rose hip

lost in Daiso...

...and loving it! While browsing through not martha recently, I clued in to the fact that we have a Daiso store in the Vancouver area. Daiso, for the uninitiated, is a high-end Japanese 100-yen store or dollar store - actually $2 in Canada - stocked with a wide array of Japanese houseware items: anything from screwdrivers, hair gels to my favourite items, very kitschy cute Japanese stationery, party supplies and knick-knacks...As I walked into the store, I was struck by the sight of shelves upon shelves filled to the brim with plastic pastel-colored baskets in all sizes and shapes and loads of sweet little juice glasses, some even decorated with conversation hearts  -- oh! so perfect for Valentine's Day...

                                                                                            So what was in my bags when I finally walked out of Daiso?...Well, for one, the brightly-colored paper lanterns in the photo above and all this wonderful assortment of perky little things that I simply couldn't resist -                               

...and my absolute favourites -

               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                  I can walk by rows of cuddly stuffies and prettily-attired dolls with but a casual side glance, but dolls dressed in costumes from around the world will always stop me in my tracks....perhaps it has something to do with the long-lost collection of world dolls that I had and cherished as a little girl...And these mini Daiso dolls (a scant 5" tall) in their costumes decorated with ricrac and woven trims, I find particularly irresistible! Imagine them maybe twenty, thirty years from now, still smiling but slightly faded in a charming sort of vintage way...With that in mind, I've encouraged my daughters to start their own collection of world dolls with these little lovelies as a starting point.  So, since there are 24 dolls in this series, we will certainly be going back to Daiso...soon...

 

 

Molly's Furniture Salad - part 1...

I received this photo a few days ago from Molly who owns the very charming Vancouver store, Molly's Furniture Salad. Eventhough the photo is a bit cropped, it still gives you a little peek at some of the lovely items she sells in her store... The furniture in the photo are all vintage pieces beautifully refinished by Molly and the bedding was something I made last year. I  hope to show you some more photos of her store and tell you more about it very soon....

TAGGED!

Last week, I was tagged by Kim of lovely dear daisy cottage fame. This is how the Tag Game works:

Each player of this game starts with "6 weird things about you". Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post of their own with 6 weird things as well as clearly stating this rule. After you state your 6 weird things, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names.  Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you're tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means.

So, if you're interested in knowing 6 weird things about me, read on.

1. I don't drink tea or coffee --- I really dislike them! I always feel rather weird as an adult not to be able to enjoy either of these beverages especially in a world that's gone coffee-mad! I wish I liked tea though so I can drink it in all the lovely vintage teacups I  collect...

2. I can't drink milk before noon - it just tastes all wrong - it's O.K. in my cereal though....

3. After eating ice cream, I always have to have a glass of cold milk.

4. I don't like artificial light in the morning -- I find it so jarring! When I was still single, I would get ready for work in the dark all the time; I once showed up at work with two different shoes on....

5. I have an uncanny ability to remember people's faces, for example: if a total stranger's face has made some kind of impression on me in the past for whatever reason, chances are that I'll remember this face if I see the person again in a totally different place at a totally different time. I'll even dream of such faces and remember where I actually saw them...weird...

6. From time to time, I'll see something at thrift shops I've never seen before and then, right after, I'll see it again several times at different shops.  Prior to last week, I had never seen a cuckoo-like clock at a thrift store and then, I saw one......and three more at other stores...Well of course, I had to at least buy one!

So, that's it for the weirdness in my life and now I'm suppose to tag six other people. Given my relative newness to blogging and the fact that everyone I know of seems to be getting tagged at the moment, I can only come up with five victims: Emira, Lilli, Sarah and Jane, Michelle,  you're it!   

(P.S. To all you fans of Japanese fabric and other goodies, if you haven't noticed already,  Kitty Craft is up and running again, YAY!)

in praise of children...

Last week at my dentist's, I had a conversation -- as best as I could -- with the hygienist who was chiselling down the plaque stuck to my teeth. She admitted to me that one of the reasons she decided not to have children is that she finds that children, after 10 minutes, are boring!  More than anything, I think I felt sad for this women who was probably in her 50's and hadn't experienced how inspiring contact with children can be, something I feel so fortunate to enjoy in my life on a daily basis!
                                                                                           My pre-and post-partum years were difficult for many reasons, but I'm so happy that I had the kooky willpower to go through it all four times (you know, four children) because the richness and inspiration that my children have brought to my life so far has been immeasurable!  Take a look: 
                                    

                                                                                              The drawings are part of my 7-year-old daughter Eva's body of work over the last few years; she loves drawing (she wants to be an artist when she grows up...) and she especially likes drawing skinny tall houses...The happy patchwork (soon to be a duvet cover,...hopefully) is from my pile and is totally inspired by Eva, her drawings and her happy nature.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Children = boring...hardly!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      (P.S. I'm still working on my blog's layout so please excuse some of the scrambled posts!)                                                                                                                                          

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!!

Please excuse my jumbled blog text and photos ---I'm trying out a new blog layout and it's all rather frustrating...

my pile of patchwork...

I have been staring at this pile of patchwork tops almost every day since last summer when I first made them in a frenzied burst of energy...There are over a dozen of them in the pile, destined to become tops to either patchwork duvet covers or quilted blankets.                                                                                                                                So,...here it comes, New Year's resolution #1:

I have to finish all this &*!*%# bedding before the first daffodils break ground in my neighborhood!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Happily though, my daily blog-reading has opened my eyes to the fact that I'm not the only one who struggles to finish uncompleted projects ---I feel like I'm in rather good company...I love this new world of blogging!

Some of this bedding is meant for my children's beds and the rest will be heading to the lovely Vancouver shop "Molly's Furniture Salad" where, hopefully, it will sell... (My supply of children's linen at home is in dire need of a face lift as it seems to be mostly made up of almost decade-old Ikea stock!)                                                                                                                                In parting, I thought I would show you today's view out of my bedroom window - yes, Vancouver is covered in snow -- again!! The below-freezing temperatures are suppose to hold for the next little while so we get to enjoy a sunny, snowy weekend here! Hmmm, I wonder if this colder than usual Vancouver weather will delay daffodil season?!.....                                                                                                                                                                                             

prettier in pink....

                                                                                        ...before                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           and, with a touch of ribbon pink...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

after...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Don't you think it's prettier in pink?!....Granted, I threw in a few props for the pink version, but as soon as I started painting it, I realized that it was meant to be a pink desk all along...                                                                                                                         While painting the desk was my weekend project, this morning (Monday morning), I sat down at the kitchen table and made tissue paper flowers with my 4-year-old looking over my shoulder. Yes, instead of doing all the things I was supposed to do Monday morning, I made pink paper poppies and - guess what - I had so much fun making them!                                                                                                                                                                        The last time I made paper flowers, I was but a little girl and my fascination with them harks back to childhood summer holidays spent in Poland in the 70's; across the street from my aunt's apartment in Warsaw where we would stay,was a florist's kiosk which used to sell flowers made of crepe paper. I  remember spending a lot of time staring out the window, wondering about those paper flowers...                                                                                                         I will definitely be making more paper flowers and hopefully enlisting my children to make lots so that I can fill my house with them - they are so bright and happy and I love the way light plays with the colors of their tissue paper petals...(Poppies are particularly fun to make because they involve a lot of crumpling!) If you're interested in making some and are looking for a great, easy-to-follow reference, take a look at "Tissue Paper Flowers" by Klutz.                                          

the magic of Tricia Guild....

In case you still have some money lying around after the holidays or, even better, a gift certificate from a bookstore, if you haven't seen it yet, you should take a look at Tricia Guild's latest book "Pattern". I would have asked for it as a Christmas gift, but I was far too impatient; as soon as I saw it at my local bookstore after getting wind of its publication in print & pattern, I quickly snatched it up. You see, I'm a big Tricia Guild fan since the early 90's when I first discovered her through one of her early books. A lot of what I've learnt about combining fabrics, colors, patterns, textures, styles has been by browsing through her books which I have to admit, I never tire of....

                                           The fact that she's so creative and innovative in the world of interior design as well as a huge commercial success has been a real bonus for someone like me (no formal art training) because her work is totally accessible through her books and products. And this latest book, in my opinion, is her best...it is so visually rich and inspiring (the dust jacket is flocked for goodness sake!) that I think I'll be studying it for many years to come...I snapped a few photos of some of the pages for you to take a peek if you haven't seen it yet -                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 (Suprisingly, the book is also reasonably priced: it has $40 US written on the dust jacket but is only selling for $39.99 Cdn at Chapters in Canada?!... )                           
                                                                                                                                                                                              Before I go back to drooling over this lovely book, I thought I would offer...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         ...with thanks from me to Lilli for featuring me in her very beautiful blog make mine blissful yesterday - what an uplifting start to my new year!!