I’ve been really lucky to be involved with Uppercase Magazine right from the beginning. I can’t believe this is the 10th issue!! Janine has done such an incredible job creating a rich and vibrant publication. Every bit of the magazine is so delightful and engaging.

If you take a look at this issue, you’ll see that I did an interview with Sian Keegan. I have long admired Sian’s pet portraits, so it was wonderful to get to know more about how it all started and how she works on these three-dimensional fabric likenesses of people’s furry friends. Sian recently announced that she has caught up with her waiting list of commissions, so I should hop on it and get a little Maisy portrait done!

You’ll also find lots of wonderful features and stories, including the cutest couple in craft Shauna and Stephen of Something’s Hiding in Here and the lovely Pia Jane Bijerk.

Of course, we stock Uppercase Magazine here at the store and also in our online shop!

YIPEEEE!! This is such a long time in the making, but I’m pretty much bursting to finally launch the workroom’s pop-up online shop. We actually do a lot of mail order shipping to our friends in other parts of Canada, the US, Australia, Spain, Brazil, etc. If there’s ever anything you’d like to buy from the workroom, we can easily arrange it with you by phone or email. This little pop-up shop is an edited version of some of our most requested and favourite things like our laser cut cross stitch pendants, Japanese Dress Books, Uppercase Magazine, Colette sewing patterns and Selvedge Magazine.

We’ve also brought in some special items for the launch of the shop, like these coloured bauble purse frames and flower bag handles. Everything that I choose for the shop is something that totally inspires me. I’m excited that when I talk about a new pattern or tool that I’ve tried, I’ll be able to have it in the shop so you don’t have to search around for it.

the workroom carries some items that are not always easy to find elsewhere, such as the Lecien Cosmo embroidery floss. We have all 443 colours and you can choose to buy them individually or we’ve started to create some gorgeous floss palettes that include 15 skeins of floss based on different inspirations. Very soon, we’ll be launching a special floss of the month subscription where each month you’ll get a package with one of our floss palettes delivered to your post box. This will be a super fun way to build your Cosmo collection.

For our friends here in Toronto, you can choose to pick up your order at the workroom for no charge. Simply let us know in the notes that you’ll be picking up and we’ll refund the shipping cost.

Let me know what you think of our little shop!

I really want to thank you for comments on my last post about my stolen camera. You made me feel so much better with all your cheer, support and suggestions. You are the best pep squad a girl could ask for!

I went out yesterday and bought a new camera, a Nikon D90. I NEED to have a camera. Here’s my rationale for making myself feel better. I had my D40, plus lens for over a year and a half. If I break it down, I paid $2 per day for that camera. What a deal!! All that happiness and preserved memories for less than a cup of hot chocolate. Rather than stay with the same level of camera, I felt I should upgrade now and really continue to push myself to become better with my photography. Screw you, camera thief!

These are some of the first photos taken with my new camera. First impression – LOVE IT.

We received a large shipment of the latest issue of Uppercase Magazine. I was absolutely honoured that Janine asked me to participate in this issue by writing an article on textile design. I interviewed three incredible ladies who have inspired me with their pattern design and successful careers. Denyse Schmidt, Lara Cameron and Michelle Engel Bencsko were kind enough to tell me all about their working process. Their answers were totally fascinating. I hope you enjoy reading it. The entire issue is jam packed with wonderful features, including cover art by Matte Stephens. Uppercase just gets better with each issue. You’ll also notice the workroom’s first print ad (whoo!) at the back of the magazine, designed by Andrew.

Sorry for making you wait an extra day for this announcement, but I had one of ‘those’ days yesterday. The kind where it rains all day and your umbrella breaks when you’re carrying a few bags of groceries and walking the dog, so you both arrive home completely wet, knowing that you have to spend the rest of your day off trying to do bookkeeping but will hardly put a dent in it. Ah well, that day is now over and today I’m so happy to announce the two winners from my Uppercase Magazine contest. They are commenter #1 – Angelune and commenter #13 – Emily!!!!

One of my favourite things about doing contests is getting to hear YOU guys talk. It’s amazing! You should all have a collective blog or perhaps you should all just talk some more here. I seriously love all the things you guys are curious about. There seemed to be lots of gardening curiosity which I will certainly be talking about more and more as the weather gets warmer.

Here are a few more sneak peeks at the magazine. I’ve ordered more copies for the shop. We sold out very quickly over the weekend. If you’re interested in reserving a copy, just send me an email or leave a comment here.

Perhaps because of the long weekend, or perhaps just because the stars were perfectly aligned, we received a record amount of fun deliveries at the workroom on Tuesday. Each of our delivery guys – UPS, Purolator, Fedex, Canpar and Canada Post paid us a visit bringing boxes filled with Japanese fabrics, sewing notions, organic cotton canvas and a stack of the first issue of Uppercase Gallery’s magazine.

Everything that Uppercase Gallery does is delightful, so it was a pretty sure bet that their magazine would be a keeper. Oh, it is. From the cover illustration by Blanca Gómez to the tear-out artwork by Charlotte Sullivan at the back, the magazine is filled with wonderful features on Irina Troitskaya, Great Lake Swimmers (one of my favourite bands), and me!

It was such honour to be asked to be a part of this project. You’ll also find a fun tutorial for Log Cabin Applique Cup Cozies that I worked on just for the magazine right after my interview. If you’ve ever been to the workroom, you’ve surely had a cup of tea with one of these cute cozies on your cup. Now you can make your own!

To celebrate the launch of this ‘magazine for the creative and curious’, I’d like to give away a copy to two lucky readers. Just leave a comment revealing something you are curious about these days. For me, it is honey. I’d like to start collecting honey from around the world and learn to discern its different flavours. I’ll close the contest by Friday April 17 at midnight and announce the winners (randomly chosen) on Monday.

With so many of our favourite magazines folding, I hope you’ll support this beautiful Canadian magazine. We have copies here at the shop, or even better subscribe!