Try Handmade

Shopping blog featuring products made by people not factories.

Darling Dioramas

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Dear Reader,

When I was in the third grade we were asked to create a diorama that represented a climate, or geographical setting of some kind. The tropics, perhaps a frozen tundra or a mountainous region. Honestly, I wasn’t paying all that much attention. I had just started reading A Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder and there wasn’t anything more riveting to me than reading about Laura and her Pa having to grind up wheat in the coffee mill. Or Ma Ingalls making ice cream out of some snow and maple syrup. Really, these people were geniuses.

The day before the project was due I decided that I would make a Desert scene. Tents, sheiks and the whole shebang. I would use whatever I had on hand – just like the Ingalls. I took out a rusty cookie sheet and filled it with scoops of sand from our sandbox. [Read more…]

What's Inside Your Beach Bag?

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Grab your beach bag. It’s time to hit the Beach!

Memorial Day is the unofficial kick-off to summer. There’s nothing like that first day, after a long winter, where you dig your chair into the sand, throw down your new beach bag crammed full of beach-day necessities, and lounge away. This nautical stripe bag from Banyan Hippo is a great summertime accessory.

Coastal Living, one of my all-time favorite magazines, has a monthly column that spotlights a celebrity’s beach bag. Recently they looked inside the bags of Tory Burch and Michael Kors. It’s not just what’s inside a bag that makes a great beach bag, but the bag itself makes a statement.

This got me thinking, about my beach bag. I grew up at the Jersey Shore, where my friends and I spent all summer on the beach. I bought beach bags like other people bought shoes. Was it a Palm Beach kind of beach day (coral and green cabana-striped bag) or did I feel more Nantucket-y (Wicker with navy blue gingham lining.) Of course, it didn’t matter what bag I used, the contents I would stuff inside all remained the same. All the things I needed to keep me blissfully beach bound for the day—a book, a magazine, a notebook (for when I felt like making lists), sunscreen, snacks, and water.

This journal from Three by Sea is the perfect size for jotting down sea side.

A food bag from Bebeloosh Mini will keep snacks sand-free.

What more could you want in a day sitting sea-side? After, I’ll shake out my towel and hang my bag up (ideally on a hook like this one from Monkey and Squirrel)

I might not lounge endlessly anymore, but I still hit the beach when I can, and all my favorite necessities come with me.

Oh, Canada!

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Unlike our neighbours to the south, with their somewhat-brazen flag waving, we Canadians are notoriously humble about our patriotism. Sure we show our red maple leaves with pride, but it is always with an underlying sense of moderation and polite restraint. However, the one day of the year that we allow ourselves to really let loose is July 1st, when we take a collective day-off to observe our Nation‘s birthday. In honour of Canada’s 143rd, I’m inviting you to embrace your inner Canadian and take a peek at some terrific handmade finds from the unabashedly polite people at the top of the continent.

Rhonda, of My Handbound Books is a bookbinder and book artist hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, who is constantly working on new ways to practice her craft and often includes an eco-friendly element. Some of Rhonda’s journals are made entirely from recycled/reclaimed/repurposed materials; to create the one pictured above, she didn’t have to go any further than her stash of leather scraps and salvaged trims and closures. To match the virtue of the cover, it is filled with unlined cream paper with 30% recycled content. Check out Rhonda’s blog http://myhandboundbooks.blogspot.com/ to see more of her eco-friendly projects, including her awesomely kitschy “as seen on tv” product box journals.

Released in 1983, Bryan Adams’ album “Cuts Like a Knife” was the third studio album by the Canadian singer/songwriter, and can easily be credited for giving Adams his first real mainstream popularity in both Canada and the US. Montreal’s Odd Bob has taken this iconic piece of Canadian music history and preserved it as a funky piece of functional art for the home. The signed and numbered piece has been carefully reshaped and three non-slip feet have been added. It even comes complete with its original cover! (Music lovers and collectors need not worry – Groovebowls are made only from records that Odd Bob has deemed “unplayable”, due to pits and scratches.)

Mariclaro Canada is a small design collective based in Toronto with a mandate to design and create sustainable products. The bag pictured above, made from seatbelts, upholstery and bike inner tubes, is a perfect example of their work. Created from 99% recycled materials (the thread makes up the remaining 1%), it is a truly unique, one-of-a-kind piece. Toronto locals (and visitors to “The Big Smoke”) can find the brick-and-mortar Mariclaro shop at 457 Roncesvalles Ave, just south of Dundas West.

Lucky me – one of my favourite Canadian designers just so happens to live right here in my home province! Winnipegger Kelly Ruth absolutely loves Manitoba summers and you can tell by the way the vibrant, earthy colours of her hand-dyed garments (pictured above) reflect the natural beauty of our ever-changing prairie landscape. By using special, fiber-reactive dyes on super-soft and sustainable bamboo-blend knit fabrics, Kelly creates one-of-a-kind pieces that no only look gorgeous when you buy them, but will not fade over time.

The upcycled Canada atlas envelopes at the beginning of this article are made by Prairie Peasant, a member of the Etsy Trans Canada Team. Visit the team blog to find out how you can win one of two fabulously Canadian prizes in their “Handmade in Canada Party”. Hurry – the contest only runs until Canada Day!

Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day, is a celebration marking the anniversary of the enactment of the British North American Act of 1867, which united two British colonies with a province of the British Empire into a single country. Similar to the way Americans celebrate their Independence Day, we Canucks will spend the day with family and friends; eating, drinking, gathering, parading and setting-off fireworks…with the utmost of polite moderation, of course.

Natural Deodorant

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I was quite skeptical of natural deodorant. Although the idea of it being aluminum-free appeals to me. And there is the concept that commercial deodorants are usually antiperspirants, which is unnatural, since humans are supposed to perspire.

natural deodorant

Still, thoughts of squiggly, stinky lines engulfing me like Pigpen from Charlie Brown persisted. And I’m running out of spa and beauty products to discuss – though each week a new one seems to appear. So, armed with the idea that in the 90s, horrified though I was by her revelation, my friend who never wore antiperspirant also never smelled bad… I decided I should try it.

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Interview With Tish of Artish

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[hLeah]

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Tish Maguire of Artish has no pets, which is understandable when you learn she has two girls, Poppy and Daisy, four and two respectively. Plus! By not having pets, she eliminates a whole aisle at the supermarket! Tish and her husband, Nigel, live in Hunter Valley, in New South Wales, Australia.

Tish traveled around a fair bit growing up; living in Papua New Guinea, the USA, and London, and visiting lots of other places. She lives in the country, about an hour or two north of Sydney. She likes being close to the vineyards and the mountains, not far from a myriad of beautiful beaches, and close to the city.

You can find Tish on her website, Artish, and at her Etsy shop.

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When/how/why did you start crocheting?

My mother taught me to crochet (and knit) a long time ago – but I didn’t ever really do anything with it for quite a while. My mother and I now live in different countries – so when I became interested in fiber again, I bought a book to refresh my memory. I’ve been making scarves and beanies randomly over the last 10 years, but mostly just for myself to wear – because I could never find what I wanted in shops, and because I like fashion to be personal, not mass produced. Then friends and family started asking me to make things for them, and I started giving my creations as gifts because the house was getting too crowded.

Aside from these reasons, I also had two babies, and needed something that was indoor-friendly and didn’t need to be put too far out of reach of little hands.

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How do you figure out the color combinations?

My process is fairly random, and often accidental. When I do have a plan, it usually starts with an idea that requires hunting for the right fiber to create it. But most of the time I start with one ball of yarn that I love and then add colours or textures that just look or feel ‘right’ to me. If I find I can’t create anything and have Knitters Block, I will generally start with two yarns that I think DON’T go together, and I’m often pleasantly surprised by the results.

Where do you find your yarn?

My yarn comes from everywhere! Local shops, on the internet, on Etsy, from friends (I’ve even recently been offered the wool from a friend who has become the owner of a sheep!), and from re-purposed items that I unravel and reuse. I love the internet, and could (in fact, I probably do!) spend hours on there browsing yarn stores.

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Do you have a favorite kind of yarn?

Not really. They each have their pros and cons. And it varies from season to season, and it depends on what I want to use it for.

Is this your day job or your side job?

This is my day job now. It started off as a hobby since I have two girls aged 2 and 4, who keep me very busy. It’s now become quite consuming, and is fast on it’s way to being a full time job.

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Do you do other kinds of arts/crafts?

My first loves are painting and drawing. I found it difficult to paint when my girls were born, so I started turning to other creative things that I could do indoors, and could leave out without it being a hazard for the girls. Now it seems to have taken over, but I would like to get back to my art one day. I also love to sew, take photos, and play around with web design.

What is your best selling item?

Scarves are absolutely the best sellers. They are so versatile, and appeal to women, men, and children. After scarves, I’d have to say that wrist warmers are the biggest sellers.

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Do you have a workspace or workroom? What does it look like?

I have a workroom. It is not ideal! It’s too dark and too small. It consists of some lovely square pigeon-hole-type shelving for my wool, and a desk where my sewing machine and other various bits and bobs live. I also have some shelves and big rectangular tubs for storage of completed and abandoned
projects. My scarves all hang on racks. Every now and then I am inspired to give it a thorough Spring Clean…. then it slowly ends up in chaos again as I create things!

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