Peonies

My most favorite flower of all time, growing in my garden right now.

The Best Bread Evah!

Today was Martin's birthday, and although we had the official celebration at the Port Pub yesterday, I decided to make a bit of a decadent dinner tonight as well. A part of the dinner was this bread from Delia Smith's "How to Cook." It was absolutely amazing! It was a bit more like a large scone or Australian "damper" than a yeast risen bread - but so yummy. I actually really love all the recipes I've made from Delia's "How to Cook" series of books. They always turn out, and are just simple and good. I also noticed this variation with cheddar and caremelized onions on her website. And now, if you'll please excuse me - there is one final piece of this bread calling my name!

I was on the Front Page of Etsy!

I have always wanted to make it to the front page of Etsy, and - unbeknowst to me - I did it last Friday! I was checking out my google analytics last night, and noticed a huge jump in my Etsy traffic one day. Turns out that my Blue Daisies Organizer had been on the Front Page!



Although I saw the jump in my stats, it was a bit hard to figure out what had caused it, so I will share my findings with you. They all came from this great Etsy Forum Post, written by one of the founders of Craft Cult. By the way, Craft Cult is a great site, and the Heartomatic is a wonderful tool - although I use Google Analytics to check my stats - Heartomatic is much more user friendly and tells you things that an Etsy seller would want to know without getting too technical.

Also - I just want to note that I think that changing up my photography style in my shop really contributed to me making it on to the front page. After reading an article in the Etsy Shop Makeover Series - I cropped and changed my photos, so that the main photo showing in my shop is a "teaser" shot of the item - something taken close up that doesn't show the whole product. This was suggested in the series, and I think it really works. It's kind of a tantalizing way to get people to click through and see more. Also - if you look at the front page and the treasuries, they all feature these types of shots. My photos still need a lot of work - but I always keep these "teaser" shots in mind when I photograph my products now.

Hot or Not: Cute Skulls

I was out today, and picked up this little punch that I thought was cute, and made some notebooks. Now, my question is - does anyone else think this is cute? Am I alone in loving "cute" skulls. I just love the juxtaposition of the dark imagery of the skull with floral pinks and reds. Let me know what you think!

Head Shot

I've spent the evening creating my artisan profile on the One of a Kind Show site (it's not live yet - but I'll let you know when it's up). The most difficult part was choosing a profile photo. I hate having my photo taken, so there weren't many to choose from. Anyhow, this is the best I could come up with - but it's really old! I look totally different now - new glasses, new hair. Even Milo has a more stylish haircut these days. My mission this week is to try to come up with a better, more current photo of me and my little sidekick!

Nurtured

My neighbor April recently expanded her online business Nurtured into a brick and mortar retail shop. I popped in today to buy some baby gifts, and it's a beautiful light and bright space, with touches of weathered wood - I really love the interior design. The products are pretty great too, and April is really knowledgeable and helpful. I would highly recommend the shop to parents - or those who shop for them!

Puff Daddy

After all the craft show madness is over, I want to make this for my living room. I want it to be bright pink! It seems like a fairly simple pattern - just a garter stitch rectangle that's then sewn together. Pickles (found via More Ways to Waste Time) has lots of other great patterns on their site, including a baby version of this puff.

My Milk Toof

I have been feeling a bit sick the last couple of days, so Martin sent me this link - My Milk Toof - to cheer me up. It is the cutest, funniest thing that I've seen in a long time. Click on the link, you won't be sorry....

Around the Web

It's been a while since I posted, but that doesn't mean I've been away from the internet. Quite the contrary. I'm always reading blogs and discovering things. Here are a few things I like -

Black Cab Sessions - musicians play while driven around London in the back of a black cab. I like the Martha Wainwright one. (via Loobylu)

Grizzly Bear - after reading about this band in a couple of magazines, I decided to check out their music on the web. I like it.

Speaking of music, CBC Radio Three has a great collection of music by Canadian Artists. The New Music section has lots of great music sorted by artist - Arcade Fire, the Weakerthans...I am partial to Julie Doiron. Just go to the Radio Three site and type in the names to hear more.

Fubiz is a great blog. Lots of visual inspiration.

I want classic French garden furniture from Fermob, but cheaper please.

Love this cartoon by Lucy Knisley which sums up the whole Twilight series in 16 panels. (Warning - spoiler alert) Her experience reading the books is similar to mine. Addictive! (also via Loobylu)

Danni over at oh, hello friend has organized a giveaway on her blog, and asked me to participate. 16 Etsy shops have donated some amazing items, and my little and big noteboooks are the prize that will be offered to two runners up. Head on over to oh, hello friend to find out how to enter. The prizes are so fantastic, if I wasn't involved, I would enter myself! Good Luck!

Big Notebooks

I've just listed these in my shop. They are like the little notebooks, but...bigger. Handy if you like to take lots of notes, and the pages are even big enough to mount snapshots. Also, there is a new airplane design available in both the big and little notebooks - great for travelling. And, I'm decorating some of these with vintage maps, because I love those so much. Enjoy!

One of a Kind Show

I'm pleased to announce that I've been accepted as an exhibitor at the Christmas 2009 One of a Kind Show in Toronto! I applied a few weeks ago, and had a message on my phone last night saying that I'd been accepted, with a travel scholarship to boot! It's exciting, and also a little scary. So much to do and plan, and is it crazy to depend on travelling from Halifax to Toronto in late November? But, this is one of those "bucket list" things for me - I have attended the show as a customer a few times in the past, and had dreamed of selling my work there. And in a few, gulp, short months - I will be. Wish me luck!

Lily and Jae

I'm liking this Canadian label, Lily and Jae. They have lots of cute clothes - but I'm particularly obsessed with getting the perfect summer dress at the moment. I have tried on a few that I like, but there are, ahem, a few figure challenges that I have to deal with. But, I think that the dance dress could fit the bill.

Bookish Discoveries

I wanted to share a few "bookish discoveries" that I've made in the last couple of weeks with you. I was browsing through a bookshop when I discovered the book above - the Rob Ryan cover caught my eye, and the contents are pretty neat too. It's all about lost arts - things like beekeeping, making cheese, grinding grain...I didn't buy the book because I don't have time to do any of these things right now, but I very much like the idea.

For fun fiction, I've been reading "The Uglies" series by Scott Westerfield. It a teen book series, and I'm really enjoying it. It's all about a future world where everyone has an operation at the age of 16 to make them "pretty." It's just a great, action packed narrative that sends an interesting message about the concept of beauty. And - each book ends with a cliffhanger, so you can't wait to read the next one. It's a long weekend here in Canada, and I just picked up the last two books in the series.

Finally, this isn't really a book, but I was pleasantly surprised at the doctor's waiting room today by Canadian Family magazine. The style and home sections were really great, and although I don't have children, I have a soft spot for toys and illustrated books - so I loved the coverage on these. I would recommend this magazine to anyone with a family - it reminds me a bit of the sadly departed Wish.

Love at First Sight

I got a small tax return this year, and decided to treat myself with a couple of fashion purchases. First up was the Deco Skirt from French Connection (mine is actually black with cream flowers, but I can't seem to find that on their website). Anyhow, this skirt was one of those things that I loved as soon as I saw it. It's high waisted, with buttons coming down the front and these cool ruffly pockets on the sides. I love a skirt with pockets! It was even on sale, which was just the cherry on top.
I also picked up these shoes. I love the round toe, and the heel height. Not too high, not too low. Hopefully, I will not fall over in these!

Bicycle Built for Two

It's amazing how time flies! We went for a day trip to the country a couple of weeks ago, and saw this cool bicycle outside a shop. That trip was great - sunshine, a nice lunch, but things have gone a bit downhill since then. Lots of little things, but the main one is that I sprained my ankle a few days ago, and I've mainly been sitting around with my foot up. I'm not in much pain, but my ankle is gigantic and swollen. I hope it goes away soon - but even with the ankle issues, and the rain that's falling outside - I'm determined to get out there and enjoy myself this upcoming weekend. Wish me luck!

My Thinking Cup

A little while back, I had the opportunity to do a swap with Dawbis (aka Dawn). She was looking for some paper for her collection, and in exchange for a paper pack, she offered to do a custom artwork. I jumped at the chance, and I'm so glad I did! I received this beautiful artwork from her that incorporates many of the papers I sent her.

The piece is called "Her Thinking Cup." I love the small ink details, and also the quilled paper - gorgeous!

And, as a special bonus, Dawn included one of her works called "Look at Me." It's a cut paper artwork mounted on a polaroid - so cool! Can't wait to get these framed and have them hanging in my home. Thanks so much Dawn - I absolutely love these!

With me rubber boots on...

Whenever I wear my rubber boots, the chorus of this song runs through my head. Brings back memories of the great trip to Newfoundland that we had a few years back, and listening to this song at a pub. Although I'm not fishing on the "wild labrador", I can always dream. And, our porch is beginning to look like a weathered wharf, so that helps.

Make + Do

The very talented Austen of Stripey Pebble has just started a craft blog over on the Canadian Living website. It's called Make + Do, and it looks great. As well as sharing projects, Austen is going to feature crafters from across Canada, start a crafty Q & A, and even have a feature that celebrates craft failures. And - there will be giveaways! Right now, there is a great book up for grabs. So, head over to Make + Do to get inspired, I know I plan to. (:

Little Notebooks

I'm itching to get back into making sewn books. For the last few years, I've been focusing on adhesive type book structures, but the "zen" of sewing a book block together just seems right to me, right now. On that note, I introduce a new product that's going up in my Etsy shop. It's simply called a Little Notebook. It's small, but I think it has a lot of nice details - a punched motif backed with Chiyogami paper, a little pocket on the front cover that's just the right size for a business card, bus tickets, etc., an elastic closure held in place with an eyelet and it's all sewn together with waxed linen twine in a coordinating colour. And, I'm giving my customers the option to customize the books with all those little details - you can pick the cover paper, the elastic, the twine - and I'll surprise you with some matching Chiyogami and the endpapers. Check it out in the shop.