Getting my ducks in a row...

We're all settled into our new home in Port Moody- and I'm using the move to excuse this great lapse in blogging. January was packing, February was unpacking, and well... I guess I don't have an excuse for March.

The transition time has been an interesting one, creatively speaking. Without my wool figures to keep me busy, I've spent a lot of time writing, reading, and playing around with watercolour painting. (I won't be posting any of those pictures, as they
too closely resemble the painting my 3 year old does...)

I also finally got myself some needle-felting supplies, which I've been wanting to try for the longest time, so will hopefully have some of these new experiments posted soon!

Hope you're all enjoying the lovely spring weather!

It's Christmas!!

The muscle man and his apple

Nothin' says Christmas...

...like an elephant in poinsettias.

Nona In Winter

I have always wanted to try doing some separate pieces of clothing for Nona, so I settled on this reversible cape, and named this edition "Nona In Winter." Still don't have much studio time these days (or blogging time, it seems!) with a potty-training toddler and a very determined nine-month-old who daily wages war on his nemesis, our Christmas tree. I hope to add Nona In Winter to our shop in the new year, but for now, she will just be going out to the boutiques.

Here's my favorite one- I love the dark purple and pink together, and her sophisticated little leggings. I meant to use more bright, typically "wonderlamb" colours- but happened to be listening to CBC radio at the time, and they were playing Schumann- something he'd written for his wife Clara, and it was quiet and romantic and beautiful, and somehow I think the music took my colour scheme along with it.

I often forget to take pictures of the custom orders I do, but here's one that just went out- Fran the Bunny, made with a request that she not be "too pink" so she got a purple and green combo along with her custom letter. I'm definitely diggin' the purple these days.

Back to the studio

Peach Pie for the Birthday Hero

It's become a tradition to have pie on Ashraf's birthday, because when his birthday rolls around, the local fruit is at its peak and just bursting with flavor. So, this year, it was a white peach and blueberry pie with pecans. I was going to do a peach pie, but a few days ago saw a peach and blueberry pie- and OH MY- I highly recommend this combination. Here's the recipe I worked from:

4 c peaches, cut into slices
1 c fresh blueberries
1/2 c pecan pieces
1/3 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
butter

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the peach slices and toss to coat. Pour all into pie shell, add in blueberries and pecans. Dot the top with butter. Cover with pastry, if you like. I brush the pastry with egg so that it bakes to a nice golden colour. The original recipe called for a whole cup of sugar, but the peaches and blueberries were so ripe and sweet, I cut the sugar down to half and it was plenty sweet. Oh, and the measurements on the spices are approximate- I probably used more cinnamon than that.

Happy Birthday Ashraf :)

The Little Guy Fights Back

For any of you that have ever had a bad experience with an airline, this video is for you.

Here's my cousin Dave, of the Sons of Maxwell, describing in his own words how his YouTube music video came to be:

In the spring of 2008, Sons of Maxwell were traveling to Nebraska for a one-week tour and my Taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didn’t deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various people I communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate me for my loss. So I promised the last person to finally say “no” to compensation (Ms. Irlweg) that I would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world.

As of this morning, his music video has had over 2, 300 000 hits. It was posted less than a week ago.

Rolls... both kinds

4 months old,

and very good at
Rolling- v.
1. turning over
2. being lovely and chubby

June Adventures

:: beginning

:: digging


:: growing


:: picnicking


:: savoring


:: snoozing


:: cuddling


:: being


How have you been spending your summer days?