Friday Find: October!

Eep! October! Where did you come from? You must be in costume...the forecast says 28 C and sunny! Crazy how the months sneak up on you...but let's embrace! Hello October! Sure to be 31 days of crafty productivity as I prepare for my first big craft show! Also a month to take advantage of my most favourite seasonal purchase:


Mmm! Candy corn! I've been craving them since last winter and boy and they delicious! Also a month for a new blog playlist (with heavy recent concert influences on my part) and (of course) a new kittens inspired by kittens inspired calender page:


Suits well with the creepy halloween trend (which I'm sure my mom loves - she's huge into halloween)! I've got a packed month ahead of me! Oh! And two road trips (smithers tomorrow to see sister and vancouver later in the month to see mumford and sons!!!!) So exciting! What does the month hold for you?

Mini Break!

Despite the fact that summer vacation somehow seemed to bypass me and everyone is all geared up for 'back to school' and 'back to the grindstone' - I am ready for a mini break! So very similar to last year - I've decided to embrace the fact that I'm not a slave to the learning establishment and head to victoria for a few days to enjoy quite possibly the coolest autumnal music festival ever - Rifflandia!


Yup! Time to overload my indie senses with all the indie shops, indie food, and indie music I can handle! And beyond the obvious music amazingness I'll be soaking in, I am particularly excited for the government street market victoria has on sundays! I'm thinking that my budgeting might get a bit of a stretch this month to make room for all the crafty goodness I'll be dying to take advantage of - but we'll see. Oh, and not to worry blog readers, I have scheduled loads of posts for you while I'm gone! See you all in a few days! Wish me luck!

September!

Hello september! An insanely busy month for me filled with:

1) Moving! Today! Downtown! Exciting!
2) Potential birth of leslie's baby making me an auntie for the first time!
3) A million doctors appointments (boo)
4) So many awesome musical events (Including said the whale and great bloomers/wooden sky in town, and rifflandia in victoria!!)
5) A new bloggy soundtrack
6) Peter and krista's wedding!
7) The anniversary of my blog (has it been a year already?)
and
8) A new kittens inspired by kittens inspired calendar page:


Okay - if you're a little confused by this one not to worry. I went as a french mustache cat (like my button) for halloween last year and to get into character I did some searches on the internet and apparently french cats laugh by saying "ron ron ron ron". You learn something new everyday I suppose...

What fun and exciting things do you have planned for the month?

Bizarre Bazaar - vol VII

Time for another crafty show recap and the theme from week's bizarre bazaar? WIND! So much ridiculous wind! I suppose that is the price you pay for doing an outdoor show and boy was I ever thankful for those c-clamps wendy suggested a few weeks ago! My setup seemed to do okay in the wind but my poor construction paper pennant flag was shredded to bits by the end of the day. Take a peek at my windy booth (and me):


I did modify the table a smidge by taping down all the signage and moving the plush microbe teacup display onto the table (I already had one teacup smash in the wild weather back in july). I also changed the pocket mirror staging - which was pretty much necessary since there are so few left! Check out the slim pickings:


I'm so pleased to see how well they've sold! Those 25 mirrors quickly turned to 5 in no time! Look at how full the display used to be (link). Neato! My new mirror stock is in the process of being made but I'm doubtful they'll be ready before my next show...we'll see...

As for sales this week? Well I think that wind kept buyer at bay since I only managed to sell a couple of plush microbes. Not a complete loss of a day though since the extreme gusts forced us to close up a little early giving me time to go for dinner at the hot house bistro with lindsay and fraser! Yum!

The evening was topped off when the lovely mellow vancouver band behind sapphire played a set at hello toast!!! It was certainly a great location for their gig (especially for old ladies like myself who enjoy lattes and sitting) and gave me the opportunity to have some well overdue catching up with linds and wendy!


Oh it was so great! The band was fantastic live too (making it all the better)! I even ended up buying one of their tshirts (I am so not someone who goes to shows and buys the shirt) but it was such a steal and sweet sketchy ship design that I couldn't pass it up! I'm stoked to see hello toast as a new music venue since we're certainly overdue for a little more culture in kamloops. Thanks for the great night ladies! Hopefully we can do it again soon!

The ultimate in cool...

Apparently I had so much eventful fun in vancouver I felt the need to turn it into an additional blog post (two actually - wait for tomorrow!). Not only was our hotel conveniently located by Canada Post (for all my pen pal posting needs) it was also right across the street from the CBC! And after a childhood of 94.1 (CBC Radio 1 in kamloops) how could I possibly hold in my excitement! It is even an interesting triangle-esque building too:


Oh my! How lovely! And to add to the amazingness? They have a gift shop! We didn't make it there until day 3 of our mini break but boy was it worth it. What a charming selection of CBC logo adorn goods and a super friendly staff member to top it off. I didn't want to post what I ended up picking up (since it is a present for a blog reader and I'm not for ruining the surprise) but I was super stoked on the freebie CBC Radio 3 post cards they threw in! Eee! Take a peek:


I especially enjoy the Darwin reference. What could be better? Seriously! CBCR3 + Science + Post! Super cool! But wait...it does get better. Remember the gold cbc logo pin I purchased a while back from their website? (Link) Very snazzy and fancy but not quite the bold simplistic pinback one dan mangan has - so lindsay asked - and we received:


Eeee! Now that is awesome! I am pretty sure putting one of these pins on makes me officially the coolest person in kamloops. Okay, perhaps not, but I'd like to think so...and it end one heck of a sweet road trip on a high note! Hooray!

On the way!

Just as I hinted to my facebook fans, I'm finally on the road to making scientific culture pocket mirrors! I have been waffling over this idea for quite some time (look - blog evidence from january!) so I've decided to take the plunge and try them out! Oh, that and I've been promising chandra a foxie one for much too long. So now it's onto deciding which designs make the cut and would be best in 2.25 inch mirrored wonder. Here's a sneak peek at some I've been thinking of:


Yeti will be sure to make an appearance in there as well but I've love to know if there are any other designs you'd swooning to see in the pocket mirror form! After all, it is all about you, and I clearly have no idea what designs and items will sell!

Oh! In other news, I'm on the road today! I'm off to vancouver with my dearest friends lindsay and fraser for a few days of much needed r&r and mumford and sons:


Yay! Nothing like a little banjo to spice up the end of may! Plus by the time we make our way back, fraser will be 30 (I know, I'm dating an old man) to add to the excitement. But not to worry you'll still have some scheduled bloggy goodness and I will be back soon enough to mail out any surges of etsy sales (hah) and read any wonderfully appreciated comments! Love to know what you all think about the mirrors! See you all thursday!

Collected: Music

Let the collections continue with a peek into my world of music! Until recently I wasn't much of a cd connoisseur, actually I'm still not really. Why you may wonder? Because there is nowhere to get awesome (not main stream) cds in kamloops! Seriously....nowhere! The one sort of cool shop closed down a while ago (jim told me that is because I didn't buy enough albums from them) and there is no way I'll find anything worth while at wal-mart of future shop. Ick. So itunes, concerts, and lindsay's "trevor the great kelowna connection" seem to be where it's at. That being said, I have racked up my fair share of music from shows (even a few signed ones). Take a look at the stack I've compiled since the birth of this blog:


Lovely! But truly mp3 format is the way to go in my books, so let's depart from the physical and look at the digital:


Ooo! A precious limited time sneaky look at my desktop! And my itunes! Perhaps some zooming in is in order:


That's right. 8102 songs. So even if you were scoffing at the tiny pile of plastic at the beginning of this post, don't worry. I think 20.7 days of music is enough to consider it a collection (although I'm sure many of you out there would top that number). And even if I am one to listen to a song on repeat for a few days (obsessive much? perhaps...), I do appreciate having such a great vast musical selection to go to when the mood strikes. Although after seeing that zoomed in rufus wainwright number who needs that much music when you have him? (oh and cbcr3...) *sigh*

Hooray for May!

I can't believe it! May is here! And May 1st also means I'm setting up for my very first craft show as we speak (well...that is if you read this at 9am when it posts....). If not, then either the show is going on, or the show is over and I'm frantically packing up and bolting back to Kamloops for the We are the City/Aidan Knight concert at the loft! Woo! What an action packed day!

So in normal first of the month fashion, I'll show off May's calender page of my kittens inspired by kittens inspired calender:


And at some point will even be updating my monthly soundtrack so share my most current obsessions in music! Hooray for May! Let's hope for the best month yet! Oh, and fewer health problems this month please, I think I've had enough in April to get away with a healthy month for once...

Shine a light on my home

A few months ago I got the wonderful pleasure of visiting my dear friend lindsay and attending the most wondrous adrian glynn/aidan knight/dan managan gig! I had high hopes on purchasing an aidan knight album at that show (since I missed out last september at rifflandia because I was too busy rushing off to see mother mother) but unfortunately he was sold out! Rats! His new album (versicolour) hadn't been released yet so my hopes and dreams of physically owning/supporting the awkwardly fantastic musician had been crushed...temporarily. He assured me I would be able to get his album soon and if I bought the LP I could get the mp3 files free of charge (cool right?) plus he plans on coming to play in kamloops in may (which I totally can't wait for by the way...even if I can't find evidence of this show existing).

Well - two months have passed and I still haven't figured out how to get a copy of his album (that isn't on itunes, I feel physical copies are required for this one), so I decided to google him the other day and came across the most awesome discovery! If you sign up for his mailing list he'll send you two songs from versicolour for free! How unbelievably cool! I've been listening to "jasper" on repeat for the last few days now (obsessive much? I know) and hope it can tide me over until I can get my hands on his cds in may. I've also been enjoying the stop motion cereal quirky video from his website:

Yup. Pretty awesome. I also feel like the hugest creep by following him on twitter... which fraser reassured me is the whole reason they have twitter in the first place...but then I followed neil mangan (dan's brother/marketer extraordinaire) and felt like an even bigger creep...not that it stopped me...and at least I'm openly admitting to it...

Anyways, since I'm apparently all about rambling on about creepiness in this post I thought I'd show you all how much I think aidan knight is secretly heather ramsay's musical twin brother:


Perhaps not the most convincing picture but I'm sure you can see the similarities (sorry to steal a picture of you off facebook heather I figured following you around with a camera until you held a bowl of cereal might be a little much). They even have similar mannerisms and hilarious stage presence! I think my life will be officially complete once they meet and realize how separated at birth they both are...until then I think I'll go back to listening to jasper for a few more hours...

April!

My goodness time seems to be flying! I'm sure I say this every month but blogging really reminds me just how quickly the months seem to pass! I mean April? Already? Whew! But you know what that means? Spring! Warmer weather! Being able to walk outside barefoot! Yay! It also means it's time for a new kittens inspired my kittens inspired calender page:


I must say little stripey orange and gray kitties are my favourite types of kitties making this month all the more promising. I've even got some newly revised heath goals as warmer weather trends towards less clothing (well...usually...unless you're me and always cold...) so here's to a month of good choices, backyard yoga, and some immune system boosting vitamins!

It's also time for more musical wonderment, as indicated by my sparkly new april playlist. This month's picks were inspired by the awesome indie folk concerts and albums I experienced in march. I'm also aiming to finally purchase a banjo and start my toe tapping twangy journey! (I actually had a day picked out last month to go instrument shopping with a musicial friend of mine but ended up with that rough spout of extreme illness and had to rain cheque. Rats!). One more musical goal? Finally learn the awesome dance moves from tegan & sara's alligator video. Behold:

Come on lucas! I'm sure we can do it this month! Maybe we could even make some lightweight spring snowsuit/wooly scarf-esque outfits to match! Or not...but I'm sure we can learn the dance moves, which I'm sure will come in handy in almost all social occasions...seriously...

*Update - I recommend this wonderful april desktop too!

Hello March!

With February quickly behind us it's time to celebrate the month of march and the potential arrival of spring! (Er...I mean the wonders of leslie's birthday?! Yeah...that's it....). We can also celebrate national crafting month (thanks jacob), a very lindsay inspired new playlist (I love you Adrian Glynn!!), and the march installation of my kittens inspired by kittens inspired calender:


Here's to hoping this month of full of me successfully sticking to my goals and to do lists! And maybe even get those etsy sales up while we're at it...sounds great! I'm also enjoying this free march desktop calender from wild olive! Nothing beats super cute wide set eye smiles - even if they're on a mossy rock. What march things are you excited about?

A Moment with Dan

As you recall, I recently attended the most fantastic aiden knight/dan mangan concert and at the end of the show gave a set of love robot buttons to my "robots need love too" idol dan! Well to make my life complete take a look at this shot of him:


That's right! Dan Mangan, a lime, and my buttons! A little hard to see you say? Here's a closer peek:


Okay - so I'm terrible at photoshop. But a girl can dream can't she? What a wonderful imaginary moment this has been! And since I'm making things up anyways - I think dan mangan should be my valentine this year!! *Swoon* Keep up the good work dan!

Road Trip: Kelowna

I have returned from the most fantastic road trip to kelowna! It was a wondrous fraser/lindsay/kate music/shopping extravaganza of awesomeness! Seriously! That many slashes are required!! (and exclamation marks!!!!!) So good!

We started off the trip with a great spurt of speedily efficient clothing purchasing and sushi only to be topped by the complete fluke free concert ticket fraser managed to nab for lindsay (who failed at sold out presale ordering). The aiden knight/dan mangan concert turned out to be amazingly perfect! They covered all the possible "excellent show" bases by demonstrating their dreamy musical (sometimes awkward) talents. I even enjoyed the show better than when I saw them both at rifflandia, which I didn't think was even possible! I was really hoping to share some sweet pictures of my well dressed trip but amidst all the excitement my camera never seemed to exit fraser's trunk...so instead you can catch a glimpse of musical wonderment from dan mangan's photographer jonathan taggart:


Was it ever a great time! The following day was easily one of the most successful shopping expeditions I've had in a while, resulting in a boatload of wonderful retail therapy purchases - take a look:


Awesome right? I can't wait to wear more lindsay/kate bff pen pal identical (or in the rings case - not so identical but similar at least) items! Oh! And the super fantastic woman who owns funktional totally made my monday by 1) letting us come shop (even though funktional is closed on mondays), 2) recommending the best falafel cafe of all time, and 3) offering to carry my felt brooches in her rad shop! Overwhelmingly awesome!

But wait! That's not all!!! My favourite item from the entire trip? My new autographed "nice nice very nice" dan album I got after giving him a set of my love robot buttons! I'm not so secretly hoping he wears them to a show/publicized event in the future and my life will be complete. Because after all...robots need love too...

Happy February!

New month, new playlist, new kittens inspired by kittens inspired calendar page to enjoy!


Loads of exciting things happening this month too! I'm looking forward to a february of crafting, road trips, anti-valentine's day, bdays, and dan mangan! What wonderful things does your february promise?

Friday Find: Quoteskine

Pretty much the coolest idea in journals ever. All the awesomeness of moleskines (which jim always raves about) with some quirky sketching on top! Below is my personal favourite I caught via a link from on of my daily read blogs pikaland. Take a look:


Oh Regina Spektor. *sigh* I totally recommend checking out all of the quoteskine designs at Lee Crutchley's site. So good!

A bird in the hand is worth three in the bush?

Ok, so I didn't manage to get any birds in my hand, but I did stand outside in the cold for 20 minutes trying to capture the flocks of cute little winter chubby birds at our feeder! With not much luck mind you! Here's probably my most successful picture:


I had this whole plan (since the beginning of December) to wait for a nice snowfall where I felt super xmas-y, then I'd take a nice xmasy picture, and then share my xmas playlist (since I didn't feel like overwhelming everyone with my an xmas themed december playlist - I'd reserve it for later on in the month). I had no idea it would only happen less than a week before the big day! I have a whole series of failed xmas event photos too (such as the lack of pictures from caffeinated carolers endeavor or the ridiculously unphotogenic eyes closed xmas party ones - Leslie we'll need to recreate! I want a nice pictures of me in that awesome outfit!). So the wintry birds in my front yard pic will have to do - here are the xmas tunes I've been listening to:

• BURL IVES - Holly Jolly Christmas
• MARILYN MONRO - Santa Baby
• BING CROSBY & DORIS DAY - Baby, It's Cold Outside
• WHAM - Last Christmas
• DEAN MARTIN - I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
• ELLA FITZGERALD - Sleigh Ride
• OLIVIA OLSON - All I Want for Christmas Is You
• OTIS REDDING - White Christmas
• PAUL MCCARTNEY & WINGS - Wonderful Christmas Time
  
• RUFUS WAINWRIGHT - What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

So what do you think? I seem to be a big fan of old classics mixed with catchy annoying pop songs! What xmas tunes can't you live without? Inquiring minds (well...mind...) wants to know!

Hopefully listening to these gems will give me enough energy and xmas spirit to glide me through the next few days of crazy holiday last minute shopping and xmas preparations! Leslie - we've got our work cut out for us! I also have big plans to share some of our adventures in blogland, but judging how the last month has been I wouldn't hold my breath. Oh, and here's another semi cute wintry bird snapshot I captured...not sure if I like him better than the top one, but the top one allowed for my (oh so witty) post title hence it's placement at the beginning. What do you think?

B is for banjo

Last night I went to a super awesome local show at the loft (which is very much a fun little closet of a music venue) and came to the realization that I really really need to learn how to play the banjo. This seems to the the trend whenever I see live music, even though last night's musical styling was far from banjo material. Instead it was the homegrown, nerd rock, weezer-esque goodness (which you should all check out) of the squish, but hey, it inspired some twangy 5 string urge regardless. And speaking of banjos - here's a lovely banjo print done by Cindy Tomczyk of paperparasol.


I've been admiring her old school vintage printing press artwork on etsy for quite some time and figure if I actually play the banjo this print would be perfectly suited for me. Wouldn't want to purchase such artwork under false pretenses after all. Maybe I'll just get the deer print instead - even though I'm not a deer, I do appreciate the woodgrain and floral combo which is close enough right?

December!

November has come and gone and the hectic holiday madness of December has sneakily arrived! Time to hopefully avoid last minute shopping and add a new playlist to the blog. No xmas tunes yet for me though (instead a mix of some new and old favourites! hooray!). I'm under the feeling that no snow = no holiday mindset. But isn't everyone like that? Perhaps it's just denial?

Still in my head

So I went to Kelowna to see 'Hannah Georgas' and 'Said the Whale' play last Monday with jim and lindsay and still totally have all of their music pumping through my veins! And not in a "subtle back of my mind" sort of way either, more like the "extremely catchy singing outloud with my eyes closed without really noticing" way. It's epic. But on the plus side a little "B.C Orienteering" seems to brighten the dullest of work lulls. You should try it. Let me know how it goes for you.

November?

Is it just me or are months going by particularly quickly these days? Well, looks like November is upon us - so time to start the month long trek towards xmas preparation where I pretend I'm getting things done early, but then really don't, and scramble at the last minute. Fun.

It's also time for a new november soundtrack! This month started off as "songs I like singing along to" then changed gears a bit to "songs from all these new awesome cd's that just came out" and then ended with "crap - I need 3 more songs to put on this list, let me find some catchy ones from my recent additions to itunes". I'll blame my lack of concert attending in October for the mismatched direction but luckily I've got a few shows planned for this month so theoretically my direction will be clearer come next month...we'll see...