Cute right? Look again… these beaded necklaces are fuzzy! Which makes them even cooler, if you ask me.
I came across Sandra Negrete of Azul Nocturno at the Etsy Made In Canada event this past weekend, and I absolutely adore her jewellery made of felted beads. She makes a whole variety of bracelets and necklaces, and is happy to do custom work for weddings and events. The best part is her prices – bracelets start at $8 and necklaces at $25 so it’s easy to stock up and buy a pile for gifts.
Have you ever come across something that you needed desperately but didn’t know you needed desperately because you didn’t know it existed? For me, that thing was this set of bird glasses by artist Charley Harper. I’ve been a Harper fan for years, and my dream sleeve tattoo (come on, everyone has a dream sleeve tattoo… that ink work you’d get if money was no object) is actually a series of Harper-esque birds.
Harper’s nature artwork, done originally for school textbooks, is pretty much the epitome of mid-century modern art, and although the artist passed away in 2007, there is a great deal of renewed interest due to the fact that designer Todd Oldham has been working with the estate to create some great books and lines of houseware products.
Besides the typical prints and artwork, Harper’s work now graces mugs, Christmas ornaments, phone cases, tea towels and dishes. Many of the items were created in conjunction with New York housewares shop Fishes Eddy, but the full collection can be found on the Charley Harper web site.
I actually found this set at Cookery, the newly-opened cookware shop at 303 Roncesvalles Avenue. Reasonably-priced at $36 (glasses are also sold individually for slightly more), the glasses are a full 20-oz pint, making them perfect for stylish beer drinkers.
My wee niece has discerning tastes, so for my birthday recently, she sent Aunty Sheryl something wonderfully awesome – some chocolate bars from Sugah! in Halifax.
Sugah! is a confectionery shop on the boardwalk in downtown Halifax, and they make a point of using local ingredients in their unique products whenever possible. Which is how I ended up with chocolate bars made with seaweed and maple sugar.
The Canadian Maple Sugar bar is a white chocolate bar sprinkled with granulated maple sugar. It’s a nice flavour combination and an interesting texture. The Kraaken bar (available in milk or dark chocolate) is loaded with Nova Scotia seaweed. This is an odd bar and not to everyone’s taste (my husband dislikes it vehemently) – as the chocolate melts away the dried seaweed softens up and slightly expands, much like tea leaves. It can be disconcerting on the tongue but the flavour pairing is lovely and for this old Bluenoser, it’s a touch of home.
Why are these awesome? Because the flavour pairings, as well as many of the other products at Sugah! are unique, and because their dedication to using local products in their goods (Lunenburg cranberries, Nova Scotia sea salt, locally-roasted coffee, malt from a local craft brewery) means they’re supporting other local businesses and food artisans.
Some awesome art I’ve come across online this week…
Yes, that is actor John Malkovich, recreating the photo of Alfred Hitchcock by Albert Watson. Photographer Sandro Miller teamed up with Malkovich for an exhibit entitled Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich, Homage to Photographic Masters in which the actor poses for recreations of 35 iconic images from American Gothic to Marilyn Monroe with roses. The show runs from November 7th to January 31st, 2015 at the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago. Most of the photographs are on the gallery website.
Artist David Zinn has been been covering Ann Arbor, Michigan with street art for years. Using existing elements and adding cute and quirky characters, his ephemeral pieces done in chalk and charcoal last only until the next rain. He’s got a website and a Facebook page if you want to see his latest pieces. There’s also a book of his work from 2013 if you’d like to have these cute critters all to yourself. Or if you’d like to help support an independent artist.
Finally, if you’ve only ever seen A Clockwork Orange and haven’t read the book, The Folio Society has just released a new edition with work by artist Ben Jones. Dangerous Minds has more of the artwork and a video of the illustrator.
How does that song go? You put the lime in the coconut… If lime and coconut are your thing, then this chocolate bark might also be for you. The awesome folks at SOMA Chocolatemaker have come up with this great combination, pairing the sour/sweet duo of the calamansi lime (sour juice and pulp but a sweet peel) with the sweetness of milk chocolate and roasted coconut. The touch of salt rounds it all out for a treat that exquisitely balanced.
Why it’s awesome: because it’s an interesting flavour combination that uses unique ingredients.
Yesterday, my awesome thing involved picnics, so I thought today would be a great day to promote ants. Actually, this plate is the work of German artist Evelyn Bracklow of La Philie. Each piece is handpainted and fired and is available via the artist’s Etsy page.
Why it’s awesome: because it’s disconcerting – bugs in your food! – while still being fun and quirky. Because it’s beautiful, and beautifully painted, but makes you do a double-take.
Discovered via the awesome folks at This Is Colossal. Make with the clicky for even more work by Evelyn Bracklow.
Last weekend, the husband and I headed down to Well Preserved‘s Home Ec Big Outdoor Kitchen Party event at Harbourfront. It was a wonderful gathering of producers of preserved food, as well as a series of lectures and presentations on the various aspects of preserving. Joel MacCharles and Dana Harrison at Well Preserved have done a fantastic job of promoting local businesses as well as the overall art of preserving in our city and it was a delightful and well-planned event.
One of the things that caught our eye while we were there was this basket of blankets, clearly marked as being available to borrow at the event so people could sit on the grass by the lake while enjoying some of the tasty offerings from the participating vendors.
Why it’s awesome: because Joel and Dana obviously put enough thought into their event that they not only had blankets available but also had signage made to let people know. It’s awesome because they’re trusting enough to let people wander off with what looked like some nice quality blankets. And it’s awesome because they thought about the kind of atmosphere they wanted to create and did a simple little thing that was so kind and gracious.
Festive gourd season! I know. It brings up images of dusty gourds, arranged in a basket, maybe with some Thanksgiving or Halloween tat to dress it up. But these are not the festive gourds of Grandma’s autumn table setting. These little guys are way cooler.
I came across this collection of festive gourds in a produce shop on Roncesvalles Avenue. $4.99 for the lot, they’re from a company called Sunrise Greenhouses and are marketed as “living decor”. They come packaged in a bubble tea cup and when arranged in a dish look like a cross between a bowl of fruit and a terrarium. They’re actually a selection of gourds, cucumbers and melons, and each container includes a red one, a white one, a green one, and five spiky/fuzzy ones. No, I couldn’t discover what each of them are called and the Sunrise website, sadly, has no info.
Why they’re awesome: because at any point, one of them might hatch an alien, or at least a small dragon. Also, because it’s a fun twist on a terribly twee tradition.
Bonus awesome: the fantastic green pressed glass dish that I scored for $2 at the big yard sale at Trinity Bellwoods park back in the spring.
Sure, you can get chicken and waffles lots of place. The southern delicacy is pretty much ubiquitous in Toronto these days and the quality varies greatly. So what makes a dish that has otherwise been done to death stand out? Well, you’ve gotta put your own twist on it.
At The Bristol (1087 Queen Street West), Chef Davey Love has come up with a uniquely British way of presenting this dish. Let’s call it “Empire-inspired”. Rajcoe’s chicken and waffles is 3 pieces of tandoori chicken in an onion bhaji batter atop a waffle made with chickpea flour and spiced with cumin, coriander and green chilies. The maple syrup is mixed with mango, coconut and tamarind.
Why is it awesome? The chicken is super-moist and flavourful, with a double-dose of Indian spices in the tandoori masala and bhaji batter. The chickpea waffle is crisp – not soggy – and the flavours (while there are a lot of them) are wonderfully balanced. Probably the only breakfast dish that you could justify drinking an IPA with.