scientific culture

Cats on a Plane

2012-02-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

Well it seems that it was about two years ago that I shared with you a cute drawing Fraser did of cowboy cat (link)! Luckily Fraser has been at the mustache cat drawing again and is working on a larger scale drawing for the blank walls of our place! So far it is just in sketch mode, but Fraser's awesome illustration skills are still fun to share (even if the picture isn't finished). Behold - mustache cats on a plane:

Oh man am I ever excited for the finished piece! Just look at those cat expressions:

Oh no! Poor French cat's picnic basket! Oh those little goggles on cowboy cat and flying helmet on sophisticat are priceless! I'm also quite fond of that cup of tea (what a classy flier he is!). Adorable! I figure the cats are on their way to Kamloops to wish my Mom a very happy birthday! Yay! One year wiser! Right Mom? What do you think? Like the cats?

February photo a day 12-18

2012-02-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

The instagram February photo a day challenge continues and here's round three of my pictures!

Day 12 - "inside your closet" - behold my amazing stash of jersey cotton dresses, hoodies, skirts, and cardigans! I use the fabric totes on the shelves to organize my tights, belts, hats, and purses (which, I think works like a hot damn!):

Day 13 - "blue" - I decided to go in a non-colour direction with this day and took a picture of my sad (blue) bunny pillow:

Day 14 - "heart" - here's a shot of me sporting my crochet heart pin! I love how it looks on my lapel and even though this image doesn't show you the whole thing, it looks stunning with my jersey and lace circle scarf Cindy made me when I moved:

Day 15 - "phone" - Since Fraser and I don't have a home phone, we use our cell phones as our only way to make calls. I wasn't totally sure what I wanted to take a picture of for the "phone" challenge so I took a snapshot of my homescreen wallpaper! I have been enjoying Wild Olive's desktop calendar images for years now and am loving her iPhone option! This also shows you a typical weekday morning for me - getting up super early to go to work!

Day 16 - "something new" - I already blogged about these guys earlier in the week, but I am still swimming with joy over my newly sprouted herbs! Grow parsley grow!

Day 17 - "time" - You know one thing about getting up at 3:30am every day? You go to bed super early. Some days I am beat enough to slip into bed by 6, but generally I aim for a 7 pm bed time:

Day 18 - "drink" - No better way to warm up than with a blueberry tea! Wendy introduced these to me many moon ago and I have been in love with them every winter since. Recipe: equal parts Amaretto and Crown Royal, a few cinnamon sticks, some orange slices, and black tea. Nummers!

Only a few more weeks to go before the month is up and the challenge is complete! I am thrilled to wake up each day and try to figure out what I will take a picture of and am excited to be keeping up with the challenge! I am also realizing that I really like the Amaro filter on Instagram (I used it for every picture this week!)! Oh my! What do you think of this week's pics?

RIP Henry

2012-02-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

As you may recall, I went on quite the terrarium craze last year. After collecting a few glass jars and moss samples I got around to planting them and adding their own plastic dinos for good measure! My sister was lovely enough to give me the mother of all terrariums for my birthday last year and inside was my new fly eating pal Henry:

Well sad news I'm afraid. Henry has passed and now I've got a barely surviving moss collection that is being over run by weeds:

Oh dear! At least that dinosaur still looks pretty happy! I actually think I might revamp my mossy loves this spring since I am now living in a city that is covered with moss! How exciting! Looks like I need to go one some walks around the city with a butter knife and a ziplock. Fraser even told me about free nature walks run by the city that teach you about all the different kinds of mosses around! Isn't that the coolest? Perhaps next time I do a terrarium plant update I'll be overflowing with moss species knowledge to share! Haha! So long Henry - you were fun while you lasted - time to make room for some new moss! What do you think?

Friday Find: Little Ocean

2012-02-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

Today's find is the wonderful necklaces from Janelle's etsy shop Little Ocean. Even though the majority of her shop is clothing from vintage and recycled fabrics, I quickly feel for her wonderful chevron necklace. Just take a peek:

Oh the colours, the shape, the simplicity, and that long hanging length! Turns out I'm not the only one who has fallen for this one, when I looked in her sold items list there were loads of these! Funny how that works isn't it? I'm really loving long necklaces these days since they seem to elongate my super short torso and really top off my jersey dress outfits. Chevron now your thing? How about some lacy triangles?

Regular triangles?

Yup, I'm in love! What do you think? Are you a long necklace fan?

how does your (herb) garden grow?

2012-02-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

This xmas I got two herb garden kits given to me. It actually turned out to be a perfect match of gifts since the first kit had six seed packets and both had three pots! Hooray! I germinated five of the six seed packages in wet paper towel in hopes to give them an extra good chance at survival and planted them a week or so ago into their pots. I decided to opt on on starting the "sweet marjoram" since I've never used that herb (and actually have never heard of it) so I picked up a mint plant for the sixth pot. Unlike many of my plant adventures, this one seems to be going quite well so far (uh oh, hope I didn't just jinx myself) and I have quite a few sprouts! The most overachieving of the herbs I started seems to be cilantro so far with loads of sprouts popping up:

The mint is growing like crazy, which is to be expected, since I have been paying particular attention to their watering schedule and making sure they get loads of light:

Parsley is also sprouting up a storm and although I will surely have to thin this one a bit I thought I'd let it go for a while yet:

Next we've got the Chia pots, which seem to be a bit slower growing than the lee valley trio. In the first pot I've got dill (with a few cute little green sprouts coming up):

followed by chives and basil:

According to the package the chives and basil take longer to grow so it is to be expected that they haven't shown much growth, so I'm remaining hopeful! I am especially enjoying watching the herbs obvious love of sunlight as they stretch out to soak it all in:

Hehe! It sort of reminds me of a cat laying in the one little sun patch on the floor and since I'm cat-less these herbs are doing a great job of filling the void! Grow little herbs grow! How about you? Have you ever grown your own indoor herb garden? What varieties would you chose to grow?

Another use for my fabric stash

2012-02-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

After finally getting around to making an embroidery hoop art wall I was thrilled to start using up some of my beloved fabric stash! It feels so nice to get to enjoy some of the prints I've been hording for all this time and get them out in the open! Well, when I saw this awesome DIY from Sew Tara, I figured it was right up my "let's use up those scraps" alley:

Isn't it darling? Easy too! You just need to get some fun shaped wood pieces and then mod podge on a piece of fabric! Then just glue a bar pin on the back and you're set! Quick, simple, fabric enjoying wonderfulness ready to be pinned on your jacket, bag, lapel, or (in my usual case) cardigan! Hooray! I'm officially sold and know a few other folks out there who have large enough fabric stashes to make hundreds of these (*ahem* mom...*cough cough*)! Now to find some cute wood shapes that are dying to be brooch-i-fied! Then it is time for handmade personalized brooches for all!!! What do you think? Best tutorial yet?

Swap Fail and Lindsay Win

2012-02-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I signed up for Oh Strumpet's Valentine's Craft Swap. I was thrilled to meet a new crafty friend and exchange crafts in the mail! Unfortunately my partner totally crapped out on me. I emailed her twice and got one reply saying, "sorry I'm busy I'll email you later today." Yup, didn't happen...so no valentine craft swap for me. Alas.

I decided I would vicariously celebrate the Valentine swap with Lindsay since she was lucky enough to have a partner who was up for the swap (which makes me wonder why my partner signed up in the first place...)! Anyways, I heard all about the fun things Lindsay was going to make and to my surprise - I got a Valentine's parcel in the mail! Yay! Lindsay made an extra craft just for me and my failed swap! Take a peek:

Isn't that fabric beautiful? Are you wondering what it is? Take another look:

Yay! My very own machine washable reusable snack pouch! Isn't that brilliant? I love carrying almonds around with me in my purse and my little ziplocks always end up wearing out and spilling nuts everywhere. No more spilled nuts in my future! I've got a lovely cotton velcro pouch to hold them in. I think it is lined with diaper lining (or something with a little bit of stain and moisture resistance) to give it a bit more staying power. Ahha! How lovely! Lindsay also made some beyond wonderful rosemary and fig walnuts to snack on but I devoured those before giving them a chance to get at home in the pouch (and before I could take a picture). Isn't she the best? I certainly think so! So it turned into a wonderful Valentine's after all! Hooray! What are your plans for the day?

Granny Love

2012-02-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

The other day I showed you the progress I was making on a new granny square craft I was working on and I am happy to say it is finally finished! Even though I really enjoyed hearing your guesses on what it was going to be, no one pegged it. How about taking a closer look at the squares now and see if you can guess:

What's this? Glowing light coming from them? Yup! I made a granny square lamp shade cover! Finished project reveal!:

Hooray! I actually blogged about wanting to make one of these back in January (link) and unlike many of my dreamed about but never executed projects, I actually made this one! It was, however, much more difficult than I had ever expected and hope this little lamp lasts my lifetime so I never have to try to recreate it.

So how did I manage to make this one? Well it started with a lamp. I searched many a thrift store in hopes of finding a simple and inexpensive lamp base but sadly was unsuccessful. I figured I might be able to find one at Wal-Mart and yet again there were no lamps to be found! Finally Fraser and I decided to try out Zellers and behold - one beat up bright red suede table lamp:

Yay! It was even 30% off making it a reasonable price for my experimental crafting. When I got it home I carefully ripped the red suede off the lamp shade and recovered it with some off white cotton I had left over from my craft show table cloth. I really wanted the finished product to have a nice neutral backdrop behind the squares and since the red certainly would not d0, the off white cotton was perfect! The stretched cotton turned out pretty well and I figure if I ever need a new career I should consider lamp shade recovering!

Then it was time to figure out my gauge so I could make a strip of squares that would match the size of the shade. Then it was just a matter of crocheting those squares, sewing them together, and getting them on the shade to get the finished product:

Tada! It would have been a much less frustrating project if I hadn't run out of the white cotton yarn halfway through, but that is just the way things go sometimes. My least favourite (and most time consuming) step was definitely trying to attach the granny square cozy to the shade. What a picky finicky mess that turned out to be! I single crocheted two rows on either side of the squares in hopes to have it slightly fold over the top and bottom of the shade. I then attempted to thread a draw string on either edge to cinch the cozy on, but the threaded draw strings kept snapping and after many attempted I figured it was hopeless. The granny square cozy really needed to be tight against the shade to look nice so I ended up running string inside the shade at the edge of each square like so:

Then it was just a matter of sewing the ends in and putting it on the lamp! Hurrah! Take a peek at the lamp when the light is off:

Yay! I love how it turned out, but I am particularly fond of how it looks with the light on:

Yipee! Although I do enjoy how nice it looked on the bookshelf in the living room, I did make the lamp for use in my craft room but with the rainy (and mild) weather we've been having I decided the bright daylight from the patio window doors would give me the best light to photograph with. So I'm dying to know - what do you think? Are you ready to attempt your own granny square lamp cozy?

February photo a day 5-11

2012-02-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

Looks like we made it to the end of the week, and with another week gone, we've got a whole week of Instagram challenge photos to share! Hooray! Not sure what I'm talking about? Check out the first week here (link), otherwise let's go:

Day 5 - "10am" - I woke up early last Sunday to get some squares finished for a project I was working on. I have since finished the craft and just need to take some pictures to share it with you! Loving the colour combinations!

Day 6 - "dinner" - Fraser made us a super yummy meal Monday! Gluten free pasta with pesto, roasted pine nuts, zucchini, and broccoli:

Day 7 - "button" - There were a lot of directions you could go with this one, but since I am a huge fan of pinback buttons (and make hundreds of them) I thought I'd share one of my favourites! I really need to get my new designs in my shop soon!

Day 8 - "sun" - Instagram confession: I actually took this on the weekend when the sun was out. Winter in Victoria means loads of rain so I thought I better snap an image of the sunrise while I could! Good thing too - the 8th was super rainy! I do really enjoy the view from the patio and love the shape the sun peeping over the mountain too!

Day 9 - "front door" - Thank goodness for Instagram filters to make the terrible hall lighting at 5am tolerable! I never really noticed all the molding around our door before...

Day 10 - "self portrait" - Here I am after a long day of work! My hair is at a stage where instead of a pony tail kink from being tied up all day it gets this super out flip at the bottom. My hair dresser in Kamloops says the subtle out flip is sure to make a hot comeback but I'm not sold on that yet...

Day 11 - "makes you happy" - Saturday was a solid happy day for me! Got a little bit of a sleep in, followed by a yummy breakfast, cute outfit, and trip to an awesome craft show! All the rad Victoria artisans I love were there and even though I didn't end up buying anything this time, it was certainly a great start to the day! (Plus the foxes on the poster are cute):

Whew! What a round up! I guess it is only to be expected that 7 days take longer the ramble on about than 4. Haha. I'm looking forward to the rest of the month too! Hooray for successful challenges! What do you think? What's your favourite picture from week two?

Go to Movies

2012-02-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

Fraser and I don't have cable tv. Not only does it really not fit into out limited budget, but the idea of me spending huge amounts of time being brainwashed by advertisements and commercials is less than appealing. Don't get me wrong, there is a huge number of quality programming out there, I just prefer to watch it at my leisure on dvd!

Our dvd collection seems to be ever growing and nothing is more comforting than curling up with pjs, blankets, tea, and a favourite film. I certainly have a few "go to movies" I seem to watch endlessly and they always seem to make everything better! Last night Fraser and I decided to have a low key celebration for the arrival of the weekend and ended spending the evening with some old friends:

*Sigh* Fraser always teases me about how I can never stay awake through a whole movie (which, by the way, he may be accurate about), but sometimes that is just what you need! Feeling crummy? Snuggle up with some heartwarming Hogwarts adventures! Yay! Not in an HP mood? How about picking any of my favourites from my "I feel sort of cruddy and want to lay on the couch and get better" movies:

- Indiana Jones (preferably the 1st and 3rd)
- Bye Bye Birdie
- Back the the Future (also the 1st and 3rd...)
- Grease
- Pretty much any Elvis movie
or
- Gidget!

Okay, so apparently I like to watch family adventure films and 60s musicals. Oh well - it does the trick on my sick days! What about you? What movies do you watch when you're feeling ill or looking for a comforting evening?

Friday Find: Lova Revolutionary

2012-02-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

With hearts polluting the love filled month of February it is no surprise that I fell for the darling hand stitched polka dot loveliness of this heart brooch from Lova Revolutionary:

Oh! How wonderful! Under further inspection - Jodie's etsy shop is a perfect match for me! Seriously - felt, cuteness, embroidery hoops, yetis, acorns, and owls! Oh my! Take a peek:

Yup - she's a crafter of my own heart. I guess it is possible that many people love these things and we're both just part of the handmade masses - but I like to think I have some limited uniqueness to my tastes. What about you? What do you think?

Squares in progress!

2012-02-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

I'm still working away on my craft project and I thought I'd take a moment to let you in on what I've been doing! Granny squares! Yay! And unlike the one colour granny square blanket I started a million years ago and lost interest in - these squares are multi-coloured! Take a peek:

OoOo! Is it ever fun mixing colours together and I love how the center of the square sort of looks like a flower. Plus it helps me burn through my yarn stash which is always a bonus right? Here's another peep at some of my favourite squares so far:

Yipee! Now to get some more of that off white yarn so I can finish up the project! Any guesses on what it will be?

Kittens!

2012-02-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

So for the last few days I've been working away on a project that I really, really want to complete. Then I ran out of yarn. Poo. You know what I need when crafty frustration comes my way? Kittens! Yay! I hope you agree...

Ohhh! So much kitty fuzzy cuteness. I feel better. How about you? How's your Wednesday going?

Socktopus!

2012-02-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

Once in a while I run across craft projects that are so awesome that they completely devour my conscience and stick in my mind for days. In fact, when I came across these adorable socktopuses (socktopi?) on flickr I fell in love:

Oh their stripes, felt eyes, and adorable jersey cotton legs! No wonder I dreamed about making these. I promptly woke up and wondered where I found such cook stray socks for the octopi to realize that I dream crafted them. Rats. Looks like I need to keep my eyes peeled for cute socks like the ones I created in my mind. What do you think? My niece totally needs a flock of socktopi right?

Hoop-tastic!

2012-02-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

If you're a long time reader of the blog, you may remember me talking about making an embroidery hoop art wall. I first saw the idea on the purl bee back in September 2010 and after raving about the project to friends finally found some wooden hoops in October of that same year! Wendy found them for me at her neighbourhood thrift shop and we quickly made a trip there to pick some up in a variety of sizes:

All I had left to do was find some swoon worthy fabrics to stretch in my new frames and stick them on the wall! Sounds easy enough right? Apparently not. My extremely picky taste and frugality put fabric finding on the back burner and my lovely wooden hoops never made it up on the walls. *Sigh*

When I moved to Victoria this past September Lindsay and I spotted some craft packages of beautiful printed scraps from The Milkman's Daughter (the sister shop of Smoking Lily). I may have gone overboard (ok, definitely went over...) and bought five packs. It felt like christmas opening up each of the bags to see what bargain gems I had acquired and figured they would work perfectly for my embroidery hoop project. Unfortunately once again the project got put back in the closet as unpacking, organizing, and getting my health under control seemed to take priority. Well - good news! This weekend I finally decided to take the plunge and behold my embroidery hoop covered living room wall:

Oh my am I ever in love! I've spent countless hours humming and hawing over how to cover our mass amounts of bland walls in our condo and the long strip behind the couch was certainly the most difficult. Our extremely limited decorating budget certainly didn't make it any easier but since I already had all the craft supplies waiting in my craft room project, I figured there was no time like the present to get it finished! Hooray! Take another peek from side:

What fun! I didn't want the fabrics to be overly feminine since although I doubt Fraser would complain, I'm sure he'd appreciate a more gender neutral approach to our main living space. I also wanted to go with a slightly asymmetrical layout so it wouldn't feel like I was over thinking it, even though I did go through a few lay outs before I got a composition I was happy with. To top it all off I completed the whole thing while Fraser was out so I got to see his reaction to the embroidery hoop wall when he got home!

The majority of the hoops are the Smoking Lily pieces, although I did use a grey pussy willow print I bought from bookhou at home:

I really love how each hoop looks and the Smoking Lily prints have charming off center composition. This is balanced out with a few patterned and striped prints like the super fun blue mason jar fabric I bought from bespoke uprising!:

The grey maple seeds are probably my favourite of the bunch, but I do have a special place in my heart for horse printed on striped rose cotton. I wanted the largest hoop to have a large print on it to bring in some interest and I think it turned out quite well:

I still have a few large hoops left and loads of scraps so as soon as I find some more smaller wooden hoops I think I'll do a similar spread above our headboard! My weekend thrift shopping trip was pretty unsuccessful (since all the thrift shops here are pretty looked over and ridiculously over priced) so I may have to wait until I head back to Kamloops so I can buy out Cost Savers! Oh well, it took me over a year to complete this first project so I'm sure I can be patient. So what do you think? How do you decorate your walls? Ever tried embroidery hoop art? Any hoops you think I should switch out?

Instagram Photo A Day Challenge!

2012-02-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

As I continue to explore new apps on my iPhone, I decided to jump on the Instagram bandwagon. If you aren't sure what Intragram is, not to worry, until a few weeks ago I had no clue either. It is yet another social networking program that allows you to share pictures you take on your iPhone (and then link them onto twitter and facebook)! Sounds easy enough right? Well once installing the app I've been loving checking out my fellow bloggers and crafters (and real life friends') snapshots of their daily activities and commenting on what everyone is up to!

I am also quite excited to be able to take part in some of the blogging world's intagram challenges and figured since February is such a short month it would be the perfect opportunity to try it out! Plus I do love taking pictures and the ease and simplicity of my camera phone makes the challenge all that much more appealing! Check out the list of challenge images Fat Mum Slim set up for everyone for the month:

Doesn't it look like fun? I've been sharing my photos on twitter and thought I'd do a weekly recap here on the blog too! Let's take a peek back at my first four days of the February photo a day challenge.

Day 1 - "your view today" = Fraser cooking us up a delicious meal! Yum!

Day 2 - "Words" = The silly slogan that was written in our neighbourhood watch flyer. Watch out for spam!

Day 3 - "Hands" = the ceramic jewelry stand hand on my dresser. I thought about taking a picture of my own hands but they were pretty beat up and sharpied from a week of work so I figured I'd do for an alternative approach (plus the morning sun shining in is always lovely!)

Day 4 - "Stranger" = A little old man sitting in the sun outside the laundromat. Since Fraser and I live in pretty much a retirement condo old people are at a premium! When I went for a walk Saturday morning I figured I'd be sure to run into someone worth photographing and this guy seemed extra charming. When I showed Fras the pic, he said he is pretty sure he lives in our building too...

Mmm sunshine! I'll have to save today's photo for next week's recap since it is only 7am and I have to wait for 10am to take one! Anyone else taking part in the challenge? What do you think of it?

science lolz

2012-02-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

Happy caturday lovely blog readers! I keep telling Fraser how much we need a kitten in our lives. I mean, sure he is very allergic and we aren't actually allowed pets in our building, but think of the blogging possibilities! I could name him Carl, make ridiculous crafted costumes for him he would totally hate, pretend he is our feline child, and pretty much spend my spare time squeeling over his fluffy little belly while following him around with a camera! Sounds like a dream doesn't it? No? Shucks. Oh well, in the mean time we'll stick to some very helpful science themed lol catz:

*Eeee!* So cute!!! I think sticking to the pictures may be best for now. I can get my own dose of fuzz therapy without inflicting allergic reactions and having to deal with the reality of litter boxes, claws on furniture, or an ungodly amount of hair everywhere. What do you think? Don't you just want to pick up convex and concave kitties and snuggle them?

Friday Find: Each To Own

2012-02-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

I figured we would start the month off with a bang and feature the lovely etsy shop Each to Own. Why you may wonder? Well it is the month of heart related products and this shop has probably the coolest (and most drool worthy) heart craft I've seen in a while, check it out:

That's right - geometric pattern, sweet colour scheme, and heart jewelry? Sounds like this handmade wonder is a triple win in my books! I'm in love! If you aren't into hearts you can always get the same geometric print on a bunny or dear too. Heck, if you're not digging the blocks of colour you can always go for the realistic prints or polka dots! Ah! So many choices! What do you think? Have you got any heart-felt gifts for your valentine yet?

Bloomin'

2012-02-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas may have been months ago, but *shhh*, please don't tell my xmas cactus since he's finally decided to re-bloom! My never ending battle of attempting to keep plants alive continues and I am so happy to announce progress in the pink blossom department! Just check out those bright pops of fuchsia:

Oh ho ho! What a proud parent I am! The shorter days and less sunlight has done wonders for this little guy and has finally started to blossom. It's been a bit of a rocky road with this one since I seem to constantly completely neglect him (and then he withers and droops) and then once I finally get around to noticing I panic and over water. Yes, I am well aware of my house plant flaws, but maybe one day I will learn!

For now I will enjoy my successes - and hypothesize that this guy's happiness on his post-xmas relocation. He started out on a side table pretty far away from the window and (generally) out of my field of view. Once the decorations came down and the tree was bagged and back in the storage locker, I moved him to the bookshelf were the tree was. Apparently that was a great plan since I paid much more attention to him (and watered him whenever he got mope-y) and gave him a smidge more daylight. Hooray! Sweet happy plant pink reward ensued:

Yay! As you can see there are still a few more blossoms ready to pop before he reaches his full glory like he did last year:

Yippee! Now we just need to fast forward a few decades to when he is (hopefully) still alive and greeting me with winter month blooms! I figure it is yet another step in my gradual transformation into a grandma. I guess I've got a ways to go yet...but at least I have the tea and doilies covered....

February!

2012-02-01T07:00:00.000-08:00

Why happy February lovely blog readers! With January flying by at record speed, I am ready for this month to the start with loads of fun and productivity! It is also a month for....asparagus!:

Oh I really like this months vintage food poster (and I love any excuse to eat more asparagus!) Nummers! Since we're on the vintage (and February) topic anyways - check out the amazing downloadable valentines Kate of Scathingly Brilliant shared:

Yup! Vintage cuteness and kittens! Double win! Plus although I am not a strong supporter of singles awareness day (a.k.a. Valentine's), I do like the excuse to make heart themed crafts! Hooray!

I'm happy to announce a new February playlist on the right side bar. I completely skipped updating it last month (if anyone noticed...) since I didn't seem to spend any time in my craft (and thus computer) room. I guess all my visiting and healing means all lap top time for me and since Fraser's lovely portable computer is ancient, it isn't up to date with my current music crushes. I also feel that this month is all about singing with your eyes closed so I selected a few favourites for just such circumstances. Mind you...I rarely need an excuse for that...

As far as other things going on this month, it's my mom's birthday, reading break for Fraser, and (extra exciting!!!) a car load of lovely ladies coming to visit me on the 23rd! Yipee! Friends! I can't wait! What about you? What do you have planned for February?

Recipe: Crock Pot Apple Cider

2012-01-31T07:00:00.000-08:00

Since winter is still in full swing I figured now would be the perfect time to share one of my most favourite cold weather creation! I first had homemade apple cider at Kristine's xmas party a few years back, and then later that same year at my staff party. Jim and I attempted to recreate the delicious warm apple spice loveliness later that winter and although it was drinkable....it was far from perfection. Lindsay reintroduced me to the crock pot wonder this December and since then I've been altering the ingredients until I had the perfect mix! This picture may not be the most flattering, but trust me, this crock pot apple cider is extra delish to the very last drop:

Onto the recipe!

Ingredients:

- 2.84 L (96 oz) jug of Santa Cruz Organic Apple Juice. (I've tried other AJs but the pulpy organic stuff is the best)
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 1 or 2 oranges (1 large or 2 smaller depending on what you have available)
- 1 tbsp whole allspice
- 1 tbsp whole cloves
- 1 tbsp full leaf chai tea
- 2 or 3 pieces of whole star anise
- 2 or 3 pieces of cardamon
- a sprinkling of ground nutmeg

Instructions:

Pour the apple juice into the crock pot. Add in cinnamon sticks, and sliced orange. Put the whole allspice, cloves, chai tea, star anise, and cardamon in tea satchels and rest them on the side of the crock pot. Add a sprinkling of ground nutmeg over the concoction and stir. Make sure you don't let the large spices fall out of the tea bag(s) or they'll be difficult to remove later. Set on medium low for 4 hours and let steep. After 1 hour remove the orange slices (or they will get bitter). At the 2 hour mark I usually taste a sampling of it and if it is spicy enough for my liking I remove the tea bags of mulling spices and cinnamon sticks (or leave in if it needs a bit more spice). Because I don't like my cider too sweet (and my crock pot only just fits the jug of AJ), I like to dilute my cups of cider with some hot water. Then drink and enjoy!

If you have lots of cider left over (which I usually do) I pour boiling water in the glass AJ jug to rinse it out and then pour the remaining cider in there. Once it cools down you can stick it in the fridge and have some microwave ready cups of deliciousness whenever you please! Hooray!

Well that's it! Sometime I like to add an extra sprinkling of ground cinnamon and cloves to the batch (since I really like both those spices). Nummers! If you're feeling extra jolly you can always spike your cup with a shot of spiced rum and a shot of triple sec (or grand marnier if you're fancy) so some added zing. Jim seemed to be pretty happy with that alcoholic alternative but I prefer the non-boozey version for my poor suppressed immune system.

So what do you think? Do you ever indulge in cider? What recipe do you use?

Playin' on the Heart String

2012-01-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

Well you may be tired of hearing about crochet cotton hearts...but I'm still smitten with them so I've got one more day of them! After some lovely responses to my last two posts, I thought I'd take some reader advice and make a garland out of my excitedly overproduced crafts! I really liked the cute granny triangle heart garland Michelle made (link) but since I was looking for a project using the hearts without spending a ton of time making new parts I just braided together some coral yarn and sewed them on. Take a peek at the finished product:

Not too shabby eh? I am quite pleased with how it turned out and like the look of the different colours of hearts strung together. Plus the heart string turned out to be the perfect size for my new bulletin board board. Let's check it out from another angle:

Ah! I love it! In attempt to spruce up the blank walls of my craft room I think the cork board is a great place to start. So far it just has a few cards on it, some kitten pins, a moon screen print I won, and an experimental teal flower pin I crocheted (oh and the heart garland of course)! What do you think?

I'm excited to fill it up with inspiring snips of papers and things, but am really pleased with how it looks so far. What do you use for inspiration? Any cork board users? What would you pin on there?

I may have over done it...

2012-01-29T07:00:00.000-08:00

Unlike my usual "find a cute tutorial and never get around to trying it," I went crochet crazy yesterday! Once I made one heart I just couldn't stop - take a peek at my morning accomplishment:

Eee! So many cute pink hearts! I'm hoping to put most of them together in one big fantastic project but I'm a little undecided on what that will be yet. I did enjoy using them as handmade heart confetti to throw at Fraser (which I'm sure he was just thrilled about). I really like the idea of using them as decoration on a valentine and am really fond of the mid tone coral the best:

I fell for that heart so much I put a pin on it!

Hooray! A lovely cotton crochet pin perfect for the yarn craving winter months and upcoming Valentine's! I can't wait for some more sunny spring weather to pop in so I can sport this baby on a cardigan! I made a matching pin for Fraser to wear on his nice black coat for Valentines too. Perhaps not the most masculine of lapel wear, but Fraser is a great sport and is loving and supportive of my craftiness. Heck - maybe it will be the new trend in 31 year old males! Yipee! What do you think I should do with the rest of the hearts I made?

crochet saturday

2012-01-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

Back in December I featured the lovely crochet works of Cornflower Blue Studios as one of my Friday Finds. Well, I may not have got around to picking up my hook over the holidays like I had hoped, but I am still craving some yarn crafting while winter is still around! I started searching through Rachel's blog and found this darling tutorial for crochet hearts!

What a fun (and quick!) Saturday project don't you think? After swooning over Velma's crochet hearts she was making on instagram I figured this was a great craft! They would be super fun strung up in a garland, or maybe pinned onto your toque or lapel? Oh the possibilities! What do you think? What would you do with your handmade hearts?

Friday Find: Made by Anna

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

Today's find is none other than the fantastic brooch wonderfulness of Etsy's Made by Anna. If I have ever fallen for laser cut pins before, it was nothing when compared to these lovelies. Take a gander:

Oh! The colours, subject matter, shapes, and awesomeness! I'm positively smitten. Here is an instance where I legitimately can't decide which one I like best (and I always have an opinion)! Eek! I'm in love. Yet another situation where everything is better from the UK. Good work Anna Betts, you rock! So what do you think? Can you pick a favourite?

bring on the hot wings

2012-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

Looks like the good ol' spam filter has come to rescue my blog posting yet again. Behold:

Ahahahahahahaha...ha! Yup, just made my day (but I can't say no to owls and puns). How about you?

full of beans

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

I'm fairly certain most kids get to do some sort of art project with dried beans (or pasta) during elementary school. Then you give your masterpiece to your mother and she gets to joy of holding onto your weird dried food art for years to come. When I saw the bean jewelry over on the etsy how to tuesday, I thought this was a bean project I'd actually love to keep! Just check out those black eyed beaut's:

Isn't it interesting? I love how the beans turn into wonderful natural looking beads that are strangely kindergarden chic. Mind you, with all the drilling you'd have to do this project isn't for the kiddos, but regardless I'm sold! I'd love to make a necklace out of some brown pinto beans (or maybe even those white and pink ones) and see how many comments I get when I wear it. Too bad Victoria doesn't have a Bulk Barn like Kamloops does. Guess I'll need to search the sad bulk food sections here and see if I can find some great bead material. What do you think? Anyone want to do some bean jewelry with me?

Kitty Spam!

2012-01-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

After a wonderful weekend with my Mom and Uncle I am beat! Looks like early bed for me - and kitten spam for all of you! Let's all thanks Lindsay for providing such wonderfully filtered Pinterest felines and enjoy:

Ahahaha! Snail kitty and the one with the netting on his head are my favs - how about you?

Tape = January's Fresh Flowers?

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

I always love a nice bouquet of fresh flowers to really liven up the apartment with a touch of colour. Of course, I'm not Martha Stewart, and I don't have a farm yard full of blooming wonders to chose from, nor do I have an unlimited flower budget (especially in the off season of January). I do however have a selection of washi tape and some plain vases to decorate. Not sold? Take a peek at these:

Okay, so they're not exactly flowers (well...not at all really...) but they are a nice centerpiece and they do add a pop of colour during the winter blues months! I love the rainbow effect they created and think some little tea lights would look amazing shining through the translucent washi tape! How fun! In fact, the ladies over at Santa Barbara Chic have an entire post about decorating your table with tape you must check out (link). Oh, and clearly I need to buy myself some more washi tape now right?

Only the best cookies have facial hair.

2012-01-22T07:00:00.000-08:00

I may not be able to eat them, but the cookie fellows from Hambly are quite possibly the cutest baking I've seen all year! Just take a peek at their cute faces, facial hair, and little bow ties:

I'm in love! I think these would make great party favours or even be fun in a bouquet for a nice present. Plus since they're on sticks you could always arrange them interestingly to make a center piece and by the end of the night you could split it up for a delicious gluten-y treat! Yum! I mean look how wide set those eyes are. I'm sold. How about you?

In the marmalade forest

2012-01-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

As you may recall, I made some felt Albi magnets back in May when I went on my cruise. They were a ton of work (with lots of tiny stitching details and pieces) and loads of fun to make! I've had a few people email me asking me to make more of these lovely geeky pals so I figured I'd try to please the masses (and my masses I mean two people...) and make some! Let me reunite you with Albi and his friends the badly burned Albainian boy from the day before and the dragon tear turned rainbow jelly bean that put an end to racism:

Aren't they fun? Very similar to the polymer clay magnet set I used to make, but considerably less messy. I also appreciate not having to wait for paint to dry and sculpy to bake. Take a peek at my sculpted version:

Hehe! Those sets were enormously popular a few years back when Flight of the Conchords was still on tv. I think I saturated the handmade FOTC loving market and now I just get a few random die hard fans looking for their own Albi set. I do however still love the heartwarming tale of anti racism just as much as ever and made three new felt sets to list:

Yay! One set is already on its way to its new home in Australia while the other two wait patiently in my craft room to be adopted!

As for me, I'm off spending the day with my family who have come to visit (so no FOTC marathons in my immediate future). How are you spending the weekend?

Friday Find: Allisa Jacobs

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

Since January is all about new starts, organization, and cool wintry blue tones (or at least I think it is) I thought I'd chose the lovely sewn goods of Allisa Jacobs for today's Friday find. Her shop is stocked full of wonderful pieces each with perfect fabric choices and lovely details. Just take a peek at this amazing chevron pouch:

Isn't it darling? I love the contrast of colours, simplicity, and that awesome red poppy pin that you can detach and stick on anything! If you're swooning over the pin (much like I am) you can buy them on their own as a brooch, or if you'd prefer some different designs how about one of Allisa's clutches, snap pouches, or to do list organizers:

I must say the list organizer on the right hand side there is really calling to me. Maybe it would even help me stick to getting things done? Okay...probably not, but I do love all the goodies in the shop! What do you think? Which is your favourite?

In other news - Mom and Uncle Gary come to visit today! After an early morning of work I'm off to the airport to pick them up and then we've got until Sunday afternoon to see the sights and get some visiting in! Now to decide what to do...

The snow continues...

2012-01-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

So you know how we got a little dusting of snow yesterday? Well, it didn't stop. That slight ground cover turned into a blanket and by the end of the morning it was a full out blizzard. Snow fall warnings, ghost town roads, and panicked Victorians were all the buzz and school was even canceled! Wow! A full out snow day! I still had to work and even though the majority of people were frightened of the thought of driving, my trip home was a breeze. The biggest threat is all the stupid people on the road who don't know how to drive in the snow (and the fact that Victoria has two snow plows and loads of busy roads to keep up with)! So how much snow validates a snow day here? Take a peek:

Ooop! My ivy and bamboo got a bit of a snow covering! Here's the rest of the yard:

Apparently 10 cms is enough to close up the town for the day and with the forecast seeing nothing but more snow for the next few days I wonder how people will deal! I took the opportunity to enjoy the deserted-ness and go shopping for some yarn. Why you may wonder? So my sis can knit me some adorable totoro mittens like the ones Cindy made for Sarra:

Ahhhh!!!! Those are totally the cutest mittens ever! Micheals was completely empty making a perfect shopping experience since loads of staff was available to help, tons of stuff was on sale, and I even had some coupons! Hooray! Now to get ready for my mom and uncle to come visit tomorrow (and then take the yarn up to my sis so she can get knittin')! How is your day going? Have you ever had a snow day?

My kind of snow!

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

While the rest of the province is dealing with -30 C weather and boatloads of snow I am soaking up the lovely dusting of the white stuff here to go with out +4 C. Take a peek at the wintry scene from the patio:

Just right! A smidge of the white stuff with mild temperatures and clear roads. Apparently it is still too much to deal with for most Victorians though. Yesterday at work tons of our regular customers said they barely made it in, and on my drive home I saw a car being pulled from the ditch! Seriously? The roads are CLEAR!? It totally baffles me, but I guess if you aren't used to or prepared for the weather it might be a shock. Nothing but snow in the forecast for the next few days so we'll see how everyone does this week.

Since we're on the topic of snow - in case you're jealous of all the flakes falling around here, why no make some geeky snow flakes of your own. Check out these amazing star wars themed ones from over at Man Made DIY:

I can think of a few people who would love a few of these (Lisa - how about the bf?) and think they would be extra fun strung up in a window! I was meaning to blog about these before xmas since I think they'd be a perfect way to festive up for the holidays, but I figured with all the snow around here they'd be good all winter long! What do you think? Who's your favourite star wars snowflake? (Mine's Boba Fett.)

Granny Please

2012-01-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

I seem to be having a love affair with crochet granny squares lately. I keep seeing them around the internet and swooning over their fun colours and simplicity. I think I am particularly drawn to them because, well, I know how to make them (and can pretty much do so with my eyes closed). It's always a plus when I see crafts I am actually capable of (unlike most knit items). With no further ado, here are my three favourite granny square projects I can't wait to try out:

Project #1 - Granny Square Lamp Shade. I love the colours on this one and how it really jazzes up a normally quite simple table lamp. I think it would fit in perfectly in my living room (even though I doubt any more lighting is really required there...). Perhaps I'll hunt down an old lamp from a thrift shop and give it a new grann-i-fied life for my craft room!

Project #2 - Giant Granny Square Blanket. This one is particularly interesting since I started a granny square blanket back in 2003 and never finished it. After making a million little squares I realized they weren't a consistent size and would be a giant pain to sew together. This one, however, is just one giant square that gets bigger as you go! Hooray! No sewing at the end!

Project #3 - Granny Square Ear Warmer. I spotted this one on the wonderfully fashionable (and cat loving) Elycia a while back and totally went head over heals for it! I've been dying to make myself an ear warmer for my walks by the ocean and this one is super cute. Now to decide what colour to make it...

So what are your thoughts? Are you sold on the awesomeness of granny squares? What crochet projects would you make out of them? And (most importantly) which should I do first!?

Take a pill

2012-01-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

Being a person who suffers from chronic illness, I seem to take a lot of prescriptions. Each morning during breakfast I take out my pill case (yes, I am an old lady with one of those days of the week pill containers), pour myself a cup of milk, and admire the pretty assortment of different pills I am about to take. When I came across these crochet pills from Greedy for Colour, I fell in love! Finally someone else who enjoys the beauty (and novelty) of capsules:

Hehe! Aren't they fun? I love the colours they picked and they totally remind me of Dr. Mario (a game my mom is insanely addicted to). I think these little guys would make perfect get well gifts, or even funny to pass along to any stressed out pals (as chill pills)! Heck, you could even stack them all in a glass jar and have one interesting center piece! I think they'd be particularly appealing with some little wide set eye smiles on there so when I get around to making some, I'll be sure to show you the results! After all, they are a pretty tiny so they'd be quick to whip up and Greedy for Colours tutorial is clear and easy to follow! What's to lose? What do you think? What would you do with your own set of yarn pills?

What a weekend!

2012-01-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

After an entire week of resting my poor torn ab muscles, I was determined to have a hospital-free fun weekend this time around. We woke up early Saturday morning and went out for breakfast at the Blue Fox. It was delicious as always and didn't even have a long line up to compete with. Yay! On our scenic drive home I found the new location of my favourite yarn shop and a new fabric and notion store to check out in the future! What fun! Then it was back home for some productivity! Okay, so I am still in recovery mode, but Fraser was nice enough to finish making a light box for me:

This light box thing has been a long time coming and I can't believe how quick it was to finally finish up! Fraser did an amazing job and once I get some long sheets of paper for backdrops I will be taking pictures like the pros! Well...hopefully anyways. I have been dying to spiff up my etsy shop item images (especially the button ones) and the nice filtered light from my new light box will be perfect! Any tips for what sort of lights I should use with it? I guess I'll have to experiment to find out.

Next we planned to take a wee trip downtown so Fraser could use some of his xmas gift cards and it started to snow! How exciting! It certainly wasn't cold enough to stick, but the fluffy blistery snow flakes were super fun to watch. Take a peek from our deck:

Yay! We've been told it is supposed to snow even more today (Sunday) and Monday so maybe some of it will hang around this time too! Hooray!

To finish up the day off I sewed up some more avocado felt brooches to list in my etsy shop:

After seeing a picture of my last pin on Sarra's blog I decided it would be fun to make a few more! The first one I made actually turned into a reserved listing so I thought it would be neat to see if the little smiling fruits (are avocados fruit?) would be popular sellers! I even whipped up two more Totoro brooches to list too! Yipee!

Here's to hoping today is just as fabulous as Saturday was! What did you get up to this weekend?

To the Museum!

2012-01-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

Last week while my good pal Jim was visiting we took a trip downtown to check out the BC Royal Museum. Leslie (my ever lovin' sis) always tells me how I never seem to take many pictures of myself out doing things so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity! As it turns out, I am pretty unphotogenic and the dim lighting of the museum is not the easiest to take pictures in. Alas - Jim and I had a great time! Here I am on the walk there doing a traditional tourist pose in front of the parliament buildings:

Some very nice old men greeted us when we arrived and told us we had to check out the chubby bird photographs in the National Geographic photography display that was currently going on. How great! I love little chubby birds! Unfortunately I couldn't take any shots of that exhibit, but it was certainly worth the trip! Now onto the rest of the museum...

I quickly realized that I really enjoy the natural history part the best (just like my trip to the natural history museum in LA last May) and the actual "history" part (which was all first nations and early 1900's stuff) is totally not my cup of tea. Oh well, a little something for everyone right? I managed to take a few pictures of the most well light parts of the super awesome natural history floor! If I didn't know any better I would totally think these were actual animals (not taxidermied) in their habitats! Check out mountain lion:

and black bear:

They also had some really cool ocean-like displays (that I didn't get any good images of). I had no idea sea lions could be so enormous! This would be a super fun place to take some biology loving kids since every corner was oozing super fun information! They even had a huge underwater wall with loads of critters to check out!

The most famous of the Royal Museum's displays has to be the woolly mammoth, and for good reason! He is super impressive! I'm totally in love with this picture I took (on my phone too!):

After meandering through the rest of the exhibits (and the whole third floor of actual history stuff) we came back to check out the owls again! I just couldn't stay away! It is so neat to be able to see them all close up! Take a peek at snowy owls:

or how about the super tiny adorableness of barn owls?:

That's pretty much the only picture of Jim I was able to nab, but I do enjoy how it turned out. I really wanted to get a good one of me in front of the owls, but no such luck. In fact, we took about 45 pictures of me by them and this is the best of the bunch. Please note how super creepy the owl glare is behind me:

Watch out! That owl has his eye on you! Hehe. It was certainly a great trip and I cant wait for more museum loving friend to visit so I can take them there! I wonder if baby Jean would appreciate it? What do you think? Are you a museum goer?

Friday Find: Nicola Clare

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

Feeling extra lonely lately? Not to worry! Manchester's super talented graphic designer Nicola Rowlands has you covered with her selection of pocket man friends in her etsy shop Nicola Clare! Meet Ray:

Each man friend has his own special name and traits and conveniently keeps your company in your pocket. Take a peek at a few other men to pick from:

I love all the little details and packaging! What an awesome gift this would make! Not into men? There is a selection of female pocket friends too! If these little handpainted pals don't tickle your fancy Nicola has a huge selection of odd and charming prints, cards, pillows, brooches, earrings, and totes for your shopping pleasure as well! Oh my! I must say next to the man friends, the feed me tacos kitty earrings are on my favourite list! What about you? What do you like best?

Swap Time!

2012-01-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

Just in case you're terrified you won't be getting enough Valentine themed mail this year - it's time to sign up for Oh Strumpet's Valentine Craft Swap:

After participating in their spring swap (and loving it) I am stoked to join in for another one! All you need to do is head over to the Oh Strumpet's blog and leave a comment (then email Becky to confirm/give your email address) by this Friday (the 13th). Then you will be assigned a craft swap partner and you have until the 6th of February to get your craft in the mail! Sounds easy enough right? I think so!

I am thrilled to have met my last swap partner (and now pen pal) Robbie Lee and can't wait to make a new craft friend! If you aren't particularly creative, not to worry - you only need to make one craft for your swap partner and there are no rules so if you like knitting, painting, card making, sculpting, or what have you it is all fair game! Hooray! So who's in? Have participated before?

Dream Weaver

2012-01-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

This year Fraser's brother gave me a Micheals gift card for xmas. Excited to see what the wonderful world of crafty supplies has to offer I ended up splurging and getting a Martha Stewart knit and weave loom kit:

I've always wanted to try my hand at weaving and figured since I am so lousy at knitting, loom knitting might be perfect for me! After all, I did have a 50% off coupon and it was a xmas gift right? Plus it has loads of pieces to mix and match together for a whole assortment of different loom shapes and sizes for all sorts of projects! Hooray! I thought I'd start off with something simple and used some variegated green cotton yarn to try weaving. Take a peek at that cross hatching wonderfulness:

Lovely! This was actually my third attempt at making a square (the first ones were too thin and too tight), but I am very pleased with my new woven coaster:

Since I was originally trying to make a hot pad/trivet I thought I'd give it another go in a larger size. This time I went with hot pink to match my new pink kitty place mats Fraser bought me and went with two strings of yarn instead of three. Check out the finished product:

This one looks much neater and cleaner than the first (with fewer little missed woven strings and blemishes). I ended up doing a round of crochet around the outside to really finish it off:

Ooo! I love how it turned out! I really enjoy having cotton square hot pads to hold bowls when they come out of the microwave and this one is my new favourite! Sure my experimental granny square ones I made many years ago still do the trick, but it's nice to have a new pink woven one too!

Now the question is - what to weave next!? Or more importantly - what to attempt at loom knitting?! Have you ever used one of these kits? What did you make?

It's hip to be square

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

As part of my eternal search for fun and inexpensive art for my home I fell in love with Elycia's poster art DIY! It's sort of like a grown up version of the collages Leslie and I made in highschool and gives you great results with limited artistic talent (always a bonus if you ask me)! Just take a peek:

Isn't it marvelous? I totally love the textures, colours, and way it pops with that white frame and teal wall! All you need to do is find some fun magazine pictures (or old posters like Elycia used) and then get cutting and pasting! Hooray!

If you're looking for a similar square look with a bit more of a challenge how about making your own pixel painting like this one from Wit and Whistle:

Okay, so maybe it is a lot more challenging (since you need to pixelate a source image and experiment with loads of colour mixing and matching) but I totally love the result. Plus it is still just painting a bunch of squares so those of you not oozing artistic talent can still score on this one. Yay!

So what are your thoughts? Anyone up for some square art with me?

How Clever!

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

Once again the internet comes to the rescue with loads of clever ideas to make life easier! I may not have got around to my entire house organization/cleaning this past weekend like I had hoped, but with these ideas I'll be motivated to get a smart jump on things as soon as my torn ab muscles are feeling better! Even though the daily buzz's list has 25 ideas, here are my favourite three storage tips:

Clever idea #1 - Folding matching sheet sets inside a pillowcase! If you've ever struggled with a disastrous linen closet, here is one to drool over! It seems so simple and obvious to fold them inside each other but I certainly wouldn't have thought of it on my own. Thanks internet!

Clever idea #2 - Putting a line of velcro on the wall to store stuffed toys. Okay, so this one is really aimed at people with children, but I do think it is genius. I suppose baskets would do the same effect, but velcro is certainly an easy solution for cleanliness!

Clever idea #3 - Putting a magnetic strip in your bathroom drawer/cupboard. At last! A solution to the never ending bobby pin search. I feel like there are little bobby pin elves living in my house (and purse) that sneak around and move (and steal) bobby pins. I just keep buying more of them and they just keep on disappearing. A magnet is such a brilliant way to keep them all under wraps and doubles as a new home for tweezers too! Aha!

After I execute these I just need to figure out a brilliant way to store my yarn stash and I'll be set! What do you think? Any genius organization tips for us? Are your linens a disaster too? How about M.I.A bobby pins? Oh, and while we're at it - how do you store your yarn?

So much for productivity...

2012-01-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning I woke up hoping to have an ultra productive day. This quickly shifted into pain, the clinic, and then the hospital. Hooray for public health care! Luckily the pain turned out to be much less serious than the clinic had lead on, so I'm back home and on the mend! Since snail mail is far from speedy I thought I'd share someone else's get well card they made and pretend it is something I received instead! Just check out those layered paper squares and little anthropomorphic kleenex box:

Isn't it adorable? As for the state of my health, it turned out I tore most of the muscles on the right side of my abdomen. Because the source of the pain is exactly the same as where my appendix is (and combined with my usual nausea and dizziness) I was sent to the hospital for blood work. What a way to spend the weekend! Fortunately the potential appendicitis turned out to be torn muscles (yay!!). Now I just have 3-4 weeks for the muscles to heal and then I can start back on my new years trip to weight loss! Rats to the set back and ab pain (you don't realize how much you use those stomach muscles until you tear them) but I am so pleased it wasn't something worse. How is your Sunday going?

The best Saturdays

2012-01-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

Nothing beats a little January sun, a laid back Saturday, and a trip to the beach! I must say Beacon Hill is becoming one of my most favourite weekend destinations and here are two wonderful reasons why:

Not sold yet? Let's take a peek from the other direction:

Man do I ever enjoy living on the coast! And - having an iPhone! Not too shabby for camera pictures if you ask me - what do you think? How would you spend your perfect Saturday? Today Fraser and I are skipping the beach and spending the day attacking the giant to do list of cleaning and organizing around the house! Perhaps not my ideal day, but I can not wait to start the year off right! What are you up to?

Friday Find: Gemagenta

2012-01-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

Nothing like a little handmade jewelry to perk up a raining Friday! This week's find is the lovely hand cut silver goods of Gemagenta. Full of tiny details, symmetry and asymmetry, and some geometric charm - these pieces are sure to make you swoon. Take a peek:

I may be more of a gold person, but I am totally in love with each and every one of the silver items in this shop! I love the facets on the silver gem shapes and the tiny tear drop cut outs is almost doily-esque. Oh my! I think the lingerie inspired ring is my absolute favourite, but it is tough call - what do you think? Too bad my new year budgeting doesn't have room for a few splurge items, but with reasonable pricing and ample shipping time these would make great Valentine's gifts! What are you up to this weekend?

Hahahhaha...ha...

2012-01-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

The internet is awesome...and not just lol catz awesome. Take a peek at this:

Hahahahahahha! Ha! ha...I am pretty sure I laughed for a good two minutes when I saw that. Hopefully you find it equally hilarious. Thank you Pinterest (yet again)...

Bye Necklace Bunting

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

After Marci commented about the bunting pouch I blogged about yesterday, I just couldn't get bunting off my mind! Then I remembered how much I liked The Dainty Squid's bunting necklace tutorial and thought I'd share it with all of you in case you missed it! I love how a simple shape like triangles can look so good. Take a peek:

How lovely! I think I'd go for a more neutral leather (say...brown?), but the yellow does have a certain something. Check it out under a collar:

Oh my! Just darling! I totally want to work more collars (and necklaces) into my wardrobe! Looks like I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for some leather scraps to get crafting with. What do you think? Ready to jump on the bunting wagon?

cute little cases

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

I love making little pouches. Not only is it a quick project, but it lets you use up little bits of cute fabrics you may be holding onto and leaves you with an ultra functional finished piece! What's not to like? Need a little inspiration? Check out these six tutorials via How About Orange:

Aren't they dear? I'm especially drawn to kleenex covers in the top right corner (being that we're in winter and amidst flu season). What fun! Heck they might even help you with any budgeting you have planned for the year too! Since I'm miss moneybags while Fraser is in school we might attempt switching to an all cash budget plan, which will hopefully help stretch out my limited paycheques. I doubt Fraser will be happy carrying around little girly coin pouches though...or maybe it would help us save money since he'd be too embarrassed to whip it out unless necessary. Haha! I may be onto something! Which pouch do you like best? Any budgeting tips for us?

Time to Resolve!

2012-01-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

Oh the good ol' new years resolution. Each year I get motivated to change my life for the better and quickly after January starts I lose momentum and feel guilty about my eventual failure. Okay, so this isn't always the case, but I do think the whole idea of a new start in a new year is a little silly. There's really no reason why all the change needs to happen after Jan. 1st (and not, say, any other day of the year) but I suppose anything that pushes you for the better is a good thing! I've got a few stereotypical goals of my own for 2012 (so let's list them and hope it gets me extra motivated!):

1) Get Healthy(er)! Since we moved to Victoria in September my immune system has been on the fritz and with my new rheumatologist and medical trials I'm hoping to heal up! Yay!

2) Keep up with the craftiness! I'd love to get working on a whole slew of craft show stock so I am prepared and ready for the ever exciting new markets I'm hoping to dip into this spring/summer. Hopefully I'll even manage to photograph stuff to so I can share it on here and list some on etsy. OooO! What a plan! Heck - maybe I'll even be able to add to my wholesale and consignment stores!

3) Lose some weight. Yes yes, everyone always seems to add this to their list, but I mostly just want to be able to fit into my pants again. Losing weight is cheaper than having to buy a new wardrobe right? I'm just trying to be thrifty! (Oh and the weight loss would be great for my joints too). Any low impact tips for me?

and 4) Blog with impact. I may not be able to stick to the daily posts, but I am hoping to have a year of wonderfully interesting crafts, recipes, outfits, links, and images to share with you along the way! I'm aiming to feel less stressed about the quantity and extra focused on the quality. In an ideal world I'll even manage to make up a few tutorials on here to help you with your wide set eye smile endeavors as well! Hooray!

That seems like quite the challenge for the new year, but here's to hoping they all go well. What do you think? What are your resolutions and how to you stick to them?

Greetings 2012!

2012-01-01T07:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! Welcome to 2012, a year sure to be full of crafty delights! It also marks the start of a new calendar (which I am always thrilled about). Unfortunately (like most years) I have left my calendar hunting to the last minute and the utter lack of selection lead me to picking up this one full of vintage food posters:

I really enjoyed the art deco-y style of the cover art and with nothing else even slightly catching my eye (the artsy and kitten selection left much to be desired) I thought I'd dabble in the food posters for a year. Then I thought I could make it into a fun blog challenge where I eat whatever the month is advertising. Then I flipped to January....

Yup, that idea fizzled as soon as I saw that the first poster was for foie gras. Ick. Alas, I do enjoy the interesting images, bright bold colours, and design of them all! That has got to count for something right? It could also have something to do with the fact that Jim and I just finished watching season one of Mad Men and I've got vintage ads on the brain.

In other exciting 2012 news I'm hoping to be much more successful at blogging with pictures this year! I am really good at doing interesting and fun things and either 1) forgetting my camera or 2) remembering my camera but then leaving it in the trunk. Xmas gift to the rescue on that one! I am now finally up with the technological times and sporting a new iPhone. At last! An 8 mega pixel camera at my finger tips to help me snap shots of those "darn I need my camera" moments! Take a gander:

So I am yet to move my contacts over...and figure out how to use all the fancy functions but I am certainly excited! Yay! Technology!

Another fun addition to the new year is a journal I've been meaning to start for some time now. Remember that post I did on making your own one line journal you use for a few years and see what silly and memorable things you do over time (link)? Well all my good intentions never got me very far into that project and after the epic fail on my sketch a day journal (a whole sketch becoming daunting and unpleasantly forced), I figured the one liner would be much easier to succeed with. Even better - I found a nice pre-made one sentence journal at Chapters and picked it up (with xmas gift card money too)! Take a peek:

Oh am I ever stoked for this one! And it will just keep getting better! I really want to keep up with this one so in five years time I can joyfully reminisce on my one line memories! Take another peek:

Wish me luck! Do you journal at all? Any new plans to spruce up your 2012? Any "stick to your goals" tips for me?

So Long 2011

2011-12-31T07:00:00.000-08:00

Oh my does time ever fly! With 2012 peeking just around the corner I thought I'd reminisce and share some of my favourite blog moments from each month of 2011! Let's go!

In January I had the painstaking task of completing my rain themed book for the sketchbook project. It quickly turned into a hugely daunting and insanely time consuming challenge (hence not participating in this year's project) but it felt so good to finish it off! You can check out the whole book in the three part blog series (link 1, link 2, link 3) or just take a look at one of my fav pages:

In February I decided to take part in the 2011 project restyle, and upcycled an old pesto jar into an adorable doily/fox cactus pot! I'm happy to say the little stolen cactus bit is at least doubled in size and although the paper pot covering is a little on the faded side, it still looks great! Yay!

By the time March came around it was time for me to get my crafty preparation on! I signed up for another Fabulous Finds craft show in Kelowna and totally destroyed my left wrist crafting up a storm (on dear)! I added a few new items to my booth and even whipped up some fun new packaging:

The craftiness continued on in April when I challenged myself to make a brooch a day for an entire week! I totally fell in love with all the wool felt I used and came up with a selection of fun accessories:

Apparently I had too much fun that month, since I also really wanted to show you a peek at my pom pom soot sprites I made for our house:

In May I had the wonderful pleasure of cruising up the west coast with Fraser! We had one heck of a time (my first visit to American soil) and made lots of awesome memories. I also prepared 12 whole days of mini break crafts to keep you occupied while I vacationed. How nice!

Summer hit us in June and I had a wonderful month discovering the wonders of thrift shopping in Kamloops! I had a blast hanging out with some lovely ladies (who I miss dearly btw) and starting my very own vintage pyrex collection!

By the time July hit, summer was in full swing, and I was busy spending each Saturday downtown selling my crafty goods at the Artisan Market! It also marked my very first outfit post (which I enjoy oh so much making) and the release of the last Harry Potter movie! Sarra had a wonderful HP themed party giving me the perfect excuse to share my outfit (including upcycled skirt):

In August I was busier than ever making a new line of yarn themed illustrated goods, keeping up with my Saturday markets, and getting ready for our big move to Victoria by the end of the month. In attempt to lure in some pen pals (which, actually didn't prove to be very successful) I made up little address tags with buttons on them to give out to my very much missed Kamloops friends:

By the time September rolled around my stress level reached a new high as I tried to settle into our new city and deal with some intense immune system failures. I also got the wonderful pleasure of attending the Rifflandia Music Festival with some friends and apparently didn't write a single blog post worth posting a picture from. Alas.

Lindsay was kind enough to take over my blogging duties for the month of October and boy did she ever do a great job! Lots of kitties, Kate-like projects, and links during that month and further proof that she is one great friend:

November marked my return to the blogging world and my attempt at being healthy here in Victoria. I suffered from a severe Pinterest addiction (including a post where I revealed the three best things I've ever learned on the internet). I finally got the house settled a smidge and got into a bit of a routine with work too! Yay! I even managed to fit some crocheting in and made my very own giant doily:

At last December hit and the countdown was on to go home for the holidays! Fraser and I stretched our baking skills and made a whole slew of xmas cookies to share (including my much loved and coveted chai eggnog recipe):

With it all summed up like that 2011 sure looks great and boy what a wonderful year it was! I'm really hoping that 2012 will bring just as many fabulous memories and (hopefully) some good health so I can keep up with my blogging. After two (almost three) years of daily posts I fear I won't be able to continue with that challenge, but I do hope to share loads of fun links, pictures, projects, outfits, and fun craftiness for another awesome year! How about you? What are you looking forward to in 2012?

Friday Find: Rain!

2011-12-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday! Today is my very last day of xmas vacation before returning to the working (very early in the morning) world and boy have I ever had a blast! Luckily the Kamloops weather was actually quite mild and pleasant during my little holiday but now that we're back in Victoria I am loving the warm temperatures and rain! In fact, I've been extra enjoying the wet weather here and spent the last few days browsing around downtown (with an umbrella, layers, and wellies)! Hooray! I figured since I seem to be so set on rain I'd share some with you:

Yay! Adorable rain themed buttons! Okay, so that is a little shameless self-promotion, but there is another precipitation related site I thought I'd link you to as part of my Friday find. If you're a rain lover (or just someone who needs some relaxing background noise) you must check out rainymood.com! Hurrah! Soothing rain sounds at your fingertips perfect for some soothing euphony while you sleep (and no actual rain required). Are you as excited as I am? How do you feel about the rain?

take a bow.

2011-12-29T07:00:00.000-08:00

As I grow older, I find my person style keeps morphing. Although I have always been fond of certain looks (usually geeky ones involving lots of layers), I am constantly drawn to a wardrobe full of handmade accessories and no better way to build on that than making my own set of felt bows! I attempted making a few of these a while back (sans tutorial and pattern) and although I did come up with a few bow like creations, they were far from perfection. Not to worry crafters! The ladies from Oh So Lovely (courtesy of my girl thursday) are here to fill in the blanks! Just check out these gems:

Okay, so it is very doubtful I'd go with the pale pink and brown combo, but perhaps some nice jewel tones would go nicely with my current closet. Maybe I could even turn one into a black hairband and sport it at work (oOoOo what a risk taker I am)! Although I doubt I'd go very big as far as the hair accessories go, I do think these would make lovely brooches and look extra fabulous clipped on a scarf. What do you think? Have you ever dabbled in bow making?

Cathrineholm Candles

2011-12-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

Are you familiar with Cathrineholm? Well, if you aren't you should be! Just like my love affair with pyrex, Cathrineholm proves how awesome vintage housewares can be! This Norwegian company is known for its iconic simple leaf like design and bold colours. Getting your hands on some of their original enamelware may be quite costly these days (their factory shut down back in 1970), you can grab your own piece of Cathrineholm-esque design by making these lovely candle holders courtesy of How About Orange:

Bring on the paper, exacto knife, and candle holders, this project is a sinch! I think these would be a wonderful addition to my current home, although I think morphing them into some sort of salt and pepper combo would be extra wonderful! Plus it will let me fondly remember the tacky wonderfulness of an era I never actually lived in. Wait...that doesn't work....but I do like those candle holders. What do you think of them?

Crochet Must.

2011-12-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

I may not be requiring a nursery any time soon, but I certainly think I need to get myself some crocheted lamp shades. Seriously - what could be better? These things are amazing:

Oooo! The texture! The colours! The yarn-y goodness! I'm just smitten! I think these would be just perfect in the craft room (perhaps as part of a tissue pom pom light piece?). Looks like I need to work on my popcorn stitch and get practicing! What do you think? Have you ever made your own lampshade (and how dusty do you think these would get)?

Snow Cats!

2011-12-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

Although I am certainly missing the 10 C mildness of Victoria - I do love having a white christmas! And you know what is even better than that? A white kitty christmas! Okay, so xmas is over for another 365 days, but instead of battling the awful boxing day crowds, take a moment and check out these adorable felines playing with snow:

Eeehehe! Am I ever a sucker for cute cats. I especially love that last one ready to pounce and (of course) the contrast and crispness of the orange cat pic (I do have quite the soft spot for orange kitties). Too bad Percy is an indoor cat otherwise I'm sure he'd do something just as cute and photo worthy....or he'd be his normal evil self and unleash his wrath on it...What do you think? Which is your favourite snow cat?

Christmas!

2011-12-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Christmas everyone! Hopefully jolly ol' St. Nick was good to you last night and while I am busy sharing in the holiday festivities with the family (well...most of the family since my sis couldn't make it...) I finally get to share something with all of you! While Fraser was hanging out with his brothers I sneakily made a present for him and am so thrilled with the results! Take a peek:

What's this? Felt, hand stitching, pinking shears, and a hint of yeti? My favs all combined to make Fraser a special stocking:

I originally wanted to embroider one of Fraser's favourite animals on there, but quickly realized that Fraser really only likes orange animals (which would look terrible on the red felt). With the xmas deadline ticking I decided to whip out the 2.25" button maker and make a "big yeti with little friends" button trio to help finish it off! Throw in some matching light blue letters and we've got ourselves one personalized surprise! Take a look at the stocking next to our little xmas tree to see it's full festive glory:

Oh man, I've been dying to share this with you for a good 10 days now and am pleased I didn't manage to spill the beans. Hopefully Fraser likes it as much as I do! How is your xmas going?

After all there's only one more sleep til Christmas

2011-12-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

One more sleep until the big day and just in case you're in need of some furry holiday spirit - here's some festive cats to bring you some xmas cheer:

Ah! So cute! Now if only I could convince Percy to dress up this year...

Friday Find: Pretty Tape

2011-12-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

Ever since making this ATC out of washi tape, I've been hooked:

How fun is it to get masking tape in all sorts of patterns and colours? Oh my! They are the perfect arsenal for any paper crafter and I've been dying to get my hands on more. Although my attempts to find some good washi tape sources have been unsucessful in Victoria, never underestimate the power of Etsy! Pretty Tape is an awesome shop just jam packed with all sorts of washi tape and loads of other crafty supplies to keep you busy. Just look at these gorgeous rolls:

Oh think of the handmade card possibilities! And if that wasn't enough - look at this:

Ack! Doily stamp! If xmas wasn't two days away this would certainly be on the top of my wish list. Looks like I may be investing in some new supplies in the new year...what do you think?

Felt pom poms!

2011-12-22T07:00:00.000-08:00

Let's be realistic. If any of you saw this fantastic tutorial over at Delightfully Tacky, you must have known I was destine to write about it. After all - felt? pom poms? wrapping? Ah! It's a triple win! And look how adorable they are:

Oh dear these are cute! Plus they are relatively simple to make (and I do have quite the selection of felt to chose from) making this project even better. Too bad I already mailed all my sister's presents away to her (which, by the way, arrived in record time for this time of year) and most of my other presents are all wrapped and ready. I guess if I manage to find a little creative time I can test this one out, but I figure it doesn't need to be limited to xmas! May 2012 be the year of the felt pom pom wrapped present! Who's with me?

Decoration Roundup!

2011-12-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

It may seem a little last minute to still be making decorations - but that is what christmas vacation is all about (okay...not necessarily ornament making, but crafts anyways...). I actually came across so many ornament tutorials this year that I just had to show them to all of you! Let's go:

1) Embroidered Felt Friends (from Wild Olive c/o Sunshine and Carousels)

You know I can't resist a good felt and embroidery project! Especially one letting me anthropomorphize cute little smiles on things! Wild Olive is a girl from my own heart, and her patterns are just darling!

2) Ball Ninja Ornament (via the Cheese Thief)

Another project showing us that simple is better! All you need to do is paint a little skin path on some usually drab decorations, then grab a sharpie and you're done! Who doesn't love ninjas (and super quick craft projects!)?

3) Painted wooden circles (from Apartment Therapy)

Another quick and simple project to help you festive up the joint just in time for Santa! In this tutorial, you just need to buy some wooden disks, attach some eye hooks, and get painting! The best part of this one? Once you're done you could always stash the hook with the decorations and turn your masterpiece into a pendant! What fun! I think some geometric shapes and jewel tone neutrals are calling...

Well, chances are I'll be too busy this holiday to get to these, but you never know, they are quite appealing! What do you think? Do you ever make your own xmas decorations?

Tartan Scotty Dogs!

2011-12-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

While searching through old posts from the Fossil Blog (which, I totally love btw), I came across these wonderful tartan wrappings and scotty dog ornaments:

After seeing these I promptly stopped by the fabric store to find a sad lack of anything tartan (at all). They didn't even have plaid flannel! Fabricland! What are you thinking? Oh well, looks like this will go on the back burner for next year. In the mean time I will continue loving everything Fossil comes out with (and their blog current obsessions) and keep dreaming of a reason to buy myself a third (this time in gold) Fossil watch....any suggestions? Can you get tartan fabric where you live?

cheg nog cookies

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

I may not be a huge fan of eggnog, but something about a short half sweet reduced fat no water (with cinnamon dolce sprinkles) chai eggnog latte just hits the holiday spot! Why yes, that is quite the modified starbucks beverage, but once you try it you'll be hooked! Since my pal Alanna always seems to whip up amazing earl gray tea infused cookies I thought I'd do the next best xmas edition and try my hand at my own cookie version of the cheg (sbux terminology for chai eggnog latte). I may not be a master in the kitchen, but the reaction I got from my cheg loving coworkers made these cookies a success! They even look tasty don't you think?

On to the recipe!

Cheg Nog cookies (makes ~50 cookies)

-3/4 cup shortening
-1 cup sugar
-2 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 ground up chai tea bags (I used Tazo's Organic Chai and a mortar and pestle)
-a sprinkling of other chai spices (I used cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg)
-2 tbsps eggnog
-2 1/2 cups flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix together the shortening, sugar, eggs, and flavours. Blend. Mix in dry ingredients (flour, b.powder, salt). Cover and chill for 1 hr. I then rolled them into cookie sized balls and flattened them with a spoon onto my silicone baking sheets. Bake for ~10 min until bottoms are slightly golden brown. Then lay the cookies on racks and let cool. (Now it's time to make the most delicious nog icing!)

Eggnog Icing (I don't actually have measurements for this....and ended up making WAY too much...which I then ate and felt sick afterwards....)

Whisk together icing sugar and egg nog until you get a good thick icing consistency. I then added a dash of nutmeg and cinnamon for extra spice.

Then all you need to do (after avoiding the temptation of eating all the amazing nog icing) is grab a knife, slab on some icing, and voila! Cheg cookies!

Nummers! I am drooling just thinking about these babies and am most certainly keeping these on the holiday baking list for next year. The subtle chai spices in the cookies leave the house smelling amazing and festive while the eggnog icing adds a touch of sweetness making the perfect xmas treat! What do you think? Craving some of your own cheg nog cookies? I'd love to know how they turn out!

In other news - Happy 27th Bday Jim! Too bad you never read my blog to appreciate this note - but I will probably be bringing you your own tray of cookies to help celebrate how old we are! Yay!

Holiday Invaders

2011-12-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

Confession time - I have a not so secret love for tacky christmas sweaters. Nothing says "bring on the festivities" quite like a hand knit snowy scene, but unfortunately I haven't managed to land my hands on just the right one yet (or even better - his and hers matching sweaters for future Kate and Fraser xmas card photo shoots). Well, when I saw the non-itchy and incredibly geeky silk screened space invaders take on the ugly xmas look, I just had to share it with all of you:

Isn't it awesome? I may be a bit young to actually enjoy the full novelty of space invaders (that can be saved for those born in the 70's) but I do love the geek reference. I also really enjoy the white, grey, red, and green holiday colour scheme! Unfortunately the black tshirt colour may be a bit much for my ultra pale red-headedness, so perhaps I should think about investing in one of these silk screened holiday tees from Vardagan instead:

Ooohooo! What a perfect combination of classic xmas knit type pattern with the joys of a layerable (and not used) tshirt! It may be a bit late to jump on this train for 2011, but watch out 2012 (and Fraser)! How do you feel about ugly christmas sweaters? Anyone up for a sweater party?

xmas cookies!

2011-12-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

Fraser and I decided to start our own holiday tradition this year and spend the day baking xmas goodies together! Six batches, and loads of xmas tunes later and we've got ourselves quite the selection of cookies to share. Check them out:

Oh what fun! Looks like that little round dish is quickly becoming my go to cookie display for blog pics (also seen with my healthy oat cookie recipe) but it sure seems to do the trick! As far as the goodies go, we made red and green sugar cookie squirrels, sugar and spice cookies, my own interpretation of chai eggnog latte cookies, shortbread, and (gluten free) angel sweets! Yum! Such a lovely selection of some of my (and Fraser's) favourites! How is your holiday baking going? What are your fav go to cookies?

Friday Find: The Blooming Thread

2011-12-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

Florals, buttons, felt and brooches combine to make one fantastic accessories section over at etsy's The Blooming Thread! Just take a peek at these beauties:

I love the combination of different textures, patterns, and colours to make such gorgeous pins! Brooches not your cup of tea? Not to worry - the blooming thread has a wide variety of handmade goodies to chose from so I'm sure you'll find something to swoon over.

In other news - today I am heading home for xmas vacation! Goodbye mild loveliness of Victoria and hello well loved friends and family in Kamloops! It also means I will be away from the etsy shop for the rest of December (which, isn't really that tragic since the holiday shipping deadlines are long past). And don't fret my wonderful blog readers, I may be away from the WiFi, but I'll you'll have lots of festive kate posts to keep you company while I'm away! Happy Friday!

luxurious mushrooms

2011-12-15T07:00:00.001-08:00

I'm always stoked to see people enjoy my buttons, and am extra thrilled that Kaylah of the Dainty Squid is enjoying her mushroom buttons I sent her! She even put them in a cute little blog post about things that make her smile, and boy do they ever look luxurious on red fabric:

Aren't they dear? I really love getting a glimpse of how other people photograph pinback buttons and hopefully in the new year I'll get a chance to play around with my camera and lighting to take some new shots for my etsy shop. Until then I will just keep enjoying all the lovely comments I get from lovely buyers that makes craft selling oh so wonderful! Thanks everyone!

Need some nuts cracked?

2011-12-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

My old boss Dean loves nutcrackers. Each Christmas he covers his piano with loads of festive nutcracker friends to make one impressive (and sort of creepy) holiday decor! Although I do appreciate their interesting detail and handcrafted appeal, I've never been compelled to jump on the nutcracker collecting train like Dean has. When I was busy swooning over the glittery platypus ornament from Curbly, I quickly got redirected to their simplified nutcracker post and fell in love! Take a peek at these lovely modern and minimalist crackers:

Oh ho! There is something to be said about stripping kitchy over detailed decorations into white spray painted simplified works of art! Looks like I've got yet another holiday craft to add to the list! I think a small grouping of these would be just perfect on our living room book shelf, but I think I'd rather skip the whole de-be-dazzling step and just spray some unpainted nutcrackers instead! I am fairly sure I've seen them at craft stores before, so I'll have to keep my eyes peeled once xmas vacation rolls around! Just a few more days to go too! What do you think? Are you dreaming of a white nutcracker christmas?

Painted Plastic Animals - Holiday Edition

2011-12-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

If you're a regular on the blog I'm sure you know how in love I am with plastic animal crafts. I've got four DIYs piled up on my crafty to do list (link) and as soon as I saw these glittery animal ornaments I knew the tally would go up to five. Who could resist a sparkly stegosaurus, platypus, rhino, or octopus?

Oh man these are awesome! Looks like I definitely need to find a good source for little plastic animals so I can get creating. I did manage to buy a few woodland creatures I'm going to make some adorable storage out of, but I think the bizarre clash of random animals works best for the xmas ornament project. The folks at Curbly (the makers of the project) found their plastic friends at Michael's (on sale!) so I guess I'll need to follow the flyers and watch for a good deal. The animals I picked up were a tad pricey, so I would love to find some thrifty pals to continue with my painted plastic animal crafts! Anyone have any suggestions on where to pick some up? Are you drooling over the glittery pink dino as much as I am?

Let the festiveness continue!

2011-12-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

Well xmas is in full swing around here so I thought I'd take a moment and show off our little three foot tree! It looks very similar to how it did last year (link and link) , with the already placed white lights (can you believe there are 135 on there?), bargain red bells and blue and silver mini balls, handmade yeti tree topper, and sporadic purchased ornaments we've accumulated over the years. I am so thrilled with how the little guy looks all lite up on his doily in the apartment:

I even put a few spare xmas balls on Bob the ficus to continue with the festive decorating (you can see him in the background in that last image)! I am also really loving our new decorations we've got this year too! You may not be able to spot them very clearly, so here's another shot for you:

The kitties were a gift from Fraser's mom (Fraser got the black kitty and I got a brown one) and I bought a few glittery acorns as an early present for Fraser this year. I am really loving how much the tree puts me in the magical xmas spirit and am also enjoying my new xmas house fragrance oils I picked up from Escents. I'm not sure about you, but there is something extra special about the smells associated with this season and I love the house smelling cheery (and not like the deep fried felafel balls and tzatziki I made for our xmas party last night...). How is your tree trimming coming along? Have you got your decorating started?

Elf on the Shelf

2011-12-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

While searching around on Pinterest I've seen lots of pins about "elf on the shelf." I was wondering for a while what the heck this whole elf thing was about and (for reasons unknown) I finally decided to google it yesterday. Although I feel this tradition is 100% American, I am a little intrigued by the whole idea! The idea stems from a book explaining how Santa knows which kids and naughty and nice with the help of an elf! After reading the book your family can adopt it's very own elf that with a bit of Santa's Christmas magic, the scout elves keep an eye out for Santa! Just look how cute the little elves are:

Each night your little elf flys back to Santa to report on how your kiddos are doing on the whole "naughty/nice" scale and then get up to mischief around the house! Just look at some of the wonderfully delightful and imaginative things these elves have been up to from Pinterest:

(in this one the elf on the shelf painted each of the kids' noses red)

Aha! I love it! I am sure I would have loved waking up each morning and trying to find what the little elf was up to the previous night! And boy do those elves ever have some shenanigans! Look at all the amazing elf on the shelf ideas from Flickr! Yup, I'm pretty sure if I ever have children of my own we are definitely adopting an elf!

The only thing I don't really like about the whole thing is that he arrives from just after Thanksgiving until Christmas eve. Sure that is fine for American's and their late November festivities, but here in Canada I doubt I'd want to start getting ready for the holidays before Halloween even happens. I guess you could try to modify the tradition to just take place during December (which is much more doable in my mind), but that doesn't really follow the book which kind of takes away from the magic of the whole thing. Alas, I have many years to figure out the details before jumping into that boat. What do you think? Anyone out there take part in the hide and seek elf fun? Are you thrilled to get started now (i.e. Leslie?)? I'd love to hear from you!

double bacon

2011-12-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I asked all of you for help coming up with ideas for my polar opposite to me secret santa partner at work. I went with the "gag gift" theme everyone suggested for me and searched downtown for a suitable present. I ended up finding the perfect humor book full of unusual and odd facts (something my coworker already does all the time giving him further fodder)! Aha! I thought I'd throw in something handmade to spice up the gift giving a bit more and made some bacon ornaments:

Aren't they cute? I just can't say no to some wide set eye smiles and felt! Plus, the bacon ornament I made last year was such a big hit at work I'm hoping he is this xmas too! Only time will tell though, the party is tomorrow night. Looks like I need to get wrapping! How is your weekend going?

Friday Find: Cornflower Blue Studios

2011-12-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

Today's find is the lovely fibre art wonders of etsy's Cornflower Blue Studios! Nothing like a little free style crochet to inspire some craftiness don't you think? Check out this magnificent piece:

Isn't it amazing? I love how it sort of looks like it came from the sea and think it would look super awesome hanging up in my apartment! Yellow not your colour? Not to worry - Rachel has a variety of awe inspiring fibre art pieces in all colours and shapes (link)! Still not your cup of tea? How do you feel about some adorable red or green xmas wrapping bows, hand drawn silly kitties, or embroidered love notes:

Ahh! I love them all! What can't that girl do? Maybe I will take a note from the page of Cornflower Blue Studios in a few weeks while I take some holiday time and do some craft projects for me! What do you think? Are you swooning over crochet art?

Something is missing...

2011-12-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

Well the holiday festiveness is growing here at the ol' Fraser and Kate pad! Not only have I managed to (more or less) finish off the bulk of my xmas shopping, but I've also got all my holiday cards in the mail, my sister and nieces' presents shipped out, and a wreath on the front door! But wait! That's not all! The other day Fraser was kind enough to "chop down" (a.k.a go to the storage locker downstairs and take out of the plastic bag) a little tree for us! Then all we had to was throw on the Charlie Brown Christmas cd and get decorating! Hooray! I am totally in love with having a fake table top tree (and the fact that I left the lights on it so I didn't have to painstakingly attempt that again)! We even have a few new ornaments this year (two kitties from Fraser's mom as well as a few acorns to go with our house's "squirrel" theme) to jazz it up even more! We are, however, missing one live decoration that would add some much needed fuzziness...behold - kitties in christmas trees:

Ahahahaha! Serves us right to bring a tree inside, cover it with shiny things, and then yell at the cat now to play in it! What a bunch of meanies we all are. Too bad we're still very much cat-less as we have not cured Fraser's allergies and still live in (an amazing but unfortunately) pet free building. Alas. Looks like I will have to settle for this blog post of holiday fuzz therapy instead! Any cat owners out there ever struggle with their own indoor tree climbing incidents? How are everyone's holiday preparations going?

Grab the pinking shears!

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

Nothing like some good old fashioned homemade bows to bring out the holiday festiveness! Who knew you could make brown paper packages look so good? Just take a peek at the gauze, canvas, and burlap awesomeness from For the Love:

Aren't they just lovely? I totally need to whip out the pinking shears and give them a try! Heck, don't stop at the burlap - could you imagine these in...say...felt!?!?! Ack! Looks like I need to start rethinking my xmas wrapping plans! What do you think? Have you ever successfully made your own bows?

Road Trip: Got Craft?

2011-12-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Fraser and I decided to take a wee trip to Vancouver to attend what we've heard is the best craft show of the year: Got Craft?! Fraser's parents ended up being at the coast with conferences so we made what was originally going to be a one day excursion into a bit longer of a trip! Yay! We ferried across to the mainland Saturday, met up with Fraser's wonderful parents, and stayed in night in Richmond! We woke up to a fantastic Sunday - just look at that sunrise:

Even though I was awake at 4am (that's what I get for switching my schedules to early mornings), I tried my best to enjoy a restful morning and by 8am I was all jersey cottoned up for the show:

I certainly can't get enough of no waistbands! With the lovely suggestion from Rebecca (of we are large people), I layered up with double tights, a slip, undershirt, and cardigan and my once summery dark purple dress was winter ready! And boy is my hair ever getting long! I guess that's what happens when you don't get a haircut in 6 months. After a nice visit with Fraser's family we were off to East Van for the craft show! Although this picture doesn't quite show how packed it was, trust me, it was busy:

Got Craft turned out to be a super fun little show full of super amazing artisans! I picked up a few little things I couldn't pass up, and got loads of ideas for craft displays and supply sources! Fraser even got himself something so it was fun for all! They had a DIY table where you got to make your own felt bow which is an extra dose of fun for the day - and although I'm not into line ups, they had some fun giveaways to spice it up just a dash more! Then it was back to the ferry (and some more crib games) for the trip home and end to a lovely weekend! OoO! And now I'm almost finished up my xmas shopping! How did you spend your weekend? Prepared for the holidays yet?

The house plant saga continues...

2011-12-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, I spilled all the details on my continuing struggle keeping Bob (my ficus) alive. I am certainly not born with a green thumb and although I very much enjoy having house plants, I am miserable at making them thrive. When Fraser and I moved to the coast I was quite worried my sun loving cacti wouldn't survive and that our rainy apartment living just wouldn't give my wee plants enough rays. We decided to maximize their chances of survival by building a simple shelf by the patio window to let all my lovelies soak up any available sunshine:

Perhaps not the most glamorous of shelving units, but it does the job! I even picked up a few full spectrum light bulbs from Lee Valley and put them in the multi-directional floor lamp to give them an extra little boost (well...when the light is on anyways...). I think my plants look extra happy on their shelves and when the sun shines in they just gleam:

As it turns out, the shelf and sun bulb combo seems to be working better than expected and Hamish (the nice tall cacti) has out grown the 3rd shelf:

A little rearranging was in order, but now the spacing of the shelves does seem a little silly. I just can't believe how much Hamish has grown! Here he is when I got him last spring:

He barely grew a centimeter in the many months of Kamloops summer sun and heat and as soon as we came to Victoria...

Bam! Inches of cacti growth! Do you see the lighter green bits at the top? Hamish has skyrocketed a good 10cms since the move and just keeps going! Soon I think he'll have to be moved to yet another new location! Hooray! Apparently my darling little plant babies are surviving on my "completely forget about them for a while and then water sporadically" method of indoor gardening. Huzzah! How about you? What are your tips for rockin' indoor greenery?

Paper Balls

2011-12-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

When I saw this 3D paper ball ornament project over on How About Orange I was reminded of how fun it is to craft with paper:

Isn't that super neat? Just print out of circles, snip in a few fold lines, and voila! Your very own geometric wonderful ornament! My sister learned how to make these in elementary school and I recall her making one out of wrapping paper that my grandparents used to see when the furnace fan was on. We are on boiler radiators here, so no need to whip out the wrapping paper for some nostalgia, but I am particularly drawn to the white versions:

They are sort of reminiscent of pom poms don't you think? I love the shapes and shadows they cast and think these would be just lovely hanging in the empty space between our kitchen/dining area and the opening to the living room! OoO! Even better - could you imagine them in felt!!?! Oh I'm drooling with inspiration! What do you think? Anyone want to make some balls with me?

A Momentous Day!

2011-12-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday a most wondrous thing happened. I have been yearning for this day to arrive for over a year now, and am thrilled that it has finally come - I used up all of my dreadful Olympics stamps:

When I bought the roll of stamps early last year, I thought it was such a deal! No more having to perpetually buy little packages of stamps here and there and I'd even get them at a bulk discount rate! Woo hoo! No. Unfortunately the steal of a deal of stamps I bought were actually quite ugly. Boring simplified mountains and inukshuks staring at me over and over again reminding me of my unfortunate decision to buy the roll and how uninterested I am in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. I thought for sure the 100 stamps would get used up in no time - after all I do run an online business and dabble in lots of pen pal letters right? Wrong. It took me a solid year and a half to use up those babies and as soon as I stuck the last one on a card (to Lindsay in fact - thanks Linds!) I rejoiced! Oh what a momentous day! Good riddance annoying stamps! Never again!

Until...

Ah! Costco's bulk pricing suckered me in again and I just can't resist getting the sale price on the perpetual stamps (hence the little "P" in the corner instead of a cent value - so they still work years after the price of mailing a letter changes)! Postal prices increase each year in January and when I saw the roll of bunnies glaring at me I just had to. Here's to hoping I don't get sick of these fluffy wonders as quickly as the last roll...

Friday Find: Robin and Mould

2011-12-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

Today's find is yet another shop supporting my thought that "everything is better in the UK!" Okay, so we have loads of awesome etsy shops over here in North America, but that UK touch is infectiously fantastic. Heck, even their name is sweet:

Now oogle some of their rad silk screened goodies:

Eeee! I just love the cute prints, jewel tones, and patterns! Bring on the geometric fox tails, ornamented antlers, feathered owl coziness, and flowery puppies! What's not to love? I spotted this shop after searching through the Got Craft? London edition and am even more excited to attend Vancouver's market this weekend! Perhaps we won't have anything quite like Robin and Mould, but I'm sure it will come close! What is your fav?

Decembrrrrr!!!!

2011-12-01T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hello lovely blog friends! Can you believe it is December already? Boy time flies (I'm sure I say this every month...but the older you get the faster time seems to speed on by)! You know what that means? Winter is on its way! Brrr! It even looks like Jack Frost has come to Victoria:

Do you see that frosty chill out there? How about the view from my patio (yes, that's a pumpkin I never actually carved and still sitting on my table...):

Do you see the ICE!?!? OoOO! Close up:

Ack! Winter it is! Okay...so it has actually been sunny and 10 degrees the last few days, but it's December now so let's expect a little coldness! It's also the holly jolly month of festiveness and I've got one packed month of fun things planned! What's on my list you may ask:

1) Checking out my very first Got Craft show in Vancouver this weekend

2) Finally getting in to see my new rheumatologist (you may think that is unexciting but I am over the moon about it!)

3) Fraser/Katie baking fun! Yipee!

4) Attempting to avoid the crowds and finish off my xmas shopping (ick)

5) Heading home for xmas break! (including visiting friends and family and having a wonderful time!!!!)

and

6) Convincing Jim to come back with Fraser and I and finishing off the year with a bang! Hooray!

How exciting! How about you? What are you looking forward to this month? Has the winter weather come your way?

Homemade Doily

2011-11-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

During my October of illness and blog breaking, I got the urge to take on a crochet project. I like picking up a hook once in a while, and I figured since I'm all about the doilies I may as well make one of my own! Take a peek at the finished piece:

I admittedly had to make, unpick, and re-make it at least two times before getting a hang of the pattern, but once I figured it out it was a breeze (well...a very time consuming breeze...). I'm not sure if you can get a sense of the scale with that first shot, so here's another for you:

Why yes! Those are my little white tootsies at the bottom there, and that is one giant doily! I bought the pattern reading that it was a "lap quilt" but unless I was miniature this project wouldn't keep me very warm (what kind of person wants a blanket that doesn't cover their feet anyways?). Not to worry - I still get to enjoy my homemade doily as he sits on the back of my stripey love seat:

Hooray! I'm so happy with how it turned out, even if the images of the ones they made using the pattern look much more professional:

The narrow back of that couch totally mislead me on how big this doily would be, but I figure I can always make another (with double thick wool and a big hook) for a more blanket sized version! If you're also rearing to get your crochet on you can pick up the pattern by buying the e-magazine Craft Sanity, or if you'd prefer a lazier approach you can buy pre-made ones in Good Knits etsy shop! Yay! What do you think? Have you made anything fun lately?

Drawer-sational

2011-11-29T07:00:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure about you, but I am absolutely swooning over this amazing wall I saw over on My Best Friend Jules:

What an amazingly innovative way to use old drawers as art! Throw in some pretty drawer liners, wallpaper, or wrapping paper and you've got yourself one awesome focal point! Okay, so this is pretty similar to the box version Lindsay posted about in October, but since my walls are still bare in our apartment (I know, it has been months since we moved in...), I will take any motivation to decorate I can! I think this would be super awesome our living room and would give me a great excuse to buy some of that gorgeous paper and wrapping they sell at card shops. I always look at it and want to buy it, but $4 for a slice of decorative paper is a little too steep for my cheapskate ways. I figure if it is going to be immortalized as part of an amazing dresser drawer wall hanging masterpiece the $4 price tag is a steal right? What do you think? Anyone want to come over and hang things for me?

Bob Progress

2011-11-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

I haven't done an update on my dear house pal Bob (a.k.a my ficus) but I figured it was about time to share how he's doing since the move. About this time last year I decided I was ready to take on the house plant gardening adventure of a ficus and quickly fell in love with Bob. He was bright eyed and bushy and looked so nice sitting by my love seat:

I quickly learned that ficus' hate bursts of cool air and after quite a bit of balding, I relocated Bob to the book shelf across the room. It took him a few months to recover from the cold shock therapy I accidentally exposed him to and finally had a bit of regrowth:

I was a little doubtful he would make it during our move this past fall, and was extra worried at the state of my plants living in a rainy (and not very sunny) coastal city over the winter. Apparently my fretting was unnecessary since Bob seems to be loving his new central location on the little counter shelf between our living room and kitchen. Heck! He's even getting bushier! Take a peek:

Ok, so perhaps he isn't quite as full and lustrous as he was when I bought him from Art Knapps, but it has been a year and he isn't completely dead so I call that a success! Perhaps the humidity here will cause him to break out in leaves this spring and I can boast about my adorable plant Bob! How about you? Ever dabble in ficus growing? How do you help your house plants survive?

Hot for Hot Pad Runner

2011-11-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

I love looking in fabric stores. All the neat cotton prints and pattern you can find and all the fun colours usually fill my head with inspiration and make me want to sew up a storm! Of course, like most people out there, I don't exactly have unlimited free time for crafty projects, but a girl can dream can't she? I've been craving doing another quilting project (my first and only quilting project to date is a wall hanging I made for my mom a few years ago) but I want to start small. I'm not ready to commit to an actual bed size quilt - so maybe a nice table runner will do the trick! Well the ladies over at the Purl Bee have the perfect project! A quilted table runner that doubles as a hot pad:

It seems so obvious but is so unbelievable useful and brilliant at the same time! No longer do you have to puzzle fit in all those hot dishes and trivets on the table for big family meals, just stick them on your handcrafted hot pad table runner! Aha! Unfortunately, my current kitchen table is much too small to require this level of project (in fact, we barely fit more than two people at it) but I think this is a good idea to keep on the back burner (har har, terrible heat related pun) for the future! Heck, maybe I will even manage to make enough friends here that I will require a bigger table, but for now I'll stick to thinking about how awesome that project is! Oh! Also gives me an excuse to go quilt fabric shopping? What do you think? Anyone out there up for a trip to the fabric store?

Bring on the Bulk!

2011-11-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

With the holiday season quickly approaching (and US shoppers going wild with Black Friday and Cyber Monday), I thought I'd list my own special deal in my etsy shop! Since I recently invested in my very own 2.25" button machine, I'm no longer contracting out my illustrated mirrors and can make any number of any design you'd like! Hooray! Bring on the mirrors and bring on the bulk savings:

Yipee! Instead of struggling with trying to get a clear shot of each of my designs, I went with the photoshop approach and made two images numbering off all my illustrated friends. Take a peek:
Whew - almost halfway there...

Tada! I can't believe I've got 55 mirror designs under my belt. Whew! What a selection! In fact, I have tons of designs on there that I've only mentioned on the blog and not in my shop! Oh and not to worry, if you aren't into the bulk purchase (even though it is pretty handy for stocking stuffers and last minute gifting) you can get any of the designs solo too! Which one is your favourite? Know anyone out there who needs an anthropomorphic mirror?

Friday Find: Danielleorama

2011-11-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

Today's find suits me to a T! Quirky wide set eye smile adorable dinos, cats, owls, and foxes made from felt and fleece? Yes please! Check out the lovely works of Danielleorama:

I'm in love! Danielle's creations are perfect right down to each last stitched detail! Oh the muted tones and simple round shapes! Yup - a crafter from my own heart. What do you think? Which is your favourite?

I need your help!

2011-11-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Thursday blog friends! I've got a favor to ask all of you - so grab your thinking caps! We're doing a secret santa at work this year and of all the coworkers to be paired up with, I got stuck with the one coworker that is pretty much the polar opposite of me. Oh dear! The gift is supposed to be $10-$15 and I am stumped. Here's the details on my secret santa partner:

- He's a he (is it just me or are girls so much easier to buy for)
- He seems like the type of person who 1) watches Family Guy and 2) listens to Nickleback
- He is a good 4 years younger than me, making him 23
- Perhaps it's the age difference but he never gets any of my jokes or movies references (hence the polar opposite thing)
- and...well...that's about all I really know! He's a new transfer to the store as our assistant manager and I've only worked with him a few times.

Ack! I'm sure you can see my predicament! The xmas party is only a few weeks away but I am totally at a loss of what to get. The only thing I can think of is to make him a bacon ornament like the one I made for my xmas party last year:

All 23 year old guys like bacon right? But that isn't really enough as a present right? Maybe I could throw in a selection of mustache sticks? Or...a gift certificate (*cringe*)....

Yup, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! What would you get a young male manager you know nothing about? Inquiring minds want to know!

p.s. by the completely rare chance that my secret santa partner is reading this (you know who you are), sorry for spilling the beans on your present ideas...

Hoops!

2011-11-23T10:17:00.000-08:00

Look at these beauties from Lilac Saloon!

How Kate like!

Good thing she is coming back tomorrow...Right Kate?

You're coming back?

Room 6

2011-11-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been to Deep Cove? The first time I went there was on a trip to the coast with Kate in 2010. It is about 15 minutes outside of Vancouver but a world away from anything resembling the big city.

This year I was back and went kayaking with my dear friends Dilia and Jocelyn. The three of us paddled our way through the quiet cove looking at the otters, the houses, and forest surrounding us. If you are ever in Vancouver I highly recommend heading out on the water.

Then, of course, before you head home, stop in at Room 6. It is pretty much your duty to yourself. I purchased a calendar there last year by Snow and Graham and have just realised I need (not want) another.

When I stopped by Room 6 (the online version) I realised they are having a free shipping promo! Room 6! In my home! Free shipping! Oh my! Their selection isn't expected. Everything they sell has been carefully selected and chosen with care. Go on, check them out! Kate and I spent about an hour in the store, looking at every little item they had.

Since Christmas is coming I'm curious to know...Do you have a go-to store or online shop when you need a unique gift?

I've Got Your Back

2011-11-22T07:00:00.000-08:00

Kate is taking a sick day or two. Naturally, being one of her besties, I have her back and am writing a blog or two for her.

Now, back to business (I'm REALLY hoping Kate hasn't blogged about this). Have you ever heard of Ninainvorm? Oi! Don't ask me how to say it, but ask me how much I LOVE Nina's creations. Perhaps it is my love of Norwegian folklore ceramics, or maybe the primary colour combination with simple geometrics against the detailed designs.

Whatever the case, these plates bring the sunshine in and make all meal times happy!

Nina's blog is a delight. It is one of those blogs that makes me feel like I'm sitting in her house having tea. She is a 28 year old interior designer from the Netherlands who takes vintage (and new) ceramics and puts her own delightful twist on them. The down side? she lives on the other side of the world. If you ask me, on a scale of one to rebel shipping a piece of ceramic over the ocean is way too dangerous. Have no fear. For people like me she even has stationary! Hurrah!

Speaking of having tea with Nina, I think it is time for Kate's blueberry tea...

[I wrote this at night, I'm not drinking at 7am]

Pendant Packaging

2011-11-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

One of my favourite things about making crafts and selling them is coming up with packaging! This fall I got asked by a few of my consignment shops to give them a few different items so I figured I'd see how my glass pendant necklaces would do. I knew I'd have to come up with some sort of card to put them on since I wasn't about to send away my jewelry tree with them:

Sure it worked great on my craft show display, but if they were going to be sold in a shop they need to be able to stand alone and, of coarse, be linked to me with my url. Paper punch and brown paper to the rescue! Check out what I came up with:

I figured the doily punch I have is a little too fancy and detailed for the simplicity of my illustrations and I wanted a bit more pizazz than just rounded corners. Luckily it just so happens that I picked up a perfect corner and border punch set back in May in Oregon! Hooray! Then I just had to work out a little computer spacing and throw my website on the back:

Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Take a look at a few of the necklaces on their cards:

I think it does the packaging job well and am quite pleased with how they turned out! What do you think? Do you ever dabble in packaging?

Tips and Tricks from Pinterest

2011-11-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

Just in case I haven't sold you on the awesomeness of Pinterest before - here are a few life changing things I've learned (and actually done) from the wonders of that site. Not only were they amazingly useful things to learn, but they all involved items I already had at home making them that much easier to try on a whim. Hooray! List time!

Pin #1: Hair Repair Treatment

I originally saw this pin on one of Lindsay's boards and decided to give it a try. Since I've been growing my hair out since moving to the coast I haven't had a trim in quite some time and needed a little hair deep conditioning! I made the concoction and decided to apply it in the bath. A note to the wise: do not get any apple cider vinegar in your eyes. I'm not sure how I managed that but boy did it burn. Ouch. Otherwise, the treatment worked really well and if you're okay with smelling like salad dressing for a while, it is well worth it! My crazy thick and coarse hair instantly felt much softer and controllable. Good job Pinterest!

Pin #2: Fixing furniture with walnuts!

I did this one back in September after our move, but it was so mind boggling I just had to include it in this list! This one is super easy too! Have scratches in your wood furniture? Just rub some walnut on them. Yup, that's it. I actually used crushed up walnut chunks from my morning oatmeal, but they still did the trick. Give it a try. You can literally watch the imperfections melt away. Sweet.

Pin #3: Removing old pit stains

I tried this one just yesterday, and believe me - I was doubtful. Since moving to Victoria I transferred to a new job in a store that is pretty hot and humid. I figured since it was the fall the room temperature would decrease once winter came, but nope. It is still a pretty warm location so the sweaters and long sleeves I'm used to wearing aren't an option. That also meant that I had temporarily retired my white polos to the bottom of the dress code pile since they're many years old and over time acquired their fair share of armpit stains. Since I can't wear a sweater over top to hide them, I figured I'd just be stuck in black. Alas. Enter Pinterest as a source of unlimited useful knowledge!

I've tried loads of different stain removers on my whites before (oxyclean, bleach, shout, magic wand - you name it) and nothing really did the trick. I figured a $2 bottle of hydrogen peroxide was an okay investment in this stain experiment since I already had the Dawn and baking soda. So - trial time! I mixed one tablespoon Dawn detergent in a glass bowl with two tablespoons of peroxide and a splash of baking soda. I mixed the solution up with an old toothbrush and rubbed some into the inside of a stained shirt. I scrubbed it in a bit, and continued on with each armpit of each shirt until my pile of whites were done (I actually had to remake the detergent/peroxide mix 3 times, so I guess I could have increased that a bit but oh well). I didn't see any amazing instant results (no, the stains did not disappear before my eyes like I heard they would) but I didn't really expect them to since 1) the stains were many years old and 2) I've tried loads of things before with no results. Oh well. I threw the semi-wet pile of whites into the laundry basket and waited an hour before taking them down to the laundry room to be washed. I decided to amp up the washing power a little bit extra by throwing a scoop of oxyclean in with the load. Now it was time to wait. Fraser diligently brought up the load of clean whites when it was finished and...the verdict? It actually made a difference! Seriously! The stains are completely gone on over half of the shirts and on the others they are barely noticeable. I figure I'll do another treatment next laundry day and my shirts will be like new! Amazing! I sort of wish I took before and after pictures, but honestly I don't want to show my dirty pit stains on the internet. Take my word for it though, it works!

So all in all, whether it be dry damaged hair, scratched antique furniture, or sweat stains - Pinterest has you covered. It's like it's an entire site of that awesome useful information you should have learned from your Grandma (or Wendy - she's full of useful tips)! So which one are you going to try? I'm dying to hear how it turns out! Anyone else have any awesome household tips and tricks to share?

Story of my life...

2011-11-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my plan was to make a huge dent on my massive to do list! This is pretty much how it turned out:

Yup. Looks like I've got myself one heck of a head cold and my huge plans dwindled into just adding to that list instead of retracting from it. Good thing My Cardboard Life is there to explain things for me! I hope that today I will actually get around to a few of my to do list items (including finding all my wintry mittens and toques because it is getting chilly out!) or...I'll migrate to the couch and spend the day napping with tea. Either really works right? So how about you? How are you spending the weekend?

Friday Find: Hug a Porcupine

2011-11-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

With xmas right around the corner (ok, not really...but in the world of international shipping we've got to think of these things early on), I have been scouring Etsy for fun shops with neat gift ideas. Today's find is the shop called Hug a Porcupine and it has, quite possibly, the cutest origami style pins I have ever seen. I'm officially in love - check out my two fav's fox (Sarra I thought of you when I saw this one) and squirrel:

Oh my those are cute! Not a folded paper (but not actually folded paper) brooch fan? Not to worry. Hug a Porcupine has lots of other neat geometric accessories and strangely enough...not a single porcupine in their shop. Hmm. Oh well, back to contemplating more important things! Like which pin I like most! (psst - this is an excellent girlfriend xmas gift from any of you males out there...ahem...fraser...cough cough). Which is your favourite?

Aquarium style Aquariums

2011-11-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy having a fish tank. Even though moving my dear sweet fishies was a bit of a trial (I stuck them in a cooler and traveled with them between my feet), I love having some low maintenance pets around to help make my house a home! Well, my little 10 gallon rectangle has nothing on the amazing non-traditional style aquariums they showcased over on apartment therapy! Just check out these fantastic tanks:

Oh my! Aren't those breath taking? It would be like having some large scale living art in your house! Eugh - but I certainly wouldn't want to be in charge of cleaning them (or scooping out the odd unfortunate dead fish)! Ick! Perhaps sticking to my small scale tank is best for the time being - oh! Or maybe this iMac one:

Hehe! That one is super neat - and a great use for an old computer! Heck, maybe I'll need to get one of those old giant tv's with the huge built in shelf thing and mod it up for a fish home! What do you think? Anyone out there an aquarium owner?

Movember

2011-11-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

Even though we're half-way through November, you may have noticed that it also means that we are half-way through Movember. Yup, the mustaches are back and whether you can grow one of not, loads of men from all over are keeping their razors away from their upper lip for the month in support of finding a cure for prostate cancer! The mustache trend has worked its way into the crafty scene over the last few years to and I joined in by making my own collection of handsewn felt mustaches on sticks - in six delightful shapes to chose from:

These were a great hit at my first craft show in Kelowna about a year ago and have been a fun addition to my craft booth ever since. I whipped up a whole whack o' 'staches in the last few weeks to make one heck of a bouquet:

Haha! Who needs flowers when you can have a vase full of mustaches instead? Since I'm not signed up for any shows here in Victoria I've shipped all my little felt friends up to Frock Clothing in Kelowna for some consignment selling (hooray!). So just in case you're incapable of growing your own facial hair in honour of prostate cancer - you can always pick up a nice detachable one on a stick! Just check out these cute ladies from last year's festivities:

Adorable! Happy Movember everyone! Do you know any men who are hilariously attempting any fun facial disasters?

Rachel's Bow Garland

2011-11-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

Since moving to Victoria, I have yet to find time in my new schedule for daily blog reading. I'm not sure if it's my early mornings, unorganized craft/computer room, or illness to blame - but I just can't seem to find space in my life for sifting through blog posts. If any of you bloggers out there have noticed my absence on commenting, trust me - it isn't due to lack of trying! When I finally get around to blog reading I find I have somewhere along the lines of 1500+ posts to catch up on which is entirely too daunting and usually leads to me pressing the sanity (a.k.a "mark all blog posts as read") button. Alas.

Once in a while I do find a moment to catch up and am always so thrilled to see what is new in blogland! One project I'm positively in love with is this fantastic bow garland Rachel from Smile and Wave made:

It may be the monochromatic vintage fabric talking, but this garland is perfect! Just check out those colours, patterns, and shapes! I really like how simple and girly it looks without going over the top. Could you imagine this in a little girls room? OoO! Or maybe stringing out from a pom pom light center piece? I may just need to make one of these for my craft booth! What do you think? Anyone out there saving fabric scraps?

Fabric Fun

2011-11-14T07:00:00.001-08:00

I've been dying to make myself some fabric button earrings for years now, and this fall I finally got around to it! One afternoon Fraser took me fabric shopping and found a whole selection of cotton prints perfect for adorning the ears. The earrings were so much fun to make I decided to go all out and make a selection of button earrings for a few of my consignment shops to sell this xmas! Check out one of my favourite pairs:

OoO that green on green herringbone is neat! I decided to stick with the success of my doily punched earring cards much like the ones I use for my flower cabochon studs (link). I think the packaging does the job quite well and even gives me space to add my url:

What fun! I really wanted to go for great pattern , colour, and texture for the fabric button earrings and am totally in love with each and every one I made:

After sending all my stock to the Kamloops Art Gallery and Kelowna's Frock Clothing I only kept two pairs (the green herringbone and plaid tweed) but am finding they add a great touch to so many outfits! They're also pretty awesome for work to a little of my personality shine through my black and white dress code. Only time will tell if these are a hit in the shops...but what do you think? Which pair is your favourite?