Show Review

The show this weekend was great! The ladies at Creative Spark did a great job promoting the show and there was a great turnout considering it's the show's first year!

I had lots of encouraging comments on my work and enjoyed chatting to other craft-minded people in the community.

Sales-wise I was happy.  This being my third show I'm still a little unsure what to expect sales wise and always breathe a sigh of relief once I've made my booth fee back.

I went with a similar look to what I've had before but added a new shelf which is great for adding height to the display, and also a bunch of branches to hang my felt stars from.

Huge thanks to all who came out and supported the show and fingers crossed it runs again in 2013!

Giveaway Winner!

(drumroll please) The winner of the Rainbow Ripple Pouch is Stephanie who is making cookies and coasters! I'll e-mail you about shipping details.

Thanks to all who entered, it was lots of fun reading about all the handmade-ness going on! 

If you didn't win but would like a pouch, there are some listed in my Etsy shop. 

Show Today!

For anyone who's in the Guelph area I'll be at the Creative Spark Winter Market selling lovely rainbow goods today and tomorrow!  Click the link for details.

Giveaway Day!

Giveaway Day is here! I'm going to be giving away one of my Rainbow Ripple Pouches.  The one in the picture isn't the exact pouch the winner will receive but is the same colours and size. 

If you'd like to enter please leave a comment about a handmade gift you're giving this year, or something else you're looking forward to this holiday season if you're not making gifts.  I'll ship anywhere so everyone is welcome to enter, the winner will be picked by random number generator on Saturday morning. Thanks for visiting!

Weekend Goodness

1.  Christmas Crafternoon.

2.  One of a Kind Show.

3.  Fresh, warm croissants.

4.  New washi tape from the Paper Place.

5.  Decorating our Christmas tree!

Miss Mushroom Goes to England

My friend Miss Mushroom came with me to England this summer.  She loved touring around Lacock...

and soaking up the culture and architecture in Bath...

Sometimes she felt a bit shy.

She was muchly excited to visit Highclere Castle - home of Downton Abbey!

All the touring around really tired her out and she had to take a rest.

Then she got a second wind and went for a hike...

in the forest, she was in her element!

 She paused by babbling brooks...

 and finally reached the lake...

 where she hopped up on a post to get a better view.

 Of course no trip to England is complete without a picture with the Trafalgar Square Lions!

Posing Miss Mushroom was probably the silliest thing I did while I was away.  No picture of the Trafalgar Square photo shoot but we were getting lots of strange looks from other tourists! Usually I took the photos in quieter locations where I could mushroom in peace.

I've been meaning to write this post for a couple months... can I procrastinate or what!?  The motivation to actually get it done is that Miss Mushroom and I will celebrate our first anniversary soon - I got her from Katie McLellan at the One of a Kind show which begins again this Thursday! I can't wait to see what Katie and the other artisans have been up to this last year.

Weekend Goodness

1. Having my tutorial featured on Sew, Mama, Sew.

2.  Making carrot soup.

3.  Getting out Christmas cookie jars and baking to fill them.

4.  Workshop towards the Creative Spark Winter Market.

5.  Night in with knitting, a podcast and a friend.

Crafternoon Creations

About a week ago I had a Crafternoon with a friend - we created canvas art (inspired by Pinterest).  I used painters tape to mask off the sunshine rays and freehanded the quote when everything was dry.  I'm planning to give this to a friend who is expecting her first baby in the spring.

Then I played around some more and made this little love trees painting.

I think it looks great with the sunshine painting so they'll probably be a gift together.  What do you think?

Weekend Goodness

1.  Going with friends to their first ballet.

2.  Christmas open house at a local gift shop.

3.  Going for a run in a T-shirt and shorts (in November!!)

4.  Making things for the Creative Spark Winter Market.

5.  "Joy" tea.

Less then a Month!

I applied to the Creative Spark Winter Market back in September, found out I was accepted in October and now it's November and less then a month to go! I have been slowly making things but this weekend when I realized the one month countdown is on I figured I'd better getting my making mojo going!

If you're in the area mark your calendars for December 8 & 9!

Weekend Goodness

1. Crafternoon with a friend.

2.  An extra hour of sleep.

3.  First "red cup" of the season from Starbucks.

4.  Deciding to be over bronchitis and going for a run.

5.  50% off Body Butter.

Playing with Stamps

As I mentioned in my last post I had fun carving my first stamps on the weekend.  I started without really researching it - now I realize gouging more out around the shape would make a clearer image, I think I could also trim them a bit more.  I used this starter kit from Michaels (with a 40% off coupon!) which has everything you need to get started, although you need to supply your own stamp pad or paint.

The first design I tried was some simple holly shapes, one with "two bump" leaves, another with "three bump" leaves.  I find the first ones easier to draw but I think the second look more realistic, what do you think?

Next I worked on a design that's been percolating in my mind for a few months.  I love white on kraft and the bit of gold really makes it stand out.  The third gift along is made out of washi tape, not part of the original plan but I love it!  This was a test design, on the final version I'd like to use gold leaf for the accents (I just used a gold marker here).

Carving is something new for me, this was an easy way to start and I think I'm hooked!

Weekend Goodness

1.  Christmas stamps from Canada Post.

2.  Free ice cream from Marble Slab.

3.  Carving my first stamps.

4.  A visit to my local fabric store.

5.  Fall forest hike.

Birthday Goodness

1.  Feeling love from friends and family.

2.  Cupcakes from a local bakery.

3.  A handmade card left in the door.

4.  One last trip to the lake (for the season).

5.  Unexpected sister time.

Weekend Goodness

1.  Tea on the porch.

2.  First trip to Ribfest.

3.  Picking an ice cream flavour.

4.  Quiet evening at the lake.

5.  Kneading cinnamon bun dough.

Weekend Goodness

1.  Catching up with friends.

2.  Crab & shrimp salad.

3.  Visiting 60 Years of Designing the Ballet.

4.  A long bike ride (the first in too long).

5.  Studying old family photo albums at the Art Gallery.

England Experiences - Number 4 - Olympic Mania

We were in London a few weeks before the Olympics began but there was already a lot of Olympic stuff around.  Rings were everywhere! On the Tower Bridge:

In the train station (St. Pancras).

And although we couldn't go into any venues we did see a lot (from a distance).


The Olympic Stadium.

The Aquatic Centre.

The Equestrian Stadium.

The Olympic Park.

Not a venue but just as important - security!

Transport for London was getting ready for the Games, putting up signs to venues and warning people that it would get busy on transit.

The British Museum had a display about the Olympics, not very big but there were gold medals on display!

On our last night we were in Cambridge and saw the torch relay.  We arrived over an hour before the torch came through to stake out our spot and it turned out to be perfect - right in front of an exchange!  First lots of promotional vehicles came through.

The next torch bearer took pictures with the crowd while he waited for the torch to arrive.

Police kept everyone in order.

 Finally the torch arrived and the flame was passed.

The media was there to capture it all.

I meant to have this post up earlier but since the Games started I've been spending a lot of time sitting on my couch watching! I'll admit it's pretty much all the time I don't have to be at work or somewhere else.  Thankfully they only last 2 weeks and then life can return to normal!

Olympic Party!

You might say I'm a bit of an Olympic junkie.  You might say the same about some of my friends.  For the Opening Ceremonies we got together and joined our Olympic junkie-ness together!  I decorated with rings and a flag.

There was lots of Olympic themed food:

Cupcakes with coloured sprinkles and chocolate rings.

Watermelon cut in maple leaves. And lots of other goodies that had a sports or Olympic theme.

We munched away while we watched the Opening Ceremonies and played Opening Ceremonies bingo.  I made up cards with things I thought we'd see during the broadcast.  I was so happy with how that turned out! Everyone was really excited to play - we had to make a very official start to the game to prevent people starting while others were in the other room getting snacks!  It took about 20 minutes for the first person to win (about 15 minutes longer then I thought it would take!) and we saw all but two of the things I had put on the cards.  Everyone had a prize by the end of the night - I picked up some little Olympic items while I was in England just for this. Since it was such a success I took notes for ideas of things to put on the bingo cards for Sochi 2014!