Giveaway! Flowers! Oh Boy!

More cute floral things in the shop this week, and a super special giveaway is going on over at Fieldguided. Win something cute!

String String String

This year is all about the backyard. We've got a lovely covered patio with benches and picnic tables built in. I need to pretty it up a little bit, though. So I'm currently on the hunt for those vintage style string bulb lights, and the internet is failing me! I can't seem to find them anywhere, and if I do, they don't ship to Canada!

Does anyone know where I can find some? My next resort is going to the east end of town and offering some of the older car sales lots $50 for their old strings.

Click on photos for source.

Pop Up Video

This Pop Up Town book over at Present & Correct is all kinds of awesome. I would love to get one for my baby newphew, but I think I will wait until he's passed the chewing on books stage.

Cat Bath!

I gave my cats a bath this weekend.

I was worried they might have fleas, which I really really hate, so they got a bath, flea collars and flea medicine. Basically the works.

They weren't too happy about the baths, and even less happy when I blow-dryed their fur, but I think they enjoyed the end result.

That's Atticus, he's a giant ham.

Boo is a little more modest. Both of them are total showoffs though.

Bzzzzzzzz

One of the things I'm most looking forward to this year at the farm is the potential of getting some honey bees. We've briefly discussed it as a group, and it looks like it may happen. Not only would we be helping the plight of the honey bee, but our crops would flourish with the pollination and we would get some delicious comb honey out of the deal. It's just a win-win situation on all accounts. Not to mention the fact that a hive with worker bees and a queen is only around $200 CAD. Between a group of 15-20 people, that's a pretty good investment.


Last year around this time I took a brief seminar on beekeeping. Right now I'm currently on a waiting list for a more in-depth full day course, with time spent in the bee field. The bee field! I first got interested in raising honey bees when I heard about Colony Collapse Disorder and now it's become kind of an obsession. I just can't get it out of my head. So I am pushing for hives at the farm to happen pretty badly. I also requested to be named Chief Bee Officer. If you are at all interested in beekeeping, check out your area for courses. It's not as difficult as you'd think.

All images from Honey Bees.

How Fitting

Sunday Brunch Dress Shop is a lovely shop full of lovely dresses. Seriously lovely on all counts.

Home Sweet Home

The Snail and the Cyclops

I have been house sitting for my dad since January. It's been a nice way to save some money, but I am dying to get back to my apartment (which I have been subletting). We move back this weekend, and I couldn't be happier.

I have some projects I really want to tackle this year, and some things I want to keep an eye out for at the summer's flea markets. I don't have a lot of cash, but first up on my list is a nice antique quilt and some beautiful vintage bedding. I love my duvet, but I can't help but constantly search out pictures of gorgeous layered bedding and fall completely in love.

This morning, the above picture of Francesca's new puppy resting on that gorgeous quilt sent me into a bit of flickr tailspin. I need a quilt. Immediately.

Design Sponge - Sneak Peek of Hello! Lucky

Christmas Notebook - Flickr

Lovely Design - Flickr

Stichindye - Flickr

Unknown - Please Contact for Photo Credit

IRM

This weekend my boyfriend got the new Charlotte Gainsbourg album, and we pretty much listened to it all weekend. Our musical taste usually differs dramatically, so I think that's saying a lot for this album. So good.

Shop Til You Drop

Another week's worth of cute new things added to the shop. If you're new here, we update Ainslie Wood Co. every day, Monday-Thursday.

What My Morning Looked Like

Re-Calibration

So, vintage 35mm cameras whose old leathers have been replaced with wood veneer, and their inner workings cleaned and fixed. Get the eff out of here. Is this me blogging in my dream? These don't exist in real life.

Oh man, they do. ROTE, I love you.

Bobbles and Bows

We got a new shipment of A Alicia Hand Made Accessories in at the shop this week, and I am pretty much in love with each and every piece. In addition to the felt pieces we already carry, A Alicia now has gorgeous pieces made in fair trade organic cotton.

An Avalanche of Thrills

Last week I showed you my old elementary school journals. I've read through them all now, and my absolute favorite thing about them (besides drinking too much juice) are the movies I watched in 1993 and 1994.

I made a list of all the movies I mentioned watching, and I'm planning to watch them all again.

- Almost An Angel (Oct 15/93)
- Dennis the Menace (Nov 2/93)
- Indecent Proposal (Nov 2/93)
- Stop or Mom Will Shoot (Nov 9/93)
- Free Willy (Nov 24-93)
- Weekend at Bernies 2 (Nov 24/93)
- Mrs. Doubtfire (Dec 6/93)
- Alive (Dec 9/93)
- The Great Escape (Jan 3/94)
- The Dark Reflection (Jan 11/94)
- Ski Patrol (Jan 20/94)
- Hocus Pocus (Jan 20/94)
- Ace Ventura, Pet Detective (Feb 24/94)
- Blank Check (March 4/94)
- Son In Law (Mar 8/94)
- Robin Hood Men In Tights (Mar 8/94)
- Cliffhanger (March 28/94)
- Serial Mom (Sept 7/94)

The movie Cliffhanger seemed like the best place to start, because I mention Cliffhanger a lot in my journals, and apparently played it at one of my birthday parties. I even mention that it will be the 4th time I've watched it. It's bizarre, because I don't remember this crazy love of Cliffhanger at all.

Well, after this weekend I can now say I've watched it five times, and you know what? It's good! If you like shitty 90s action movies, this is a great one. I was totally into it after about 1 minute. I'm surprised, but not too surprised.

Print and Pattern

Featuring our neighbours is getting to be really fun. We've only really featured a handful of people from around the street, but I can think of SO many interesting and creative individuals that we have yet to introduce to you. Like, a never-ending list. With that being said, I'm pleased as punch to introduce you to the lovely Jenna Greenberg of Jenna Rose and her studio.




Jenna's studio is just down the street from us in an amazing open-concept loft space. It's funny because Jane blogged about Jenna waaaaaaayyy back in 2007, during the baby days of LIAL, and we immediately fell in love and have been virtually stalking her ever since. Naturally, we were pretty thrilled to learn that she was moving her studio from Guelph to Hamilton in August of 2008. Then we opened in October 2008 and Jenna became a regular coffee customer, and our internet acquaintanceship turned into real-life friendship. Don't you love when that happens?

It's always a pleasure to see Jenna come in. She's vibrant and friendly and has amazing personal style and we're able to gripe about the ups and downs of internet sales together and she gives us free tickets to the One of a Kind show. All good things in our books.



I blogged about the treehouse pillows not too long ago. I am obsessed with this design. I really do think it is perfection. But the same can be said about all of her patterns. She takes the inspiration for designs from her life, and if you read her blog it really comes through in the way she photographs the world. She has photos of places and buildings in Hamilton that I've known my entire life, but now with textures or patterns or shapes drawn out in them that I've never seen before.

Her process is dynamic as well. I was happy that I got to see a glimpse of her working, because she was exactly as I pictured she'd be; meticulous, engrossed, enthusiastic. She starts out by illustrating her patterns and designs by hand, and then all of her beautiful pieces are screen printed using non-toxic water based pigments and natural and organic materials. You can't get much better than that.



And I can't forget Beau. See his tail moving? The rest of him is usually moving that quickly as well. Who doesn't love pets at work? Jenna is the real deal, and Hamilton is lucky to have such an amazing artist as herself choosing to call it her home. Make sure to check out her website for her full collection. And if you are in the Hamilton area and you'd like to check out anything in person, you can email her for an appointment.