Double Happiness is now Online!

Well, I'm already online, but now even more so - I have a website! You can find it here. I absolutely love my website. I have been working with a local artist/designer - his name's Matthew - and he's been really great. We met, and he totally understood my obsession with everything Japanese and built the website around it. There are a couple of finishing touches to be completed - but it's 99.9% done - so I'm just going ahead an announcing it now. Oh, and did I mention that I love it? I hope you love it too. ( :

Thanks Matthew!

LouLouBell

I recently picked up this cute little pouch from etsy seller LouLouBell - and I love it! LouLouBell is Lyndsay - one of Martin's workmates - and I had no idea that she was making these lovely things and selling them on etsy. And, it really is lovely, so many great details from the denim lining, to the gorgeous Amy Butler fabric, to the cute little ribbon tab on the side seam. It's amazing that there are so many talented people out there - sometimes right under your nose. Thanks LouLouBell - can't wait to use my new pouch! ( :

More books...

Another busy weekend making books. I ordered some new papers that are a bit of a departure for me - a bit more modern. I like them a lot, especially these little bunnies...
...I love pink and green together.....
...and here we have a more modern take on the traditional cherry blossom....
....in lots of different colours.

Japanese Paper Handbag

Each year since starting Double Happiness, I buy myself a little present to reward myself for working so hard during the holiday season. This year, I've decided that I'd like a new colourful handbag. Whilst shopping over lunch hour today, I came across these great bags from Mat and Nat. They are a Canadian company with a great philosophy, and their products are completely vegan. Best of all, the handbag above is from the Japanese paper collection. I'm not sure if the bags are actually made of Japanese paper, or if they are just inspired by it, but I don't care - I love them! My obsession with Japanese paper is well documented - so I am thinking that I must have one of these.
The hard part will be deciding what style/colour....

Getting all my ducks in a row...

Production for the upcoming season is in full force. Everywhere you look in my studio is filled with books and collages in production, and these fellows are lined up on top of a cabinet in the living room. I took my collages off to a printer, they were scanned and this is the result - some greeting cards! I'm really happy with the way they turned out. They're not really ducks, but birds just didn't have the same ring. Anyhow, these are samples printed on a number of different cardstocks - I've decided which one I like and will be having them printed up very soon. I'm really excited about this - making the books and collages is so labour intensive that I can never seem to keep up. Having the cards (and possibly some prints?) will hopefully allow me to get my work out there in an affordable, accessible way. I'm kind of excited about this - I'm really hoping this card idea will fly. Sorry, couldn't resist another corny pun...

Hummingbird

I finished another paper on canvas piece the other day. I was inspired by all the hummingbirds out in our garden, feasting on the bee balm. Hummingbirds are one of my favorite creatures, I think they are so amazing. I hope that I have managed to capture at least a little bit of the sense of movement - and the extreme cuteness - that the hummingbird embodies.

I even gave my hummingbird a little friend, peeking around the corner. And now, back to work on all my other books and pieces for the show.

Also - an update on La Moustache. I thought that I was going to be viewing a lighthearted French comedy - but it was actually an existential-type thriller. The fact that no one noticed his moustache was gone - in fact, they insisted that he had never worn one - leads the character, and the audience to question the notion of existence and reality. It was very good - I'm still not sure what it all meant - but maybe that's why it was good?

Mini Milo

This is Mini Milo - a little fuzzy poodle doorstop that I bought this summer while visiting my friend in the country. He was at a little farmer's market - and I just had to have him. I took a lot of heat for this purchase - it's incredibly kitchsy - but I like it!

I have been absent from this space recently - just super busy filling orders, and getting ready for the Christmas markets - but I have lots of things to report. I will try to post when I can - but I might be more sporadic than normal in the lead up to Christmas.

Must go - a movie is starting called "La Moustache" - the description says it's about a man who shaves his moustache off, but no one notices. I find this type of film irresistable.