pretty printable prints!

I pretty much forgot about my printables shop, The Small Joys over on Etsy. But then I realized that I could turn these 2 illustrations into prints at a really affordable price. So sweet and so easy! I really love them both and I hope everyone else does too!

Good Morning Sunshine was an illustration that I designed months ago, but wasn't quite happy with the colours. So I tweaked it and I really love the results. Plus, it makes me happy since Good Morning Sunshine was how my mom would greet me in the mornings as a kid.

The Get Outside print came to me after a hike this past weekend at Cypress Falls. It was so beautiful and considering it was a Saturday morning, hardly anyone was on the trails. Everyone needs to get outside more & maybe this cute print could inspire a visit into nature.

i wish i could sew

I followed a link (I can't remember where) and ended up on mame*'s Flickr set called "Clothes I made". Oh boy! Most of her outfits are made out of thrifted fabrics like bedsheets. Pretty! Such great stuff. It makes me want to learn to sew better or at least hire a seamstress to make me such pretty outfits. I could even provide the thrifted fabrics, I've got a ton of unused lovely things clogging up my craft shelves.

inspired

It's been a pretty active morning in terms of getting my own work done. I woke up at a bit late (9 am) and once I poured myself a cup of coffee I got down to drawing new card ideas. The summers are always a bit slow for my etsy shop, so it's nice to have the time to come up with new things. The illustration above was just one of the things I worked on today, who knows if it will ever be made into a new card or not!

I also found (via Twitter) some pretty cool things. One, the National Film Board of Canada has put all of their films online! Amazing!! And then Grain Edit twittered a wonderful old Sesame Street skit on visual thinking. Inspiring!

parsley days

I snapped this photo as golden light was flooding into our office. I love golden hour because while it's so pretty and beautiful there's also sadness underlying it all in that the day is over with. It was a rough night last night. I hardly slept and I'm trying to get out from under a bad cold. Yesterday I put on my bravado and decided that "I'm not sick! I'm going to go on a bike ride!". And I did and it was lovely. I got to hang out with friends and drink a beer and wander around the market, and enjoy the stat holiday, but then the rain came and I got soaking wet. I'm sure it did not do wonders for my recovery. But I'm resilient and I'm still plowing ahead.

Visiting my dear friend's blog, I spotted this video and it was so sweet that I had to share.



It's directed by Andrea Dorfman who directed Parsley Days which made such an impact on me when I first saw it. I loved it. I loved the colourful buildings in Halifax, the quirky characters and the indie-ness of it all. I haven't seen it in ages, so maybe I should check it out again and re-live that crazy time in my life when I saw Parsley Days for the first time. Or maybe not. Some memories should stay in the past as memories, don't you agree?

getting my hands dirty

I did a quick little blog re-organizing the other day. I created a little spot for Vancouver bloggers and I updated my May soundtrack to the left. Small things, but good things. I also discovered this blog of stylish folks which is so nice and a nice counterpoint to my own un-stylish self.

The photo above is of some lovely, but sadly, on their-last-legs tulips in our living room. But I've been dreaming of my outdoor garden, but it's pretty barren. It's too cold to want to spend time out on our balcony, so I'm just hoping for a nice warm day to get my hands dirty. Luckily our co-op has a gardening day this Saturday to help spruce up the communal areas. It'll be a good re-introduction to doing small outdoor tasks and helping out always reminds me of being a kid helping out in the yard. As a kid, I hated chores, but as an adult, it's actually kind of nice to work for an hour or so in a garden larger than my tiny balcony space. Here's hoping to a sunny weekend!

birthday weekend wrap up

To say I had a pleasant birthday weekend would be an understatement. It was truly a great, great weekend. So much fun, laughter, friends and good times were had that I will mark the highlights in point format (I know, exciting!):

• Brunch made by the husband. Lovely.
  
• Sexy wooden fenders for my bike (my husband's gift to me). They're handmade in Bend, OR and they are simply beautiful.
  
• Potluck dinner with amazing chocolate cake. Lots of colours, variety and all in all, quite healthy too. And lots of leftovers to snack on.
• Teen movies! Over the Edge + Suburbia = awesome.
• Root beer floats!
• Yummy huge breakfast at Deacon's Corner.
  
• A walk and layabout in the sunny & warm Strathcona community gardens that included smelling lilacs and eyeing the new garden plots for July.
  
• Buying some tasty & tart fresh lemonade from a little girl's lemonade stand.

This weekend, we also checked out Wanted and it was such a lovely shop. Cornelius and I bought 2 tiny little plants, one succulent and one cactus for our office. They're so tiny and cute! I also just received some amazing purple tights from We Love Colors in the mail. As much as I'd like to believe that tight season is over with, the weather looks pretty grey and rainy for most of this week, so these will definitely give my legs another shot of brightness.

birthday week

I should be getting things done today, like shopping for birthday cake ingredients or buying olives and fancy cheeses, or even scrubbing the bathroom, but I'm feeling awful. I'm nauseous, crampy and sleepy and maybe just a slip under some blankets will do me good. Who knows. If someone could make me breakfast that would be nice too (ie. lovely husband is not here).

But despite how awful I feel, I am a bit excited for my birthday (tho I wish I didn't have to do anything to make it awesome). I think I'll make a strawberry-rhubarb pie and possibly Molly's Winning Hearts & Minds Cake. If I make it this afternoon then I can freeze it and it will be perfect for Friday.