A successful first craft show!

Saturday's Craft Show was a big success! I am blown away by the positive response I got from everyone who stopped by my table. Urban Craft really knows how to put on one heck of a show, and I am honoured to have been included alongside so many incredibly talented craftspeople. And the people who came to the show: what an incredibly supportive, art-loving community, my goodness! I had so many lovely conversations, it felt more like a party than me trying to hawk my wares! (I didn't even get a chance to try out the excellent sales techniques I witnessed in South East Asia ;). What an awesome city I live in!

A huge thank you to all my friends who braved the bitterly cold day to come by to visit and support me: you're the best! xo

Adorable children's drawings turned into adorable, custom fabric

When I was out west this summer I got together with a good friend who I used to work with at a studio in Toronto. She moved out west when she was pregnant, and I finally got to see my friend again, and meet her daughter, who's now six! It was so great to meet her, and experience her incredible personality. A little bit shy at first, by the end of the night she was chatting up a storm and showing me her art projects. It is so inspiring to see young people so unhindered, drawing because they enjoy it, not criticizing themselves, just enjoying the process of putting pencil/pen/marker/highlighter/paint/etc to paper/etc. And it's incredible to see their translation and resulting unique expression of what they see in the world or their imagination.

So, to honour this young artists incredible talent and joy of art-making, I took the drawing she gave me, and turned it into her very own fabric!

Urban Craft Market: tomorrow!

I've been busily preparing for tomorrow's craft show, and am looking forward to showing my wares! I'll have all the houses that are in my shop, as well as some new designs, and new items too, including some hand puppets, embroidered notecards, and even a few scrunchies from some lovely fabric I bought in Japan. (If fashion in Japan is anything to indicate, scrunchies are back, in a big way!)

So if you're in the Ottawa area, come in from the cold, and check out all the talented vendors! It's all happening at the Glebe Community Centre, from 10am to 3pm, and entry is free! Hope to see you there!

Gingerbread Houses!

Each Gingerbread House comes with a Gingerbread Man.
(I think he's the one that made the snow angel in the front yard.)

Nordic A-Frame Cabin

Puppets, bashful and exuberant!

Notecards featuring my own embroidery (foreground) and upcycled embroidery (background)

The House in the Night

The Cottage by the Lake

Interior of The House in the Night

Free shipping AND $5 off!

From now until midnight this Sunday, December 8, receive FREE SHIPPING worldwide, AND $5 off each of the prints in my Society6 shop! So if there's one you've had your eye on, now is the perfect time to order! And if there's another photo from my blog that you love, let me know, and I will make it available in the shop. Thanks for your support!

SEE ALL MY PRINTS ON SALE HERE!

Introducing: Kitty, Bunny, and Owl!

If you've been keeping an eye on my instagram recently, you'll have noticed some new characters on the scene. I've captured their growth in various states, tracking their journey from pencil-on-paper into puppet-hood, and they are now ready to introduce themselves properly! Meet: Kitty, Bunny, and Owl. Kitty is sporting a poppy-red pinafore and shiny Mary-Janes, while Bunny is ready to work in his scruffy-patched overalls, and Owl is prepared for punctuality with his pocket watch (precisely synced to Greenwich Mean Time, of course) tucked in his Bilbo-esque vest.

I will be posting them in the shop after my show, next Saturday, December 14th at the Glebe Community Centre in Ottawa. Come and see them there!

Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training in Montréal

At the end of October I went to Montréal for an intensive 4-day Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training with Janice Clarfield. It was a truly inspiring weekend of yoga with a wonderful group of women, and I am newly amazed at the incredible power of women, and the innate wisdom of the body to undergo such a profound transformation.

I am so inspired to work with pregnant women, to help them find empowerment through mindful movements and breathwork; discover their immense strength and body wisdom; connect with themselves and their babies during this incredibly transformative time, and most importantly, to help them discover their own way, as there is no one way to birth a baby.

And of course, it was wonderful to be in Montréal again. The apartment I rented was literally a few doors away from the yoga studio in a lively area between Mile End and Le Plateau-Mont-Royal. I fall in love with Montreal every time. It happens every time I'm there. The beautiful boulevards, vibrant murals, alleyways with spiral staircases, gorgeous mansions with the imposing Mont rising up behind them, and those exterior stairs so unique to Montreal, and of course, incredible food. Mark came up and stayed with me for part of the weekend, and we went out for Tibetan one night, and Cambodian the next, with bagels for lunches, and the best vegan food (no wonder there's a line-up all the time) at Aux Vivres and The Green Panther. Mmmm.

A year ago today: we set off on an adventure

Aw, look, we were just pups!

I remember barely sleeping the night before (or really, the night of) our flight. Waking up with my heart in my throat: excited, anxious, nervous, jittery... Eyes wide as we took one last look around the house, so quiet and empty without the cats and most of our stuff packed away... Hoisted our stiff, pristine packs, full of our carefully thought-out things we thought we would need... Locked the door, to be opened in a few days by our tenant who would be moving in... Leaving the known, and setting off into the unknown in the pre-dawn darkness... Tears of excitement and disbelief pouring down my cheeks on the cab ride to the airport... The day had finally arrived! Mind racing through all the possible scenarios that awaited us... Flying west-ward and passing the edge of Canada, the farthest west I'd ever been in my life.

And then being thrust into the intensity of Bangkok. Eyes wide at everything... trying to navigate our way around... Getting suckered at every turn (and oh, we were suckers...). Our first tuk-tuk ride... Our first dish that was too spicy to eat, and we didn't know how to ask for it any other way... Seeing more Buddhas in one day than possibly my entire life up until that point... So many colours, and sights, and sounds, and scents! And oh, the heat! I remember being so overwhelmed... everything was so new and unexpected and in-your-face... It was incredible, and I would do it all again, but I'm still happy to be home, and excited for the first good snowfall to arrive.

I haven't had a good snow for over a year and a half...

Leaving O'Hare after appropriately dosing up on Gravol as I failed to do for the first leg. (Lesson learned.)

The only way to get around! Ottawa could use some tuk-tuks.