Mary Anne's Hat

Mary Anne cuts my hair, and she's very good at it. When she asked me to make her a hat for a recent family wedding, I was delighted. Her talent and skill has been making my head look good for some time now, I wanted to return the favour.

She chose an eggplant parasisal straw base which I trimmed in singed iridescent organza -- a hat band and a flower of many individual petals and shades. The centre of the flower was created from a pair of earrings Mary Anne provided. (This was the first time I'd done something like that, and I was happy that it worked.) Natural, shaved coq feathers provided the finishing touch, nicely echoing the iridescence of the organza and the jeweled centre.

I was really happy with the results, and Mary Anne seemed pleased, too. She graciously provided the photo of herself and her partner, Jimmy, on their way to the wedding.

Many thanks to David Dunkley, who kindly helped with the brim. (He'd bribed me to spare him some extra time if he helped me finish this piece, so it was a win-win situation. Yay!)

Absence Alert

Just to let you know I will be (most uncharacteristically) away from my post at St. Lawrence Market this Saturday, August 6. I will be back the following Saturday, though. In the meantime, feel free to email me.

July Bye-Bye

July went out with a bang at the Market. Gorgeous weather and a good day for sales, Caribbean Carnival (the festival formerly known as Caribana) and long weekend notwithstanding. I wasn't at the Market on this weekend last year, so it was interesting to see what it would be like.

It was good! We had some friends drop by our tent to say hi, which is always nice, and there were more vendors than usual, which gave us all new things to look at and covet. Like ballerina bunny toys and big tissue paper pom-poms which were all kinds of jolly. I was tempted to grab a pair and lead everyone in a cheer, until sober second thought kicked in. (I was also sorely tempted to jump in the fountain and cool off with the dogs and little kids, but once again, that pesky maturity interfered.) Graham, above, didn't have any such scruples about modeling one of Elise's new hair toys. Go Graham!

Here is the rest of this week's gallery:

Lindsey and Danica played dress-up in fascinators....









...but Sarah made the Queen of Hearts-ish strawberry fascinator hers!










Alice chose this wide-brimmed silver striped hat with the chain band.








Jean in her new blue patchwork hat.

Royal Souvenirs

A client's son was on Parliament Hill this past Canada Day, when some auspicious newlyweds were passing through. He snapped some fabulous photos of the occasion, and has most graciously allowed me to share them with you.

My millinery heart cockles were right warm that day. Thank you, Your Royal Highness!

Hot Children in the City*

* With apologies to Nick Gilder.

It was hot on Saturday at the Market. Not, mercifully, as hot as the previous two days had been, which was off the charts. We almost broke a record on Thursday. Chez moi we just stayed in with the bedroom air conditioner blasting away, which does help most of the house, and the windows all darkened, trying not to move too much. Eating salads. Drinking lots of water. Watching the lawn shrivel up. Sigh...

But Saturday was not so bad, with the nice lake breeze coming up Market Street. People seemed a bit relieved that the walloping heat had subsided, like Henry and his gang, above. And Sunday's rain was a big help. Monday, as I write this, is just lovely, with much of the humidity gone, at least in my neighbourhood.

I think I talk at least as much about weather on this blog as I do about hats. This is because a) I am Canadian, and that's what we do, if you believe the cliches, and b) I work outside in the summertime. So weather affects me and my vendor neighbours rather a lot.

Consider the poor soap makers. Lovely homemade soap doesn't like too much sun or rain. Neither do art or photographic prints. Etc.

A few visitors on Saturday, but rather quiet all in all.

Here is the gallery:

Dress-up time with Maike.
















Dress-up time with Sophie and Olivia.
Isn't this the cutest picture? Don't the cockles of your heart feel warmer now?









Dress-up time with Twyla.




Christine in her new periwinkle linen chapeau, in front of Salome's beautiful jewelry display. All other customers were feeling too camera shy to be photographed.





Salome in my new gingham equestrian cap with the fetching zipper trim and one of her many fabulous pairs of specs.

It was another gorgeous day at St. Lawrence Market last Saturday. The breeze was very nice for most of our time there, wafting up Market Street from the lake, to cool us in the warm sunshine. It's easy getting up early on such a summer's day.

How we wished we could have our own fountain to slosh through, as the doggies (and the occasional child) do in the one beside our tent.

So many pretty summer dresses going by. My friend Linda and I had to stop someone just to tell her how much we loved her dress. Very Marimekko. Made me feel cool just looking at it.

A good day with visits from friends, and the lovely Joanna Sipos of Belle Boutique jewelry beside us for the day. She's a fabulous artist and a very nice person. If you go to the One of A Kind Shows, be sure to look for her and her amazing belts.

On with the show...
Ellen in her pretty new hair band. It will be worn to a wedding in Colorado Springs soon. I wish I traveled as much as my creations do...








Leslie in her new wide-brimmed green hat, her second Hat by Anne. Merci beaucoup, Leslie!








Lisa and Myles, who approved his mum's choice.








Joanna's turn to strike a pose in "Eliza", and one of her own extraordinary necklaces. Beautiful, no?

Beaver Tales

Last week I misplaced my camera. Not much point in blogging about the Market without any pics to show you, so I didn't. The camera finally turned up, well hidden under a big tube of buckram in my workroom. I guess it really wanted the day off. I can relate. I used whatever excuses I could to get out of math in high school. I never did hide under a roll of buckram, though...

This week the camera graciously agreed to accompany us once more to document our Saturday. It was a lovely, sunny day. The weather was perfect -- breezy, warm and not sticky. Thank you, universe!

St. Lawrence Market often has special events and promotions happening. Some poor person brought her young son down especially because she thought it was Buskerfest weekend. That's not until the end of August. Instead, we had a giant, inflatable beaver promoting Canada's national parks. The beaver, who is unnamed (I checked), has the honour of having appeared at the closing of last year's winter Olympics in Vancouver. His staff were handing out helium balloons, so hopefully the busker-less child was somewhat mollified by one. I know I was. I had a jolly yellow one dressing up a corner of my tent for the day. Salome wanted to know if they were handing out beaver tails, but no. They should rectify this.

A local restaurant was handing out deviled eggs, though, and discount cards. No giant inflatable chickens, though. You really can't have everything.

As usual, people came, played dress-up, and some bought. So on with the show:
This charming young lady from Indiana (whose name I shamefully forgot to ask for) was in town with her family for the Honda Indy, across town. Maybe she was wearing her new black rosette hairband when Dario Franchitti crossed the finish line. And if she sees this and emails me her name, I promise I'll update this post and include it.






Dr. Heather Dawson, MD and southern belle. I believe she blessed my heart. It was very charming. Southern ladies know about hats.



Sally modeling my latest sinamay swirl fascinator, which I dyed coral. Dyeing is easy. Comedy's hard.


This is Georgia, a Cairn terrier. The in-
dispensable Scott and I had one once, and we're suckers for them. Georgia is especially sweet.

(Don't you kind of like this photo, with all its shadows? I do!)



Shivani and Alison. They came by to play with the fascinators, then came back to buy them. Alison chose a different one than the one she is modeling, but Shivani kept this one. And I couldn't be more flattered that they chose to grace their pretty heads with my work. Thank you, ladies!

(BTW, Spell Check hates the word "fascinator". It should really get over this.)


"Eliza" on Salome. Two fair ladies.









"Eliza" and Megan. See above.








This little read-headed girl's (LRG) name also escapes me. This is what happens when you multi-task and don't write things down right away. She had to model all the hats that fit her while posing with carefully chosen fake floral arrangements from my table display. Cute little ham.

(Please email me her name, o mother of LRG, and I will update this post!)


As another Market day draws to its close, two vendor neighbours play dress-up. That would be me on the right. I am wearing one of Salome's latest creations, a necklace of greenery-yallery crystals and stones amidst crocheted wire. Awesome. (Spell Check also hates "amidst", which just goes to show how ridiculous it is.)






Definitely time to call it quits!

Post-Frabjous Saturday

The first Saturday of actual summer reverted to the blah weather to which we're getting all too accustomed. It sprinkled a little, but, thankfully, with no real commitment. Where's that summer weather spirit, huh?? Where's the "Let's get out there and shine and warm people!" Weather today, I tell you...

Anyhoo.

The day went on as days tend to do, and it was fine. It's always good to see my vendor neighbours and meet new people who come by to try and/or buy. A ladybug was among them.

Here's this week's gallery:
Adorable sisters, Isabelle and Chloe.
















More adorable sisters, Charla and Deborah. Deborah is trying a new design I unveiled this week, in pink linen. I call it the "Lily Garbo": Lily, for the vendor neighbour who inspired it, and Garbo, because it reminds me of her, too. This one found a home quickly.



This is either Pandora, Phoebe or Kiki. They wheeled by and did some major barking at other dogs who had the temerity to cross their pram's path.




Aileen workin' it in my Queen of Hearts-ish strawberry fascinator. She chose a turquoise sinamay one for keeps, though.

Draw!

So did you notice how I didn't draw a winner of a fascinator last Wednesday? No one else did! No one replied to my what's-in-the-window contest. Fortunately, I'm too busy to mind.

If I try this again, I'll tell you all about it.

Strawberry Festival A Red Letter Day!

Saturday, June 18 was just gorgeous. Finally! A Saturday that didn't rain, or even threaten it! Warm and sunny! Lovely lake breezes! And strawberries!

It was Strawberry Festival Day at St. Lawrence Market. Yummy-looking trays of chocolate-covered beauties wafted by my table. Celebrity chefs in the south market were giving demos, as were local producers. Lots and lots of people were around to enjoy it all. There was a feeling of ebullience in the air, as if everyone was kicking up their mental heels for a long-awaited warm, sunny Saturday.

We vendors had been encouraged to make strawberry-themed merchandise in honour of the occasion, so we did. I made hat pins and fascinators (pictured above on one of Salome's strawberry sock monsters). Salome Cordeiro and Maria Lopez, my jewelry-making neighbours to my right, had apropos offerings and shared an adorable strawberry top fabric awning Salome had made that spanned their two roofed market carts. Many of us were wearing the jolly red promotional T-shirts the management had given us. It was really, really theme-y.

It was also an excellent day for sales for us. In fictional milliner-speak, it was positively frabjous! (Callooh! Callay!) I don't know whether to thank the event, the weather, or a new table setup I unveiled that day; I just know I was so busy I had to forgo taking photographs before long. And that when I got home I was so knackered that I almost forgot to Futterwacken vigorously.

But I did squeak in a few pics, and here they are:

The lovely Elizabeth chose to model this hand-dyed silk and organza fascinator, "Mood Indigo", which she graciously graces.











Allie looks awesome in aqua.












This is Kimmie playing dress-up. Flair for days, I'm telling you.













Kimmie again, working it. She chose this cap and a sinamay fascinator which might not have long to live if she wears it to school.


Leslie chose two other hats and an embellished band, but also looked so great in this one I asked her to pose for this photo.








This turquoise creation with peacock feather has been waiting for Pam to make it hers.



The never boring Salome pertly posing in my Queen of Hearts-ish fascinator. (It's still available, you lucky people. Salome, however, is not.)









This is the front view of my new table set up, with the indispensable Scott in the back, and your intrepid milliner visible in the mirror. Was this new look responsible for especially awesome sales?








Or was the new side view?

So if you want to find me this week, I'll be glued to my work table. See you at St. Lawrence Market next Saturday!

Hey Beachers!

Announcing a new contest for my neighbours!

Tell me what's in the window (or better yet, send me a photo) at 902 Kingston Road right now (June 15) and I'll enter your name in a draw for a free fascinator!

You can email me or make a comment on this post.

You have to be quick, because I'll be changing the display soon.

I'll make the draw next Wednesday, June 22 and announce the winner.

I hope to hear from many of you! Good luck!