The Sidecar

Here's my design to be used on a tea towel, The Sidecar, as in the popular 1920s cocktail, up for voting in Spoonflower's Prohibition Cocktail Challenge. Are those eyes peeking out of a secret speakeasy door, or eyes of the authorities? Is that a Sidecar cocktail, or just part of the Art Deco design? Hmm...watch out, bootleggers!

The Black Sea

This Replogle Starlight Globe from the 1950s is stunning!

The colourful countries and typography stand out against the slightly crackled black water so nicely.

Church Street School

This turn-of-the-century photo was taken in a school in Almonte, Ontario. Oh the smirks and blank stares.

Vintage Military Buttons

I bought some military buttons from the Ottawa Valley Button Club. Such gorgeous detail! 

Wooden Shoe Forms

I had a "shoe day" at an antique show a little while ago, picking up these 6 forms after previously deciding I wanted to find some for display purposes. When it rains, it pours! The tiny ones are a rare find.

This little shoe is 92!

Inspiration: Bright Floral

Snapdragon and snappy hues

Fibrefest 2016 Booth

Fibrefest 2016 in Almonte, Ontario was a grand success! I feel honoured to have met so many creative, cheerful, supportive people! There were tons of great conversations over the span of the weekend. Even my mannequin was feelin' fabric festive, decked out in a doily top to go with her Seamstress Fruit skirt.

I covered up the puck-scuffed boards of the Almonte Arena with some Canadiana a.k.a. some fabric in my With Glowing Hearts collection. How appropriate, with hockey sticks and all.

Voilà--the Creatively Graceful booth in all its whimsical glory! I absolutely adore setting up vignettes for shows.

I draped With Glowing Hearts on a vintage ironing board.

A vintage wooden ladder held fat quarters and pillows of my designs, such as Single, Buttons, and Frolicking Fleecy on Linen Cotton Canvas Ultra.

Aaaand...I have chosen the winning names for the Almonte collection...*drum roll*...

Congrats to Susan Schmidt, Jayme Vallieres, Shelley Scott, and Heidi Lowry for their winning titles! You will be receiving an 8" by 8" cotton swatch of your fabulously named designs in the mail! The whole collection is available in my shop as fabric, wallpaper, and gift wrap. A huge thank you to every textile enthusiast who contributed, and overall to everyone who visited the Creatively Graceful booth!

Fibrefest 2016 Day 1

What a day of enthusiastic conversations with cheery people! I could talk about surface pattern design forever, so it's a good thing there's another whole day for the show! Fibrefest is on again tomorrow from 10am to 4pm. The Creatively Graceful booth is in the Almonte Arena at 182 Bridge Street, Almonte, Ontario.

Contest: Name the Almonte Collection!

It's an honour to be the Featured Artist at Fibrefest, a celebration of textiles, this year! I'd love to have my booth engage the diversely creative citizens of Almonte, and Almonte-lovers, hence, my Almonte Collection in need of names. The naming contest will take place at the Creatively Graceful Surface Pattern Design booth at Fibrefest this weekend. I will select my favourite titles from the ballots for the 4 designs in the collection and the winners will receive a free 8" by 8" cotton swatch of their fabulously named design. However, if you want to jump the gun and order the designs pre-titling, by all means, the 4-piece collection is available as fabric, wallpaper and gift wrap in my shop. The designs in need of clever titles are Almonte #1: architectural tidbits of Almonte

Almonte #2: the gingerbread balcony on Mill Street

Almonte #3: corn, textile fibres, and water on a denim-like background

Almonte #4: the bricks of the Black Watch Tobacco wall arranged in an Aztec style pattern in honour of Almonte's namesake Mexican general, Juan Almonte. Hint: I love a good pun, so the wittier the better!

Feel free to swing by Fibrefest this weekend and drop your best names on a ballot at the Creatively Graceful Surface Pattern Design booth! It's Saturday September 10th from 10am to 5pm and Sunday September 11th from 10am to 4pm. The admission is $5 and the Creatively Graceful booth will be set up at the Almonte arena location, 182 Bridge Street, Almonte, Ontario. Hope to see you soon, and happy brainstorming! 

September Bulletin 2016

Scholarly and studio pursuits

Love Letters to Strangers

This TED Talk is heart-warming.