I am a crafter from way back. As a teenager, I spent all of my money on paper, sparkles and beads. In university, I was the girl to see if you needed help making a Halloween costume. Now, I'm revisiting what I know about sewing, teaching myself to knit and crafting my way through a new apartment and a New Year's Eve wedding. Come back often to see what I'm up to and tell me what you're doing, too!
I received the most exciting box in the mail last week. A package full of GORGEOUS cards – holiday and otherwise – from Geraldine at Haute Note. Haute Note: A Modern Paperie is a company dedicated to the lost art of card- or letter-writing – in fact, their website says it perfectly:
“Long ago, in a world without email, e-vites, and instant messaging – before a few hurried lines of type zapped through cyberspace became a socially acceptable way to express deep sentiment – people sent cards. Tangible, ink and paper cards that could be displayed on a fridge or mantelpiece before getting tucked away somewhere to special to mark a moment in time.
Haute Note is a modern take on this centuries-old tradition, offering stylish stationery for every reason and season.”
I had a moment a few years ago, when I was changing email accounts, where I realized that the initial correspondence between me and my husband-to-be would be lost as soon as I deactivated the email address. I feverishly printed out every email and have them tucked away so that our grandchildren will be able to say to their friends, “I have the first emails my grandmother and grandfather sent to each other.” It doesn’t have the same ring as “I have the letters…” but there’s something to be said for paper. There’s something to be said for re-reading creased letters that live in your wallet or your favourite book. Now, I’m not saying print every email you’ve ever received…but maybe print the special ones so they aren’t forever lost to cyberspace should an email hacker break into your account. So they aren’t handwritten – the words don’t mean any less.
I think letters fit into the crafty category – be it intricately folded letters from high school (of which I have an entire box) or letters from a long-time pen pal. Or, if you followed the Globe and Mail’s ‘Dear Sweetheart’ letters last fall, a lifeline to the person you love most in the world.
So, in honour of Haute Note and my love of the lost art of letter writing, here’s the giveaway: Tell me about the best piece of mail you ever received. It can be a letter, a postcard, a package. It can be one word or a fifteen pages. To the best five answers on this post will go a beautiful package of Haute Note cards. I’ll help you bring back the letter for the holidays.
You have one week. Ready, set, COMMENT!
I have always wanted a winding staircase. I think they remind me of fire escapes — Francie Nolan, the heroine of my favourite novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, spends a lot of time on her fire escape, so maybe that’s it. My new apartment does not have a winding staircase (though I’ve probably lead you to believe that it’s a magical Toronto apartment with everything you could ever want and this is not true) but it does have a white wooden railing that was just SCREAMING for holiday decor.
I know it’s traditional to swag your staircase, but I wasn’t feeling the garland. To be honest, I only use greenery when I have to. Recently, the florist for our wedding looked at me like a martian when I said I didn’t want any filler greenery. Instead of garland, I opted for ribbon. And instead of swagging the ribbon, I opted for weaving. I threaded thick gold and red ribbon in an alternating pattern to give the woven effect on our staircase. I’m happy with it, I think, though next year, I think I’ll add different textures, maybe throw in some fabric. I think I’ll also use brass pushpins instead of clear ones (the newel posts look a little Frankensteinish with the pins sticking out, and that’s the wrong holiday.)
Not bad for a first attempt, I think. The ribbon is sparkly and catches the light. There’s definitely room for improvement, though. Tell me, what’s your crafty holiday decor?
When I was twelve or thirteen, my family — all four siblings, my mom and dad and the dog — drove to South Carolina to visit my aunt and uncle who had moved there recently. I remember it being a very exciting trip (except for the part where we got lost in the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee): my dad rigged a TV and VCR in the car so we could watch movies the whole way, we saw an indoor rainforest in Charlotte, North Carolina, and we went to the Museum of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. But one of the things I remember most was the breakfast nook in my aunt and uncle’s house. It was beautiful and full of sunshine and I thought, “Yeah, a breakfast nook. I need one of these.”
So, you can imagine my delight when I first saw our new apartment back in March. I was walking around, checking things out: “Living room, good…bathrooms, great…oh, a balcony, that’s nice…A BREAKFAST NOOK! SIGN ME UP!” It’s a small space at the front of our house, just big enough for our kitchen table and a sideboard (which we don’t have yet). I have been meaning to make something for the wall in there — something bright and fun, to match the kitchen chairs we painted red — so I went back to an idea I shared with you a few months ago: The cutest, easiest wall decor in the world.
I took a trip back to The Workroom this past weekend to get some funky fabric. I chose 4 fat quarters (pieces of fabric 20 in. x 20 in.) from the same colour palate — red, blue, yellow, orange, green — to fit 7 different-sized wooden embroidery hoops. When I got home, I ironed each piece before positioning the hoops on the fabric. I then tightened the hoops and pulled the fabric taut across each. I finished by trimming the excess fabric with a pair of sharp scissors and done. I call it art. I hung them unevenly on the wall, as Karyn had them at The Workroom. I’m happy with it, but I think I need a few more hoops — maybe three or four more — to fill the wall out a bit better. So far, so good, though.
The breakfast nook...a work in progress.
When I’m done with the nook, it’s going to be the best room in our house. Seriously. I want a cosy, comfy place for good food and good friends (not to mention a wall of revolving art…who says I can’t change the fabric when the mood strikes me?).
I came into work on Monday morning to an email from Lisa Pijuan-Nomura, owner of a company called GirlCanCreate (I’ll tell you more about her in my November Crafter of the Month post in the next couple of weeks). She is hosting an upcoming craft show at the Fox Theatre (2236 Queen St. E) in the Beaches, here in Toronto, on November 21st and it sounds like a fabulous event. It’s called Movies and Makers: An Arts and Crafts Holiday Show. From 10am – 4pm you’ll be able to check out local artisans and their wares, followed by a showing of a crafty documentary called Handmade Nation at 4:30. Two of my favourites things — movies and crafts. Throw in some hot chocolate and it’s maybe the best Saturday in November I can imagine.
Here’s the poster for more info:
But this got me thinking — with the holidays coming up, there had to be more craft shows and sales out there. So, I went digging and now I want to own a private plane so I can fly to these craft shows across the country! (Too bad I’m an editor and part-time crafter instead of an aeronautical engineer and part-time pilot.) I’ll put them up as I find the listings and if you have a craft show in your ‘hood, let me know — especially if you’re in Saskatchewan, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI or the territories, because you’ll be Craft shows and sales coast-to-coast, #2.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA:
Circle Craft Christmas Market
Nov. 11-15, 2009
Vancouver Convention Centre
CALGARY, ALBERTA:
Alberta College of Art + Design (ACAD) Winter Show and Sale
Nov. 26-29, 2009
Main Mall, ACAD
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA:
Winnipeg Christmas Signatures Show
Nov. 19-22, 2009
Winnipeg Convention Centre
TORONTO, ONTARIO:
One of a Kind Show and Sale,
Nov. 26-Dec, 2009
Direct Energy Centre
Under $30 Crafts Market,
Dec. 6, 2009 * 2:30-8:30p.m.
Ralph Thornton Centre
CORNER BROOK, NEWFOUNDLAND:
Best Coast Christmas Fine Craft Fair,
Nov. 20-22, 2009
Marble Mountain, Main Lodge
I started decorating my apartment this past weekend. I know what you’re thinking: What? November 7th? Too early! To that I say, I’m leaving my decorations up for two months so it’s either November and December or December and January. November and December, it is, for me. Luckily, I’m marrying a man who does not object to a little early cheer and he helped happily. (I will say, though, that I refused to watch Trainspotting while doing Christmas-y things — instead we turned on The Godfather I at the part that takes place at Christmas. Good compromise.)
So, we did a few things around the house — stay tuned this week for pictures — but we also went to my mom and dad’s house for Sunday supper and spied this beautiful arrangement at their front door:
Looks pretty professional, right? Nope. I’m a chip of the crafty block — it’s my mom Vikki’s handiwork. She trimmed some wild ilex berries from the countryside behind out house, and added some cedar boughs and some dogwood from our yard. Put a little water in the bottom of any old planter and you’re done. Check. That. Out. Half an hour, tops.
Think about that the next time you’re out and about, walking the dog or taking a stroll. You can find tons of things in nature that make for beautiful, crafty holiday decor:
It’s not too early. It’s my favourite time of year.
