Canadian Mojito, photography by Edward Pond

Hello friends!

I know that summer started officially on June 21, but for me, it's not really summertime until Canada Day arrives in all its red-and-white glory. And if you're looking for a crafty way to mark our nation's birthday, I've got a few ideas for you.

• Keep the kids busy with one (or more) of these eight Canada Day crafts.
• Capture the colours of Canada with this spectacular quilt and wall-hanging.
• What's more Canadian than a knitted toque? (OK, so it might be a bit warm for that...but why not get a head-start?)
• And from around the web, some more ideas for you to try with your kids:
  • Print out a maple leaf pattern then use it in myriad ways.
  • Keep your cool with a patriotic flag fan.
  • Make a cute Canada Day wreath.
  • Try one of a variety of maple-leaf-y crafts, from leaf rubbings to wind socks.
• Too hot to craft? Turn up the A/C and head over to Poppytalk for some good old Canadian design inspiration.
• Once you've crafted up an appetite, you might as well try this special menu for your Canada Day barbecue, straight out of The Canadian Living Test Kitchen. Mmmm-mmm. It's the perfect thing to fuel you up for an evening of fireworks and fun. (And don't forget dessert!)

Have a great Canada Day, everyone. I'll see you back here on Thursday.

ps Don't forget about Weekly Giveaway #9! You have until 5 p.m. on Friday to enter to win your copy of Backcountry Betty Crafting with Style: Nature-Inspired Projects. I can't wait to read all about your favourite Canadian vacation destination!

Hello again!

Well, that week certainly disappeared quickly! Sorry for making you wait with bated breath this long, but remote blogging wasn't exactly the piece of cake I thought it'd be. Whatever, I'm back now, so without further ado, congratulations to...

...number 24, Evelyn! And it looks like Evelyn has lots to commemorate this year.

Congratulations, Evelyn, and keep an eye on your inbox for an email from me.

And now on to this week's giveaway. School's out and summer's begun in earnest, and if you're like me, you're dreaming of getting away. Wouldn't a week at the cottage feel good right about now? Whether you're living it up out in the great Canadian wilderness or making the most of your local park, I think you'll get a kick out of this week's prize.

I've got a brand-new copy of Backcountry Betty Crafting with Style: Nature-Inspired Projects to give away. This book is jam-packed with projects that are just perfect for lazy summer days, and there are lots of ideas in here that would be great for keeping the kids amused while you're up north. Easy instructions and whimsical illustrations complete the package. Fun!

For your chance to win, leave a comment on this post by 5 p.m. on Friday, July 3, telling me your favourite Canadian vacation destination. I'll choose a winner a week from today. Good luck!

Hi there,

One of my favourite things about shopping for summer is checking out the season's fun new Keds designs. Imagine my glee when I read about these awesome custom shoes at katie did yesterday. That's right: you can go to the Keds website and design your own summer sneaks. Use the colours and patterns they provide, or get super creative and upload your own designs. Wouldn't a custom pair of shoes make a fabulous end-of-the-school-year or summer birthday gift?

Speaking of uploading your own fabric designs, I just heard about a new print-on-demand fabric website. Following in the footsteps of design-your-own-fabric website Spoonflower is Karma Kraft. You can read about it on True Up (the all fabric, all the time blog) or head over to check it out. Imagine a quilt made for newlyweds with fabric that borrowed motifs from their wedding decor! It almost makes me wish for a wedding to go to. (Almost.)

Have a great idea that's outside of the realm of shoes or yardage? The website Ponoko allows you to upload your idea for just about anything...and then makes it and sends it to you. Pretty neat – the possibilities seem endless.

So there you go. There's no excuse for being bored on your summer vacation now!

And speaking of summer vacations, I'm taking mine next week. I'll pop in to announce the winner of this week's giveaway on Monday, and then I'm off to scour Halifax for crafty inspiration. I can't wait to share my discoveries with you when I get back!

PS Head over to Monday’s post for your chance to win that copy of Creative Keepsakes: Joy of Scrapbooking (completely revised and expanded) by Lisa Bearnson, PLUS a selection of treats from Stampin’ Up! (a set of stamps, a stamp pad, and a pack of scrapbooking paper). You’ve got till 5 p.m. Good luck!

Hi friends,

You might remember that way back when I asked you to share your crafty questions, Vickie left the following comment:

"Rubber stamps can be pricey. Is there any way I can make my own stamps? They don’t have to be made from rubber."

Unfortunately, I haven't had any chances to experiment with making my own rubber stamps, but I did find Geninne's Art Blog, which will show you how to do it yourself. Explore Geninne's archive of hand-carved stamp tutorials to learn how to make hand-carved stamps with lino or rubber erasers, learn about the right tools for the job, or even watch a how-to video.

As always, if you try this, I'd love to see how it turned out!

There's one day left for you to enter this week's giveaway. Head over to Monday’s post for your chance to win that copy of Creative Keepsakes: Joy of Scrapbooking (completely revised and expanded) by Lisa Bearnson, PLUS a selection of treats from Stampin’ Up! (a set of stamps, a stamp pad, and a pack of scrapbooking paper). You’ve got till tomorrow at 5 p.m.

Hi friends,

I thought I'd share a bit more about granny squares following yesterday's post. Here's another blanket by Sandra Juto, similar to the one from yesterday. I just love it.

Granny square blanket by Sandra Juto.

In the comments on yesterday's post, Lynne noted, "She says she doesn't have a pattern for that afghan, is there a good book/pattern available for a similar design?" I thought that finding a pattern might make for an easy blog post, so off I went a-searching...

...and phew, what a lot of patterns there are out there! This is just a tiny selection of the granny square resources out there:

- Canadian Living has your back: these basic granny square afghan directions will get you started.
- Over at the Purl Bee, they've got a great crochet primer, plus directions for making granny squares (with lots of pictures, which is great!) and a Babette Blanket how-to (the Babette is on my wishlist, too!
- The granny squares flickr pool will have you plotting a day off work just to look at all the photos.
- This looks like a good resource book if you're looking to try granny circles: Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs: 150 Circles, Triangles, Hexagons and Other Unexpected Shapes

What's your favourite granny square (or circle!) pattern, and where can we find it? Have you got a good book or website to recommend? Leave it in the comments!

PS Don't forget to enter this week's giveaway. Head over to Monday’s post for your chance to win that copy of Creative Keepsakes: Joy of Scrapbooking (completely revised and expanded) by Lisa Bearnson, PLUS a selection of treats from Stampin’ Up! (a set of stamps, a stamp pad, and a pack of scrapbooking paper). You’ve got till Friday at 5 p.m.

Hello, friends,

Tuesday already. It's a beautiful day today, and for the first time in a while I'm not thinking about going home to curl up on the couch with a cuppa and one of my many projects – it's just too nice outside.

Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not thinking about my projects. After that crochet crash course I took a few weeks ago, I added a granny square afghan to my to-do list. (Those are a couple of the squares up there.) I've just been making it up as I go along...

...but then, just the other day, I stumbled across this crocheted afghan. Go on and take a look. Isn't it spectacular? Now I'm considering a new plan of attack – one with lots more colour, and lots more white.

Do you have a favourite afghan? What's it like?

PS There's been a great response so far to this week's giveaway. Head over to Monday's post for your chance to win that copy of Creative Keepsakes: Joy of Scrapbooking (completely revised and expanded) by Lisa Bearnson, PLUS a selection of treats from Stampin’ Up! (a set of stamps, a stamp pad, and a pack of scrapbooking paper). You've got till Friday at 5 p.m.

Happy Monday, friends!

I can't believe it's already 4 p.m. – where has today gone? Oh well. Here's the lucky winner of Weekly Giveaway #7. Congratulations to...

...Tara! She's the proud mama of a new baby girl, and they've already been crafting together, as she explains:

"What a timely contest. Just a couple of weeks ago, I got up super early with my several-weeks-old daughter and I helped her to fistpaint. Not fingerpaint, but fistpaint. See, newborns have a hard time keeping their hands splayed. For her to paint what would eventually become the front of our baby shower thank-you cards, I had to paint her fist with various coloured goops of fingerpaint and then let her mash her fist into the cardstock. It was great fun and I think we’ll try it again soon.

And yes, we used non-toxic, baby-friendly paint. "

Sounds like fun, Tara! (Keep an eye on your inbox for an email from me.) I hope that you enjoy your copy of Feathering the Nest: Tracy Hutson’s Earth-Friendly Guide to Decorating Your Baby’s Room. There were lots of other good ideas about kids' crafts on that post, so if you're searching for things to keep the kids occupied this summer, head over and take a look!

And now, of course, it's on to weekly giveaway #8, and this is a good one. One lucky winner will receive a copy of Creative Keepsakes: Joy of Scrapbooking (completely revised and expanded) by Lisa Bearnson, PLUS a selection of treats from Stampin' Up! (a set of stamps, a stamp pad, and a collection of scrapbooking paper). Whether you're a dedicated scrapbooker or someone who's just starting, I think you'll find something to like about this prize!

For your chance to win, leave a comment on this post telling me what event you'd like to commemorate most this summer. A wedding? A new baby in the family? A great vacation? As always, I'm interested to hear all about it. Leave a comment by 5 p.m this Friday, June 19, and I'll post a winner on Monday, June 22.

See you tomorrow!

Hi friends,

Did you know that it's Worldwide Knit In Public Day tomorrow? It's true! Actually, it's tomorrow and Sunday...and then next Saturday and Sunday too.  WWKIP began in 2005 as a way to encourage knitters to get outside with their knitting and get to know one another. Since then it's become a bit of a sensation, with more than 200 KIP events held worldwide in 2007. And I love the WWKIP motto, "Better living through stitching together."

One of the shops I visited on last week's TTC Knitalong, The Naked Sheep, is sponsoring a WWKIP event this Saturday down at The Beach. The Purple Purl, another shop I visited, will be hosting an event in Leslieville (click the link and scroll down to find details). They both sound like great fun!

I won't be able to make it to either event, but I will be knitting – my current project, that baby sweater up there, is coming along quite nicely, and hopefully I'll be finished before the lucky little girl I'm knitting for outgrows it. (Fingers crossed!) And while I knit? I'll be dreaming about the next project I'm going to cast on...a shawl, I think. Maybe this one.

Happy knitting!

PS There's still time to enter this week's contest! I have a copy of the book Feathering the Nest: Tracy Hutson’s Earth-Friendly Guide to Decorating Your Baby’s Room to give away. Leave a comment on this post by 5 pm today (Friday, June 12) for your chance to win. This week, I’m looking for crafting ideas for kids. What’s your favourite way to spend a rainy afternoon with children. Finger paint? Glitter glue? Simple needlework? I’d love to know. As usual, I’ll post a winner Monday (June 15).

Just popping in today. I found this article in the New York Times Magazine a few weeks ago and I've gone back to re-read it a couple times now. Sure, quilting and motorcycle repair aren't the same thing...but if you've ever struggled to articulate why your handcrafting is so important to you, (or why sitting down with your knitting is so appealing after a long day slogging away in cubicle-land) this article might help you put your feelings into words.

Read "The Case for Working With Your Hands" at the New York Times website.

Have a good night, folks, and I'll see you tomorrow with a knitterly progress report.

Hi friends,

It's another grey and dreary day here in Toronto. All I want to do is go home and sit on the couch with a hot cup of tea and a pile of craft books to while away the time until the hot, sunny weather reappears.

Lucky for me, I have a pile of craft books waiting for me at home. I've had a good run of great finds recently, at writing this blog gives me just the excuse I need to pick them up and bring them home. Here are the books at the top of my reading list these days.

Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac - This is an oldie-but-goodie, a book I'd heard about for years but never actually laid eyes on. Until this weekend, that is, when I found a copy at one of the stops on the TTC Knitalong. It's got a year's worth of projects and a hearty helping of down-to-earth advice for knitters...and more than a little bit of sass. I'd like to have met Elizabeth Zimmerman; this book tells me that much for sure.

Linen, Wool, Cotton by Akiko Mano - A long-time favourite for people with the wits to puzzle out instructions and diagrams in Japanese, this was just recently released in an English translation and I snapped one up as soon as I found it. I haven't tried to make any of the projects yet, but I've spent a good long time studying the photos and the instructions, and you can bet your sweet bippy that I've already got a wishlist on the go. I'll start with the cute fabric lunch bag and the long linen apron, and take it from there. The tea towels and embroidered pillow cases look cute, too.

Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson - I picked this up two weeks ago when I was on the hunt for something to knit during the knitalong. I'd looked for this on and off for sometime, but could never find a copy at my local big box book emporium. (Here's the thing: small, independently owned yarn (or fabric) stores are a great resource for crafting books. Box stores might have a wide variety, but you never know what you're going to get. At your local yarn store, chances are they've got the book you're looking for, have read it, and have tried a project from it, so they can tell you if it's worth the money. You won't get service like that elsewhere.) Anyway, this one's worth the money - and I've got an inch of baby sweater to prove it!

Lost Crafts by Una McGovern - This is less of a hands-on book than the first three, but no less interesting. Author McGovern covers 100 handcrafts, including guddling for trout, caning chairs, making thatched roofs, whittling, tatting, and many, many others. The instructions are basic but they get the job done; if you're interested enough to want more information, she points you in the right direction. There's a lot more to crafting than needlework and glitter-and-glue.

What are you reading these days?