craft fair crazies

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!

bright lights & coy santas

It's really feeling a lot like Christmas now. Everything kind of crept up on me this month and now I'm in panic mode. I haven't mailed off my gifts to my parents and brother back in Ontario yet. In fact, I'm still finishing up baking things that will go in their packages. Yikes! Things aren't looking up, time-wise. Anyway, at least I have a ton of work to keep me occupied and keeping my pockets full which is very much needed now.

The photo above was taken at Stanley Park a few nights ago. I've never gone before to see all the lights and it was pretty amazing! What's more it's free (as long as you don't ride the train). We rode the train and it was fun. Hooray for holiday lights and silly santas.

housesitting vacation

Check out that awesome apartment block I saw in Berlin! And because I can't get enough of vacations, I happened to stumble upon this site: housecarers.com. It sounds ideal if you want to look after a kitty in Queens, NY or take in something a bit more labour intensive...like olive picking in Tuscany for a few weeks! I heard about it through a couple who will be renting and (doing small renovations) to a house in France for a year. Sounds pretty ideal to me.

auf wiedersehen!

I've got a few to-do items to check off before we head off to the airport, but I'm so ready for a holiday! An exciting European holiday at that. It will definitely be different to be somewhere English isn't spoken as a first language, but I'm excited for the adventure. See you when I return in October with lots of photos and stories, for sure!

master of shred

This year I've made a few resolutions and one of them is getting rid of cable television. I will truely miss TCM (the only tv station to ever win my heart) and I'll miss the Colbert Report. Luckily, I was able to catch Robert Schneider from the Apples in Stereo perform as an "opening act" to Stephen's guitarmageddon. I used to be a huge Apples fan and remember being so excited seeing them open for Pavement and yelling from the balcony at the Vogue Theater to play my favorite songs from FunTrickNoiseMaker (oooh, was that almost 1o years ago?). What can I say, they're a catchy band that I've seen probably more times live than any other band (well other than local favorites). You can view the super catchy original song with all the fun animations at the You Ain't No Picasso blog, and also download the song as an MP3. Cool.

post merry, pre happy

I hope everyone had wonderful holiday times because I sure did! Lots of games and friends, too much chocolate and a short little getaway helped to make the season bright. For the first time in a long time, our new years plans will rest on the quiet side. No dancing shoes for me tonight! It's a bit sad, but I think hanging out with friends and drinking fancy drinks will take my mind of the fact that my feet ain't moving.

Happy New Years, everybody! I leave you with some nice design crafts at Design Without Reach and an amazing painting via BoingBoing of Angelina Jolie as Mary and Walmart as hell. See you in 2007!

merry christmas!

I love the holidays...in fact, I'm a bit of a Christmas junkie. I've got all of my shopping and baking done. Gifts are wrapped and under the tree. Tomorrow, on Christmas Eve, Cornelius and I will get all snuggly indoors and play board games, maybe watch the LOTR series and prepare a small feast for dinner. We'll open only 1 present at midnight and save the rest until Christmas morning. Then, on Christmas day, we'll head over to C's family for more gift opening, eating and definitely a few rounds of dominos. And laundry, did I mention laundry?? On Boxing Day, we'll have friends over for drinks, games and some 80's teen exploitation flicks. Good times, indeed! But what I'm looking forward to the most? Our 2 nights at the Ambrosia B&B in Victoria. Hello, relaxation! Hello, 4-course breakfast! Hello, 2 person jacuzzi tub! Oh my. In Victoria, we're definitely planning a stop by the Rebar restaurant because it's my favorite cookbook and I'm sure the restaurant will live up to the hype. I've only been to Victoria once, so if anyone has any Victoria to-dos, I'm all ears.

Happy holidays!!

ho ho ho from flickr

I love so many things about flickr...and for the holidays flickr has created a little "easter egg". Now you can add "ho ho ho hat" or "ho ho ho beard" to any photo and a little santa hat or snow white santa beard will appear on your victim's head or face! I read about this via Boing Boing and when I went to flickr to check it out, I had been ho'd!


Ho! Ho!! Ho!!!

hello, december!

Last night we put up our christmas tree. It's actually the first year that we haven't had a real tree due to space constraints in our tiny apartment (oh! I miss that fresh pine scent!). It's a silver tinsel tree and i love how sparkly it is and how all of our vintage and handmade christmas decorations seem right at home.


Last night, I also pulled out our Christmas stockings and fell in love with one I had made a few years ago out of an old pair of cords. That year I made stockings out of old cords for all of my friends. The best part, naturally, is the bum pocket as extra treats can be put inside...because everyone loves more treats on Christmas morning!

holiday cards are ready (finally)

Oh I've been so neglectful of my blogging habits lately. No worries. My full time contract job is over and done with and I'm back to working from home again (hooray!), so I'm sure I'll be cooking up a storm and browsing the interweb for cute things to post here. Yay! Back to my regular life and you know what? I like it.

And speaking of cute things, I've put up my holiday cards on my etsy shop. They are ready for the purchasing and I've made them available individually and in a set of 6 (or more, if needed).

jack-o-lantern

Every year a form an unhealthy bond with my jack-o-lantern. When I was a kid, I'd spend the whole day planning out my perfect pumpkin face, drawing out various templates until I found the best one. After Halloween, I'd keep my jack-o-lantern in my room for a few days as a doll house of sorts, and then in the backyard to watch it decompose. I still have that strange attachment with every pumpkin every year.

holiday pack, sneak peek!

I spent the day drawing! So much fun. The result? Holiday cards featuring winter footwear: snowshoes, mukluks and ice skates. I love them. I'll sell them as sets and individually at my etsy shop. I'll keep you posted when they make it into the shop.

thanksgiving

Ah, I love long weekends...especially when they are filled with sunshine! This past Thanksgiving weekend was perfect. Documentaries were watched at the VIFF, a Thanksgiving feast was enjoyed, a corn maze was bewildering and a pumpkin patch was visited.

Thank you.