Leg Work

I've spent the last couple of days doing what I guess you'd call legwork - searching for supplies, suppliers, etc. It's been tough and exhausting work, and it's much more a part of having a business than I'd ever imagined. Products get discontinued, prices change, shipments are incorrect and it just throws everything off. Sometimes it's fun - getting new paper patterns, finding a great coloured bookcloth - and other times, it's just darn frustrating. I have to say though, I did find something that I've been searching for while I was on holiday - a printing press! Well, at least I think it's a printing press. Sadly, I don't think this is the one for me - although the green paint is pretty, something tells me it's not in working order. And, I couldn't bear to displace the family of spiders living in it. ( :

Taking the good with the bad...

This week, it’s been all about balancing the good with the bad. I think I’ll do the bad first – Milo was sick and I had to take him off to the vet where he stayed for a whole day. It was traumatic for both of us! He was up all night on Tuesday crying and doing this weird gulping thing – he was really in distress. The short of it is – he swallowed something that he shouldn’t have and it scratched his throat. Luckily – whatever it was didn’t create a blockage or puncture his insides and need to be removed surgically. Thank goodness for pet insurance!

The good – there are a couple of things. Really good things. I submitted my work to the Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council to be juried, and they have accepted me as a member! This means that I can participate in their markets and events (hopefully more on this later), and it will give me a lot of great exposure. But, probably the best part of it is that I got some fantastic feedback from people who are intimately involved with the craft scene and see different work all the time - so this is a huge boost for me! I also want to say that all of the people working in the NSDCC office are both amazingly sweet and professional at the same time. I am very happy to be a (small) part of this organization.

One more good bit – my beloved Feist is coming to Halifax! I just found out today, and I literally squealed with delight when I heard the news. I saw her last show here about a year and a half ago and it was fantastic! She is becoming so famous that I was afraid she wouldn’t visit this little part of the world anymore – but she is coming! I guess she loves Nova Scotia as much as we love her though – her song “Mushaboom” is about a place that’s on the Eastern Shore of the province, about half an hour from where I live. I will be first in line when the tickets go on sale – wish me luck!

PS - this photo is one I took on our holidays at the Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens. Worth a visit if you're in the area and like plants. If you don't like plants, they have a german bakery there with lots of yummy pastries. They actually brush extra sugar glaze on top of whatever you order - yum!

Holiday by the Sea

As promised, a bit more on the holiday. First, the cottage - cute as a button on the outside, and also gorgeous within. I love the book "Found Style" by Amy Butler - and the decor of this cottage reminded me of something from it's pages. I thought that it also had a definite Swedish influence, while still being very Nova Scotian - lots of nautical influences.
The table in the dining area was made from a sheet of glass balanced atop three large pieces of driftwood. The effect was amazing, and so ingenious. There were so many great ideas in the cottage using found materials. We actually had the pleasure of meeting the person who decorated the cottage. We were on a little antiquing/exploring trip along the coast, and visited the sweetest antique shop set amongst gorgeous gardens - my photo doesn't do it justice. The shop was called Lavender Cottage, and it's owned by Mary Bell. She was the previous owner of the cottage we were staying in, and did all the decorating and restoration. She was lovely, and spent ages talking to us about her gardens and her shop. When I told her I was inspired by her decorating and wanted to use some of her ideas in my home, she said "You just have to wait 'til a good tide comes in." Probably the most down to earth decorating advice I've ever heard! I am not the only one who's noticed how great Mary's style is - she was featured in Country Living a while back.
I couldn't stop snapping photos on this trip. The little village and surrounding coastline were so beautiful and we had such a relaxed trip. Best of all for me, there were also loads of antique/junk shops all over the place. I would probably say it's the best antiquing/junking region in Nova Scotia. We will definitely be going back. I could probably do a couple more posts about the trip, but I'm not sure if I want to bore you with my ramblings (although that's what I've been doing with this blog all along!). I will start putting a few more photos on my Flickr though.

On Haddock Alley

We got back from our holidays yesterday. We had such a nice time, that I'm having trouble getting back into the swing of things - but I guess that means I'm relaxed, which is a good thing! I'll write a bit more about the trip soon, but I just wanted to share this photo of the little cottage we stayed in. It was in the middle of a tiny fishing village on the Nova Scotia coast, and the street was called "Haddock Alley." Although Nova Scotia is small and I've spent a good part of my life here, I am always discovering new things and places. Wherever I travel in this province, I meet the most lovely people - it's just a lovely place, really. It's late and I'm too tired to put it all into words right now, but I'll be back tomorrow with more photos and writing and you'll see what I mean. Goodnight!

Feet Week - Catching Up

I know that feet week is officially over, but I kind of missed the tail end of it - so I'm posting one last foot photo. As you can see, I've come full circle and am wearing the same flats as in the first photo. I managed to get most of the flour off. I'm off work this week, and we are off on a little holiday! Revisiting some of our favorite places in Nova Scotia, and hopefully also discovering some new ones. But first, I have to deliver a big project I've been working on (more on that later, hopefully) and I'm starting off the holiday but catching up with a lovely friend for a lovely lunch.

Bye for now - back next week with lots of photos - and probably five pounds heavier from all the yummy seaside food!

Feet Week - Thursday

Fall is here. Red Shoes and tweed pants. Another pair of oldies but goodies - notice the scruffing on the toes.

And, although this link has made the rounds on the web, I just had to share it again - the papercuts of Mister Rob Ryan. I love his work, and it looks like he has a book coming out.

Feet Week - Tuesday and Wednesday

Work....

and casual. The shoes at the top are pretty old, and they might be tragically out of fashion, but I don't care. I still really like them. Ditto for the sneakers. I say you can't go wrong with black and white.

PS - I am glad that I'm the only one who can see my legs from this angle. Freakishly unflattering!

Feet Week - Monday

Since I love taking photos of my feet, I've decided to participate in Feet Week (I found out about it from Shona). I just happened to be wearing the most horrible outfit after working all day in my studio, and then making a pizza. Track pants, and basic black flats dusted with flour. I get flour everywhere when I'm making pizza. Milo usually ends up covered with it.

Speaking of Milo, here he is in the studio, getting curious about the camera.

This weekend really feels like the end of summer. It's a bit sad in a way, but I do love fall, especially the new fashions. ( :

Cheers - Part Two - It all ends in tears...

Well, not exactly tears, but my gocco print session didn't end as sucessfully as I'd hoped. The prints I was getting just weren't as even and crisp as I would have liked. I think the reason for this is the design that I chose is one that went over the edge of the card. I think that one of the limitations of gocco is that your design has to fit perfectly on the little pad provided. If it goes just one bit off the pad, it will print splotchily. I know that my problem wasn't the ink - because I inked the crap out of that screen!The prints don't look too bad in the photo, but they really weren't very good. Nothing I would be happy to sell. I might be able to cut them up and make some little tags or something out of them - so not a total loss. Anyhow, now that I know more about how the gocco works and what it can do, I'm going to produce another design that doesn't flow over the edge of the page. With Christmas coming up though, I think that I will have to focus on producing lots of books and canvases to meet upcoming orders, and leave the cards for next year.

Cheers - Part One

About four months after receiving my print gocco, I am finally preparing to break it out tomorrow and print some cards with it. This is a mock up of the card I'm planning to print - I just need to photocopy the design, and I'm ready to go. I made the design using cut paper, and the greeting is hand stamped. I used the word "Cheers" because it can apply to a lot of different occasions - birthdays, congrats, holidays, thank you, etc. - and it's something that I say all the time.

Stay tuned for Part Two tomorrow - the actual printing. I think I'm ready - wish me luck!