Linaloo

Happy Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and general elections on Tuesday. See, Canadians are so low key you probably weren't aware of either of those facts. A fellow Montrealer, the uber cool, Claudia and I had a little swap of acorn caps from my oak tree in exchange for fabric scraps and leather straps (more on that in another post).

Among other things she sent some cute little squirrel fabric with which I immediately whipped up these, to match my new placemats perfectly.

I don't think I'll ever tire of making coasters. Which may be a good thing as I have somewhat foolishly agreed to sell stuff at a craft fair next month for charity.

Happy weekend all!

PS I still haven't sorted that banner issue, apparently Typepad are on the case.

Thank you

So I just realised that I've passed my 1 year blogging birthday and although I have had to step back a bit more of late, I love that I have a full year of entries to look back on. I love that when I think I haven't been very productive that I can click on the handmade photo button (on the right) and realise how much I have actually managed to create in this past year.  The last thing I actually made on my sewing machine was this little project which I can finally reveal - as it reached its destination safely.

I also wanted to let you know, that although I'm not committing myself to a giveaway to celebrate the passing of the year (I hope you'll understand) that I thank each and everyone of you for dropping by and taking the time to comment, especially as I have been pretty lame in the commenting and replying department recently. Many of you feel like firm friends and I'm so glad to have met you all. 

So (ahem) she asks shyly - anyone fancy a shopping trip to London in December?  Only 3 months 'til I return!!!

Relief

It' s been a pivotal week in my brief experience of being a parent.  One off to a new daycare and the other starting kindergarten.  I've had a knot in the pit of my stomach for weeks worrying about how it was all going to work out, and, as the anticipation finally subsided this week, the feeling of relief is palpable in our house. I knew everything would be just fine but I still couldn't help worrying about every possible minor detail until it finally all happened. 

On a lighter note, I received my doll quilt from my partner, Xena, all the way from down under on Friday.  Isn't it cute? 

 And look at all the lovely goodies it came with! 

Thanks Xena!

FOUR

Happy birthday little man.

You are your own person.Today you insisted, despite your gregarious nature and sunny disposition, that you wanted no party.  Instead swimming and ice cream cake with your family were the only things on your agenda. 

You melt my heart. Last night when I kissed you goodnight I said "this is the last time I'll kiss my three year old", you looked at me worried and said, " will you kiss me when I'm four ?".

Summer snapshots

Hello! Just popping in to say we've had an amazing summer so far with our dear friends (apart from the torrential rain and slightly leaky basement that is). So many laughs and lots of happy memories in the making. A real Canadian adventure.

 Plenty of water

Stunning scenery  

And this.

 

 

Simply breathtaking. Whale watching in Tadoussac, a once in a life time dream come true. We saw beluga, minke and, second only to the blue whale in size, fin whales - I still keep pinching myself. What a lucky girl I am. Hope you're enjoying your summer too!

On turning 36

At 36 the signs of ageing are definitely more noticeable.  Definitely.

At 36 I've never felt happier in my own skin.  Wrinkles and all.

Simplicity 4589 from a thrifted sheet, of course.  A prototype.  I doubt I'll ever wear this one, but I'm happy how my first ever top turned out. 

Happy Canada Day!

Tiny Giveaway

So thank you to all those that read and comment here, I truly appreciate you stopping by and saying hello, especially as I haven’t been the best blog friend lately. In a bid to cleanse myself of the burden of unanswered emails in my inbox and of course to celebrate the passing of my 100th post a while back, here’s some tiny things you could win by leaving me a comment on this post.

A tiny bottle of maple syrup from my trip to the sugar shack.

And this tiny hand quilted and embroidered picture entitled “Spring” made using my thrifted sheet stash.

I’d like to write something profound about blogging but I’m struggling to say anything meaningful today apart from ‘thank you’.

The winner will be randomly selected on Sunday 6th April!

What do you think?

Doggy?

or bunny?

Ah the tail's a giveaway!

Happy Easter all!

Thank you!

Thank you all for entering my giveaway. I have to mention that it was a pretty close shave with my Mum making her first ever public comment on my blog (number 498)! But I have a winner, the inspring, talented and ever so eloquent Amber! Congratulations!

There's karma for you. (Is now a good time to mention that I'm an Earl fan?!) I was planning to share some more blog love in this celebratory post by thanking both Amber and Dawn for recently passing on these bloggy awards. Thank you so much.

I'd like to pass both of these awards on to some brand new bloggers that I've very recently discovered. I do hope that you'll find the time to pay these women a visit:

Natasha
Adrienne
and Crystal

I'm taking a break for a little while. Back next week!