{Guest Post} 10 Things for Himself

1. Rain Jacket: I've been on the hunt for a 3/4-bike-friendly-hooded-rain-jacket for a while, this mostly entails me miming bicycle-riding-like squatting movements to the salesperson's confusion. But I think I've narrowed it down...

My top pick so far is this Fjällräven, Greenland jacket with an attached tight fitting hood and two-way zipper (allows adjustment for better movement while biking), plus it’s available locally.

Runner up is this one. It has two-way zip, and the fabric weight is a bit lighter for spring. The downfalls are the hood is removable, which means a looser fit than I like for biking, and the logo is a little too prominent. Also, the name  K-Way reminds me of BiWay and how bad my peers would mock me if I wore it in grade 6.

2. Undies: I’ve read good things about this underwear brand and realized O’s Clothes carries them through the magic of twitter (guess I was in the rain-jacket zone).  

3. Pre-Order True Patriot (released in July): I’ve been reading a couple graphic novels a week from the library the past few years because I got too-cool-for-comics from 16 until about three years ago, when I started scrambling to catch up. Throw in some Canadiana and I'm sold.

4. Socks: New item from my go-to bikecommuterwear brand, Outlier. Looks to be a well thought out technical merino sock,without the giant brand name that tends to get plastered over most (why icebreaker? why smartwool? why wigwam? why???)

The time-honoured parental staples of socks & undies have now been covered. 

5. Hamilton Coffee Roasters:  I’m known to dole out Red Hill coffee samples in my Christmas gifts, usually grabbing their 8-Sample Box and forgetting to gift a couple. This year, the yet-to-find-a-home Cafe Oranje has put out a coffee offering that I want all to myself...

It includes three samples from a who’s who of Hamilton roasters (Detour, Hero, Red Hill, Speakeasy & Homegrown). Topped off with your choice of Cake & Loaf cookies.  Gotta order quick though, offer ends Dec 12th. *If anyone is wondering: 1,2,4 & Shortbread for me.

6. Late Bottled Port: A winter standby in our house, when we run out of this stuff it means we’re wineless and cranky. So bring one over just to be safe.

7. Red Tie: I bought a ratty old red plaid tie for like two bucks for a costume; it was full of holes in the lower half, but I liked it so much I started wearing it with sweaters to hide the holes. All that sweater friction has now caught up with it, but I've confirmed there's something behind this red tie thing.

8. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay:  Always in contention for the top spot of my favourite books list, I’ve been waiting for an edition with some added content to justify adding it to my packed shelves, and that edition is finally here

9. Mag-Blok magnetic knife rack: With our kitchen update this year we decided to ditch our crusty old knife block.  Instead of wasting space on the counter again, this sturdy 12” wood rack with a continuous magnetic field will keep our knives secured and out of the way.

10. It's been a bi-polar year musically for me — I feel like I'm suffering through all the conflicting emotions of puberty every time I turn on my 2012 playlist. Here's my top-rated albums:

Frank Ocean - Channel Orange, Grimes - Visions, Twin Shadow - Confess, Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits (already nabbed at their show), Islands - A Sleep & A Forgetting, Bat for Lashes - The Haunted Man, Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It

11 Things on My Wish List

Wow! I guess I'm into monochrome this year, huh? I found it pretty difficult to narrow my list down to eleven. You may call that greedy; I prefer to call it admiring beautiful things. You may find a few extras hiding in this list. Don't tell.

1. This beautiful hammered brass cuff by Leigh Luna is engraved with with Live, Love, Create in braille. How perfect is that? Now, while we're on the topic of brass, I also love this Laura Lombardi necklace, but it will put a slightly bigger dent in your wallet.

2. I'm a recent loose-leaf tea convert after finally tasting some decent, strong black-tea blends. From what I hear, Bellocq is like the Cristal of the tea world.

3. Jane Labatt, one-half of the duo that owns White Elephant, launched a stunning jewellery line this year called Rare Specimens. These shiny galena studs are one of my favourites. I like the herikimer diamonds too, if anyone is interested.

4. If you're going to drink loose leaf tea, you need an infuser, and I've had a hard time finding one that I like. This sleek gadget seems to solve all my issues. It's called the Blomus Utilo Tea Stick, and I want it!

5. It's going to be hard to replace the gorgeous Rifle Paper Co. calendar I've been admiring all year, but I think this beauty by Leah Duncan will do nicely. I also think this one by Cranny Found Favorites is sweet.

6. How cool is this handmade Celtic knot by Karen's Rope Work? Our kitchen renovation has us suddenly having to adjust to laminate countertops as opposed to tile. Trivets are in order STAT.

7. This lacey crochet hook case by Namolio has been bookmarked for a loooong time. I think it's because I keep telling myself that I can sew something similar myself. But, let's get serious here, is that ever going to happen? And will it look half as pretty as this?

8. Another thing I can't seem to buy for myself is a covered cake dish, also known as a cake dome set, apparently. This is most likely because it wouldn't fit in my old kitchen. But now I have a new kitchen. Mmhmm.

9. The Fire Starter Sessions by Danielle Laporte. To be frank, this is a self help book with balls. All I needed to do was read the table of contents to know that I wanted to own this book. It will be an inspiring new year with this on my shelf, I'll say that much.

10. Although I like to think of myself as Carrie Bradshaw when I wrap my laptop in a pashmena, it's undoubtedly not ideal protection for bouncing along in the metal basket of a vintage bike. This Acme laptop case would work much better, except that it's an inch too small. Maybe Santa's elves can make me one just like it that is 14x10.5?

11. In our house, we opt for fabric napkins and tea towels over paper whenever we can and they're all starting to look a bit... um... used. I've had my eye on this ship print by Jenna Rose for awhile. Local artists Bookhou and Bespoke Uprising have some lovely screen-printed designs as well.

12 Christmas Cards

1. Rifle Paper Co | 2. Humunuku Shoppe | 3. Shanna Murray | 4. Paper Source

5. Seahorse Bend Press | 6. Sycamore Street Press | 7. Maple and Belmont | 8. Paper Ivy

9. Inkello Letterpress | 10. Stone and Feather Paper | 11. Betsy Ann Paper | 12. One Lantern

I'm kicking off the 12 Days of Christmas series with one of my favourite holiday traditions... Christmas cards! I hear your arguments that it's the digital age and that I receive only a fraction compared to what I send, but that's all part of the reason I do it. This is the one time of year where I overindulge my love of stationary, take the time to show all my loved ones that I care, and get excited to open my mail box every day! That being said, I still haven't purchased my cards for this year! That doesn't mean I haven't seen some that I like. It's just that I send about thirty cards and the ones I love most are of course hand crafted and thus out of my budget. Nevertheless, here are some of my favourites from around the web. If I don't find what I'm looking for this week, I just may have to bite the bullet and express ship some of these beauties. Wouldn't you want to be on my mailing list then?

Call for Contributors

Image by Erin Jang for Paperless Post

I've been on the fence about whether or not to continue my 12 Days of Christmas series again this year. On the one hand, it's a lot of work at an already crazy busy time. On the other hand, I really love doing it! These are some of the posts that I look back on throughout the year and smile, so happy that I took the time to research and write them. So, with that in mind and the festive spirit in my heart, I've decided to give it another shot this year, despite there only being 3 weeks until Christmas. That's 4 posts a week. Ahhh! I'm going to need some help. I've had fantastic guest bloggers contribute to this series in the past, such as Jentine from My Edit, Bess from English Muffin and Carla from Defacto Redhead, but this year I'd like to hear from a few new voices. If you'd like to contribute a post, please pitch your ideas to dearednashop@gmail.com as soon as possible. I look forward to hearing from you!

Hello December!

What a fantastically crafty weekend! The Maker's Market went really well. I was impressed with the overall setup and organization, the atmosphere was cozy, the customers were friendly, and business was good. All in all it was a very successful day. Thanks to everyone that came out!

With the craft show behind me, and some extra cash in my pocket, on Sunday I headed out to Toronto for the last day of the One of a Kind Show. I won the tickets from Katie Walker, a local silkscreen artist who was a first time vendor in the Rising Stars section. A big thank you to her for that. I had a great time and saw a lot that I liked this year. I even came away with a couple gifts for Mikey J. My Christmas shopping has begun. Yay!

My online shop has been bumping all weekend too! There must be something that clicks for people on December 1st telling them to get shopping. It's a good thing too, because those shipping deadlines are closing in. U.S. customers have only until December 5th for made-to-order items and until December 9th for ready-to-ship. Canadians have a bit longer, but not much. It's wise not to gamble with Canada Post, so please get those orders in this week! All the information you need is posted on the home page of my shop, but feel free to email me if you are at all concerned about your item making it under the tree.

December is off to a great start for me so far! What have you all been up to? Decking the halls and trimming the trees? I plan on getting to that sometime this week.