rose hip

long weekend...

 

 

...I thought I would have more to show you this week than this sneak peek of some new pillowcase styles, but we are heading into a long weekend here in Canada and my week felt very compressed. We will be spending our weekend at our place by the lake where there is lots to do such as finishing our dock, hanging doors, and so on, but I do hope to spend a few moments simply watching my newly-planted little meadow and orchard grow (I'm so excited about this little greening project of mine especially when I look back to what it looked like a year ago -- if you look at this post, the last few photos depict how barren and un-green it looked last year!). I was out there earlier this week to water everything because we're finally having some warm sunny weather and I snapped a few pictures to show you...

 

 

 'Hope to have more to show you soon and have yourselves a lovely weekend!...

 

 

 

swooosh!...

 

 

...that was the sound of my month of April going by... yes, it seemed to have gone by as fast as that swoosh tone you hear whenever you send a message on an iPhone! Between getting ready for Easter and our youngest daughter Nico's 10th birthday (I can't believe she's already 10!), making (and selling!!) a bunch pillowcases, greening our lake cottage property by planting trees and shrubs and throwing lots of wildflower seeds about, dealing with two separate repairs on my car (Ugh!), and on and on, I didn't even get close to blogging this month after my first post at Easter time.

So yesterday, I finally took the time to go through all the photos I took in Mexico during our spring break holiday in Baja (I was at it all day with over 1000 photos to sort through!) and came up with the mosaic above. We stayed at the stunning Hacienda Cerritos for which we found an amazing deal online (no, we didn't pay the rates shown on the hotel's website!) and which is about an hour away from Cabo San Lucas and very close to the charming village of Todos Santos. As you can see in some of the photos, the hotel is perched on a cliff, surrounded by wrap-around pools, overlooking the lovely Cerritos beach (great surfing beach!) and the Pacific Ocean (great sunsets!) and is filled with beautiful old-style Mexican charm and character eventhough it was only built a few years ago (from top to bottom, left to right in the mosaic, photos 1,2,4,5,6,7,9,11,13, 17,18,20,21,22,24,26,27,28 where all taken at the Hacienda Cerritos and its sister beach resort, Cerritos Surf Colony, while the other photos where taken in San Jose del Cabo and nearby Todos Santos.). I have to say that this family holiday gets a big 10 from me not only because the surrondings were stunning, the food delicious, the beach great, the local people lovely but, most importantly, we had a great time as a family with lots of laughter and play and I think much-needed downtime away from all our usual routines and distractions which happily allowed us to reconnect with each other... Now isn't that what a holiday is supposed to be all about?! (...and isn't that a long sentence?!)

As I mentioned before, April was a busy month as far as my pillowcases went -- I made a new batch with new styles and ended up selling a lot of these in my Etsy shop. Thank you so much to all of you who bought some and I hope that they are helping you usher in spring wherever you may be -- except of course all of you living in the southern hemisphere! (In case some of you may be wondering, I will be making more of these same styles shortly along with other brand new ones and listing them in my shop.) A big reason why my sales were so great this past April was because my pillowcases got some great promotion in print, such as being featured in Selina Lake's beautiful new book Homespun Style (I'll show you the book feature soon) which I've mentioned before and which was lauched very recently in London (for some great photos from the launch which was also a crafty market, look here and here). Thanks, Selina, and I can't believe you're already working on a new book... Wow! I've also spotted my pillowcases being mentioned in these Anknel and Burblets and The Beehive Cottage posts -- thank you for the sweet mention. And, also very exciting news for me is my pillowcases being featured in April's issue of UK's Let's Knit magazine -- how cool is that?!     

 

 

With the lovely month of May upon us, I do plan on adding some more pillowcases to my shop as I mentioned before (as well as posting more often than in the month of April!), but I'd also like to start on some fresh ideas... I'm itching to start working on some form of patchwork blankets asap... 'Hope to have something new to show you soon and 'hope you'll stop by for a visit again!

 

Happy Easter!...

 

 

...I hope this post finds you all enjoying a nice Easter weekend... I've been busy this week finishing up some new pillowcases (very spring-inspired, don't you think?), taking photos of them, and starting to list them in my Etsy shop. I'll have to take a break from my pillowcases tomorrow though, as I have to get ready for an annual Easter brunch we host at our house for some very special friends of ours...

Now next Friday, I wish I could be in London to attend Selina Lake's Homespun Style book lauch... Well, it doesn't seem to be in the cards for me, but if you're at all nearby, you should seriously consider checking it out -- as you can see in the poster, there will also be a craft market at the launch with vendors hand-picked by Selina (what a great idea... should be great fun!) You can read more about the event in this Mollie Makes post (by the way, if you haven't seen a copy of Mollie Makes magazine yet, find one ASAP or check it out digitally -- it's definitely my new favorite magazine!!) If any of you do attend, please share any photos you take -- if you have a blog and post them, send me a note and I'll link back to them, or otherwise simply email your photos to me and perhaps I can make a mosaic with them if I get enough (I'll credit you of course).

 

 

So, all the best for your book launch, Selina... I'm sure it will be an amazing success because the book is gorgeous! And to all of you, Happy Easter!... (Thank you to all of you who commented so kindly about my crochet corner in my last post and, if all goes according to plan, I will have time shortly to sort through my Mexican holiday photos so I can share them with you in my next post...)

 

back in my corner...

 

 

...of the world after an absolutely fabulous family holiday in Baja, Mexico -- I will definitely be sharing a sampling of my holiday photos with you because we stayed in the most charming of places, but because I took over 1000 photos, it might take me a few days to sort through them all! Anyhow, I'm back, well rested, and crochet hook in hand, I am spending lots of time in the corner in our house which is my favourite for doing all my crochet work (photo below -- I thought I'd show you the spot before it gets super messy again!) because I'm working on a new batch of pillowcases with lots of new spring-inspired styles...

With Easter around the corner, I thought I would make some pillowcases with a sweet vintage-inspired bunny fabric I've had lying around for the longest time (the book in the photo has to be one of my favourite books in the world: I Can Fly, by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Mary Blair -- if you've never seen it, look out for a copy and take a peek: pure delight!)...

I should be back shortly with my Mexican holiday photos which I'm dying to show you... Have yourself a great weekend!

 

 

spring break...

 

...we are halfway through my children's spring break from school and, not suprisingly, my new batch of pillowcases I was planning on working on (above) are still left untrimmed! I thought I would be choosing yarns for their trims this week, but last weekend we went to our lake cottage and stayed a little longer than planned!... The night we arrived there, a crazy windstorm uprooted a ton of massive trees all over the place, thereby knocking out our power for over two days!... The children loved the whole experience, especially the nights which were pretty dark, cold and, of course, very spooky! By the second day, I have to admit that I was started to long for the power to come back on as the no-running-water and flushing-toilets bit (our water supply comes from the lake via a hard-working pump which, yes, runs on electricity!) was getting a bit tiresome... (Ok, so I'm becoming soft in my old age!)

Anyhow, since I don't have any finished pillowcases to show you, I thought I would show you how our place by the lake is shaping up...

The upstairs bathroom is one of my favorite spaces in the house... As you can see, our fixtures are all in place (although some still need to be fastened to the walls!) and all our interior walls are up. While the wall boards are only primed and still need to be painted, the look will be very similar as I am planning on going white on the walls all over.

 

We kept some of my late mother-in-law's beautiful antique furniture (the piece in the bottom right) to furnish the cottage (what a trip for this furniture as it's come all the way from Montreal!). Eventhough the interior of the house still needs a lot of finishing (all the trimwork, the floors and painting still have to be done), I can't help but place some of my favorite vintage paintings here and there... (The farm scene is a real favorite as it's a giant paint-by-number!) I did a fair bit of planting while I was there this week and the heritage variety of apple tree which I planted by the house makes me the happiest! I have been seeding the grounds since last summer off and on and the popping up of an English Daisy (bellis perennis), an absolute little charmer and spring favorite of mine, thrills me to no end because I had no idea its seeds were included in the flower mixtures I've been throwing about!

A little bit of love grafitti to warm the soul:

 

A big project that is nearly finished is the building of a dock which just needs its top decking now -- our waterfront does not have much of a flat access area into the water as it's at the bottom of a cliff so this deck will make this area so much more useable and, of couse, fun!... 'Can't wait to jump off of it this summer! Eventhough walls still need to be painted, windows trimmed, floors laid, I can't help myself from pulling out some of my vintage bedding and throwing it on the beds... so much fun! And  of course, there's that English Daisy again -- I hope to see many more of these popping up here and there...  

 

Another week of our spring break is still ahead of us and the pillowcases will still have to wait as we are off on a sweet treat of a family holiday where the sun should be a bit warmer than in Vancouver -- I'm bringing my camera, so I hope to have some snap shots to show you in about a week or so... Have a great week and if you're also on your spring break... Enjoy!

 

 

spring is around the corner...

 

...or is it? Snow is in the forecast here in Vancouver and, as I'm writing this post,  I can't help but hear a stong wind howling through the tall oak trees on our street. Whatever.... my mind has made the leap to springtime as you can see by the shot I took of some new pillowcase styles I've been working on... 'Can't help myself!

I'm off to Florida tomorrow until Sunday accompanying Stefania, my 16-year-old daughter. who will be attending a soccer camp in Tampa... Hmmmm, I would'nt really call this a holiday, but I do hope to have the time to walk into a few fabric/yarn shops (any suggestions?) and hopefully soak in some sun -- I imagine that when I come back, I should really be in spring mode! 'Hope you have a good rest of the week and I should be back next week with more springtime-inspired pillowcases...

 

pillowcases in print...

 

...I know I promised in my last post to come back with a planted woolly cushion but, well... I got sidetracked (again!). However this time, my excuse is some very exciting news which I'd like to share with you: Selina Lake, the stylist behind two books which I'm always dipping into for inspiration, Bazaar Style and Romantic Style, included my crochet-trimmed pillowcases in a lovely feature about homemade style in the latest issue of UK's Prima magazine (March 2012)! OK...so how excited am I? How about: beyond over the moon excited!! Luckily, I can share the spread (photographed by Debi Treloar) with you because Selina was kind enough to send me a copy of the magazine...

 

What do you think? Selina writes here about the Prima feature and her upcoming book Homespun Style which will be lauched at Liberty's in London in March (Oh, how I wish I could be there!). From what I've seen so far (check out this post), the book looks absolutely scrumptious... Best of luck, Selina!

 

 

 

 

 

how does my garden grow?...

 

 

...well, there are no cockle shells or pretty maids all in a row, but I did make some bells, albeit not silver but aqua, and daisies (lots of daisies because they are such happy flowers and so fun to make!) as well as some pink blowsy things... perhaps roses or maybe poppies, call them what you like! I actually ended up making a big bunch of all of these flowers, varying the color combinations with each one I made; the possibilities seem endless because I have collected so many different color shades of yarn over the last while that I could be at it for a long time!

 

 

I did finally put a temporary stop to flower-making and concentrated on making leaves. As you can see above, I pulled out "my greens" and started making leaves in different shades and styles. Now because the above photo only shows a small sampling of all my greens, I also got carried away with trying all the different shades and have amassed quite a lot of foliage in a short time! As opposed to my collection of cotton yarns which I use for pillowcase-trimming and which consists of many balls of the same yarn in the same color shade, my collection of woolly yarns often consists of one skein or ball of yarn in each color; knowing that one skein or ball of yarn can make a big bunch of flowers, I'm in the habit of picking up single balls at yarn shops or thrift shops (often a great place to find singles at a great price!) whenever a yarn's texture and/or color catches my eye.

 

 

After trying out all the different leaves in my little flower arrangement, I  have finally narrowed down which will best accompany the flowers and am now ready to "plant" the lot on a woolly cushion... Stay tuned because I hope to be back soon with the planted cushion!...

 

January gardening...

...I am itching to start gardening at our house by the lake, but I certainly won't be doing so in the next few days, because this is what southern coastal British Columbia looks like at the moment:

But don't get me wrong!... I love when it snows around here. While I don't know that a lot of people living in this city feel as I do, for me, a snowfall in Vancouver is as sweet as a wintry treat can be! I guess I'll always be a Montrealer at heart, where winter doesn't seem quite right without a snowscape like this one...

 

So while gardening outdoors might not be for the immediate future, I have found a way of sowing a garden while sitting by my window, watching the snow fall: I have been going through my woolly yarn reserves and found so many yummy skeins and balls, that I could'nt resist pulling out my crochet hooks and making a few flowers... Of course, this being such an addictive pastime ('should be doing so many other things instead at the moment), a handful of flowers has suddenly becoming a full-blown flower nursery! Now, I have to start thinking of where to plant them... perhaps on a few cushions or maybe a blanket or two -- I shall keep you posted... 'Hope you are also finding ways of enjoying your month of January!...

 

 

goodbye 2011, hello 2012...

 

 ...I hope you all had a good time ringing in the New Year! I had a rather calm New Year's Eve at home with my family because, unbelievably so, I'm still not over my cold -- along with some of the rest of my family, I spent the second week of our Christmas holidays in bed with a Kleenex box... Luckily, you gifted me so wonderfully throughout the week with all your lovely comments to my last post that I didn't feel so sorry for myself! Thank you to all of you... I feel so fortunate to have such an amazing readership!

And now, lucky me, I get to gift one of you with a pillowcase!... So, according to random.org, the winner is:

Tuia from Bags, Crafts and Happiness

Congratulations!

 

I can't imagine that this cold bug can drag me down for much longer, so I'm sure that I'll be back very soon with new pillowcases, of course (I will be listing the new cream and black one shown above and in my giveaway post in my Etsy shop this week), but also with lots of other new goodies that I can't wait to start up on!...

 

Christmas pillowcase giveaway...

  

 

 ...I was planning on writing this post a good week ago, but Christmas preparations got the best of me and then, just before Christmas. I got sidelined by a nasty laryngitis/cold bug that's making its way through our household... So, while Christmas day finds me without a speaking voice, I have thankfully got my blogging voice back just in time to wish you every happiness during this Christmas season... I also hope that, in the days leading up to the New Year, you will be able to take time off your day-to-day routine just to do the things you love and never seem to have time to do and, of course, get cozy with your loved ones...

As well, I also hope that you will take a moment to enter my little Christmas pillowcase givewaway by simply leaving a comment to this post. (If you'd like, you can specify which one of the three pillowcases you prefer: the cream, pink or black one.) I will post the winner in about a week's time, on the day after New Year's day... So, I wish you the best of luck, I hope you have a great week and, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you so much for your continued support of my blog and Etsy shop!...

 

it's starting to look a lot like Christmas...

 

 

 ...well, probably everywhere but at our house except for this little vignette I put together when I took some photos of a few new pillowcases! To be honest, that's not unusual for us because I like to start decking the halls much closer to Christmas day -- it all feels more special that way, maybe because that's what we did when I was growing up. In fact, I was shocked early this week when I noticed that all the Christmas decorations were already on sale at a local store... I bet they'll be pulling out the Valentine's stuff soon!...

Not getting right into the Christmas swing of things may also have something to do with having a daughter whose birthday is in mid-December -- for her 12th birthday this year, Eva has decided to invite a handful of her friends to our almost-finished weekend cottage by the lake. While I've been running around more than usual all week trying to get everything ready for the party, I'm really looking forward to the weekend because it should be a lot fun: hot chocolate, bonfires, chocolate fondue, baking cupcakes, spooky nighttime scavenger hunt, flashlight tag, cooking big hearty breakfasts and more hot chocolate are all on the list... Ah, to be turning 12!

Despite all the running around, I did find a bit of time this week to stock my shop with some new pillowcases which have mostly sold out already... Thank you so very kindly for your continued support of my shop!! I will be listing more very soon (I have nearly finished them), such as the styles below:

I do hope that you are easing yourself nicely into this holiday season... I also hope that you will come back and visit next week, as I'm planning a little Christmas pillowcase giveway as a way of thanking you all for being so incredibly loyal to my blog and shop... See you then!

 

 

Christmas at Hycroft...

 

 

...Yes, it's that time of year again! Over the last couple of weeks, I've been helping my friend Molly, owner of this lovely Vancouver shop, decorate a room for the annual Christmas fundraising event at Vancouver's Hycroft mansion which will be held this weekend. This year, my part in putting together this lovely room was making all the cushions you see stacked up in the old armoire which Molly restored in the most beautiful way. So, if you live in Vancouver and are looking for something special to do this weekend, come take a peek and kick off your Christmas season at the same time (you can find all the info here). I'll be back soon with a pillowcase update...

 

speed crocheting...

   

...is what I've been up to, making cushions for a Christmas event this weekend... 'Tell you more about it in a couple of days by which time I should have caught by breath!...