New Studio

Our vacation consisted of painting the studio since we had to wait for the weather to cooperate.  Looks a little like a gingerbread house!  We still have a couple of things to finish plus hang my sign but it looks great!

Deer Ferns

I absolutely love ferns and living in a rain forest we have tons of ferns. Mainly Bracken Fern and Sword Fern. A couple of other ferns which are also popular in this area but not as easy to find are Maidenhair Fern which leaves look like ginkgo and Deer Fern which looks very similar to the Sword Fern but much smaller.  I have been using all of these ferns lately in my platters.

Deer Fern (Blechnum spicant) is an interesting fern because it has two types of leaves. The sterile leaves have flat, wavy-margined leaflets 5 to 8 millimeters wide, while the fertile leaves have much narrower leaflets, each with two thick rows of sori (spores) on the underside.

In the two photos below (click on the photos for a closer view), the fertile leaves at the upright leaves in the photo on the left.  You can see the difference on the square platter on the left.  The sterile leaves are the flatter leaves at the bottom of the plant as seen in the platter on the right.  There aren't too many deer fern where I have found them so I was careful to only pick a few of the fertile leaves otherwise they will not have a chance to reproduce.

Headscarves! NEW!!

I know it is July but it is more like Julember here in the Pacific Northwest this summer. Last winter my friend Sandy suggested I make head scarves  as they were selling like hot cakes in Whistler! Perfect way to use up all those wonderful balls of yarn for which I do not have enough to make a sweater.  This headscarf allows you to wear your hair up or down while keeping your ears warm and preventing heat from escaping from the top of your head plus you will be oozing with style! They are adjustable with 3 button holes on the back so they will fit any head size or hairdo.

Each one will be unique as I have so many individual skeins of yarn as well as some will even have my ceramic buttons on them.

$15 for yarn blends and $20 for 100% wool

Pottery from one of my Favourite Potters!

I have been following Charles Hughes' pottery for 7 or 8  years now.  I was instantly drawn to his glazes.  Charles and his lovely wife Rowen Rose as well as his son Morgan, has been involved in pottery for years. It is a tough way to make a living as it is very labour intensive with very long days and for Charles and Rowen, usually 7 days a week.  But they do  it out of love and not many of us are fortunate to love our jobs like Charles and his family.

Take a look at the French Butter Keeper that just arrived in the mail today!  I am so honoured to now own one of Hughes Pottery's creations!

For more information about Hughes Pottery you can visit their website, Facebook Page or the online Etsy store.

Piggies!

This has nothing to do with yarn or clay but I'm on vacation this week!  This afternoon I had the pleasure of assisting with some pig wrangling at Rojo Pez Ranch in the Squamish Valley.  Although I had the easiest job of all just making sure the piggies didn't escape their pen and take photos!  What a great day!  Listen to this little squealer!