Orange on Wednesday

Continuing in line with Poppytalk's Autumn Colour challenge today with Orange! Fall orange colours are starting to pop up everywhere and what a better way to celebrate, but with some Etsy finds using the key words rust and orange!
The list from top to bottom, left to right:
Vintage Orange Paper Pumpkin from Opendoor Studio for $3.50
Closet Mob Rust Cowl by Vintage Etc. for $28
Poppy Orange Creamer from Callooh Callay for $20
Gaggle of Geese Pillow by Olive for $29
Autumnus 2 Photograph by J.Beaudet for $20
Mims Nap Sack/Shoulder Bag by Mims Maine for $89
Beaded Journal by Prairie Garden for $22
Harvest Hoodie by Modest Maven for $56
Harvest Tupperware from Iones Attic for $9.99

Green on Tuesday

I happen to love the colour green. My glasses are green, a lot of my clothes are green and I am always trying to find an excuse to paint or glaze with greens. Here are a few greens to add to Poppytalk's Autumn Colour week.

Yellow on Monday

Jan from Poppytalk has started an 'Autumn Colour Week' over on her blog and asked others to join in. Yellow on Monday, Green on Tuesday, Orange on Wednesday, Brown on Thursday and Red on Friday! What a cool challenge!
So my two 'polaroid' photos for Monday, a classic sunflower and my very retro, yellow/gold kitchen.
Check out the other blogs that are joining in on flickr too!

First off I do want to thank every one for contributing their favourite go-to blooms, for the lovely comments, and for entering! I would love to have give-a-ways more often and I appreciate your interest!
So without further adieu: the 2 vases go to entry #101- Judith who wrote:
For me it is Crocosmia. They remind me of my grandfather from South Africa, of my mother in Victoria BC who grew them in her front garden and of my wedding day on July 15th when I went to the florist the day of the wedding and bought a huge bouquet of them. Lots of memories!
and entry #52- Michelou who wrote:
I love dahlias and peonies, but I prefer them right out of the garden rather than from a flower shop!
Please email me at heather@dahlhausart.com with your address and so I can email you with a couple of choices (unless you already have a vase in mind, I'll let you know if I have it at the studio). Thanks everyone for stopping by and don't forget to check out the interview Stephanie did with me here!

artists who blog interview

Please check out an interview on me and my work here. Stephanie Levy is the wonderful artist who started this blog, as a way to highlight and get behind the scenes with many other artists that she came across online!

Vinyl Art 2

Ok so here's the story: we get records from people we don't know, people who hear about Dean's interest in record collecting and want to unload their hundreds of records that have been sitting idle in their basement onto us. A few years ago, Dean came home with boxes and boxes of records to sift through, records he had gotten from an older lady out on the West side who's husband had passed away. Her husband had great taste in records- all the great jazz records were there, including a substantial Frank Sinatra collection and a wack of Elvis records. Interestingly while I was looking at one of the Elvis records, I noticed some writing on it... is that... no.. can't be.. but it kind of looks like it's an Elvis signature, no? Well, it does say 'best wishes, Elvis' on the record cover, and maybe it's wishful thinking, who knows. (Incidentally Elvis did perform a concert here in Vancouver many moons ago. Plus, what avid record collector would fake sign an Elvis record?)

The Magic of Kroma Paints

While at my studio building I've been fortunate enough to get to know Kevin from Kroma Paints, a Vancouver Acrylic paint maker. You know the micro-breweries or micro-roasters that are all the rage these days, well Kroma is like a micro-paint shop where they make small batches of artist acrylic colours by hand, package them and sell them directly to the artist community within Vancouver. Their paints are really lovely to use, their Gesso is smooth and thick- it's the best I've ever tried! The other day when I was on Granville Island I stopped by their shop (their storage and making studio is at the Mergatroid where my studio is, their shop is on GI), and had a little visit to see what they were up to! I nearly fell over when I saw 'Vancouver Grey' a colour they make from the scrapings and leftover pigment at the end of the year- essentially they re-use this to create a unique colour instead of throwing it out. The visit inspired me to get back to doing some more painting, really a paint store ought to do that, inspire their artists to paint!
P.S. They sell their paint online! Visit them here!

a quick note of thanks!

Just a quick post to thank Jan from Poppytalk for including my Vase give-a-way on her blog and for all of you who have come by to leave comments about your favourite go-to flowers! I've really enjoyed reading everyone's fav's- some are mine too, while other flowers I've had to google- what fun! There's still lots of time to enter so continue to pass it along! I'll be announcing the winners on Friday (it will be a random draw) so stay tuned for that!

OOOH AHHHH Donuts!

I read about these baked donuts here who read about it here who found the recipe here and we had to try it. On recommendations by everyone I used a little less sugar/cinnamon covering at the end and will admit that it was more of a sweet bread donut than your traditional Cake or deep fried donut, but it was to die for!
If you happen to be in the Vancouver area, you might just need to drop everything and whip down to Granville Island for the best donuts ever at Lee's Donuts in the market. They are having a 30th celebration anniversary sale for the next 4 days and donuts are 30 cents each - the original price!

Poppytalk Mixtape Market Opens Today!

Hi everyone, hope your weekend went well! The Mixed Tape Poppytalk Market opens today and it's full of some great new artists and work! I especially love the do-it-yourself options this time around. I'm getting inspired to buy a cross-stitching pattern or remnant bag of amazingly designed fabrics and linens to make a quilt in time for some Christmas presents! Or maybe just filling a beautiful handmade book with photographs or sketches might be more my thing. Here's what caught my eye, and of course, do have a gander at my shop too!
Book with Deer Print by Monkey Puzzle Press
Fabric remnants by Repeat
Sweet bird print by Koelle Art Shop
Seedlings Patterns by September House

Popcorn

Just a quick little up-date for you on our little house guest... it turns out 'Popcorn' the 5 month old kitten, actually belongs to the family 2 doors down from us! The were so relieved that we found her after she got out and couldn't find her way home.. a mere 2 yards over.. maybe she got scared off by the dog in the yard in-between, maybe she got confused between our kids and their kids. We're not sure, but we are sure glad she came by for a sleep over and that she was safe and sound, sleeping in our beds and using our bathtub as her litter... what a funny kitty!
Hope you have a swell weekend, don't forget to sign up for my give-a-way and I'm enjoying hearing what everyone's favourite flowers are- thanks!

Vase give-a-way!

It truly is time for a give-a-way on my little blog, partly as a way to recognize that it's been a year since I started my blog, but also to thank you for visiting! While I started this blog as a way to sort through my own journey of making art, along the way I have been able to document the little and big things happening at my studio while feeling like I had some company in the process. Working in the studio in the midst of a busy season can sometimes feel lonely and isolating, but it was always great to come home and be able to know that someone out there took the time to stop by, say 'hi' and be interested in what I was up to!

So to honour this time, and to celebrate some of the little and big things happening at the dahlhaus studio these days, I wanted to give-a-way 2 bottle vases to 2 lucky winners! First off, I am really excited that the image of the 3 bottle vases with poppies (at the top) has been chosen to be published in a new book coming out called, 'Ceramics Today', along with 3 other images of work from my collection! The journey of these vases started on this blog, starting here and then moving to this stage, with the final outcome being quite lovely and a wee bit easier for me to produce! I'm really enjoying experimenting with different glazes and designs, this little bird design is pretty new and I love the softness of the lines and shades!

To enter my give-a-way, all you have to do is tell me your favourite go-to flower when you stop by the florist and want to buy a couple of stems to cheer up your home! Simple:) I'll have a couple of design choices for the winners and will announce it on Friday, September 25th! Thanks for entering and best of luck!

house guest

We had a little female kitten come by our place yesterday and she got so much love she decided to stick around... The 'found' posters will go up around the neighbourhood today, to make sure she doesn't belong to another home. In the meantime it's been quite exciting for us all to have a pet again. Our beloved cat of 14 years died this spring and we passed along our bunny this summer to a little girl who's biggest wish was to have a bunny for her birthday. Please excuse the blurry shot, she's actually quite a cute cat but is much friskier than our 14 year old was!
Tomorrow I'll be announcing a give-a-way to celebrate a few things over at dahlhaus so swing on by for that, tell a friend and leave a comment:) Until then, we're growing quite fond of our house guest!

The Letter 'L' is for Lovely!

I got some really great news on my birthday this summer that I feel I can start to share with others! My only sister & her husband are having their first baby in March!

So when I came across The Letter K Design on etsy, a North Vancouver mom/designer & maker named Kate Whyte, I was pretty smitten! These little wall blocks have a vintage, yet contemporary feel, great for the baby room, but also very sweet for other little corners of the house! The custom letters are personal and classic, but I think the unexpected letter pairings are what really caught my eye! 'A is for.. Artichoke'?! Ok, the kid probably can't pronounce artichoke, but won't they sound cute for trying? These hand-drawn images transferred in limited editions on Birch blocks with Nursery Rhymes and even Anniversary Blocks are an amazing gift idea for your next baby shower, wedding gift or for yourself! The details (sides and backs have lovely little images and words) are really amazing and definitely worth checking out!

down low, up high

We took some time on Saturday to take the boys up to Mount Seymour to hike up to Mystery Lake. I find hiking extremely therapeutic and energizing- something I don't do nearly enough because of my tight schedule and the kids just starting to be old enough to go with. I think the part of hiking that I enjoy a lot is that you really have to concentrate on every step you take while climbing up the mountain. While looking down, you notice the most amazing flowers, shrubs, mushrooms, and roots that are close to the ground. At the same time you keep wanting to look up and around you to see the views, look at the tall trees and the blue of the sky. We snacked on wild blueberries and swam in an alpine lake, and then sat on the stationary chair lifts, imagining how different the landscape will look covered in snow in a few months time.

etsy shop up-dates...

Just to let you know that I'll be loading up my etsy shop this weekend and week with some sweet sales and new stuff fresh out of the kiln! I've been back in the studio lots over the past couple of weeks and am re-stocking and clearing out so check in often!
Now off for a hike up to Mystery Lake on Mount Seymour with the fam! Have a great weekend!

Vinyl Art 1

Every once in a while I come across one of the records albums we have in our rediculously vast vinyl collection and I want to frame it. I've decided some of these album covers really need to be shared with others to be fully appreciated. I'm hoping to start a little weekly series, photographing some of the great, the lame and the cheesy cool covers for your view pleasure and hopefully you get as much a kick out of them as I do. Nothing beats flipping through Vinyl and reminiscing...
So today: 'Split Ends, by Waiata'- 1981
An 80's pop rock with cool beats, catchy tunes, boys band (set of brothers plus friends) with cheesy hair cuts and bad sunglasses (the back cover isn't quite as interesting, lets just put it that way.)
I like the colours and classic modern inspired cover. Great Tiffany green and grey/black combo!

Fall Ramblings...

Well it's back to school for the kiddies officially today- Johnny's first full day where they finally tell him who will be in his class and who his teacher will be, and Sasha's first little intro to Kindergarten! Wow- the summer went by fast! This year's Kindergarten year will be a challenge to get to school and back 3 times a day for drop-off and I'm already feeling overwhelmed by the idea of getting to the studio enough, especially in the coming months.
I've been getting back in the studio quite a bit over the last 2 weeks and just pulled out 2 kiln loads. I've been doing a bit more experimenting with new glazes, and while I don't have any pictures to show for it, I'm getting some cool results. Testing glazes is something I like to do when the studio is fairly quiet, and when I have my enough of my tried and true glazes for the pieces that are for shops or orders. The worst time for me to be testing new glazes is November or something- in the thick of Christmas where every pot counts.
So my order for the Gardiner Museum Shop is getting shipped off to Toronto today in time for a big opening launch for the fall season! I also received word recently that the Crafthouse YVR (Vancouver Airport) shop, opening later this month, has accepted my work for their shop! It's an exciting venture considering the Olympics coming up!
Anyways, busy day, I'll have lots ready for the Poppytalk Handmade Market's Mixed Tape stint coming up in a week or so, so stay tuned!
Off to walk up to school!

Sherri Koop Photography

For the record, we've never been to Sears or Walmart to take family photos. Not only have I always thought those were really cheesy, but I've been fortunate enough to have really close friends who were photographers. My very good friend Sherri Koop is an amazing photographer and this summer she took our photos while we were vacationing in Vernon together! Her new Contax film camera came out for the shoot and we were able to get a little preview last week before the prints arrive (by the way these are totally un-edited, & not photoshopped!) Sherri's new website (I've linked to the old site above) is slated to go up this fall, in the meantime you can get up-dated with her life and her amazing photos on her blog!

Wedgewood History on Design Sponge!

OK- just had to quickly link you all to this amazing post on the history of Wedgewood (actually about the founder of Wedgewood China: Jasper Wedgewood) and a DIY project inspired by some Wedgwood motifs written by Amy Azzarito! This image of test-tiles is so classic to the working potter and I just loved the hues and shades of clay- don't you?
Now I'm off to peruse the Wedgewood Museum site to see more!

Harvest Time!

Gardening is something that I really love to do every year- something about my hands getting full of dirt while planting a seed, watching it grow and then using it in my own kitchen really appeals to my soul, stomach and pocket-book! This year I had pretty good results- it's been our 3rd summer with our little garden and I feel like I learn something every year about what would be best to grow, where to plant things, and what to do different next year to reap a better harvest.
My sister is an avid gardener! That's her garden's harvest (top image) and they JUST moved into their place in June, built raised beds and got busy planting! Anyways, we were fortunate enough to glean some eggplants, zuchini, and a couple of squash when we came home from our holidays so this past week I've been making all things veggie style- grating zuchini & eggplant in with the pasta sauce, stirfry, pizza with home-made tomato sauce, burritos with sneaky hidden veggies and squash & carrot soup. I think today I'll have to try to make chocolate zuchini loaf with the remaining zuchini... any other ideas, anyone?

Blog Kindness...

I almost forgot to post about some of the blog kindness I've been getting these days! First off, a nice little package greeted me from Cafe Cartolina when we got home from our holidays last week! Lucky me- I won these beautiful posters, designed by Doug, in one of their blog give-a-ways! You really ought to go over there and enter their next give-a-way: some great new greeting cards that Fiona designed!
And then, over at the Kind Over Matter blog, they posted my turquoise poppy mugs along with some other sweet etsy stuff!