*

ennnngghh!

That's the noise I made while breaking through the finish line of the fall race!  I am officially off for two whole blissful weeks for Christmas holidays and I couldn't be more pleased.  It's a bonus as somehow, miraculously, I had a few more vacation days to use up than I had previously thought!  When in life does that ever happen?  I'd say nearly never.

Lookit!  I arrived to my desk yesterday to find this on it!  A gift from my supervisor!  Such kindness! I was all gushy and silly and thanked her profusely.  If you live in Toronto, you will know the lovely- ness that is the Americo shop.  I am far too mean to ever buy myself something there, which made this a double yummy treat!  Of course, I had not gotten her, or anyone anything and felt rather sheepish.  Ahh Christmas!  :)
That coupled with a perfectly delightful Christmas party last night and I'd say my season is off to a great start.

I even got crafty this afternoon, a rare ocurrance these days.  Last week, after visiting and being inspired by, City of Craft with my mum, (who is now back home, yay!) we wanted to make something.  So we stopped by
 Designer Fabrics and bought each three, half yards of red, pink and green jersey to make into scarves.  (the lighting is terrible today- ignore the crappy pics!)  Today I freezer paper stencilled one of mine with the tree found in Lena Corwin's book, Printing by Hand.  I wanted fast results and figured I would ease back into being crafty by using someone else's design.  I did some trawling for inspiration before hand too and found some yummy stuff.

This pretty design found on over on ETSY, at Red Prairie Press

This downright awesome print at Analogue People.

This one is awfully pretty too.  Again at Analogue People.

***

I also was planning on getting a teensy bit of work done this afternoon too.  Something that has been sadly neglected over the last few busy months.  Luckily I have had no freelance work while adjusting to my new job.  I don't think I could have handled the extra stress!  But I do have a loose deadline of January for the rough ideas on a POTENTIAL third book, this time all written and illustrated by MOI!  It may or may not happen, but exiting still.  shhh top secret.

yippee!

In the mail last week I received the Spring 2010 catalog for Kids Can Press and lookee, there on page three, is my new book!  What a wonderfully nice treat to see it there!  So here it is  - the first look at Willow's Whispers!  You sh0uld be able to get a better look if you click on the image.  Very exiting!  It comes out in February.  The designer and editor decided on a very spare look for the book and colorful kids, tres bien!  It is about a "soft spoken little girl who struggles to find her own voice".  I can relate!

 

Obligatory Dufflet treat picture from last Saturday...

In knitting news, this baby hat which I made for a friend's shower last week.  It is a bit big for a newborn and was supposed to look like an acorn.  Can't win 'em all!

I also have had this kicking around on my desktop for ages.  It's Pippi longstocking by the amazingly talented Lauren Child.  There are a few artists / illustrators who make me... what's the word...fidgety, wiggly agaitated! - with admiration.   Her sketchy style, groovy patterns and adorable images just make me nuts.
Don't even get me started on the awesomeness of Charlie and Lola.  The English accents just kill me!  The point of having found this image was that I was Pippi for Halloween, not a stretch for a gal who owns 7 pairs of stripy coloured tights already, but still.

Happy Friday folks!  I am on my fourth cup of tea and just got out of my PJ's at lunch time.  I know, spoiled rotten, and loving it!  I did get a load of laundry and the dishes done and hung a new pair of curtains too though.  Time for groceries now I believe.

yummy!

A local source for Marimekko wallpaper! I love the spots.

newwall.ca

What is there to say about these guys other than I don't have work today and I felt like doodling?

I wonder if they will show up as a row of three on everyone's computers... They are my little dewdrop men, with a beat to dance to - forever!  It's really wierd how they are all slightly off from each other... I don't know how that works but it's cute.  I guess it has to do with when I uploaded each as they are actually just the same guy repeated, of course.

 

a jelly bean dish of things

Oh Friday!  Best day of the week... I guess last Friday just disappeared on me and I blame it on an amazing pizza lunch at Terroni with Beta !  Afterwards I just wandered about in a cheesy state of bliss and spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch.  I have a vague memory of watching Dr.OZ and seeing something about spleens...

 

But enough of that!  Look at this!  It is the season of craft sales and preparing for Christmas which (un?) fortunately means I end up buying presents for myself.  Naughty.  The CBC craft sale was yesterday and I am usually in it, but this year? Oh, not this year.  Not a scrap to sell, plus the new job, you know.  My friend Grace was in town from CA and we had a look.  This pretty necklace is made by the talented Leila Cools - I love it and decided I deserved a little treat.

Also selling,  was my ex-co-worker and her great new line of printed items at Honey Roasted.

 

Lookee!  cute cute-  Check out her Etsy shop for lots more yumminess.

 

Also in the "one for you, two for me" department, are these wondeful zipper pulls from- I think she was called Space Cat?  I didn't get a card!  I broke out the old winter coat today and the lion looks so great on the zipper.  Considering giving my mum the Decole apple...or maybe not.

Grace came over on halloween to play Bubble Bobble, carve the pumpkin and have a lovely dinner.  We had a great time, she brought me a signed copy of A Homemade Life!!  There was an author signing in San Francisco - woot!  I am savoring it and saving it for weekend afternoons on the couch, when the sun is pouring in the front room windows.  Thanks so much Grace, so nice to see you again!

One more thing...

 

A quilt!  This I am pretty sure is vintage IKEA fabric, and its something my mum started for me when I was a little girl.  I found it again recently and I am going to attempt to finish it over the winter!  It is so stinking cute, to quote Amy, and I just love the happy little town feel of it all.  It reminds me of one of my favorite books, Lotta's Bike.  Click to see it bigger.

Oh dear and now it is 4:50pm and dusk is just descending. UGH darn daylight savings time!  Bleakness!  Time for some tea and a few nice candles.

Have a lovely weekend peeps!

I like...

...finding a scrap of paper at work with a note on it, and drawing a picture to match.  Of course, that is ME as the junior world hockey champ.  Never mind that I was only ten years old in 1985.  There's girl cat helping me score the winning goal!  Never mind that she never goes outside.

Ahhh Friday!  My new schedule includes Friday's off!  Who could have dreamed of such perfection.  Its so easy to get used to a four day week, scarily easy.  I woke up really early because I was so exited to not have to do anything worky today.  I have a lunch date with Karina!  Yay!  She is in town to install her latest and greatest, Organisms and Orifices show!  Last Friday I had lunch with Krissy.  So lovely to catch up with my ladies.

Today, after my lovely lunch, despite the blustery, rainy mess that is the weather, I want to pick up some earring hooks to go with some beads I got last week, get some cat food- her higness suddenly hates her normal food- , grab a dvd or two for the weekend and perhaps later have a NAP! oh the decadence.

I think I am getting the hang of the new schedule finally, and perhaps friday posts might be my new plan.

I swear, a month or two out of the loop and so much has changed.  Typepad is all new, AGAIN, when once I felt cutting edge to have a new blog, now I am frightfully behind the times not having twittter or a blackberry or any of these newfangled things going... who has the energy?  I am just so happy to have some time to read a book, have some tea and go for brunch on weekends with my sweetie.

Bon weekend peeps!

Happy > Canadian < Thanksgiving!

A lovely pumpkin tart from a sweet new bakery near my house called OMG!

Hey ho it's been ages and ages. I have been very busy adjusting to a new job- thank heavens!

I have not had a second to look at my favorite blogs, or flickr or anything so I am totally out of touch with what you all are doing.   I am really enjoying my long weekend though. We had a lovely feast at the inlaws and lots of time to rest up, read the paper, hang about and generally enjoy.

I did an extreme close up of this lovely visitor in the rain last week.  He has never perched for such along period in one spot and it was lovely to watch him do his thing.

Who knows when I will be able to pop in next.  There is certainly no creativity going on around here either.

Good news though!  February is the release date for my new book which is called "Willow's Whispers".  Yippee! Something to look forward to, to brighten that cold dark month, but we mustn't think of February yet.  It is fall now, a lovely time of year!

evolution of a drawing

I don't think I have done this kind of post before.   I saw one like it somewhere and thought it was interesting!  This is the evolution of a drawing I recently did for Maisonneuve Magazine.

Because it was a straightforward map, of the Place Des Arts neighborhood in Montreal, it was a reasonably simple progression from sketch to final.  Many jobs require three or more rough drawings, if a concept is being hammered out, as well as some revisions and changes to the final piece too.  Above is the sketch the Art Director originally sent me, to show which businesses were important to include.

I used Google maps to figure out where everything went- what on earth did people do before that came along?  The rough in this case is nearly the same as the final.  I then traced it and made it a bit neater and nicer.

I scanned it in and colored it up in photoshop, using the colors the Art Director was using in the layout on the facing page.  Of course I added a bunch of birds in to make it a teensy bit cute.

I believe this job was passed on to me by my friend Marlena, who sends me map jobs if she is on vacation.  Thanks Mar!

what I wore

I just discovered the What I wore today pool on flickr!
I just love it- very cute- of course I had to do one straight away of myself.

Some favs-
Interludios drawings- adorable!
Hello Jenuine's drawings

Gemma Correll started this pool and her drawings are just so, so great.

Ok, don't try and eat the screen.  I have been bitten by the pizza bug!  Just looking at this picture, I am starving for it!
I make so many of the recipes on Everybody Likes Sandwiches.  They are always delicious, comforting and easy.
The easiest pizza dough recipe really was!  It was soo good I just can't stop thinking about it.  My first time buying little packets of yeast- not so scary after all!  I think I have made this 5 times since the post, always with a variety of yummy summery toppings.  Oh and to go crazytime, I also made my own tomatoe sauce from Jamies book which I found at the library in July.  So simple but so crazily yummy.  Oh I love to cook stuff and then eat stuff- yum!

bootie call!

I knit these guys over the summer for my good friend who had her baby in...my goodness- was it May or April? June?
My brain... it's going.
Anyway, as you can see, they are just a bit wonky!  One does seem fatter than the other. Not too bad for my first pair ever I suppose, but the other part of the story that you can't readily see from the picture, is that they are too big for a newborn.  They might be too big for a 2 or 3 year old.  I sent them anyway!  With a disclaimer and a mention that it was the thought that counts!
I just had to try the cute mary jane pattern.  It's from an old Knit simple magazine.



This-y here is a scarf from Marimekko!  It was the only thing I could afford at the shop in NYC.
I have it pinned on the wall in my bedroom- so cheerful!

Happy friday!