Sequins in the Shop

Well, it only took me several weeks longer than I had intended, but the sequinned clutches are in the shop finally! I hope to get some more fabrics and add to the collection but seriously, this month has gotten away from me. It's July next week! JULY!!! Toronto has been hit with a heat wave so it at least feels like summer finally!

Anyhoo, new pretties in the shop so check them out!

Jam Day

Over the past weekend, my friend Stephanie and I made strawberry jam. This was our second year making it and I gotta say, we're pros! We used the no-nonsense strawberry jam recipe from Canning For a New Generation that we had used previously. It's straightforward, low(ish) on sugar and, most importantly, delicious. Stephanie has a massive kitchen and lives near a fabulous market so it was an easy choice whose home to base our jam camp in. ;) We gathered our supplies, donned our aprons and soon reeked of hot fruit.

This book has been wonderful. Interesting recipes, comprehensive instructions,
thorough background information.

Our supplies. Ready to go!

Tag team strawberry choppin'.

It's amazing how this much fruit makes so little jam. (This is half a flat.)

Someone always has to be watching the pot!

SO FROTHY! Letting the berries and sugar simmer releases
a crazy amount of juices.

Then we temporarily drain out the juice and boil it for 20 minutes
in order for it to thicken. This is not the best time to walk away
from the stove, as we have learned :)

See? Two jars! For all those berries!

It was our duty to sample the jam with tea biscuits. And it was divine!

In the end, from a flat of berries we got about four 500ml jars. It can be a pricey, time-consuming endeavour but if you've ever tasted homemade jam you'll know that it's more than worth it! Next up: blueberry!

The Woman

When I think about the question "What would you save in a fire?" boring things come to mind. Purse! Computer! Box with passport in it! But if it were at all possible, The Woman would be coming with me, too. (She first made her appearance on this blog in this post but a photo wasn't enough.)

My paternal grandmother was the ultimate crafty lady. She taught me how to crochet, how to cross-stitch, and whenever I'd visit, we'd make something. She was master of embroidery, knitting, tatting, calligraphy, everything! One of her projects I remember was this embroidery of a woman. At the time I thought the flowers in her hands and hair were grapes which only made her more alluring.

Over the past few years she'd been on my mind. My grandmother passed away when I was in high school and when my grandfather moved into a smaller home, The Woman was put in a low-traffic area so I didn't really see her again until she was mine. When the time came for my grandfather to move into yet a smaller home, I persisted my dad as often as possible, letting him know that if The Woman didn't make the cut into the new home, let it be known that I wanted her.

After a good few months of nagging (to be honest, my goal was for my anxiety to be linked to the portrait so no one would forget someone wanted her. Stealth.) my parents sent me a text with a photo of The Woman propped on one of their dining room chairs. There was squeeing.

But where to put her? I had only been in my apartment for a couple months, but all the wall space was already accounted for. So she lives by the front door and every day I am floored by her. I don't normally favour artwork with people in them (it feels awkward to me to have strangers in my home) but she is family.

NEW! Finally!

It's finally time for another update! These guys were added to my shop (www.owlswakeup.etsy.com) over the weekend. Check them out!

Green and Yellow Vine Foldover

Purple Lace Clutch

Black and Gold Foldover

Green and Yellow Vine Makeup

Blue and Gold Foldover

Still more to come! *cough SEQUINS* Just need to get the pictures done this weekend :)

Designer Crush: Unearthen

Spotted recently on Honestly WTF, I fell hard for Unearthen. I am a sucker for bold colours, gorgeous stones and pointy, intimidating jewellery in general so this entire collection made me gasp out loud. Here are some of my favourite pieces:

Triarch Cuff

Volantis Ring

Pyxis Cuff

Apatite

All photos credited to www.seeunearthen.com. 

First Craft Show: All Done!

Yesterday was the TEST Springtime Marketplace. Also referred to (by me) as First Craft Show OMG! As indicated by the theme of my recent blog posts, preparations consumed me. To be honest I feel kinda empty now that it's over! What do I doooo? But overall, it was a fabulous day. So many people came out for the show and I had a blast! My dear friend Jessica (feathersofgold) helped me out for the day and she was absolutely invaluable! We sold some stuffs, met some peeps, and all around had a lovely time.

Here are some photos from the day!

Gotta be honest, most of this was food.

Jessica stuffing makeup bags!

My table display!

Overhead table shot; this pic stolen from Jessica's Instagram!

Close-up of one of my baskets.

Our snack-filled view from behind the table.

I'll share more pictures as I obtain them. I'd like to post one of my sign but for some reason I took all my pics before we even put it up.

I am so excited at the prospect of doing another craft show! Especially since all the big stuff is already done. Since this was my first show I had to design business cards, make various signage, collect items for display, make a million price tags, sign up with Square etc but those are all one-time things! Preparing for the next one will be a breeze, right? ;)

So what's next? I've got a few new clutches ready for a shop update as well as some clothes that desperately need summer alterations! Lots to keep me busy :)

Thanks for reading!