Here are my upcoming craft shows for the 2013 holiday season. It's a great opportunity to do some Christmas shopping and maybe pick up a little something for yourself.

Handmade Harvest
Saturday, November 2nd, 2013 (9am to 3pm)
Almonte Old Town Hall
14 Bridge Street, Almonte

Sandy Hill's One & Only Arts+Craft Show
Sunday, November 17, 2013, (10 am to 4pm)
Sandy Hill Community Center
250 Somerset East, Ottawa

The Savoir Faire
Sunday, Nov 24, 2013 (10:30am to 4:30pm)
The Aydelu Centre
94 rue de Patrimoine, Aylmer, QC

Idle Hands Craft Sale Holiday Edition
Saturday, Dec 1, 2013
St. Anthony's Banquet Hall
523 St. Anthony's St. (off Preston St.), Ottawa

Lentil challenge

Last fall, I took a little break from my Etsy shop and sewing altogether. During my little break, I started cooking and baking more. A few weeks ago, I discovered there was a contest called the Lentil Recipe Revelations Challenge. The challenge was to come up with a tasty recipe that included lentils for a chance to win the grand prize of $1000 (that would buy a lot of fabric).

I would really appreciate if you could leave a comment on this blog and like my post on the Lentils facebook page.

So I challenged myself to create a recipe that was easy and tasty. I already cook with lentils once a week, usually in the form of a soup but with this week's warm weather, I decided to let spring inspire me.

Lentil and Asparagus Salad topped with Prosciutto Chips

1/2 cup dried green lentils
6-8 asparagus spears
5 thinly sliced prosciutto
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
S&P

Bring roughly 3 cups of water to a boil with lentils. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Drain and rinse, set aside. Meanwhile heat oven to 350F. Place prosciutto slices on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake until crispy 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to soak up the excess oil from the prosciutto. Cut the asparagus in 2" pieces. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add the asparagus and cook until tender, 3-5 minutes. Drain and rinse with very cold water until completely cool. Pat dry.

Add the lentils and asparagus in a bowl and season with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Break the prosciutto chips and toss with salad.

As for my Etsy shop, it should be re-opening in a few weeks with some new spring styles. I'll be posting previews, fabric updates and more on Tangente's facebook page.

Fall 2011 Collection

Finally after a hot summer, the Tangente - Fall Collection (part 1) is here. Part 1 consists of basic separates (tops, tunics and skirts) in bamboo jersey. Part 2 will be ready in November and will include tops in organic cotton and a soft fleece jacket made from recycled water bottles.

Thank you to photographer, April, from Ahartphotography and model, Pascale, who had to endure a scorching hot day in long sleeve shirts and boots. You both did a fantastic job!

Here are my favourite styles of the new collection:

Elise top with Mona skirt

align="center"> Adeline top

Wrap around cardigan with short sleeves

Adara tunic

Behind the scenes: Fall 2011

Can you believe Fall is just around the corner? I sure can't, seems like summer just flew by.

This past weekend, I had the Fall 2011 (part 1) photoshoot in downtown Hull. The model had to wear long sleeve shirts, leggings, tall boots on one of the hottest days of the year. Modelling isn't has glamorous as it seems. lol!

Here are a few pictures I took while the photographer and model were working their magic. More details to come soon..

Photoshoot 2x

In April, Malorie from Ef magazine borrowed a few styles from Tangente's summer collection for a fashion shoot she was doing in the Byward Market. It was probably the most miserable day for a photoshoot (weather wise: 5C brrr!) but the pictures turned out fantastic. Here the model is wearing my Caryn dress in blue bamboo.


On Victoria Day, I went with my friends, Flora and Yvan, to do a little photoshoot around the former Mill Restaurant on Wellington st. It was a windy day but the area was practically deserted. They both did a fantastic job, don't you think?


I whipped up this top (above) a few days before the shoot. I've been hoarding storing small pieces of vintage cotton for a few years now. I'm glad I've been able to put them to good use.

Thanks again Flora and Yvan !!

Oscar + acupuncture

You may remember my blog post from last fall when Oscar suffered his 1st episode of IVDD (paralysis of his back legs caused by a herniated disk). At that time we opted for the surgery (not knowing we had other options). He made a full recovery and was back to his old self within a few weeks. A few days before Xmas, Oscar got up on his 2 hind legs to investigate the cat, that was perched on the couch, and unfortunately lost his footing. This little fall was the catalyst for his 2nd IVDD episode. This time around, we opted for acupuncture instead of surgery. Miraculously within 4 weeks, he was walking again with only a slight limp.

About 6 weeks ago, I left the dog alone for 10 minutes while I showered. When I came out of the shower, Oscar had a guilty look on his face. I thought maybe he had eaten cat food or maybe he had an accident in the house but I couldn't find any evidence. A few hours later, someone knocked on the door and he didn't even get up (usually he would go bonkers). I knew from that moment, he had another back injury. We started weekly acupuncture treatments once again but this time his progress is much slower. He has movement in his back legs but he's still unable to stand or walk. Despite this fact, he's still a pretty happy dog and can scoot in the kitchen at lightning speed when he hears a banana being peeled.

If he shows no progress within the next few weeks, we'll stop treatment and get him a cart (aka dog wheelchair) for his back legs. I've heard that once dogs get a cart, they no longer make an effort to walk so we're leaving this for the very last option. In the meantime, we have daily physio and acupressure exercises to do with him to help stimulate the nerve endings in his back legs.

I'll keep you all posted on his progress :)

Taking a nap under the covers




Oscar getting an electro acupuncture treatment.

Timber

Ottawa was struck with a wind storm on Thursday. We had wind gust around 90 km/h.

That's my house behind the tree. It looks like it's just taking a little nap on the power lines.

At least we still have electricity but the tree did manage to cause damage to our roof were the wires connect to the house. Today they came to remove the tree off the power line but now we have to hire a electrician, a tree removal company and possibly a roofer too. Argh!