Introducing The Singalong Salon

The Singalong Salon is the most relaxing and joyful way to make music together.

I welcome participants three times a week into my home in midtown Toronto.

Wednesday at 10am,
Friday at 1.30pm and
Sunday at 7.30pm.

We chat, get to know how everyone is doing, and do some relaxation, centring and singing exercises. I introduce some singalong songs and rounds and offer everyone an opportunity to request songs for the group to sing.

The cost is $5 or PWYW.



Everyone is welcome.

Everyone can sing.

I can't wait to welcome you to The Singalong Salon.

Please email openyourvoice@yahoo.com for information.

Mitzi's Maple Marzipan Shofar Sugar Cookies

Sometimes there's a deal at Value Village that I just can't pass up. This week it was a bag full of cookie cutters. The new cutters got mixed in with the old and suddenly I'd reached critical mass.

Time to learn how to make sugar cookies.  Good thing I have a potluck coming up and a shofar cookie cutter. A search on Google for pretty shofar cookie pictures turned up a big fat zero as far as I'm concerned. A visit to Pinterest sent me down the rabbit hole of Royal Icing inspiration, recipes, tutorials, shopping lists and words to the wise.

It looked like I would be doing quite a bit of shopping if I was going to follow all these instructions. I was ready to hop in the car and buy some food coloring and cookie icing supplies at Michaels or Target. My good deal on the cookie cutters was about to turn into a potentially expensive shopping trip.

A search on the Vitamix site for their cookie recipe led me to a description of how to make marzipan stuffed sugar cookies: 

Just cut out a batch of sugar cookies, two of each shape. Then spread marzipan on one, dampen the edges, and put the second cookie on top. Press the edges together, bake, and decorate–and you have a holiday cookie sandwich!

Now we're talking!!

"Can I make the batter in my Vitamix?" Google does not seem to want to answer this question.  I decide to try it using this recipe. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

Of course by the time I get half way through creaming the sugar and butter I discover that my almond extract has gone AWOL. Maple extract will do just fine. This is Canada after all.

Now for the challenging part. It's time to combine the wet and dry ingredients. I don't want my cookies to be tough so I'm going to mix them by hand in a bowl.

Speaking of AWOL, the picture I took of the marzipan glistening as it was spread onto the cookies has disappeared from my camera. Please use your imagination.

About to go in the oven there were no beauty queens to photograph.

Fresh out of the oven they still aren't pretty but having sampled a broken one I can assure you they're delicious. The batter and marzipan were simple to mix up in the Vitamix and they didn't turn out too tough or too sweet. Success. 

Wishing you a sweet New Year. L'Shanah Tovah!!

Happy Hallowe'en

He'll be coming for you and your candy.

 But first he needs his breakfast.

Following Trends Right On Your Blog

I'm pretty excited that I can embed a TrendSpottr Widget right in my blog now. I think I'll add one of these beauties to my blog post from now on.

  What trends do you want your readers to be the first to know about? Your town, your country, your favorite brand, band or Artist? To add Trending content to your own blog on any topic, keyword, hashtag or phrase just head over to TrendSpottr to customize and grab a free widget.

Guess what I'm reading?

Thanks to a scrap of lovely Tiffany Blue ultra suede, a few eyelets and a couple of my beloved raggedy fabric 'strings' from my stash, only my librarian knows for sure.

Friends journal page

This page used many of the materials and techniques I've been playing with lately:

spray inks

sewn and gessoed magazine journals


altered punches and tags



sizzix diecuts

Location:Friends

The Noise of Toronto

Inspired by the first Noise Project prompt, I've been listening to the sounds of Toronto, trying to decide if they constitute noise, and thinking about what noise means to me. I 've been considering dropping out of the project because all of a sudden it hit me that noise is a pejorative and I don't want to clutter my creative process with negativity. If I turn it around and think of it as unorganized sound it becomes much more appealing as a subject.

Toronto can be very grey this time of year and the sounds have the same dull and continuous roar that I associate with that colour. It also has a tremendously vibrant and varied ethnic population and many of the spoken words that stick out of this aural landscape are in languages I don't speak or understand. 

I searched Google Translate for how to write Toronto in different languages and fonts. Writing them multiple times on one page produced this beautiful image:

டொராண்டோடொராண்டோடொராண்டோடொராண்டோடொராண்டோடொராண்டோடொராண்டோடெ
トロントトロントトロントトロントトロントトロントトロントトロントトロントトロ
多伦多多伦多多伦多多伦多多伦多多伦多多伦多多伦多多伦多多伦多多伦多多伦多多伦
تورونتوورونتوورونتوورونتوورونتوورونتوورونتوورونتوورونتوورونتوورونتوورونتوورونتوورونتوورونتوورونتوورونت
ТаронтаТаронтаТаронтаТаронтаТаронтаТаронтаТаронтаТаронтаТаронтаТаронта
टोरंटोटोरंटोटोरंटोटोरंटोटोरंटोटोरंटोटोरंटोटोरंटोटोरंटोटोरंटोटोरंटोटोरंटोटोरंटोटोरंटोटोरंटोटोरंटोटोरंटोटो
تورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنتوتورنت
โตรอนโตโตรอนโตโตรอนโตโตรอนโตโตรอนโตโตรอนโตโตรอนโตโตรอนโตโตรอนโตโตรอนโตโ
ٹورنٹوٹورنٹوٹورنٹوٹورنٹوٹورنٹوٹورنٹوٹورنٹوٹورنٹوٹورنٹوٹورنٹوٹورنٹوٹورنٹوٹو
טאָראָנטאָטאָראָנטאָטאָראָנטאָטאָראָנטאָטאָראָנטאָטאָראָנטאָטאָראָנטאָטאָראָנטאָ
טורונטוטורונטוטורונטוטורונטוטורונטוטורונטוטורונטוטורונטוטורונטוטורונטוטורונטוטורונטוטורונטוטור

I was going to do an image transfer into my book but our printer is out of ink (as usual). I used a pigma micron pen to copy each language into my journal and then began writing over and over each word trying to replicate the feeling of hearing something sort of familiar over and over again but never quite catching the meaning. 

The characters of the different languages are so enchanting. They make me long to understand how the shape is made, how the meaning is conveyed, how they translate to spoken word.

This would have been a base layer underneath a grey watercolor wash but I'm kind of loving how it looks all on its own.

Please join me in taking a look at what some of the other Noise Intercepted participants have been working on.