linen invites

I recently finished designing and making my wedding invites. As I mentioned before I love when things that are typically made with paper are made with cloth, and seeing as I was making the invites myself it only made sense for me to make the inner envelope/pocket with linen. I screen printed the exterior with the mums pattern and then printed the inside with the invitation. The additional pages of the invite were printed on paper and inserted in the pocket. The flap that's held down with the two brads works to keep the booklet shut and also holds the triangle pocket in place. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out...and also happy our guest list isn't over 100!

Shops are loving the new pencil pattern. Here' s the photo I had taken a while back that was the inspiration, along with some of the items that will come in this print. I think this storage bag would make a great catch-all in a craft room and the blanket would be sweet in a kid's room.

getting organized

We spent most of our weekend organizing the house and painting the master bedroom/ensuite- I will post photos when it is finished. On Friday I went to Mixed Media to get a day planner because after 7 months into the year I felt it was time I got one- my chalk boards in each room weren't really doing the job anymore. Also, I remembered that they had a huge selection of really great agendas there. After a good while of looking through each planner I decided on this one for it's fun yet clean layout and look- Plus, you write in the dates yourself so it worked out perfectly for my delayed August start. It also has a bunch of red and blue lined and graph pages at the back which really makes it. It's made by Millimeter Milligram- I really like all of their organizing stationary. I think their daily color books and all their labels are especially great.

The shop is looking a little empty right now- I am working on my items for fall and will be adding them to the shop thoughout the month of August. Here's a look at some of the new items and prints.

Saw this post over at Design Sponge today about a DIY fabric envelope using fusible webbing. I love when objects that are typically made with paper are made with cloth. I am working on my own fabric envelopes as we speak for my wedding invites- my first prototype was done with fusible webbing too. I will post photos when they are finished. The invites along with the fall orders are keeping me busy busy.

It was my birthday this weekend so we decided to spend it at the cottage. A vintage Hudson Bay blanket that I had spotted a while back at The Re-finery in Mirvish Village was waiting for me there- a gift from mom.

some recent sketchbook drawings

Back from the Toronto Outdoor Art Show. It was a nice weekend, except for the brief but intense thunderstorm Saturday morning. My neighbour at the show was ceramicist Marney McDiarmid. I loved her mugs, she loved my storage bags, so we did a trade. Printed on the one side is an image of onion sets from an old heritage book. It reads 'onion sets properly thinned'. I love it. When I got home and put it with my other mugs I noticed that my collection of textured white hand made mugs seems to be growing. I guess I am drawn to the simplicity in colour and the subtle textures in the clay.

I will be at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition starting tomorrow and going until Sunday- I won't be open for the James North Art Crawl tomorrow night because I will at the show. Please stop by and say hi if you can, I am booth #663. Lots of my friends will be there exhibiting as well, here's a look at a few of them. Don and Jesse of Stinson Studios- Father and son team, and amazing woodturners. Don is my fiance's dad's cousin...so I guess we're kind of related. We have a nice collection of his wonderful bowls. Booth 509 and 517.

Jen Bulthuis of Fidoodle- lovely screen printed wooden and cloth toys. Booth 328.

Gosia- Illustrated and sculpted works. I have two of her prints, including the one above. Booth 611.
Roisin of Bespoke Uprising- hand dyed, screen printed, and embroidered childrens clothes and more. Roisin and I went to NSCAD together. She puts so much work into each piece. Booth 100.

Jenny Clark- I love her simple ceramics, I have two of her mugs. She does lovely work. Booth 536.

antique wooden hangers

I stopped by the reuse center the other day- you never know what you will find there. I got a stack of 10 old wooden clothes hangers. I thought they were 50 cents each so I was about to pay $5 for them only to find that the whole bunch was only $1. Steal. They all have wire hooks with long necks and some of them are stamped with text from the companies they belonged to. I think I will keep picking these up when I come across them so I can fill my closet these neat old hangers.

This week will be one year since we moved to Hamilton- I have no idea where the time has gone. It has me thinking about all the ideas I have for our home and how furniture and artwork are still in their temporary placement, the furniture I bought to refinish is still in it's original state, and paint chips are still wedged in the corners of the switch plates in just about every room. So instead of giving a sneak peek into my home I will give you a peek at my ideas for my home. The folder of images is large since every time I come across a home or room I like online I save it to this folder. Here are some of the images- the one above and the one below are my two favorites.
Not sure where I found them all, but I think most are from DesignSponge and some may be from Decor8.

I am getting ready for the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, which is taking place next weekend, July 10-12. It will be my first time participating in the show and I am really looking forward to it since outdoor shows can be really great and I have heard such wonderful things about it. I have made a few special items just for the show, including some teatowels with prints of bikes, houses, and mums.