Creativity

I'm currently busy, but happy. I think that's the best way to describe all that is going on. I saw this wonderful print by Jocelyn Bernard and thought it sums things up nicely.

Photo from Jocelyn Bernard

I'm working on a few custom orders right now as well as making some more new items for my shop. It's been a while since I've been this busy, but it's definitely a great feeling. I've said it before, but I'm always excited when new people find things I make and more importantly love them enough to include my work in their wedding or some other special occasion. I'm just as excited when I receive a message from a customer, saying they loved what they purchased from me, whether it's for a wedding or for every day use. I feel really lucky to have so many wonderful customers!

I need to get back to the crafting desk, I have 50+ envelopes that await assembling.

Little cabinet DIY

I've talked about this idea before. It's been on my to-do list for a long while, but I never got around to it. So, finally I got a move on... (Sorry for the photos, the lighting is awful in our downstairs bathroom)

This is my (formerly) awful bathroom cabinet. All the stuff you don't really need everyday, but should be easily accessible. I'm a little embarassed about how it looks in this photo. Let's be honest now, it's a disaster.

I cleaned out the cabinet, took out the shelves and brought out the tools I need for the DIY. Really simple; scissors, double-sided tape and paper.

The paper I used is this cool vintage looking drawer liner I found a little while ago. It even has a slight flowery scent. All I did was measure the paper and stuck double-sided tape to where the top of the paper was to go and did the same to the sides. It's really not very hard, you just have to peel off the tape a little at a time, don't just stick the entire sheet at one go. At least my hands aren't steady enough to get the whole sheet on straight on one try.

The paper I used was wide enough to cover the inside of the cabinet, but not high enough, so I used two sheets and overlapped them in the middle. Just add more double-sided tape, it's not necessarily pretty but it works.

Lining up the patterns was the hardest part, but after a few tries it worked out nicely. This part is why I was saying not to un-peel all of the tape at one go, get this one crooked and you have to start over. (Unless you don't mind the pattern being slightly off, or were smart enough not to use patterned paper. In that case just move on)

Once you finish the entire back of the cabinet, put the shelves back on and you're done. I'm actually thinking about covering the front of the shelves too.

Here's the final cabinet. It was really very easy and again, one of those projects I can't believe I didn't do before. I think it took me about half hour to finish. I think it's totally worth it and I am now considering this for other cabinets in our home as well.

Lovely Sunday

This has been an amazing week. The biggest news is that I finally reached 200 Etsy sales this morning! I'm doing a little happy dance right now!

I have also come up with new items for my product line. It was definitely one of those "why didn't I think of this before" moments! So, I spent about two days making new things and experimenting with the new items. I am so happy with how they turned out! I've been making small favour bags our of old book pages. I'm using the maps from an old encyclopedia as well as pages from children's books. I think these would be absolutely amazing for wedding favours, bridal and baby showers or even a birthday party.

I've also been in contact with some absolutely wonderful customers, making special orders for them. It's definitely getting close to the wedding season... I just love doing custom orders, they are a blast!

It's been a good week outside of the business as well! I've spent time with friends, went bowling (again!) and had a nice dinner both on Friday and Saturday nights. On Friday I went to a South American restaurant where I had a great dinner with guacamole (guacamole makes everything so much better) and Saturday I went for Chinese food with my in-laws.

I'm already excited for next week! I have a lot of things to make for a few weddings and I have some really cool new ideas I want to try out! I'll keep you posted on what I'm making next!

So, how has your week been?

Materials - Little Bear

Little Bear and Little Bear's Friend. Written by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Little Bear is copyrighted for 1957 and Little Bear's Friend for 1960. No separate printing year is mentioned.

Condition: These two books were in rather good condition. There are some rips and tears and one of them has some pencil doodles on a few pages. The rips weren't too bad, so most of the pages are still usable. The second book, Little Bear's Friend was coming off the binding a bit form the top of the book.

The illustrations are just adorable. The feeling of them is serene which is largely due to the colouring, only three colours are used. Black for the outlines and shading and two colours for the colouring. Little Bear's friend is using green and brown and Little Bear brown and blue. These book's are called "I can read" books and meant for kids who are learning to read. There are several short stories about Little Bear, such as "Little Bear goes to the moon", "Little Bear and Emily" and "A party at Owl's house".

I loved the illustrations the second I found the books. They are incredibly cute. The paper has a wonderful texture to them. The size of the books is relatively small, so my usual work, such as stationery is out of the question. These will become party supplies for a kids birthday or maybe a baby shower.

What's up Montreal - Vintage Mart

This weekend it's time for Vintage Mart's sale. The studio's address is 5445 De Gaspe, suite 600, right here in Montreal.

Photo from HERE

There will be a lot of vintage awesomeness, clothes, shoes and the like with some trinkets thrown in. There's apparently also a sample sale. They feature Montreal talents like Norwegian wood, Supayana, Elaine Ho, Tyson Bodnarchuk and Broundoor. Definitely sounds like it'll be worth a visit. Open this weekend only, 5 to 8pm on Friday and noon to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday!

http://www.vintagemartmontreal.com/