Summer, Weddings, Sex and the Kitty

It's the first day of June, which means it's the start of our Summer Promo at Fresh Baked Goods. Well, tomorrow is the official start, since that's my day at the store and I still have to paint the window telling everyone "We Love Cats!" Originally it was going to be just a month-long promo focused on cat-themed items in the store, but we've decided to extend it for all summer. There'll be freebies given out with purchases, draws for various prizes donated by the designers in the store and other fun things, such as putting your own cat portrait up on the store window! Hopefully it will get customers involved and bring out all the cat lovers in the city.

I've got two new designs finalized and just have to make the screens up now. Wonder Cat and Wonder Kitty will be adorning shirts and bags and the like very soon.


Taking the initial sketch to the final design always seems like such a long process for me. I tried to speed things up a bit with PhotoShop but it didn't work out as I'd thought it would, so in the end, the computer just serves more as an aid rather than my main medium. I always debate about whether or not to do the design with Illustrator but I find that I like the hand-drawn quality of my images. There's something about stuff that is too clean-looking that kind of turns me off. But that's just my personal taste.

Here's the finished portrait for a friend who's getting married later this year. She asked me to make magnets to put on her invites after seeing the ones Matt and I used as wedding favours for our wedding.

The magnets are nearly done. I'm just waiting on the magnet backings to arrive.



And what about the sex, you ask? Matt and I took in the Sex and the City movie last night and despite not so great reviews from the critics, we both found it entertaining. There was even a lineup to get in to our theatre, which we never had to line up for. Then again, it was the opening weekend of the movie, which we rarely make it out for. My only complaint about the movie really was that Smith Jerrod's character was not portrayed in a great light, when you compare it to the show.
The rest of the audience was entertained too, so who cares what the critics say?!

I'm on a Blog-kick!

If I could update my blog for as many days in a row as I've eaten cake, that would be grand! This is the fourth day in a row that I've posted... that would just mean another 8 days to match my cake eating kick. I'm not kidding, yesterday was the first day that Matt and I had not eaten cake since Mother's Day. And our mothers weren't even in the same city as us when we got the first cake! The second cake I'll blame on Matt's mom (I love you, Carol). You can see the remains of it in the photo above. The flowers look pretty but they are not that great to eat. We love you, Dufflet, but work on those flowers, will ya?

As mentioned in yesterday's post, some wip photos for you and a sneak peek of a new design or two for tees.




I may need a nap this afternoon since I was awake before 6 am and up by 7 this morning. Not my usual routine but Matt, my hard-working hubby, had an early shoot this morning. Maybe I'll make some tea.

March is here...

Yesterday was my first day working at Fresh Baked Goods and Mondays are sure slow for retail compared to Saturdays, the day I used to work at Fresh Collective. But with Spring around the corner, hopefully more shoppers will soon be out and about looking to buy some new duds and accessories. Look at all the great stuff in the shop:




Today I am enjoying being in the comfort of our home. I've been out and about everyday since Friday and for me that gets to be a bit much, especially when travel time seems to take up half the day sometimes.

On Friday, Matt and I ttc'ed it to Pearson Airport to lunch with my sister, who had an 8 hour stopever on her way to South Africa. I was really happy that we got to see each other again and spend a few hours together - the last time we saw one another was when she was here for our wedding in July. But seriously, getting to and from the airport took about the same amount of time that we actually spent together. And my suggestion to dine at the Sheraton for lunch? Wow! I had no idea they would charge an arm and a leg for a sandwich. It was $5 for a cup of coffee and $6 for a pot of tea. At least Matt and I could only eat half the amount of food they gave us, so we got two meals each out of our entrees.



Still, seeing my sister again, well that's priceless. Especially after feeling a little homesick this past month. I haven't been back to Saskatoon in a few years now and even though I know I could never move back there, it'd be nice to visit more often.

Saturday I completed another portrait, this time of six subjects - two people and their four cats:

The painting is a birthday present for the man in the painting, commissioned by his wife. They are both music lovers and cat lovers, hence being surrounded by the things they love.

Sunday I picked up a shift working at my former haunt and got to see quite a few of the designers who happened to stop by that day. As much as I would love to not have to work outside of the home, I've had to start the job hunt again, after several years of avoiding it.

I enjoyed listening to the podcast between these two the other day. I didn't get through the whole thing, but can certainly identify with the stuff that I did hear from both of them. Both are inspiring artists and I hope to achieve successes similar to theirs one day soon.