Bike Month

I love bikes. 

For those that don't know I LOOOOOVE bikes. 

I have 8 bikes, all of which I adore and could never part with. 

This month of July, is bike month...ode to the bike. I can't ride right now due to a hand injury so here is me getting the fix...follow along this next month for all that is bike related!

July 1st Market

The sun was shining...mostly. The crowd was soaking it in. All in all, a great day at the July 1st, Canada Day, first of the season Mountain Market.

Enjoy some peeks into our fabulous day...shared by Kat, Athena, Nat and Meredith. Great day clever ladies!!!

"July 1st Market 2011"

a.w.o.l.

I know... a whole month!! I've been "absent.with.out.leave" for a whole month!! I really have no real excuse. I have been insanely busy since the article in the Fernie Fix..but really, is that an excuse?!

Well...I'm back and first up, I'll show you what I've been up to...

I've been involved in a few charitable events, being asked to donate items for auction/door prizes. For the Early Learning fair last month I made a gathered clutch for mum out of my stash and crayon roll up(sorry no picture)for a lucky child. The goodies were given away as a door prize. I can't wait to see someone sporting it around town!

BTW... here is a look at my business card.

Today I'm working on an upcycled market bag/tote idea for the Relay for Life coming up in June. This is just one of the many events taking place this month to raise money for the Cancer Foundation. I'm restyling last years relay t-shirts into bags they will to sell to raise additional money.  Interested? Tutorial to follow.

One of the more exciting projects I took on this month was creating a wedding dress for my friend Sandra in 2 1/2 days! She had been working with another local seamstress, and for many reasons, the seamstress felt she could not complete the dress for Sandra in time. Argh?!! Poor Sandra called me in such a panic, just 4 days before she was set to depart for Nevada for her wedding, asking me if I could take over the project. I was very hesitant, as you can imagine, to take over someone else's work, but after realising I would essentially be starting from scratch, I jumped in, and 2 1/2 days later...a wedding dress. 

The pictures make it look like such a simple dress, but believe it or not, it had 28 different pieces, including a boned corset that worked independently of the dress exterior. Not simple at all. 

Whew!!! Was I relieved when she put it on at the final fitting and IT FIT!!! 

I had an hour before she was due to pick the dress up, so quickly sewed up a little drawstring bag, including some essential emergency items: thread, tissues, pins. She was thrilled and I so was I to see how tearfully happy she was. I have included the only picture I have of her in her dress and will post more pictures she is allowing me to post when she returns.

All the best Sandra and Hal. My love and best wishes to you both!

J

feature artist

Guess who is feature artist in the Green Issue of the latest "Fernie Fix"?

Thanks to "the Fix" for taking interest in what I do.
Thank you for the opportunity to put myself really out there!
Wow...now I'm OUT THERE!!
Thank you to all those who have encouraged and supported me, especially over the past few months. It's been a struggle at times, but I'm sensing good things to come...

Follow this link to read the article in full

new things to come...

I've been out of blog-land on and off all week as I have been busy...doing what? 

source

Well that's my little surprise...Come back and see me in the next day or two...exciting things afoot!

Joy Ang

 Meet Joy Ang. Canadian illustrator/comic artist from Calgary.

Love!

delicious!

Well, we may as well accept it...spring equinox has passed and here in the heart of the Rocky Mountains...it's still very much winter. Oh well. 

Mr T and Miss E have been on spring break the past two weeks and we've been making the most of the seemingly never-ending winter, skiing together every day. The sun has even popped out a few afternoons, here and there providing us with muchly needed, sun induced smiles...not to mention, a little vitamin D. Miss E said to me, as we were riding the chair lift, "I can feeeel the sun. This is the best day ever 'cause my face smells like sunscreen". Amen little one!

Here is one of my new favourite cookies to take to the ski hill for snacktime. They are the perfect balance of sweet and spicy, warming your insides on a wintery day. Great alongside your favourite coffee of hot chocolate. Got small children? Don't be afraid to try these for school lunches...the perfect amount of spice for children to tolerate. My kids LOVE them! Even better, the dough is made ahead of time and frozen. Just cut off a few slices of dough and eight minutes later...mmmm! Thanks to the small object for this delicious recipe. 

Chocolate Cayenne Icebox Cookies

1 cup flour

3/4 cup dutch-process unsweetened cocoa, sifted

1tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 freshly ground pepper

1 cup raw sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

3/4 cup cold unsalted butte, chopped into small pieces

1 cup chopped pecans

1.  Whisk flour, cocoa, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and pepper together in medium bowl. Set aside.

2.  Beat together sugar, vanila and egg until thick and pale: about 3 mins.

3.  Add butter and beat until smooth: about 3 more mins.

4.  Slowly add flour mixture and mix slowly until fully blended

5.  Add chopped nuts and stir only long enough that they are evenly mixed through your dough.

6.  Place dough on parchment paper or wax paper. Gently roll dough inside paper to form a log shape.

7.  Place in freezer until frozen or overnight.

8. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350C. Unwrap dough log and cut off desired number of cookie rounds, of about 1/4" thick. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet about 1/2" apart. Bake for about 8 minutes, until cookies are slightly puffy and small cracks have appeared on the top of the cookies. Remove from pan immediately and allow to cool on rack.

9.  Enjoy!!

p.s. forgot to show you these beautiful tea cups my friend Katherine, a true thrifty goddess, gave me for my last birthday. I wish you could see the iridescent finish...stunning. Anyone for tea?