loving: romantic travel

how sweet is this print, city of love, from montreal-based irene suchocki of etsy's isphotography?

ah, bleak january does make me want to travel. paris wouldn't be my first choice at this time of year but it's never too early to start dreaming of springtime and romantic escapades.

need: a vintage leather jacket

love this vintage leather jacket from etsy's wisconsin-based thrush.  the colour, the shoulder stitching, that hem.  the fact that it's actually leather!  i bought a delightful and cheap pleather jacket this week that is serving me well (aside from being not very warm!) but i would gladly let this number bump it to the rear of the closet.  and how cute is she?

starting simple

not that it wasn't long enough already, but lately i've added many home projects to my "to-do" list.  one of those projects is to revamp the art throughout our house.  i'm starting in c's room - we have some lovely prints already from matte stephens and berkley illustration, but i need to mix it up a bit.  i'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of these:

abc poster trees from isak

reading is cool from etsy's dazeychic

i also have a new quilt and a banner on my list for his room.  we recently had an incident that resulted in bleaching his baby quilt (i don't normally use bleach unless it's a laundry emergency!) and apparently our blue, lime and gray blanket is now a rather icky blueish, brownish and yellow! i might add another bookshelf too as his collection of books are creeping into ever more nooks and crannies. and since i haven't really gotten around to getting rid of diapers yet i might recover the change pad to match the future quilt (unless we have underpants triumphs soon!).

other things to-do include getting new stuff into my etsy shop, finishing the scarf on my knitting needles, making c's halloween costume, sewing many wee person clothes, making a respectable handful of christmas gifts, upholstering an ottoman and chair, recovering the dining chairs, refinishing a vintage end table, many photography projects, still that plan to figure out screenprinting and the list goes on and on. so i'm starting with simple - ordering artwork.  that gets something checked off my list with relatively little effort!  done and done.

six times the fun

i might be slightly influenced at the moment by the fact that it seems quite hot in my house, but i am coveting this wooden 6-pack crate from etsy's hobo hut in a major way.  love!  i don't have much of a beer tooth, although i do like one now and then, but it would also be very cute with hard lemonade.  ;-)

fresh fabric

new fabric from japan arrived in the mail today! cole was as curious as i was to open the package, particularly when he spotted bubble wrap on the inside. this kid loves bubble wrap - he even accosted a lady in starbucks last week when he spotted the bubble-wrapped frame she was carrying.

this shipment, the latest from a string of late-night fabric buying binges, contained a nice little bundle of japanese linen/cotton blend mid-weight prints from etsy's this and that from japan. i love them all!

they are swirling around in the dryer now after their first wash - can't wait to tuck into them.

shop update!

finally! after a coon's age, there's new cute stuff in my etsy shop!

bunny plushies - i've given them all little quips and greetings. so far there are two to choose from: bonjour bunny and yoo hoo bunny. more to come!

tooth fairy pillows - they're made from organic cotton flannel and various cute japanese fabrics on the back pocket. each comes with twenty tiny envelopes, one for each wee baby tooth.

cute and cuter 1" pinback buttons, the same ones i've put into the got craft swag bags. i had extras and i love them so much!

one of my favourite items to make are these zakka tartlet pincushions. they're small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and made using tiny bits of my favourite japanese fabrics.

and there's more to come soon! a few other items and more styles of the ones listed...

if you're local and want to save on shipping costs, definitely swing past my table at this weekend's got craft? show. sunday, may 2nd at the royal canadian legion on commercial drive in vancouver.

in case...

joy! uppercase magazine's issue number 5 is out. i love this publication - inspiring content, amazing eye candy and canadian to boot. this issue's cover art was done by the venerable matte stephens. two of his prints are hanging in our home now and every time i have a space to fill i go back to his etsy shop and ogle.

beelightful

found the cutest shop on etsy this weekend, and had to mention it. beethings is full of adorable bird prints and other lovely treasures. this print of bluejays caught my attention.

jamie and i quibble fondly about what constitutes the "true" blue jay. being from ontario, home of actual blue jays (in my opinon) with pointy blue heads and very blue bodies and a team named after them and of course i learned the words to "ok blue jays" in elementary school gym class, i tend to think that the real blue jay is the one i've always known. jamie makes the case that the bc jay is the stellar jay, therefore superior because it's name idicates an above-average level of jay-ness. i still disagree - it's just not blue enough. so i couldn't help buying the print. nobody uses stellar jays when the want to show a blue jay. ;-)

good reasons to welcome 2010

truth be told, i myself am not in the running for the world's best schedule planner. no one has ever glowingly said of me "wow, is that woman ever punctual!" you would never mistake me for a watchmaker, someone who wears a watch or even someone paid to be on time! i often forget things, mistake dates and miss birthdays of folks i adore... this year i am hoping to change all that through the acquisition of an adorable calendar or two! i figure that at least if i'm still putzing around at this time next year, i'll have had 365 days in which to enjoy lovely treats like these:

topping my list has to be this sweet 2010 desk calendar from local cabin + cub. each calendar includes 12 cards featuring prints of valerie's whimsical mixed media collage images and it includes the mini wooden easel!

love this limited edition 2010 letterpressed calendar from ink + wit. the seven dreamy prints were inspired by travels in iceland, england, france and the us, it comes ready to hang or can be displayed framed as well.

if you can find an image you really really like, why not look at it all year? i love this letterpressed sweet mama mini calendar from yee haw. love the colour, the graphic and who can resist cotton candy?


what about something a little softer? there's this swell under the sea calendar in linen from linea carta! my mom always used to have a linen tea towel calendar hanging on the wall in our kitchen, and they can be kind of hard to find nowadays...

for a calendar that serves both it's intended purpose and manages to provide project ideas, you can't beat the calendar from purl soho. it includes photos and instructions for 12 knitting, sewing and patchwork projects from the shop's always inspiring blog, the purl bee.

and, because knowing the date is all well and good, but knowing important dates is even better, there's the fab dutch-themed birthday calendar from another local gem, the beautiful project. it's not year-specific, so you can use it for ages! the perfect place to jot down which person's birthday is on what date.

crazy for umbrella prints

i recently found these very cool hand screenprinted fabrics from australian umbrella prints. they also sell kits, skirts, jewelery, cards and much more... outside of australia, you can buy their fabrics through their etsy shop. they're so so cute - i want them all!

the fabric trimmings sampler might have to do for me for now - i've spent so much ordering fabrics lately and my addiction really needs a proper support group!

and how cute is this nimbus lion kit from their shop? it's got it all - cute print, smile, cuddle factor:

stuff that stocking: city mini blocks

i love christmas, and at about this time every year i start seeing every small, cute object that i come across through the lens of "that would be perfect for a stocking!".

and so i can't resist the small-size + cuteness factor lure of these adorable city mini blocks from etsy's fidoodle. they would, of course, make a perfect stocking stuffer...

they're made of locally-sourced hardwood maple and non-toxic inks. the images - doodles of rooflines and urban icons and folks - are adorable and on the reverse side is a puzzle of the scene. they come packed in a 3 x 3 inch cube.

fidoodle is based in toronto, by the way. go canada! check out their website as well for more info.

diving whale family print

i couldn't resist ordering this lovely 2nd edition woodcut print of a diving family of whales from tugboat printshop of pittsburgh. it's part of their woodcut series "the deep blue sea" and i fell in love in a second.

the three deep-blue whales reminded me of our little trio family. there's something about the number three; my favourite high-school english literature teacher, mr. newbigging, used to say that three is a magical number. i see threes everywhere, sneaking up on me like little ambassadors of the number world. it seems a good family size number too - one that really requires participation from each member, like a shaky three-legged stool!

the artists behind the brand are paul roden + valerie lueth. their prints are all limited editions and actual prints, not digital reproductions. their pieces are "100% original drawings that are hand-drawn, hand-carved and hand-printed on archival paper in our in-house printshop". how cool is that?

you can buy it - and many other awesome prints - online through their website or in their etsy shop.

for your little gnome

it's been a while since i've updated the blog. sad! having a week long visit to family back east back-to-back with preparing and showing at portobello west and then the festive brouhaha of halloween somehow kept me from blogging. i've been meaning to, but it took something really cute to get me moving:

how awesome is this hand-felted merino wool gnome hat from etsy's wee little robin? i adore it!

it's custom-made to your fit your munchkin's particular head and available in candy apple red or tangerine.

new felt pins - halloween ghosties

just added these seasonal felt pins to my etsy shop. there are two versions - scout, the smiling ghostie and radley, the spooky ghostie. yes, i adore to kill a mockingbird - why do you ask? ;-)

they're about 2" high and 1" wide, made of high-end wollfilz wool felt, hand-embroidered and stuffed with organic cotton fill. a large brooch closure is securely sewn to the back.

lovely mondays: wooden toys

we've tried very hard to stick to wooden toys around here but more plastic sneaks in that i'd like to admit. i'm ok with duplo, but the rest of it can go. just leave us with our books, handmade stuffed animals, delightful wood toys and our art supplies and i'm happy. there are such fun, unique and handmade finds on etsy that it's easy to see the light!

and i must, must, must have that checker set. pirates vs ninjas? all kinds of awesome. all these delights, clockwise from top left:

pirates vs. ninja checker set from goose grease

vintage graphic choo-choo block puzzle from tiny giraffe

robot parade figure set from moo shoo pork

rainbow of mushrooms collection from wee wood

tartlet pincushions

i could not resist making a fresh batch of these lovely tartlet pincushions. the idea is based on a pattern from the lovely book zakka sewing. they're small - about 2.5" across - and perfect for folks who routinely end up stabbing themselves with needles poking through the bottom of their other pincushion (um, that would be me). the fabrics are all sturdy home decor weight japanese cotton-linen blends.

they'll be in the etsy shop too, once i confirm the shipping cost, but i really can't wait to put these out on my table at portobello west.

shop update: the modern caveman pillow club

so, a while back i was able to locate a wholesale supplier of the fantastic woodgrain fabric that i use to make my gnomes. i bought a huge bolt of the stuff and it's lovely woodgrainey-ness has been keeping me up at nights with new ideas. i couldn't resist creating this:

the modern caveman pillow club. styled after the club prominent in the type of neanderthal life made popular in comic strips, it's soft and squishy and silly. i love it!

it measures about 24" long x 5" wide and 5" deep, and such fun. interested in beating those around you but not going to jail (probably, no guarantees implied)? need a good conversation piece for the sofa? sore neck? - it makes a remarkably comfy neck pillow. need a good non-violent halloween costume accessory? check it out in my etsy shop for more info.

shop update: felt + vintage button barrettes!

there are a fresh new batch of wool felt and vintage button barrettes in my etsy shop!

each one is completely unique and handmade using my favourite one-of-a-kind authentic vintage buttons and lovely bits of super-soft wollfilz felt. and i'll be displaying an even bigger selection at my table at portobello west later this month!

lovely mondays: for all your chalkboard needs

they're black, so they go with everything! chalkboards and chalkboard-inspired art from etsy, clockwise, from top left:

chalkboard alphabet limited edition print from the small object. and check out maker sarah neuburger's the small object site for more small, adorable and all 'round loveliness!

embroidery hoop chalkboard - cameo boy edition from the local bliss in a teacup. love! a 10" embroidery hoop with lovely cameo outline on chalkboard, it can be used as art or as a chalkboard too - it comes with chalk and a little wipe to clean up your dusty scribblings. check out the vancouver-based duo's delightful blog for more.

whale chalkboard from perennial favourite suddenly it's real!. for more on the duo behind the shop, check out their site or their etsy featured seller interview from a little ways back.

victorian-style vinyl wall decal from spell it out designs. this adhesive vinyl wall decal can take your messages and doodles in chalk and then poof - remove it from your wall when you're moving along.

how to: knit a cute baby hat

spotted this awesomely adorable little baby hat over in the etsy how-tuesday archive - how to make a stella pixie hat. seriously, how cute is that hat? the pattern is from kristen rengren, author of vintage baby knits.

i'm a very beginner-level knitter, despite having learned to knit about four years ago. i have no problem with the basic stitches, making ribs, even knitting in the round, but i have such trouble if the pattern involves anything more than the same repeated rows. i just can't seem to get past the scarf stage! while pregnant with cole i did manage to make a couple of super-simple knit hats and must make some more before fall since his head's grown quite a bit to accommodate all his new little smarts... this hat looks a little more complicated that the ones i've made, but it is just so cute i don't think i can resist trying...

then again, i thought it might actually be something i could reproduce by cutting up an old sweater... i think that would work? must try - if i do will post results. considering it's july and wooly hat season is at least as far off as the list of things i have to do now is long, i'll probably not tackle either for a bit. ;-)