so long...

After much consideration, I have decided to close double happiness.  As much as I have enjoyed these years of creating and meeting great people - both in person and through my blog - I felt that my inspiration was waning for quite some time.  Although I love books and paper - and always will - I found myself increasingly drawn to food and cooking.  I began to wish that the time I was spending in the studio could be spent in the kitchen, and decided to find a way to make that happen.  I am starting a new venture called Honey Spoon Baking Co. - we will be specializing in artisan granolas and other good things, with an emphasis on local and organic ingredients.  We will be launching at Halifax Crafters on May 5th and 6th, and spending our Fridays at the QEII Partners for Care Farmers Market after that.

Thanks again to all my customers and supporters - your kindness over the years has meant so much.  I genuinely appreciated every sale, conversation or nice comment I had from you all. 

getting back to it...

 

It's been a bit of a slow starting new year, with some illness thrown into the mix.  But, I'm slowly getting back into things, including listing a few items in my Etsy shop today.  More to come, including some dayplanners and artwork.

holiday market blitz

It's holiday market season! We'll be at the NSAC Festive Craft Market in Truro (November 12 - 13, 2011), the NSDCC Designer Craft Market on Pier 23 in Halifax (November 18 - 20, 2011) and the Halifax Crafters Yuletide Cheer Market at the Olympic Centre in Halifax (December 3 - 4, 2011). Stayed tuned for more possible dates. Look forward to seeing you soon!

pinterest addiction

I am a bit addicted to Pinterest these days. It's a place where I keep track of all the interesting things I like on the web, plus discover what other people like - eg - super cute t-shirt above. A dog in glasses? Well, I never! Check out all my pins here, and follow me if you'd like. I'd love to see what you are pinning!

TIBS Family Dinners

A couple of weeks ago, we had dinner at our favorite local cafe, Two if By Sea. TIBS is not normally open for dinner, but periodically co-host "Family Dinners" with chef Renee Lavalee (aka the Feisty Chef). The dinner we attended was in celebration of Canada Food Day, and was fully vegetarian. I was wonderful to have a whole meal full of delicious vegetarian options, like the amuse bouche of wheat berry and quinoa salad with baba ganouche, sour cherries and gooseberries pictured above - yum!

The dinners really are served family style - we shared huge bowls of food with our lovely table mates at large communal tables, and like a typical family dinner - there were even leftovers to take home at the end of the night! Thanks to the team at TIBS and the Feisty Chef for a wonderful night. We can't wait to do it again!

Art vs. Craft

I will be selling my work at the inaugural Art vs. Craft Halifax next weekend.  It is at the Halifax Forum from 11 - 6, and there will be 45 tables with talented crafters from around the HRM and Nova Scotia.  I will have a few of my little bird artworks there, and am working on something new that I hope to have ready to debut by next weekend.  Look forward to seeing you there!

Arcade Fire

Saw Arcade Fire at Alderney Landing ( just a 15 minute walk from my house!) on Thursday night.  They were absolutely amazing.  I went to the concert really liking their music, and walked away absolutely loving it.  If you are not familiar with their music, check out their CBC Radio 3 page.  You won't be sorry.

It all started with the Tour de France...

...after about 20 years of not riding a bike, I got a new one yesterday. We were watching the Tour de France, and Martin mentioned that it would be fun if we both got bikes. A week later, and I am the proud owner of the Trek Pure Lowstep 2010 model - I bought it used (I prefer the colours available this year, but beggars can't be choosers!) - and I love it. Getting on that bike literally made me feel like a kid again! It's comfortable and fun to ride, and yeah - I think it's pretty cute. I have a basket on mine as well. The plan is to commute to work via bike/ferry along the waterside trails, avoiding city streets as much as possible. I don't think I'll be ready for the Tour anytime soon, but give me a nice flat country like Holland, and I'm there!

No Knead Bread

I've been doing a lot of cooking lately.  One of the things I've tried is the no-knead bread from Jim Lahey's "My Bread."  It's really good.  It tastes like something from a specialty bakery - I'm amazed at how it turned out.  The only thing I don't like is the long rising time - I'm wondering if I can keep the unbaked dough in the fridge and take it out as needed, like they recommend in this book.  Anyhow, it's a revolution in baking, and I'm really glad I tried this!

Little Birds

I've been away from the computer quite a bit.  We just completed a bathroom renovation (photos will follow when the finishing touches are complete) and a postal strike has made my Etsy shop very quiet.  But, I've been feeling creative lately, and have completed some new artwork - just in time for the end of the strike!  These little birds will be appearing in my shop over the next few days, and I hope to be appearing in this place a bit more often.

more mexico

the view from here...

Arrived back from Mexico today.  Had a fantastic time, despite spraining my ankle the night before we left.  It didn't matter too much though, as our itinerary of eating, drinking, swimming and lounging was not too strenuous.  I'll be back soon with a few more photos.

away to mexico...

On Monday, I am heading off to Mexico with my mom.  We will be staying near this beautiful place, Tulum, and I am so looking forward to the sun, swimming in the ocean, snorkeling, relaxing - and, of course! - the food.  I plan to eat a lot of guacamole.  I will be back here soon with some photos.

thinking of japan...

 

The arts and crafts of Japan, and the Japanese way of life, have been such an inspiration to me for so long.  It's so sad to see what is happening there right now.  I have decided to donate 10% of proceeds from my Etsy shop to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts until  the end of March.

day planners on the canadian living craft blog

Thanks to Austen for the shout out about my planners on the canadian living craft blog.  It's so great to hear how she's customized her planner - gives me lots of inspiration for future planners!

sundays are cook days: the muffin edition

As part of this week's big cook day, I did a batch of our favorite muffins.  They come from Terry Walters' excellent book Clean Start. They are vegan, gluten-free and delicious.  It amazes me how wonderful all the recipes I have tried in both Clean Start and her other book Clean Food are - without the addition of oils, gluten or refined sugars.  I have also had other vegan cookbooks that require expensive specialty ingredients or processed meat substitutes - Ms. Walters relies on neither for her scrumptious recipes.  This is the Zucchini Carrot Muffin from Clean Start.  The recipe is not online, but I think that buying the book is well worth it - just for these!

portrait of isabella blow

I saw this portrait of Isabella Blow by Noble and Webster on Garance Dore the other day and I can't stop thinking about it.  Beautiful, creepy, disgusting, inspiring.  I think what I like about it the most is that it challenges all of my ideas of what a portrait is, and what it can be.

the delicious miss dahl

 

As a fan of the book Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights, and of Miss Sophie Dahl herself, I was thrilled to see that she has a show based on her book, which is currently showing Sunday nights here in Canada.  She has a simple approach to making mostly vegetarian food - she doesn't eat meat herself, but will cook it for others - and is just a treat to watch.  She cooks on a giant white Aga in a beautiful, vintagey kitchen that I would love to own.  Some people have criticized the show because she isn't a chef - but I think that's precisely what I like about it.  Sadly, I hear that the show has been cancelled by the BBC - so I am going to savour the existing episodes.  If you'd like to try one of her recipes, I have made her flourless chocolate cake a number of times, and it's divine.  Just use a really good chocolate, like Green & Blacks, and you can't go wrong.

sundays are cook days

I've started spending the better part of my Sunday cooking and shopping for the week ahead.  I usually try to bake some muffins or sweets and also a soup and a casserole for us to eat that day, and pack up for lunch over the next few days.  We are trying to be mostly vegan - at least during the week - and there aren't a lot of choices out there.  And - it's also fiscally responsible!  Anyhow, this week's cookie is the "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie from Everybody Likes Sandwiches.  Great blog, great cookie.

holga self-portrait

Thought it was time for a new profile shot, so I did this self-portrait.  The holga effect is mainly to hide the cluttered background.  I hate having photos taken, so this is a big deal.  Note, new glasses.  You can't see from this - but they are purple with tortoise-shell arms.