domicile

Get Our Your Stamps!

  2006 Octopus Christmas card 
  Originally uploaded by lori joy.

If you're a card sending kinda person -- and I am -- then this is a particularly fun time of year. I adore getting out my address book, lining up my stamps and a good pen and sitting down to write my holiday cards. I used to kind of dread this as another chore, but now I enjoy the quiet reflection time it gives. My unofficial start date is typically the day after my birthday, so I've been getting ready with my cards already purchased, my addresses all up to date and new stamps waiting to go.

Last year I made cards, but this year with other things going on, and because I have decided to make a number of my gifts this year, I decided to go the store bought route. I bought mine from a lovely little paper store in Victoria this weekend called the Papery (on Fort at Broad Street). That was kind of a double cop out really, as I would have loved to have purchased some handmade cards from one of the many, many awesome designers out there on the interweb, but I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by my choices and wanting to get something in hand so I would have a hope of getting things to overseas relatives in time.

That said, for those of you not quite as keen as me, there's still plenty o'time to get some lovely handmade goodness. The top of my list is definitely Lori's set for this year, I adore that octopus. You can buy it here at Lori's store. Renee also sent me a really beautiful card that came in a lovely little parcel last week (more details on that to be posted here soon). I'm totally in love with blue and red these days and in fact slowly trying to convince Martin to do our kitchen in those colours. You can buy the cards at HeatherJeany's Etsy Store. And, if those two picks just aren't enough options for you, prepare to be totally overwhelmed with papery-goodness with Poppy's Holiday Card Guide. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Every one.

Calendar Girl

Something like this happens to me every year, but this year is already getting out of hand. I want/already have/am sure I will acquire far more calendars than I actually need. I already ordered one of these from Diana Fayt a few weeks ago, unable to resist that white enamel pot in what looks like it might be August. I talked myself into that one by deciding I would put it up at the office, so that I could once again have a Camilla Engman in the kitchen at home. I was given a lovely and entirely useful wildflower themed calendar for my birthday this weekend, which should surely come into service. And then I get to my computer this morning to see that Ms. Gayla has put together a stunning You Grow Girl option (see the image below) which I'm just itchin' to acquire. In fact I think I can go so far as to say that I *need* Gayla's calendar because it looks to be both gorgeous and useful. Damn her. And still, every year I promise myself a Nikki McClure calendar (a promise I've yet to fulfil). I'm beginning to think that I may just have to devote one wall to a kind of calendar collage though I fear that will somehow make me feel too conscious of the passing of time. So we'll see. I may get my thrills vicariously through purchasing some of these lovelies as gifts.

The Internet is My Copilot

As I mentioned in my last post about Helback Scherning, a sizeable portion of our travel itineraries were derived from pre-trip web surfing. In fact, this was one of the first trips I've taken where nearly all my research and planning was done online ahead of time, and almost all of that research proved to be both reliable and right on target for our interests. Ok, so saying this was my first time doing travel research that may not be totally true as often before heading down to Seattle Lauren and I will scour the web for new things to watch out for and to generate our own personal shoe store maps, but I already know Seattle so that's more for filling in details than it is a de facto city guide.

I got most of my references and must-sees from blog reading in fact, as I mentioned Allisyn Copenhagen was a big one for Denmark, and for Amsterdam (because it had been nearly a decade since I'd last been there) I got a lot of references from Alex's lovely site A Girl's Guide to City Life (the Amsterdam edition of course). I also got a very kind email from a Domicile reader with pages of annotated Dutch recommendations for everything from cafes to galleries and that was such an invaluable resource.

So why does this matter? Well, maybe it doesn't. But, as I took a blessed two week holiday from all things internet-related (I consider less than 10 minutes on email/web a day a holiday), I found it interesting to note just how much the web was playing virtual tour guide and really enhancing our very offline adventures. In the past, I've had the great pleasure of doing most of my traveling in places where I've known a native as it were. Be that Rome, Venice, London, Portland or the beaches of Costa Rica, as such I've managed to not just avoid getting stuck in tourist ruts, but also discover many of the more hidden charms of the places I've visited. We had also packed along a couple of borrowed Lonely Planets for each destination and aside from providing useful maps, info about train stations and opening hours for the larger galleries they ended up as more of a liability than an aid for us. Restaurants we went to from the books were in each case passable, but really not great and decidely pricier than places we found by simple checking out the menus of cafes near the lovely savonnerie written up at Girl's Guide to City Life for example.

Non of this is really rocket science. I know I'm not a "visit the main drag" kind of traveller, but I guess I was really very impressed by how our travels as currated by a myriad of blog clippings and emails were really just one hit after another. I should really give back and write up a summary of some of our favourites when I've got some time. In the meantime, I will say that if you've got a hankering for melt-in-your-mouth potato-pumpkin gnocchi while you're in Amsterdam, do head to Frenzi, they wash down so beautifully with the 3 Euro glasses of organic french house red that you'll find yourself coming back the next night for more (at least we did).

Real Life meets Online

  ric rac! 
  Originally uploaded by emira.

I've often admired Beata's gorgeous quilts and bags at our local Farmer's Market, but it has always been her fanciful ruffled skirts and dresses for little girls that has honestly kept me at a distance. Made from a mixture of vintage fabrics and top notch modern quilting cottons -- think Amy Butler -- they hit right in the centre of my deepest aesthetic desires, those being: girly, vintage, handmade, fabric delights! And I knew full well that if I ever did let myself approach the table to take a good long look that I would not  leave without at least one of those ruffled beauties. Well, today was the day and I did indeed buy a wonderful dress for the just turned 2 year old Djuna, and will be posting it in the mail to Montreal this afternoon. I can't wait to see her wearing it, particularly with her rubber boots.

So while my consumption expectations were met, I hadn't really expected to enjoy meeting Beata quite so much. It's not a surprise I suppose given that we obviously share some passions, but after a quick moment of shared fabric appreciation our conversation took a turn to shared blog admiration. All the usuals were up there -- Wee Wonderfuls, Heather's site, Print and Pattern, Posie, and such -- but what was new for me was to meet someone outside of my usual web community, in real life and to share a common love of the same sources of online inspiration. Earlier this week I found myself thinking that I needed to get some good design mags for the plane this weekend, but I quickly found myself wishing I could just print out the last two months of (or bring along a wifi connection for the plane) some of my favorite craft/design blogs that I never have time to linger over. Alas, I'll just have to catch up when I get back I guess.

If you'd like to see some more photos of the dress I bought check out these ones I've put on Flickr, or read more about Beata and her crafts check in on her Rose Hip Blog.

I Heart Lunapads

For those who know me in the real live flesh it will come as no surprise to see the Lunapads.com banner that has shown up on the left side column of this here blog as of today. The gals at Lunapads are not only my clients, mentors, and friends but their product is really and truly my number one favorite menstrual product of choice. Yes that's right, I said menstrual product. Of choice. It's true, we're in to modern furniture, chic urban design, bike riding, organic gardening, fine wines and alternative menstrual products here at domicile (well I am in particular though Martin does often give his hearty approval when I wear my Lunapanties).

If you're someone who has a period and you've never thought about alternative menstrual products before, I do urge you to give them a ponder. If you find that your ick radar is going into overdrive right now, I urge you to calm right down. Seriously. And if you feel you need some help getting over your urge to click away from this post, I encourage you to take a look at this article I wrote oh so many years ago now titled: 8 Myths About Washable Menstrual Pads. If you're already a fan of Lunapads, washable pads, Sea Sponges or the DivaCup then high thee hence to this page to pick up your own blog button. Lunapads will be so very touched that you did that they'll send you a surprise gift pack. That's right, a free in the mail surprise gift pack. What could be better than that?

Kindred List Fan

  tomato! 
  Originally uploaded by emira.

Have you read Orangette yet? I highly recommend that you do. I became enamoured back at her post about Blueberry Buckwheat Bundt Cake and leftover pancakes (I also keep a stash of these in the freezer). I went back for her recipe for Zucchini Blossom Pasta a few weeks ago when zucchini flowers were all over the farmer's market. But it was her recent post about list making/tomato tart that confirmed that we share a similar approach to culinary life and not just a common affection for some of the same flavours. Here's an excerpt, which I know will give my friend Tracey a giggle if she reads it:

"But my favorite variation on the theme, my pet list, is a messy Post-It that sticks in my agenda. It is the nerve center, the motherboard, the county seat. It is my list of what to cook. ...  And if there’s one thing better than a delicious meal, it’s got to be a delicious meal that lets you check something off the list."

Not only do I share her love of serial list making (I myself have a similar post-it stashed away, as well as one for xmas and birthday gift ideas for various friends/family members, one for movies to rent the  next time I'm sick, one for books to read, sewing patterns to one day sew, and really that's just a small sample of the permanent lists that live in my agenda), but right now I share a bounty of backyard tomatoes. And so, I plan to take a crack at this lovely looking tart (it is now on the list!) though may try to do something with it that will avoid the dairy... we'll see.

Fall Veggie Planting

  gorgeous chard 
  Originally uploaded by emira.

If you, like me, have been out in your garden wondering what you'll be doing for Fall planting, then head over to You Grow Girl for Renee's helpful post about Fall veggie planning. If you follow her advice you'll barely have to think, which is in my books: super-awesome.

Crafty Kids

With a fresh new crop of babies happening in my social circle these days, I'm always on the look out for cool baby gifts, and the gals at Craftsbury Kids have some pretty lovely handmade items. I'll admit that I'm far more inclined to try my hand at making dolls for friends little ones, which makes the blog that the gals who run Craftsbury Kids have set up right up my alley. Check out this link for making your own pinwheels for example. That's possibly even something that we could try around our house with Martin's daughter as a rainy day project. Between there and Kiddley there are more crafty kid themed ideas out there than I can keep up with.

DIY Blind Project

Ever since I saw Ella Doran's gorgeous photographic blinds up at design*sponge, I've been mulling around a project to redo some of the aging blinds in our house. My hunch was that with the hardware already here, all I needed to do was strip off the less than lovely green vinyl they're currently made of and replace it with something new. Of course, my mind then ran to transferring large scale photo prints of our garden to blur the line between out and in, but for now, I think I could be pretty happy with the rice paper solution that Megan linked to over at the ReadyMade blog.

Recycled Goods

  del forte jacket 
  Originally uploaded by janellep.

Janelle from Tchotchke Attack! has a photo set up from a project she's been working on to embellish recylced jeans for an organic denim clothing line. I mention it here first and foremost because I'm totally in love with it, but second because this kind of thing is very "domicile-y," by which I simply mean that we do a fair bit of the sewing/reconstructing/recycling round our house.

Both Martin and I have our own sewing machines, something which seems to tickle some folks when they see them set up in their dueling glory, however we both have very different approaches to sewing. Martin is the master reconstructor/recylcer where as I'm more inclined to start from scratch. Often for me that means taking something totally apart to pillage its fabric and then reworking that into something new, or simply starting with old bedsheets and scraps acquired at yard sales/thrift shops/from friends. Martin is more inclined to just sit down at his machine with a garment and have at it with the stitching until he comes out with something he's happy with. He does this with nearly every single pair of jeans he owns (or maybe actually every pair), something which caused me mild heart failure the first time he starting tooling around with *expensive* jeans, but which certainly seems to work out for him 9 times out of 10.

We've also been trying to use recycled materials in our house project wherever possible. Alley finds, castaways from friends and found objects from the massive "ark" that Martin's father maintains on their property full of likewise scrounged goods have helped us both save a fortune on our household projects (often being the only thing that actually makes them doable in fact), while also challenging us to work with the materials we've got rather than spending time to seek out the "perfect piece."

I'll admit some days when it comes to both clothing and renos I find myself daydreaming about an endless budget and just what money could buy -- like my own personal drywalling minion -- but at this point in my life I'm pretty happy with our approach.