Hey Howdy!

Street art around Yonge and Isabella, Toronto. Shot with my new Android phone ;-)

I have to say the majority of graffiti I see I don't like, I find it destructive and ugly. But once in a while I see something that makes me smile. Steve Powers equals great street art, check out a Maker Monday post at Janel Holiday Design for an interview with him including snappy photos from his series A love Letter For You.

 

Waiting for burrito

I'm so tired (care of the Toronto International Film Festival)...here's a lil sketch I did while my fella and I waited for an hour and twenty minutes for our dinner to arrive! Can you believe it? Anyhow... to pass the time I just drew a meal all camp firey with baked beans, franks(veggie), biscuits and coffee. I just need a wooly plaid blanket to cuddle up on. Ahh zee camp fire Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Thinking of my kitchen curtains

So, I've been thinking about making a new set of curtains for my kitchen for a while. The curtains I currently have are well fine, a very ecconomical black and white gingham, but don't really add much warmth visually or insulation wise. I guess I am trying to justify to myself spending a lot of money on buying fabric. But at the same time winter is coming and my kitchen, which isn't properly insulated or sufficiently heated, can use any help it can get in keeping the cold air out. I've had my eye on these fabrics from Full Swing Textiles for years. They certainly have some authentic looking mid century  designs in barkcloth. Now I certainly have several sets of curtains that I have made by reclaiming old barckcloth curtains and custom fitting them to my windows, but I've had to work around holes and fading and stains and soaking in Oxyclean and ripping out dirty old disintegrating liners. So its always nice to work with some fresh yardage after dealing with all that. Here is my kitchen (photo from my Covet Garden issue) 

For reference my kitchen paint colour is Sherwin Williams Burma Jade and was inspired by Seymour's apartment in Ghost World(Tee hee). Gawd I love that movie.

Below is the georgeous fabric from Full Swing Textiles I can see replacing the tired old flimsy gingham: Cabin Plaid - Black.

I'm thinking that Midnight in the Pines would make a great accent for a valance.

So for the project I need to spend about 200 bones to get the fabric for the kitchen curtains, not to mention the adjoining laundry room window which I could do at a later date. Eeeeee, think i will do it.

Window Shopping

Who doesn't love window shopping (especially on the internet)?  Just thought I would share a little something that caught my eye today. I think that what draws me to this is that it reminds me of the jewellery pieces that I made in my past life as a goldsmith and at the same time appeals to my current "vintage" style and design sensibilities. Not to mention the surreal flair of the imagery. A very successful design in my opinion.

C'est Moi...

As a blogging noob I suppose this is an outfit post/self indulgent photo shoot...

These photos were taken on a HOT Toronto summer day by Sarah Thompson

Dress: 1950s vintage bought from Toronto Vintage Clothing Show
Belt: Came from World Sew in a heap of random belts
Shoes: Stone Ridge
Accessories: Too hot to wear, I could barely keep the belt on!

One of my favourite frocks! Though the dress really begs for an outdoor setting with a Mexican feel, some exotic flora and fauna, Toronto really doesn't offer that kind of scenery. Oh well! 

This one needs some photoshopping...

This is my effort to start doing oufit posts. Though the pro photography helped out with this one. Hopefully there will be more where this came from.

Ta!

I am smitten...

for these darn cute cards from Rifle Paper Company. I stumbled across this company while flipping through a copy of BizBash at work. They have an ispiring collection of cards that I would love to buy a whole wack of. I am quite taken by the style and sesibility of the illustrations. Take a look!

Modern Girl and Betty Lou

My weekend pick me up...a pair of pretty dead stock powder puffs in the original packaging no less, Made of Marvel Velour, a Softer Velour for Delicate Skin. I will certainly make use of these. Gloria at the Painted Table has a box full. Come to think of it I might grab some more for gifts.

Hey, hey good cookin!

In the dog days of summer this is one of my favourite things to eat. A crowd pleaser, delicious and pretty darn nutritious. Best of all this does not require turning a stove on! Whoa...too hot for me!

Vietnamese Style Salad Rolls:

 Ingredients

• 2 carrots, peeled and julienned
• 2/3 of a cucumber, julienned
• mung bean sprouts in equal volume to carrots
• 2 flavoured tofu patties, I used La Soyarie brand but really any type you like is fine, julienned
• 1 Package of Rice paper wrappers, I use Rose brand as they seem to be a thicker quality 
• 1/2 a bunch of cilantro, washed and stems removed
• 1/2 head of lettuce, julienned
• 1 handful of mint leaves, julienned
• Water

Setup

• 2 tea towels
• 1 pie plate or appropriately shaped vessel for submerging rice paper in

Essential tool

•  mandolin slicer

The only way to slice up the cucumber, carrots and tofu nice and fine is with one of these babies, which you can pick up in China town or a kitchen supply store. 

1. Prepare all of your ingredients.  

2. Lay out your ingredients assembly line style, efficiency makes a difference here.

3. Submerge your first sheet of rice paper in water for about 45 seconds or until it's softened

4. Remove rice paper from water and place on tea towel to absorb water then blot water from surface using second towel.

 5. Place a small portion of each remaining ingredient horizontally in the centre of the softened rice paper. 

TIP: Make sure this is done fairly neatly or you'll have bits poking through the paper. And don't overtuff or you'll have a hard time wraslting this thing shut.

TIP: Place another sheet of rice paper into the water just before you begin to fold up your salad roll, this way you will be ready to start your next roll once your first one is finished.

6. Fold the sides in toward the centre then fold the botton towards the top. Just like a burrito!

7. Roll away from you to close up the roll. Repeat this process until you've used up the filling.

TIP: It may take a few tries before you get the feel for handling rice paper if you haven't yet mastered it. It is delicate when dry but once it is moist it becomes quite manageable so don't be shy it won't rip that easily.

8. Serve with peanut sauce or sauce of your choice. I use a Presidents Choice product.

9. Enjoy.

Midnight in Paris...

I recently went to see  Woody Allen's new film, Midnight in Paris, which I would highly recommend. The protagonist is afflicted with “golden age thinking,” the unshakeable sensation that life would have been more satisfying if only he had lived in some ideal, bygone era. In this case Paris in the 1920s. I suppose I, and several other people I know, might be guilty of this affliction.

Lucky fella though. He manages to hop a ride at midnight every night into another decade and meets a plethora of historical figures including artists, authors and patrons. We can conclude though that this is not just a condition of our generation but existed through the ages. Yet, it is hard for us to imagine a future where anyone would idealize or long to live in this age.

So here I am, a golden age thinker,  wishing that I could have witnessed the advent of Dior's New Look, Lindy Hopped at the Savoy, and watched  Annie Oakley exhibit her sharp shooting skills. Paris in the 1920s as portrayed by Woody Allen is also quite appealing.

Harlequins

I have to admit I am a sucker for harlequins and I don't mean the romance novels. I'm also pretty keen on paint by numbers...really a genius invention, if you ask me. I once painted a 3' x 4' paint by number canvas of the Eiffel Tower. Using an overhead projector I traced hundreds of numbered cells onto the large canvas. It took a surprisingly long time to complete but was awfully satisfying. It now hangs in view from my bathroom so I can admire it while I spend time curling my hair.  I can say I would take on another one as a project, perhaps even this design.

Mid Century Art and Prints

So, I just spotted this little mid century print on the old Etsy. Can't ya just see it in my kitchen? I sure can.

In terms of collecting old junk I personally consider finding good mid century art work, when I say good I do mean to my taste of course, a little trickier than say clothing, furniture, ceramics, kitchenware, jewellery, etc. I have no explanation...so when I see something that catches my eye I do tend to pursue it.

This is a fairly small piece 8x5" or so. I'll think about it...

Fun with tilt-shift photos: take a peak at my "little" den

So I've always been drawn to dioramas for some reason, they make me happy. While I was flipping through issue 5 of Covet Garden on the project page I read about the TiltShift app for iphone cameras. I had not heard of tilt-shift photography at this point but from the description, "simulates a tilt-shift lens to make your landscapes look like miniatures," I had to do some research. Not owning an iphone myself I found some instructions on how to simulate the effect using Photoshop. I know this isn't really a landscape so it was not ideal subject matter. I would say it turned out alright and I might just experiment some more with this technique.

Yeah, this is all about me and my house

Well this is an easy way to start things off and I probably should have done this a few weeks ago...

I was lucky enough to have my friends at Covet Garden do an entire issue spread on me and my little house! Please take a gander over at Covet Garden which is a great FREE online magazine based here in Toronto. You can find me in issue 10. 

Of course in hindsight there are a few things I would have changed...like not wearing the horizontal stripped dress on camera, (it does add a few pounds.) Speaking of that I suppose I also would have tried harder to loose a few pounds before the shoot! And of course since that shoot I have acquired some new furniture and art pieces and rearranged my tchotchkes and whatnots that you just might see in some upcoming posts.

Awright first tings first

I don't know quite where this is going but we'll find out soon enough. Likely you will see an array of before and after project pictures, a knitting project or two, reviews, postcards and collections. Fasten  your seatbelts ladies and germs, here we go.