February Fox Fair

This past Saturday I decided to have another "kate date" and wondered off to visit the February Fox Fair in Fernwood!  These craft shows combine pretty much all of my favourite Victoria artisans to one convenient and delightful shopping experience and this fair was no different. How lovely! 

This is the second craft show I've gone to solo and I must say it's growing on me. I love being able to wonder around at my own pace, take in all the booths, and then go back and make any purchases I've been eyeing!  My goal for this fair was to find something for my mom's birthday so I'm not going to spill the beans on what I ended up getting - but once you check out the pictures I took from the show I'm sure you can imagine how awesome it is! This time around I really took my time to meet and chat with some of the amazing artisans and since I've had craft displays on my mind these days, I took some pictures of my favourite tables to share with you! Hooray! Vicarious craft show attending! 

The first booth I fell for was the wonderful rustic and nature inspired goods of Barn Swallows (link).  I'm sure after seeing a glimpse of her table set up you'll know why I was swooning so hard:

Oh my! Doilies, pom poms, textures, a little plastic fox figurine, mason jars, and mushrooms (doily mushrooms even!)! Ah! All my favourites! How wonderful!  I really like the mash of materials and textures she combined in her display and the open crate and accessories really make her items pop.

Next up on the craft booth oogling is the lovely work of Hollyhawk designs (link). I was lucky enough to sell with Holly at the Bastion Square Market last summer and have always enjoyed how she takes advantage of vertical space. Her nice tall display shelf definitely is just perfect stacked full of her sweet leather goods and I love how she works the mirror in there too! What a smart lady!

Rebecca of Nook (link) drew me in with sweet knitted goods (do you see those amazing boot cuffs on that tray there!?) and I must say I am ultra jealous of her pennant flag stand!  I may need to take a lesson from her and try this out for my next indoor show and take my strung up shop name off the front of my table and up high! Once again I loved the wooden stands and use of vertical space and Rebecca even blogs! Oh my! And did you see her cute garland of crochet hearts? A girl after my own heart (check out my own version here)! 

I really loved all the details in the Wilde and Sparrow booth by Shirra and Alexis (link).  I'm not sure this set up would do very well at any outdoor shows (a sad but very real and windy challenge for anyone who sells lots of light tiny items) but the ultra feminine details, cases, stands, doilies, and ironing board really give the table a presence! I like how checking out their display felt like being in a little shop and quickly realized (once going to link to them in this post) that there's a reason for that - they have a shop in Parksville! Oh ladies! I may need to take a trip there one sunny weekend. 

The doily fun continued at Leah of Re-Find's booth (link) and just like her work, she is wonderful at combining different media and textures to create one cohesive table. I also really want to cover a mason jar in a doily and use it as a vase for pussy willows....

Last up on my fox fair virtual tour is Jennifer Riddel's table (link)! I'm sure by this point you can tell what I like from a table set up and Jennifer is great at combining textures, doilies, natural elements (owl vase with pussy willows!) and vertical elements to make one heck of a great booth. What a clever lady!

*Sigh* After looking back I sort of feel like these ladies make their display booth with me in mind as their ideal customer base - but maybe I am just being a little over enthusiastic.  I love going to shows where the artisans think of all the small details and I want to buy loads of things from every single vendor! Luckily I limited myself to a moderate cash budget for this one and focused on finding something for my mom this time around.  But, boy oh boy, was it ever one heck of a great craft fair. Now if only I could find more like this one when I move back to the interior. Heck - it even makes me want to coordinate one! What do you think? What sort of things do you look for in a good craft fair? 

Felt Doily Mobile

I've always been a fan of mobiles.  I love their texture and movement and am especially fond of how they look hanging from bedroom lights so they can move and cast shadows around.  Of course they are typically limited to decorating children's rooms but this lovely felt/doily combo from Sparkle Power (link) makes me think differently:

(source)

lsn't it interesting? I do, of course, love the materials used for this one and the textures and subtle detail are just darling! I'm sure the white on teal picture helps the cause a smidge...but a good picture can really make any craft if you ask me. What do you think? Have you ever made a mobile? 

Let's stiffen up some doilies

There aren't nearly enough doilies on my blog these days so when I saw these fun stiff doily  decorations from Swoon (link)- I just had to share them with all of you! Take a peek:

(source)

Aren't they lovely? I really like the idea of filing up some vertical space with doilies and painting on some fabric stiffener is such a simple and genius idea!  Nothing like a quick and effective day long craft project to perk up my doily obsession! I think these would be particularly charming hanging above our headboard on the dark contrast wall or maybe even in a window. If I owned a shop I would totally work them into a store front display, but for now I'll have to stick to the at home version. I'm thinking all cream and extra dreamy. Good plan. Any thoughts? 

Lion Doily Pillows

Even though my living room already has a bunny and two owl pillows, I'm pretty sure I need to make myself some of these doily lion pillows from flickr:

Aren't they adorable? What a brilliant use for doilies! I doubt I would ever have come up with this one on my own but now that I've seen it the intricate circle patterns doilies have make perfect lion manes! Plus march is the month of the lion and I'd much rather have these in my house than inclement weather! I'd be sure to throw my own little kate touches to my lion pillows though (with ears and, of course, little wide set eye smiles)! After all I do have quite the stash of doilies since I've been collecting them for so long now. What do you think? How do you think a doily lion would look on your living room couch?

Homemade Doily

During my October of illness and blog breaking, I got the urge to take on a crochet project. I like picking up a hook once in a while, and I figured since I'm all about the doilies I may as well make one of my own! Take a peek at the finished piece:


I admittedly had to make, unpick, and re-make it at least two times before getting a hang of the pattern, but once I figured it out it was a breeze (well...a very time consuming breeze...). I'm not sure if you can get a sense of the scale with that first shot, so here's another for you:


Why yes! Those are my little white tootsies at the bottom there, and that is one giant doily! I bought the pattern reading that it was a "lap quilt" but unless I was miniature this project wouldn't keep me very warm (what kind of person wants a blanket that doesn't cover their feet anyways?). Not to worry - I still get to enjoy my homemade doily as he sits on the back of my stripey love seat:


Hooray! I'm so happy with how it turned out, even if the images of the ones they made using the pattern look much more professional:


The narrow back of that couch totally mislead me on how big this doily would be, but I figure I can always make another (with double thick wool and a big hook) for a more blanket sized version! If you're also rearing to get your crochet on you can pick up the pattern by buying the e-magazine Craft Sanity, or if you'd prefer a lazier approach you can buy pre-made ones in Good Knits etsy shop! Yay! What do you think? Have you made anything fun lately?

bring on the coasters!

At the beginning of the year I was determined that 2011 would be the year for coasters! As the year has progressed I've realized that perhaps coasters aren't exactly most sought after item on the market (after all - they aren't exactly a revolutionary new product) but I've been paying particular attention to them and dreaming about expanding my coaster collection. When I came across the crochet pattern for these darling flower coasters I just had to share it with all of you:


Aren't they sweet? I love the idea of making a bunch of colours and having them as a little touch of flowery fun (which conveniently helps save the furniture from nasty rings)! Plus the pattern looks pretty simple to follow and (if you hadn't noticed already) they are pretty much doilies! However, unlike my attempt at doily making from the past, this pattern calls for a larger crochet hook and slightly bigger string making it much more likely that I will actually finish this project. Hooray! What do you think? Time to grow your coaster collection?

Upcycled Pesto

Amidst my daily internet addiction surfing I came across the most amazing paper doily jar project from pilli pilli:


As many of you know I am a sucker for mason jars, doilies, and instant gratification projects so I figured I was destined to attempt this! After all - pilli pilli promised it as a 5 minute DIY and it seemed easy enough to squeeze in my busy schedule right? Yup she was spot on - check out my upcycled before and after:



Hooray! I successfully turned that ugly pesto jar into a lovely new cactus pot! Just in time too - I don't think the noddy cup was going to last much longer:


I'm sure you're wondering, "why would you plant that little stub of a cactus in a paper cup in the first place?" Well I assure you I didn't do it just so I could write this blog post (although sometimes I think about posts based on lamer excuses). I've been wanting to get my hands on one of those cacti for quite a while. My grandma used to have a huge one by her front door and I remember visiting her as a kid and thinking how cool it was that you could pull the little leaves off the ridges of the plant and it would ooze milky stuff out of it (aren't all kids into that sort of thing?). I'm not entirely sure where that giant cactus of hers ended up but I've been wanting to get my own for years ever since. I've tried to find one in a store or online but it turns out that's a pretty hard task when you don't actually know what the plant is called. I had pretty much given up hope until I spotted one of those tall milking cacti at one of my favourite mexican restaurants! I decided to try my hand at growing my own from a clipping of their plant and headed up to my mom's house to steal her plant potting supplies. Perfect! She had little pebbles, soil, and the all important root hormone powder to help my little cactus stub establish itself. The only thing she didn't have was a pot to plant it in so we improvised with the paper noddy cup. I was planning on transplanting him into an actual pot once I could find a suitable one and pilli pilli doily jars seemed like the perfect match! Doesn't the little cactus look at home in his new jar?:


I think so! Plus I saved that old pesto jar from a livelong existence on a shelf in fraser's studio as a paintbrush water container. Perfect! Now I just need to try to not kill that plant! What do you think?

Eep!

After reading AJ the Purple's blog post yesterday morning I came to the a scary realization - there is less than a week before xmas! Eep! And with such little time left I also realized that I only really have one day off work where I can prepare for the big day! (Double eep!) So instead of breaking into panic I've decided I should just focus on all the awesome things that have been going on lately instead and worry about the preparations later. Sounds like the perfect plan right? Good! Let's go!

Awesome thing #1: I managed to wrap my gift exchange present! I certainly hoped I was going to pull that one off (especially since the exchange was last night) and I sort of drew inspiration from yesterday's blog post. Check out yarn and doily wrapped present:


A little bit of a doily overload under that tree of mine but who can say no to a good doily? (Answer = clearly not me) If I had a little more time to put it together I'm sure it would have been slightly more impressive (and probably include a few pom poms) but I am pleased with how it turned out! Hopefully it was a hit at the party too!

Awesome thing #2: Joel Plaskett is following me on twitter! This seriously made my day on friday! Next step? Sway him into purchasing something of mine from etsy and have celebrity exposure! Forget photoshopping Dan Mangan...Joel could do it for free!


Awesome thing #3: Xmas cards! One of the best things about this time of year is all the mail you get! I've acquired some xmas gems too, take a peek:


Awesome thing #4: Blooming xmas cactus! After a disappointing relocation of bob (my ficus - since apparently they can't handle cold bursts of air and shouldn't be by doors) I was so happy to see that my cactus is doing well! So pretty:


Hooray! Fun awesome things! Now to stay calm and frantically make it through the rest of the holiday alive! How is your xmas preparation coming along?

ceramic pens + tea cups = awesome

I can't help but fall in love with these amazing doily-esque tea cups from pinterest:


Especially that one at the bottom! I mean tea and doily inspired doodling? You just can't go wrong! Now to find a black ceramic pen....

Crochet Rocks!

I've been in love with the wonderful crochet covered rocks of margret's for quite some time! She's the genius behind resurrection fern (that sweet cat loving blog I wrote about months ago) and also runs the etsy shop knitalatte where she sells photos of her creations! In fact, I even purchased this lovely picture and got it framed for lindsay's house warming:


What a talented lady! They are pretty much like doilies for your rock collection and we all know how much I enjoy doilies... Well your wait for your very own crochet covered stone is over since margret was kind enough to share a tutorial on how to make them over at the purl bee! Check these babies out:


Doesn't look overly complicated and I already know how to crochet! Hooray! Now to find spare time and get to work! Fun!

get creative with mae!

Australian fabric decal company mae lets you get creative with a whole bunch of different free downloadable wallpaper designs ripe for the taking:


Perfect to print and use to cover books, jars, pencils, your cat, you name it! The possibilities are endless! I combined the granny floral in the top left corner with a paper doily I saved from my hotel room this past weekend to cover possibly the ugliest thing in my kitchen:


Yup. Walmart brand fish food isn't exactly the most beautiful thing to look at but my fishes need to eat! So enter the items from above, some snips and a glue stick and voila:


Hooray! Much better! (Also further supporting my old lady ways...) What would you use the printouts for?

Friday Find: Ladies & Gentlemen

This week's find is Ladies & Gentlemen, a charming etsy shop filled with lovely vintage goodies. Even though I enjoy thrift store finds, one item caught my attention in the shop - a giant doily rug! Take a look:


Oh my that is impressive! The doily is handwoven out of cotton rope which I'm sure takes ages (hence the hefty pricetag) and looks super cool! Maybe I'll attempt a copycat version later on when I've got some spare time on my hands. Everyone wants on for xmas this year right?

Doily DIY

I can't deny it. I love martha stewart crafts - especially ones involving doilies! Her site has some wonderful doily images ready to print out and decorate with! Check them out on cookie tins:


Oh how wonderful! Especially since I am a huge doily fan and I'm freshly moved into a place with no cookie tins! I'm actually really hoping to come across a nice simple blank recipe box I can paint up with martha's doily images but no such luck! Why is it so hard to find recipe boxes these days? Do people not cook anymore? Any tips?

Not enough doilies...

Just in case you've been suffering from lack of doily in your life - maedchenmitherz has you covered! She's been doing a five day paper doily challenge full of doily related posts I couldn't help but fall for! I am especially fond of day three of the challenge which is full of doily inspiration! Take a look:

How about a doily party?


or doily twinkle lights? (my fav)


some doily mail perhaps?


How lovely! Katja has a slue of her own doily diy's as well (link, link, link, link):


Whew! Doily overload! Now I just need to get my hands on a few dozen doilies and I'm set! I hope you're looking forward to granny chic decor in our new place fraser...

Friday Find: uncommon

Thanks to loads of late night etsy surfing I came across the lovely muted tone woodcut goods of uncommon. If you're an avid kate-reader I'm sure you can pick out my favourite from these items:


Did you get it? Did you see those doily coasters! Seriously the coolest product on the market if you ask me! If only I had enough money in my paypal account they'd be in the mail right now! But luckily my bday is just around the corner and nothing says 26 quite like some laser cute wooden doilies! I'm sure that's a popular saying right? Perhaps not...but in the meantime check out the implicitly simple amazing home decor treats uncommon has to offer. They are well worth a glance - even if it's only for fresh colour scheme ideas...

Giant Doily!

As you might have noticed, I am particularly taken by the awesomeness of doilies! I wrote a post about them a while ago jumping on the crafty doily bandwagon and if you've spent any amount of time around me in the last few months you'd know that they are a common topic of conversation (almost above the pom pom in fact!). So I'm sure you're not surprised how excited I was to come across this giant doily:


OooOo! Jenniger Cercere whips these up out of ripstop and acrylic and is amazing! Anyone who makes large scale art projects because "cities need more doilies" is good in my books. Cool!

Return of the Doily

Doilies seem to be making quite the comeback in the craft world and the crafty blogosphere seems to be scattered with sweet doily tutorials! Charlotte's fancy shared this great project on dying doilies using food colouring, which if you haven't seen in your internet travels you should totally check out:


What great ideas to use them as gift wrap! And dying them looks super easy (assuming you have a kitchen, dishes, and food colouring at your finger tips - hint hint dad - get that blasted kitchen done please!) I also quite enjoyed martha's tips on cutting up doilies to make cards too (and we all know how much I love my stationary and post!):


And while we're on the topic of doilies and cards - here's a little creation I came up with using the doily that came with my guacamole a few weeks ago (and yes - I collect my craft supplies from all sorts of interesting sources):


Boy I love that card! Nothing perks up mail more than pastels, doilies, and Captain Kirk! Almost frame worthy in fact! But don't start checking your mail boxes hoping to receive this gem - it's already been sent out. Looks like I need to go to Boston Pizza more often for nachos to stock up on more doilies! Or I could just go to the store and buy some...but that involves less melted cheese so I like the first idea better...