abilities
♥ Inner peace and healing ♥ Healing of body, mind & soul
♥ Positive transformation ♥ Meditation ♥ Balance ♥ Relieves stress
♥ Communication

Amethyst is a variety of Quartz and is a 6th Anniversary gemstone.

Chakras - Third Eye Chakra, Crown Chakra
Birthstone - February
Zodiac - Virgo, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces
Planet – Jupiter
Element – Air
Typical colours - light slightly-pinkish violet to a deep grape purple

Amethyst is a powerful and protective stone. It guards against psychic attack, transmuting the energy into love and protecting the wearer from all types of harm, including geopathic or electromagnetic stress and ill wishes from others. Amethyst is a natural tranquiliser, it relieves stress and strain, soothes irritability, balances mood swings, dispels anger, rage, fear and anxiety. Alleviates sadness and grief, and dissolves negativity. Amethyst activates spiritual awareness, opens intuition and enhances psychic abilities. It has strong healing and cleansing powers. Amethyst encourages sobriety, having a sobering effect on overindulgence of alcohol, drugs or other addictions. It calms and stimulates the mind, helping you become more focused, enhancing memory and improving motivation. Amethyst assists in remembering and understanding dreams. It relieves insomnia. Encourages selflessness and spiritual wisdom.

(Source: mineralia)

wedding bells wedding bells

2011-07-14T21:43:00.003-02:30

Tonight I worked on a bracelet for one of my bridal orders. You may remember the necklaces I made for this bride for her bridesmaids ensembles.

Felicia, the beautiful bride came to me looking for a bracelet to match a strand of pearls belonging to her mother and a pair of diamond stud earrings that her fiancee gave her. I was up for the challenge.

My work station is still my mothers dining room table as the room I'm converting into my studio is still a work in progress.

The Pearls that I had to match the bracelet with.

I had to tape one end down to the table so that I wouldn't lose any beads as I was stringing the other side. Doing three strands at a time can be a pain in the neck if you don't secure it down in some way.

Making Progress.

I ordered 2 really nice clasps because I didn't want to do your average lobster clasp where it was for a bride. So I had a choice in which one to use.

I thought that was the better matching clasp for the bracelet.

I'm happy with the finished product. I am just eager to make sure it fits properly because if it doesn't I will have to restring it again and try to arrange the beads to make sure it fits better.

Now to meet with Felicia to try it on and see if there are any alterations to be made! I'll keep you posted.

Now I must go snooze. Tomorrow night is the Bonnie Prince Billy/ Bahamas concert and I want to be all rested up for it. Night-night.

- Jane xo

Mantra Mantra Mantra

2011-07-12T21:54:00.002-02:30

Everything happens for a reason.

-Jane xo

Bye Bye Birdie

2011-07-11T23:01:00.002-02:30

This morning we found a bird on our doorstep that was injured and seemed pretty near death. I set up a little shoe box with some food and water out of the wind to house him in and for a while it seemed like he was doing pretty well. I went out to help my mom do some weeding at the cemetery where her parents are buried and when we returned he/she/it was no longer alive and kicking. I was so bummed out.

I dug a little spot up in Moms rose garden and put it in a box and buried it. I felt like I was 10 while I was doing it but who are we kidding? I'm still a big kid. I marked the spot with a rock so mom would know not to go digging in the spot and it looked so much like a headstone. I was starting to prepare myself to write something on the rock and then I came back to reality that it's a bird and that I was getting to attached to it. I was sucked into a vortex or something.

Anyways I decided I needed to distract myself from thinking about it so I got to work on a flower arrangement mom asked me to do for my grandparents grave.

I worked at a flowershop yes, and my aunt and mom always say the arrangements I make are nice yes, but I have no clue what I'm doing when I'm working on one.

I didn't go to school for floral arrangements, I didn't read up on the rules of floral arrangements. I always just wing it and hope for the best. JJ Neville, the flower shop I worked at, have no idea about that. They probably thought I had done schooling or something

I went grocery shopping with Harlow earlier in the evening to buy some things to use for the stuff I'm making to bring with me to Jaclyn's tomorrow. We're doing a full supper spread. Harlow will be along for the ride too as she now has an obsession with Jaclyn's housemates dog. The last time we were over she couldn't say the dogs name but by the time we went to leave it's all she would say. She has asked me every single day since that time at Jaclyn's about "Sandy?!" and if anything I'm hoping if she sees the dog tomorrow maybe it'll satisfy her apparent obsession.

The baby is asleep, the kettle is boiled, my tea and episode of Iron Chef await. This Monday was cruel to the bird, but not to me.

RIP Little Bird

-Jane xo