Urban Craft Market: tomorrow!

I've been busily preparing for tomorrow's craft show, and am looking forward to premiering my new designs! I'll have Gnome Homes, Barns with farm animal finger puppets, some new puppet friends to introduce you to, and some brand new itty bitty wooden houses (a mere inch wide!).

So if you're in the Ottawa area, escape the heat (not that I'm complaining, it's been a long time coming!) and check out all the talented vendors! It's going to be a fantastic show. It's all happening at the Glebe Community Centre, from 10am to 3pm, and admission is free! Can't wait to see you there!

A good old-fashioned barn raising, except much, much smaller.

One end of the barn's exterior.

Farm animal finger puppets! Each barn comes with a set, but I will also be selling the sets without barns.

Gnome Homes being sewn and assembled together.

Three new puppets to introduce you to: Fox, Raccoon, and Bear!

I've hand-painted a series of itty bitty wooden houses — just an inch wide!

Weekend in Montreal!

This past weekend Mark and I went to Montréal for an ultimate tournament, and Mark's team placed first! They won the whole thing! This is a big win for Glide, and will hopefully contribute to a good seeding position for Regionals in a few weeks.

I watched the games on Sunday, so I got to see their epic win, but on Saturday I went into the city and spent the day walking around the Plateau neighbourhood (my favourite area of Montréal, and where I did my Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training in the fall): café hopping, lunching at Aux Vivres, and just enjoying the day! It was glorious! And when I was walking back to the metro, I happened upon a street festival celebrating all the amazing murals along Boulevard Saint-Laurent. Only in Montreal :)

Buddha and bike.

Some murals were in progress.

Glide, tournament champions!

A year ago today: we came home

Exactly one year ago today, Mark and I arrived home after our epic backpacking adventure around Asia. So happy to be home and to have had such an amazing time away, we were filled with hopes and plans for the future. And now, a year later, my Etsy shop is a reality, I've been teaching yoga for a year, and we're expecting a baby in less than two months. My gosh, what a difference a year makes. Life is so good.

Then: wearing our possessions on our backs and having daily adventures.

Now: a new adventure is about to begin!

A walk in the woods

On Sunday afternoon we went up to Gatineau Park to go for a walk in the woods. It was lovely, the undergrowth still low to the ground, making a lovely carpet for the towering trees above. The hoards and hoards of mosquitos on the other hand... 

So when we crossed one of the secondary roads in the park, we decided to take it on the way back instead. And on this short stretch of road we saw more wildlife than we did in the forest! A stunning swallowtail butterfly, a deer, a beaver, and a turtle laying eggs!

It's hard to see here, but she had dug a hole and was filling it with so many soft-shelled white, glistening eggs.
I sure hope she goes back into the forest after, away from the road!

“We need the tonic of wildness... At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us... We can never have enough of nature.” 

                                                         ― Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods

Save the date for June 28: Urban Craft Market

I'll be a vendor at the summer edition of the Urban Craft Market on Saturday, June 28, from 10 am to 3pm, at the Glebe Community Centre in Ottawa. It was a great show at Christmas, and judging by the list of talented vendors, you won't want to miss this one either!

I've got some new designs that I'm excited to premiere: a Gnome Home, complete with Gnome stuffie, a Barn that comes with farm animal finger puppets, and three new hand puppets to introduce you to: Raccoon, Bear, and Fox! And, rumour has it that the puppets will now also be available as kits, so you can make your own!

Babymoon in Beantown!

This past weekend Mark and I were in Devens, near Boston for an ultimate tournament. Since we were so close to the city, we made it an extra long weekend so we could get into the city and explore. I can't believe I haven't been there before — it's not really that far from Ottawa, about a 7-hour drive. And what a great city! Such history, beautiful architecture, great eats, very walkable, and right on the ocean! We walked and walked and walked, exploring some of the sights on the Freedom Trail, eating at Quincy Hall, and relaxing on the grass in Boston Commons. Our B&B was across the Charles River in Somerville, so we were also within walking distance of Cambridge and Harvard's beautiful campus.

We had a near hiccup with our accommodation: our B&B owner accidentally double-booked our room... so he offered us a smaller, less-nice room in his house for free. And after so many unpleasant accommodation experiences in Asia, of course this room was perfectly fine (albeit quite hot without AC, and the bed was a bit too short for Mark, and we both hit our heads numerous times on the low-angle ceilings), but we didn't argue him refunding our money! More money for chowder!

I think after this short trip and the one we took to the Berkshires a couple of years ago, that I love Massachussetts; in fact, all of New England — such beautiful states, and I'm so glad they're so close!

Wandering around Harvard.

So many of the grave stones at Copp's hill had this amazing Tim Burtonesque quality.

The Greenway Carousel. The most amazing carousel I've ever seen!

Ceiling of Quincy Market / Faneuil Hall Marketplace.

The Old State House.

We stopped in Montpelier, VT on the way back and had lunch at this great little vegan café called the Tulsi Tea Room.
(We also stopped at the Ben & Jerry's factory on the way down, because, you know. I scream.)