a new organic dress

I will be listing a new organic cotton dress in the shop tomorrow which will be made to order. It will be available in sizes 6 mos up to size 4T. If you would like one by Christmas, I suggest you order early as I will likely only have time to make one before the Christmas mail rush.

Canada Post's suggested mail dates for Holiday packages are December 11th for Canadian customers and December 8th for U.S. customers. That means orders for this dress need to be place a full week ahead of these dates to allow time for it to be made.

I really love how this dress turned out and as you can probably tell by the photos, my daughter is quite delighted as well!

shop update for November

A few new items added to my shop!

sweet jane

Originally written and produced by Lou Reed of The Velvet Underground, covered by Canadian Band The Cowboy Junkies in 1988 when I was 16. Lou Reed himself described it as "the best and most authentic version I have ever heard." Still hauntingly beautiful today.

Recipe: Delish Cranberry Sauce

This recipe for cranberry sauce is oh-so-easy and would make a much-appreciated gift for a hostess or for your child's teacher during the upcoming holiday season.

 You will need:

1/2 cup of honey
1 cup of water
4 cups of frozen or fresh cranberries

Optional ingredients include orange zest, raisins, blueberries or spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice. Use local ingredients for the best tasting sauce. I added a cup of wild blueberries and a dash of allspice, but next time I think I would opt for the cinnamon instead.

Bring the water and honey to a boil in a heavy pot and then add your cranberries. Stir.

When the mixture returns to a boil, reduce your heat and allow the cranberries to simmer for about 10 minutes or until the cranberries burst. At this point I added the blueberries and a touch more honey as I found these a little tart.

Ladel into your prepared jars, put your covers on and you are done! Don't forget to save a little for yourself!

tiny floral and lace

A new organic cotton blouse I just added to my shop. One only for now, although I may soon get a little more of this fabric. The fabric is from Westfalenstoffe of Germany. It is quite different from most of the modern and bold type of designs that seem to be popular with organic cotton designers right now. I like those, too, but this is so sweet and soft.

a portrait begun

after the first sitting, composition laid down, figures blocked in. This is my first painting in 8 years (since before my son was born). What lovely muses they make. Funny how they push and pull you like that.

boho chic

a new dress for the shop, size 4T. Sewn from one of Harmony Art's organic cotton sateen fabrics called Eyes of the World. It seemed to be fitting with this peasant style dress. I've attached a handsewn fabric yoyo to add a little festive flare.

I had only enough fabric for the one dress and will be posting it as soon as I get a chance.

oh happy day

Last night the tail end of a hurricane passed through. Today was the perfect summer day for flying a kite.

a little art inspiration . . .

Les bêtes de la mer, 1950 (Beasts of the Sea)

Lagoon, 1954

La gerbe, 1953

from the cut-outs of Henri Matisse. These were done late in the artist's life following a serious illness and subsequent surgery. He referred to the process of making cut-outs as "painting with scissors."

Wouldn't it be amazing to see these works reproduced as Modern Art Quilts?

new armwarmers

New Baby-Grow Organic Legwarmers / Armwarmers in the shop in Pacific Blue!

lemonade anyone?

noticing . . .

what little girls get up to.

Picadilly Beach

montréal

Where my husband and I spent a long weekend together for our 10 year anniversary. We crammed in lots of art, jazz, comedy, food and walking, walking, walking! It was perfect.

Montreal has beautiful and unexpected sculptures like this one scattered all around the city - this one tugged at my heartstrings a little, I must admit (being sans enfants).

from the ground to our table

This is spinach from our garden that my father planted for us. Dad has always kept a garden, in fact he once kept a small piece of farmland. Now that we have the land, I was grateful to have my father get me started with a garden for my family. What a gift.