Hi & Welcome
My name is Fran and this site is my personal blog. Here I enjoy recording and sharing my crafting, sewing and techie projects and ideas. Since I also love finding great Canadian sewing and crafting sources, I keep all my lists updated here.
“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”
Carl Sagan
In addition to my lists, you may also see my blog posts about a lot of different things that interest me or that I’m in the process of making or learning. I like to record my makes and thoughts about them here. You are welcome to come along for the ride.
My main interests (at the moment) are making textile things, sublimation projects, building and maintaining websites, like this one, and enjoying my family.
About Me
I am retired from the federal Canadian government. Married to a limey import, we have two incredible and interesting grown children. On August 20, 2020, we welcomed a little girl, Rhea, into our hearts and we now proudly bear the fabulous titles of Grandma and Grandad!
My husband and I also share our days with our current Boston Terrier named Tuppence, Second-of-her-Name. We love all dogs, but most especially our lovely Boston Terriers.
Wanna Hang out or Grab a Coffee?
Finally, for those of you that have got this far, I wanted to note (if it isn’t already obvious) that this is not a business or money making venture for me. I do not monetize this site with google ads or affiliate links. However, I do have one affiliate link which is for Web Host Canada, because I really like them, truly, and well, web hosting is the biggest expense for keeping up this site. If you are considering your own website, please do look into Web Host Canada. You won’t regret it.
If you do want to support my efforts or just put a huge smile on my face, you can buy me a coffee.
If you want to drop me a line the old fashioned way, my mailing address is
Crafting and Sewing in Canada
121-2420 Bank St.
Ottawa, Ontario
K1V 8S1
Let’s Stay in Touch
First, feel free to follow me on any of the social media links below.
You can sign up for my newsletter. It generally includes a roundup of my list updates and new content on my blog. I’m not very regular with it, so you won’t be spammed or anything like that. The sign-up form at the bottom of this page.
Thanks for listening and I hope you’ll come back soon.
Instagram | Pinterest | Facebook
But Really, Tell me more …
After years of having hobbies focused primarily on internet coding and technology, I accidentally sewed something adventurous in 2017 and I really, really enjoyed it ( I know, late bloomer!). Since then, I have been sewing almost daily and I still get such a kick out of finishing a project. My mum would be shocked! So, really I’m a sewing newbie. Sewing is a skill, absolutely, but there is also a ton of complicated and technical information to learn as well: types of needles, threads, fabric composition, standards, machines, including VSM (vintage sewing machines). Enough technical and deep learning information to warm the hard core of any techie’s heart!
My Domain Name
And I am a techie at heart.
I had my first site (MoonShadows) on Geocities, a free website host where I was a Community Leader in the Science Fiction Neighbourhood called Area 51. When Geocities closed, I was hooked and moved to paid hosting and bought my domain name, wicks.ca, the first of many, in 2001.
The wicks.ca website has gone through many iterations then. For years, I hand-coded every line in HTML using Allaire’s Homesite software. Eventually I upped my game with browser-side JavaScript and then moved into server-side scripting with MySQL and PHP. Eventually, I offered website development services to friends, family and a few clients and along the way became proficient with Adobe’s Photoshop and Illustrator and hundreds of software programs in support of my habit.
In those early days, I laughed in the face of those all-in-one packages like WordPress or Drupal as any “real” website developer would. I write my own code thank you very much! However, as the technology evolved, I had to break out of these habits and face the truth: WordPress had grown into this incredible functional and flexible CMS – all free!
At my last check, there were 60,283 WordPress plugins to add endless functionality and customization! In 2022, 43% of all websites on the internet are using WordPress. So, I dumped my old sites and dug deep into the WordPress. Now, years later, I can still say that WordPress is the best way for anyone, coder and non-coders alike, to build a website today.
Oh, I use and highly recommend Web Host Canada for hosting and domain registration in Canada. They have their servers IN CANADA. This means we are not subject to another country’s laws of data collection. They run green too. Sure, sure, sure, Fran, you may say, all that is great, but I have a business to run. Well, they also have super fast servers, great pricing and even their support is incredible – in both official languages. I do love WHC and I’m sure you will too.