Playing house

These lilies of the valley showed up in our backyard. They last very well if you pick them, and with only these three the kitchen smells lovely!

We took a long break after the main part of our kitchen renovation was done and for the past few weeks we haven't done much at all. But there are still lots of finishing details to do (you know, minor things like baseboards). Recently we've been starting to get back into it and I finally cleared out all the paint and tools that were in one corner. If you're pausing in your renovation I recommend it. It's worth trouping out to our shed to get a paintbrush in exchange for a (sort of) tidy kitchen again.
Today I filled the big bare wall in the eating nook area (we're nook people) with shelves from IKEA. They're just plain white ones, rather than something charming and countryish but they match the cabinets and when we sell the house someday I can leave them behind without any regrets.
As you probably know by now I love monochromatic schemes, and especially blue so I've put lots of blue/green things on the shelves.
Sometimes I feel self-conscious about blogging, I suddenly realize I'm showing you pictures of my kitchen shelves, which is kind of trivial. And I worry I'm boring you. But before I put the shelves up I was looking around on Flickr (how pretty is this) to see how other people had arranged their shelves. And I was trying to decide if I was happy with this style of shelf, or if we should take them back. So my point is I guess I find it helpful when other people post pictures of their kitchen shelves and a surprisingly large number of people do.

While I was looking I also found this brilliant idea for the shelves - if you had a cat. I love how Egyptian the orange cat at the top looks.

p.s. I really really want that couch too

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Yellow-breasted chat

After all this time I've decided it's finally time for a new header. Here's a detail of the pen & ink and watercolour illustration I made, which was inspired by my post on our illustration blog for the topic "yellow". Our talented Anette has been suggesting topics each week for our little group to post about to help us keep up with the blog.

Earlier this spring I saw a shrub with black berries on it which was very picturesque and have been meaning to add it into one of my illustrations sooner or later. Berry branches are always good backgrounds for bird illustrations since they like to eat them! I would have taken a picture of the shrub but I generally don't carry my camera around.

This bird is the yellow-breasted chat, I chose it because I liked the charming name and its bright yellow breast with light grey/brown feathers on the back.

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Weekender progress

I almost finished the weekender over the long weekend, there's just a few more finishing details left to do, so in the meantime I thought I would post some of the progress pictures. As you probably know by now (this is a very popular bag!), the first part of the pattern involves putting together the two main panels complete with large pockets, handles and piping. (I've made one addition at this stage, maybe you can guess?)

The second part is the zippered top panel, which has pockets attached at either end.
One thing this pattern taught me was how to neatly sew in a zipper, with folds on either side so that when it's closed the zipper is hidden. And doing it step-by-step is very easy and it looks nicely finished when done. I added a little bit of bias tape for a zipper pull.

I made a few additions to the pattern. One of my favourite (and the simplest) is inner pockets. I cut pockets with the same rounded shape as the rest of the bag and also cut out pieces of the thick canvas lining. Then rather than trying to hem the pocket, I added bias tape trim all the way around to finish the edges and attach the lining to the outside, then sewed the pocket in place.

I used magnetic snaps for the pocket closures. It's my first time using these, and it turns out it's really simple. Just snip two tiny cuts (with pointy embroidery-type scissors) for the tabs to go through, then the tabs fold in and hold each side of the magnetic snap in place. It helps that the fabric was a sturdy canvas, I guess if you were using something flimsier you would need to use interfacing. Another extra detail I added are loops on either side to attach a detachable (longer) strap. I sewed the loops in place just behind the side pockets so it looks tidy. Right now the bag is assembled but not quite ready for it's photo shoot so I'll show the finished bag in my next post.

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Picnicking

We had a busy weekend, hosting my family on Saturday for dinner, and hosting Bradley's family for Sunday dinner. And both evenings I was up until 1am working on artwork for the last of a series of five children's books I've been working on the past few weeks. It's not as bad as all that though because I've always been a night owl. I perk up around 6pm and get very energetic around 10pm and have to force myself to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Which I rarely do.

But I still managed to sneak out for a little thrift shopping Sunday afternoon although I felt oddly guilty. Lots of shops were closed and it was like "why aren't you at home have quality time with your mom? I hope you're not here picking up last minute flowers because you forgot it was mother's day" But it was worth it because I really liked what I found. This picnic basket (for $4.99) actually has a little table that fits inside it. Also good for separating things in the basket so less things get squished. I assume. The table cloth is a previously thrifted item but seems to belong with the basket.
When we go picnicking I like to take a pillow, and I've decided the charming pillowcase (below) will be perfect for that since it has a kind of woodland feel. I bought this from the friendly & talented Marnie at the Trunk sale (I also loved her "play capes" for children). The sale was lots of fun and as usual a source of lots of buying and swapping as well as selling.

note the bird ribbon. how can I resist anything with bird ribbon?

I also bought this cutlery roll from Marnie, which will also go in the basket.
My favourite part is the matching napkins.
And while I'm showing off the things I got at the trunk sale, I'm loving this spring scarf created by Dory who posts here. The colours came out a bit dark in the photo, the dark patches are actually navy blue corduroy.
It's warm but not too warm if you know what I mean. Also I like to see the fabrics that other people put together, it's like getting a little batch of someone else's stash.

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Amy Butler's Weekender... again.Part one

Well this is my third attempt to make Amy Butler's Weekender and be happy with it. It's one of those things where you think the fabric you've picked is just perfect for a project and by the time you finish you're not so sure. And a few weeks later you can't stand it and wonder what you were thinking when you picked it in the first place. And you regret all that hard work you did to make something you don't really like.

But this bag is really great, it's such a perfect size and is just what you need for short trips (and good for cramming in extra stuff such as knitting and books) and is also great for a carry-on bag. And I wanted to start making one now well before I'm rushing to get ready for a trip so maybe I could do a really good job on it and not cut corners.

So the last weekender I made was a plaid upholstery fabric in a caramel kind of colour with pink piping. I'm not going to link back to it or anything because I grew to hate it. So I unpicked it recently (might as well re-use the zipper and cord) and decided to try again.
I bought some new Michael Miller fabric (pictured above) from Tonic Living but after a couple of days I wasn't sure about it for the bag although it may look great on our dining room chairs someday. I still like the fabric, I don't know why but I just didn't want it for the weekender bag anymore. This blue floral was my other choice, which I may still use someday. I bought a sample piece and it's nice and thick and has a kind of nautical freshness that I like.

So in the end I decided on a fabric I already had in my stash, a thick white linen with a grey fish pattern on it that I think will look elegant although not extra practical since it has a white background. But there's all that detail and dots and things so maybe it will be ok. And the bottom is going to be dark grey twill which is very practical and the part that gets the most wear. But the main thing is I think it's really pretty and it inspired me to go ahead finally. I hope it works out, I took a lot of time thinking about fabric combinations and even Photoshopped new fabric choices onto a photo of the bag so I could try and picture it. This version looks like this:
The straps and piping are made with dark brown cotton (from the Workroom) and the base is dark grey twill. I'm going to line it with very sturdy cream coloured canvas material. I found a huge piece at Goodwill and thought it might be useful for something that really needed structure. Which this bag does. And as you know if you've tried, local shops look at you like you're crazy if you ask for Timtex. Last time I substituted buckram, but I forgot about that this time and just bought some fusible interfacing which is not as sturdy. (I used two strips of interfacing for each strap and they turned out well.) So in short I'm hoping the canvas lining will compensate. We'll see!

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Workroom trunk sale

I'm doing another trunk show at the workroom (in Toronto, 1340 Queen St. West, 12-5pm) this Sunday. It's a craft sale where everyone shows their wares in a suitcase. One new thing I've made for this show is a messenger bag with barkcloth on the flap. If I have any extra time I may try to finish a couple of needle books.
And I have to tell you, my craft "studio" was featured on Apartment Therapy! I was thrilled because I am a big fan of that site. I find it particularly inspiring because of the focus on small space decor, something I'm always working on. The quotes got lost in translation, so just a reminder I haven't suddenly acquired a craft's studio.. it's still the same front room that has our living room stuff (couch, tv) our dining room table and chairs, all the crafts storage and my two secretary desks with more crafts storage in one and all my illustration supplies in the other. And two rambunctious but lovable sock monkeys.

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Vintage nib pen

A young rabbit: actual size

The trouble with ebay is sometimes you find things you never knew existed that you realize you absolutely need. My new favourite thing that just arrived in the mail today is a small vintage travel nib pen. Sometimes I do my illustrations with nib pens because I like the variation in line that you get as opposed to a regular pen. (In case you don't know, a nib pen is the kind you dip into ink and the nibs are removable. Before ball point pens were invented everyone used them.)

I thought the artist nib pen I bought at a store was just fine until the travel one arrived. It does very fine lines and the ink seems to last longer or flow better or something. I drew almost this entire rabbit with one dip of the nib. Also, the picture above is the actual size, but in the enlargement below you can see how much detail I could do.

zoom in of young rabbit

And even better I can take it with me on trips and maybe even sketch outdoors. Except that usually I prefer to draw from my imagination. I've always felt slightly guilty about this, as if it's lazy not to draw from life more often, but then I read this and it made me feel better.

p.s. I am currently illustrating a book about a rabbit... I'll show you as soon as it's published!

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Craft "studio"

Please excuse my blossoming branch fixation. This one seems to have all its blossoms now and is starting to grow leaves! The ceramic planter was a birthday gift from my lovely friend Jaimie, it has a bird on one side.

I still haven't got a craft or art studio for real, but our living/dining room is definitely starting to look like one. I painted the china cabinet that I use to store my fabric and I this is how it turned out: As I mentioned in a previous post I just couldn't decide about painting it but the wood really didn't have a great finish and it created a dark corner in the room. Painting it white really made such a difference in how bright the room feels.The only difficult part is having the patience to do all the priming and painting of all the nooks and crannies and of course the mullions (ie. decorative thin piece of wood behind the glass) in the glass doors. It's fairly simple, it just requires extra work. You use a putty knife to gently pry out the quarter round strips of wood around the edges that hold the mullions in place. They are held in place by small nails (which you can use again when replacing them). Then you can take out the glass and paint all the pieces before reassembling.

When you pry out the strips of wood be very careful since they are quite thin and can break easily. Someone had broken two at some point and the pieces were held in place with wood glue. It's not difficult to remove them just by wiggling the putty knife, and then I used a little bit of wood glue to reattach the pieces.

Here's a detail of the tins I have on top of the cabinet. I was noticed that Amy Butler has the same vintage tin as the tomato red and white one I have in front here! I saw it in a magazine article about her, and in the Midwest Modern book photographed on her desk. It's so familiar to me now it was funny to see it in someone else's house. I thought it was expensive when I bought it but couldn't resist the design. The bottom says "W. & R. Jacob & Co. (L-Pool) Ltd. Biscuit Manufacturers Liverpool, England. Manufactured in England". I wish cookies still came in nice tins like this.Here's another tip, by the way. That tin was a bit grubby, and while I like things to have their vintage patina, this one actually cleaned up very nicely with gentle application of one of those mr. clean magic erasers. It took dark marks off that I thought were permanent - without removing the original paint. Of course I'd be very careful if it's a special vintage tin that you have.

And finally I have a "new" sewing machine! This one came from Goodwill and I took a chance because I didn't know much about it. But I've been using one from the 1940s and thought I should upgrade to one from the 60s at least. The main difference is it can do reverse and zig-zag.It's a Singer Fashion Mate 217. I find the beige/grey colour sort of elegant and I didn't want a modern machine. I'd like to do something about the bottom casing though, which is in rough shape. It's kind of green paper covering plywood. Not as nicely made as the old wooden cases. But the machine has turned out very well, love the zig-zagging, and it's very quiet and like the old one I have it's a real workhorse and can sew through many layers of heavy material easily. The only downside that I can tell so far is that it weighs 33 pounds.

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Birthday

My birthday was on Saturday and was a perfect day for it, so warm and sunny we had my birthday breakfast (including cupcake!) on the deck.
The "tablecloth" was a big piece of Cath Kidston fabric which I later turned into an actual tablecloth and also this tote:
While I feel I should write some thoughtful reflections on the past year, or the year to come, I'm not really up for that, so I'm just going to mention some of my favourite presents that are also recommendations.

1. Box set of the wonderful British comedy show Black Books. I'd only seen a glimpse of it before, but it's so funny and has that perfect kind of humour that makes you realize you've been taking everything too seriously. Featuring the brilliant and oddly lovable Dylan Moran (seen recently in Run Fatboy Run, also wonderful) and this episode has a small bit with Martin Freeman (you know, Tim from The Office and Arthur Dent).

2. A few lovely things from Cath Kidston such as this adorable clothespin bag:3. "once" cd. When they won their Oscars Marketa Irglova was cut off, but after the commercials they fixed their mistake and she had her acceptance speech. I loved that. The music is so good and perfect to listen to while you sew your new Cath Kidston tote on a sunny birthday day.
4. The book Lotta Prints: How to Print Anything, from Potatoes to Linoleum I think I'm not the only on who loves anything Lotta, so enough said. I'm also recently spied the new Amy Butler book Midwest Modern which I'm planning to get next. (I'm not allowed to buy things right before my birthday which is when I saw it.)

In blossoming branches news, the Forsythia bloomed in time for my birthday (and has even more blooms now) and is very pretty:
The cherry branches are taking a little longer, they looked like this on Saturday:
But now of course they look like the picture at the top of this post. It's been fascinating watching the buds grow day by day.

So this year was altogether a lovely birthday. It was one of those days when you feel so content and you realize what a happy home you have and don't want to change a thing.

p.s. in case you're wondering, yes I did paint my china (fabric) cabinet and I'm glad I did, so I'll post about that next.

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Springtime

These Siberian squill (Scilla siberica) are our first flowers!

First of all, judging from all the shoots coming up in our gardens it's springtime and the bulbs are growing! Also we're pleased to see that the little lilac tree we planted in the fall is getting some buds. Relieved to see it survived after being buried in about 17 feet of snow this winter...

Also, for the first time, I have finally brought branches inside to force the blooms. I've seen it in magazines and they are always stunning but I haven't managed it until now. I think it has something to do with having a house and our own garden. But the branches on the left are from our parent's house (my in-laws), they're cherry tree branches. The branches on the right are from our own Forsythia.

So this is a reminder, now is the time to bring some branches in! Of course I will post pictures once ours bloom. I have several vases all over the house. And two tips:

1. woody branches should be cut at the bottom in an "x" so that they can draw up water more easily

2. the branches will turn the water a golden brown colour so you might want to use a coloured vase. I don't really mind about it, plus I have lots of branches and had to use all the vases we had.

Hope you have a happy Spring.

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Wallpapering

Lately I've been getting kind of obsessed with wallpaper. I've looked in paint & wallpaper shops, online and of course on ebay. I love vintage wallpaper but that's mainly because I love vintage design, not authentic old wallpaper specifically. Many of the modern designs these days are gorgeous and I do like those as well.

The main inspiration has been seeing wallpaper in magazines and decorating books. I was haunted by a magazine photo featuring Neisha Crosland's "anemone" paper and finally found out whose design it was. I also notice wallpaper in movies occasionally. I could not believe how gorgeous the silvery bird and branch wallpapered bedroom in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day was. (Which incidentally was an adorable movie with many of my favourite actors.) And finally my friend Jaimie used an inspiringly gorgeous modern floral paper in her newly renovated kitchen, and another friend, Andrea, papered her bathroom in anthropologie "Blossom" paper and it looked so perfect.

While searching around I found a few sites I really like. Plus Jaimie (who works at Canadian House & Home) sent me some fab links, such as ferm living, walnut wallpaper, and Thibaut (very traditional). I found one site that will mail you samples and it seems like a very practical (and affordable) way to buy wallpaper. I bought a few samples and it really does make a difference if you can see them in person.

the secretaries with new (vintage) bentwood chair - needs repainting!

I'd love to paper some walls but I think wallpaper is more personal than paint, and it might be hard to leave behind if we sold the house (+ effort + expense). Which we might do in a few years. I keep flip-flopping on that, because the more work we do the more lovable our house becomes, but it does have certain aspects that are limiting - such as its size. So we probably won't be here for many years. But who knows. See? Flip-flopping.
So I decided the best way to indulge the wallpaper fixation was to decorate a cabinet. And I found some lovely vintage paper on ebay. It has a lattice pattern (which I love) and flowers (which I love) and the colour scheme is fresh with light green and lots of white. It's a bit on the sweet side but I'm ok with that. Luckily when it arrived it was even nicer than in the photos. Vintage paper is a bit fragile so when cutting it I recommend a fresh blade and doing the cuts slowly.
I was planning to line the inside of the fabric cabinet, and I still may but I'm not sure about painting it still.. In the meantime I was thinking that the secretary desks are just a bit too cluttered-looking for the front room (which serves so many purposes). So I've added the wallpaper to their doors and it's just what they needed. Well I think so anyway. Now if only I could wallpaper my ugly printer and scanner. I'll have to make some sort of enclosed shelf for those...

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Fifi and Frances hijinks

When we moved into the new house last summer we packed away tons of our things in baskets and boxes including our two young sock monkeys, Fifi and Frances. A few weeks ago we found them and put them on the couch in our front room. Possibly the hibernation has made them even more rambunctious than previously because it seems they are always up to something silly.

For example, this is their new favourite game:
It's basically exactly what it looks like. They wedge themselves into either end of my folded quilt to make themselves look like one very long sock monkey. That's the game. It's pretty funny actually, every time I come into the room and find them like that I have to laugh.
Anyway, Bradley had a Cath Kidston catalogue around the house and there was a flyer with it for an easter egg painting contest. Well it's not really a contest, more of a draw, but all you do is paint your egg and email a picture and you can win a basket of Cath Kidston floral/gingham things.
(send a photograph of your "eggtrant" to stanley@cathkidston.co.uk with your name and address. closes 13/04/08)

Things have been busy with work lately and I wasn't going to bother but the monkeys were interested in having their portraits done in egg format. Well they didn't actually say that but they had the flyer around and were looking at it a lot. So last night Bradley drew Frances and I drew Fifi.

Speaking of work, I'm looking forward to showing you some of my new illustrations but I have to wait until the books are printed. So until then, I bring you the ongoing hijinks of Fifi and Frances.

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Wool felt embroidered watch strap

My favourite watch is a Swatch that had a red satin embroidered strap. Unfortunately after tons of wear it became pretty worn looking and then finally the buckle broke. I was inspired by this blog post to make a new strap for it.
First of all I used the old strap to make a paper template and cut out wool felt pieces from it - two for each side. Then I used a piece of twill fabric (with anti-fray) to make pieces shaped like forks with 3 strips that fit through the slots on the watch and stitched them in place. Then the wool straps sandwich the twill piece, top and bottom and get sewn together.After trying it out I realized it was a teeny bit scratchy on the wrist, so I added a ribbon lining. I used anti-fray to the ends. The last step is a snap closure.
The embroidery is done with wool, just a simple flower pattern.
Now I can wear it again!

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