I have a number of events coming up in this city this summer and I have wanted to do a map print of downtown for a while, so this seemed like the perfect time. I will be printing it for tea towels and totes. These bags are sturdy and big, made with a linen cotton exterior and lined with a heavy canvas.

My original idea for this print was to illustrate some of the buildings downtown. It didn't quite work out because I wanted to cover such a large portion of the city and the buildings were going to have to be super tiny. In the end it was the simple pattern of the street blocks that I liked the most. Although I did enjoy sketching some of the old downtown buildings.

The map items will be available next friday night, June 10th, at the art crawl (it's my 5 year anniversary and I have something special planned. I will tell you more about that later), and they will also be available at the trunk show the following week on Thursday June 16th, from noon til nine, at the Art Gallery of Hamilton.

The lilac festival is currently on at the Royal Botanical Gardens. Somehow I have managed to live here for three years without going until this past weekend. A nice place to walk with friends. Beautiful flowers and it smells so good.

I have been making more posters this week for my upcoming shows. Each one is part of a limited edition of 100. I hand cut, sand, and stain all of the dowels and it was great to have some nice weather this past weekend so I could do this outside.

I found an old set of water colours this weekend. A few of the pages I filled in my sketchbook. I painted first, then went in with the pen, which is the opposite of how I usually draw.

I have one weekend show each month for the next four months in a row. I am working on a new display for this smaller scale setup and will be incorporating some images of my process in my booth. The last photo shows a sneak peek at two new prints for fall.

Kessa, of Patouche, sent me a link to her beautiful home featured on the Marion House book.
One of my totes is filled with yarn on the floor by the sofa.

This past weekend was Jeff's birthday. I made him a tie with my new print on a hemp/organic cotton. I used this pattern from Purl Soho as a guide, but changed a few things. He's 5'11'' and I had to add 7" to the length. I also added a little tab at the back to hold the end in place, and narrowed the back end as well. I was pretty happy with how it turned out. He said it's favorite tie and wore it to work on monday.

Adorable patterned tights I picked up from Robber at the 'fieldtrip' pop up shop in Hamilton this past weekend. These ones are the 'curtain tights'. The entire hosiery line from hansel from basel is so sweet.

{please bear with me while I re-design things a little here!}

A couple years ago my Aunt gave me my Great Grandfather's hand printed scarf. She thought I might use the pattern as inspiration, but instead I just started wearing it because I loved it so much. It's soft and old and I love the fact that he wore it around his neck too.
Lately I have been drawing this geometric shape and decided to make a variation of this pattern for my new scaves. The shapes are much smaller and my scarves are much larger. The spacing of the rows makes the shapes look like their falling. Thanks for the inspiration, Great Grandpa Wood.

in progress

I seem to have a lot going on at once these days. I am preparing for my upcoming show, The New Art Festival, which is in Ottawa on June 4th and 5th. I really enjoyed this show last year and am excited to be there again. I'm also working on new prints and product samples for next season. Some of my new fabrics arrived the other day and I can't wait to get printing the new designs on the new materials. Ships and patchwork patterns are on my mind, as well as new bags and buckets. Above are some samples and drawings in progress.

loving

Lilacs and butterflies. I took this photo outside our window on our recent trip. You can get surprising close to butterflies. I like that they're not afraid. Wooden Caddy. A two dollar re-use centre find that sits beside my sewing machine and holds labels and bobbins.
Everyday Scissors from Mjolk in Toronto. Their site is currently down, but their blog is lovely too. These scissors are made in Japan from hand-forged iron. Household scissors, Flower Cutting scissors, and Herb Cutting scissors. I would like one of each, please.

best popcorn ever

Today is a pretty exciting day because tonight I am hosting The Beehive's viewing party, where we will be reviewing all the of the lovely applications that were submitted for our summer show. I was so excited last night that I stayed up late loading the images of my computer and making caramel corn. It was my first time making it and it turned out to be one of those things that you think 'I can't believe I actually made this myself'.

We got our stove top popper quite a few years ago as a gift and love it so much that we have bought them for other people as gifts too.

I had to buy corn syrup for the recipe. The brand choice was obvious.

When I realized that 5 quarts of popcorn was 20 cups I decided to cut the recipe in half. This probably wasn't the best idea since we could have easily eaten the whole bowl ourselves last night.
I followed this recipe, but took the advice in the comments to make a few alterations (including cutting the suggested butter in half!) and it turned out so good. I love online recipes that have feedback. Here is the recipe re-written with the modifications that worked perfectly for me. Yum.

1/2 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 quarts popped popcorn (about 5/6 cup kernels)
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Place popped popcorn in a large oven safe dish.
2. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat melt the butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring for 4 minutes. Place the popped popcorn in oven for the 4 minutes to warm it.
3. Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla. Transfer warmed popcorn to a very large mixing bowl. Pour caramel in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.
4. Place in two large shallow baking dished and bake in a preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes for 45 minutes. Remove, let cool, break into pieces. Enjoy.

home sweet home

One day of sunshine this weekend meant I could finally work on cleaning up our garden. The rainy Sunday was spent finishing up some half-finished projects, like framing and pillow making. Last month we purchased a new sofa and chaise lounge from Sears home. We searched and searched and in the end these styles and fabrics suited us best. And even though we were so hesitant to go cream with our furniture, Sears has an amazing protection plan where you pay a little more and for five years are covered on all stains. If they can't get it out, they replace it for you. Good deal.
Our sofa is the Rowe savoie sofa and the chaise is by Whole Home. We knew we wanted a chaise because the seating always felt a little spread out in the living room, and when we decided on this one I knew I wanted to make an oversized pillow for it. I printed and sewed my treehouse pillow in a 24" version this weekend and I absolutely love it. I may just have to introduce this size of pillow in my line next season. A pair of these would be lovely on a bed.
Aside from our new furniture so much of what completes our home is second hand. The end table, lamp, and frame (of a favorite Gosia print) are all from either the Re-use Centre in Burlington or Bibles for Missions on Upper Wellington in Hamilton- my go to thrift shops in the area for great pieces and good prices. I found a pair of these lamps at the Re-use Centre not long ago and picked them up because of their size, shape, and the fact that the shades were in such good condition. I thought I might spray paint them, but Jeff thinks they look classy just like this. I agree.

I also completed all the framing projects I had for this room. Above is a drawing I did in University. It's my favorite and very sentimental to me. A girl curled up in a nest with two other eggs.

Above our fireplace I had a mix of framed photos all in black frames. I have wanted to lighten this for a while and so I added some gold, white, and wooden frames instead. A mix of family photos, reverse appliques from thailand, prints and paintings by friends, and the sailing ships print and little gold mirror, both also found at the re-use centre.

We are hoping to paint this room a little darker someday soon. I have recently fallen in love with purple, and Jeff agrees that Behr's Smoked Mauve will look so nice with the creams and golds that are now in this room. Another weekend of rainy days and we may just have it painted, too.