cute as a button

I can't keep up with it all. So much creative genius out there. I bought these very cute retro-y recipe cards here, checked out her blog and fell in love with these mini wreaths. They combine two of my current passions: buttons and scalloped edges. I'm imagining them in fabric. Or paper but with a glitter edge. Add pixie dust glitter (Martha's is superb) to my list of new favourite things. Having bought every shade of MS's glitter in the states - where it's half the Canadian price, I'm sorry but not surprised to say - I'm on a glitter frenzy. Decking out a batch of pinecones with Stella the other day was just the beginning. Believe me when I tell you there's really nothing that can't be improved by a light dusting of pale blue glitter.

In other news, Santa has a blog. And a podcast. Who knew.

one man's garbage...

A quartet of gift tags made with recycled things. These are so simple, I'm almost embarassed to show them. I used scraps from the tweedy skirt I made in sewing class. The linen is the bottom 12" of a pair of Ikea curtains. Glad I saved that. The backs of some old baby announcements rescued from the Goodwill pile provided cardstock. Snip snip snip, a button et voila. Cute, no?

crafty goodness

I spent a couple of hours this morning at the One of a Kind show helping my sister-in-law, a cardmaker and paper arts instructor, set up her booth. Carmi's on the corner toward the end of aisle O, if you go. Her cards are 4 for $20, which is quite the deal, when you learn how she labours over each one.

I also bought a beautiful shadow box type of display shelf in a lovely matte cherry wood from here. It will be perfect. Somewhere. So many lovely things at the show. The One of a Kind is de rigueur on the handmade circuit, representing the rock stars of the craft world. I also rely on Toronto Craft Alert for a listing of all the low-key crafty events and fairs in town. It's incredible how much the whole craft *scene* has grown here in the last couple of years. I may not have to move to Portland afterall.

Thinking about teacher's gifts...waiting for inspiration. Feeling like I want to bake something but I can't commit to the clean-up part this afternoon. There was a three-ingredient shortbread recipe at the back of Canadian Family magazine this month. I'm skeptical but tempted. How much mess can three ingredients make?

1 lb butter
1 cup fruit sugar
4 cups flour

Cream butter + sugar. Add 3 cups flour. Place on a warm board (what does that mean? any bakers out there?) and knead in remaining flour. Roll to 1 cm thick; cut. Bake on parchment-covered sheet at 275 for 30 minutes.

heaven in a jar

It's a bit of a cross-table conversation killer, but pine boughs sure smell good.

Is it just me or is the entire world feeling especially Christmas-y a little earlier than usual this year? It's still November and visions of sugar plums and sablés croquants are dancing in my head. Much of the weekend was given over to making a Christmas CD. I've fallen hard for Sufjan Stevens, and Liberace's rendition of Ave Maria. It's beautiful, I kid you not. This morning finds me in a lovely and rare state of quiet planning. With the shop opening post-poned I now have the luxury of contemplating the details of the holiday. Fixing the wood fireplace, hosting a neighbourly open house, a trip on this steam train and making some Christmas cards are really the only must-do items this year.

The main event, the annual Christmas tree purchase, is still a few weeks away. I have not-so fond childhood memories of trekking across windy tundra with leaking boots and chapped cheeks to cut down our own tree with a dull hacksaw. I have no qualms about tree shopping in the parking lot down the street, Starbucks in hand. I've done my time.

the difficult I'll do right now, the impossible will take a little while

Cue the Fred Flintstone screechy braking sound. After playing a protracted game of stop/go with contractors - a game I really should have anticipated, having watched many HGTV renovation disaster shows - I decided to delay opening the new shop until the new year. The plan was to return from vacation to a beautiful and shiny and, most important, finished, space. But as you can see, there is a bit of work left to do. I didn't even realize until yesterday's cold snap that the baseboard heaters hadn't been installed. That, coupled with no sign out front (permit delay), no lighting (electrical delay) and no phone line (Bell engingeering delay), my push to open by December 8th started to seem downright foolish. And, honestly, not worth the self-imposed stress.

So with thanks to Billy Holiday, I will take a break from the scramble to enjoy Christmas with my peeps. Do a little baking. A little making. And get ready to swing open the doors to the world in February.

Happy weekend folks

back in the saddle

A big old frustration-tinged rummage. An exhalation. A cool phone call to the last person on earth who would know where a lost something might be. A USB cable located. I am back. With renewed purpose and bloggy usefulness.

First, a holiday craft. For my Christmas swap partner. These soft trees, you'll remember, were all over blogland last year. I stitched it by hand while catching up on episodes of Dexter (a very un-Christmas-y backdrop. Let's call it guilty pleasure #1.) I'd like to make some more. I'm a little bit shy about giving handmade things, well things made from my hands that is. I'm never sure if they're received with as much enthusiasm as they're made. I think it was this month's Blueprint that had a little gifting etiquette guide and while I forget the exact protocol, it was pretty clear that handmade was the poor cousin and should be given only in certain circumstances. As a secondary gift, say. I disagree, but it's made me look more critically at the quality of my handiwork.

In other news, and in defense of two weeks of vacation photos, this is my other intended project. I'm not a scrapbooker or much of a photo album keeper, but a book? I can get behind that. Feast your eyes here. If you'd like the geekier explanation, go here.

It's snowing. I like it. Enjoy your day.

unplugged

My camera's USB cable is missing, hence tonight's spartan post. Normally I'm ambivalent about posts without photos but I wanted to say hello and officially put an end to two weeks of vacation pictures, something I definitely enjoyed but suspect the overall blogging value was sub-par. That said, what this post lacks in photographic interest I intended to make up for in useful links, but discovered yet another weird and frustrating Blogger glitch that is preventing me from adding links, or images for that matter, assuming the USB cable turned up. All of which makes this one very big non-post indeed. And how was your day?

#7 or is it 8?

I've lost track. A good sign of relaxation, I think.

On my list of favourite things, a wedding is right there at the very top. Wandering off into the sunset with the person you love most in the world? So good. Indeed, I think I'll go do it now...

[post script]

it's good here

I love everything about this funny little island (pop. 800) but the shopping here isn't exactly up my alley. Aside from one rather excellent outlet mall - a mall only in that it is an island of stores surrounded by an ocean of free parking. Truly, it is an open-air palm tree-dotted promenade that is, in the local parlance, classy. And quite the opposite of Foxy Lady, a bedazzled palace on the posh end of the island. Menswear, of the high-waisted, triple-pleated, ascot-accented variety, is also plentiful in these parts:



As are playful, poolside looks:



The matching sunglasses get me. But don't think I'm poking fun. Well I am, I suppose, but I love it. I love it all, though I prefer the down-market junk shops and roadside flea markets - especially those run by a band of philanthropic pirates.



And that sell old magazines for a quarter:



Great Granny Squares! I love this jumper!


And this hair.


And this craft. But maybe without the epoxy cement.

#7

a quiet place in the sun is waiting...



...when this little smudge takes a rest

oh santa, you shouldn't have

Accuse me of soft toy snobbery if you want to. I won't deny it.

Somehow the gigantic Reese Peanut Butter Cup stuffed thingamajig didn't bother me quite as much as the notion of some kid cuddling up to a box of large fries.

#6

Sunday driving.

simple pleasure #5

Morning in a sunny kitchen.

whose to say?

Along with the seashells and one very pretty pink urchin, we found deserve on the beach one morning. I'm not saying it's profound or anything. Then again, I'm not saying it isn't.

Happy Remembrance Day.

simple pleasure #4

Window shopping here.

simple pleasure #3

a piece of quiet

simple pleasure #2

things that are pink

simple pleasure #1

Leaving the car in the driveway and biking to breakfast.

I don't know if posting vacation photos is a good idea. It feels a little nahnah-ha-booboo to me. But give me a chance; I'm going somewhere with this. See, we vacation in the same place at the same time each year. We take off after Halloween, leaving behind pumpkins and fall leaves and returning to full-throttled Christmas. Personally I feel it's too soon. Being away during what has got to be a frantic transition from scarecrows and bales of hay on the front lawn to boughs of holly and boxwood wreaths on the front door, I always feel slightly disconnected from the hub-bub. I prefer to ease into holidays. A little break between events is nice. Must my home always be decorated?

Rushing from one thing to the next without savouring anything in particular - when there is really so much about the season to love - leaves me feeling deflated when it's all over. It's like despite all the work, all the doing, I've somehow missed out on the best part. Over the last couple of years I've learned to pace things, so that we're not all completely Christmas'd out by the time the day arrives. Every year I get better at it, this editing of stuff to do, to buy, to see. Figuring out how to keep Christmas simple and meaningful is not an easy task, but it's increasingly important and worthwhile to me, and I'm guessing, to some of you as well. With that in mind, I'll post any good ideas or good blog posts I come across on the subject of keeping Christmas sweet & memorable & real.

I really liked the spirit of this swap, which I heard about here. It's a sharing of family traditions. If you'd like to participate, the swap is open for sign-ups until this weekend.

arrival

I feel like this on the inside.

The effects of a harrowing flight - a description I do not use lightly - erased after sinking bare feet into sand. A sunrise walk to the pier to sit silently among the early morning fishermen (or have they been there all night?) helped too. Hurray for holidays.

retreat

Man, I'm telling you Nikki McClure has my number. Every month I look forward to turning the calendar over. I'm amazed at her illustrations - each one cut with an x-acto knife from a single piece of paper. But it's her phrasing, her commands that get me every time. They always seem to perfectly reflect how I'm feeling. Capsize. Equal parts perfect surrender and loss of control. We are escaping tomorrow. Our November family retreat to the beach. Gathering up the loose ends always exhausts me, but even more so this year with the opening of the studio mere weeks away. I haven't talked much about it, this grand project of mine. In part because I'm overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work and money required to bring this business of mine to life, and in part because, I'm feeling protective about it all. Not quite ready to share. I had this same feeling with my babies. Not quite ready to share them with the world, I preferred a quiet cocoon to a carnival of visitors. A chance to adjust to the newness. Now I do, of course, hope I have many, many visitors when the shop opens next month. And I will have more to say and more to show you about its progress, once I've adjusted to the newness.

Bon voyage friends