introducing: rosegolden

Today I am very pleased to announce a new project that Erin of Atlantic Treefox and I have been working on: rosegolden. I've always really loved Erin's photographs and her large scale posters (this one hangs above my bed), and a little while ago she proposed that we collaborate on a poster design. We decided to make posters of our flower photos. Each one will feature delicately hand-painted gold leaf touches, all done by Erin, for a little bit of subtle shimmer.

I love working with Erin -- as some of you know, we maintain dreamcats together, although these days it's mostly Erin who keeps it going.

The posters are available now at the rosegolden shop. We hope you like them!

ETA: Whoops! As of late August, we have decided to shut down the shop. Thanks for your interest, though.

glacial

As I mentioned on our Facebook page, one of the effects of the Canada Post lockout (which is now over) is that we weren't able to keep up with production since all the supplies we had ordered in the weeks before wound up stuck in transit. It will take us a while to get back to the point where we can take orders, although we're hopeful that everything will arrive this week. To those of you who have had to wait a ridiculous amount of time to receive your orders, please accept my apologies.

In the meantime, I have had all sorts of free time (that's an exaggeration), and this weekend I decided to do a little sewing for myself, which I haven't done since last fall. While at the fabric store I found some jogging fleece ends on sale (three metres for less than $10) and three things came to mind immediately: 1. the Lover Practice Roll sweatshirt that I am still obsessed with (even though I made my own version with a sweatshirt from the thrift store, and even though I discovered that the Lover one is way too cropped for my bod after I tried it on at Robber, where it is on sale); 2.  this amazing DIY that Katie posted; 3.  this cool Robert Geller sweatshirt that I've been seeing all over the internet.

I thought I'd try combining it all. I used a Built by Wendy Home Stretch raglan pattern with variations for a Flashdance-inspired top, which was so easy to make. Seriously. It took longer to cut out the fabric than to sew it. I left the hem and neckline raw; it looks pretty raggedy in these pictures but it's not so bad in person.

I used Dylon black dye, which is the product used in the Brightest Young Things DIY. Black dye is ridiculously messy, and it took forever to rinse out of the fabric and out of the pot that I used to dye the sweatshirt in, although I used only half a package rather than the 2 packages recommended in that DIY. The end result was quite paler, and had shades of blue in it, which I wasn't expecting. I was a little disappointed at first, because it wasn't what I had pictured and also because it looked sloppy in the places where the grey and blue blended. When it dried, I decided that I liked the glacial effect. Oh the beauty of hand-dyeing! So imprecise, and when it's subtle, difficult to photograph properly as well.

I sewed another sweatshirt last night to try again, although next time I will use more dye. (Also, when I sewed this one I didn't adjust the pattern at the time of cutting my fabric, but rather cut the neckline after sewing -- I didn't want to take it to such Flashdance extremes.) And maybe I will not use black  dye anywhere near my gleaming, white bathroom again.

into the fields tote

We recently made some denim totes for Robber, to go with the window displays we made a while back. The posters have come down, but the totes are now available.

They are made from a really nice 10 ounce dark denim, and have been pre-treated to prevent dye transfer.

(I really just wanted to sneak in a photo of their amazing shoe selection.)

You can get one exclusively at Robber, which is located at 863 Queen Street West here in Toronto. If you live outside of Toronto and must have one, they would be happy to help you, once the postal situation in Canada is sorted out.

newly acquired

A few things I've acquired in the past little while, all made by some pretty cool people.

I had been thinking about jewelry from We Never Sleep ever since I saw Anja's post about it in March. I was struck by how the pieces are so carefully thought out and beautifully designed, and even a little bit spooky in the best way possible. A few weeks ago I became obsessed with finding a long necklace since most of the necklaces I have are quite short. I spent some time trying to find just the thing, but kept coming back to the Shriner's Fez and the Jewel of the Order. I finally bought the Shriner's Fez about a month ago, and it's amazing. Really well-made, plus it satisfies that need of mine to play with something in my hands constantly (I have a lot of nervous energy, I guess).

This wallet came to me via Casey of Draught Dry Goods, who makes incredible things with leather (I love the Olivier Camera Strap and the Getaway Duffel in particular). I had wanted to start using a slimmer wallet, and he offered to send me this thin wallet in exchange for a tie & totes. It's perfect! I'm really loving natural leather these days.

The Paige tote from Fabric & Handle is made out of one of some of favourite materials (yarn-dyed linen, canvas, leather) and has become my designated picnic bag. Now that summer is here we keep it by the door with a throw inside, ready for the park (which is just behind the house, lucky us!).

This isn't exactly an acquisition, but after I saw the friendship bracelet DIY on Honestly WTF, I decided to try it out (friendship bracelets are so hot right now, you guys). Sometimes I feel a bit weird revisiting things from my youth, but it was really fun to make. Now that I've finished the bracelet, these colours look great against my tanned arms. Summer crafts!

other people's gardens

Since our shared yard doesn't grow anything but weeds and feral kittens, I'm glad that our Dufferin Grove neighbours have the most beautiful flowers in their front yards. Over the past few days one of my favourite things to do has been to take a walk along the few streets surrounding our apartment to take pictures of all the flowers & cats hanging out with the flowers. It's a good way to get my mind off unpleasant things and to enjoy the heavy heads of peonies bowing towards the sidewalk, the fuschia roses, and delicate poppies. As much as I love fresh-cut flowers, I just love these flowers that seem to grow slightly wild (rarely tended?), like roses in London. The recent rain seems to have made the gardens particularly lush and green this year.

If there were such a thing as a spirit flower, mine would probably be a peony (cf. header, above).

I adored Brian's "roses, dusk" post so much.

I bought this peony perfume oil from Long Winter Farm recently, and while it's a bit too strong for me to wear as perfume, I like to keep it in my pocket and give a sniff once in a while. It's such a pretty scent.

bicyclette

Bicyclette recently started carrying our totes, and the other day I stopped by to take some pictures of the shop. It's a sweet confection of a shop, filled with pretty lacy clothes and decorated with carefully collected antiques and neon. I definitely recommend that you stop by for a visit one day. Say hello to Paige, Emma, and Emily before you head to Trinity Bellwoods park to hang out in the grass and have cotton candy dreams.

Bicyclette is located at 880 Queen St. West. The shop also has a very cute blog.

(It's an ultra-rare dip-dyed "Dream" tote!)