My Sister was the Birthday Girl

My sister celebrated her birthday recently so I thought I'd show you the card I made for her and the way I wrapped her gifts. She likes penguins, so when I nabbed this gift wrap in the after Christmas sale bin, I knew it would be used for her. However, I didn't want to just use it all up wrapping the presents, so I used the motif on the card I made. But it didn't look fancy enough on it's own, so I added a couple of snowflakes salvaged from a used Christmas card. (Nick gave me my new cutting mat for Christmas and it's pretty sweet being able to just lay it out wherever I want and get to work!)

Since one of the gifts was pretty big, to wrap it I re-purposed a department store shopping bag, by covering the store's name with more of the penguin paper. Then I wrapped the smaller things in, (you guessed it!) second hand tissue paper. So the only brand new bits in the whole card and wrap was the card-stock and envelope, a bit of construction paper for the mat/frame! Just call me Thrifty Lou, or to use a family nickname from childhood .. 'Saves-y Girl'.

Shopping for Buttons on Queen Street West

* * * UPDATE : “Trillium Buttons” has moved a few blocks to the west, to 480 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON Canada.  It’s still an excellent place to go for buttons and other sewing notions. * * * —————-Last week I found myself in need of a couple of buttons, one for a crocheting project I'm working on and another to match one that I lost on a coat I love. The buttons on this coat are not common, so I was actually thinking that I would have to replace all of them because I was doubtful I'd find a close match. So I headed to Queen Street West near Spadina, where I knew there was a shop that sold buttons, but which I had never been inside. Little did I know that I was entering button nirvana when I went into Trillium Button and Neveren's Sewing Supply Shop on Queen Street West, near the southwest corner of Spadina.There were shelves and shelves of boxes with an unbelievable assortment of buttons. I was able to get exactly what I needed, even finding an extremely close match to the one I had lost. The way it works is you look at all the samples on the outside of the boxes and choose what you want and then one of the clerks gets your order out of the box.And the people who own this shop are so sweet and funny! I asked if it was ok if I took some photos and the fellow said sure, and then began pointing out spots that he thought would make good photo ops. I felt sheepish leaving with merchandise totaling under only $2.00 but they had no problem with my tiny purchase, thanking me kindly for dropping in. If you ever need buttons in Toronto, I recommend Neveren's located at 451 Queen Street West (south side, just west of Spadina).A little history of this stretch of Queen Street West between Spadina and Bathurst, will give you a better idea as to why there would be such a store located here, amongst all the cool clothing and shoe boutiques. This area was once known as the garment district (and is now called The Fashion District), where all sewists and clothing designers would come to get their fabrics and notions. South on King Street there used to be many clothing manufacturing factories. But the area is changing as we speak and what remains of those days are a few fabric stores, and this charming button shop! I'll let you know when it has been replaced by The Gap. (Note: I'm all for progress and find all the changes happening in the area to be exciting; I'm not complaining, just observing, though I will miss great stores like this if/when they have to leave the area.)

Much Love Monday : Candy Hearts and Birds in a Tree

With this post I am participating in Much Love Monday over at the blog Much Love. The guidelines are that you post a picture that includes a heart, and a description of something you love.

My photo is not particularly original, given the time of year, however I wanted to work on taking close-ups with my new camera. Plus, I really hadn't tasted one of these love heart candies since I was a kid and used to get them at the skating rink, which was the only candy counter I can remember ever having them. So when I saw these I bought some, curious to see how they tasted. The ones I used to love as a child were actually called 'Love Tarts' and they were a bit sour and sweet at the same time. These were not the same thing, and I have to say that, while being pretty, I don't think they taste very good!

I had a laugh when I had them out and Nick walked by. Without missing a beat, or actually reading any of the hearts, he said "I wrote that .. and I wrote that". Funny guy <3

As for the story part of my entry, it features a bun, (as in a bread roll). During the week I noticed that a squirrel (presumably) had left a whole one tucked securely in the crook of a tree that I could see from my window. I often see squirrels about the yard carrying pieces of bagels and cake, trying to find good spots to hide them for later. In this particular situation, they had hidden their treasure quite well, because, while it was in plain sight to me, it remained in the crook of that tree for several days. Nobody had discovered the bun ... yet.

It is gone now though, and I had the good fortune of seeing exactly what happened to it. As I was working at my computer yesterday, a ray of sunshine broke through the clouds that have darkened the sky for the past few days. So I stood up to have a stretch and take a look out the window. There, safe in the tree was the bun, but literally 10 seconds after I looked out, a flock of beautiful speckled black birds landed in the tree en masse, and found the bread. There must have been at least 30 birds flying all together. Their pecking at the food knocked it onto the ground where they each tried to help themselves to a bite. Some walked away with large pieces in clutched in their yellow beaks, and others were not so lucky. After the food had all been partaken in, whatever method of communication they use that keeps them together told them that it was time to move along, and in unison they all took wing and flew away. The whole exchange took less than a minute and I loved being able to see it happen.

As for the squirrel that lost his loot, I think he may be coming upon a pile of discarded love heart candies in the near future.

Thanks for reading. Please consider dropping over to Anna's blog to see her Much Love Monday entry, and those of the others who have linked up. Maybe you'll do an entry of your own, and if you do, I'd love to see it!

[Edit: Links to Much Love Monday have been removed because the site is no longer active.]

xo
loulou

Bits and Pieces : January 2012

It's the last Sunday of the month, the time when I make a post that includes some odds-and-ends photographs that I've taken throughout the month.

Eddie Helps With the Laundry