Life Lately

Despite popular belief - I am still struggling away over here and have grandiose plans to come back to blogging full force in the new year (which I think is a practical goal really). Life has been extra hectic lately and I am having a hard time finding time to get groceries let alone write some crafty and inspired posts. Looks like I will be hiding out for a bit longer much like this guy:

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I still haven't found time to write my wedding thank you cards and now that it's xmas card season (another usually enjoyable task I will not be getting to this year) I feel like I will just end up sending them out in January once the holidays have passed and hopefully my wonderful friends and family will be find with the belated well wishes of thanks. 

In good news, Fraser and I have almost finished successfully moving my dear old grandpa from his massive farm house on 40 acres to a fresh shiny pad in a retirement complex. It has been quite the journey that has sucked away any glimmer of free time for me but he seems to be enjoying the added company of being in town and only complaint I've heard lately is that he is being "treated like an old man.". Grandpa. You're 85. You are an old man. 

I've had a terrible relapse of costochondritis. I had this spout of flu/cold that turned into a lovely gastrointestinal flu/cold that apparently triggered my costal cartilage to freak out and swell like no tomorrow. I've been resting up but with two jobs scheduling me and the bills piling up I am going to try to head back this week and see how it goes. Here's hoping it goes wonderfully...

Such a busy life means there hasn't been a load of progress on our complete home renovation. I'm trying to find some spare moments during each day to go through one box or bag or section of complete house mess and purge/organize/unpack/do something productive. Last night Lindsay came over and attacked the heck out of a few sections and boy did it ever feel good! I've inherited some lovely heirlooms from my grandpa's move and am extra motivated to make room for them in our new home. We did some intense purging at my grandpa's place (he hasn't downsized in 60+ years and apparently held on to everything) and it really sets your priorities straight. Yes I do want to hold onto fond memories and lovely things, but I don't want to die in a pile of hoarded antiques and vintage treasures. If I'm not going to use it, don't have room for it, and don't have an overwhelming need for it then pass it on to someone else who does! So liberating! 

What have you been up to lately?  

the most terrifying of pumpkins

Behold! The most terrifying of pumpkins:

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Ahhhh!!!! Not the internet! It's funny to think how dependant on technology we've become (or at least I have...) so since my brain is overloaded with all those details that are complicating my life I figure it's time for me to crash. Now I just need to find my power button so I can turn myself off and reboot....

bring on the jewels

I somehow managed to whip out a week of blog posts despite my insane schedule (and important project procrastination...oops)! Hurray! Someone bring on the celebratory jewels! No? Wishful thinking perhaps? Probably. Oh well. Since it's caturday anyways this bedazzled kitty will have to do:

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Me-ow. Happy weekend and extra happy thanksgiving weekend to my fellow Canadian pals! 

Ring-ding-ding-ding

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better than Ylvis' "the fox" song and video (link) take a gander at this ridiculously cute t-shirt design (link):

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Yep. It was pretty much destine to trigger an explosion of "what does the fox say" merch - but the cuteness of this one snags my attention for sure! Look at those little pudgy (and happy) dancing fox moves! Ah! I'm melting! If only real foxes were so jovial.

What does the fox say?

Just in case there is any chance you've missed this viral and extremely catchy piece of internet gold. Take the next few minutes and be bizarrely entertained:



Wasn't that something else? I'm certainly a fan...but not as thrilled when I realize that the song has been stuck in my head for the last month. Minor details....

More Yarn Basidiocarps Please!

Some people are just masterful at bringing together things that I love and these darling pom pom mushrooms (link) are no exception. Just take a gander:

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Ack! They are just perfect! Bright colours, little dots, and oh so yarn fluffy! I will have to add these to my crafting list and string them into a garland or something. Heck, maybe you could make a few different sized ones and make one heck of an ascetically pleasing mobile! OoOo! What do you think? 

Sorry, We're Closed.

Guess what? Running a crafting business is incredibly difficult when you work six days a week at two different jobs, struggle with a multitude of health issues, live out of a suitcase, don't have access to any suitable crafting space or supplies, and don't have any stock organized or unpacked! Imagine that! Yup. I'm no longer living in denial that my etsy shop will be open again before the xmas selling season and I won't be able to restock any of my consignment stores for this season. Rats. Looks like I'm closed for a bit.  

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That being said, I haven't stopped dreaming up a whole plethora of fun and geeky craft projects I can't wait to start on in the new year and to share with all of you! Sometimes you just need to step back and reevaluate what needs to be done to keep your life happy and able to run smoothly. I'm a little sad to be skipping out on the best crafty season of the year, but will all the more enthused and revitalized to start strong again once the renovations and unpacking is done! Huzzah!

Taking a Moment

Since fall is in full swing, and we're making our way into October - I have come to the realization that I have been living out of a suitcase for five months now. Although I do keep telling myself organization, unpacking, and regaining my sanity is right around the corner - it may end up taking a tad longer than expected.  I'd like to look on the bright side of things and just imagine Fraser and myself like two little squirrels hibernating in our little hole (bedroom) on a tree (condo) with a whole bunch of growing (renovations) to do! I mean just look how darling this guy is:

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Aww! Those little fuzzy whiskers get me every time.  Progress is slowly coming along and even though we have loads of work to do before unpacking can happen, it will happen at some point. That's a plus right? I think so. Oh...and I will get to those wedding thank you cards one of these days....I hope...

Rawr

Happy Caturday! I will hopefully be spending my weekend doing something similarly awesome as this kitty who is death battling godzilla:

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Who am I kidding - nothing could be that awesome. Let's aim for relaxing and enjoyable instead. What are your weekend plans?

so much love for pyrex

One area of my life I've been sorely lacking on sharing (but it totally consuming my brain waves these days) is my obsession with vintage pyrex. I love the cheery bright colours and patterns, how fun it is to treasure hunt for pieces in the wild, their utilitarianism, and how it gets me one step closer to pretty much being the coolest grandma ever! Sure I've shared a few of my finds over the years on the blog (link) but the lack of suitable lighting and backdrop in our apartment in Victoria pretty much stopped me from sharing any of my limited finds from the last two years.  My love for pyrex continues to grow as my collection slowly does and after a extremely successful pyrex hunt on my honeymoon I may have brought home 23 pieces with me from the US... Oh my. Unfortunately my house is still in a complete state of dismay, boxes, and renos, so I'm not at the stage of unpacking and enjoying my pyrex babies quite yet, but one day. I hope. 

Now that my wedding planning has stopped I've been focusing my attention on oogling pyrex collections and set ups on the internet much like the swoon-worthy loveliness of this one:

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Ah! Those colours! Those stacks! Those amazing completed sets! Oh! And mason jars and owls? It's perfect. I'm no where near this level of pyrex awesomeness and have decided once I get my pretties out on display in my kitchen I will take a good look on what I've got and try to organize my collecting so I don't end up dying in a pile of broken dishes one day when I try to find something on a shelf...minor details right? 

still swamped

Well blog pals, it seems I still appear to be super bogged down with life these days. I suppose I shouldn't be all that surprised since complete home renovations, a wedding, and moving (while struggling with illness and work) are hard enough on their own - let alone all at the same time! Whew! I keep flipping between feeling like I'm finally making some headway and then a moment later I'm borderline disaster. Oh dear. I'm thinking of locking myself in my house until I manage to get it all organized but I have a feeling I may become as cranky and isolated as this dear friend:

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Ahaha! Oh that glare. Yup - the outside world is probably best for my sanity and I will just keep plugging away at the renos so I can stop living out of a suitcase one of these days and maybe even get to writing wedding thank you cards! Oh what a thought! How is your fall lining up? 

Where did the summer go?

Oh my! How did we get this far into August already? It's pretty safe to say my summer has been an insanely busy whirlwind of craziness and if I were to live somewhere with a cute wood table and goat it is certain this would be happening:

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Ok, so I am well aware it isn't aseptic technique to have an ungulate on the kitchen table but life is flying by so quickly that those goats can get away with murder around me lately.  What have I been up to these last few weeks? Let's list it out:

- suffer and try to heal up from an epic case of costochondritis
- jump around to different doctors trying to figure out how to heal me
- finally get back to my family doctor in Kamloops and start physiotherapy
- frantically try to finish up renovations on our new condo (while not over exerting myself as to not make my illness worse)
- continue to live out of suticase and not go completely insane because of it
- plan and prepare for one crafty wedding
- get married and have said crafty wedding reception/celebration
- go on wonderful 10 day honeymoon with my new husband
- get back to Victoria and attempt to pack up 1500 square feet worth of stuff so it can be moved to our new (not finished) condo in Kamloops at the end of August
- head back to the condo to continue living out of a suitcase with all of our stuff in the one semi finished bedroom while we try to finish the rest of the house
- continue with icing, medication, and physio to help my poor costal cartilage
- spend a week babysitting my two nieces that I only get to see once a year (oh and visiting with my sister too!)
- get ready to go off medical leave and start work again!

WHEW! I'm sure I'm missing something in there but it is safe to say I have been extremely busy! Oh, and things aren't actually slowing down either. What's next on the agenda:

- finish condo renovations (ack!)
- move all those lovely packed boxes sitting in Victoria to our new condo in Kamloops (ugh)
- turn 29 (double ack!)
- spend what I'm sure will feel like the rest of my existence unpacking all those boxes (oh dear!)
- live happily ever after (hooray!)

Yep. I'm going to remain optimistic and say the house will be completed and organized before xmas and once things start to slow down I will have more time for sharing my crafty life endeavours here on the blog! Heck - I may even get around to doing my own craft project one of these days! What a thought! So how has your summer been? What have I been missing out on?

Ack!

Looks like this medical leave and wedding organization is eating away at every spare moment of my life! Sorry blog friends for being so distant but I'm resting up to be back and better than ever before (in theory)! Hope everything is wonderful in your lives and I look forward to being healthy and posting more regularly again...

oh dear

This picture makes my heart happy:

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Don't you wish you were all cuddled up with a giant cute bear too? Maybe that's just me. I have been spending entirely too much time resting lately - but it's on doctors orders! My costochondritis (a.k.a. this awful chest inflammation that feels like I have an elephant constantly pressing down on my chest making it much too difficult to breathe) hasn't left me alone. It's been going on since May and with no signs of improvement I've had to take leave from work and focus all my attention on healing up so I can hopefully survive the summer (and my wedding - which is in less than a month now)! Eeps! I will try my best to keep the blog updated when I'm feeling spry, but this flare up is really throwing a kink in things. Rats. Alas - I'm sure I will now be very experienced with what a heart attack feels like and will only grow from the situation! So if it's quiet around here it's probably because I am napping...What have you been up to lately?

Ninja Attack!

Apparently I'm all about the entertaining images this week - and today's post is no exception. Behold - one cat with ninja skills and a photographer with awesome timing:

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I sort of have a feeling you'd see that flying orange fur ball in your peripheral vision...but perhaps not. Cats sure are sneaky little stinkers aren't they?  

Took me a minute...

Just in case you're suffering from a case of the Mondays (and really like random Vanilla Ice references) - enjoy:

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I may have enjoyed this a bit too much, but hopefully you will find it equally entertaining. If not - perhaps you need to listen to more 90's rap.  Happy Monday! 

Father's Day Embroidery

As I'm sure most of you are well aware - Father's Day is this Sunday! I always have a hard time finding something for my dad so instead of my usual "here's a gift card buy something specific I would have no idea you would ever want" deal, I thought I'd make something for him instead! Since my wonderful Pops is an avid fly fisherman and mayfly enthusiast I thought I'd mix the two with some free hand fly embroidery:

Hooray! It turned out pretty well I think and should look nice hanging with his other fishing themed pieces above his fly tying desk. Here's a close up shot so you can soak up all the fake mayfly fish tricking wonders:

Yay! Here's to hoping he likes it! What are you doing for Father's Day this year? Ever successfully make something nice for your dear old dad? 

squirrel chair

Squirrels are most definitely my favourite rodents out there and this little teal squirrel chair is just darling:

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Isn't he the cutest? Mini squirrel furniture certainly adds to the squirrel appeal if you ask me - but I've already proclaimed my love for these little fuzzy creatures so I may be bias. I do however, not appreciate them as much when they are throwing pinecones at our roof in the wee hours of the morning at the lake...but I can still appreciate their adorableness right? How about you? What is your favourite rodent? 

card crafting

After one heck of an amazing bridal shower a few weeks ago (it had tea, pompoms, kittens, and dinosaurs), I decided to do some mild crafting and make some custom thank you cards to send the wonderful ladies who attended the shower! I whipped out some freshly purchased card making supplies I picked up at Target and went to it! 

Yup, I'm pretty in love with the stationary section at Target and am stoked that I can purchase such reasonably priced and lovely designed goodies in a shop with such wonderful lighting (seriously - Target has some great lighting). Throw in a bit of creativity and a good sharpie or two and I managed to come up with a whole whack of different cards:

Woo! It actually ended up taking me much longer than I expected to craft and write out a dozen heart-felt thank yous, but it was totally worth it and I got to send each one out in a wonderfully matchy (well, miss-matchy sort of) envelope:

Nothing like some washi tape, paper post its, and graphic cards to make my thank you dreams come true! I do think I will be skipping the card making for our actual wedding thanks cards and just see if I can manage to write nice notes in each of them - but thought they were perfect for the shower! Hooray! How are your card making skills? 

uncommon zara

I've been enjoying the sunny weather and so have the happy squirrels in my neighbourhood! Now if only I could see one like this guy from Zara Picken (link):

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Oh the colours, texture, and cute/quirky subject matter is a triple win! And if you like this one you should stop by this post and see a whole bunch of other images to woo you over (link)! Which do you like best? Next to this squirrel I must say the queen stamp one is pretty sweet...

Math Meme

I must say there is nothing quite like a lolcat math joke:

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Ahaha! How enjoyable! Now if only it was was showing an acute angle and not something closer to a right one... How is your week going? See anything cute lately? 

my life lately

As it turns out, my spot of unfortunate illness has done wonders for my wedding planning! I've been enjoying all the handmade crafty ideas out there on the internet and have been collecting them in one heck of a wedding pinterest pinboard! Check out how it is coming along so far:

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All this time resting and healing has finally given me the chance to browse wedding ideas and has left me  ultra occupied with planning out our upcoming casual celebration and not a moment too soon since July will be here before we know it! Oh my! Fraser and I have already covered the wedding basics (venue, food, booze, guests) and just need to throw the decorating and final bits together to finish up with a lovely (and very crafty) party! Bring on the poms and thoughtful details!

In other news - all this illness and scheduling for the summer has forced me to make some tough decisions. After being set back so badly with sickness this spring and non stop flare ups since the winter I really need to put my health up on the priority list and will not be doing any craft shows this summer in Victoria. It is really a hard verdict to come up with since I love doing markets here but with my health, the wedding (and honeymoon), renovations, and moving going on I just can't put any more on my plate or my stress levels will make me burst! Oh dear! So it's decided - I'm taking the summer off markets and will start it up strong (hopefully) around the holiday season.  So in the meantime I can focus my energies on getting better - and after that - crafting up loads of fun for my wedding! It is a once in a lifetime event though - so I'm hoping to make it a good one! What do you think? Any wedding tips for me?

everything is coming up pompoms!

While my body is busy trying to heal itself from the unfortunate chest pain terribleness of costochondritis, my hands have been busy making loads and loads of pom poms in preparation for my wedding this summer! Here's a hefty stack that was feeling particularly photo friendly the other day:

Aren't they just lovely? Like fuzzy little yarn children ready to be stabbed with twigs and arranged in wonderful bouquets for the big party! Hooray! I figure I will just keep on pom-ing until I run out of yarn and hopefully that will give us enough to make one heck of a pom-pom statement at the wedding! What do you think?

Oh dear.

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My adventures in health disasters appear to be continuing as I battle severe chest pains! Not to worry - I'm not about to keel over, but I do have one heck of a case of costochondritis! Ack! Looks like lots of rest and anti-inflammatories are on the agenda for me so blogging may end up on the back burner while I heal up and hopefully get that precious lung capacity back to normal! Hurrah! Wish me luck (and happy costal cartilage)!

Yay!

I made it home safely and am pooped from a fun filled exciting long weekend! I'm sure I will have the energy to tell you about it at some point - but for now here's a cat in a shark costume chasing a duck while riding on a roomba. Yup. You heard me...

Happy Tuesday! How was your weekend? 

happy long weekend!

Just like most other crafty vixens out there, I've fallen in love with the iphone photo editing app that the lovely ladies at A Beautiful Mess brought us! I've been playing around with it and thought it would be a great transition to share one of my creations with you while I'm away this happy long weekend visiting with family and friends and being spoiled in my bridal shower! How wonderful! Just look how excited little thumbs up yeti is for the mini vacation:

Hooray! Here's to hoping my little break is as wonderful as I hope it will be and that at very least I get a bit of rest in there... What are you up to this weekend? 

Artful Thread

While I'm busy dreaming up how organized and fantastic my new craft room will be, I've been stumbling across fun storage ideas and this artful thread display (link) takes the cake! Isn't it lovely?

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What a colourful delight! Looks like I need to buy myself another spool rack and find some wall space for this baby! What do you think? Are you as in love as I am? 

wooden washi

I'm always looking for fun inventive ways to use my new favourite crafty supply (washi tape!) and these washi wooden pendants fit that bill just perfectly! Check it out:

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Yep - all you need to do is get something to cover, rip and snip and design with your wonderful versatile tape, and *bam!* an amazing new one of a kind necklace to enjoy and wear! Not into the circle shape and ripped look? Not to worry - you can modify to meet your aesthetic needs! Heck - Ellie from  Love Ellie Belle (link) made her own neat chevron wooden washi pendant using scrabble tiles (link)! Sweet! This project is going straight on the "to craft" list for me - right after I work on healing and wedding prep (whew!)! What do you think? What kind of washi necklace would you go for? 

Supreme Cat

This picture certainly made my day - and hopefully you will find it similarly entertaining:

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Supreme cat indeed! What are your big plans for the week? Anything involving chinese food boxes on your head?

peek!

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It seems that I'm fighting off some sort of awful illness so while I'm resting up you can enjoy this lovely image of a cat in a paper bag. I think the eyes make it. Wishing you a happy end of the week and weekend! 

White it is

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I am super thrilled with all the thoughtful opinions some of you gave me on dying (or not dying) the wedding dress I found and after much debate - I've decided to do both! Ahha! I'm going to keep the dress white for the wedding (with some colourful accessories) and then after I'm done with the celebrating I can dye it for further use! Oh what a plan! There is no chance of me potentially messing up my miracle of a find dress and I still get to enjoy it as a fun colourful summer cotton dress in the future. Perfect!

Well not that we've sorted that out - I need to figure out the rest of my outfit! What kind of shoes are casual wedding celebration appropriate? Should I go for a ribbon or sash? What about accessories? Hair? Oh crud there are too many decisions...I don't know if I'm cut out for this. 

to dye or not to dye - that is the question.

Well blog friends - as most of you know by now, I am getting married this summer. Fraser and I have decided to skip out on the traditional wedding type things (ceremony, fancy formal event, speeches and general sappiness) and instead are throwing a fun post-marriage party with close friends and family with good food and drinks! How perfect! We've got most of the details worked out (venue, invites, caterer, booze, lots of decorative pom pom bouquets) but with only a few months left until the big event I was feeling a little pressured to find something to wear. I wanted something I could wear over and over again, is flattering and tea length, and wouldn't break the bank. I found a few vintage dresses online (that of course were sold out/not even close to my size) and was aiming at something with a high waistline, flow-y bottom, cotton, and in a nice minty light blue or other light pale skin friendly tone. Then it was just a matter of finding the time and energy to  attempt to find something suitable! Oh my!

Last week Heather and I were having our usual Thursday get together and decided to take a trip to Oak Bay to check out some little shops.  She had told me about a cute vintage/consignment place there she read about and we thought it might be a good place to start looking for dresses.  When we first entered the shop we were pretty confident we weren't going to find a single thing.  We went to the back racks of endless fluffy wedding dresses and prom-like shiny formal gowns and looked at the hundred or so dresses that were pretty much polar opposites of what I was looking for. On the way out the door we searched through one of the more casual racks at the front (for a second time) and both came across a nice cotton summer dress that we had apparently missed during our first look over. It looked darling and even though it was far from my size (it was an 8 when I wear more like a 12-14 these days) but I tried it on anyways. The verdict? It magically fit! This wondrous mystery dress zipped up, was flattering and a nice modest "just past the knee" length! Oh dear! What are the chances? The time I rustle up the nerve to go dress shopping and the very first dress we find/try on works? Oh! To top it all off - it was a budget friendly $65. Score! Behold (in all its poorly lit wonder):

Oh I love it! It's so simple, feminine, comfortable, and fantastically cotton for that potentially scorching hot desert day in July! Heck - it even has pockets and is a lovely doily-esque eyelet material:

The downfall? It's white. Ok, so I know the majority of the western world is all about the white wedding gowns, but I'm really not.  I imagine a coloured dress would look better on my super pale ginger skin and would certainly be more wearable in the future.  I bought it with the intention of dying it, but now I'm waffling. I'm not totally set on how it would turn out from dying it (the fun mystery of dying pretty much anything) and haven't found any fabric dyes in suitable colours. I even researched places to get dresses dyed but nothing was local and no one could guarantee anything. Ack! I couldn't imagine trying to dye it and destroying it and then having to painstakingly find a replacement to fill its void! Oh decisions! So I thought I would plea to you, my wonderful blog readers, to help me with the dilemma! I also thought I'd share this ultra flattering picture of me and my dress for further  dress related reference:

Ahaha! Always with my eyes closed. I'm so photogenic. So - what do you think? Should I take the plunge and dye it? Keep it white? Perhaps add a nice coloured belt or sash for a pop of interest? I'd love your input! 

Sneaky Storage

As a kid I was always intrigued by those secret hiding place books. You know the ones with all the pages glued together with the hole cut out so you can hide your precious items inside and it just looks like a book from the outside? Well - those are great and all but I am still not impressed with the idea of painstakingly glueing all those pages together for a teeny tiny little secret compartment. I am however, extra excited about this larger (and substantially easier) book hiding spot tutorial from Sewing Barefoot (link):

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Oh how pleasant! I may be extra drawn to this one based on the neutral colours and photography...but it seems like a much better take on the project! Now I just need to find myself some old books to masacre and we're set! Any thoughts? Do you have secret hiding spots in your home? 

a very wookie saturday

Geeks unite! I thought I needed to write a little something for international star wars day and since I just finished a chewy-tastic road trip last weekend I thought I'd share this picture with you:

Fraser gave me this adorable little fuzz wookie for xmas this year (he even does a chewy groan when you squeeze his belly!) and I thought he would be just perfect hanging in our new (to us) car! Hooray! How will you be spending your Saturday? Did you know it is also national gardening day today too? Perhaps I will go plant a few ewoks on my patio...

dandy dandelions

With only a few months left before the big day, my mind is getting consumed with wedding planning. All the details seem to be coming together, and in case I haven't spilled the crafty details - we're skipping flowers for the celebration and doing pom poms instead! I'm particularly fond of these yarn and twig dandelions from Apartment Therapy (link):

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Oh my! I really love how simple and fluffy they are and figure if I start now I may have enough pom poms ready for July...looks like I'm going to be busy! What do you think? Pom poms for the win? 

It's Wednesday

Life has been so ultra busy these days that despite it being the middle of the week I feel like I still need a rest to get over all the energy I exerted last weekend! Oh my! I think this sums up how I'm feeling quite nicely:

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Yup, I'm just a big white fluff ball pooled into a pile today! I had a nice impromptu visit with Fraser this past weekend and now that he's back to the grind in Kamloops I will hopefully be able to pull myself back together into less of a mess. Or at the very least I'm hoping to make it through the rest of the week so I can get some quality rest this weekend! How wild! How is your week going? 

adventures in bargain hunting

I'm always a sucker for a good deal and am always searching the clearance and sale racks in hopes to find something awesome that fits into my budget! The other day I found one heck of a sweet deal and am so thrilled in fact - that I'd love to share it with you. Take a look - a nice, simple, soft, racer back teal tank top:

How pleasant! I figured it would be a great work out top for the spring/summer and even more so when I saw that it was moisture wicking. Now to check on that clearance price....

What is this!? A mistake perhaps? It can't possibly me marked down from $12.95 to a mere 47 cents can it? How is it that no one has picked this baby up!? Don't get too excited Kate. It is just a tank top. They may be practically giving it away...and you've found the golden moisture wicking egg in the masses of rejected ill-fitting pieces, but it's just a shirt right?  I managed to keep my calm and cool exterior and continued my bargain hunting and decided I'd tempt fate and just see what it came to at the till and then decide if I'd buy it or not.  I tempted...

...and I won. Heck - I even got to use my additional 30% off e-coupon to make that an even better bargoon! Oh my! Now that I've used up all my deal finding luck for the year I'll be sure to never find something quite as spectacular again, but it was one heck of an exciting thrill ride! Yeah! What's the best bargain you've found lately? 

The best packing tip ever!

Fraser is busy planning our post wedding trip down to Portland this summer, I was being my usual over-prepared self and thinking about what to pack! After all, I will have to pack for my wedding, reception, and week long vacation so I will need to be extra efficient for that suitcase. I was discussing the options with my pal Lindsay and we both agree that under-packing with matching basics is the way to go. We both love the satisfaction you get from doing a great packing job and actually using and wearing everything you've lugged along with you and it makes it much easier to pick out outfits for each day when you just have a few favourites to select from! Yeah! 

I've experimented with under packing in the past and it is so wonderful...until you inevitably (in my case) spill oily salad dressing all over your one jersey dress. Rats. Packing fail. That is pretty much exactly what happened when I went to Vegas this winter and luckily I bought a few new items at the outlet malls that filled in the blanks for the stained clothes that I had to retire. When I brought up my spill disaster with Lindsay she suggested to pack along some Zero detergent to remedy my messy ways! How brilliant! 

I always have some zero on hand in my laundry cupboard for all my delicate and hand washing needs (like my sets of wrist braces I wear constantly and get super gross after a while) so why not throw it in the luggage?! Such a plan! Or better yet - I found an empty travel container, labelled it up with some washi, and can fill it up with detergent without it taking up loads of space: 

Yay! I am so ridiculously excited about this plan! I always end up staining something on vacation and having some soap to gently wash it out before it sets is just perfect! Ah! I'm not sure everyone else will be quite as stoked about this idea...but just in case you are...I wrote this whole blog post about it. Clumsy stain makers - you're welcome. 

Chevron Tote!

I've never thought of sewing my own chevron pattern but this tote from Fabric Paper Glue (link) certainly makes me want to try! Just look at that gorgeous colour (and texture) combination:

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Oh how darling! I sort of feel that lining up all those strips might be a bit on the challenging side, but it sure is worth it! Just imagine this as a clutch! OoOo! Or a fold over clutch! Ah! I'm swooning! What are your thoughts? What would you want to chevron-up? 

Deal Dress

This past December you may recall that I took a trip with Fraser's family to Vegas. We had such a great time on our mini vacation and we're both full of pleasant memories from the trip. While we were there we got a chance go visit some outlet malls which was a whole new experience for me, and extra exciting to snap up some deals! 

One of the last shops we popped into was a Fossil outlet where I bought a beautiful silk scarf and tried on a few dresses. It was extra memorable since I couldn't figure out where I was supposed to try on the items I picked and confused the heck out of the staff asking for "the change rooms".  Both the employees thought I was looking for coin change not a room to change in and gave me quite the looks. Apparently Americans call change rooms "fitting rooms" and once we cleared that up I got to try on the dresses! At last! I really fell for a gorgeous green and turquoise number that had been marked down from $140 to $65! Unfortunately it was a wee bit too snug on the bum and I wasn't about to bring home a dress I loved but couldn't actually fit into. Alas.

Well! - as it so happens, I spotted the same Fossil dress last week while shopping with Heather! It was hidden among the racks of dresses at The Patch and was even the right size! Oh my! Time to give it another try - and the verdict? It fit this time! My bum has magically shrunk over the last few months and the once too snug dress was just calling to me - and for a mere $20! Hooray! Needless to say...I brought it home:

Yeah! Got to love getting a once $140 dress for a seventh of the price and it is just perfect for working into spring and summer! I love the simple shape and stunning colour combination and can't wait to wear this beauty all the time! Hooray! I love landing a great deal and am extra thrilled that I didn't pick this up last December. It's funny how these things work out for the best in the end. What's the last big deal you've found?  

Gradient Vases

I'm such a sucker for simple and colourful decorating ideas and these upcycled glass bottle vases (link) really take the cake:

(source)

Okay, so the blog I got these off of may be in Spanish, but you don't need to be bilingual to do this project! Just collect yourself some bottom from the recycling (or thrift shop), grab the paints, and get mixing and pouring! Woo hoo! I think these would be especially lovely filled with pom pom bouquets too! Oh my! What do you think?