Busy Bees

The Beehive Summer Craft Fair is only two weeks away, and we're all pretty excited about it. The Beehive ladies have been working non-stop to get things ready (some of them are even working non-stop while also planning their own wedding which happens to be tomorrow), and it's going to be awesome. Trust me.

Actually, you don't even need to trust me. If you've been following the Beehive blog, or if you've happened to glance at the Craft Fair website, you'll see the amazing amount of talented artists that are coming to the craft fair and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

Besides the amazing amount of talent, did you know that Donna Lovejoy will be DJing a special Friday night set, or that Amanda McCavour will be doing one of her amazing installations?  I know, right?  Fellow Bee Meg is also going to be busting out her old-fashioned, all-natural snow cone shack right next door too.  Can you handle this? I can't.

Basically, it's going to be amazing, and you should start getting excited. Mark it in your calendars.  Are you feeling pains of jealously? Wish you were involved? You can be. The Beehive ladies are looking for volunteers to help out on the August 12th and 13th at the craft fair. If you're up for the job send them an email to beehivecraftcollective[AT]gmail.com

PS. While I have your Beehive-related attention, have you heard about the Supercrawl Art Installation they are doing?  They are knitting the entire facade of the brain, and looking for knitting helpers. You can read about it here and here.  There is also a pattern available here for you to download and help.

Worker's Workroom

Spending summer days in my studio. I'm surrounding myself with some pretty dreamy inspiration lately. Creams and tans and gold and lace. I've been trying really hard to make time to work on things in this place of my own. Mend things. Create things. To just slow down and simply think about things. It's getting easier and easier to do that.

I've had the chance to do some vintage collecting over the past couple of weeks, and have come across some incredible pieces. Some really incredible pieces. Before they make their way to the store, they sit in my studio with me. Among my most recent finds, a vintage wicker picnic basket in the shape of a suitcase with leather straps on the inside for holding cutlery and dishes and maybe, quite possibly, a bottle of wine. Beautifully aged leather straps to keep it shut too. I haven't decided if I want to part with this. Currently I'm imagining it strapped to the back of my bike.

This dress may be my favourite find ever. I feel like I say that a lot, but this one is beyond compare. A wartime cotton voile wedding gown with floral cut-work detailing, sheer short sleeves over a sweetheart neckline, and removable long fingerless gloves, all in a soft antiquated white. I tried to play dress up in this, but my hips didn't make the cut. I can't wait to see the beautiful bride that takes this home. In fact, I'd actually like to be invited to the wedding because I want to see the look on everyone's face as you walk down that aisle.

When we attended our friend's wedding in Mexico, they gave out paper fans on the beach. I took mine home and carried it around with me, finding it useful to have on hand in this heat that we're experiencing. I couldn't turn down this vintage Japanese paper fan when I saw it. Delicate cream paper dotted with silver sparkle paint and warm rose-toned wood. Stay hot forever, please.

It's funny, I love accessories - I opened a whole shop with my love of jewelry and adornments as a driving force - but lately I find myself returning to the most simple and the oldest pieces of jewelry that I own, again and again. The necklace is a tiny gold heart that I received as a baby. It has two small dents from where I used to bite on it while I was teething. The bracelet was given to me on my 25th birthday by my Aunt, who was given it on her 25th birthday. It's a delicate gold bangle with an etched floral design, and I believe has been in our family since the beginning of the 20th century. We have very few antiques or heirlooms on either side of my family, so this piece is very precious to me. I can (and do) wear these with anything.

If my 15 year old self could see me now, wearing all this gold jewelry, I'd probably gag myself with a spoon. The fact that I'm starting to dress like my mother, in more classic pieces, would totally not go over well either. Khaki slacks, navy stripes, buttoned up oxfords and huaraches. It's weird how that actually happens.

You'll probably see me in this outfit a number of times in the summer. Thrifted silk blouse and leather belt (which leatherworker Amy Kenny borrowed to make a similar belt herself out of the dimensions) and pleated cream skirt from Urban Outfitters that I bought a couple of years ago. I feel very daytime fancy in it. And a little bit like I should be drinking lemonade on a front porch swing somewhere in the South.

I bought this Field Notes notepad ages ago from Dave at Mixed Media. I bought it with the intention of doing something good with it. Filling it with really good things. It has, so far, remained empty. But I still carry it with me every day. I liked the steno book style of it, and though it'd be easier to use on my travels. I also kind of fell for the Hobo Symbol Quick Reference Guide on the back cover.

It will be filled with really good things soon.

My studio is home to most of my Beehive projects. I've finished up one scarf already for our knit installation piece, and chose these colours for my second one. I really like the combination of these two, Linen and Butterscotch from Lion Brand's Wool-Ease Thick & Quick collection. Even though it's been incredibly hot to knit, I'm really proud that I've actually been able to pick up knitting (and from a pattern at that!) again, and it keeps me going.

The ladies of the Beehive made beeswax candles in old mason jars a couple of weeks ago in celebration of Kate's upcoming wedding.  We made them with the intention of her using them on all of her wedding tables. It took two evenings worth of work, and we made over 20 candles. Wanting to make sure that they would all actually work and stay lit, I took one to test it out. It worked! And smelled amazing.

My studio also holds my books, my embroidery, my sewing machine and quilting supplies, my collection of cameras and all of my photography equipment and darkroom supplies. At times, I think that I should stop stretching myself thin and focus on one interest to really develop it, but then I think that life is too short not to try your hand at everything. I'm okay with not always being the best. At least I gave it a good shot. I feel abundantly lucky to be able to have my very own space to try.

Roadside Woes

On the way back from a camping trip this past weekend we hit traffic, bad traffic, just outside of Toronto. After sitting in a sweltering non-air conditioned vehicle for about 30 minutes without moving an inch, we finally turned on the radio to hear that the accident up ahead was so bad that all lanes of the 401 were closed. Oh, awesome. With a car full of campers, camping gear and a dog, what were we to do in this situation?

Chill out of course. We unpacked the camping chairs, dug out our books, searched through the coolers for left over drinks and snacks, and re-applied our sunscreen. Pepper even got a walk down the shoulder of the completely stopped 401. She was a big hit with the other stuck drivers.

After about 2 hours, police officers started turning cars around one by one on the highway. We had to drive the wrong way down the 401, pull a u-turn at the first exit we came to, and then we finally head towards home.

Hot Off The Presses

We've had a steady stream of new goods coming in to the shop lately, so steady that it's been hard to keep up with all of it! One of the things I am most excited about is this huge new shipment of bow ties from Paukstukai. Straight from Lithuania, we can barely keep these amazing bow ties in stock. At $17 each, it's no wonder.

We feel super lucky to have the amazingly talented (and super duper lovely) Roisin of Bespoke Uprising living in Hamilton these days. Her studio is literally across the street from us, so we not only get the pleasure of seeing her on a regular basis now, but we also get fresh stock of her amazing tea towels. Score.

These uh-maz-ing lockets by Odd Bird Designs are a new product in the store, and we are drooling. We have a bunch of designs, and at $46 each, they're all equally lovely. Our intern Lindsay picked one up this week, and I have a feeling a lot more people will be doing the same.

Super cute items from a new artist in our shop, Sweetstitch Shop.  Her tea wallets and pin cushions come in great fabrics, make perfect gifts, and only cost $15 and $10 respectively.

You better hurry if you want one of Jenna Rose's Hamilton Totes; we only have 10 in stock! At $38,  these screened totes are hand-screened, sturdy and fully lined.  I use mine every day and it has held up to some pretty tough beatings, as well as a boat load of drool from my dog.

Finally, we just got a new shipment from one of our favorite artists, Toronto-based Touch the Dutch. Her Canadiana line is absolutely amazing, and I am thrilled to be carrying the Canadian Hero Pin (above, right) back in the shop again.   Plus... antler rings!

We've been steadily getting everything out in the shop this week, and we're still expecting more packages to arrive at our doorstep soon. Come check it out!

Summer Window

 

Quilts, picnic baskets, fringed bikinis, kites and peonies oh my! This is probably one of my favourite windows we've ever had. It was pretty fun to conceptualize and put together. And it makes me so happy every time I walk by and catch a glimpse of it.

I filled it with as many things that remind me of summer loving as I possibly could. The Good Girl handbag from Erin Templeton, the Farm teatowels from Bespoke Uprising, Pinwheel Necklace from Homako, a wooden bookmark adorned with an acorn from Bliss In A Teacup, notebook from My Secret Admiral, turquoise handcrafted arrows from Verla Evans and a fox mask from Abigail Brown. I'd love to wear and bring all of these things to a picnic.

It's been pointed out that I need a polarized filter to get rid of the glare. I took this last photo with my iPhone and not my actual camera. I thought I had the correct filter at home for my camera, but then I remembered that I shattered it while working a wedding last year. Better than shattering my lens, though. I really can't have nice things.

I made the kite myself out of some vintage barkcloth we had hanging around our back room. The picnic basket was borrowed from our friend Laura. We bought some streamers from a party store in Mississauga, and the quilt is borrowed from Jane's own home. The juice jug which holds the arrows was found in the basement of our store when we moved in, and we acquired the badminton rackets on one of our many shopping trips. I picked up the bouquet of peonies (plus another one for inside the store) at the Hamilton Farmers' Market.

Oh, and we musn't forget about that incredible vintage bikini and boater hat, both of which will be available on Ainslie Wood Co. later this month. We've been so swamped with real life store that online store totally falls to the wayside. But keep checking back for a super relaunch with super cute new stuff for you to wear. Cross my heart.

Again!

It's Art Crawl time again! We've been busy getting the store neat and tidy and full of new things. Hollie made the window look adorable this month, and we picked out picnic-themed candy to match. The weather is gorgeous, and there is going to be some amazing art this month. Can you think of a better reason to come out? I can't.

Cottage Featuring Dogs

I got to spend a little bit of last weekend at our friends Jon Liz's cottage. Pepper came too, and Gabby. We carpooled up in Sean & Amy's station wagon, and Sean made a fence to keep the dogs and their drool in the back of the car. Unfortunately, Pepper just loves people too much, and she quickly found a way to get her head through. She rode like that for most of the 3 hour drive.

The cottage was on a gorgeous bay in Innisfil. The lake itself was big and cold, but completely refreshing on a hot Friday afternoon. The dogs, and there were lots of dogs, loved it.



To the left is Yeti. He is by far the most well behaved dog I know. He can high five! The gate was up so that we could keep Memphis, in the middle, off his leash. Left to his own devices he will find a squirrel or a nice smell, chase it into the woods, get lost, and never come back. Pepper is supposed to be the same, but her Basset Hound instincts are broken due to her crippling (but adorable) separation anxiety.

Boardgames, BBQ, Beers and Babies were some highlights of the weekend.  Gabby got to play her first game of Settlers of Catan, which was good timing since she is moving away on Monday.  Not to brag or anything, but I won. Bam.

While Amy took the dogs for a final walk before going home, Sean & Doug decided to try to bring a bike rack back to Hamilton. The most logical way that two engineers decided to do this, was by throwing some logs on top of the car, sitting the roof rack on top of the logs, and then tying it all down with straps that loudly vibrated in the wind for the entire drive. At least we provided entertainment for the other cars?

Simple Syrup

I got some Ontario strawberries from the market that were going to go bad if they weren't used up quickly. These weren't the first strawberries I'd be taking home this season, and I had already made a big batch of jam, and various baked goods previously. I decided to make some strawberry lemonade inspired by this recipe.  I wanted to use a lot more strawberries than this recipe called for, so I loosely adapted it based on what I had, and how much I wanted to make. It's such a simple concoction, that I wasn't too worried about playing around with the ratios.

6 cups of hulled strawberries
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 cups of lemon juice
3 cups water
Fresh mint and whole strawberries to garnish

Puree the hulled strawberries. In a saucepan, heat 1 1/2 cups of water and the sugar just enough so that the sugar completely dissolves, making a simple syrup. Add the syrup to the strawberries, along with the lemon juice. Add remaining cups of water to dilute. Let cool. Garnish with whole strawberries and mint, pour over ice and serve.

I didn't bother straining out the chunks with a cheesecloth, because I don't mind pieces of fruit in my drinks.  I loved this drink. And while raiding my in-laws liqour cabinet, I found a bottle of Sloe Gin, which I have been searching for at LCBO's across the province for probably about two years now. And that's not including the McGuiness brand, which I don't expect to be prepared authentically.  Although I don't think this was a particularly fine bottle that I tried, it mixed pretty well with the lemonade. A tart and refreshing summer drink. With or without the sloe gin.

Many Happy Returns

I threw Mike a birthday BBQ this past holiday Friday. We had over family and good friends to help us celebrate, mainly by eating good food. Both Mike and myself have birthdays that fall over long weekends, his with Canada Day and mine with Thanksgiving. This can be a blessing and a curse, as we often get an extra day to celebrate, but it means that sometimes friends are out of town camping or at cottages, or that you have to have turkey family dinners three nights in a row. Which isn't actually that bad.

The weather was perfect all weekend long. We spent our time outside from sunrise to sunset each day.

I made my own hamburgers and bought homemade sausages from Jepson's Meat at the market. I made some batches of mint lemonade and limeade, and baked a strawberry rhubarb crisp and a vegan strawberry banana coconut loaf. I've been experimenting with a lot of vegan baking lately, mostly for my friend Amanda, and everything seems to turn out so dense. This loaf tasted pretty great, but I'll have to try again to see if I can get it to rise any more. I put a sparkler in the strawberry rhubarb crisp and it was as cute as any cake.

My dream is to make a birthday cake like Nikole Herriot from Forty Sixth at Grace makes a birthday cake. Oh man, so beautiful. Next year will be Mike's 30th. I might make it my goal for that special occasion.

We live close to Bayfront Park, so at dusk the whole lot of us headed over on foot, on bikes and with wagons in tow to watch the Canada Day fireworks display. We spotted an empty clearing from the top of the hill to lay down our blankets, which was surprising for how attended the event always is.  I'm a real sucker for fireworks, and Bayfront is a spectacular location for them.  My favourite are the super sparkly ones. No really, I don't know how else to describe them except the sparkly ones that look like waterfalls of glitter. You know the ones I mean.

We ended up celebrating again with friends on Saturday (his actual birthday) and poolside at his parents house on Sunday. I wouldn't be upset if every weekend in the summer consisted of barbeques, ice cream, fireworks and bike rides. It's like the definition of the season. And it is absolute perfection.

Oh, Canada

There's no better way to spend Canada Day than with the people you love, some good BBQin', and sweet sunshine. Cold gin and lime juice in mason jars helps too, I guess.

We'll be spending today celebrating Mike's birthday. There are plans for bike rides and fireworks later in the evening, and I can't think of a more perfect cap to the night. I hope your weekend is excellent.