I wish we visited the cottage more often

I wish I slept more

I wish I had more time to make myself clothes

I wish there was 30 hours in a day

I wish I wasn't always working

I wish my kids wouldn't grow up so fast

I had a meeting yesterday at MADE - a lovely shop a block west of the bookhou shop- it is a furniture and home decor store that carries canadian designed and made. it's definitely worth a visit next time you come see us. we had a meeting discussing the next do design event that will take place in january - during design week in toronto - it was a successful inaugural year and we we hope to make this year a bigger event - with more venues and designers. if you're interested in submitting a proposal - please check out the info here.

hello friends

well august is almost over and school will be starting next week - is it just me or has the summer just flew by? I am excited to have more time to concentrate on bookhou - I decided not to go back teaching this year - first in many years. I will miss teaching, but not the marking. I will also not miss my crazy schedule during the OOAK show (yes - my family I'm sure you won't miss my colour coded schedule for everyone) - between the kids, the shop and teaching - we had to make sure there was someone somewhere and I would assign everyone a colour so that the schedule was easy to read - craziness no more. so this fall aside from the usual production we are gearing up for our busiest season with lots of energy and enthusiasm.

I am also working on a special project that I will share soon - when all the details are ironed out. john has been busy replenishing stock and I managed to get my brother in yesterday to do a bunch of fabric cutting. it's so nice to have him in the studio again - I'm usually by myself and it was nice to have company while you work. the other image is an outtake from b.a.h. 04.

p.s. there's a giveaway over at FB

enjoy your day! - this coming week will be a busy one - I am excited about a special visit next week- more on that later.......xxa

lil' p came down to say good-night after her bath and was carrying her baby in her top - and I caught this moment - can I get an awwwww!

hello friends

I hope you had a good week - I feel these days that time is going by too fast - the kids are growing up so quickly and the sun is setting faster. last september john finished our outdoor space - there's still some tweaking that needs to be done, but one of the first things we got at the beginning of this summer was a barbecue - john is enjoying it very much - he whipped us up some pizza the other night and we sat in my studio and gobbled it up. the kids and I are very lucky that we get to reap the benefits of johns love for cooking. the other image is a bowl that I threw many years ago - bowls were one of my favourite things to make - I like the intimacy that ceramics has with our daily rituals. and the last photo is a little peek at our next studio visit - looking forward to sharing b.a.h. issue 04 - it's going to have a new look and format - thanks to the help of jen.

thanks so much for all your kind and encouraging words on my last post - my dad follows my blog and he will be happy to know I am surrounded by the kindest and loveliest people!

enjoy your weekend friends - summer is fleeting by. xxa

my dad

I don't talk much about my first family

my dad leaves today to retire back home in laos (where I was born)

he came to canada with my mom so that we would have more choices (top right photo was taken just before we came to canada) - you can see where lil' p gets her hair from - the woman in front of him is my mom. they both came to canada with a few bags and hope in their hearts.

they struggled to carve a life for us and never complained

I owe everything I do to my dad - he has taught me to love making things

with my hands - and made me who I am today.

he is one of my biggest supporters (bottom right photo - yes I was in the air cadets - we were pretending to be all serious - we're both not)

I remember as a disgruntle teenager complaining about how busy my after school job was and he said "you should never complain about being busy, it means you will have work"

his hard work ethics always stuck with me

when I decided to go to art school - he was the one who drove me to my interview

and waited outside for me to hear all about it - he came to my art openings and even if he didn't understand my art work he would find nice things to say

I remember when I was 19 and got a job in maine (my first time away from home) and the look on his face of trepidation but also so much trust - and as he said good-bye he squeezed me hard and push a bag of peeled and cut fruit into my hands

he taught me to drive a car and was so patient even when I would drive too close to the curb

he always listened to my stories and all my aspirations in life

as I got older and tried to make a go at my career - I admit the visits were not as frequent

but I still relished our phone calls - and now that he will be so far away - it saddens me deeply

with guilt that I didn't visit him more often when he was closer - I will miss him dearly and hope to see him soon.

I'm not sure if you remember these pieces I made, but they will be exhibited at the design exchange from aug. 25 - oct. 16, 2011 - the opening reception is aug 26 from 6:30 - 8:30 pm - come and check it out if you can make it. the show is a re-installation of the capacity show that took place in our shop in january. although these are not the same pieces I had in the january show - they are definitely an extension of the same idea - I really like the incorporation of printed drawings on my paper forms. I will take photos at the opening for those of you who are too far away.

had a small bit of this grey twill fabric left and only made a few of these pouches - I loved it so much I had to keep one for myself

p.s. a few of you emailed asking where I photographed the bag (the AGO)

did I ever tell you that lil' p has ninja moves - so next time you're in the shop - watch out :)

thanks sonia for all the beautiful pics of p having the most wonderful time on margie's trampoline.

hello friends,

welcome back - it's been a whirlwind weekend - why does time fly by so fast? today I will be gone all day with the kids at an amusement park (I keeping saying to myself - it's for the kids) luckily I will have quite an entourage of kids and adults with me - shall be fun - john will be in the studio holding down the fort.

I have a new bag (well modified from this bucket tote bag I did years ago)

I spent a week using this bag and I love it! (not sure if you knew that, but I use a prototype bag first before selling them) - it helps me to work out the design and proportions. I also made this bag because I keep getting asked to do larger storage containers - I made this one earlier in the year, but I felt like it was only meant for storage, I like the idea that this new one can also be used as an everyday tote. visit here to see more images - I hope you like it!

thank you so much for all your wonderful comments - it sounded like everyone had a nice weekend - I appreciate your visits - the winner of the bag and pencil case is owlandpussycat - congrats! please email me your shipping address!

enjoy your day friends - I will need to take extra gravol today to survive the rides! xxa

happy birthday anna!! - we had a fun evening celebrating my sister's birthday at the sultan's tent

the photo on the right is lil' p trying out belly dancing - I was so close to the belly dancer and felt uncomfortable using my flash - but the photo turned out interesting. the other photo is my sister and brother.

hello friends,

it's the end of a busy week - thanks to everyone who purchase bookhou goods - it's wonderful to have your support.

next week I will have new items to show you. I am behind on a lot of my wholesale orders and need to try to work on them this weekend. I couldn't resist getting the kids to model the giveaway goods (a cute tote and matching pencil case). please leave me a comment by sunday august 21st at 10pm EST - and a winner will be announced on monday. how will you be spending your weekend and the closing days of summer? I hope you have a restful weekend. thanks for visiting and I hope you like this giveaway.

good luck! and have a great weekend. xxa

fabric packs in the shop - see you tomorrow for a sweet little giveaway!

last year a wedding magazine asked me to do some ideas for table numbers and place cards - for the first one I made a linen pocket showing the selvedge at the top and doing a blind impression of the table number - I made it hold a cahier so that it doubled as a favour - the other one I took a vintage book and did a paper jacket cover with a laser cut number glued on top. I think they both would compliment a wedding nicely.

p.s. check back in our etsy shop around noonish for bookhou fabric packs!- last year ro and I made them for repeat and they were a big hit.

sometimes as a treat we will go to the park and get take-out from chippy's and dessert at nadege. afterwards the kids will play in the park and sometimes make new friends. I hope your week is going well so far.

if you ever visit me at a craft show I am embroidering little images that later get made into little brooches. I find embroidery work so satisfying - I will be working on some new wall art pieces using just embroidery.

additional bags added to the shop - redesigned the strap on the cloud zipper bag - sewing on the straps was very time consuming. a wall of bags - you would think that with all the bags I make I would have quite a collection - I do - I especially like seeing the old designs with the new ones. maybe one day I will gather all the old ones that I still have and photograph them for you to see the little evolutions they go through.

hello everyone,

I hope you had a great weekend - I had a wonderful time on saturday at the street fair - a big thank you to everyone who was able to come by and thank you to the blog readers that came by - it's always a pleasure meeting you. I am now at double time since I am doing three craft shows this fall - one being in toronto and the others are in montreal and vancouver. I am so excited! I will be spending this week refining all that needs to be made and trying to par down. I will be showcasing my ceramic work at the toronto show - so there will have to be extra time put aside from regular production work. thank you to everyone for buying from our online shop - it's you that keeps me busy and happy.

in the photos - I made this little dress for piper and now as she gets older it still fits and is more of a top - the fabric was a wonderful find at a yard sale (I have been so busy this past season and I promise to get more little dresses out for the fall - I apologize to those of you that keep asking). we get our bread down the street from woodlot (it is a wonderful sour dough loaf - and they make the most yummy lemon pastries that is a perfect companion for my tea breaks).

have a great start to the week and later in the week I will have a great back to school giveaway - I can't believe the summer break is almost over. xxa

hello friends

I will be spending the day sewing and getting ready for tomorrow's show - come by for a visit if you're in the neighbourhood - there will be plenty of lovely vendors, I will have new items as well as some great deals like alphabet seconds and other little deals. have a wonderful weekend. some things are going so well this week and I am hopeful that the fall will be an exciting time for our little company.

I am leaving you with an image of some new little pouches photographed on my favourite wood surface - next week I will have a great back to school giveaway on the blog so come back for a visit.

have a great weekend! xxa

here's the new vee pattern on a market tote - I really like the shape of this bag and how it works with the print pattern - I also made some in the small round storage. all these plus more will be available on saturday at the street fair.

most of the time behind the calm photos - there is just a bit of chaos - I work in spurts - things will be scattered everywhere and when the task is done the work surface is cleaned off and a new pile emerges.

on the prototype table is also trying to make bigger pouches - they're similar to the oblong pouches but taller, I'm just playing around with some new work for this weekends show. I also wanted to give you a peek of a pile of fabric - I will have fabric packs of my prints for sale on etsy really soon. did I mention that I will be selling yardage of my prints....more on that later!

hello friends,

the fam and I just returned from a much needed break at the cottage - beautiful weather, dipping in refreshing water and great food - and of course great company.

I went without internet for a few days and it was great, but also a bit of anxiety. no joke, but I get about a hundred emails a day - so I got a pretty full inbox when I checked it today. this week I'm sure will go by quickly for me getting ready for the street fair on saturday and getting out some wholesale orders. I have a new design I wanted to give you a peek.

have a fantastic start to your week and I will see you tomorrow! xxa