A collegue of mine introduced me to these little notebooks that I’ve been love using. They are not so precious to use and a great size to have anywhere. I bought a package of 4 for $1 at Dollarama and covered them with some decorative Japanese Paper.
Simple to do Cut a piece of paper a little larger in length so that you can wrap the edges around the cover. The notebook will have a nicer feel when you are opening it. I just used a glue stick but a stronger glue is highly recommended. It doesn’t take long to make, I covered the little books while talking on the phone!
These are other note books I’ve covered over the years. Some leather cover ones also, (some how-to instructions from a previous post)
A friend of mine was in Italy recently and gave me this cute notebook from Fabriano. It is a little taller in height, has a pocket in the back and the paper is stitched together. I haven’t decided what writings or sketches to put in it. Does anyone else have hesitation when starting a new notebook or sketckbook?
I know it is still officially summer but the fun and lazy parts seem over with the arrival of Labour day. It was a lovely summer with great temperatures in the city. Lucky us, we got to go camping and also rented a cottage (our first time) in Blind River. Have you ever been up there? It’s a special place with pristine water and friendly folks. Fishing is superb, I’ve been told and I can only imagine how brillant it must be up there in the autumn.
(Pictures were taken by my husband and afew by me)
Finding someone to fix our flat tire in Forfar,ON. An afternoon nap in a hot tent.
Tansies were everywhere on the side of the road, Blind River.
The cottage was on Lake Duborne and we spent one afternoon hiking up a trail that led to the top of an old fire lookout station, (it’s part of the voyageur trail). The superb trail passed through a small creek, waterfall, beaver dam and the forest floor was dotted with the smallest bright-hued mushrooms.
The view from “Fire Tower Hill.”
On the shores of Lake Huron, Boom Camp Trail.
Why does food at the cottage taste so good?
On our way home from the Blind River we made a stop at French River. What a wonderful treat to find some wild blackberries along the trail. Adieu summer– until next year.
I loved anything with red bean when I was growing up and I still do. My favourite was steamed red bean buns and sweet red bean soup (red beans boiled with sugar, lotus seeds, and orange peel). You can also find azuki /red bean squashed into a paste and used as stuffing in many Chinese foods, such as sticky rice balls, mooncakes, buns and red bean drinks/smoothies. It’s a very popular legume in the asian cuisine that is an excellent source of fiber + protein and rich in B vitamins.
Source: Steamed red bean bun recipe from Rasa Malaysia
Source: Red Bean soup recipe from Bread et Butter, mochi with red bean paste
Here’s my recipe for some creamy azuki (red bean) frozen popsicles:
- 1 cup azuki/red beans
- 1 cup coconut cream or coconut milk.
- 1/4 cup milk or evaporated milk
- 3/4 cup cane sugar or to taste. (Dissolve sugar in little water on the stove until it becomes syrupy.)
1. Cook the beans Soak the beans for an hour and then cook until soft (1 hour on low or in a pressure cooker for 15 mins). (More instructions on preparing azuki beans here)
2. Blend together Set aside 1/3 of the whole cooked beans. Blend the rest of the beans with coconut cream or milk and sugar syrup. Add the whole beans, some tapioca pearls (optional) and the whole beans.
3. Freeze and eat Pour into popsicle molds and freeze. Leftover red bean can be kept in the fridge as cold dessert or alternative breakfast porridge.
There is a large variety of popsicle molds out now. Here are the ones I have: Kinderville Ice Pop molds and Tovolo rocket pops. Yummy for the tummy.
It is about 7 pm and the thermometer is reading about 32 celsius, in the shade!! It has been one hot month in Toronto. This is what I’m going to make tonight as I have a poolside BBQ to go to this weekend and it’s feeling alittle too warm in our non-air-conditioned house to even wear clothing.
Source: two
Source: ASOS, a how-to make a beach cover up from a cotton scarf from Martha Stewart
Source: EmersonMade, two
Here’s my stash of (pink) cotton fabrics from an Indian fabric store and some light gauzy material that I think would be perfect for making a breezy caftan to wear around the house+beach. I love looking at fabrics from Indian stores because of their unique patterns and designs. Fabric for the purpose of making punjabi suits or sarees are usually about 6m of fabric (great value).
1. Cut a rectangle to suit your body size. It can be anywhere from 26″-35″wide and 36″ or longer in length. Cut a hole for your head with about 1″ extending into the back so that your caftan can rest naturally on your neck. Also make your cut in the front alittle wider so that you have some fabric to gather.
Here is another view Alternatively you can fold your fabric lengthwise, mark your center seam and cut your neck hole.
3. Gather, sew and finish Gather the fabric at the neckline base. Finish your seams at the neckline. You can add a decorative placket or just finish the seam with one length of binding. With right sides to together, sew the sides together and you are finished.
And here’s the final result. I ended up tapering the sides to the bottom because the border didn’t quite reach the width of the fabric. I love it and it’s so comfortable to wear.
I have a niece! She was born afew weeks ago and I can’t wait to sew some dresses when she grows up and share some baby things I am going to make for her. Welcome to the world little one.
Pompom necklaces from Emma Cassi. It’s a dress for you and I, but I think a smaller version for a little girl would be so cute from Hug o war.
“Eau Claire” dress pattern from Hug o war. Skirt also available from Hug o war. (What a great site, they have such wonderful things.)
Creative play with a prussian tutu and ribbon tights from Wovenplay. I wish I was a kid again.
Hip clothing for globetrotting girls ages 2 to 8, Ode. Made with lovely fabrics from India.
I could wear these pieces … from LIHO Spring/Summer 2011 collection.
Isn’t so nice to dry your laundry on a clothesline in the summer months? I feel like it’s saving us money and extends the life of your garments. I made this clothes peg bag from those promotional canvas tote bag that people always seem to giving away. (I turned my tote inside out so that the promotional images are on the inside.) My tote is about 12.5″ wide and about 17″ tall. I think a smallish tote works well for making a clothes pegs bag. You can always trim a large tote to a smaller size.
You will need a canvas tote bag, some contrasting fabric (1m x 1.5″) for the edging and some velcro.
1. Cut your tote and a piece like a half oval for the top closure. You can use the leftover scraps from the tote or your contrasting fabric for the top closure piece.
2. Sew & use – Attach the top closure to the bag and sew 2 strips of velcro. Finish off with some contrasting fabric for the edging.
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