PROGRESS OF A GREEN VARIETY

I think the rain is finally finished for awhile and I see we're in for hot, sunny days all this week. My little garden is coming along beautifully and gives me such pleasure as I watch and witness it grow and change from day to day (sometimes hour to hour). What a funny sense of accomplishment, I keep marveling 'I made this' even though I really had little to do with it.

My sweet peas & runner beans are doing particularly well. I eagerly await the wall of scent and (semi) shade they'll grant me soon enough.

And the chives are in full bloom, which means it's time to find a clean jar, stuff it absolutely full of washed chive blossoms, pour white vinegar over and let it sit in the fridge a week. When it's done, drain the flowers and you'll be left with the most wonderful, aromatic, pink vinegar - perfect for salads all summer.

How's your garden coming along?

LITTLE HELPER

DYEING PART II

I've struggled so much in finding a black dye that actually dyes black. So far I've had blacks that dye blue, blacks that dye green and blacks that dye purple. Does no one make an actual honest-to-god black dye???

Anyway, I switched gears this weekend and I think I've found a solution to my black dye problem. I've been rushing like a madwoman all week trying to get some samples finished and sent out to NY for a magazine shoot, so you can imagine my excitement when this final piece actually worked out the way I wanted. As usual, I used a bound resist technique on a pattern I'm working on for Spring 2012. I'm digging the kindof decayed flapper vibe this piece has. Wanna see a shot of the back?

How about the whole front?

A detail shot?

Wanna see it on a human body? (surprise, it's me, I have no head)

In action?

Why not put a belt on it?

Dresses are fun. You can wear them.

LITTLE GREEN

Though I may not be particularly appreciative of all this rain we're having, my back balcony friends seem just fine with it.

Just a little something that makes me happy.

TWO POUNDS OF CHOCOLATE, MANY POUNDS OF CAKE

I'm still suffering a cake hangover thanks to this monster I made for my friend Jon's birthday party last night. I kindof overdid it I guess. Plus then there was the piece I snuck into my purse as we were leaving and just now ate for breakfast....

Four-layer chocolate stout cake with peanut butter filling, covered in chocolate ganache and topped with bittersweet chocolate curls. Taking this on the Metro was rather entertaining.

MORNING STAR

Totally inspired by Alex Janvier's Morning Star as seen on the dome of the Museum of Civilization this weekend. It feels like a good start to a good week - I think I'm letting colour back into my life.

GRAYBIE

A few weeks ago some photos of our Cleo showed up on modern cat where she was referred to as 'a beautiful graybie', which she is - our little grey baby. Since then I've used the term 'graybie' often, and I'm going to use it here to describe the bag I made this afternoon.

This is one of my cubist tote bags, here made from a small piece of distressed grey leather I bought a month or so back. I wish you could see this colour in person; with roots firmly in grey it ranges from dull blue to nearly mauve as it moves from light to light. The texture is soft and dry with a slight crackle across the surface and a washed look. The leather has a beautiful weight which I fell in love with prior to purchasing, and makes for a fantastic bag. I've lined it in a pale blue ikat linen featuring two interior pockets (one zippered) and a talon-hook key loop.

If, say, you'd be interested in owning this bag, I'm going to post it in my shop ONLY until this Saturday at noon. After that you'll have to buy it in Ottawa, because that's where it will be.

Hooray for grey, today this tote is the same colour as the sky outside my window.

FLORAL CROWNS

Some beautiful flowering Cacti from a Friday afternoon visit to the botanical gardens. I love how these prickly creatures wear such delicate crowns.