November 27th 2009

Oh my, it's been ages since I wrote anything.

I got busy writing and preparing work for a couple of grant proposals, and forgot everything else that was on my plate for a couple of weeks. Now they're sent off, and I'm working on a few new things.

The project I've been working on the last couple of days is actually a really fun one. It's a Christmas card design for the interior design firm that my sister works for. I love designing our own Christmas cards, and Cara's boss had seen last year's and wanted something similar. If you're a client of Khachi Design Group, you may just get one in the mail!

At the top of this post is a photo of a gift that my friend Pam dropped off yesterday. It's called an Apple Geranium, and smells exactly like apples! She found it at a local farm's market last year, and it's been growing like wild. She made clippings and they're going crazy too. I can't wait to pot this sweet little plant. It's so pretty.

This morning Karyn posted some photos of her desk on her blog, Make Something. I love seeing what other people's work spaces look like, and it's always fun to see old photos of what my desk looked like a year or two ago, (because it's always changing), so I took some of my own! Luckily it's fairly clean today. A couple of days ago it was a complete disaster!

I've started making some new Christmas ornaments for the tree this year, as well as to put on people's gifts. I absolutely love these sweet little knit acorns. I found the pattern online, and they only take about a half hour to make. I love the look of homemade ornaments. Last year, Chris' Mom gave us a bunch of ornaments that they used to put on their tree when Chris was younger. Most of them were made by his Grandma, and have people's names embroidered into them. I want to try to make some like that for family this year.

November 15th 2009

Oh man, does it ever feel great to get back to sewing and knitting again. I haven't sewn anything in ages, and decided that it was time for a new pair of slippers. I made some last year but they've been slowly deteriorating because I wear them constantly. { Even outside! So bad! }

These particular slippers are from this book. It's called "My Own Homemade Roomshoes" (ISBN 978-4-43077-7). It's the same book I used for reference for the last pair. Making this slippers is so satisfying. It's not a super hard pattern to follow, even in Japanese, doesn't use a lot of fabric, and the finished product is so sweet! I'm thinking about making some out of my own fabrics, (and there may be some new designs soon), to sell. I think they're a fun project, and hopefully others will think so too.

I've also been working on these mittens.

They're the ones that I'm making from the pattern that I found at the Royal Winter Fair last week, and I love them! They're so wooly and instantly warming when you put your hand in them. They'll be my warmest winter mitts.

November 11th 2009

Magic Pony put photos on their Flickr photostream from the opening this weekend. You can view them here.

We went to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair yesterday, and I took lots of photos. We've only gone a couple of times, but I always really enjoy it. One of the best things about going is the vendors selling homespun wools. I got the makings for a pair of roving mittens, and I got so excited to make them that I knit half a mitt last night!

November 9th 2009

A friend recently made the homemade Chai Tea recipe from Joy of Cooking for a brunch we were having, and it was amazing. I haven't been crazy about chai tea in the past, because I've only had cafe-style Chai Tea Lattes and the like, but from scratch, it's amazing!

It'll definitely be a favorite recipe over the holidays.

Here's the recipe for anyone that wants to give it a try.

{ Joy of Cooking Chai Tea Recipe }

makes 4 to 5 servings, (or two, if you're Chris and I)

Bring just to a boil in a medium saucepan:

3 cups water

1½ cups milk

¾ cup sugar, or to taste (I used far less, and either brown or raw sugar, and it tasted much better)

2 cinnamon sticks

16 cardamom pods, crushed

1 tsp whole cloves

½-inch piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced

½ tsp whole white or black peppercorns (I want to give pink a try next time)

Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 20 minutes. Return to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in:

2 tbsp black tea leaves (I used "Earl Grey Cream" from Tealish and it was so delicious!)

Cover and let stand 2 minutes. Strain and serve at once, or let cool and serve over ice.

November 8th 2009

I want to thank everyone who made it out to the book signing yesterday afternoon. It was so much fun!

As promised, I did a draw for the winner of a free copy of the book, and the winner was number 4, Heather from Asheville, NC. Congratulations, Heather, and I'll send you an email to gather your information.

I also wanted to let everyone know, especially those that aren't able to make it to Toronto in the next couple of weeks to see the show up, all of the work is on display in the "Children's Book" section of my portfolio website.

Time to go have a nice relaxing Sunday!

November 7th 2009

Well, today's the day!

In a couple of hours I'll be heading down to the gallery to set up for the book launch this afternoon. I'll be there between 2 and 5pm today, so please come down for a visit! There will be cookies and hot apple cider, (perfect for a cool autumn day!).

Hope to see you all there!

November 3rd 2009

A while back I had Celine over to make jam, and she took some really beautiful photos. She posted a few on her blog, but sent them all to me last night. They're so lovely! I absolutely love her photos. Here are a couple that she didn't include on her post, but that I think are really pretty.

Things are really coming together for the book launch this weekend at Magic Pony. Chris and I have been building the frames from scratch, (and there are a lot of them!). They look great with the work, and it's really satisfying to know that the work's been made from start to finish completely by hand.

I really hope everyone can make it!

{ If you can't make it out this weekend, the work will be up in the gallery until November 22nd }