What a Deal!

I'm in full work and party prep mode but i noticed it's been a while since i posted here. So, i wanted to share with you a couple of great pattern finds. Bouclair, a fabric outlet store if you will, had a huge sale on all Vogue patterns - $0.99 each! If you know patterns, you will know they are usually not this cheap so i went with a friend and bought a few patterns. I had to watch myself, but i walked away with a few great patterns, especially these:


This weekend, i'm on my way to a friend's wedding in beautiful PEI! We're embarking on a road trip, so i have some home-made treats to make. We're thinking some fun cookies, but i know that road trips for me mean eating too much, falling asleep and awakening in weird positions, and knitting! I can't wait. Plus, we're be on a beach with red red sand on July 1 - Canada Day. How fitting!

Now, with my busy schedule, i just need to find time to make this week's Cook-a-Long dish of butternut squash, cilantro and some other goodies. If you want to know what i'm talking about, go here to hear more about this fun idea - and see that vegan cooking is tasty, nutritious and creative as anything! Thanks to Carla for thinking it up!

Found Objects

I love when i find things, especially things i would otherwise pay for. A few weeks back, as Krissy shared, a great neighbourhood in our city had a huge garage sale. I caught the tail end of it, but i did manage to score 4 sock shapers for free! The dude just didn't want to put them back in his attic, and i was walking by at the right time. While they are too big for my socks (i am a size 6 after all!), they would make great necklace holders and other fun projects.


I also love the night before garbage day. J and i were driving by a house that had a recent garage sale and had a whole lot of stuff out on their front lawn. With a bit of work, the rusty seat of this chair will be no more! It's such a cool office chair, that we just had to drive around the block (one way streets galore in Toronto) and get the chair.

My mom recently gave me a bunch of fabric pieces. While i can't admit to 'finding' these things, but they were free and fell into my lap unexpectedly, so that's close enough right? Here's a great one for you to see:

Don't you just love good ole free stuff?

My Summer Plans

I have a lot to do this summer, and most of it is fun fun fun! I love outdoor music concerts, and supporting the bands i love in general, so i'm going to a bunch of concerts. I usually go to 3-4 times a year, but this summer alone, i think i'm going to 5 concerts!

Here are some of them in order of dates:
* Amy Millan (last night) - she rocked!
* Broken Social Scene, Feist, and more - Olympic Island outdoor concert
* Hillside Music Festival - Sarah Harmer, Feist, Amy Millan,
* Ben Harper
* Free concerts at the Harbourfront

I'm excited that one job will be wrapping up in July, and then i will have a 3-day work work. I can't wait! I've worked 5-day work weeks for as long as i can remember, and i will treat myself to taking the summer 'off.' I will make sure to spend more time with 'me' and do things like:
* afternoons reading in the park
* swimming at Sunnyside - it's a great historic pool; if you read Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assasin, it's that pool!
* taking a morning yoga or Nia class
* sewing my quilts
* working on my other craft projects
* meeting all the new babies in my life - 5 friends are having babies this year!
* wandering around neighbourhoods i don't usually have the time to discover
* cooling off in the local library
* creating fun vegan dishs
* going to my parents' cottage and swimming in Lake Huron!
* garage sales and Aberfoyle Antique Fair trips
* a trip to San Fransisco/Vancouver with my honey
* planning and organizing my big day....

Summer also means fun festivals in the city, like the annual South Asian Cultural Fair, the Vegetarian Festival, and cool DIY arts and crafts shows like The Kit and Kaboodle Show, the Toronto ArtCrawl, and more!

Whew, i'm Tired

I just got this great trim package from Ohbara, and it prompted me to join the world of blog again. It's been a while since i last appeared, or even read, on the blog world. Work for some reason is really busy and i'm just too tired by the time i get home. It's crunch time for me at work, with one job wrapping up in July and the other job picking up momentum. Plus, of course, planning the biggest party of my life adds to the work.

I'm taking it all in stride, or at least in baby steps. Speaking of baby steps,i have 6 friends who are becoming new moms, and that means lots of baby presents! I love Amy Butler's Nappy Bag, and have made 1 already, so between that and knitted baby booties, vintage fabric bibs, baby quilts, i'll be a busy grrl!

Of course, i also need to do stuff for me, so i've been working on a top for the Sew! I Knit club, and i'm excited to make my first top from scratch (not just a restructured one!). Did i tell you i finished my first quilt? A year later, but i'm so happy with it (see pictures from my long weekend getaway), so now i'm already thinking of another big long-term project. Though having said that, i am making a celebration quilt as my 'guest book' for my Big Day. I'm asking guests to either contribute a square already done, or spend time during the day to make a square. We've bought fabric markers and some other fun things to inspire creativity. I will then alternate the canvas squares with vintage squares of fabric. So instead of a book that i will never read again, this quilt will be used and cherished.

I also made the cutest fabric flag to put up on a wall, to enclose our Dinner Table Seating Plan. I am so excited about decorating, and i want it to be colourful but staying in the shabby chic vintage 50's vibe. We'll have a collection of vintage aprons on backs of chairs, and my classic hat collection will make an appearance as well. I've collected 70 tea cup saucers for the dessert plates, and still have a lot to do! If anyone has any fun decoration suggestions, remember blue, orange, vintage and feel free to let me know!