Blog

Tamara’s gift from Oksana

For my daughter's 30th birthday, her sister Oksana, wanted to present her with a special gift. She ordered a hand embroidered dress from "Fayna Vyshyvanka" in Ukraine. At the same time we were planning Tamara's bridal shower.  I painted the dress which we then used for the shower invitation,...

Read more...

Baba Maria’s Towel

This richly embroidered towel (rushnyk) was embroidered by my father's mother, Maria. The family lived in the Ternopil region of Ukraine, and my father remembered his mother embroidering especially during the winter months. When my father's youngest sister, Lida, visited us in the mid 1980's she brought this rushnyk...

Read more...

A surprising purchase

Just before Christmas 2014, I participated in a Christmas Bazaar at St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Oakville. I was a little hesitant to go because our choir, Svitanok Women's Choir from Hamilton was also having a Christmas bazaar the next day, and I had agreed  to be there...

Read more...

Euromaidan Towel

Several years ago, my friend Irene Hornich and I started a small business called Ptashka Creative Designs. We designed cards, stationery and other small gift items with a Ukrainian flair. One of the more adventurous items we designed was a beach towel. It featured a pair of sunglasses with...

Read more...