a day in the life of the hat junkie

Felting Frenzy

2012-01-27T07:55:00.006-05:00

These hats are my babies.They are wet felted merino wool. It's just so much fun to be able to start from the wool, pick any colour in the spectrum and create any shape I like. I call them small acts of insanity because they are so labour intensive, but I love every minute of it.

I have been playing with hand sculpting. This technique is often seen on vintage hats from the twenties and thirties and has had a resurgence in the millinery world. With hand made felt it has a cartoon quality. Sort of a comic book version of a serious hat.

The back of the hat is almost as fun as the front.

A Day In The Life

2012-01-24T07:15:00.005-05:00

I confess that I have been having too much fun lately. Aside from filling an order for one of the most wonderful hat shops anywhere, Beauchapeau Hat Shop in Niagara on the Lake, I have been in design mode. It is a time of many half made hats being hurled out the window, but also a time of wanton creativity.

Years ago I made rain hats from oil cloth, but stopped because PVC is not the healthiest of fabrics to be working with. On my last trip to Maine, I discovered this wonderful laminated cotton fabric. A fabulous alternative and much nicer to sew. I'm about to order some adorable prints, so stay tuned for more. I had this pattern in my head for a few months and finally sat down and figured it out. I'm pretty pleased.

And for those wondering if I do this all alone or if I have help, I reveal to you my assistants. This is a rare moment of peace in the land. Hope you are all having as much fun as me. I'll be at the Halifax Seaport Market this Saturday.

Back to Maine

2012-01-07T08:34:00.009-05:00

Happy New Year everyone. There was something of a reunion at Tony's sister's house in Maine over New Year's. It's a long weekend of family and gluttony. Amy's house is so beautiful and cozy that no one ever really wants to leave. Dusty was in heaven, sorrounded by doting aunts and uncles and most of all by his oldest cousin Eric. Here's the oldest and youngest cousin transfixed by the ipod.

Although Eric was almost the main attraction, it was really hard to compete with his fabulous girlfriend, Erin. She carried him around on her back for hours, built Lego with him and gave him her full attention. Wonderful for Dusty and even more wonderful for Mama.

Amy and I had an unexpected day to ourselves where we went to Belfast to shop and eat without any demands to go to a toy store or go home. Heavenly. Amy took me into Fiddlehead Artisan Supply. I walked into the shop and my jaw hit the ground and stayed there until we walked out much later. It's full of beautiful fabrics, ribbons, art supplies, books and everything that I want to buy. For more photos of the shop head to this blog

And now it's back to reality, which really isn't such a bad place.

A Castle For a Prince

2011-12-28T07:23:00.007-05:00

Tony was inspired this year and made Dusty a castle bed for Christmas. The challenge- assemble it while Dusty is sleeping in our bed on Christmas eve and transfer the sleeping prince into it so that he wakes up in his new kingdom. Tony rose to the challenge. There were some extra expletives when he realized he had to disassemble the old bed first. My job was to pick up the lego pieces off the floor. This kept me busy for a couple of hours.

Here slumbers the prince. Fortunately, he inherited the Chaplik sleeping gene. While Tony blasted away with the noisiest of screw guns, hammers, dynamite and swear words, Dusty slept like an angel.

The transfer was successful. The limp, sleeping body of Dusty was moved from one bed to another. Tony and I dragged our weary selves to bed around midnight and imagined Dusty's reaction to waking up in his castle. Would he notice the ladder inside the bed leading up to the trap door above? Would he climb it to the lego loft where he could survey his kingdom below? Would he sit in the chairs built into the turrets? Would he shriek with joy?

Dusty awoke at 5:30a.m came into our room and asked if he could go look under the tree yet. He did not notice the elephant in the room. Unbelievable, but it seems that Santa and his promise of a new Lego set blinds him to all. We did then mention the bed and he gave Tony a polite hug and asked again if we could go downstairs. Once the fire temple was assembled Dusty had his delayed joy for his new bed. He has not come down from the lego loft since, except to debate with me if the King has to listen to his mother.

Balance

2011-12-19T18:00:00.003-05:00

Just finished my last market of the year. Now it's time to regain a bit of balance in my life. Seems that while I was busy making hats, Tony was practicing his salt shaker balancing skills.

A Great Weekend

2011-12-07T07:20:00.009-05:00

Last weekend was the Halifax Crafter's show. I met many wonderful new and old customers and also spent a fair amount of time salivating over the work of the other artists. It's one of the nicest shows I have ever seen. People lined up to get in when the show opened and it was still crowded by the end of the second day.

I stayed over at my friend Aimee's house in Bedford, so the next morning I had time before the show started to do something I always wanted to do. Go to the Halifax Seaport Market to be a customer and stare out the window at the harbour.

I got my cappuccino and cinnamon bun and reveled in being a lady of leisure. I could get used to this.

The weekend was a success on many levels, but at 8:30 p.m, Sunday night it sure was nice to get home to this.

Yuletide cheer.

2011-11-23T20:35:00.003-05:00

My mind is slowly turning to shopping. Seems to be hardwired in the DNA for late November. This weekend I will be at the Hubbard's Christmas Market and the following weekend I will be doing the Yuletide Cheer show put on by Halifax Crafters. I'm super excited about this one because the other artists are really incredible. The show will be filled with things I want. Hope you can make it.

Meeting Wonderful Customers

2011-11-13T20:33:00.004-05:00

This leopard print felt hat went to the best head possible. I don't think Audrey will mind me telling you that she recently underwent brain surgery. Although she has a beautiful bald head, she was in need of a hat. I loved meeting her and was amazed at her smiley positive look on life. She was just full of laughs. It wasn't an inexpensive hat, but she laughed it off saying that now she doesn't have to pay for her hairdresser appointments. She was truly inspiring.

Toronto Greetings

2011-11-08T06:46:00.009-05:00

We just got home last night from our trip to visit my family in Toronto. This is the tree where I spent my childhood. It has lost a few of the lower limbs. I like to think that if they were still there I could have climbed up without the help of this ladder.

We took Dusty to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) The adventure began in the subway. It was hard to get him out of the Museum subway station. You can see why. Tony called this "Mayan Butt Crack.

Dusty's favourite part was the Discovery room for kids where he spent over an hour digging for Dinosaur bones. Tony and I took turns sitting not so patiently while the other looked at the rest of the museum.

My little Lego fiend was pretty impressed with this Lego Pharaoh.

I was most blown away by the David Hockney exhibit. He has done beautiful images on the ipad and iphone using a simple inexpensive app called brushes. I downloaded the brushes app and now I'm addicted. My ability is limited, but who cares. It's so fun. This is my "Laundry night"

Before we knew it we were on the plane headed home. The sky at sunset was amazing. Didn't have my camera, but I did have my ipod.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T07:43:00.005-04:00

When I signed up for this motherhood deal I had no idea of the magnitude and importance of Halloween. This here is my Frankenstein monster. There are many similarities between him and a boy called Dusty. Yes, I do go a little overboard with his costumes, but that is to make up for all the other days in the year when he tries to talk to me and I scream at him because I'm madly trying to finish an order. Hopefully, he'll remember the costumes. I will remind him throughout his adult life.

Here's the little monster trying to show his gratitude by kissing me with green face paint all over him. I grappled with posting this photo. It's not a pretty picture of me, but the other one was worse and I think by the time I got to the bottom of that coffee cup I looked a little better.

Yesterday I went into super pumpkin decorating mode. I cried to Tony that I just can't keep the house clean. He set me straight by explaining that you are either cleaning up or making a mess. I'm the latter.

Dracula was carved at 10p.m. right after I finished baking the blueberry muffins. Do I sound like super mom? I'm not. Super mom would have a smile on her face throughout. I flip out. So, monster is off at school, but he'll be back with a gaggle of children coming over for pizza and trick or treating. Off to make the pizza dough and then fill hat orders. I think part of me enjoys this. Happy Halloween!

A Little Escape

2011-10-16T19:58:00.006-04:00

I haven' been writing much lately because I have been busy trying to get those wholesale orders out. It has been quite nice hiding away in my studio making hats, but sometimes I just dream of making something beautiful, impractical and that loses money in every way. So, with that in mind, I took the cable ferry across the LaHave river to visit my friend Aneta, who is an amazing felter. We sat together and with her guidance we felted a single flower for four hours. You can see where the losing money goal is fitting in.

Her house took my breath away. It was open, bright, whimsical and filled with beautiful details.

The house is mostly kitchen. Makes sense to me as that is where the party always ends up anyways, but the little living room was beautiful, too.

The railing up the stairs is made from a branch as are all the curtain rods. Amazing how clever people can be.

Here's where the laundy gets hung. How do people get these ideas?

Ofcourse, after making this beautiful long stemmed flower, all I can think about is how to turn it into a hat. As soon as I figure it out, I'll post the photo.

p.s. I'll be back at the Halifax Market in a couple of weeks.

The Best Model Ever

2011-09-21T18:15:00.003-04:00

Remember that adorable little girl in my hat from the last post. Well, It seems the whole family is into hats. This here is Feather. I do have to admit she looks really good in it.

So Long Summer

2011-09-11T08:37:00.003-04:00

The Mornings here are consistently cool and crisp. Summer is heading out and fall is heading in. This photo was sent to me by a customer whose beautiful daughter is a hat junkie in training. I'll write more when I get through my mound of wholesale orders and can come up for air.

Pretty in Pink

2011-08-22T19:45:00.004-04:00

This lovely lady just embodied this pink organic jersey headband. It called out to her and she listened.

I Miss This Hat

2011-08-12T06:24:00.004-04:00

I just came across this photo of one of my merino wool wet felted hats. I love making them, but as they take forever and a day, I don't get to make too many of them. They never stay with me for long. This one lives in Montreal with its owner.

The One That got Away

2011-08-11T14:55:00.002-04:00

Hat land has been so incredibly busy these days. I don't know if it's princess Kate or the article in The Chronicle Herald, but I can hardly keep up with the demand. Yesterday I finished this Millie Hat. I was so loving this new colour combo of moss green and dark brown. Thought I'd get home and photograph it, but, alas, it found a new home on a very beautiful head. Oh, well, I'll just make another one.

Here's Where to Find Me

2011-08-02T12:06:00.007-04:00

Hi Everyone, Here's where to find me:

Saturday Oct. 29th 7-4, Halifax Seaport Farmers Market

Saturday Nov. 12th 7-4 Halifax Seaport Farmers Market

Saturday Nov. 19th 7-4 Halifax Seaport Farmers Market

Saturday Nov. 26th 8-12 Hubbard's christmas Market, Hubbard's Barn

Saturday and Sunday Dec. 3-4, Halifax Crafters "Yuletide Cheer" show
11am-6pm at the Olympic Community Hall/Olympic Centre at the corner of Cunard and Hunter street in Halifax.

Saturday Dec. 10th 7-4 Halifax Seaport Farmers Market

Thursday Dec. 15th 8:30-12:30 Lunenburg Farmers Market

Saturday Dec. 17th 7-4 Halifax Seaport Farmers Market

Back To Hubbards

2011-07-29T11:42:00.003-04:00

For the Month of august I'll be switching it up a bit, alternating Saturdays between the Hubbard's Market and The Halifax Seaport Market. Tomorrow will be Hubbards. Really looking forward to seeing old friends (and waking up at 5:30 instead of 3:45)
Hope to see you there.

What Style

2011-07-17T21:00:00.005-04:00

This most lovely lady came and tried on my hats at the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market yesterday. She looked so cute in my Organic Jersey Summer Madeline headband, I just had to take her photo.

Marblehead

2011-07-11T20:20:00.005-04:00

We just returned from a much needed vacation in Marblehead, MA. Two days of driving, but worth it.

We stopped first at Tony's sister's place in Maine. Our brother in law, Chuck, of Cycles Immortal Fame is a mechanic extraordinaire. Pretty cool for Dusty to have an uncle with a shop full of motorcycles and at the moment a car that looks like this.

Day two we continued on our way and stopped in Portland, ME for lunch. Such a cool city. Dusty was really taken by the cobblestone streets and wondered if all streets looked that way when I was a little girl.

I've been to Portland many times, but this was the first time we explored the not so traveled alley ways. Amazing what you can find. It was a side to Portland we had never really noticed before.

We came upon this awesome diner. It was down a street filled with fish processing kind of places, wooden sidewalks, and cobblestone peaking through the pavement. Unfortunately, we had already eaten, but two local girls told us it was the place to go. Next time.

Arrived in Marblehead on Friday afternoon. We did more than I could possibly tell you about, but one of our highlights of the trip was heading out in our friend Felix's boat with his daughter, Maya. I have never seen a kid as excited to be out on the ocean. Here she is kissing a fish. Unbridled passion, I guess.

Dusty got to be the captain. I just closed my eyes and assumed the dads wouldn't let us go under.

Felix took us to the Boston Yacht Club for dinner. I have to give you a little background story here. We stayed with one of our favourite families, Sally, Dan, Sarah and Evan. Evan is now a teenager, but as a boy he loved Lego as much as Dusty. They have a whole attic full. They even had the Holy Grail of all Lego sets- Darth Vader's Star Destroyer. Dusty will tell you how much that thing costs, but I won't. To make a long story short, they gave it to Dusty. Finally, Dusty got the Darth Vader mini figure with his 1 1/4inch long, red light sabre. Well, at the yacht club we were eating on the deck with floor boards that had tiny cracks between them. Under those boards was the Atlantic ocean. Can you guess what comes next? Yes, the light sabre fell between the cracks. Here's Tony looking for it. Felix even hijacked a row boat to try and find it. But, alas, no hope. To say Dusty cried would be an understatement. Life as we knew it was over. Maya kept trying to console Dusty, but it was hopeless. When we got back to Sally and Dan's place, Dan went up to the attic and found another light sabre. Dusty's words were, "Life is good!"

Really what this trip was all about was this photo here. Grammy. Of course all the other people that we love so much and hardly get to see, but mostly- Grammy.

a fascination with fascinators

2011-06-26T11:12:00.007-04:00

I officially declare this fascinator thing a frenzy. I have to admit that when things become trendy I want to run away, but I just watched this little video that really calmed me down and gave me an appreciation for how a beautiful fashion icon like Princess Kate can shape a culture. It is a phenomena. Don't get me wrong. I love fascinators and have been making them for years, but I have always enjoyed hatting the strong, independent hat wearers who have had the courage to be seen even before the media decided that it was O.K. Thanks Princess Kate for being a strong minded leader of beauty and thanks to a all my loyal customers of the past 17 years who have all been royal princesses in their own right.
Here's the link to this video featuring one of my best customers- Beauchapeau Hat shop in Niagara on the lake.
You can see the video by clicking here

When The Sun Shines in Lunenburg

2011-06-21T07:15:00.005-04:00

When The sun shines in Lunenburg there is no more beautiful place on earth. We haven't had much of it lately, so on Sunday the whole town was out celebrating. First stop- ice cream shop

Sitting outside on our favourite chairs we happened to meet our good and most adorable friend, Lucy with her dad, Marcus. She was carrying her pet lasagna noodle.

We all headed down the street to the Dory shop where Tony has been working on the two schooners being built there.

Not the worst view in the world.

Dusty and Lucy seemed to have their own agenda.

The white box you see is one of the cabin houses that Tony built.

And here's my ruggedly handsome boatbuilder himself.

Next stop- Picton Castle, which is now docked in the harbour. The town feels so festive now. The Picton Castle sails around the world, but calls Lunenburg home.

There's no heading down to the waterfront without Dusty insisting that we go into the Fisheries museum. Doesn't seem to matter that we have probably been there over 50 times since moving here. Good thing we have a season's pass. Of course, one needs to be donning an organic cotton and hemp jersey hat when hammering trunnels into a plank of wood.

Sun

2011-05-29T19:35:00.011-04:00

Yesterday at the Halifax Seaport Market I sold this Lana hat to a wonderful woman named Anne Tomlinson. She is just one of those ladies with such joy in her eyes that you want to study her and figure out how she does it. Anne strikes me as someone who juices every last drop out of life. She explained to me that her 97 year old friend, Ivan, bought this hat for her. I believe she charmed it out of him.
The conversation went something like this- Ivan do you think $76 is too much for a hat?
-Noooo!
- Then will you buy it for me?
-Yes!!
Us whipper snappers could learn a thing or two here. Don't you think?

This morning I received this wonderful little story and photo from Anne. She is taking my hat to Cuba so that she can write a story about Fidel Castro. She has promised me that I will fit into the story somewhere.

Here's the letter from Anne-

The Story of Lana

Oh gosh, how excited I am! My last trip was 5 years ago to Hawaii. I would like to bring back something about Cuba. After 50 years, I am curious to find out what is happening in the streets of Havana. I will bring my camera, my writing pad, and certainly my new hat, Lana! She is a tough chick with a closet romantic side, made in Nova Scotia from twisted seagrass straw. Her first walk today on the streets of Halifax was uplifting. It was only the second time this month that the sun was shining. Unfortunately where we were going to eat was closed for construction and a note was hung on the door that said, We will be back in two weeks to feed your bellies.

So we moved on to the Halifax Seaport Market, where I bought Lana. Her proud owner, Anna Shoub, warned me that she would attract attention. She was right! We were eating German sausages as a well-dressed man approached the table. He said he loved my hat. Lana said, Thank you, sir!
Who is Lana?, he asked
My hat!, I responded.

A Virtual Visit

2011-05-16T18:56:00.005-04:00

I realize most of you can't make it to the Seaport Market on Saturdays to come visit me, so I thought I'd post some photos of my little hat emporium. We can pretend.

Saturday at the Market

2011-05-01T08:24:00.006-04:00

Yesterday was so amazingly foggy. Looking out the windows at the Seaport Market in the early morning hours revealed one huge grey mass. And then the fog lifted. What a treat to be standing on the mezzanine and see a large ship pass.

I had some really wonderful customers yesterday. So fun to see my hats on these fabulous faces. My new organic cotton and hemp jersey line seems to be a hit.

I'll be at the Halifax Seaport Market every Saturday from 7-4. Stop on by if you're in the neighbourhood.

My Little Musical Genius

2011-04-27T15:47:00.003-04:00

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I can't help myself. He's just the cutest kid in the world. (When he's not driving me nuts) Enjoy! Anna

Another Gorgeous Friend

2011-04-24T19:21:00.003-04:00

I don't have to go far to find a pretty face. Just a finished a photo session with my good friend Aimee. One picture is prettier than the next. This hat is Summer Brooke. It is one of my new organic hemp and cotton jersey summer hats and can be found on my etsy site.

Birthday Week

2011-04-22T07:15:00.004-04:00

Seven Years ago today at 7:19 a.m, my little Dusty was evicted from my belly. After 9 1/2 months, 36 hours of hard labor and enough pitosin to induce triplets, Dusty held on to his Mama with impressive tenacity. They eventually had to pry him from my womb by way of the knife. The cord was wrapped around his baby neck three times. Seems like a life time ago and seems like yesterday.

As I write this he sits at the kitchen table with his 792 piece lego pyramid set. He swore up and down that he would wait for Tony to come home before tackling it, but he could successfully negotiate with terrorists and slowly my seven year old is building the whole thing alone. I am putty in his hands.

This birthday has been tougher than others. I have found myself lately in my studio, sewing away and then bawling over whatever hormonal thought enters my mind. I see that I can't hang on to his babyhood forever and at the same time I am so proud of the person he is becoming. Everyday his personality unfolds. He constantly stumps me with questions.
Does the future exist? If the earth rotates does heaven rotate too? If we can see water why can we see through it?

A couple of weeks ago he lamented that if he bought the hamburger meal at school, he had to pay extra for the pudding. So, I told him we could make pudding and he could bring it with him. We had a wonderful time making the pudding. After supper that night, I gave him some for desert. He ate half of it and told me it was so good he couldn't finish it. He went on and on to Tony, in his over eager way, about Mom's wonderful home made pudding. The next day I gave him some in his lunch and it came back intact at the end of the day. I asked him why he didn't eat it and he said it was too good to eat. At that point it occurred to me what was going on. I asked him if he maybe didn't like the pudding and was afraid of hurting my feelings. He guiltily nodded his head, worried that he might be in trouble for lying. I kissed him and told him that it wouldn't hurt my feelings.

I thought back to all those times when I worried that he might be a cold, heartless psychopath. You know the way one kid can be bleeding, with their head cracked open and the other kid can step over them and ask for ice cream. I wondered at what point compassion developed. I guess it's seven. Maybe earlier for some kids. Dusty might be a late bloomer in this department, but he got there.

Yesterday, birthday week began with a trip to Dusty's class. I stayed up way too late the night before making bunny cupcakes. If I look tired in these photos, that's why. This is Dusty's most incredible of all teachers, Madame Yvette. In her wisdom, she had me come at the end of the day, so that the children's own parents could deal with their manic sugar highs. The celebration and exhaustion continues for another couple of days. Tomorrow we have four boys coming over to tear up the house and overdose on sweets. There is a glass of wine in this picture for me.

So, to my favourite human on earth, Happy Happy Birthday. Thanks for coming into my life.

Love,
Mama

Revisiting a Former Self

2011-04-11T20:32:00.005-04:00

I just finished a wholesale order for one of my favourite customers, Beauchapeau in Niagara on the Lake. I was asked to make a particular straw hat and trim it any way I like. Music to my ears. I took a trip down memory lane to a former ultra romantic self and had a marvelous time creating this hat. I pulled out all sorts of vintage ribbons and antique lace.

I have also been busy making summer hats for the Halifax Seaport Market. I brought back one of my old standbys, Traveling Nellie, My parasisol straw travel hat. This style hat was originally designed in the 1940's by a famous milliner named, Mr. John. They are not uncommon, but that is because it's such a great practical design. They pack flat to fit in a suitcase, but look so cute when worn.

With the royal wedding in the air people are talking fascinators. One would almost think the wedding was taking place in Halifax. Amazing that this word is actually becoming commmon. Evgenia is modeling one of my organic cotton and hemp jersey fascinators.

If you are in the neighbourhood on Saturday, come visit me at the Seaport Market up on the mezzanine.

My Garden Grows

2011-03-27T09:05:00.005-04:00

This flower is the only thing that cheers me up. The sky is perfectly blue and the sun is bright. Everything beckons me outside to soak up the warm spring air. I open the door and...... BAM! A blast of hateful cold air hits me in the face. The wind threatens to take away my only child and puppy. (Tony is pretty safe) I know it won't be long before spring really comes to Nova Scotia, but I find I have no more patience for the cold. I will stay holed up here in my bright and sunny home and grow my little fabric flowers until someone tells me it's safe to go out there.
If you also need a little pick me up, click here to find my orange rose organic fascinator on etsy, or if you are in the neighbourhood come visit me next Saturday at the Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market.

Lisa

2011-03-09T19:44:00.004-05:00

Almost one year ago I found the most wonderful assistant. Her name is Lisa and clearly she is as beautiful as she is talented. Here she is modeling my Olivia fascinator. You can click here to see the listing on etsy.

Spring Fever

2011-03-08T12:55:00.005-05:00

It's cold, but sunny here in Nova Scotia. Not quite pansy time yet. But these little beauties from my organic sewing garden can withstand the cold while singing out SPRING!!
My new pansy fascinators are made from organic hemp and cotton jersey and are mounted on a wire headband, wrapped with the same jersey fabric. Click here to see the first listed on my etsy site.
Spring is coming. It really is.

Beauties at the Market

2011-03-06T08:20:00.003-05:00

One of the fun things about doing the Halifax Market is getting to see my designs on other people. These two lovely ladies are modeling two of my latest Hat Junkie Organics Designs- Traveling Mabel and my summer version of Brooke.

Introducing Hat Junkie Organics

2011-02-24T07:18:00.008-05:00

Something about February makes me dream about spring. There will be no trips to tropical islands this year, but at least while I am upstairs in my studio sewing away with my new fabulous organic summer fabrics, I can be sipping Pina Coladas under a palm tree in my mind.
I have started designing my new Hat Junkie Organics Line. As usual, before I'm satisfied there is a fair amount of foul language and throwing of failed hat bodies, but in the end it's all worth while.

This here is Traveling Mabel. She is made from organic, hand dyed hemp/cotton stretch jersey. She is completely packable, smushable and crushable.
I have found that my fleece hat line has been so successful because like me, most women want a hat that can be abused in any number of ways and still look like a million bucks after it has been sat on. It's just the times we live in. Between getting the kids off to school, working, walking the dog and making an attempt to communicate with the husband, prancing preciously around a delicate hat doesn't fit into many of our lifestyles.

And so, with this fact of life in mind, it has become my mission to create summer hats that are as neglectable as my winter hats. I couldn't be happier with the result.

Along the way I was able to support some other wonderful small businesses like Gaia Fabrics in British Columbia who hand dyes this fabric with procion, fibre reactive dyes. Since the dyes actually bond with the fabric, they won't fade with washing.
My new hang tag was designed by my friend, Andrea Dixon, who has become quite the successful hatter herself. Check out her site by clicking here.

Click here for the first of Traveling Mabel up on my etsy site. They'll all be up on my site soon as well as other fun designs.
Happy Hatting,
Anna

We got it Too!

2011-02-03T08:31:00.005-05:00

Finally! After hearing about the impressive snow fall just about everywhere except Lunenburg, I was really feeling left out. What's winter without snow? Well, here it is. Because our driveway is so close to our neighbour's, we have nowhere to pile the snow except the front of the house. There are two little creatures that like this arrangement just fine.

The Girl Next Door

2011-01-19T06:50:00.002-05:00

This is truly amazing. I have been wishing for a model for some time. It is just so hard to coordinate times. If only there was a beautiful woman next door. All I had to do was open my eyes and behold there is Hayley, beautiful mom to Thomas and Luke. Two doors down. We take these photos in short, mommy friendly twenty minute sessions. She gets some hats and a little adult conversation and I get the perfect model.

I love Halifax

2011-01-16T16:12:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I set up my wares at the Halifax Market again. I had only one goal and that was to get there alive. I'm on the road at 4:30 a.m and the thought of being pried out of bed in the middle of the night and then driving for an hour and a quarter always terrified me, but I decided to face my fears and get over it. As you have probably guessed I am alive and my goals were wildly surpassed. In the middle of January I sold many hats and met so many beautiful people. This photo is of Gali who bought the hat that I made just a few days ago. She was wanting a felt hat, so I had her in mind when I designed it. So nice when that works out. The photo was taken by her gorgeous artist daughter Evgenia. Click here to see some of Evgenia's beautiful work.

I needed that.

2011-01-04T20:16:00.008-05:00

Just got back from visiting family in Maine. It was just what the doctor ordered- no work for 5 days, lazing around whilst drinking wine, stuffing my face with delicious food and playing in the snow. I almost feel normal. Enjoy the photos and Happy New Year.

April in Blue

2010-12-28T08:53:00.005-05:00

I had the honour of making this blue merino felt hat for my favourite neighbour's daughter in law. It's the same as the yellow hat from the last post. I couldn't have a lovelier model.

Grand Finale

2010-12-19T22:03:00.006-05:00

Saturday was my last market of the season and it was truly grand. It felt like the finale of a fabulous fireworks display. I sold some of my all time favourite hats and it seemed like they were made only for these customers. I love to look at these photos and see the diversity of beauty in the women who buy my hats. Please check out my incredible artist friend Sheilagh's blog, Alice in Paris Loves Art and Tea by clicking here. She took some really nice photos of me and my hats at the market.
And now I will take a much deserved break. I will be sewing, but this time it's for my boys. Happy Holidays Everyone and thanks to all my wonderful customers for allowing me to do what I love best.

Organic dog Food.....Really?

2010-12-17T07:26:00.002-05:00

I am a walking target market. My shopping cart is always filled with organic junk food, any product that looks like it might heal our lives and yes, organic dog food with no corn, soy, sugar, wheat or GMO's added. I'm starting to wonder, though.

Yesterday was a classic example of my puppy's diet. At the park he got hold of a discarded lobster shell and poop from an unknown animal. (Sorry, for the sake of the point the details can't be spared.) He came home and washed it down with a mild solution of water and lead paint and maybe some T.S.P. (We are painting the bathroom.) For desert he had a nice chunk of polar fleece, which I got to see again this morning in a different form.

Maybe if I put the corn, soy, wheat, sugar and GMOs back in his diet he won't feel the need to supplement with poop, fabric, dirty kleenex and lego blocks. I don't know...What do you think?

My favourite Sale

2010-12-11T14:50:00.005-05:00

Not to say that all my hat sales are not my favourite, but every once in a while there is the perfect union between hat and head that feels like divine intervention. Today was the Hubbard's Christmas Market and this lovely tall and stylish lady came up to me and said how she really wanted to wear hats, but somehow didn't. I had just made one of my wet feted merino hats this week. They are so time consuming that I rarely repeat one. Somehow by the time I get around to making another one I just need to try something new. This one was inspired by my friend Svenja's fabulous flower arrangements. Svenja is always combining purple, orange and green. It's so fun and it's something that never would have occured to me without staring at her beautiful flowers at all the market. You don't get to stare long because she is usually sold out before I can finish setting up my hats. Anyways, this hat was called garden dreams and along comes Lin. I new this was her hat and now I just needed to convince her of this. Honestly, it took about an hour, but it was worth it. I felt like I would cry if she left without the hat. She actually did leave, but came back. That was really fun. I've been so crazy busy, but hopefully I will have some time this week to do a little more felting for my last show of the season at the Halifax Seaport Market. Happy Hatting, Anna

Stop on by

2010-12-01T07:52:00.005-05:00

Hi Everyone, It's Christmas market time. This Saturday I'll be at the Halifax Seaport Market from 7am till 4 pm. The following Saturday I will be at the Hubbard's Barn from 8-12 and the following Saturday back at the Seaport Market. If anyone is feeling sympathy for me about my early rising time I do appreciate it. It's so difficult to convince people that I really am a princess when I am on the road at 4:30 am and hauling boxes at 6am. Maybe next life. Here are some photos of my booth from last Saturday at the Hubbard's Christmas Market. You just never know what ingenious gift you will find at a farmers' market. I was set up next to Julia of Funky Monkey who sell these amazing sock monkey kits for the future crafters of Canada. She also does sock monkey birthday parties where all the kids get to make a sock monkey. Wouldn't work for my little warrior child, but I could think of a lot of kids that would just love this. You can contact her at thefunkymonkey@live.ca. Hope to see you at the market.

Our vanishing Puppy

2010-11-21T18:20:00.002-05:00

This is what happened when I turned my back for one minute. Fear not, Doggy was rescued from six year old tyranny.

Come One Come All

2010-11-14T19:14:00.003-05:00

You have got to check this place out. Yesterday My boys and myself trekked into Halifax to sell my wares at the new Halifax Seaport Market. It was phenomenal in every way. I sold many hats which was very exciting and fun, but just to see this place was incredible. The building is huge and open with great big windows that look out onto Halifax Harbour. It has a beautiful mezzanine and a roof top that you can walk out onto. It is powered by windmills and the toilets are flushed by rainwater from the roof. There is every possible local goody imaginable to be had. I thought Dusty might help me out a bit, but he kept telling customers that the hats were $200 because that is the price of some Lego set which he has his eye on. I will definitely go back before Christmas. I wouldn't want to leave Lunenburg, but I wish we could pick the town up and move it 50 km. east.

Halifax Bound

2010-11-12T18:11:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow morning I am heading to the new Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market to sell my wares. Very excited to see this fabulous new building and be surrounded by all kinds of local gourmet goodies. Not quite as excited to be on the road at 4:30a.m, but for this I have recruited my most wonderful husband/chauffeur. Poor little Dusty will be snatched from his bed and plopped into his car seat. Please pray that he stays asleep.
If you are in the Halifax area please come see me. The market runs from 7am to 4pm.

My Sumo Wrestler

2010-11-08T18:50:00.008-05:00

You just can't make this stuff up. Yesterday our son Dusty decided out of the blue that he would really like to be a sumo wrestler. He has the word a little confused and calls it souvenir wrestling. He assures us not for real when he grows up because they have some bad rules like they are allowed to punch in the stomach and choke and he does not want to be punched or choked by the other guy. None the less, in the last 24 hours he has taken it up as a serious hobby. Myself, Tony and the dog find ourselves ambushed when we least expect it. He INSISTED that I rig him up this costume so that he could really get into it. Life is just full of surprises.

The Perfect Wife

2010-10-25T19:07:00.004-04:00

The perfect wife. That's me. It didn't used to be this way. In fact up until a couple of weeks ago I might have been voted world's worst wife, but not anymore. Nuh uh. It's all changed now. You see, this running my own business thing while being mom to an energetic six year old boy has sort of taken over everything. Particularly during my busy season, I find I just work all day, spend time with Dusty, inhale whatever dinner Tony has lovingly prepared, put Dusty to bed and then back to work. Where is Tony in this equation. The answer is either nowhere or silent servant.

So, now add puppy to the equation and you can imagine that Tony had some real fears of being the lowest rung on the ladder, beneath dog. I decided to take some positive action. The answer was right in front of my eyes. Simple remedy for a neglected husband. Cook. Food is very important to Tony. He thinks about dinner when he wakes up and breakfast as he goes to sleep. By the looks of him I believe he was born this way. I actually like to cook. I just forgot that about myself. I came to the conclusion that if I can't put dinner on the table then what's it all about. For a few days I went into extremist mode and cooked, washed the dishes and did the shopping. Tony just silently shook his head, tried to argue and then realized it was fruitless. Things have balanced out some. I'm not batting 100, but maybe 80.

Served here are sweet potato pancakes, yellow beets with goat cheese and local brussel sprouts. Here's the recipe for the sweet potato pancakes which we eat with apple sauce and sour cream. Bon Appetit !

2 cups mashed sweet potato, 4 tsps, flour, 1 tsp curry powder, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, 2 eggs, half an onion chopped fine, salt and pepper.

Just shmush it all together and refrigerate for an hour. Then form into pancakes and fry them up in a bit of oil or butter or a mixture of the two. I recommend medium heat and give them a few minutes on each side. Keep them warm in the oven as you prepare the rest.

Scuttlebutt's

2010-10-17T13:39:00.009-04:00

I have found the restaurant of my dreams and it's just down the street. It comes fully equipped with delicious and healthy food, the nicest owners and waitress who treat their customers unbelievably well and best of all a beautiful five year old girl (daughter of the owners) who Dusty adores. Dusty and Lorelei head off to play with Lorelei's toys and Mama gets to actually sit and drink coffee while sewing a flower for my Madeline headbands. I think it has been seven years since I sat peacefully in a cafe. I can't recommend this place enough. Everything is fresh and delicious, they are super kid friendly, they have great prices and they are full of fun ideas, including live music and old movies for the winter. They are open every day except Wednesday. Right now they are open for breakfast and lunch, but soon they will be adding dinner. Check them out at 139 Montague st. in Lunenburg.

A Dog Named Lego

2010-09-24T07:50:00.005-04:00

So what's a Mama to do when she is so busy filling wholesale orders, doing farmers' markets, taking care of a six year old boy and ignoring her husband and housework? Why, get a puppy, of course. I won't begrudge anyone who thinks I'm an utter lunatic, but I have to say I have never been happier. Lego the dog, named by Dusty, is the most wonderful happy go lucky little mutt I have ever met and best of all he matches our kitchen floor.

Wishing for a Hurricane

2010-09-02T14:03:00.005-04:00

It is brutally hot here right now. I am a barely functioning human being. The good news is that a hurricane is on the way this Saturday. Today was farmers market day and thankfully we brought the show indoors. I came home to this wonderful e-mail from a customer from Massachusetts who featured one of my hats on her blog. This is her adorable daughter, Ruby, modeling the Lana Straw hat. I love learning about what people do. Particularly other women that run their own business. Check out Nina's blog by clicking here. If I lived in Massachusetts (again) I would be heading to one of her workshops.

Oh, Right... The Beach.

2010-08-29T09:07:00.004-04:00

I am ashamed to admit that yesterday was our first time at the beach this summer. I have lots of excuses, but I'll spare you. After hearing report after report from friends who said you could actually go in the water, we packed up the car and went to hang out with friends at one of Nova Scotia's most beautiful beaches- Risser's.
Indeed, the water was by these standards warm and we had a blast jumping in the waves and Boogie boarding. So nice to get out of my polar fleece life sometimes.

Bathing Caps and Bathing Beauties

2010-08-15T20:20:00.010-04:00

The mornings are now chilly here in Nova Scotia. It still warms up pretty quickly, but summer's days are numbered. My table at the farmers' market is now filled mostly with fleece hats. Many of my new styles for 2010 were inspired by my friend Katja's bathing cap cosmetic bags. Check out her fabulous collection by clicking here

They really are incredible cosmetic bags. If like me you always manage to spill the conditioner or toothpaste while traveling, then this is the bag for you. Being a bathing cap, you just throw it in the sink and you are good to go. But I digress. The reason I'm showing you these bags is because after staring at them for a year I realized that the shape would make a great fleece hat. Then I got a little carried away and ended up with several versions. I couldn't pick a favourite child, so I just kept them all. You can pick your own favourite (or not), but I'm their mother and it wouldn't be right.

They are up on my website which you can see by clicking here as well as on my etsy site which you can see by clicking here.
That's really enough about winter hats. With about three weeks left till the first day of school we headed once again to our new favourite spot, Beck's Lake. If you live around here and want to know how to get there just ask. It's the main teenage hangout, but those big kids can be quite inspiring to my little kid.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your summer. We're definitely enjoying ours.

My Guy

2010-08-10T22:02:00.003-04:00

This is my guy and this is what he does. Every waking, breathing moment. Lego, lego, lego. Other than finding it between my toes and up my nose, it is the best toy in the world.

See How My Garden Grows

2010-08-04T21:29:00.003-04:00

I am successfully neglecting every plant that I have managed to plant this season. These ones are a little harder to kill. They are all part of headbands and hats headed for Jane's Fashions at 44 Ontario st. in Stratford, Ontario

The Big Ex Revisited

2010-07-31T22:20:00.006-04:00

It's that time of year again. The Big Ex is in town. There was no earthly way to avoid it. Although we went on Tuesday it has taken me until today (Saturday) to be able to write about it. That's because my son had that kind of impressive kicking and screaming meltdown in the middle of the busy fairgrounds, just outside the bumper cars that caused me to step away from him and inquire to passersby if anyone knew whose kid that was.
Once we got some food in his tummy he did calm down and really had a great time. Poor mommy and daddy were a little shell shocked, though. I know, one day we'll laugh about this or miss it or something like that. So, little six year old Dusty went on every ride that he was tall enough to go on. Surprisingly, they are allowed to go on some pretty scary rides. Tony is 3 from the left and Dusty is right next to him in the 4th spot. Wasn't sure by his expression how much he was enjoying the full tilt experience, but he said he did. The thing that most impressed me was this bird in the poultry exhibit. The photo does not do it justice. The feathers were light pink with these powder blue feathers on its head. Looked like a hat to me, but then again most things look like a hat to me.

The CBC Interview

2010-07-20T18:57:00.004-04:00

O.K, My technological skills are really being tested. It took about a month, but I finally figured out how to convert the DVD of my CBC interview for the internet. Just a refresher- Queen Elizabeth visited Canada, beginning her visit in Nova Scotia and the CBC contacted me to do an interview about hats in her honour. I was a major stress case, but I pulled it together and managed to get all the lego off the floor. Hope this works.

Lilly's Hat

2010-07-11T14:03:00.009-04:00

Here's one of my favourite little girls in her new hat. Lilly and Dusty have been friends since we moved to town a couple of years ago. She's pretty comfortable here. She has often asked me for a hat, but she has her very own strong artistic vision and you just never know if you're going to get it right. So, last Thursday we did this one together. She chose the flower, ribbon and type of straw and was very adamant that it looked like a girl's version of Dusty's hat. Lucky for me Lilly's Dad, Jason, is a super talented professional photographer, so I scored these amazing photos. Check out Jason's web site by clicking here if you are in need of a wedding photographer. If any other big or little girl needs this hat as well then just click here.

The Queen and Baby ducklings

2010-06-26T20:45:00.008-04:00

What a whirlwind of a week. The CBC did come to my house on Monday to interview me. I would say I was sickly nervous for a few days prior, but when I woke up Monday morning I just calmed down and went into performance mode. Colleen Jones was really fun. She is something of a force of nature with so much exuberance and energy that it is plain to see how she got the job she has as a CBC anchor and is also a former world champion curler. So, It was Colleen and a camera man for about 45 minutes and really we just played hat shop which is what I do best. I did see the clip yesterday on our local Nova Scotia news and they did a great job. I'm on for less than a minute, but they were really kind to me with promotion. It will air on the national news on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. They weren't able to pinpoint a time, though. Hopefully it will end up on the web site and I'll post a link.
The Saturday and Sunday before the interview we had my very good friends Anna and Roland visiting from Massachusetts. Anna Vojtech is an amazing illustrator and artist. Check out her web site by clicking here. We went swimming at our local lake and there was a very calm Mama duck with 11 ducklings just hanging out. They had no fear of Dusty (not really great judgement) and allowed him to approach within a couple of feet. Such a nice diversion from thoughts of Royalty and television interviews and messy homes.
Yesterday moring I woke up to a panicked e-mail from a woman in Halifax who was invited to have lunch with the queen this coming Tuesday and desperately needed a hat. I quickly made her one of my Lilly Pad Fascinators for the occasion. It was great fun making it knowing that my hat was going to lunch with the queen. If you also need the same hat for a lunch date with the queen click here.
And now for the next 3 days I will do nothing but complete the wholesale order for Beauchapeau Hat Shop in Niagara on Lake. They have been very patient with me. Until next time....Happy Hatting!

Her Majesty, The CBC and me

2010-06-18T19:41:00.005-04:00

O.K, Here's the scoop. On Tuesday I got an e-mail from Colleen Jones at the CBC. The queen is visiting Canada on June 28th. She will begin her tour here in Nova Scotia. In honour of her visit the National news is going to do a little piece on hats. So, Colleen googled hats and Nova Scotia and guess whose blog came up? The short of it is that on Monday morning, the CBC will be arriving at my little ramshackle home studio to film and interview me and hear my humble opinion about the queen and hats.
The whole thing is quite surreal. When I was reading the e-mail I happened to have Dusty home from school sick that day. I had made him muffins and being the bad mommy that I am I refused to allow him a fourth muffin. So, there I am reading this rather significant news while wrestling a muffin tray out of Dusty's little hands. Nothing can keep you real like a child.
This upcoming interview, it turns out, was just the thing I needed to clean my studio. I have begged them to not film the laundry and lego on the way up to the studio. They have given me their word. If anyone knows a prayer for nervous wrecks please say it for me. I'll keep you posted.

Busy

2010-06-12T21:40:00.002-04:00

I seem to be getting into crazy busy mode again. It's all good, but I tend to become a wee bit panicked at times. (read anxiety attacks) Somehow I always get everything done, but if anyone knows a good method of getting from point A to point B while still breathing please let me know. Today was the Hubbard's market. I'm there every other Saturday. It was really fun and once again managed to sell lots of hats to lots of adorable women. Fortunately, this lady took my advice and chose the one you see on her head. It was just too perfect for her. The hankie that I used for this flower was one of my favourites. It reminded me of a fourth of July picnic.

Lupine Love

2010-06-05T20:29:00.005-04:00

When we lived in NY state I purchased some unknown to me flower called a Lupine. I never did get the thing to grow. My neighbour had a few in her garden that she prized and protected. Then we moved to Nova Scotia. One day I took a walk on the back harbour trail and Kaboom! The whole place was covered in pink, purple and white Lupines. It's truly a site to see. They look like the most exotic flower, but they grow like weeds. I even see little plants that have self seeded growing in my flower boxes. They are the floral gift to northern climates. Seeing the Lupines in bloom is worth a trip to Nova Scotia. Hope you enjoy.

Great Market Day

2010-05-29T20:30:00.009-04:00

Today was Hubbard's Market Day. It is official that I will be there every alternate Saturday throughout the season. It was nice and warm today and the crowds came out to buy great veggies, plants, cupcakes,coffee, flowers, jewelry, aprons and ofcourse.....hats. My new Raffia Coffee hats were a hit and I sold two of the three that I had made this week. I have been thinking quite a bit about who is my target market. As you can see from the photos of some of the ladies that purchased hats from me today that there is no way to figure this one out. I didn't actually sell a hat to the bear, but she was very interested.

More Coffee Hats

2010-05-26T19:17:00.005-04:00

I have had a fun few days making coffee hats. It hadn't occur to me to trim a straw hat with the burlap, so when it finally clicked it was one of those "I could have had a v8" moments. Still trying to decide if I like the grey background or not. If you have an opinion please let me know. To view all the details of this hat click here

A Perfect Weekend

2010-05-24T14:28:00.009-04:00

I was a bit panicked that Dusty had no school for 4 days in a row, I had no plans to speak of and Tony really needed the time to work on our house, but the very long weekend turned out to be completely perfect. On Thursday afternoon Dusty had a little class show of various fairy tales. I think even if you weren't a mom you would have to say it was totally adorable. Dusty was one of the three little pigs in "Les Trois Petits Cochons." That may have been type cast. He stopped several times during the performance to wave at me or pull up his underpants, but he never forget his next line.

Friday evening we had a bonfire on the beach. Dusty's first. We all gorged ourselves on Hotdogs, baked potatoes, marshmallows and music brought to us by our friend Michael. Not sure why it has taken us so long to do this, but we hope to make it a regular event.

Yesterday my friend Faye came with her two boys and we scootered around town and ate ice cream. Today Dusty's new buddy came by. Holden is four, but he and Dusty seem to share a brain. They are both obsessed with super heroes and play peacefully for hours on end. Dusty tells Holden what his next line should be and Holden performs beautifully. Holden is as hysterically polite as Dusty and it almost seems like a contest as to who can out excuse me the other. At some point today I ended up with four children and really it was quite fun. Now Dusty is over at Holden's house and there is peace in the land and a moment for Mama to blog.

I didn't do a stitch of work all weekend, the weather was perfect and I just got to enjoy being a mom without the conflicts of running a business. Life doesn't get better than this.

My new Raffia Hat

2010-05-20T21:06:00.004-04:00

Here's one of my latest creations. She is named Rachel and just loves sipping tea in the garden after a long hard day of pulling up weeds. She is made from raffia straw, linen and a vintage handkerchief. As my old native New Orleans roommate used to say- first you decide what you want to wear, then you find somewhere to wear it to and then you find someone to take you there. You can find this hat in my etsy shop by clicking here.

Behind Every Successful Hat Maker.....

2010-05-18T06:55:00.012-04:00

Behind every successful hat maker is a genius graphic designer. In my case it's my super talented friend, Andrea Dixon. Our partnership started 25 years ago at Lennie's Whole Foods in Cabbagetown, Toronto when I was assigned the job of teaching the new girl how to use the cash register. She was a natural. A couple years later while I was off tripping the light fantastic in NYC, Andrea was busy raising two kids, Gabriel and Sally with hubby Doug and cleaning baby vomit off the staircase. I used to come home from NY and hang out with Andrea and family in this alternate universe. About 15 years later Tony, then baby Dusty and I paid Doug and Andrea a visit. They were hanging out in their yard, drinking a beer and their kids were off somewhere without them while Tony and I tried to keep Dusty from eating the house. Once again a visit to an alternate universe.

Over the years I have watched Andrea's talent take many forms. Back in her Baby Mama days it could be seen in the little details of her home and then I remember her telling me she was going to take a night course in this thing called Photoshop. Suddenly she was showing me all these adorable illustrations. Sometime soon after that came the first hang tags for my hats. Over the years she has done so many amazing postcards, tags, labels and my web site.

Often, the illustrations of the hats were so uniquely her own creations, so it was no surprise when less than a year ago, Andrea started designing a line of her own fascinators. Her model is that little baby, Sally that I loved to visit when I came home from NY. Check out Andrea's amazing new web site by clicking here. It's all about her new fashion designs, but she is still busy doing graphic design as well, so don't hesitate to contact her if you need her particular brand of adorableness for your projects. Also take a peek at my web site by clicking here to see more of her illustrations.

Caroline Ghetes Photography

2010-05-12T07:34:00.006-04:00

At some point last year I was contacted by a wedding photographer, Caroline Ghetes, in Charlotte NC to see if I wouldn't mind lending her one of my fascinators in exchange for some professional photos. I checked out her web site and was pretty darn impressed. I just got the photos back yesterday. Almost can't believe it's my fascinator. Amazing what a good photographer and a beautiful model can do. Please check out Caroline"s web site by clicking here You can see my fascinator by clicking here

Sale, Sale, Sale

2010-05-10T07:17:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone, From May 10- May 17 I will be having a sale in my etsy shop. I will take 20% off your total purchase. I will issue a refund through paypal within 24 hrs of receiving your order. Click here to check out my shop. This photo is of my new Jenny fedora hat. You actually get to see the whole hat in my etsy shop. I kind of debated whether this partial view was worthy of being shared with the world, but I think I like it. It's the result of trying to photograph myself and missing the mark a bit. Happy accident or photography disaster?

a Day at the Market

2010-05-08T17:29:00.005-04:00

It was the grand Opening of the Hubbard's market today. Hauled myself out of bed at 5:30 a.m. Not a pretty picture. Fortunately by the time I arrive at 7 to set up, I am verbal. Always so fun to have the ladies trying on hats. Sometimes, for newer designs it's great to be able to actually see them on customers. Luckily this gorgeous girl came and tried on my new fascinator hat a.k.a, Amelia Rose. Have my eye on some great high bush blueberry bushes for our not yet existent garden. The good news is they live for 75 years and the bad news is that you don't get fruit for 2 years. Now the trick will be to live as long as the bushes. If anyone out there has some suggestions for preparing the earth please let me know. Click here to see my fascinator hat on etsy

To Market To Market

2010-05-06T20:13:00.009-04:00

Today was the last day of the season for the indoor Lunenburg Farmers' market run by Deborah and Steve at their cafe on Lincoln st. That's the bad news. The good news is it's time for the summer market outside of the community centre on Thursdays from 8-12. That just means more of a good thing and in the sun (hopefully). Yours truly will be there with hats. I will also be at the Hubbard's market at the Hubbard's barn this Saturday and many more to come. Of course I hope everyone comes to buy a hat, but I think these photos should provide many more reasons to show up. It's all low fat. Really.

Coffee Coffee Coffee

2010-04-29T19:45:00.005-04:00

This is a hat that has been in my head for a long time. For someone that lives for her next cup of coffee this hat was inevitable. I'm hoping to make it a series. Lucky for me I live in a town with the most incredible organic coffee Roaster/Cafe- The Laughing Whale, so I have access to an endless supply of these colourful coffee bags. You can check it out on my etsy site.

My sunny new hat

2010-04-26T13:31:00.004-04:00

I'm kind of excited about this new baby. The straw is so vintagy looking. I was searching for a wide brim design where I could use my vintage hankie flowers. What do you think? Click here for more details

pandemonium, chaos and a very happy birthday

2010-04-25T17:38:00.005-04:00

Wednesday evening, 10 p.m bake cupcakes. Planet earth for my six year old earth day birthday boy. Please don't ask me to identify any continents. Use of imagination is highly recommended. Thursday- Head to school with cupcakes, teach dancing to kids. Thursday evening, bake more cupcakes for family party. Friday- excitement continues for imminent Saturday kid party. Friday night- bake cake, make 4 pizza doughs. Satuday morning- Tony who lives in fear of there not being enough food requests two more pizza doughs. Resistance is useless. Clean house, prepare excuses for absence of bathroom sink. 11 a.m- guests arrive. Extremely proud of child for not grabbing gifts and tearing them open when people walk in. 11:15- vague sense of happy, wild children and many parents with beer bottles in hand. 5:15- Last guests leave. (we enjoyed their company and ignored children at this point.) 7 p.m, Dusty begins planning his party for next year.
Sunday- Catatonic parents, child volunteered to go to bed at 6 p.m.

The stencil that saved the Floor

2010-04-21T07:02:00.003-04:00

Finally have a photo of my studio floor. It turned out a tad more neon than I had anticipated. I painted these giant stencils on and now I'm a happy camper. Stencils can be found here.

Madeline goes to the Pyramids

2010-04-15T21:37:00.002-04:00

A lovely customer who purchased this Madeline headband from Lilliput hats in Toronto sent me this photo. So nice to know that my hat is living a life of adventure and travelling the world. (and on a camel)

Hankies in the Wind

2010-04-12T21:10:00.004-04:00

Just got a new shipment of vintage hankies. I washed them and hung them up to dry on my neighbour's line since we don't have one yet. The prettiest site I saw today.

Drum Roll Please

2010-04-09T21:04:00.009-04:00

Here it is folk, the moment you've all been waiting for. Photos of our new/old, colourful and beautiful on the inside/ haunted on the outside house. I'll say the same thing I say to everyone that walks into my home...Please excuse the mess. I know I have a good excuse, but the truth is it doesn't really ever get better. This is the downstairs. I just uncovered the floor in my studio and the bedroom is a sea of laundry. The bathroom looks like a tenement building on the Lower East side. So, this is all I'm ready to reveal at this point. Also coming at some point in the future are wall kitchen cabinets, draw pulls and curtains. Right now we hang our coats in the windows at night. Good thing we have great neighbours. I have to say, work in progress and all, I've never been happier. Hope you enjoy.

Crawling to the Starting Line

2010-04-02T20:27:00.009-04:00

I wish I were six years old. On Wednesday the school bus dropped Dusty off in front of his new home for the first time. He walked into a house with boxes stacked up to the ceiling, no refrigerator or kitchen counter, no sink in the bathroom and furniture stacked on top of each other. He took one look at the scene and said, " I have just one thing to say, Mom......THIS IS AWESOME!!! Definitely gave me a little boost. Our move was a combination of hell on earth and amazing. The day before our move one of the guys working for us plugged in the fridge that came with the house. It was probably 30 years old, or so. A couple hours later Tony was chatting with a different contractor casually mentioning that he hoped our appliances would last us a few years. The guy who had plugged in the fridge a few hours before chimed in, "Yeah, that freezer sure is hot." Tony went to check it out and sure enough it was too hot to touch. Had Tony walked out for the night without casually speculating about our appliances there is a pretty good chance that our house would have burned down. So, the good new is that the house is still standing and the bad news is that we had to buy a new fridge yesterday. Needless to say we went out for dinner on Wednesday. We went to out local diner, Large Marge's. Dusty wanted to sit by himself at the counter while Tony and I shared a booth. Dusty loves to chat up strangers. He told the owners, " We just moved into our new house today. It's really colourful and pretty inside. Outside, not so much. It kind of looks like a haunted house." The kid summed it up in a couple of sentences.

Now for the amazing part. One of the things you learn when moving is who your friends are. The last time we moved, about sixteen months ago, our friends Aimee and Julien spent the whole day helping us get into our new place, so I was pretty amazed when Aimee, who just had her third baby a few weeks ago told us that Julien offered to help us out again. My friend Danette, who designs these incredible bags made from recycled sail cloth showed up bright and early with her boyfriend, Rick and the two of them spent the whole day lugging boxes. Topping off the talent was my friend, Katja, designer of these adorable purses made from bathing caps and mother to the famous Lilly that gets mentioned on my blog quite a bit.

Moving day was not without a few glitches. The weight of the washing machine leaning into the weight of Tony was enough to put a pretty impressive hole in the wall. The only moving truck available was the biggest size and Tony took a little chunk off the gutter of our former house. Two things on our fix it list. We discovered that when we flushed the toilet we got a geyser the size of old faithful come out of our kitchen sink. I'll spare you more description. The plumber has since fixed this, but it was a little touch and go there for a while.

So now I have been spending half my days trying to unpack boxes and the other half at our old place cleaning. It's still not cleaned out yet. Dusty being off school for four days doesn't really make it easier.

Oh, I forgot to mention... We have had the most amazing welcome back in our old neighbourhood. The door has been open and kids have been walking in and out, Dusty loves to cross the street to visit our neighbour and his surrogate grandmother, Margaret. Our block is one of the few plateaus in Lunenburg, so Dusty has been enjoying riding his bike in circles in front of our house. Today he placed his bike down right behind the car and unfortunately Tony did not know it was there and ran over the shiny red XR14 Zellers special. Needless to say, Dusty did not take it like a man. He took it like a six year old boy. I guess being six is not always a bed of roses. Saturday plan- Buy new bike. Pray they still make the xr14.

A very Random Story/ Angels in NYC

2010-03-26T20:33:00.005-04:00

The randomness of this story was either caused by old age (My life flashing before my eyes), serious procrastination (because I should be packing boxes for our move in a few days) or because of the randomness of the internet. Today I was doing the usual time wasting on the internet. I decided to google The One of a Kind Craft Show in Toronto because I sometimes play with the idea of doing that show. Their site led me to their blog and one more click led me to their facebook fan page. This is where I saw a comment from a woman named Devorah Miller. Well, Devorah Miller was someone that was a dance student with me way way back in Toronto when I was probably around 15. If I have the numbers mixed up just know it was a long time ago and child birth and motherhood sucked most of my brain cells out of my head.
One look at her name and this memory came flooding my mind. When I was all of 20, I hopped a flight to NYC to become a dancer. I'm sorry mom and dad, at 42 I would never dream of doing anything so foolish and I hope Dusty never leaves home. So, I didn't have a place to live or even know where I was planning to study. I didn't bother with a student visa. I just figured it would all work out. The fact that it did all work out I accredit to many of the angels who crossed my path in NYC. The first one that I met was named Uncle Izzie. Because I went to NYC on a tourist visa I did not have a social security number. Although technically you are not supposed to need one to open a bank account in the states, just try it and you will see that it's close to impossible. It was the beginning of September and the lines at all the banks were out the door. I tried two banks only to be turned down after standing in each line for over an hour. I got to Chase Manhattan and stood in that line with the fear of the same outcome. I was dressed in a guatamalan sort of poncho and a bunch of macrame bracelets. I learned to ditch this sort of outfit 6 months later after having a cigarette put out in my hair, but that's another story. There was a sweet old man behind me with a yiddish accent. He looked at my bracelets and made a not that funny joke about how many watches I had. I laughed anyways because I knew it would mean a lot to him if I did. He asked me what I was doing in NYC and I told him how I was a dancer and I had just moved from Toronto. He became so excited and said, (please apply strong yiddish accent) "Torrronnnttoooo, OY, do you you know my Devorah Miller?" Well, as it turned out I did know his Devorah Miller. I don't know if it was his grand daughter or grand niece, but he clearly loved her. "Oh you Shayna Maydele, I'm Uncle Izzie, if you need anything you just let me know." "Well," I said "If you could get me a bank account that would be great." I explained my predicament and he said no problem he knew everyone at this bank. Sure enough he did. When it was my turn he came over to the desk. The teller smiled at him and said, "Hello, Izzie, What can I do for You?" He said, "You make sure this nice young girl gets a bank account. When we got to the the question of social security number she just skipped right over it.
This story really has nothing to do with nothing, but it's amazing how all these memories stay with you and one random click of the mouse can bring it all back.

The countdown.

2010-03-23T20:57:00.006-04:00

Well, we are one week away from moving day. I wish I could say there was a toilet a tub, a sink or a put together kitchen counter, but instead I'll say we work well under pressure. I think I really understand what it means to be overwhelmed. I'm not nervous. I'm just moving really slowly and I am having a lot of trouble focusing on what to do next. I'm not that unfamiliar with this state of mind since this is our third move in less than two years. I'll spring into action any minute now. Our little gift of endless sunshine is done for some time. Today it was pouring rain, damp and windy. The recycling didn't get picked up because the bag flew from the curb 20 feet back onto our lawn. I pulled up a photo of one of next fall's winter hats just to keep me real. This is Ruby in my beautiful new minky baroque fabric.

Spring Has Sprung in My Mind

2010-03-15T13:06:00.003-04:00

Two Weeks from moving date is not the best time to get spring fever, but one can't always control these things. Right now I should be packing boxes or painting our bathroom, but it's just so darn glorious outside. It's Nova Scotia cool, but the light is screaming hope and flowers. In the midst of cleaning out my studio I found many tiny felt flowers that I have made over the past few months as well as a long green felt rope from another uncompleted project. I started twisting the rope and playing with the flower placement and before I knew it I was seized by procrastination and this was the end result. I have just listed it in my etsy shop although I'm not really ready to part with it. This, of course may not be an issue. Happy almost Spring.

Old Ivory

2010-03-09T20:55:00.005-05:00

This is one of my new Priscilla wedding fascinators. I love this hand dyed ribbon. It's made from silk velvet. It seems so bridal to me, but I wonder if there's someway of using it for us non brides.

Front Page Joy

2010-03-06T17:52:00.002-05:00

It's always so much fun when I go to check my etsy shop and I can tell by the ton of new hearts that I was probably on the front page. Here it is. It's always a thrill.

Etsy Treasury Feature

2010-03-02T20:59:00.003-05:00

Check out this gorgeous treasury that my Veronica Hat was featured in. Click here to see it on etsy

Cutting Edge Stencils To The Rescue

2010-02-27T21:20:00.005-05:00

So, I finally got the floors in my studio painted. I have this very pretty soft green on the wall. I thought I'd try one shade darker for the floors. Well, little did I know that The high gloss of the floor paint would turn the apple green into a neon safety green. Combined with the walls it makes me really understand the meaning of the word eyesore. It's a very bright room and the effect is sort of like looking directly at the sun with your eyes wide open. My solution is this fabulous reusable stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils on Etsy. It is almost 3 feet wide, so I figure a few of these painted on in a contrasting color will break it up a bit. Of course I kind of have my heart set on orange, so I just might be a glutton for punishment. I'll post photos once I have it completed.

Third st. Hand Crafters

2010-02-25T08:26:00.009-05:00

After a long hard day of playing Star Wars, Bionicles, cops and robbers and any other game involving shooting (only the bad guys), I get a strong urge to play with dolls. These are the ones I want to play with. They are made by Third st. Hand Crafters who are from the Halifax area. Click here to check their etsy shop and their blog.

Spring is Coming

2010-02-22T16:29:00.004-05:00

I have decided to will spring to come by posting my favourite spring felt hat. I always find that early spring in northern climates is tough for hat lovers. One really wants to ditch the fleece, but straw just doesn't feel right. This is my answer to a persistent hat question. I made this hat from merino wool. It was based on a beautiful vintage straw hat that I have in my collection from the 1920s. Happy Spring! O.K.....soon.

Some Old Photos

2010-02-20T16:19:00.010-05:00

I have been looking at some old photos and found these guys. This was from the days of my amazing show booth that Tony made for me. When he was building it he said that it would be a success if I could set it up by myself. Ultimately he called it one of the biggest failures of his life. It was so gorgeous and I miss it, but poor Tony ended up coming to every show with me. I think he eventually took a sledge hammer to it. These photos are about nine years old, hence the brown hair and lack of worry lines.

My dance With the Sander

2010-02-18T19:59:00.006-05:00

I am finally making a useful citizen of myself. Tony pointed out to me that if I didn't spend several hours a day on flickr and etsy and looking at blogs that I might actually have a little time to help out at the house. O.K. guilty as charged. So for the past few days I have been at our new house trying to get it done so that we can move in next month. Some of you may have heard something about moving in in January, but that was a distant dream. I finished painting my studio and today I sanded the floors so that I can begin to paint them. Tony gave the choice of two electric sanders. The first one was small and sweet and made a noise similar to a compact car. The second of the sanders was bigger, uglier, and made the noise of a large steam ship. It also hooked up to the shop vac which makes a roar of its own. I tried to use the more powerful of the two because I didn't want to look like a girl. Let's just say I got taken for a bit of a ride. the darn thing goes in circles and I looked a bit like an out of control hula dancer being flung about the room. Determined to not let the monster get the better of me I tightened my grip, but the vibrations going through my left arm and through my body were threatening to fling my teeth out of my mouth. After about ten minutes I cried , "Uncle, I'm a girl, it's true!" I turned the beast off and settled on my little compact friend. It took a bit longer, but it was way more fun. Every once in a while this mysterious caulking would become dislodged from the cracks between the floor boards. A pinkish color caught my eye. I unraveled the paper and this is what I found. the comic was dated 1949. Who knows what I'll find tomorrow.

Happy Valentines Day

2010-02-13T19:36:00.003-05:00

Here's to the loves of my life. Hope I can take this picture again in 5 years.

Thanks to Art of The Moment

2010-02-11T21:19:00.005-05:00

Just wanted to say thanks to Amy from Art of The Moment in New Brunswick for doing a feature on me on her blog. Seems that the Maritimes is just flooded with talent. Check out her beautiful blog by clicking on her tree frog key chain. Also just listed another summer linen cloche on etsy. Summer really is coming, you know.

The Overrated Letter L

2010-02-08T20:38:00.002-05:00

My son, Dusty, was born articulate. Honestly, I'm not being an insufferably proud mom or if I am it's still true. He's a little fat head. He can't help himself he's the five year old village elder. He loves language and therefore tries to make his sentences as long and winded as possible. The more syllables a word has the more excited he becomes. I'm not sure whether this is cruel or not, but I have made a point of not correcting his pronunciation or when he uses a word incorrectly. Every L would come out as a W and more often than not Tony and I just started pronouncing our L's like W's as well, for the sake of family solidarity. With two of his best friends being Lilly and Wiley it was really amusing. Listening to Dusty talk was like hearing Elmer Fudd expwain the theowy of wewativity. Slowly I noticed that Dusty was becoming aware of his little speech impediment. I overheard him explaining to both Lilly and Wiley that he has trouble with his L's and that is why he doesn't say their names pwopewy. So, about a week ago Dusty looked up from watching some brain eating Zombie on Scooby Doo, paused the DVD and announced that he can now say the letter L. He took his sweet time, put his tongue to the roof of his mouth and said LLLego....LLLLLillly........LLLLolllipop. Tony and I smiled and told him how proud we were of him. He unpaused the DVD and when we were sure he was back in the land of Scooby we put our heads down on the kitchen table and cried. Who would do this to our child? Of course, we later learned that one of his teachers had taught him and I suppose that is what teachers are supposed to do. Dusty may have been ready, but we weren't. I am proud at his determintion. He is just going at those L's with gusto. Nothing can stop him now. Every once in a while he gets tired and falls back into his W ways. I cherish those sentences, knowing that progress can't be stopped.

A slightly different angle

2010-02-05T07:48:00.006-05:00

Well, now I'm really having fun with the camera. Thought I'd experiment with some unlikely views of a hat. This is a straw fedora that I originally made for my friend, Andrea. I just completed another one for Beauchapeau Hat Shop in Niagara on The Lake and have decided to offer it in my etsy shop. I always loved that striped gros grain that you find on vintage boater hats, but it's hard to find, so I made my own by sewing two different gros grain ribbons together.

It Never Gets Old

2010-02-03T07:11:00.004-05:00

Yesterday this guy was right outside my window. Yes, I do spend a lot of time staring out the window. By the time I got my camera he was a little further away. I know , deer are everywhere and they are a menace to all backyard vegetation, but I can't help it I think they are majestic and every time I see one it feels like I've spotted a rare wild animal.

Nova Scotia Sunrise

2010-02-02T06:59:00.003-05:00

It's cold and beautiful out there. Here's what I got to look at out my kitchen window this morning.

Re: Treat

2010-01-31T08:05:00.008-05:00

Not so long ago I used to peddle my wares door to door in any town I happened to visit, but as my hats became more popular it became impossible to sell the hats and make the hats. Now I have the most wonderful Sales Rep in Toronto, Doreen Smith of Instyle design. It is wonderful to not do it all, but I now have so many stores that I have not set foot into and whose owners I have never met. I definitely miss knowing the person, building and town behind the name. Yesterday I googled one of my stores that just ordered some summer hats from me and what a great discovery. Re: treat is in Elora Ont. Its owner, Paul Seeley, loves colour and makes a mission of teaching his customers to love colour as well. These photos make me want to go there. If you are fortunate enough to live nearby then make sure to stop in and then just put yourself in Paul's hands. I think he knows what he's doing. Check out his fabulous web site.

Amelia Rose

2010-01-30T10:43:00.004-05:00

I have been having so much fun designing for next year's fall line. I gave myself the challenge of coming up with a fleece fascinator. The thing is that fleece is so practical and fascinators have nothing at all to do with practicality. So, this is what I came up with. I have taken some liberties with the word fascinator. I guess it's really more a tuque or cloche, but it's mostly about the giant flower, so I think it's legal. I have put these two up for sale in my etsy shop. There are a lot more colours on the way.

A Perfect Birthday.

2010-01-26T15:58:00.006-05:00

At my age the thing I want to do most on my birthday is nothing. It was an entirely successful day. Slept in with the help of Tony who got Dusty off to the bus. Lounged around and drank coffee. Made a mess without cleaning it up. Then I headed off to the spa for my massage. Unbelievable. The massage itself was wonderful, but best of all was the steam shower. Tony has been trying to convince me that we need to have a steam shower in our new bathroom. I couldn't quite wrap my head around that sort of luxury, but after today I am a believer. I found that it was impossible to have a thought in my head while in that steam shower. Not that my thoughts are in any way profound, but they are many and loud. For half an hour they were completely silenced. The best part of the day was when Dusty got off the school bus. First Gerry the bus driver sang me happy birthday and then Dusty announced that not only had he made me a card, but several children in his class and his teacher had as well. How sweet is that? Merci, Mme. Danielle. Life is good.

By Jove I think I've got it.

2010-01-25T20:36:00.003-05:00

Had quite a bit of fun with my camera and tripod the other day. I am photographing outside right now, so the one big challenge was that my nose got redder and redder from the cold as my little photo session went on. Good thing for photoshop. Not only did I get rid of the Rudolph look, but I was able to take a few decades off my face. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is my birthday. I'm treating myself to a massage at Spa Ninety4 at the Lunenburg Arms. It's been a few years since I've done that.