A Breath
Ahhhh.. Just finished my winter samples and shipped them off to my sales rep, Doreen. (Hi Doreen) I know this sense of completion is always fleeting, but I am going to enjoy it for atleast a few hours. Life has been a real whirl wind. Dusty and I went to Toronto for a couple of days to visit my family. We had a great visit. I am posting some photos of our trip to the R.O.M with my Dad, where Dusty successfully got to see a Mummy, his latest obsession since discovering Scooby Doo. We also went to Trinity Park with my friend Andrea which is so fun for us because a city playground seems so exotic , with kids everywhere. The flight over was one of the highlights of the trip because Dusty was just thrilled at everything from The Luggage on the conveyor belt to the taxi ride to my parents. He asked the taxi driver, “Excuse me, Sir, do you have any tunnels in this town?” It really is fun to see things through the eyes of a child. Last week was Dusty’s 5th Birthday. His birthday was on the 22nd, which I celebrated by putting work on hold and spending the morning making Penguin cupcakes for his class. I got this idea from my friend Ursina. You ice the cupcakes with white frosting, cut up some chocolate cookies for the head and wings, use apricots for the beak and feet and M&M’s for the eyes. It was a lot more work than I guessed, but worth it to see a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds waddling around because they had just eaten penguins. Then last Saturday came the mega birthday party which I had not meant to be mega, but somehow turned out that way. It was a lot of fun, though, with plenty of sugar for the kids and alcohol for the parents. I’m so glad it’s over. So, now I am going to clean my disgrace of a studio, finish a couple of orders and try to do nothing for a few days before getting back into the race. I’m posting a photo of the view from our house. Yes that is the Atlantic ocean you see in the distance. And not that anyone wants to think of next winter, but here’s a little sneak preview of one of my new creations, Esther. She is named after Esther Williams the synchronized swimmer. Originally the hat was meant to be a fleece spin on an old fashioned bathing cap, but it was too funny to put out into the world in any way, but an April fool’s joke. It evolved into a much more wearable hat. Until Next Time… Happy Hatting!
Those cupcakes look great! A lot of work indeed.
I can’t imagine working on anything winter related right now. So glad to be clear of it!
Your Esther hat is quite cute.
…so glad you were able to go see your family in toronto. i love seeing things from dusty’s perspective…are there any tunnels is classic! i think the esther hat is cute…and i’m glad you get a break…no matter how brief! i love the photo of your view…i am so envious right now! xo, mickey
Hi Anna,
I can’t wait to see you and Dusty in Montreal! Happy birthday Dustin!
Michael
The ‘Esther’ winter hat is almost poetic… the contrast with the mannequin’s luminous skin tone somehow makes me think of that quote (was it Nietzsche or Kierkegaard, can’t remember): “In the middle of winter, I discovered that there was within me an invincible summer”. Funny how the light is always most apparent when situated against the dark.
Basing your hat on one sport (swimming) makes me think it might be interesting to design one for a real winter sport (skiing)…maybe something that might fit around a ski helment. And if you’re looking for other design inspirations related to events (albeit not including April Fool’s day), how about a pink hat with a little snout-like fold in it and topped with a mini sombrero? You could call it the “Mexican swine flu”. 🙂
On a final note, I’m completely with Dusty on that conveyor belt thing at the airport. To this day I’m still strongly tempted to climb onto it and go around through the luggage ‘tunnel’ when no one’s looking. I might just do that someday.
Keep up with the mad hatting. Always fun to see your latest creations.
What a fun way to spend a day! And I’m loving that gorgeous red hat…you’ve almost made me look forward to winter. Almost.
Hi Anna. It was great to meet you and your family at my shop in Burlington today. I love your hats and look forward to ordering some next fall.