J and I are heading to Silver Lake Provincial Park this afternoon for 3 nights and 4 days of camping. It’s his birthday today and this camping trip has become an annual event with his siblings. I can’t wait. I’m leaving the city. I can’t tell you how much I need this. Lake swimming, nature, camp fires, CAMP FOOD(!) and just 4 days of whatever our hearts desire. Goodbye city life, I won’t miss you.
What are you up to?
Whatever it is, I hope you have a wonderful weekend too and to all my fellow Canadians that have a long weekend, make it a good one.
Photo Credit: brookenovak
July 30, 2010 //
Filed under: Etcetera
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Tagged: life
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I have a fairly large wall in my my main living area. Right now it’s the home for a painting I bought years ago. Sadly, that painting no longer fits in with my tastes and so I’ve been formulating plans for this wall of mine over the last few weeks.
Some of you may of seen my moodboard for my main living area. First of all, yes, it still hasn’t been started BUT I promise you, it’s been slated for September. No ifs or buts. Anyways, let’s forget about my lack of following through for now… I mentioned back then I was going to purchase the Toronto Ork Poster in black and white. I still am and I’ve decided to build a whole photo gallery wall around it.
Rather than talk my way through it I figured I’d give you some context. So, below is where I am thinking of going. The photos shown aren’t necessarily the ones I’ll use but at least it gives you an idea (please ignore the scale of the images within the frame too!). I wanted to add a small burst of color to it but not something that would compete with the photography. Of course, finding frames/images that will work with the symmetry I’m hoping for may not be possible, but I’ll adapt if need be.
As I hope for the wall to be full of great memories and things near and dear to me, I wanted any artwork on there to be my own too. I want the wall to be a story all of it’s own. So, as I love quotes and lean on them often when I need a bit of motivation, I took two I discovered recently and turned them into prints which are now available in my shop. I adore how they look in white frames and I hope that you do too. I’m already sending this one out in gray to a customer so I’m excited to see how others place these within their homes as well. I currently have them at an introductory price of $8 but they will go up to $12 as of July 30th!
Eye Chart Albert Einstein Print
Eye Chart Elbert Hubbard Print
What do you think? Do you have any home renovation projects going on?
That’s what I am right now. I felt so exhausted today that I couldn’t resist retreating to my bed by mid-afternoon. Usually I feel guilty doing this, but I’ve gone through so many emotions this week, that I can no longer tell one emotion from the other.
I guess you could say horizontal is also a great way to describe the last 7 days or so. J and I got some news on Friday that swept us off our feet. While things could be much worse, it was an unexpected and painful blow nonetheless. I don’t want to have a pity party and go down the “why us?” or “when will we just get a break?” road. It’ll get me nowhere. But sometimes life seems so freakin’ overwhelming and difficult that I feel as though I’m suffocating.
As always we are bouncing back but I’m noticing these rebounds are taking longer to overcome emotionally sometimes. I guess I’ll just blame that on the good old age thing. Perhaps that’s something I can’t control either but at least it’s expected and it doesn’t blindside me out of the blue.
Photo Credit: uberllama
July 23, 2010 //
Filed under: Etcetera
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Tagged: life
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Gah, I’m still going through a bout of writer’s block. The only stuff I have to write about is shop updates and let’s face it, no one wants to see that in every post.
So, any tips of breaking through my lack of words? How do you overcome writer’s block?
Photo Credit: the trial
July 20, 2010 //
Filed under: Etcetera
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Tagged: ugh, writing
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I’m slowly loading some new greeting cards into my shop. I’m swaying on whether I want to go this route again so for now I’m going to keep the card line small. Of course, don’t quote me on that because I change my mind like the wind. But, as a few of you have requested I continue the line card, here’s the start of it. Singles will be coming out shortly, along with a few of my old bestsellers.
I’m also experimenting with new backgrounds. Shooting products on a white background is quite frankly hell and you don’t even want to know how much time I waste. What do you think about the new background?
Herringbone Birthday Cards
Pebbles Birthday Cards
Retro Zig Zag Thank You Cards
I’ll be back with more updates next week and hopefully back to blogging. I’ve had a case of writers block as of late. Of course, now that I’d said that openly, I’ll suddenly do nothing but talk, talk, talk. Funny how that happens. Shame is doesn’t work when I have a creative block huh?
In the meantime, what do you think of the new cards?
That pretty much sums up my day. Holding a thought long enough to finish it was near impossible so I gave up. Tomorrow though is a new day. And on a brighter note I just got the urge to start designing my Holiday 2010 line but I thought I’d pop in and say hello first.
How was your day?
P.S. The photo above was taken yesterday at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. J and I were dipping our toes in the pool at Nathan Philips Square. I love the sunshine over his hands.
July 12, 2010 //
Filed under: Etcetera
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Tagged: life
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Okay first off, 3 blog posts in one day? Yah, seems I’m chatty but I promise this will be the last one. And now for the reason why I’m here again.
I’m super excited to be hosting a Q’n’A with a wholesaling pro (her products are in 100s of stores all over the world) on my blog very soon. I have actually spoken with her on the phone before and can tell you she has a wealth of knowledge in this area. So, I’m super excited she accepted my invitation. I’m keeping quiet on who it is for now but all will be revealed soon.
As my next big venture is wholesaling, I have a lot of questions myself, but I wanted to invite you to ask your own. Obviously, she won’t be able to answer every single one, but if there’s a way for me to merge questions I will. And if all don’t get answered, I will most certainly find another guest that can.
So, if you’re considering wholesaling your product line soon, get your questions in. Kindly put them in the comments below rather than tweet them to me so that I can easily aggregate them. Cheers me dears!
Photo Credit: amortize
The heat is finally breaking here in Toronto. This morning I woke up to rain (which is still going) and a small thunderstorm. While there’s still a little humidity in the air, it’s so nice to feel the coolness the rain has brought. We’re back up to high temperatures again tomorrow so I’m enjoying this while I can.
J and I decided to do away with all our plans this weekend, including our trip to Toronto Island. As we sat over drinks last night at our local, we both realized all we wanted was a weekend at home. Last weekend was jam packed and the only time we spent at home was to pretty much sleep. Other than grocery shopping and a walk around the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, we’re locking ourselves away from the world for a few days.
What’s on your agenda this weekend?
July 9, 2010 //
Filed under: Etcetera
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Tagged: life, toronto
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I’ve always had a love affair with paper. I remember as a kid having mountains of books, sketchpads, writing paper… the whole shebang. Even then I was protective. The thought of anyone getting them dirty or even worse, bending a corner was unthinkable to me.
I’ll admit, I’m still that way. Though perhaps not as anal but protective enough that people (hi James) know to handle it with care. So, when I recently had a Twitter conversation with my friend Tara from BoutiqueKarma about the arrival of her notepads, I just had to share it here with you. It seems I’m not the only one that protects her paper.
What about you? Are you protective over objects that may make others think you’ve lost a few screws? If so, what?
July 9, 2010 //
Filed under: Etcetera
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Tagged: random
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Hey ladies and gents! I’m going to be adding some new products to the shop soon (and perhaps bringing back some old favorites) and I need your help. I’ve set up a short survey and if you have a few spare minutes, I’d really appreciate it if you could help me out.
Toronto is currently experiencing a major heat wave and let me tell you… it’s hot, hot, hot! Yesterday temperatures felt in the 110s. Needless to say most of my day was spent indoors basking myself in the cooling AC. Today is going to be even hotter. Oh my! Days like this I crave Fall but I quickly remember how fast the ugly cold of Winter comes and bask in the sunshine. Unfortunately, many in Toronto lost power yesterday. Thankfully I didn’t and so no meltdown was required.
It has been such a crazy few weeks in Toronto. First the earthquake, then tornado warnings, then the G20 which was followed by Pride Week (which when classed as crazy I mean in a fun sense) and now the mini black-out. I wonder what’s next for this city? Ha!
What’s the weather like where you are? Enjoying Summer?
Photo Credit: leeroy09481
James and I spent most of yesterday on Church Street enjoying the Toronto Pride Week festivities. We actually live right in this neighborhood and this is one of the festivals I look forward to. The Halloween celebrations over there are pretty awesome too if you live in Toronto. As expected, a fun day was had although I didn’t get as many photos as I had hoped. The actual parade takes place today and I’m hoping I can squeeze in some time to head out and take more photos. But, it’s a jam packed day full of shopping, chores and birthday parties so we’ll have to see.
Happy Pride Week Toronto!
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