Bloggy Tweak

A week ago I decided to take advantage of the new blogger design templates and did a blog overhaul! I wasn't sure how I'd react to all the changes but after seven days of reflecting on what my blog used to be I am very pleased with this brighter and wider layout! Even if it is a little on the blue side, lindsay's mom once told me that people are naturally attracted to blue, so maybe I'm just listening to her wise words? Yes, let's stick to that.

Well, last night I decided to take the blog tweaking to a new (and more customized) level and added some of my favourite scientific culture friends! Take a peek to that right hand column and gander at each new section header title banner! This one is certainly my fav of the bunch:


Doesn't thumbs up yeti's rad enthusiasm encourage you to sign up to follow my blog/facebook/twitter pages? (Correct answer = yes). I really like being able to showcase a little of my wide set eye smile illustrations in another form than just spamming my etsy site and I think they add a little more flare and personality to the simple layout. Plus after much "I have no clue what I'm doing in photoshop" frustration I finally got the rounded corners thing to work (for the top blog banner too! Double win!). I did try to avoid adding any more blue to my blog, but the other colours I attempted drew too much attention to the little side banners and I wanted them to be more subtle. So blue it is...well muted tone gray blue...

I'm dying to know what you think of the tweaks! Which banner is your favourite? Any other little details you'd like to see me work on? How about any feedback on blog posts you like/would like to see more of while we're at it!? OoOo! The feedback possibilities! Yay!

Friday Find: Postcarden

As you all know (or should know by now), I am a huge fan of post! I'm also quite fond of the wonders of botany and no better way to fuse the two than with a mailable mini living garden from Postcarden! There are three different cards to chose from but the botanical theme is my fav:


How super cool! You'll be celebrating this mail for weeks of interactive enjoyment and all you need is some water and a sunny spot on the counter (which most people have...unless your dad is redoing your kitchen for the last 1.5 months)! If I haven't sold you on how great this is check out some stop motion wonderment:

Is this a casual enough hint for any of my pen pals looking to spice up their next note to me? No? Well it should be...so go buy this for me! Haha....ha....or not?

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!

More pom poms?

Since I'm long overdue for another pom pom post - here's some cute pom tutorials from maedchenmitherz! First off is an adorable pom pom bunny! I really like the pictures she's taken for this one (hooray for gingham!) and easter is just around the corner after all...


Second comes a little pom owl for all you owl lovers...such as my mom. Great for all owl-y occasions! Look at those extra cute little bird toes! How darling!


I am oozing with jealousy about her pom pom making contraption too! I can't believe such a pom enthusiast like myself is still back in the dark ages of cardboard circles! I need to get with the times. Another awesome thing about these projects? They're tiny! Hooray for instant crafting gratification! My fav!

Stop Motion Knitting

Yet another instance where I crave learning how to knit:

I totally love how they use knitting as imagery for warming up the house in the morning and am particularly fond of the yarn shower stream! Sort of reminds me of that knit bicycle I spotted back in september in victoria. Allow me to refresh your memory:


I've seen quite a few "knitting graffiti" instruction/picture books during the last few trips to bookland too so I guess this sort of public yarn crafting is the hot upcoming trend! I think I'll stick to geeky wide eyed smile science cuteness for the time being. Unless you think knit micropipette cozies are soon to be all the rage? It does sort of challenge the whole idea of "aseptic technique"though...just saying...

Mini Moo Order Freebies!

A few days ago my moo order arrived with a wonderfully charming box full of my custom created moo minicards! I had a great time playing with my wide set eye smile characters and transforming them into my latest promo freebie! Take a peek at the mini bookmark/gift tag goodness:


Man they are cute! I'm really pleased with how they turned out and think they will be a great addition to my etsy orders! I'm not so secretly hoping this will be turn into a successful marketing tool for my shop and blog but only time will tell...any thoughts?

Oh my!

Anthropologie is the most fantastic shop I've ever stumbled across amidst my blog reading! (Well besides etsy of course). I often see cool trendy online clothing stores and can pick out a few items I am fond of, but I like pretty much every single item in this one! Seriously! I just spent an hour sifting through the site and have fallen in love with so many pieces. Here are a few I'm drooling over:


I'm honestly considering driving to Edmonton to shop in their store in real life. It's like every item they sell is one of those awesome, "makes an outfit," statement/investment pieces. *Sigh*. It's too bad everything is so far out of my price range I'll never be able to get any of it. Well, I guess I could use my stellar credit and buy some but I'm just too logical to take that route in life. But fraser, when you get those lottery winnings can I have a good $5000 to splurge on anthropologie goods? Heck - let's fly to their UK store and make a weekend out of it. Sound like a plan? In the mean time, I totally recommend skimming the online pages of fashion glory. Pick something out for yourself while you're at it...

In other news - Happy mid 20's linds! I'm just showering and then heading down to kelowna for our two day bday extravaganza! hooray!