Quilting Arts Gifts

Does anyone know where I can find a copy of Quilting Arts Gifts in Toronto? I've been looking for months.......

El Día de los Muertos

Yes, it is the Day of the Dead, All Saints Day, All Souls Day. The Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated in Mexico (and by Latin Americans living in the United States and Canada). The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. The celebration occurs on November 1st and 2nd in connection with the Catholic holiday of All Saints' Day which occurs on November 1st and All Souls Day which occurs on November 2nd. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts.
José Guadalupe Posada created a famous print of a figure that he called "La calavera catrina" ("calavera of the female dandy"), as a parody of a Mexican upper class female. Posada's striking image of a costumed female with a skeleton face has become associated with the Day of the Dead, and Catrina figures often are a prominent part of modern Day of the Dead observances.
I made these fantastic banners for an Altered Art Obsession swap -- I got the images from itkupilli -- check out the store -- she has wonderful digital images. They are very freakish. I am just loving her zombies too.


I'm really enjoying the freedom of being able to just join things when I want, and not having the pressure of someone's book to work in. I had no idea that I was getting so burnt out.

Dolls

You'll likely see quite a few dolls on my blog in the upcoming months. My mom's Christmas theme is "All dolled up" .
At Thanksgiving (Canadian, lol). My mom and I spent an afternoon making paper dolls. Here are my two:
The images are Catherine Moore's Character Construction rubber stamps. They are so fun to work with.

And the winner is......

Well, hold on , I have to light the candles...
then after I blow out my candles,
Ray will pick a name from one of my favourite vintage bowls.....His head is turned the other way, so he's not peeking......Here it is!
Congratulations Jennifer!
Jennifer also has a giveaway happening over at her blog. It is super cool. I really want to win, so maybe you shouldn't go over there and enter. Oh, all right, go on over...... Good Luck!

Etsy Update! Owls!

I've added these super cute owl ornaments to my etsy shop.

Also: you have until 10pm tonight (Wednesday, October 28) (toronto time -- Eastern Standard)
to enter the giveaway below)

Poe Day 13 - and a giveaway

Remember this?Well, it's finally time to reveal what it turned into.
Well, it's all wrapped up in this:(I used crumpled waxed paper and sewed on a card with an imaged that I stamped. I think that the stamp is from Red Lead). So I made this pin keep. Actually, the felt can be removed from the middle and it can be a little "pocket book" Or a signature of paper can be sewn in to make a little book.
This is the cover:(the Raven is actually sparkly, but you can't tell in this photo)
inside the front cover:
inside the back cover:the back cover:
I'm going to give away one of these to one lucky commenter on this post. You don't have to be a blogger, but you do have to leave me some way to reach you. I'm going to draw the lucky person on Wednesday, October 28, which just happens to be my birthday!
(I'm going to draw the name at 10 pm EST)

Another proud mommy moment

Last weekend Lauren and her University of Toronto Rowing Team traveled to Boston to compete in the Head of the Charles races (this is a major international event). Her "four" won gold!! This is the first time that UofT has won at this event -- and many other UofT competitors came in the top 3 also. Their coach, Rob Watering is a fantastic coach and has done so much for the team. So congrats to all of them!
This is a closeup of the medal pictured above -- I think that it is beautiful and I'd like to frame it for Lauren. (It's about 2 1/2 inches across)
This weekend they are at the Ontario University Championships. Lauren won bronze in her double and her coxed four! Great work, girls! Next weekend are the Nationals. They are Montreal -- I'll keep you posted!

Poe Day 12

We're getting close to the end!
Today's gift is from Liz who lives in the UK. Liz was my partner in the Frida swap awhile back. She doesn't have a blog.....
It came in this tiny package....Inside is a teeny tiny book! It is The Raven! It is about an inch high and 3/4 inch wide. Wow!
Can you guess who tomorrow is? LOL

Poe Day 11

Well, it finally stopped raining long enough to photograph Catherine's gift. I have many pieces of her art collected through swaps in at least 3 different Yahoo groups! Amazing, since she lives in The Netherlands (and sadly, has no blog)

I just love this hanging canvas (the wire is cut out of the picture) It's about 4x4 -- and I don't know if you can tell, but in the centre there is a square cut out and Poe is recessed inside. Very cool.