My new coffee date

Once again I have planned by blogging time a little poorly and instead of recapping a wonderful day at the market I am hanging out with my new fave almost two year old! Baby Jean is certainly entertaining and makes one heck of a coffee date:

Well, maybe she sticks out her tongue at me when I try to take pictures, but she's still cute! How is your week going along? Any fun coffee dates lately?

Couch Dying

Looks like we've made it to Monday and after my busy weekend of activities I am pooped! So once again I bring you a last minute post I've written before a very early bed time! Hooray! The girls at Used Victoria.com certainly showed off their craftiness at the Maker Faire this Saturday by spray painting some couches purple:

 

That's right! Bright purple! How cool is that? I had no idea you could just paint furniture but apparently they sell special fabric spray paint that you mix in with fabric softener and that's about it! Instant upcycle! Neat! What did you get up to this weekend?

Jurrasic Frames

Whether you are new to the blog or not, you should know by now how much I love plastic dinosaur crafts! Nothing like a little prehistoric molded plastic to perk up your decor scheme and these awesome picture holders from "ideas to live the DIY life" are no exception (link):

(source)

Aren't they just lovely? I like the idea of using one as a note holder by the front door or maybe even use a chubby dino as a spot to hold your grocery list? Sounds like fun to me! 

Maybe Leslie and I will even find time to do a little dinosaur crafting while she visits me for the next few days! She's arriving today with Neal and baby Jean and despite my work and craft show schedule I'm sure we'll have time to fit some fun in there! Wish me luck at the market today and happy Sunday!

Oh oh it's magic!

Between craft shows this week I decided to make a few more magic wands.  I originally made them on a whim last year and although the little kids of Kamloops seemed to love their colours and little smiles, the kiddos of Victoria don't seem too interested. Okay, that isn't quite true - the children may adore them but their parents (and the all important money holders) don't seem very stoked on my carefully crafted creations. I also realized that almost the star shaped wands were the first snapped up last summer followed by the flowers. Apparently pink and purple hearts (my personal fave as a kid) aren't a big draw these days so stars and flowers it is! Check out the newbies:

Yay! Aren't they a happy bunch? Let's see a close up:

Aww - what a sweetie! Oh! And gender neutral to boot! Let's hope next time a bunch of kids lay their eyes on my mason jar of wands are especially good at convincing their parents to buy them things! Haha! What do you think?

Friday Find: Lenny Mud

While Fraser has been in school I've been extra good at my extreme budgeting. Nothing like only one income to cut out the frivolities in life and completely cut out on my collection building. I was feeling pretty good about how frugal I've been but when I saw this storm trooper tea pot from Etsy's Lenny Mud (link)- I really had to resist adding it to my display cupboards. Just look at that white ceramic geeky amazingness:

(source)

Ack! I'm in love! Lenny Mud certainly does a great job at upcycling plain old mugs and pots into lovely treasures! Just check out his hilarious tea pot pun (link)! So good! Take a moment and check out the great creations Lenny's whipped it. It certainly made my Friday - hopefully it will bring some cheer to yours too! Any fun plans for the weekend?

whip out that circle punch (again)

Remember how you read that post I did a few days back on making art using a circle punch (link) and promptly ran out to pick one up? Well good news! Here's another amazingly fun project to use that punch with! Look at those colourful scaly tiles:

(source)

Yup, looks like the creators at the "you are my fave" blog have come up with one interesting, eye catching, and ultra easy project!  I really like how inexpensive this one is (like most tutorials I blog about) and think that one of these plus some matching throw pillows would be a great way to create a fresh and instant new colour scheme for a room! Oh! Maybe you could modge podge the scales down and put some lettering over top for a neat "home sweet home" type sign - or even throw a name on there and hang it on the door of your kid's room! Ah! So inspiring! What do you think? Should I grab the supplies and make an extra girly one to hang on our new roommate Jim's door this fall? Nothing says, "welcome home!" quite like a bright pink girly name sign...

Paper Clay Barnacles

So I may have no clue what I'd do with these - but the paper clay barnacles from the folks at Design Sponge are amazing! Take a peek:

(source)

Ah! So cool! Just grab a roll of tp, some joint compound, and and some kitchen supplies and prepare yourself for one fun (and messy) afternoon of creating! I love the idea of using them as a centerpiece or mixing in some fun beach finds and clustering them together as living room decor! Heck, they would even look awesome all stuck together and hung on a wall! OoOo! Fun! What do you think? What would you use paper barnacles for?

bring on the bow!

My summer clutch collection can always use a new addition - and this tutorial form Elm Street Life (link) is just perfect! Just check out that bow:

(source)

Isn't it darling? Simple, feminine, and even has a wrist strap! Woo! This tutorial is really well explained with lots of images too making it that much more desirable for me to make! Since I dabble in my own clutch and pouch sewing patterns it is extra nice to see how someone else makes theirs (especially the lining and zippers - since I'm still a sewing novice) and love seeing other sewer's tips! How pleasant! Now to rummage through my fabric stash and get some free time...hmm...that may be harder than I thought....

BSSM Recap - vol ii

My second run at vending at the Bastion Square Sunday Market has come and gone and I've officially decided that wind is way worse than rain. Give me some nice old misty rain any day and leave those disastrous gusts at home!  Other than the weather - the show went pretty well! I set up on the other side of the street this time around and decided to mirror image my tables and display to match! Take a peek:

 

 

Yay! I love how bright and cheery my booth looks and the newly laminated cream price signs worked perfectly! In fact - Fraser bought me my very own laminater as and early bday present and I am thrilled to bits with it! Woo woo lamination!!! 

I also had a few new items to throw in the mix this time around including some fabric button earrings to replace the candy studs that got ruined in the rain last week. They really fit in with the wooden earrings and filled up the bulletin board nicely:

 

In case you weren't aware of how awesome Fraser is (which, you really should know by now) he was kind enough to make me some awesome T-shaped stands for my wooden pendants! They were much easier to see on the new display and fit in perfectly with the table:

 

It also conveniently freed up my tall jewelry tree that I put my glass tile necklaces on! So much better!

As a final touch, I made a nice bouquet of felt mustaches this week and boy am I ever happy I did! They were a huge hit with a few ladies and I sold a good handful! They even went wondering around the market posing with them that just seemed to pull the customers my way! How lovely!

To please Sarra, Fraser took a picture of me showing off my outfit (sort of) and hair I whipped up for the show. Hooray for 100% jersey cotton, kate made accessories, tights, and a bun! It may sound silly, but I haven't had long hair since 1991 and since my mom was my hair stylist then I never really learned how to put up long hair. Check out that non-pony tail (and silly facial expression):

Fraser once again saved the day by holding down the tent during the huge wind storm! Oh how I was praying for a nice day (we even played the sun song from Zelda)! Rats. No luck. The forecast called for storms, bits of rain, and big winds and that is what we got. Fraser wins the "best, most patient helper ever" award this week! Thanks sweets!

After our battle with the elements, we've decided to make some giant weights this week to prepare for the next market and try to brainstorm a few ideas on how to wind-proof my booth. The bulletin board of earrings was one of the most frustrating pieces since a gust would flick all the earring cards all over and while I scrambled to recover them the rest of the table would fall apart. Our crafty neighbour Ann suggested putting elastics at the end of the nails which I think would be an awesome idea if I can find some that will fit. I also figure I just need to hide some weights in the tea cozies and use some extra tape to deal with the rest. Hmm...good thing I've got a week to figure it out. What do you think? Any tips on combating wind?

Market Sunday - again...

I sure hope today's forecast calls for sunshine and sales because I am heading back to the Bastion Square Market from 11 - 4 today for another day of vending! I've been crafting away all week to restock for the market and even made a handful of special "thanks for reading by blog" gifts for any readers who stop by! Aren't they dear?

 

Okay, so they might just be spare mismatched buttons I had left over - but the thought is endearing right? And I do very much appreciate all my blog readers (even if I've only met a few of you) so I figure it is nice to show my thanks! I'll be giving them out all summer long (while supplies last)! Yay! So when you see this...

 

...remember to let me know you're a blog reader! Wish me luck today! I'll be back soon to spill the details on how my new items and display pieces went!

Tie me up!

My plan to budget by not getting any hair cuts has been working quite well! I've officially not had a trim since December (besides DIY bang trims) and have saved a good $120 thus far with my frugality. Woo hoo! 

Lately I've been playing around with my longer tresses quite a bit (thanks to a quick "how to do your hair cute" course from Hetty) and am really inspired to start wearing a head scarf! After all I do love thrifting for vintage silk scarves and with a lovely (and extra helpful) tutorial from The Nearsighted Owl (link) - I'll be set! Just look how cute she looks with that scarf on!:

(source)

 Ah! Adorable! Of course my hair isn't quite so short or red, but I am sure I can make it work. I also really enjoy the fact that one of the tutorial steps involves removing your cat off your scarf! What a great lady Rachele is!

In other hair-wear news, I am thinking of making some new felt and crochet hair bands for my craft booth and was wondering - what are your thoughts on hair accessories? Are you a fascinator fan?

Friday Find: Petit Beast

Today's find is the wonderful, whimsical, air plant wonders of Etsy's Petit Beast. I would certainly have never thought of using sea urchin remnants as a plant vessel to make one heck of a hanging pseudo jelly fish! Eek! Check it out:

(source)

Aren't they magnificent? I think a nice swarm of these would be just charming hanging in my living room! It certainly intrigues me into attempting to grow my own air plants and see what lovely decorative things you could do with them! Of course coming across sea urchin shells may be a tad on the difficult side so luckily Petit Beast sells little DIY kits for reasonable prices (link)! OoOo! So neat! I wonder what the laws are on shipping live plants to Canada...

mystery plants

After my epic fail of outdoor gardening in Kamloops, I have been trying much harder to master my hand at patio gardens this summer in Victoria! We have two lovely big plant boxes on either edge of our deck and although my attempts at seeds have failed out there, the lavender I planted last year seems to be surviving and since Fraser has been religiously watering we've even got some thriving mystery plants! It is very possible that they will turn out to be weeds, but since I have no clue what they are I thought I'd throw some pictures up to see if any of you are pro-botanists! Let's take a peek shall we:

Yup, I certainly have no clue what that plant is! I even found a few bulbs when I was planting the lavender (which you can see peeping in from the side in that last picture) and they seem to have turned into those big heart/lily shaped leaves hiding under mystery plant number one. To add to the guessing fun it seems that the mysterious greenery is coming in symmetrically on both sides of the planter making me think they were at some point intentional. Let's take another look (this time with labeling)

Any of you gardeners out there have a clue what these are? Inquiring minds would love to know! If not, I guess I will pray for blooms and hope that can help me with identification! In the meantime - hooray for greenery! Happy Thursday!

Rosemary Roasted Almonds

I recently got a ton of literature on eating for rheumatoid arthritis and one common trend they talked about was nuts! Looks like an extra excuse to increase my nut intake and when I came across this rosemary almond recipe (link) I figured it was calling to me! Just look how delicious they look:

(source)

Nummers! My mouth is watering just thinking about how yummy those roasted almonds would be and we've even got a massive rosemary bush hanging out in our parking lot that could use a good trim (okay, not really - but we do steal some snipits now and then)! Yum! I do love savory snacks (and rosemary everything)! What do you think? Anyone want to roast some rosemary nuts with me? I wonder how a mixture of walnuts, almonds, and pecans would taste...

BSSM Recap- vol i!

Well I've successfully survived my first craft show here in Victoria and despite the never ending mist and rain it still turned out to be a good day! I was a little nervous about setting up since I haven't done any shows since last summer and decided to go to a two table booth this year. Luckily it all came together nicely during the prep time and the extra space was marvelous! Take a peek:

Yay! I have quite a few new display additions to the tables this time around including a bunch of dumpster salvaged wire baskets/stands and two new bulletin boards! Fraser was even nice enough to make me some new stands to go with them out of wood! What a handy (and helpful) man he is! The first board was an upgrade of my pinback button display since the old one was too small now that I have four new yarn themed sets to include. It's even got room to grow when I decide to make some new button sets in the future:

 

The second board became a new earring display for all those studs I have been working on! All I needed for this one was a package of finishing nails and a ruler and voila! Display!  I'm really happy with how it turned out! Oh, I painted the frames of the boards black as well to match the rest of the table. Take a peek:

As for the weather - it seems to have gone from June-uary to Feb-uly this year since it was cold and wet! I woke up with extra curled hair that morning (which totally negates all that flat ironing I did the night before) and spend the day relatively bundled and bright! Fraser took this picture after Sarra asked me what I wore/how I did my hair so I hope this fits the bill! I even managed to do a cute little braid on which tied into my extra curly high pony tail but I'll just have to convince you it's cute since there's no photographic evidence...

Even though the weather was miserable and my fellow craft vendors said the market had a record low turn out, it was still a bustling spot and I got a chance to walk around the square and snap some (wet) scenery:

Luckily our tent seemed to hold most of the rain off but my table cloths and the edges of the tables got soaked. My poor printed out signage certainly didn't enjoy all that moisture since they curled like crazy! Ack:

Looks like I'll be taking a trip to Staples this week to laminate those before the next market! By the middle of the day we decided to join the masses and utilize the tent walls and boy did it ever make for a cozy (and bright white!) little booth! Plus with the placement of our L shaped tables the tent turned into a dry oasis for customers! Haha - we sure suckered them in! Fraser was extra wonderful and even looked after things while I peeked around the market:

I also realized how silly it was that Fraser and I were wearing matching shoes!  Looks like we're one step closer to being an old married couple in matching track suits (one day Fraser beans, one day....)

Oh dear! Despite the cold, I ended up having a good day and met tons of interesting people!  Heck, I even got to chat about bio-remediation of petrochemicals with a couple from Nelson and we science geeked it up! Hooray! I had a few sales and although I wasn't booming with business it managed to make the wet day worth while.  I am extra excited to see how the market will go on an actual pleasant day and am looking forward to a show where I don't have to fill my house with drenched tent and merchandise afterwards!

Unfortunately my little candy studs (link) got trashed with all the mist and moisture so I'm hoping to find time to make some fabric button earrings (link) to fill in the holes on my new bulletin board display. I was a little bummed that my experiments in candy look alike jewelry was a flop, but at least I spotted the problem before selling my faulty product to anyone! Alas - that's the way things go sometimes. Other goals for the week (besides drying out all my packaging, tent, and crafts) include tweaking my price signage for added durability and *hopefully* making a nice bouquet of felt mustaches on sticks so I have some more masculine items to offer! We may as well throw "praying to the weather gods for a beautiful summery Sunday" in there for good measure too! What are your thoughts? Any craft market tips or tricks to share with me?

the secret is out...

The secret is out folks, I'm exhausted from my rainy (make that very rainy) day selling at Bastion Square! So instead of a well thought out post - you get this:

(source)

Oh that sneaky elephant - always up to no good! Happy Monday!

Market Sunday

I may not be as hyper-organized as I'd like to be - but today's the day! My first jump into craft markets in Victoria! Find me today from 11-4 at Bastion Square Market!

(source)

I'll try and take some good pictures while I'm at the market this afternoon since this one off their website isn't spectacular at showing how awesome it is! The square really has some quite stunning details and is located right in the heart of Victoria's lovely downtown core. Heck, even walk a few steps and you're in the inner harbour! How convenient! Here's to hoping it is a bounding success and if you're in the area - pop on by! I'd love to see you!

circle punch art

I love bright simple projects - and this circle punch art one from Mer Mag looks so fun! It's even kid friendly! All you need to do is collect some neat looking papers, punch out circles galore, and then paste them on a poster and frame it up! Neato! Take a look at the finished product:

(source)

Ah! So cute! I love the bright dots they picked and think it would be neat to include meaningful circles to make it more memorable. Maybe some punches from concert tickets, event posters, or old letters? All I need to do is take a trip to Ikea for a sweet cheap frame and I think I can whip this baby up in no time! What do you think? Having a fun Saturday?

Friday Find: Loft Full of Goodies!

Guess what? I love wool felt! Haha! No surprises there! Today's find is one Etsy shop jam packed with simply lovely wool felt goods and is no exception to my felt loving ways. Check out some amazingly awesome felt products from Loft Full of Goodies:

(source)

Eeee! What gorgeous colours, stitching, and felt texture! Just as the shop tag line says, these are certainly happy handmade goodies for all occasions! It totally makes me want to get my needle and thread out, but instead I'll just drool over these while I keep myself extra busy with the craft sale this weekend. Hooray! Which goodie do you like best?

Little Candy Studs

We made it to Thursday and I've got one more craft to show you for my sale this Sunday. I've been working on developing these gems for quite some time now and after much trial and error, I've finally got a product I'm happy with! Behold - little candy stud earrings!:

Yay! I am a big fan of muted tones and simple earrings that can be dressed up or down to go with a plethora of outfits (yay for versatility!) and these babies certainly come in a variety of colours:
 

 

Much like my wooden earrings, I used to doily stamp and little paper tag design for packaging and threw my url on the back for good measure:

 

What fun! After consulting my pricing team (aka Sarra and Hetty who have been nice enough to lend me a hand this week) I'm aiming for selling these for $10/pair and just need to finish up some sort of board to display them on at my table. They do look lovely in rainbow arrangement don't you think?

Hurrah! What colourful delights! Oh! And I almost forgot to tell you how I ended up making them too! Any guesses? No? They're made from shrink plastic, artist pencil crayons (and acrylic paints) and coats of thick varnish! Epoxy on a white gold coated earring stud backing and voila! Little earrings that looks like shiny candies! Yaaaayyyyy!!! What do you think?

The Heart Stash Grows!

Remember those fabric covered heart pins I made back in June? No? (here's a link to refresh you!) Well I made a bunch more to sell at my craft booth! Yay! Take a peek:

Hooray! Such a nice use for all my Smoking Lily (and other) fabric scraps! Here is my personal fave:

Woo hoo! What a fun collection of pins! Since I am busy having fun with Sarra and Hetty and their visit here - I think I will leave this post nice, short, and sweet! Aha! Another picture:

I'm still working on figuring out pricing (since they are quite labor and time intensive) but am aiming for the $8 to $12 range perhaps? Hmm... What do you think?

Crafty Outbreak

As I mentioned yesterday, I've been crafting up a storm over here preparing for my first craft show this Sunday! One of the items on my "to craft" list was restocking some of my booth basics I was running low on, so it was time to whip out the sewing machine, fleece, and stuffing and make some massive cultures of Pseudomonas and Chlamydia:

Ahha! These little dudes always make me feel so awesome (unlike their pathogenic counterparts) and all those little smiles are just asking for new homes right?

 

Aww! It feels great to have these guys back in stock and here's to hoping they're a hit this weekend!

Although (as usual these days) my lack of awesome light source doesn't do wonders for their cuteness, I assure you they are lovely muted tones of minty green (for Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and teal (for Chlamydia trachomatis)! Now to print out some extra fact cards and add them to the crafty totes for the sale! Yay!

Pendant Preparations

Good news! In a mere six days I will be vending at the Bastion Square Sunday Market in downtown Victoria! I am all aflutter with excitement and am trying desperately to organize myself before the weekend. I haven't done a single craft show since the move in the fall and have loads of work to do before I'll be ready to set up and sell! I've been working my fingers off for the last few weeks preparing goodies for shows and am excited to include some wooden pendants at my booth:

Yay! They are quite the time consuming picky project to take on, but after many months of working on these, I've come up with 14 one of a kind(ish) pendants. Take a peek:

and just in case you weren't sold on side one of those babies, they're reversible! Hooray! Two looks in one! Take a looksie at their reverse sides:

 

Yipee! I love mixing up paint colours and putting different combinations and patterns together. Then all I had to do was string them up on some waxed cotton cords and add them to my other wooden acorn and mushroom pendants! Don't they just look darling with an Instagram photo filter? 

I'm still not totally set on pricing yet (since they ended up taking me countless hours of crafty labor) or exactly how I'll set them up at my booth! Minor details at this point since I'm more concerned with stocking up on some of my staple items and making sure I have proper signage and another table cloth! Whew! Maybe you can lend a hand with these beauts and give me your thoughts! What do you think I should sell them for?

Breaking In Sunday

For some reason breaking in shoes has come up in conversation a few times over the last week and when I saw this simple break in method on the Coffee, Light and Sweet blog I thought it might be useful to some of you too!

(source)

The image pretty much sums it up - throw some socks on, slip on the shoes you want to break in, and blow dry/heat up any potentially problem spots! Tada! Sounds excellent if you ask me, but I'm yet to try it out before swearing by this. I find it particularly useful this time of year since although many of my flats don't bother me for the other tights friendly months of the year but throw some heat swollen bare feets in there and ay, there's the rub (yes, that was a terrible Hamlet reference...). Oy. I figure if this doesn't work I can always do the "ziplock bags full of water in your shoes and then throwing them in the freezer" thing (I'm sure that's the technique name right?) to do a little flat summer stretching, but the promise of a 5 minute trick is a bit more appealing! Here's to a blister free summer! How do you break in your shoes? Any tricks for us?