Today I have a little indigo dyeing going on. I needed a light blue for a piece I have been commissioned to create, a blue to echo the Salish Sea. Indigo dyeing requires a lot of time and preparation. Yesterday I worked on creating the stock solution. Today was creating the working vat and then […]
This post is “the rest of Opus Daily Practice”. A bit of traveling managed to happen at the end of this project which meant I was able to post to Instagram, but my cell phone data plan was unhappy with the usage needed for blogging. Below are the rest of the pieces created for the […]
Recently blogging has taken a backseat. It seems the more one has to blog about the less time there is to actually blog.
Today I will share just a few things happening in the background, some of which are on my other blogs.
Photography has been busy recently. Head shots, grads, families and babies. Many an hour past midnight has been spent on the computer editing away. ( http://www.debra-hunter.com or http://www.hunterphotographics.wordpress.com )
With the blooming of wildflowers natural dyeing is a daily event. (www.handmade-canada.com)
Plus I have been knitting items for Talisman Books and Gallery on Pender Island and the Bear’s paw Bakery in Jasper. In addition to these two retailers I have been completing custom orders like the hats below…….
and making hats to be posted on the website. ( http://www.handmade-canada.com )
With tree pruning there has also been spoon carving. We won’t discuss the scale of this one, it is rather ambitious!
Our land search has taken us to the mountains multiple times, allowing us to enjoy many hikes.
The thing that keeps us busiest of all are our trips back and forth to the coast. After all, who can resist ocean kayaking? ( http://www.islandhomeblog.wordpress.com )
I do find I am able to keep more up-to-date on Instagram. I can be found at @debramhunter , @handmadeincanada, and at @hunterphotographics ……..social media is almost a full time job!
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I thought sharing a post on eco-printing was a suitable post on Earth Day. A lot of the textile work I do focuses on natural and plant based processes rather than chemicals.
The scarf pictured above has been eco printed. This is a process where the silk has been dyed with the natural occurring pigments of leaves through a lengthy process of bundling the item tightly to achieve the best contact with the leaves. Results can vary depending on the time of year the leaf is picked, the length of time of the bundling, the type of fabric , and the mordants used.
The leaves on this scarf are peony and maple, picked from the garden. Results are always very random with a combination of leaf prints and abstract shapes and lines.
If you are interested in seeing more images of this scarf, and how it looks while being worn, there is a gallery on my other site www.handmade-canada.com , or click here for the link .
Eco-printing and slow cloth by Debra Hunter
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Today’s image is a Coffee Sweater from our Woods Collection and an image of McKenzie Ponds in Red Deer, Alberta. I’ve decided I am going to try something new with my blogging and other social media with Handmade in Canada, I’ve decided to combine images of Canada with the items. Many of the items I […]
via Golden Colored Coffee Sweater and McKenzie Ponds (Red Deer, Alberta) — Handmade in Canada
I know my blogging has been a little quiet lately, and one of the reasons is I have been working away. In addition to a busy photography month, I have also been updating my other project, Handmade in Canada. Let’s just say when you dye your own yarn and knit your own items it takes time.
So after weeks and weeks of knitting, the shop has finally been updated. There are a ton of new items and we are pretty excited about sharing them with you. All our items are naturally dyed by hand and made by hand too. If you have a moment check it out.
Also at the bottom of the Handmade in Canada site are our social media links. We can be found on Facebook and Instagram (@handmadeincanada), plus you can hit the follow button to follow the blog. I hope you will follow along and see all the cool items we are making.
Tonight it is another super quick blog post as I am finishing off the last of the “have to’s” on my knitting list. The last few months all I seem to do is knit , knit , knit, dye more yarn and repeat. It also explains the lack of blogging (well that and endless weeks of preserving and jelly making). The fact that I have a shipment of 25 pounds worth of Canadian wool on its way tells you just how much knitting has been going on….of course I haven’t quite figured out where I will store it once it arrives, but I will figure it out.
Tonight I am finishing off more finger puppets. This time simplistic childlike airplanes. Perfect for popping on your finger, acting out aerobatics and making zooming noises. This first batch is a special request, but I will eventually have a few online at www.handmade-canada.com .
As of tomorrow I can start rebuilding stock for the shop online. Currently it is pretty wiped out with stock going into boutiques and galleries in Alberta and British Columbia. I have lots of new ideas that I am looking forward to trying including expanding the wearables section of the items I make. It’s a good thing I have a huge shipment of wool coming my way!
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Just a quick post today to get the blog back on track.
The last little while has been incredibly busy with knit items being made, packaged and delivered to galleries an boutiques. Tonight is another super busy one. A great opportunity for both art and handmades popped up out on the coast, so this evening is filled with painting and knitting.
The paintings are near miniature in size while the knitting is a broad range of the items I create for Handmade in Canada. One painting left to create this evening and finger puppets to knit and I will be in good shape. The finger puppets are purely adorable; Finger Fairies and Finger Gnomes just perfect for a Christmas stocking.
Art and handmades by Debra Hunter
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Handmade in Canada – http://handmade-canada.com/
Seeing as my blog is 15,000 to 35,000 views a day at the moment I’ve decided to have an opportunistic moment, after all there is a little capitalist in me at times! It seems like a complete waste to let all this traffic go by and not introduce my new project. After all now all the left-leaning hate-mailers who have said “get to work woman” can now put their money where their mouth is, buy my products, make me work, and allow me to pay tax to the government to support their desired social programs (yes that was a dig!).
The project is Handmade in Canada. The site’s focus is on hand made items and eventually art will also be added to the site. The current items are all hand knits made of 100% Canadian produced wool milled in heritage style mills in Alberta and P.E.I.. I hand dye my wool in micro batches in natural dyes including marigold from my garden, tansy that grows by rural roads, and arbutus bark from trees of the west coast.
Items listed for sale include tax and shipping within Canada; I like to keep things simple. I also deal with small scale wholesale such as boutiques, museums, coffee shops and gift shops; please email me if you have wholesale inquiries.
Below are the collections. Check back on the site often as I have many items that are just about to be listed on the site.
The O’Canada Collection
The Beach House Collection
The Salish Collection
The Woods Collection
The Cottage Garden Collection
The Wearable Collection
Feel free to email me through the site regarding sizes, dimensions and any other details, as I draft the patterns by hand, customization is also available.
As some of you may know, I have a new site up called Handmade in Canada. It is a site of handmade and art pieces, influenced and inspired by Canada, and often made with natural, eco-friendly and Canadian sourced materials.
Over the next few weeks we will be adding shops and galleries to our various collections on Handmade in Canada. Today we launched the O’ Canada Collection.
Our O’Canada Collection celebrates the colors of our flag. The iconic red and white, are accompanied by grays, dark browns and blacks. This is classic Canadian. Our collection will remind you of ….well……everything Canadian (and maybe old school work socks too!).
The O’ Canada Collection is made of natural sheep wool, produced here in Canada and milled in a heritage mill. We believe in using natural products and using Canadian produced raw materials when possible. The yarn for this collection is hand dyed in natural dyes in micro batches with the red color being obtained through dyeing with lac. All items are hand knit and are one of a kind. Each item posted is available for purchase and ready to be shipped. Items can be viewed by clicking HERE.
Items start at $15.00 including tax and shipping within Canada. The pieces make great gifts for friends and family as they are Canadian made, unbreakable, and ship well.
I hope you will pop over to the new site and check it out. More collections are to come. Also if you have any special requests send us an email, we are always up for creating something new.
For more information please feel free to email us at handmade-canada@outlook.com .
by Debra Hunter
Red Deer, Alberta and Pender Island, BC, Canada
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