Featured Etsy Seller: 3dots

In my spare time, I like to design and sell jewelry as attested by the link to La Belle Poire, my little Etsy shop, on the right of this blog. While I enjoy jewelry making tremendously, I'm still relatively new at it and I realize when I visit other Etsy shops that I still have oodles to learn about design, marketing, selling, etc. My little shop is very modest in comparison.

One particular Etsy shop that really grabbed my attention was Lucie Veilleux's 3dots, so much so that I HAD to buy one of her fabulous creations:

Isn't it lovely?

And look how pretty her packaging was:

A nice touch!

Here are other spectacular items from her shop:

Not only is she extremely creative, she has great craftsmanship! Her pieces have great symmetry and are impeccably finished. They are earthy, organic, yet elegant. I love how she created a special and unique style and niche that are truly her own.

While it may seem counterproductive for me to feature someone else's jewelry, I find it helps me grow creatively to observe and appreciate other people's work.

Are you tempted yet? You can visit her shop at:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/3dots?ref=seller_info

Earth Hour!!

Tonight, my family and I are staying in and making it a game night tonight in honour of Earth Hour. We will start with Scrabble by candlelight and take it from there.

Sure makes a nice change from watching the boob tube! How are you spending Earth Hour?

Winter is back, progress at the house and a surprise in the mail!

Last week I blogged about the arrival of spring and how wonderful it was, blah, blah, blah. And yesterday, we were back to this:

Aaaaargh, my poor daffodils are going to freeze! And no, daffodils is not a euphemism for my buns...although they are freezing too.

Oh well, onward and upward, let the great spring thaw begin (again)!

There's been progress at the new-to-us house we are renovating. The official move-in date is April 18th.

We had the stuffy, cramped closets removed in the master bedroom, and behind the wall beside it was the closet to the room next to the master's, a tiny, useless bedroom. A friend of mine convinced me to turn it into a walk-in closet and I, in turn, convince hubby too. He didn't take much convincing as it makes complete sense. It is a much more efficient use of space. And we left the door to the tiny bedroom up, so it could, if need be, be turned into a nursery by future buyers (way, way, way down the line. I don't plan on moving again any time soon!). Anyhoo, here's the master bedroom with the closet removed. The door was the closet door in the tiny bedroom.

Here's a peek from the other side of the door in the tiny bedroom:

And here are the Pax closet components we bought on sale back in January for the walk-in closet, getting ready to be assembled:

Can't wait to show you the finished result!

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the light fixture over the island is finally up:

Don't you just love the bling? It's girly, but not too girly. Just a little touch of glam!

And to brighten up that lousy snow day we had yesterday, my Silhouette SD finally arrived. :^)

You might recall I ordered it a while back, following a discount offered through the DIY yourself Showoff blog.

I don't know which one I was more excited about, the Silhouette or the box it came in, cause when you're moving, boxes are at a premium!!

Unfortunately, I'm so busy right now, what with packing, overseeing the renovating, working, etc., that I won't have time to play with it for the time being. I have also had to put my jewelry making on hold and I'm dying to get back to it, but not until we are settled in the new house.

Ciao for now!

SO LONG, BEAUTIFUL STAR...

It's official!!

I don't need a calendar to tell me it's spring. Instead, I rely on these cuties:

To me, the return of the robins from the south heralds the beginning of spring. And today I saw my first ones happily chirping in the trees! Lo and behold, it also happened to be a nice, warm sunny day and to boot, the tulips were even starting to peek! JOY!

There's no pick-me-up quite like the first signs of spring, don't you think?

A thousand cranes for Japan

Image from Japan Visitor Blog

I think I speak for everyone by saying how saddened and shocked we are about the devastating earthquake and ensuing tsunami that occurred in Japan.

I am linking you over to Flora & Purl's touching post about the origins of Zenbazuru, or a thousand origami cranes; I felt the story she describes was very touching and seemed most appropriate for these circumstances.

Waiting for my Silhouette

No, not my physical silhouette, I gave up on that a long time ago! This Silhouette:

I discovered the Silhouette SD through Roeshel's fantastic blog, the DIY Showoff, when she had her giveaway and showed us all of this device's wonderful applications. I AM TOTALLY AWED BY ITS AWESOMENESS!

With it, you can make stuff like this:

And this:

And this:

And this:

And this:

And so much more!

Awesome, right?

Roeshel, who's so well connected (lol) was giving one away, but alas, I didn't win (curses!). However, again because of Roeshel being so well connected, there was a discount offered through her blog, and I took advantage of it and I'm thankful to her for the great deal. I am now awaiting my wonderful machine and I can't wait to start using it. I have a million projects and ideas and I am going to use it till one of us runs of breath and it ain't gonna be me!

For example I have only one bare wall in our new kitchen and it's a silly rounded wall where it is impossible to hang a picture or a frame. This is a perfect application for a vinyl decal. I'm thinking of putting a clever cooking related quote there. And the frosted vinyl is also ideal for windows where more privacy is needed without losing the light.

The Silhouette is also helpful for card making and scrapbooking. It's a great little multitasker!

I can't wait to show you my creations! (Ahem, provided of course that I can figure out the technology!)

Vinegar pie? Oh my!

Sharon Santoni over at My French Country Home posted today about what looks like a fabulicious lemon tart.

This put me in mind of a very unusual dessert I had last summer, vinegar pie. Yes, you heard right. A pie made of vinegar. It sounds like an oxymoron. How can vinegar be associated with something sweet? Isn't vinegar just used on fish & chips and for cleaning, you might say?

We visited Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford museum last summer and ate at the lovely Eagle Tavern. I had no plan to have dessert but the words Vinegar Pie caught my eye. Intrigued, I asked the waiter about it and he explained that it was created out of a sense of necessity. In pioneer days, during harvest season and beyond, when fruits were abundant, so were desserts. However, after a few months of winter and with spring not so close in sight, the fruit supplies would run dry and folks would run out of ingredients for dessert. Some very ingenious person somehow who probably only had vinegar and a few other things left in their cupboard figured out how to make pie out of it!

(This is also how sugar pies were created. Sugar pie is a specialty in Quebec and other parts of the world, and I make it but at Christmas only, as it is too rich to have on a regular basis.)

Back to the vinegar pie, needless to say, I had to order a piece at the Eagle Tavern. I mean, you have to try everything once, right?

To my surprise, it was very good. While you can really taste the vinegar, it has the taste, the tartness and the consistency of a lemon pie and it's quite refreshing.

Who knew?

More info about my awesome sugar creamer set

Thank you all for your comments on my sugar creamer set post of yesterday.

Vonlipi steered me in the right direction by pointing out that the L stood for Libbey glass. From there, a little research revealed that this is from a line called Libbey Rock Sharpe (Rock Sharpe was a co. that Libbey acquired), and the pattern is aqua pinecone. I'm still trying to determine the year this pattern was issued. I'm guesstimating in the 40's?

I have seen coffee cups and drinking glasses in the same pattern on Ebay and such.

And then Vintage Christine posted about her wonderful matching coffee carafe over at her blog, a sight to behold!

We should get our glassware together and have a coffee break!

Question to all my thrifting buddies

I was out thrifting yesterday and found this incredible set of sugar and creamer. I did some research and found that a company called David Douglas produced glass items such as carafes with the same pattern, aqua and gold pinecones. However, I could not find an identical sugar & creamer set. Furthermore, I am puzzled by the fact that the only marking at the bottom is a stylized L in a circle, like a handwritten L, which leads me to think they might be from a different manufacturer perhaps?

I

If anyone knows anything about this sugar and creamer set, please do share your wisdom with me. Regardless, I think it's an awesome set and I can already see it on a Thanksgiving tablescape, with my Pyrex gold acorn dish and perhaps a butterprint Pyrex!

Give credit where credit is due

I must set the record straight. The lovely Jo from Secret Garden Cottage, bless her heart, thought I made these gorgeous cards that were featured on my post of two days ago:

I wish! No, I shamelessly uploaded the picture onto my blog because I thought it was so pretty. I am new at this blogging thing and not quite familiar with all the blogging etiquette, but I realize I have to give credit where credit is due. These cards are in fact from this lovely Etsy shop.

And her cards are so pretty that her shop is presently sold out! But please, to relieve my guilty conscience, lol, do visit her shop now and again and perhaps buy her incredible cards! I know I'm adding her to my favourite shops!

As an Etsy shop owner myself, I work hard and I know I would want to be credited for my work.

Have a great day all!

P.S. I now have 10 followers! Although it is a modest number compared to some of you, I am still proud, pleased and humbled that even one person wants to read me!

Happy Hearts Day!

Just a quick hello to wish all my followers and visitors Happy Valentine's Day!

I have mixed feelings about this holiday. I don't like the fact that it is made up and commercial, and I don't feel like I should be made to spend $6 on a Hallmark card and chocolates to express my love. By the same token, I'm a hopeless romantic, I love pink, red, hearts, lace and chocolates.

Solution? Give handmade cards and crafts, to me they are more of an expression of love, because you took the time to create something for the ones you love.

Also, don't limit your love to just one day: celebrate love in every form and every way every day of the year!

2011 Niagara Icewine Festival

A couple of Sundays ago, our friends and us went to the Niagara Icewine Festival. For those of you not familiar with the Niagara region or Icewine, this region of Ontario is an optimal fruit and grape growing area, thanks to the Niagara escarpment which extends for miles and offers a good protection from the elements. This with the right mix of soil creates the ideal condition for wine grapes. And somebody clever discovered some time ago that if you harvested the grapes after a deep freeze, you could make this wonderful, sweet, deep, syrupy nectar called icewine. Yum!!!

Most Icewines produced in the region are made with Vidal or Cabernet Franc grapes. This is a Cabernet Franc Icewine:

Don't you love this gorgeous, deep caramelly colour? It tastes heavenly. I find the Cabernet Francs to have a richer taste.

With the purchase of a Discovery Pass, we had the opportunity to visit 6 wineries. All participating wineries were offering food samples to create a pairing with their icewines. (Of course, we had a designated driver, who just had a few sips here and there.) The food pairings were heavenly, from roast pork to risotto to icewine marshmallows roasted over the fire pit (just divine!), to a delectable chocolate ganache tart. More yums!

Even if you're not into wine, it is always worthwhile to take a drive up to that gorgeous area, regardless of the season. There's so much to see on the beautiful countryside roads. In the spring, all the fruit trees are in bloom, in the summer, everything is growing, in the fall, the leaf colours are simply breathtaking. But as you can see, even the winter scenery is spectacular:

There's something peaceful and ruggedly beautiful about these dormant vines, all in neat rows.

All in all, we had a wonderful day, good friends, good food, good wines.

.........

Speaking of grapes, I recently found this oddball. Yes, this is a grape! I figure it must have grown beside a pumpkin patch and as a result, it has an identity crisis. It doesn't know what it wants to be. A grape or a pumpkin? Make up your mind!

It came from this bunch. What a funny dude! If it was not such a perishable item, I would try to sell it on Ebay!

Kitchen Reno so far

Yesterday, I showed you before pictures of the kitchen, all wired and ready for the cabinets and the new floor.

Here is what has been done so far.

The ceramic floor is in, as well as the cabinets, the island, the sink, the tap and the counter tops. The lighting is done except for the fixture that will go above the island.

We picked a traditional style, but not overly fussy. I love the contrast offered by the light cabinets and the dark island and countertops!

This is a little study off the kitchen. It too had dilapidated cabinets. We opted to have them replaced with matching cabinets. This will be handy to store all sorts of papers like bills, as well as recipe books and other odds and ends. A good place for my laptop too! I love the decorative columns, they add class, don't you think?

But the one of the main reason we fell in love with this house is this amazing feature:

Yes, it's an indoor pool! Now, we don't have a cottage and we don't get away very much, but we love to swim. Our present house has an outdoor pool and weather permitting, we swim everyday, but as you know, up here, it is a very short season.

Now we will be able to swim whenever we want to. Even on a blizzardy day like today! It will be our little cottage at home, our little oasis of peace.

Aaaah, Heaven!

Stay tuned for further progress!