Before & After - A's Wardrobe

This wardrobe was in my client A's family for many decades and for the last number of years it was stored in her uncle's basement, almost forgotten. With A's vision and my rollers and brushes, we have managed to turn this old lady into a piece that A will love for many years to come.

Newest Poppy - Little Turquoise Desk

Newest from my workshop is this cute turquoise desk. To be honest, when I first bought it I had a bit of a buyer's remorse as I wasn't sure that much could become of it. Unfortunately there is no before photo to share with you. I always think about this very important step when I am half way into the refinishing process. All doubt aside, I think it turned out quite cute, and is now posted in my Etsy shop and stored at Freedom Clothing Collective waiting to be snatched away and loved by the new owner.

Lampshade DIY

I  have wanted to learn to make a lamp shade for a long time, I have followed blogs, online tutorials, talked to people who are really good at it, but every time I got to it, something went wrong and I ended up abandoning the project. As a spirited crafter I found it really annoying that there was  a seemingly easy project out there that I was not able to master. So I started looking for ways to make a lampshade and that will guarantee success. And I found it. I armed myself with a pair of scissors, jute twine, and old lampshade and lot of patience.

To start I removed the fabric from the shade and tied a knot at the top of the structure where one of the vertical bars connected with the top ring and started wrapping it with twine as tightly as possible making sure that the metal ring was not showing through. And then continued on to the body. As I reached each one of the spokes I wrapped the twine once around it and proceeded to the next. This way I made sure that each of the spokes was neatly wrapped and that the twine was secure in place without worrying that it will start sliding down.

I was quite happy with the outcome, but thought that some decor would be a welcome addition. So I asked Karen for some left-over fabric and buttons from her sewing projects and little abstract flowers/starbursts were created. The only remaining thing was to pair the shade up with an equally quirky lamp base.

And there you have it. The lamp is available for purchase at  our store or online via Etsy.

If you find this entry inspiring enough to attempt to make your own shade, send me some photos of your work, I will be delighted to share it on the blog.

Trinkets and Treasures

I love browsing through AAnthropologie catalogues and looking for inspirations. These guys do things so well. So, browsing through the most recent catalogue I came across these gorgeous candle holders named Trinkets and Treasures, but at the sticker price of $398 per stick you better treasure them for life.

As a maker of things, I studied the picture a bit and decided to make my own version of these lovelies so I headed out and sourced all the goodness that I could find to make an awesome candle stick. I decided that starting off with an old lamp base would be a good way to go, as the middle rod that would normally house the electric cord would offer good support for the body and would allow me to turn it into a lamp should I choose to do so.

I, of course, bought more trinkets than I could use, but building a stand like this is a creative process that takes time, each one of them went through several iterations before I landed on the final concept. Having a few extras helps as drilling through some of them is a tedious task, and they do tend to break from time to time.

So here is the end result - three candle sticks that I am quite proud off and some left over material for the next one. They may not look exactly like the starting point, but that was never the goal. The idea was to give them my own spin and make them unique in their own way. Oh, and the fact that they are made from locally sourced goodness makes them a bit extra special in my mind too. Let me know what you think, would love to hear from you!!

Freedom CC Team Visits the One of a Kind Show

The Freedom team took a field trip to the One of a Kind show to support our artists and designers. It felt a little bit like a reunion - we got to say hi to our out-of-town designers that we barely get to see, catch up with those that have gone MIA in preparations for holiday madness, and check out a wide selection of their goods. It was inspiring to see the booths that each of them put together. These little habitats shed another light into their creative vision and resourcefulness (of course, upscycled and restyled materials were often used in the building of these nooks). Without further ado, here are some quick shots that we took to share with you guys!

atelier b., made in Montreal by Catherine Metivier and Anne-Marie Laflamme. We carry an extensive selection of their extremely well-made, sustainable line. Each of us owns numerous items by them and we're still wanting more!

Jen Kneulman is the power girl behind Freshly Printed: a line of organic tea-towels, aprons, and other kitchen wear. She prints at her Harbourfront studio with all natural dyes

Based in Montreal, Cindy Cantin makes incredibly well-made bags from wool felt and leather that she obtains from furniture factories. Learn more about her line by clicking here.

Another fabulous Montreal designer is Noujica. These. Scarves. Are. The. Warmest. And. The. Coolest. Cannot emphasize that more.

Krystal Speck makes colourful earthenware with imagery from nature. Her pieces bring a bright touch of the outdoors to your kitchen and home. She's based in Toronto, but sometimes scours Ontario farmlands for discarded wood, in this case, she used these remnants for this comfortably rustic booth.

Made just a few minutes away from Freedom, these mittens by SLO are becoming a common sight all around Toronto. Made from upcycled wool sweaters and lined with fleece for extra comfort and warmth. Check out these new ones for them little guys!

Julie Sinden boiled hats are almost like a collector item. It's too hard to choose just one, the colours and styles are just adorable and you can find one to match any winter coat. The best part, your head still breaths, no one likes a sweaty hat head!

Last but not least is Voyou by Lise-Marie Cayer, who is so sweet she got us free tickets to the show. This whole blogpost would not happen without her generosity, and yet ironically, Marsya forgot to take a photo of her booth. Truth be told, she was too distracted by her new winter coats. (They come in black and red, with tan leather detailing and huge pockets.) Good thing Karen snapped a photo while Marsya wasn't looking.

Email I got

Last week I delivered the yellow dresser to a lovely young family that purchased it, and below I am sharing the email I received the next day... I can't even begin telling you how much this meant. Thank you guys!

"Thanks again for delivering the dresser, especially in a rainy day. We were so happy to have the dresser at home, it looks so nice and contemporary with that bright yellow color. Can you guess who was the most excited to see the dresser? It was not me, not my husband, it was my baby who is only 11 month old. She just couldn't ignore the dresser, she was pointing at it and asking me to bring her to it. She played with those flower knobs for about 20 minutes and couldn't let them go. She was pointing at the patterns on the dresser as well. She was still excited after we took her away from it. We were worried that she was going to be up all night from the excitement. Good thing is she finally tired out and fell asleep. I wish I had a photo of that moment, too bad my digital camera was not working for some reason. Thanks for producing such a nice piece. Keep on your great work!"

Tea Towel Art

During my last trip to Australia this past January I came across a beautiful old buss scroll (the kind that is printed on canvas and that the driver had to manually switch for every stop). Well, the one that crossed my path was priced at $1,000 - which was way out of my art buying budget. So instead I bought a tea towel at a local St.Kilda store called Scout. The tea towel listed all the streets surrounding the store with the store's name being featured as final destination. At $18 a towel, I could not pass on it. Back in Canada I started scouting for a frame, and quickly came across an ornate beauty that only lacked the glass pane and some paint. And here you have it, my final art project at a fraction of a cost and just as cool. As the matter of fact, here is the total price breakdown:  Tea towel $18 + Frame $5 + Glass $8 = immeasurable happiness!!

From Toronto to Calgary in Three Days

If someone told me a month ago that I will find myself on the road driving across the country, I would not have though it possible. But it did happen and I am so grateful and appreciative for the opportunity. A friend of mine that I have met through work many years ago has decided to move home to Alberta. Since she has just purchased a car, the only way to get there was on wheels, and who wants to drive alone. It really did not take long to convince me to join in for the fun and before I knew it the plans were confirmed and the return flight from Calgary booked. We left Toronto on a rainy Wednesday morning right on time to get stuck in the rush-hour traffic. Normally, this traffic situation would be stressing me out, but since were were already giddy and laughing hard, the time went by quickly, and one and a half hour later we found ourselves on the open road headed North.

The plan was to reach Thunder Bay before nightfall as, as soon as the sun goes down, the roads belong to the wild life and there is the danger of running into a deer or a moose. Needless to say, that plan was a bit ambitions and with sunset we landed in Wawa, which meant even more hours spent in the car the next day. We set out from Wawa at around 6:45 the next day with the goal of reaching Winnipeg. The road led us past beautiful lakes, forests and through Indian reserves with souvenir shops and trading posts at each major intersection. At one of those we acquired the little hedgehog trinket for the dashboard and named him Lil' Chief Algoma after the region where the trading post was located.

We reached Winnipeg at around 9PM, completely exhausted and dreading the next day's drive which was to take us through Manitoba and Saskatchewan since everyone kept warning us about the boring drive through the Prairies. Granted, it was flat and long, but beautiful nevertheless and worth every minute of the 11 hours that it took us to reach Alberta at sunset.

Our final destination was Canmore, just one hour West of Calgary. As soon as we entered Tara's new apartment, we were ready for bed. When we left the condo the next morning to go for breakfast and a hike in the Banff area I could not have expected better views. This was nature at its best for sure, lakes were reflecting snow covered peaks of the mountains surrounding us. The air was fresh and crisp and Elks were mingling with people at street intersections.

One last thing before my departure on Sunday was to check out the turquoise waters of Lake Louise. It was early morning and it had just started snowing so, unfortunately, turquoise was not meant to be. What was there instead was a beautifully calm lake with fog that has just started lifting revealing the steep cliffs of the Rockies

Back in Toronto, sitting in front of my computer, I can't but think of the natural wealth this county has to offer and am thankful to my dear friend that I got to share it with.

New Poppies

...and here they are, weeks in the making but finally here. All have been added to my Etsy shop. There are a few more unfinished items sitting in my basement awaiting their turn to be transformed. Hopefully I will get to it in the next couple of weeks.
Hope you like what you see.

Some thoughts to live by

I have been browsing the net for some inspirational photos and stumbled upon the Peccadillo Collection website. Let me tell you,on this site, the inspiration found me. And not just that, I found these quotes that we should all try to incorporate in our lives, the words that will make any rainy day a bit brighter.
Tomorrow, I will post the "afters" to some of the "befores" that I shared with you a few weeks back.
Cheers