HIATUS
Posted: July 1, 2015 Filed under: IT'S PERSONAL | Tags: blogging, bummer summer, cross stitch, hiatus, homeless 14 Comments
I’m sure dedicated followers of douglust have caught on that my offline life has become a bit chaotic. At the moment, I’m homeless, and working less hours than I expected. Don’t be alarmed, all of my stuff is safely in storage and I will be crashing with friends until I get into my new place later this month.
Due to the fact that my creative supplies are in boxes in my friend’s warehouse, I am unable to keep up-to-date with douglust.com. I promise to use this downtime to focus on my commission, and anyone who is seriously upset by this news can follow me on Instagram. Other than that, I’ll see you on the other side of this adventure, with plenty of stitchy stories to share!
SOPHISTICATED BOOM BOOM
Posted: March 13, 2015 Filed under: INSPIRATION FRIDAY, IT'S PERSONAL | Tags: Nick McKinlay, POETRY, small press, sophisticated boom boom, the ossington, Toronto, zinemaking, zines 1 CommentWednesday was the launch for the ZINE NO.2 created for the Sophisticated Boom Boom, here in Toronto. The Sophisticated Boom Boom is a monthly poetry night that I co-host with my good friend, Nick McKinlay. Mainly Nick hosts and I do all the silly stuff like making sure he’s on the ball and that we’ve got a featured reader. My other big role is being the design/layout editor of our zine. Here’s a photo of us shortly after we’d finished assembling all sixty-seven!
This edition of the zine contained content from fifteen different contributors, as well as several haikus submitted to the Anonymous Haiku Jar™ that can be found at the monthly evenings. The cover was done by the superbly talented Nicholas Di Genova.
The night was a huge success, we had so many friends and fans show up to support us and many of those individuals shared their words and poetry during the open mic. As well, we sold quite a few of the zines!
Top to bottom: Brock Dale & I chatting and selling zines; me writing notes during the Open Mic; me reading my toast to the host with the most, Nick; Marc Blouin sharing some words; an overhead view of the zine table; Bethany G. Lee, our featured reader for the night; Nick McKinlay being a terrific guy with a drink and a toque in one hand.
All of the event photography was taken by Christopher Clarry.
If you’re interested in purchasing a zine, you can pick one up at the next Sophisticated Boom Boom. The second Wendesday of every month, at the Ossington, starting around 10:30 sharp.
Have a great weekend!
FOR ELIZABETH
Posted: January 9, 2015 Filed under: CRAFTS, IT'S PERSONAL | Tags: baby gifts, Christmas miracle, christmas stocking, cross stitch, embroidery, finished projects, handmade, sewing projects 8 CommentsIn the fashion of a modern Christmas miracle, I finished my biggest project of the year – the Christmas stocking – with several days to spare.
While I am not an overly experienced seamstress, I found the construction of the physical stocking to be doable with a fair bit of stitch ripping, and multiple deep breath sessions.
One of the best tricks that I figured out was when it came to developing the pattern for the back of the stocking. Instead of photocopying the template from the book and blowing it up (Which involves using photocopiers as if it were 1995?), I placed a piece of parchment paper over the embroidered work and created an outline, then I used the outline as a pattern. The stocking is also fully lined, and I even made a label!
Overall, I am so thrilled with how this stocking turned out. Time wise it took me a very dedicated 8 weeks to complete, but, it was worth each and every late night, when I was able to share this gift with some very dear friends. (And I made Elizabeth’s Momma cry!)
This is Elizabeth in her 1st Christmas outfit, with her Christmas stocking. This picture was taken by Sarah Newhouse and used with permission. If you’re interested in commissioning a holiday stocking for next year, please use the Contact page – I’d be more than interested!
TAKING STOCK
Posted: January 4, 2015 Filed under: INSPIRATION FRIDAY, IT'S PERSONAL | Tags: 2014, blogging, creativity, successes, year in review Leave a comment
It seems a bit late to do this, but I just sat down and went through all of my blahg posts of 2014. I’m one of those people who has a hard time remembering where they’ve come from and everything they have accomplished. I feel like I am always looking off into the future, and pushing myself to do more – I rarely stop to appreciate my successes.
In 2014, I was able to:
– host at least five dinner parties
– complete over twelve pieces of embroidery work, including the first piece I made out of a kit, three handmade badges, my passport cover, gifts for my family AND my first commission
– make & share nine collages
– crochet a flower headband…
– & a rug (which is currently being blocked in the laundry room!!)
– collaborate with my best buds to make a zine
– sew three pillows
– decorate my favorite spring jacket
– create two scarves
– shoot seven rolls of film (I think?)
Not too shabby if you consider that this all happened while I finished my college diploma and put away a significant chunk of change – I’m pleased as punch.
BRANCHING LIGHT
Posted: December 23, 2014 Filed under: IT'S PERSONAL, PHOTOGRAPHY | Tags: 11, 110 film, charlie brown christmas, christmas, holidays, Kodak Tele-Instamatic, lomography, tree Leave a comment
Untitled – E.A. Douglas, 2014
Image was taken in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. Using a Kodak Tele-Instamatic and Lomography 110 film.
In a few minutes I’m headed up North for the holidays, Happy Christmas!
UNINTENTIONAL PORTRAITS
Posted: December 1, 2014 Filed under: IT'S PERSONAL, PHOTOGRAPHY | Tags: black and white, film maker, film photography, inspiration, lomography, rebeccah love 1 CommentAs the year begins to come to a close, I’ve been thinking a lot about the folks in my life who inspire me. Yesterday, when I was walking down the street carrying a very expensive bag of yarn and a vintage sewing case which was found on the sidewalk, it struck me how much my life reflects one that I want for myself. I don’t make a lot of money, but I do have a lot of great friends, who help me out when times are hard, warm my living room and my heart, and drive me to be creative everyday, if only to have something to show for myself.
Early last year I was at a bar, when a cute stranger asked, “Who are you in the scene?” The question has stuck with me for months. Unlike most folks in town, I’m not driven to be somebody, I am more than content to spend nights laying low, but only because it gives me time that I prioritize – time to create. Still, I have a lot of respect for all the people out there who are pushing their work and themselves. So, over the next few weeks I will be sharing with you my Unintentional Portraits of Folks Who Inspire Me. A series of snapshots from my film photography collection.
Rebeccah, In Shadow – E.A. Douglas, 2014
(Image taken using a Lubitel 2, on Lomography Earl Grey 120 film, in Irondale, Ontario.)
Rebeccah Love is no stranger to douglust. She’d probably win the award for Friend-That-I-Talk-About-Most-On-My-Blog. I swear there’s a reason! Rebeccah inspires me because she is always working on something – she’s one of those people who boredom doesn’t seem to touch. (Although Rebeccah is very humble and would probably laugh, look down and say thank-you if I was to tell her these things in person.) This year Rebeccah blew me away by putting together her thesis film Abacus, My Love. A short film which revolves around a seamstress locked away in a tower until she can find the last bead of her father’s abacus. While Rebeccah herself raised the issue of the need for a feminist lens in her work, the film is still an excellent story -one which makes me laugh and swoon. Being around Rebeccah makes creativity infectious.
For more information on Rebeccah’s filmmaking, check out her website – http://www.rlovearts.ca
OCTOBERS
Posted: October 17, 2014 Filed under: INSPIRATION FRIDAY, IT'S PERSONAL | Tags: anne of green gables, hoarder, l.m. montgomery, october, stacked, vintage Leave a comment
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it?” – A.S.
CHICKEN NOODLE
Posted: September 13, 2014 Filed under: EATS, IT'S PERSONAL | Tags: chicken noodle soup, Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe, drawing, FOOD, illustration, pencil crayon, precious moments, recipe, slow cooker, vegetables 2 CommentsUgh, I’m sick.
It happens every year. Somehow, mystical germs make their way into my body and suddenly, I can’t breathe. I end up sounding like someone on their deathbed, gasping for the last few precious moments of air. I lay around lethargic during the day, too tired to lift my head and get a few hours of stitching in. At night, my lungs seize and I keep myself awake coughing. I can hear in my Mum’s voice in my memory, yelling at me to drink a glass of water. (Not that water helps with a chest infection, Mother.)
So, I do what any want-to-be-50’s-housewife does when cold + flu season hits. I make soup. Lots of it. Using my slow cooker, of course! 
Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe – E.A. Douglas, 2014
Chicken Noodle Soup dans la Mijoteuse
– 1 1/2 lbs chicken meat, either dark or white, bone & skin free
– 5 large carrots
– 8 sticks of celery (I know it seems like a lot, but I never use the rest of the celery when I make soup. So, my new routine is to buy a smaller amount and use the whole bunch.)
– 1 medium-sized yellow onion
– 4 cloves of garlic
– 3 tablespoons olive oil
– 8 cups of vegetable/chicken stock
– salt & pepper to taste
– parsley flakes
– 2 bay leaves
– 2 cups of pasta noodles
Drizzle olive oil on the bottom of your slow cooker. Fill the slow cooker with the diced carrots, celery, onion & garlic. Place the meat on top of the vegetables and sprinkle with salt, pepper, parsley flakes and bay leaves. Cover with soup stock and place on high for 5-6 hours. After cooking, remove chicken and bay leaves from slow cooker. Add pasta to the soup. Rid yourself of the bay leaves. Shred the chicken. After about twenty minutes the pasta will be done cooking, add the shredded chicken back to the slow cooker. Serve when it’s cooled, or else you might burn your tongue!
It’s hearty and nourishing but, makes an incredible amount of food. When I’m cooking I turn into a homesteader from the 1800s with eleven mouths to feed. If you make this soup, be prepared to be feeding the neighborhood for a week and, be sure to let me know how it turns out.
I’m going to go rest up, have a great weekend!
STARVING ARTIST’S SOUP KITCHEN: JULY
Posted: August 17, 2014 Filed under: INSPIRATION FRIDAY, IT'S PERSONAL | Tags: art party, installation, katie switzer, SASK, Starving Artist, Toronto Leave a commentFollowing a two month hiatus, I was happily able to host another Starving Artist’s Soup Kitchen at the end of July. This almost-monthly event is a community-building, food-sharing, art-viewing gathering which takes place at my house. Featuring an up-and-coming Toronto artist, the goal of SASK is to provide artists and attendees with a platform for conversation, socialization & networking.
This month featured the work by my old time pal Katie Switzer, whose work has been featured on here before. She set up two pieces in the backyard, both of which combine the illusion of videos with the ethereal depth of sewn sculptures.
The evening began earlier than usual, so that guests could bask in the glorious summer sunshine. However, it began to rain early in the evening, so the art was cut short.
The “soup” of the evening was homemade pulled pork, which was quite easy with the help of a slow cooker, and a hand mixer. After eating our fill, the group decided that the best form of an after party would be a trip around the corner for ice cream.
I was ecstatic, because I had been searching for my favorite flavor – Tiger Tail!
It was delicious, and the perfect way to round out the night. Special thanks to Katie and all of the folks who came out!
CREATIVE CONSTIPATION
Posted: August 5, 2014 Filed under: ART, INSPIRATION FRIDAY, IT'S PERSONAL | Tags: creativity, depression, relaxation 2 CommentsSometimes, I get a little bit backed up. My stomach ties in a knot and things aren’t as easy to get out as they usually are. 
With the varied responsibilities of being a good student, a good roommate, a good daughter and a good friend – it can be hard to be a good creator. Usually, I work best under pressure. I enjoy having a lot to do, keeping busy and crossing things off my lists. However, when the pressure builds to be too much, when areas of my life become stressful and tense, I seize up.
Every aspect of my life gets a little bit shittier.
That’s why I haven’t been able to be creative lately. I can’t let myself relax when there is homework and dishes to be done. I don’t take a break to stitch, or snap, or cut or paste, instead I nap. A lot. I get caught up in the little details, instead of taking the little steps.
This weekend, I reflected on why I’ve been melancholic lately and it’s because I’ve been creatively constipated. My body has been too tense to enjoy the release. Too obsessed with school to stitch. So tonight, I’m breathing deep, drinking a beer and taking a break to embroider, organize pictures, cut up some magazines and glue down some thoughts. Let me know if you have any tips for letting it all go.
douglust 