High Five Elle!

A friend emailed last week and said, "You may already know this but I just saw it in the August issue of Elle Canada :) Just wanted to share with you in case!" I did not know and was very excited! She included a pic from her iPhone so I got a peek... but I've been wanting to scan it and share it.

I walked several kilometers with the baby in the stroller, visiting multiple stores, but every one was still stocking the July issue. Finally, I got a hold of one. It's fabulous. It's in with an article called 'Elle Radar Canadian Special' about the 'next generation of artists, musicians and social-medial stars who are redefining Canadiana cool'. It's on a page with what's hip in Canadian whiskey (apparently), and facing Shad's music picks. It's the beginning of their 'Art & Design' section. So it's the perfect place to direct Canadians to come visit their nearest Etsy: Made in Canada this September 26th. Also, it's amazing to be singled out amongst that talented crew! I like their succinct review, "colourful block prints that are equal parts history lesson and tongue-in-cheek vintage Canadiana."

Raccoon pillows and soft blocks

I made a couple of raccoon pillows yesterday. Actual pillows featuring my raccoon linocut, not raccoon-shaped pillows. I got a custom order (now shipped off to Australia). Sadly, as soon as I got started, my sewing machine promptly stopped working! Luckily, my mother was able to help me lug it across town for servicing and I was able to use a machine at The Workroom to complete the order. I thought I might as well make two, so there's a new raccoon pillow available in my shop.


The other thing I've been working on are a collection of soft (foam-filled) fabric blocks for babies, featuring my linocut letters. These are on hold until I get the sewing machine repaired (*fingers crossed*), but here's a sneak peak:



Each block has three linocut letters and three other fabrics (assorted printed cottons, including vintage and new prints and the digitally printed NASA imagery I ordered). I want to complete the alphabet of linocut letters make other combinations of letters.

High Five Day

Apparently, it's National High Five Day in the US, which is a good excuse to raise money for cancer research. If you'd like to follow suit on this side of the border, the Canadian Cancer Society is here.

Things for which I have earned a high five this week include successfully making machines talk to me, figuring out how to get the water account switched to our names at the new house without sliping into a coma while on hold, and convincing financial institutions to shift my money around (to make the downpayment) without having my BC driver's license (since that was confiscated when I returned to Ontario and requested an Ontario driver's license). Catch-22 avoided, red tape defeated, digital insubordination outfoxed - yay!

In totally unrelated news, I am amused that The Olympics Daily (which must use a bot to gather tweets and be an aggregator) has mistaken my mentioning the The Handmade Olympics for a 'top story' about the 2012 London Games.

You still have some time to vote, by the way, and you can find Event 2 here and Event 6 here.

Ok, more raccoons

p.s. Check it! 3D printing on a tabletop? Why not buildings?
p.p.s. Happy Spring Equinox (or Fall, if you're in the southern hemisphere).
p.p.p.s. Wednesday will be Ada Lovelace Day.

more raccoons

It's official: must make a 2nd edition of High Five.

Urban Animal About Town

The raccoon is the ultimate urban animal, who thrives in cities. Here, my former neighbour, the raccoon and the text "HIGH FIVE" are block printed on striped silk - cause he's an urban sophisticate. This is in a patchwork with wool herringbone and fuchsia fabric. The reverse is a cotton print with an urban scene, with a strip of pin-striped burgundy wool and green block printed minouette tentacles and flowers label. Urban animals dig typography.