crafty around town

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.

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!

today was sunny outside. really.

I've been in a drawing mood of late (hence the new header). It must be the coming of spring and changes and new things to look forward to. Today on my walk, I saw daffodils and crocuses and cherry blossoms rearing their heads into the sunshine. I can't wait for winter to shake it's tail feathers right outta here. I'm lucky that we live in a pretty snow-less climate (tho this winter was pretty chilly for the rainy northwest) and our winters are pretty mild in comparison to life out east. Hooray that. As for other changes...next week I'll be taking a typography class at Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design. I've always wanted to study typography so I'm pretty excited to give up one Wednesday a week for the next month or so. I love learning new things so to say that I'm super excited is a bit of an understatement. Whooo for new things!

home sweet home

I love Alyson Fox's artwork & illustrations. But I think I love her house almost as much. Via Design*Sponge.

i love love

...but I hate drawing hands. I had a friend who was so good at drawing hands that he immediately got a job drawing hands at Disney once he was done his animation program at school. Drawing hands is hard but I've attempted a little drawing ... a naive one ... for valentine's day or for everyday. Love! I love it. On sale at my etsy shop.

etsy gifts

I love Etsy! Not only do I sell my notecards there (hint, hint!), but I do a lot of my own shopping and browsing there. It's the perfect place to snoop out great gifts for the holidays. It's also a great way to spend your money since you'll be supporting the crafters and artisans directly, instead of buying junk from a stoopid giantMEGAcorp. Here are just a few of my favorite (under $30) things...

This beautiful limited edition print from AshleyG's shop:


A lovely letterpress desk calendar from ilee's shop:



Shuttlecock lino print!!! From johnathanapgar's shop:



This sweet mini raincloud necklace from sudlow's shop:

the petri dish

One of my favorite little Vancouver shops is The Petri Dish, run by Jackie Dives. The store, known for its locally made, cute and quirky items, will be celebrating its one year anniversary with a tea party on November 18.


The store will also feature new Sean Maxy prints. If you're a Vancouver resident, you might just recognize his work from his band posters for The Doers. I love his stuff and I might actually treat myself to a print, as an early Christmas present to myself.

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).

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.

under the sea

*Photos by Meomi

My friend, Vicki with her partner Michael who together form the great Meomi, have recently put out a lovely book, The Octonauts. They just did a few book readings & signings in SF and soon will be doing publicity in Vancouver. This Saturday (October 28) they'll be at the Vancouver Aquarium for a reading:

Meomi will be reading at the Vancouver Aquarium : 11 am, come visit wonderful fishies and hear an octo-yarn. Free colouring pages and postcards! If anyone wants to dress up as an Octonaut for Halloween, we'll have special prizes!

They will also have a Vancouver launch party at Sophia Books on November 30, 7pm. Wine, art and paper hats! I'll be there and so should you!

Buy the book.

the beautiful project

I used to have a little etsy shop, but I sold a few things and then forgot about it. I've decided to revive the love and share the rest of my sweet lil' one-inch buttons. Cakes, puddings, blanc-mange, powerlines and pineapples....what's not to love?


Don't know quite what to say? Let this straightforward card do the talking. I've got a few cards that I'm unloading on my etsy shop as well. The other cards do the sweet-talking. Really.

when you were small

I first saw this book at a children's boutique and instantly fell in love with it's outsides. With it's dolphin smooth robin egg blue cover and chocolate brown cloth spine, the pleasure is both tactile and visual. The hand drawn illustrations, hand lettered drop caps and muted colours harken back to an earlier time. It's almost like a treasure that I could find hidden on a thrift store shelf and I'm almost amazed I could purchase it brand new.

The story is quite simple. Henry asks his dad every night, "Tell me about when I was small".

"When you were small you couldn't hold a spoon so you used to sit on the edge of my porridge bowl and dip your head in like a baby bird."

When You Were Small, by Sara O'Leary with illustrations by Julie Morstad. Published by Simply Read Books.