Sunday 24 October 2010

gals of montreal: samantha of pinpals part one of four


its no secret that i fell head over heels in love with montreal, & it should be no surprise that i'm in love with the inspiring gals i already knew & also met in montreal! if it wasn't for my long time friend  Samantha of pinpals, who urged me to apply for puces pop i might never have had that wonderful trip to montreal. after returning home, i couldn't stop thinking about the girls who really inspired me & thought i should do a lil' blog bio on the theme of that, to inspire others, up next isabelle.



Name: Samantha Purdy



Age: 30
What do you do: Cross Stitch

so you live in montreal, for how long, & what lead up to living in montreal? do you consider montreal your home?

I've been in Montreal for 7 years. I moved from Hamilton in 2003 for what I thought was going to be my new life as a fashion student, I very quickly realized that I was wrong! Instead I started to sew bags in my small apartment and cold call stores in my neighborhood to see if they were interested in selling them. Looking back, I'm pretty embarrassed at the bags I was carrying around, one of them said "Record" on it, so of course I went into a record store. The owner politely declined. 
I would definitely call Montreal home. I'm in love with all it's nooks and crannies.




what are your inspirations at this moment? what are past inspirations that really affected what you do?

I seem to be very drawn at the moment to the idea of a perfect folk cabin complete with wooden shelves and furniture, hand-hooked rugs, wall samplers, bright red to contrast the wood, quilted pillows and blankets. Basically a craft cabin, but Scandinavian from the 1960's. I'm also heavily influenced by Eastern European embroidery, especially from the Ukraine, which I'm 1/4th of!
My Childhood was full of books and crafts and my mom's unique ability to turn inanimate objects into Mr's and Ms'. I can still remember sitting by the window when it was raining out playing with her old barbie dolls, and thinking, this is perfect.







What mood are you in today?

Today I am feeling optimistic because it is still technically morning, and I think I can cross the things off my list that need to get done!









Where is your favorite place to be? What is your favorite thing to do?

Oh, a couple of favorite places...my studio nook, my boyfriend's dad's house, my computer nook, Dressmaker's notions shop, thrift stores, Libraries, eating Indian food with friend's.

Things to do includes, losing myself in my stitching, especially while learning things from talk radio, grabbing a coffee and walking while discussing what's new, Book sales and Church sales, seeing friend's you haven't seen for a long time! Dinner with my beau.



9 comments:

  1. Gawd, her cross stitch stuff is just amazing. The other day I was poking around in a newish store nearby and saw a couple of her paper puppets - they are lovely!

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  2. What amazing use of cross stitch. And I love her work space! I've got some major crafter envy right now.

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  3. tara-lynn! you've mentioned pin pals several times before, but i'd never visited her shop until now. oh my goodness. i need the beau tie pin. stat.

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  4. I love this post, Sam is so talented! I had no idea she was a past design student. I must send you my stuff now ;)

    a+

    -Izzy

    :)

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  5. pin pals - that is too cute!!


    stop by sometime<3
    http://passportglamour.blogspot.com

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  6. Their stuff is beautiful in-person too. An addictive purchase of mine!

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  7. hey! this is so crazy i live in montreal and went to puces pop and did a blog post about The Pin Pals - maybe you are in the picture that I took of Samantha?

    http://fashionmademefunky.blogspot.com/2010/10/will-you-be-my-pin-pal.html

    Your blog is really great...I love how its crafty and stylish, and how fiercly canadian your last few posts are...toronto streetlights (that where im from) pictures of the mile end (thats my neighborhood) Links to yeye's blog (such a good one!) anyways..

    im having a give away for worn journal issue 6 if youd like to enter!

    fashionmademefunky.blogspot.com

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  8. Ack!! Love these pics and Pin Pals soo much!!

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  9. umm... that doll house is too cute!!!

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