Category: de toute beaut?®
-
DIY idea: developing real photos!
A couple weeks ago, an acquaintance pulled out a glossy long landscape photo of exquisite mushrooms. ?áWhile looking at these giant puffballs, I realized that these photos are now a very rare thing. ?áThe world has gone digital; we are able to see images on screens more often than images on paper. ?áSometimes I wonder…
-
snow painting with plant pigments
This past weekend during the Montreal High Lights Festival, we participated in Nuit?áBlanche in the Griffintown?áCultural Corridor.?áIt was a great deal of fun to put our recent?áexperiments in Herbal Snow Painting to the test. Despite the cold, we had many keen public?áparticipants join us in creating some snow paintings! We began the day with a…
-
Snow Painting Experiments… see us at Nuit Blanche this Saturday!
Lately, our neighbourhood has been decorated with something like Earth Art crossed with graffiti?ácrossed with scenes from?áan herbalist’s laboratory. We have been practicing and experimenting with “Snow Painting”: using herbs and vegetables as dyes to apply to snow and ice. ?áAs part of an artistic process (similar to dyeing?áfibres, mixing paints from scratch, or crafting…
-
A little more love…
…during our Herbal Creativity Spa Weekend: Valentine workshop! While making a felted soap…
-
Sushi Rolled Felt Beads
As I mentioned the other week, I am in the midst of?áteaching a course on felt-making. To make the class interesting and varied,?áI’m including?áa range of options for forming loose wool into felt objects. This last week my students and?áI?áformed little “sushi rolls” out of wool. The beads that one makes in this technique end…
-
Photographing Home
A few years ago I needed to sell my little cute home. I took some photographs of it in renovated-state, just to remember how great it was. Unfortunately, my Real Estate Agent hadn’t taken such good shots. The only photo they?áhad taken?áwas a distant, exterior shot that just made my place look small and didn’t…
-
Herbal Creativity Spa Weekend: Valentine
The pinnacle of the dark, dreary days of winter is a purgatory that rests between Christmastime and SpringÔǪ February. Installed into February is a day that is supposed to be a celebration of ÔÇ£LoveÔÇØ. Many lament the commercialisation of ValentineÔÇÿs Day, and resent the high expectations and sadness that come with so many of our…
-
My Zen Cat and Super-Rug
I have a cat whose name is Iggy. He likes to stare at the wall. I can relate to this; whenever I need to step away from the distractions of my life, I will stare at something. This can prove to be a little awkward when I’m out in public.?áIn that case it?áis good to…
-
Book Binding Basics
You need: -Paper?á -Good solid cardboard?á -Scissors or cutting edge?á -Gluestick?á -White glue or rubber cement?á -Cheesecloth or similar fabric?á -Pretty paper or fabric?áfor covering?á -More pretty paper?áfor inside of covers?á-Thread and needle As I mentioned once before, I managed to take a?ábook-making course during my final year of art-school. We learned various techniques to…
-
sugar, salt, spice and something nice: 5 of the quickest & easiest, last minute DIY projects ever!
“Ooof! There is no time left, yet I still need a meaningful gift!” No problem. ?áAll you need is a couple jars, 2 or 3 commonly found ingredients and 5 minutes. Ready, set, go! Caffeinated Sugar Scrub Caffeine is?áa very popular ingredient in cosmetics at the moment. Amongst it’s many attributes, it is said to…
