the small joys: it's all about the small things

birthday month continued: cake or bust!

2011-05-12T11:40:00.000-07:00

So it's pouring rain, it's chilly and I think I may have spotted hail. May, you are very unkind. I did have an interesting birthday in that I worked it over at Got Craft? and I made out like a bandit. Best spring show ever! So, not a bad birthday windfall there. Thank you to all those people who came out and said hi!

In other news, I'm totally purse hunting. And I'm picky. One, it needs to be a cross-body bag, anything other than that and I'd feel weird and probably lose it in a jiffy. Two, it's got to hold enough stuff and have pockets. My first pick as a good all-round bag is this one from Boden. It's perfect for Vancouver (ie. rainy days), has lots of great pockets and a cute pattern. I'm also looking for something more "grown up" and would like a nice leather bag. I did find a nice bag by Relic (the cheaper division of Fossil) which was ideal except the only colours available in town were gold, white and brown - and it's not leather. The brown is okay, but boring. Red or mustard would be nice! I loved a few of the leather Fossil bags online, but when I went to a department store downtown and tried them out, the cross-body straps just weren't long enough for this tall, long-torso'd gal.

And because I'm already talking about things I want, why not mention a few things that I already have and love! My iphone 4 is amazing. I used to feel cooped up waiting for an email from a client and now I can get things down outside the office and get my emails on the go - a productivity win! It's amazing and I've barely scratched the surface of all the things it can do. Tied to my iphone are these headphones by urbanears. I got them at Walrus in town and they are incredible. They stay in my ears when running and the sound is great. Plus the colour is fab - I got yellow which is a darker mustard than the photo shows so I feel old-school in a Sony Walkman kind of way.

Despite the rain and all the work I've been doing, I'm looking forward to this Saturday to hang out with my friends for a belated birthday celebration. I wish it could involve a picnic or a bike ride, but the weather just isn't co-operating. Instead it will be a lovely dinner out with the loveliest people around. Not bad, I think. Oh, and you better believe that there will be cake.

hello spring, let's make it sunny!

2011-05-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

Oh hello, I'm still here - on occasion. I figured an update was in order and why not talk about these lovely sandals. They're Worishofer sandals which have always been grandma sandals but because a few celebs have been wearing them - they are now "fashionable". Whatever, I think they're cute and more importantly, I'm hoping, comfortable. I do so much walking and in the past have wrecked my feet by wearing shitty shoes without support. Now, I'm all about the comfort. I got them from Amazon and I was so surprised at how quickly them came – I ordered them in the wee morning hours on Tuesday and they're on my feet today. They do fit small, so if you want a pair, order a full size up!

This is also my birthday week. I'm not too excited but that's because I'll be doing Got Craft? on Sunday, May 8th (my actual birth date - take note). It will be a fun event and I hope to sell a lot of cards - including a bunch of new ones that I have in shop. However, because I'll be shilling, it's not going to be very birthday festive. But that's okay, I'm going to figure out something birthday-fabulous the following weekend. Maybe something involving picnics and cocktails and cake. Yes, that sounds just fine.

I'm not sure what kind of cake I'd like this year, but I did spy a tasty chocolate and peanut butter dacquoise in last month's issue of Bon Appetit. But what I'd really like to try is to decorate a very frilly cake like this one. I love how it looks so much.

Oh, and unlike the title of this post, it is sunny (and thankfully, has been for a few days here and there). But c'mon, we need some serious springtime taking place in Vancouver. Just saying.

the home, anew

2011-01-05T12:28:00.000-08:00

I love these honeycombed vases that I spotted on Cafe Cartolina. They're from West Elm and I think they'd make a lovely addition to our home as the colours are pretty much my favorite. I've been thinking a lot about home lately. We love where we live and while it's not perfect by any means, it's suitable for the next few years or longer. We haven't put much thought into decorating and there's still boxes in our dining room corner that have been here since we moved in nearly four years ago! Shameful. Our hallway is lined with books to give away (but we're taking care of that as our local library now has a book sale cart where all proceeds go to the branch) and we've got too much clutter laying about.

We need to clear out and reorganize our storeroom. In its current state it's pretty hard to find what we want.

Our bedroom has the least amount of thought put into it. Through the generosity of a friend, we got a great lamp that nearly matches a lamp that I've held dear too for many years, so I figure this is a good start to get moving on getting the bedroom to a lovely, restful state. I'm being ruthless in the closet area and starting a pile of clothing to give away. I'd love to find a nice duvet cover, fabric for the window curtains, a lovely wooden antique headboard, and a couple night tables and call it done. But due to the amount of money I want to spend (ie, not much), it requires a lot of patience and craigslisting.

Cornelius has a few ideas for our office - getting rid of the wall shelves and instead creating a bookshelf of some sort. My main goal is to keep my desk tidy and clear of papers. We also want to achieve a paperless office, but that requires finding a tiny scanner for that purpose (we're looking on craigslist).

I am pretty happy with our living room. Our new couch is working out fine, though I'd love to find a couple of large cushions for the sofa and a winter set of curtains to help retain the heat in the winter. Also, it's time for an artwork shake up. I love the Lovely Design prints on our living room wall, but the artwork in our hallway, dining room and front entrance really need changing. Less collage dorm and more grown-up, please.

As for the kitchen, one of these days I'd love to paint the cupboards and add a nicer backsplash - but that is a huge job and I'm not sure it would be worth it since we are living in a co-op. Regardless, it's great to have goals for the house and I'm excited to make changes!

best books i read this year

2010-12-28T10:48:00.000-08:00

Once again, YA fiction, food and non-fiction makes it to the top of my year end list. Only 6 books out of the near 50 books I read in 2010 get my emotional, totally unscientific 5 star rating. The above photo are books on my to-read shelf & I might be able to add one of these to my GoodReads list before the year is through.

What can I say...I'm a teenager at heart. Here are the top YA titles I read this year. All of them really resonated with me and I recommended them to friends. Engaging, compelling and full of heart.

How To Say Goodbye In Robot

What They Always Tell Us

When You Reach Me

The next 3 books aren't YA, but fall into the non-fiction realm. Eating Animals was outstanding and while it didn't make me vegan or vegetarian, it gave me a huge understanding about what eating animals really does mean. Hits on a personal level and leads you to greater pastures. The other 2 books I read around the time my mom was dying. One funny, one heavy and true. Both recommended reading.

Eating Animals

Prayer Requested

The Mercy Papers: A Memoir of Three Weeks

All my reads of the past year have been documented on my GoodReads account.

craft fair crazies

2010-12-02T19:29:00.000-08:00

I'm a bit of a mess as I'm trying to get organized for the holiday craft fair blitz. Toque is December 3rd (6pm-9pm) & 4th (11am - 4pm). It's a fun show and it's for a good cause as part of the money raised goes to support the Western Front.

Got Craft is fair #2 and I designed the poster and postcard again (can I say it's cute?). I completed my swag and I must say I'm pretty excited as they look great. Line ups happen early for the swag bags (6am line ups even!) and the fair starts at 10am and goes until 5pm. It's always super fun and it's got such a great assortment of local vendors.

I get a one day "break" and then Tuesday I start moving into the new convention centre with my Hob Snobs collective pals. We'll organize and build up our booth Tuesday and Wednesday and then it's go-go-go for Thursday to Sunday for the One of a Kind Show and Sale. It's a big one!

I really hope the fairs go well and that I get to meet lots of my readers. Also I hope I sell a ton of stuff because that would make my bank account really, really happy.

Let the crazies begin!

hello autumn.

2010-10-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

Well, it's fall now. The weather last week was nothing but amaze-balls. Sunshine, really warm and all-round wonderful. I rode my bike a lot, went for an 18 km hike up to Mount Garibaldi, and even went to see Caribou at the Vogue who were fantastic (any band with 2 drummers makes for a good show). But today is Monday and it's grey, grey, grey.

Luckily we're prepared for cozy indoor times as we bought a new couch. Well, new to us that is. It was an amazing Craigslist score and we love how it looks in our living room. And that lovely September evening light flooding into our place helped to make it even better.

I'm also super excited because soon I'll have a bunch of new cards in my etsy shop & they are all pretty wonderful, I think. Stay tuned this week for an announcement and a shop update.

on being alone

2010-08-11T13:04:00.000-07:00

Thanks twitter I saw this lovely video, which is in part created by Andrea Dorfman (who is a Halifax film director that I love). I feel comfortable being alone and I loved that small break between boyfriends and roommates when I had my own little bachelorette apartment just off of Commercial Drive. That space gave me time to recover and grow and get to know myself a little better. I took my bike to local parks and read under trees in the middle of the day. I wandered new neighbourhoods alone in my thoughts. I went to matinees and loved being in the dark cold theater by myself with only a handful of others.

This weekend my husband will head off on a 2 week bike trip and I'll be left alone for the first time since we've been together. I'm slightly nervous that while he's out riding the mountainous roads that a bear will make a lunch out of his face or that he'll get smooshed by a careless RV driver – I want him returned to me in fine form at the end of his holiday. I will miss him greatly over those 2 weeks, I'm sure. What I'm not nervous about is being alone. It does feel weird that it's been about 8 years since I'll have spent days alone, but now that I'm thinking about it, I am excited about getting back in touch with the "alone me".

what i love: dr. bronner's soap

2010-07-06T11:03:00.000-07:00

I don't do a lot of shopping when I'm on vacation. I do like to poke about in vintage shops & thrift stores, but I like to keep the shopping to a minimum. While I was in San Francisco, I did want to pick up some sandals but I didn't have much luck with the ones I wanted, so after trying on a pair that didn't fit well, I ditched the idea.

What I did buy however was soap. Lots of it. While in Santa Cruz, I stumbled upon their local organic market and found my fave Dr. Bronner's on sale. I bought 8 bars. What can I say....I love their soap. It's magic after all! Peppermint is my favorite. It gives good tingle.

summer list

2010-07-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

After reading Orangette, and feeling for our lack of summer, I decided that I needed to do a summer list as well. Here's a few things that I'd love to check off my list this summer. Here's hoping!

Ferry rides.

Bike touring.

Camping.

Picnics!

Tank tops & lazy evenings on the balcony.

Long hikes.

Gelato cones.

Berry picking.

Nighttime art shows in the park.

Croquet!

Garage sale finds.

Being barefoot in the grass.

shoe lust & blah blah blah

2010-06-25T11:09:00.000-07:00

I've got total sneaker lust for these cute French elastique Bensimons. They're available in town in a laced up version but I haven't been able to find this style which is kind of driving me nuts. Seriously, how cute is this shoe?

Summer shoes have let me down. I really wanted a pair of Saltwater sandals but when I tried on a pair in San Francisco they were a bit too tight in the width and the size up were just too large. I looked at Tom's but they just look like elf shoes to me. So I'm going to try on a pair of Bensimons and see how they fit. If I like them, then the search will be on for the elastique version.

In other news, I went on holiday had a ton of fun and then came back to a screeching amount of work. The past two weeks have been killer but I did manage to bike for tacos and margaritas on Monday night and then walk over to Pecha Kucha on Wednesday night which was pretty amazing. Dinner at Nuba with friends following was also a nice break.

And today is our 5th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that we've been married so long or for such a short time - I feel like we were meant to be, so I'm happy to have Cornelius by my side. Tonight we might check out La Brasserie and tomorrow we're taking the day off and heading into the woods for some hiking.

selling clothes

2010-05-21T17:11:00.000-07:00

So I have a few cute tops that I'd like to sell. Nothing is fancy or expensive, just some basics that I want to get rid of. Like this super awesome top that when washed got shorter by an inch or so which for a long-torso'd gal like me just doesn't work. So, where do you get rid of your clothes? Ebay? Craigslist? Local consignment shop? Or do I just send them off to the downtown eastside charity like always? What should I do?

birthday month has arrived!

2010-05-07T16:41:00.001-07:00

Every year I always wonder what the birthday plan will be. In the past it's been picnics, shuffleboard, and sleepovers. This year, I figured why not a bike gang? My friend suggested a make-out party, and while a teenage macking party sounds kinda appealing it also sounds kinda awful. Bike gang it is!!

So we'll pack up our baskets and panniers with picnic food, cake and beer and head out en masse around the city. We'll stop at beaches and parks and ride around and have fun. I'm excited because the weather looks amazing, finally. It's sunny and warm out today and it looks just as promising for tomorrow. I've got one cake baked and another in the oven (though because I don't have 3 cake pans of identical size, I'm baking in 3 parts. Yeesh.) A good reminder to buy at least one more 8" cake pan next time I see one at the thrift store. I'll talk more about cake on my food blog (surely). But I hope everyone has a great weekend and I hope that you can get in some picnics and bike rides this weekend. Happy birthday to me!!!

Gathering Paradise: Bill Murray Reads to Construction Workers at Poets H...

2010-05-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

Love Bill Murray! And what does it mean that I loved the music in this clip a lot & that I got all teary-eyed at the Emily Dickenson poem? I'm a softie.

got craft, spring addition & a sneak peek

2010-04-27T19:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend is the always wonderful Got Craft? Spring show. Line ups for the famous swag bags are always long and people have been known to start lining up at 6am. It's definitely the city's best craft fair and I'm so excited that I'll be having a table for this show. I also did the postcard (above) and I love seeing the poster all over Vancouver streets when I'm out walking about.

I was a wreck earlier this year when I just couldn't get inspired to make anything new. But the clouds eventually lifted and I came up with some pretty awesome new designs. I just picked them up from the printer this afternoon and I will spend the evening scoring, folding and packaging them all up. They'll be posted on my etsy shop soon, but if you are in town, please come by my table at Got Craft? and say hi! I'd love to meet you.

smith's minted rose lip balm

2010-04-12T16:36:00.001-07:00

Thanks to this lady, I discovered my newest & most favorite-ist lip balm. It's shiny but not overly so and my lips are uber-conditioned. I would rarely describe my lips as kissible, but smear some of this stuff on and I'm ready to pucker. I love it. Also, cute tin. I admit that I was swayed by the vintage-looking tin.

is anybody out there?

2010-04-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

Uh, so I let this blog slide for a bit and I didn't think anyone really noticed. Until I got a sweet comment from AraJane...so I'll try to keep things up to date and post here on a more regular basis. But the truth is, it's hard to keep up so many blogs, especially when I've discovered a love for Twitter and Tumblr and have regular writing gigs with ReadyMade and Poppytalk. We'll see how it goes!

Oh, and like the little blog refresh? It's really just a tweaked sneak peak at a new card design that will hit the etsy shop in the next month or so. And you have to click over to the Spring Dance in the sidebar because that video & song is freakin' amazing. I'm now on the hunt for reverse saddle shoes and a tight suit. Well, at least the saddle shoes.

More later, I promise!

best books I read this year

2009-12-29T14:38:00.000-08:00

I love Good Reads. It's a perfect way for me to not only keep track with what books I've read, but I always get great recommendations on what to read next from friends. Thought I'd just fill you in on some of the best books I read this past year. Obviously, I'm a sucker for Young Adult and memoirs and food. All 5 stars based on my emotional, personal and totally un-scientific ratings scale.

Beginner's Greek: A Novel

Along for the Ride

The Giver

An Exact Replica of a Figment of my Imagination: A Memoir

A Homemade Life: Stories & Recipes from my Kitchen Table

The Hunger Games

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food

I should also note that the books above are on my night table and I'm almost through with Catching Fire which is the 2nd book in the fantastic Hunger Games series. It's looking like it will make the list as well.

small update

2009-12-22T12:30:00.000-08:00

There's only one excuse for my absence: work and lots of it. It's good because I'm doing work that I enjoy, I'm learning lots and I know my stuff so it feels good to be considered an expert. I'm also getting paid handsomely. There's no complaining here. This weekend, I got to take a break from deadlines and enjoyed myself fully. I drank beers and cocktails, took bike rides with friends along the sea wall where we watched all the beautiful holiday lights on on all the sailboats. Vancouver, you are a beautiful city and I'm glad and happy to live here!

During breaks, I've been watching some pretty wonderful documentaries. Like the 11 hour epic of Ken Burns, The Civil War. It packed a full wallop of history that, as a Canadian, I really knew nothing about. It introduced me to the time period, like how eloquent so many people were, how everyone wrote letters and journals and wrote them to be read, and even how people related to having their picture taken. We followed that with another documentary by Ken Burns about Huey Long, a Southern politician with an interesting career. One thing: Ken Burns, seriously, mix up your music next time. It's gettin' old!

Still on a Southern kick, we saw the most incredible documentary from the library. It's called The Order of Myths and it kicked ass. It was so powerful and delved into the issues of race and tradition like no other film I've seen. Highly recommended.

Also, worth a viewing is Surfwise about an unconventional family who raised 9 kids in a 24 ft. camper. I found it inspiring not about raising 9 kids, but about the idea of being mindful.

cyber monday deal

2009-11-30T10:14:00.000-08:00

Today in honour of cyber monday (really?) I'm offering free worldwide shipping on my Dutch birthday calendar today only. Sale ends at midnight PST. I only list one at a time, so if it's sold out, just look in my shop for another. Thanks!

shopping mode

2009-11-26T17:34:00.000-08:00

I'm totally in shopping mode, well, actually browsing mode. Here are some picks that have been tempting me!

Navy Blue and White Striped Cowl from redbirdstyle.

Doily Clock

Orange Catherine Holm Enamel Pot

crafty around town

2009-11-23T12:40:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty excited about these Got Craft postcards (front & back). I designed them for the upcoming holiday market on December 6th and I think they turned out really well. I can't wait until I see the matching posters around telephone poles across Vancouver! And of course, I've got a table at Got Craft so that I can sell my cards & calendars which is always super fun.

And speaking of Vancouver craft fairs, I'll also be at the Western Front benefit Toque this weekend: Friday Nov. 27th and Saturday Nov. 28th. There will be a ton of great local artists and it's always for a very good cause.

keeping the winter chill at bay

2009-11-20T14:40:00.001-08:00

It's chilly in our apartment and both Cornelius and I are really stingy about turning on the heat. We keep the heat in our apartment off most of the time, but will end up cranking it in our office since that's where we are most of the day. Most of the heat loss seems to go out of the windows and our windows do seem to let in a lot of chilly air (even with our double-paned windows).

I've been considering getting some heavy lined drapes for our livingroom since always the coldest room in the house. But then I spotted a link on Not Martha about using bubble wrap to help insulate windows during the winter. I liked that it was an easy, inexpensive fix that still let light through.

We ended up installing the bubble wrap (which we purchased at an office supply store) on most windows, but we left one window pane exposed in every room so it would be easy to open the windows or clearly see out of. The difference in temperature is quite noticeable. We can be in the living room watching movies and we don't need to turn on the heat unless it gets really cold. And in our small office where we keep the door closed, we so far have not needed to turn on the heat. It's been pretty amazing for such a small fix!

**UPDATE**
Now that some colder weather has set upon us, we do have the heat on, however, the window covering really does keep the heat in without letting the cold enter. Over all, I'm super impressed, and yes, the pattern is pretty frickin cool.

hollow weiner? hallow whiner?

2009-10-31T15:27:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to dress up for Halloween, but today is so beautiful outside and warm, that I was feeling a little bit festive. Lots of orange, black and stripes. Not that I'm going anywhere this evening. We'll do what we always do and have friends over for a scary movie sleepover!

Our movie selection will include the following frightening films:
Bad Ronald
Basket Case
Candyman
The Changeling
Deathdream
Drag Me to Hell
Teeth
The Wicker Man

I should point out that I've seen almost half of this list before (Bad Ronald, Candyman, The Wicker Man and The Changeling), but I'm still excited. Last year we watched Just Before Dawn and Let's Scare Jessica to Death which were pretty awesome, so I hope we pick some winners tonight!

hello autumn!

2009-10-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend we drove out to a farm in Langley and picked out a pumpkin or two. There were chickens, cows and turkeys and it was so great to be out of doors on such a beautiful day! The leaves were out in full colour and even my orange shoe laces seemed to fit right in. We also managed to buy about 10 pounds of apples: some beautiful sour & juicy Sundance and some tart cooking apples called Bramley Seedlings. I've been making fresh applesauce every morning for my toasted oats & yogurt (+ a hit of maple syrup). Delicious!

ikea hack

2009-10-19T12:56:00.001-07:00

We've been needing 2 night tables for our bedroom and when I saw this Ikea hack on For Me, For You I was instantly smitten. She just used the solid pine Rast drawers from Ikea ($49 cdn), painted the drawers white, stained the outside a dark walnut and changed the knobs. It's beautiful and doesn't look like it's from Ikea. LOVE. Now, I will try to scour Craigslist for these drawers because I'm cheap.

over and done, phew!

2009-10-16T13:31:00.001-07:00

Well, the One of a Kind show wrapped up this past weekend and it seems all the work paid off. Not only did we sell lots of stuff (+ garnered a few interesting contacts + met many rad blog and twitter followers), we also won for best booth! We had no idea there was such a prize, so needless to say, we were blown away. There's a few photos of us over at Poppytalk if you want a peek.

Want to know more about me? I've been interviewed by my small business idols, Emira Mears (and Lauren Bacon too) over at The Boss of You. If you haven't read their book, The Boss of You: Everything A Woman Needs to Know to Start, Run, and Maintain Her Own Business, go out and do it now! It's filled with practical and inspiring advice about running your own business (and it ain't just for the ladies).

Also, I've updated my shop with tons of my new cards, so please head over to etsy and take a peek!

carts of darkness

2009-10-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this local documentary via my rad Strathcona neighbour, kntgrl. You can watch the entire thing over on her site, but I've thrown up a little You Tube teaser to get you in the mood. It's very Vancouver and well done.

one of a kind show & sale

2009-10-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

It's been quiet here as I've been prepping and getting ready for the One of a Kind Show & Sale. Finally, it's all over with: our booth has been painted, the shelves have been put up and stocked. Heck, we even laid under pad and carpet for fun! So come on by starting today at 10am and running until Sunday at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Stop by booth G18 and say hi to the lovely Val and Sasha (pictured above) and of course, me!

guess what? elephant butt!

2009-09-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

In trying to get ready for the very busy craft show season, I just got some new business cards for my etsy business. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out! Who doesn't love a big 'ol elephant butt on the back of a business card?

It's been non-stop busy, so I haven't been keeping up with all my blog reading. Next week, Cornelius and I are heading to Seattle to go to a conference and we're working really hard to get up our business website which has been quite the struggle. While it may be easy to design something for someone else, it's another thing entirely designing for yourself. Scratch that....I mean designing for 2 people with very strong ideas! But we're happy with our current design and are now working like maniacs to write content and code up our new site. Wish us luck that it's ready for Thursday next week!!

the first batch of new cards

2009-09-22T10:01:00.001-07:00

I've been uploading some new cards on etsy this week, though there are plenty more to come. I've been scribbling like a mad woman working on new illustrations for the One of a Kind show, which means lots of new variety in my etsy shop. Though I have to say, my favorite designs are still to come. You'll just have to wait it out with me (these new cards haven't been to the printers yet). Exciting!

Oh yeah, and I even have a sale on some cards to make room for all the new goodies coming up.

round and round she goes

2009-09-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

I think I'm buried under paper and pixels. I've been working on a lot of new illustrations for cards and other paper things (like another birthday calendar, perhaps?) and I've really been having so much fun. My hand seems to be cramping under the strain, but I've got the very scary One of a Kind show coming up in October plus another craft fair or two for the holidays, not to mention my etsy shop. All of this on top of my day job and I even managed to squeeze in a trip to visit my family back in Ontario. Phew! Where can I get off this merry-go-round?

But I am managing to take a few breaks. The other night we started watching a dvd that we got from the library: Cinema 16, short films from Europe (the US ed.). Not all of them are amazing, but most of them are pretty great. I LOVED the short film Wasp by Andrea Arnold. Every note was brilliant, perfect. You can watch a it on YouTube here. Roy Andersson's World of Glory, Lynne Ramsay's Gasman, Toby MacDonald's Je t'aime John Wayne, and Run Wrake's Rabbit also fit into the awesome category.

at least there is breakfast

2009-09-09T11:01:00.000-07:00

Oh my! How neglectful I've been. I've been back for almost 2 weeks already and tomorrow I fly out to Ontario for a family visit. It's a whirlwind of activity and travel here, apparently. It's been a grind getting my mind back to work and out of vacation time (as you can see, our holiday was wonderful!), however, my body still seems to be on eastern time which makes for some troublesome sleeping. At least I'll be set for tomorrow's flight out.

I just started contributing to Poppytalk, the beautiful Canadian design blog, where I'll be posting every Wednesday with food talk and recipes. My first post went up today, so please be sure to pop by and comment. Also, in the next couple of weeks, I'll be adding new cards and maybe some other goodies to my etsy shop, so stop by for a peek!

happy august!

2009-08-05T16:24:00.000-07:00

I'll be back for September! Enjoy the rest of the month.

friday: best day ever

2009-08-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm not sure if it was the best day ever, but it was awesome. In between walking around Deer Lake in Burnaby and hanging out at the Richmond Night Market, we ate a delicious dinner of tacos and drank icy horchata at Dona Cata. Perfect.

maritimes bound

2009-07-29T15:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted. I could go on about emergency hospital visits, heat waves and other mundane things, but I'm not gonna. Instead, I'll talk about our upcoming holiday. In just over a week (8 days to be precise), we'll be on a plane to Montreal. Once we've had our fill of bagels, we'll be renting a car and heading off to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI. One of our neighbours will also be in PEI at the same time and have invited us to their family cabin on the sea! Sweet. I will definitely need recommendations on what to do and see. If we have time, we might even go through Maine (Bangor rather than coastal, I think), so Maine tips too, please!

Also, because we'll be gone for over 3 weeks, I'll be closing up my etsy card shop. Last day for buying will be August 4th, so if you want something, get it now. My printables shop will remain open, but operating on a "holiday schedule" - so no 24 hr deliverables. Instead, I'll check emails and send them out on a semi-regular basis.

Now, let the heat wave continue.

the dutchess & the duke

2009-07-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

It seems every time we go and see a band in Seattle or Portland, The Dutchess & The Duke are the opening band. They're actually pretty good and I stumbled across this kind of gory video today. Enjoy Monday!!

shop update & email newsletter perks

2009-07-13T11:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks, so I'm trying to catch up on all the action going on in my etsy shops. Yes, there's action! In my Small Joys printable shop, I created a new design for an art printable: Take a picture. It'll last longer. I felt I needed to do something with my old busted up Pentax Spotomatic (broken light meter) since it was just gathering dust - so I drew it!

In my card shop, last Friday, I held a super secret summer sale for my email subscribers only and it was a blast! An amazing response from so many wonderful customers that I was busy on Saturday preparing packages to ship out. Off to the post office I go this afternoon with a sack full of goodies to send. If you haven't yet signed up for my email newsletter, what are you waiting for?

A Handmade Nation review & a commitment to community

2009-07-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, I saw the Vancouver showing of Handmade Nation, the documentary that documents the modern craft movement directed by Faythe Levine. I was really taken by The Little Friends of Printmaking, a couple who talked not just about their craft (silkscreening posters) but about the politics involved in the art vs craft movement (plus, I've loved their posters for years). The Buy Olympia guys were fun to watch and I loved how they started their business by the seat of their pants. Jenine Bressner, a glass bead maker, was also a highlight since she was awesomely wacky and she was really great at narrating what she was doing while holding a blow-torch. I found it super inspiring and it reminded me so much of my 20s when I was making zines, making movies, reading Bust magazine, playing bass guitar in a punk rock band, and volunteering at a local underground cinema. The documentary brought up all kinds of nostalgic feelings which is kind of strange since it's a film completed this year.

While I'm definitely a part of the new modern craft movement with my 2 etsy shops & recently participating in craft fairs around town, somehow I feel a bit more removed now than when I was in the thick of it back in my 20s. I guess it's because I do most of my creative outlets by computer now. I work from home running my own business with my husband, I have my popular food blog, I use Illustrator to work over my sketches, I sell online, I respond to people's questions via email and I Twitter.

While I do feel a connection with others online, I'm much more removed from the camaraderie and person-to-person contact that I used to have daily. As a response to that feeling, I recently I made a commitment with myself to meet up with new people - food bloggers, crafters, web designers - and step outside the cushy online comfort zone that I've created for myself in the past few years. And so far, it's been good. I've attended social events, crafty gatherings, and met a host of wonderful people in person. I even got to attend a small but totally rad party to welcome Faythe Levine the night before the film showing. Want to know Faythe's favorite food at the party? My lemony goat cheese stuffed dates! The internet is a great place to bring people from all over the world together and create community, but it's just as important to create those ties in real life as well.

budget cool crafts

2009-07-06T13:10:00.000-07:00

I stumbled onto Dollar Store Crafts this morning. So many fun projects here, like creating budget plant terrarium, a gardening apron or a wall hook out of a fork. Not that I have time to do any crafts right now since work is really kicking my ass lately. However, it's a good resource for others!

clearly, good things are growing...

2009-06-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

I'm seriously in love with my garden right now. So much is in bloom and growing. Vegetables, herbs, flowers...it's all good news.

thank you's & shout out's

2009-06-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

(above photo by wolfie & the sneak)

I've recently been featured on a few blogs and I'm so grateful for the nods! So thank you very much to wolfie and the sneak for featuring my Good Morning Sunshine art printable in her blog. If you aren't familiar with wolfie and the sneak, you should take a look at their etsy shop which always has some lovely posters. I even own the very lovely Pods poster which will soon find a permanent home in our bedroom.

I was also smitten to find that Modish wrote a post about my printables. What's even more awesome is that Modish also featured Bliss in a Teacup. Becka & Richard who make up the dynamic duo of Bliss in a Teacup are my neighbours! Not only do they live in Vancouver, but they live in the same co-op building as we do....just one floor down. We've recently gotten to know them, and they are stunningly awesome. So how exciting that we are featured right after the other in Modish?! Amazing.

Today I was emailed by the very talented English Muffin who just featured The Beautiful Project on her blog. It's funny because I had stumbled on her etsy shop a week or so ago and loved her prints. I think it was her ice cream prints that fueled my gelato cravings last week!

a weekend in the country

2009-06-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend was pretty spectacular, weather not withstanding. On Saturday we drove out to Chilliwack to do some hiking. We hiked go Lindeman Lake which my guidebook said was easy. NOT! It was kind of treacherous and I realized that I have a real fear of walking on unsteady rock scree. Like anxiety-induced tears and a lot of shaking. Luckily, once we reached the tip of the lake, we ate a gigantic sandwich and drank a very much needed beer. The beer was the much needed liquid courage that enabled me to hop from rock to rock and get down the mountain in one piece. Thank you, Central City Empire IPA for saving my hiking ass!

On the way back, instead of booting it back to Vancouver, we decided to check out some local food markets. We loaded up on local vegetables at Wisbey Veggies (which I had taken as Wedgies Veggies!)...2 large bags packed with local produce for $20. Take that elitist farmer's markets! We also made a stop at Heavenly Cheese and bought some cheese curds and goat feta. The day was rounded off with a stop at Mission Springs Brewery for dinner. While the food wasn't that great, they do offer free tasters of all their beers before you order! A nice touch.

(photo taken by my friend Pam)

Still needing to fill up our quota of country, on Sunday, we visited Nathan Creek Organic Farm. My 2 friends and I are sharing a CSA membership this year, so we decided to peek in at the open house. It's a pretty wonderful farm and we got a great tour from the very enthusiastic farmer, Stephen. We also got to pick out some seedlings and harvest some rhubarb and greens! You can see the grey clouds but the very dry soil. The rain seems to be passing Nathan Creek's farm by! Needless to say, our dinner that night was pretty awesome.

time to listen to my own advice

2009-06-18T15:43:00.000-07:00

I was happy to discover that my Go Outside print(able) was featured on Apartment Therapy's Oh Dee Doh blog today. I should actually hang that print in front of my computer as a reminder. I haven't left the house yet because I've been busy with work and I'll probably put in another late night. But tomorrow I should have time to go outside and feel the sun on my face. This weekend there are even plans for a hike into nature which sounds too perfect. My fingers are crossed!

crafty coolness

2009-06-17T12:40:00.000-07:00

The Got Craft fair on Sunday went really well. I got some truly amazing comments from people buying my stuff which is always nice to hear. The weather was amazing and almost all the vendors moved their tables outside in the sunshine. Luckily, my table neighbour had sunscreen and an umbrella to share. I did not get burnt (just a bit of pink around my neckline). Hooray!

The next day, Cornelius and I went out for gelato...our first cones of the year! I had the coffee crisp and coconut chocolate chip scoops (pictured above) and Cornelius opted for chocolate pistachio and mint oreo. It's pretty great having a crazy huge gelato shop in our neighbourhood (218 flavours!)

busy weekend ahead

2009-06-12T12:54:00.000-07:00

Today I'm going to get out and do a bit of gardening. This picture was taken a few weeks ago when I didn't have much on the go, plant-wise. Things have gotten much, much better, but there's still quite a few seedlings yet that need to find there way into some cool, dark earth. I was lucky to pick up a couple of free herbs (calendula & sage) from the Strathcona Community Centre this week, along with a few free strawberry plants and other green things that I've been stalling over. Soon our space will look lush and green, black thumbs aside.

I also will be at Got Craft this weekend at Little Mountain Gallery off Main Street @ e26th Ave. So come on by and check out all the great crafty local peeps! For those who can't make it to the fair, be sure to check out my summer sale in my etsy shop. It's still going strong! Must make way for new items to come!

'nuff niceness

2009-06-10T16:06:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week so far, but the weather has continued to be lovely! The photo above was taken last week in Deep Cove, just outside of Vancouver. Shortly I'm heading out to check out the new Wednesday farmer's market located on Main Street by the train station. So exciting to have a weekday market so close to home. A short walk or bike ride away. Niceness!

And speaking of niceness, I have a new printable art print in the shop. The saying comes from a very old-timey song that Cornelius has on mp3 from a collection of old 78's. I made it ages ago but only listed it today. Check it out & try to be a little bit nicer, y'hear?

And how about some more nice? I have to mention this new facial scrub I'm using. I found it at a new tiny drug store and bought it because I just felt I needed a bit of exfoliation for summer. So far so good! I really like it and it's really quite cheap too. Now I just need a really good facial cleanser....something good for oily skin. I know, I'm old and I still have oily skin. Whatever. All I want is a good cleanser that doesn't smell like old people. Yes, I'm looking at you, Cetaphil!

i'm having a sale!

2009-06-06T10:59:00.001-07:00

I rarely have sales in my etsy shop, but I've got to make room for new items that will be arriving later this summer. You can choose from 8 different designs at a reduced rate or purchase 3 cards for just $8. And these are some of my most favorite & popular designs, so take a pick from these sweet cards:

Must I remind you that all of my cards are professionally (& locally) printed on gorgeously thick 100lb - 110lb card stock? So not only are they illustrated by yours truly, they are top notch in quality too! Happy shopping!!

man singlehandedly starts dance party

2009-06-05T11:39:00.000-07:00

via Freckle Farm

2009-06-05T09:09:00.001-07:00

It's been so hot here for the past week, that it's hard to concentrate on work and the computer. Luckily our apartment faces west so that it only starts to heat up in here in the evening , leaving us to work relative comfort for most of the day. But taking a break for a slushie is also a nice treat!

Earlier this week I was featured on the Got Craft blog! There's an interview and everything, so please go and check it out. And speaking of Got Craft, I'll be at the Got Craft Bite-Sized fair happening on June 14th at Little Mountain Gallery. It will be the first of their small, every second Sunday of the month craft fairs, so we'll see how it goes! It will be a very busy weekend in Vancouver what with the car-free festival happening, so I hope there will be a lot of foot traffic along Main Street.

good morning sunshine!

2009-06-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning I woke up to an email from a blog friend alerting me to the fact that my Good Morning Sunshine print was featured on Apartment Therapy. Needless to say, I was pretty excited!

Then I woke up today with an email from Smidgebox saying that I was the very lucky winner of her beautiful tote bag in her giveaway! What a start to a Monday. Nice!

It's going to be a busy week, with work deadlines looming and also lots of sunshine predicted for the weather. Summer has been here for a week and it doesn't seem to be letting up. I love it! I'll leave you with the best movie I saw last week, In A Dream.

IN A DREAM: Extended Trailer from Herzliya Films on Vimeo.

pretty printable prints!

2009-05-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-11T12:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-06T10:34:00.000-07:00

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.

a quick seattle run-down

2009-04-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

This is pretty much a quick run-down of everything we shoved into our mouths & gullets and where we laid of heads while in Seattle. Our mission was to vacation on the cheap and I think we managed quite nicely.

Sleep
First off, we got a great deal off Priceline and stayed at the Silver Cloud Stadium hotel. It had a rooftop pool & hot tub and the rooms were super clean, cozy, luxurious and comfortable. The only downside was the location which was too far from everything (but we did make use of their awesome free shuttle) and our Sunday morning wake-up call (that we had requested the night before) didn't arrive. Luckily, we woke up with the help of the ipod docking clock radio.

Coffee
Our first coffee run was in Freemont at Cafe Vita. It was nice enough to sit outside. I had an iced Americano and Cornelius had drip coffee. Delicious. Our next cafe sit down was in Capitol Hill at Victrola Coffee. We were instantly smitten with the painted signage and the airy open space inside was lovely. Again, I had an iced Americano while C had a latte. Yum!

Beer
We loved the Elysian Brewing Co. in Capitol Hill. I've been there before, but it was lovely being back. Their beers are wonderful. I stuck with IPAs (they make a fantastic floral Jasmine IPA and a very hoppy Immortal IPA) while C went with the porters and also tried their seasonal pepper-spiced Poivre white beer. Delicious! The only bummer was when we tried to visit the Elsyian Fields close to our hotel Sunday night. Despite their website saying they were open, sadly, they were closed. We weeped openly.

Eats
Señor Moose. Oh my! Fresh, authentic and delicious. I was warned by Brandon to order limes and add salt. I did just that. Perfect.

Cafe Besalu. Rich, buttery European-style bakery but better than anything I've had in Europe. It's that good. I had the ginger biscuit and an almond croissant. Yum! If I could have a ginger biscuit delivered to my desk every morning I would want for nothing.

Dick's. High marks for my first rootbeer float of the season. Not bad at $1.90. Cornelius also shared fries and a burger. Dicks, it's cheap, it's tasty and it's a Seattle institution.

The 5-Point Cafe. This is not a cafe. This is a dirty dive bar. They're open 24 hrs and some might find it sketchy. I find it endearing. I've been here before late at night, but this time we decided to go for breakfast. Cornelius ordered the famous chicken friend steak & eggs and I had to quit my breakfast mid-way just to help him eat it since it was so gigantic and so freakin' delicious. Best chicken fried steak ever. Obviously, this is not the place to eat if you are looking to eat healthy.

Top Pot Donuts. Donuts. What more can I say? They were sweet and tasty, but I like Lee's Donuts in Vancouver way better. However, the box they packaged up our donuts in? Too cute!!

a crafty weekend approaches!

2009-04-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

What a week! Everything is going by so quickly. So here's a few things I forgot to mention last week....mainly that we gifted these totally rad cupcakes to Got Craft? for being so great. They are made by the totally awesome Lyndsay at CocoCake. So pretty! And tasty (since we got to try one too!)

And speaking of Got Craft? their big spring craft sale is this Sunday! I'll be there and I hope to see a lot of you stopping by my table! You can go to the website or check out Scout Magazine for more details. Get there early as the first 30 people get totally rocking swag bags! And that postcard above, designed by me! I love how it turned out (although the colours look a little wonky in the morning light).

pretty magnets

2009-04-24T11:32:00.001-07:00

A little while ago I entered a blog contest for these beautiful magnets at Sharon Montrose. I love her photography and I felt so lucky to have won. Instead of putting them on our over-crowded-with-magnet-refrigerator, we decided to keep them on the magnet board in our office. I love them. Thank you Sharon!! See her etsy shop for more beautiful things.

design props

2009-04-24T10:18:00.001-07:00

Oh boy, it's nice to be recognized for the work that I do! I was super stoked to see my email newsletter for the Beautiful Project showcased on the Campaign Monitor email gallery.

" This design does all the right things. From the clear permission reminder at the top, something you know we love to see, to the sassy tone of the writing. There is a nice balance of images to text but what grabbed our attention this time was the creative cropping of the images, which immediately piques the interest to what the rest of the product looks like, but the email also works fine with the images off. Overall a nice, clean, fun design. "

I designed, coded and wrote the whole thing so it's nice to get a shout out for my email design skills and my "sassy" tone. Hooray!

wanted

2009-04-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

My husband brought home this sweet little hairy succulent today from Wanted. He's bought stuff from there before and keeps telling me that it's my kind of store. It's close by and I always end up walking by it but have never stopped in. That will change very soon, I'm sure.

calling all vancouver craft-addicts!

2009-04-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

The Got Craft fair is coming up on Sunday May 3rd!!! I'll be there along with a ton of other fabulous local crafters, so make sure you stop by and say hello. Get more craft fair information on their brand spanking new website (logo & website designed by yours truly).

And in other news, the lovely Got Craft people are bringing to town the documentary, Handmade Nation! The screening will be at the Ridge Theater in July but you can buy your tickets now.

everyone needs a pick-me-up

2009-04-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

This afternoon has been devoted to working on my taxes. Unlike our neighbours to the South, we've got a few more weeks left to get our taxes done. I spent today compiling receipts for The Beautiful Project and adding them to my spreadsheet before they can be handed off to our accountant. But I've finished the crafty portion of things - all PayPal fees, Etsy fees, postage, supplies, printing costs, etc, etc, etc, have been calculated. Tomorrow I'll work with my husband to get our other business stuff gathered. Phew!

So I felt like a needed a creative break, so I quickly drew up some waves and fishes and threw up a new sign for my U Pick deal: 6 cards for $20. Cute? I think so. Let's hope it catches a few nibbles.

must have been a busy week!

2009-04-13T11:52:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that I have ignored this blog for a whole week. Work has been keeping me busy lately and when I have any spare bit of time, I'm scoring and folding cards in preparation for Got Craft in May. Also, Cornelius and I have been seriously at work redesigning our website. It's been a half-assed "coming soon" page for over a year and we now have a design finalized and are working on content. Ugh, so much work!! Why is it so much harder designing for yourself?? Regardless, today I'm off to the local print shop I deal with to get more birthday calendars printed up.

But, enough about work...above is a print that I love from The Cloudy Collection which is available for $35 + free shipping in the US & Canada...and that's for 7 prints!! Amazing. It is my birthday coming up....

we love colors

2009-04-06T12:23:00.000-07:00

Excuse the blurry photo but I probably couldn't contain the excitedness of my turquoise gams. A couple of weeks ago, I ordered 3 pairs of tights from WeLoveColors.com and I'm so happy I did. First off, the selection of colours are amazing and they don't have that weird shine that most tights have that I really, really hate. They are matte and the fit is nice too. I'll definitely be ordering from them again.

super cute new note card set!

2009-04-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

Hippity-hop! I've got a brand new note card set available in shop. 4 different illustrated cards. I think they are simply adorable and very sweet. I got these printed up a while ago but waited on them before adding them to the shop. I'm completely smitten. I hope you are too! Who doesn't like a cute girl in bunny ears....right??

apple green

2009-04-03T10:15:00.000-07:00

Right now I'm all about apple green. I spotted this messenger style bag on etsy and I love it. I'm looking for another large bag with a long shoulder strap and this might be it!

But look at these summer shoes!! I think they're pretty cute and they are made by a transplanted Montrealer living in Uruguay (via Poppytalk).

And then there's this apple green skirt that I've literally drooled over for 4 years now. I should just do the damn thing and buy it!

download some sunny optimism cuz you need it.

2009-03-31T15:45:00.000-07:00

Looking through my Flickr contacts, I saw this post. Frank Chimero is one of my favorite illustrators and he's allowing friends (and online friends!) to download a hi-res version of his Everything is Going to be Okay print. If you print it out, take a photo and send him a link! I think I'll send one to my mom to brighten up her hospital room for Mother's Day.

spring cleaning

2009-03-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a hive of activity, but also one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. We took a major break away from the computer and did not do a stitch of work all weekend. Seriously, this is a huge deal. Well deserved, definitely. We watched Happy-Go-Luckywhich was amazing, read books, visited the farmer's market, spring cleaned our apartment, made a blood orange/cranberry loaf, went to a party, watched Wassup Rockers, went out for breakfast twice with friends, wandered around our sunny neighbourhood, sat in the sun in the local community gardens, and went to a pot-luck dinner. Phew!

Yes, I did say the weekend was enjoyable and that we spring-cleaned. I didn't find spring cleaning that awful actually. I think because my husband and I tackled most of the work together while listening to loud music and letting in the spring air through our windows. And our place seemed a hundred times better for it. I also think that this was a fantastically sunny weekend helped to put smiles on our faces. Want to spring clean? Try out these homemade cleaning solutions.

sleepless in seattle

2009-03-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

Work is busy at the moment. It must have been a slow week last week since I posted here almost every day! I'm also really lacking some serious beauty sleep...this week has been rough and the fire alarm testing going in our building isn't helping things.

But I am super excited that our Seattle plans have come into place. I tried out Priceline for the first time and after a few unsuccessful bids, we finally ended up with a stay at the Silver Cloud Stadium Hotel in downtown Seattle. It has great TripAdvisor reviews and while it's on the other end of downtown (it's right across from Safeco Field), I'm definitely excited about it! Plus, our room only cost us $69 dollars/night. Cheaper than our usual $71/night stay with shared bathrooms at the Moore Hotel and way more fancy. We're only staying one night to see the Black Lips and I'm also trying to convince my husband to stay an extra night so that we can have a bit more time in Seattle to explore and do everything we want. We'll see!

The above photo was taken on our last trip to Seattle...in 2006. Breakfast in Ballard at The Dish. I think it's time that we make a return trip!

lovely smells

2009-03-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I sure did. Lots of stuff going on including going to see Herman Dune (who unfortunately wasn't as awesome as the last time I saw them in Vancouver) and eating a huge Persian feast with friends who were celebrating the Iranian new year. But this morning it was back to business, including a doctor's visit for one of those unpleasant "feet-in-stirrups" kind of visits.

To soothe my nerves, I wore a little bit of my favorite perfume which just happens to come from a Seattle etsy seller, Sweet Anthem. Karen is my scent du jour, but I've got a few other handmade perfumes by them and I love them all. My husband, on the other hand, is a perfume hater...so I try not to wear scents too often, but I give props to finally finding a great perfume on etsy.

In other news, I was interviewed in Scout Magazine about my cards. Take a look!

we have a winner!

2009-03-20T21:30:00.001-07:00

Using the online magic known as the Random Number Generator, I have selected a winner out of the amazing 51 entries to the "damaged goods" give away. The winner is the 21st commenter, also known as Kathy! Kathy didn't list a blog, but she did note that she liked my newest cards, "You Look Beautiful Today" and "Good Things Will Happen" which she thought were "incredibly positive and uplifting." Well, thank you Kathy, I'm blushing.

Since this give away was so well received, I'll definitely think up more for the future! It was fun, thanks again!

my ears are burning

2009-03-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

Whooo! My food blog is featured in the Storque, which is the official Etsy blog! It was also mentioned in a blurb in Toronto Life as well. I'm also super excited at just how many of you have entered in the "damaged goods" give away!! As my Flickr friend and neighbour, KnitGrl, mentioned, it's like a virtual free box. Indeed! I love it. Remember, deadline is tomorrow at 5pm Vancouver-time, so there's still lots of time to enter if you haven't already.

damaged goods give away: the beautiful project

2009-03-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

Uh, didn't I say something about a give away a while back? I did! The thing is, this give away is about damaged goods...stuff that I don't want to sell because the paper had a weird brown bit embedded in it or their was a crack in the fold or the printing wasn't totally perfect. What could I do with the rejects? Just because I don't want to sell them doesn't mean that someone doesn't want them for free, right??

So without further ado, here's what I'm giving away: 4 cards (damaged goods) + 1 perfect card from my shop (who knows which card it will be...except it will be a surprise!). And look, one of the reject cards isn't even available yet in the shop! To enter, just leave a comment below letting me know what is your favorite card available at my etsy shop. Please include your name or a link to your blog (so I can contact you) by this Friday March 20th 5pm PST and I will pick 1 random commenter.

city of dreams

2009-03-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

Map Custom Bicycles

Seriously, what is it about Portland, OR?! This morning I awoke to a ton of fabulous Portland things in my feed reader. What is it about Portland that supports such creativity? I was recently interviewed by a local magazine and they had asked me what makes Vancouver so creative and I answered that it's hard to be a successful creative in this city. Laws, bi-laws and so much interference by the Man make things hard, so you have to be creative to get around things.

Stardust Glass Tile via PoppyTalk

In Portland, it just seems to be so easy. Portland, the city, just seems so welcoming to great ideas. There are cool little shops and businesses and small independents thrive. My husband jokingly says it's because Portland has such short city blocks compared to Vancouver. It could also be because of the chickens. If so, Vancouver now allows backyard urban chickens. Maybe the chickens will help Vancouver win the war on creativity!

Dutch Taco on Whipped

you like me!

2009-03-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

Phew, what a morning it has been! I spent the morning giving a final polish to a new client website design mock-up and then via Twitter I found out that my food blog had won for best Canadian Blog at the SXSW Bloggies!! What huge and exciting news! It was hard to get back to regular design work especially since I was so hopped up on strong coffee. Now, I've got a ton more work to do and then I think I'm going to convince my husband to take me out for a fancy cocktail to celebrate! Whoooo!!!! The card above is from my etsy shop....perfect sentiment for today!

etsy shop: something's hiding in here

2009-03-15T10:57:00.000-07:00

I saw links to this video in so many places, but when it showed up in my feed reader on Jan's blog, I decided to watch it. Wow, how inspiring! Their loft in Philly? Amazing!

seattle get-a-way?

2009-03-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of Seattle. I think because it's pretty much a car driving city. If you want to go to Ballard, to the U District and then to downtown and Capitol Hill there's a lot of highway driving. I'm more of a walking around girl, so that's why I love Vancouver so much. Cars aren't needed (tho everyone does seem to have them anyway). But Seattle does have The Black Lips coming April 25th and of course, a few days later, there's also Molly's book signing which I'd love to go to. However, it's easier to convince my husband to drive 2 and a half hours to see a rock show than a book signing, so I'm hoping we'll rent a car for a night for the Black Lips show.

So, if we do make it to Seattle, please give me your tips! Nice affordable place to stay! Best breakfast! Great cheap dinner! Affordable is the only way we travel, so no fancy dinners or expensive hotels please. I'm not afraid to admit that we're cheap.

weekend watching

2009-03-12T13:32:00.000-07:00

On the weekend, we watched 2 movies. The Dark Knight was pretty good, but not as great as the previous Batman film. In fact, I've only seen the Christian Bale Batman movies...really, why bother with the others? But the movie that I quite enjoyed and was totally surprised by was The Wackness. I had never heard about it and then it landed in my lap. Ben Kingsley is great as always and the soundtrack which is so 1990's hip hop is pretty memorable too. Oh yeah, and the story is sweet and real. A lovely little surprise of a film.

Paul Rudd´s sexy dance

2009-03-11T18:28:00.001-07:00

I'm feeling a bit worn down today (and I'm crossing my fingers that I'm not getting sick), but this clip made me laugh out loud a lot.

cute tote and other crafty things

2009-03-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this scalloped tote that I saw via Creature Comforts. I'm not usually a purse gal, but giant totes are totally useful for lugging around books and groceries. I'm putting this on my birthday wish list...May's not that far away. Snow started falling last night and it's still falling this morning. Maybe spring really is far far away. I'm not pleased.

And another new card for my shop. Rainbow coloured blobs are always a good thing. More good things? I will be at the Got Craft? sale on Sunday May 3rd. Check out all the other great vendors here. I've also designed the poster and the postcards for the sale which will be printed and posted around town soon. Got Craft? has also gone mini and they will be doing a twice-a-month sale starting soon. I did the posters and postcards for that event too. Check out the postcard design here.

In other crafty news, the craft collective that I'm a part of, Hob Snobs, has been accepted to the One of a Kind craft fair happening in Vancouver in October. This is a giant event, a HUGE trade show kind of thing. I've never done anything quite so large so I'm very nervous and very excited too. At least Val and Sasha will be shaking in their boots right along with me!

printables!

2009-03-08T17:44:00.000-07:00

Yup, I've gone and opened up another etsy shop. Introducing The Small Joys on etsy! I'm still selling stationery...but with a twist: printable letterhead, notes, gift tags and envelopes. Purchase it, print it, cut it and use it! So far I've got one design, this Eames Chair Set. But there will be more designs coming soon.

It's funny because when I first was deciding to open up an etsy shop in 2005, Cornelius said that I should sell PDF stationery. I said no, who would buy pdfs? Uhhh, apparently lots of people! It's a big trend right now so I'm jumping on the bandwagon. I guess it pays to listen to the husband from time to time.

new card in the shop

2009-03-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I picked up a bunch of new cards from the local print shop. You look beautiful today is now available at my etsy shop and I have a bunch of new cards that will make their debut in the coming week or so. I also will have my very first giveaway! True. So stay tuned next week.

In other news, I've finally got into Twitter. I had an account but didn't really use it. Then I installed TwitterFox (for Firefox) and, oh boy, I'm tweeting! I also have a Tumbler account too. I have to say I love Tumbler. So much easier than blogging and who doesn't love looking at pretty pictures? Follow me on Twitter or Tumbler or both! If you guessed I spent way too much time online, you are correct.

front page news

2009-03-05T18:28:00.001-08:00

Sometime this afternoon, one of my cards made it to the front page of etsy. I received a ton of hearts, a few sales and a crazy amount of views. Nice!

It's been a busy day, work-wise. A tiny bit of design, a lump of coding and so much freaking testing. I was a bit of a spaz by the time it was all done. But I also got to go out into the sunshine and pick up my new cards from the printers. And stop off at the newly designed & relocated Nuba for a lemon cauliflower sandwich. I took it home (plus a falafel for C) and it was a nice break to the day.

office talk

2009-03-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

I don't have a good photo of my office set-up, so I can't show you just how non-ergonomic my office really is. I spend way too much time working at my computer and I've decided that I've got to start setting things up properly. After reading this article, I'll need to place a shelf under my computer so the monitor is at eye-level and I really, really need a good office chair. Ideally, it wouldn't be too ugly or too expensive. Any good ideas where to get a great (ie. comfortable) office chair?

kung fu and the booty-ist

2009-03-03T22:45:00.000-08:00

At our place, there's been a lot of kung-fu movie watching going on. Cornelius keeps bringing them back from the library. So far, we've watched King Boxer (aka 'Five Fingers Of Death')which is so beautifully shot and lit. Many of the scenes actually look like they were shot inside our courtyard (we live in a Chinatown co-op) at golden hour. It's a very cool film.

The other kung fu film was The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. It was much slower paced than King Boxer but it was still great cinema. We even watched the commentary for this movie, which was highly enjoyable as it was being commented by The RZA. He's definitely a fan of the movie and it shows. But the best part? Instead of saying "Buddhism", The RZA pronouced it "Booty-ism" which is now my most favorite word.

etsy: black birds

2009-03-03T13:18:00.000-08:00

Rainbowswirlz, Blackbird Field Bag :: $20

BROOKLYNrehab, Black Bird :: $20

The Beautiful Project, Howdy :: $3.50

more jean talk

2009-03-02T13:26:00.001-08:00

This morning I stumbled onto this blog post and found a link to MakeYourOwnJeans.com. For hard to fit bods, this might just be the jean solution. Cornelius immediately ordered a custom shirt since he's really tall, really skinny and has a hard time finding shirts with long-enough sleeves. He was pretty excited to be able to order a reasonably priced custom shirt. And I'm sure the jeans would be so worth it too.

i buy my jeans at a grocery store and i'm not ashamed to admit it.

2009-03-01T14:24:00.000-08:00

I don't have a hot bod (hardly!), a great ass (nope!) or anything that would make me look fly in a pair of jeans. But I love my jeans. It's a rare thing, I know. Before I headed off to visit my parents a few weeks ago, I bought a new pair of jeans from the Gap. They were okay. They were on sale ($49) and they were pretty decent. But then when I was in Ontario, I stopped off at Joe and bought my dream jeans....the kind I always buy when I'm in town visiting my parents. Joe is located in a grocery store. Yes, I buy dream jeans ($19!!) at a friggin' grocery. While there, I also bought a pair of awesome pj pants ($4), a nice t-shirt ($3) and a bottle of olive oil. I'm sure this grocery store exists in Vancouver, but I don't live close to one and I have no reason to go (other than, making my once-a-year stop to buy another pair of jeans). That's me above in Europe wearing my nineteen dollar jeans.

Oh, and I updated my March hit list to the right!

spring steps

2009-02-26T14:19:00.000-08:00

I've been feeling a bit down lately but today the sunshine is out and I went out for a nice late breakfast with C and a walk around our neighbourhood. I also think that playing Kanye's "Amazing" on repeat didn't hurt either. Whereas the last few days I've been dragging my feet and moping, today I'm full of optimism again (thank goodness). I can't wait for spring and warm days and maybe a bit of kite flying too.

spotted

2009-02-24T22:16:00.001-08:00

I confess that I have a hankering for a bit of teen drama. First it was Buffy, then the Gilmore Girls, and finally Veronica Mars. All of them ended too soon for my liking. But recently I finally discovered Gossip Girl and now I'm completely smitten. I try to watch in small doses because 3 episodes can just fly by and if I watch all of season 2 in one fell swoop, then I'd be in serious withdrawal. And of course, Chuck Bass is my main man. If anyone can make wearing robes sexy it's him. xoxo.

movies and acclaim

2009-02-23T11:06:00.000-08:00

I don't watch the Oscars but I was a bit bummed that Mickey Rourke did not win for his performance in The Wrestler. Yay for Sean Penn's speech, but I did see Milk and I wasn't too impressed. It wasn't a great Gus Van Sant movie and I had seen the brilliant documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk, years ago which is ten times more amazing. I did watch Man on Wire this weekend and it was very beautiful. Thank you, documentaries, for making everything so much better. What goes great with documentaries? Cake. I've been thinking about cake for days now. Oh well, at least I have this card (not much consolation).

Oh yeah, and take a peek at my new cloudy blog header!

pink + black

2009-02-20T10:24:00.000-08:00

A new card for my shop. Actually, it's an old one that I've re-tooled and I like how it turned out. I also got this one printed a couple months ago and it has only made it's online debut today!

It's not even 10:30 am yet and I've been busy. Sent off designs, got approvals and got rid of some nagging emails in my in-box. Phew! I have some errands to run this afternoon and I've got my ipod charged and ready. Lately, I've been more into walking than biking and I blame my ipod since it's nice to enjoy the views while listening to some loud hopping tunes rather than speeding by and making sure I don't get killed in traffic.

right on right on

2009-02-19T18:28:00.000-08:00

A new card for my shop. It's actually not that new. I got it printed in December and then promptly forgot about it. I was checking out my card inventory this morning when I spied it alongside all of my other hand sign cards. Oops! I guess it's time to put it on etsy.

Everyone needs a thumbs up and a bit of Right On, and today I'd like to dedicate this card to the weather because today was warm, sunny and totally right on. Spring is definitely a-coming!

There's Too Many Dicks On The Dance Floor - Flight of the Conchords

2009-02-19T10:54:00.001-08:00

Apparently this was directed by my boyfriend genius director Michel Gondry. I haven't watched season 2 of Flight of the Conchords, but this looks promising.

2008 annual report

2009-02-18T12:14:00.001-08:00

A little while ago I got the new 2008 Feltron Report in the mail. I've been getting them for the past few years now (2006 + 2007) and they're so beautiful to look at.

Peter Bjorn and John "Nothing to worry about"

2009-02-16T11:06:00.001-08:00

Great hair, great dancing, great video, great song.
via Kanye West's blog (yes, he blogs)

productive

2009-02-13T13:04:00.000-08:00

It was great visiting with my family but getting back to work has been good and productive. I've been really having fun drawing and coming up with new designs for other clients and for myself. The above is a snippet of something I worked on yesterday morning. Colourful, definitely! Maybe I'm feeling like spring should be just around the corner....it certainly seems like it might be. Once the cherry blossoms are out, I'll know for sure!

The above illustration was something quickly worked on last night. I'm always coming up with new design ideas for my food blog and last night I was inspired by some of the illustrations in my vintage cookbooks. Who knows if I'll end up using it - or if I do, when I'll find the time to re-design my website! I always have so many projects on the go and always way too many things floating around that big head of mine. Hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day!

is this real life?

2009-02-04T19:03:00.000-08:00

I'm off to Ontario tomorrow to visit my family and my mom, especially. But this video cracked me up hard. And I do need a good laugh.