The Wedding

Held at Cassique the wedding was pure indulgence!

Oyster Roast

Oyster roast and a traditional southern hoe down for my brother-in-laws sister's rehearsal dinner. The setting couldn't have been more beautiful.

Dream Home

The house that we stayed at on Kiawah Island was my dream home! Not only was the interior a delight for the eyes and my bed a blessing for my back, but the house location was superior. Backed up on a putting/chipping green, I would make my coffee and watch Oskar and my brother in law play a few holes in the morning. While watching their game unfold my eyes would wonder to the river where I would see a gator warming its self. If I looked back at the house my eyes would land on the purple bush that attracted bunches of orange butterflies. After my morning coffee I jumped on to one of the provided bikes with my sister and cycled down to the beach where I encountered 3 dolphins fishing for their lunch while pelicans looked on. Please remind me why I live in Canada again?

Ahhh Kiawah

I love vacation. Especially when I come back to work feeling totally recovered. That's what Kiawah did for me. I had sun, beach, amazing southern food, family and close encounters with wild animals (there were 2 gators living in the river behind our house!).

My First Rainbow

Every summer since I was a wee lass I have spent 2 weeks at my family cottage on Crystal Beach, and it was only a few weekends ago did I see my first rainbow. I'd say it was worth the wait.

Sunday's Best

My favourite Sunday activity is scouring the stands at the St. Lawrence Antiques Market. I have to control myself by limiting my purchases to 1 or 2. Otherwise, I'll go buck wild and fill our entire 900 sq ft apartment with "junk". So this weekend's buy was 1, no 2 Mason Jars and this cool glass vase. The Mason Jars are from a factory in Hamilton and the owner of the stand was telling me that depending on the rarity of the markings (crown, lion, etc) and year made, a mason jar can run you up to a 1000 dollars. So I figured I was getting a deal at 10 dollars each.

Fresh Ink: Mergers & Acquisitions

I just received copies of Scott Lanaway's "Mergers & Acquisitions" CD that I did the illustrations for. They look great! I'm really pleased with the final product. Click here to give Scott's music a listen.

Coming to Canada, from America, but of course...

hen I was down in the States at my sister's house a few months ago she told me about this new reality show, 9 by Design, that she was hooked on. We then proceeded to sit on the couch all weekend and had a 9 by Design marathon while her husband cooked us yummy meals. Then I came back to Canada and was sad. I missed 9 by Design and I tried to remind myself that I had Sarah Richardson, Samantha Pynn, Suzanne Dimma and lots of other Canadian secret talent, but it just wasn't the same. Fortunately for me, 9 by Design has arrived! It premiers August 31st on W at 9pm and I get to enjoy it from the beginning all over again.

To get a drop cap like me for your blog, you can go to Daily Drop Cap and get the generously donated code

Dusk at Sydenham

We ate, we drank, and Oskar fished. It was a beautiful weekend in the country.

A pleasant surprise

While on our wine trail through Prince Edward County I had a hankering for a snack. That's when amid private residences we spotted what looked like a shop. It was not just a shop. It was cheese shop!! What goes better with wine then cheese, more specifically Fifth Town Artisan Cheese! It was amazing. We sampled almost every cheese in the shop and walked away our favourites (the washed-rind Cape Vessey and fresh cheese County Maple Bagel Chevre), along with some lavender honey goat ice cream. Yes it's as wonderful as it sounds.
If you do happen to be out visiting the wineries in PEC I highly recommend Norman Hardie's Winery. He is a master wine maker and his Chardonnay Cuvee L 2008 blew my mind!

Lazy Sunday

Today I just felt like finding moments in the apartment. The flowers that I had bought on Friday are in full bloom, the painting my grandmother gave to me years ago was calling to me, and my sisters mother-in-law's present of monogrammed coasters were reflecting the light just right. Also, my buttons from WORN magazine arrived weeks ago and were patiently waiting for me to document them. All things looked good dressed in a soft coat of Sunday light.

Fresh Ink: "By the Pound" Call to Artists

Sleeping Giant Gallery is putting together a new and very different kind of art show. See below email excerpt from Josh, one of the creative folks over at Sleeping Giant.

"Sleeping Giant Gallery will be hosting a 2 week exhibit in the month
of November featuring over 200 artists from across Ontario.
The idea behind this exhibit is to create a different outlook on the
way art purchasing is portrayed and actually sell art "By the Pound".
We will be transforming the entire gallery into a "meat market" with
counters, meat scales and a butcher station.
...Art will be sold "by the pound" and placed on a meat scale with a set price per
pound. Prices will vary based on weight per pound, but as it stands right now we are looking at somewhere around $250/pound."

I'm doing 3 pieces for this show and I'm very excited to see the work that is produced for this art "meat market". You can see 1 of my pieces below which is 8x10 inches on wood.

Fresh Pixels: TCA Icons

TCA, Toronto Craft Alert, asked me to create 3 icons for them to keep readers connected while they take a 6 month hiatus. Check out the screen shots below.