Just up the street from Sidney’s industrial hub, a farmhouse offers reclaimed refuse in the form of packaging.
At Snowdon House the foamy fun bath stuff, jellies and vinegars, pasta and greeting cards all have the same feel — pretty and unusual. The packaging is from the mind of Laura Waters, a floral designer who’s delved into the realm of paper design.
“I love things to look pretty, so we take different simple items and use them into paper,” she explained.
Snowdon House just opened last fall, but for years now Waters’ been passionate about packaging. She developed a technique to fuse fibres onto different materials to create intriguing designs.
“It’s been chemistry, a little bit of physics and lots of mistakes. I don’t give up easily,” she said.
The designer cards and boxes are fused with things as varied as turmeric, jalapeno powder, reclaimed gold and silver leaf, recycled polyester and soy silk.
“I love things to look pretty,” she said. “It’s pretty neat when you take bits of fibre and you don’t know what they’re going to look like.”
Snowdon House is a regular at markets on Thursdays in Sidney and Saturdays at Saanich Fairgrounds.
“People are starting to find us, they’re stopping, they see the sign and drop in for a visit,” Waters said.
Snowdon House is among the many venues on the North Saanich Flavour Trial that celebrates farming and the community with cultural events and family fun Aug. 20 and 21.
“We’re going to do a demonstration one day doing yogurt cheese and how to take simple skim milk and turn it into a yummy cream cheese … the next day we’re going to do a dehydration seminar,” Waters said.
The event includes farm tours, tastings, cultural and nature events, literary readings and demonstrations which include everything from cooking heirloom beans to creating a hedgerow to building compost. The event wraps with a Mayor’s Country Hoe-down at 7 p.m. in Wain Road Park.
Download the booklet with map and venues online at www.northsaanich.ca.
