No Jacket Required

Oh my, it's gorgeous outside. Just before leaving the house to run some errands, I checked the weather online and was amazed to see that it's 21 degrees out! It feels so different to be outside and seriously, I didn't need to don a jacket, though I did. (I tend to feel a bit naked without one, unless it is boiling hot).

So this new illustration is very fitting for a day like today. It will be making its way into my shop shortly, as a new print.

Matt has tomorrow and Monday off so we'll have a long weekend together and will hopefully be able to take advantage of the warm weather. Taxes are waiting to be done and I really want to paint the walls upstairs. We'll see how things go.

On the Catwalk...

A new print is in my shop.

And in honour of Spring Cleaning, I'm having an Art Sale to clear out original paintings that have been collecting dust in boxes since we moved in. I will be parting with some much loved artwork but then again, if I love it so much, why isn't it up on our walls yet?
So hopefully my art will find many new homes where it will be more appreciated.

It's about time!

Spring seems to have sprung finally and that means I will be bringing my bike out of hiding very soon. All efforts to find our little bike pump today were futile though, and there are no gas stations with air close to us (at least according to Matt the last time he was out in search of one), so we're spending Sunday indoors.

We did enjoy the beautiful weather yesterday as we were given free tickets to the National Home Show by our very generous real estate agent. Unfortunately since we went on a Saturday, the place was a bit overcrowded to our liking and not really what we expected, though we both weren't sure what to expect there. Basically it was a lot of different vendors there trying to get you to spend money on their products. Great if you have a disposable income, but right now we don't. So it was more about generating ideas for us.

***Edit: I forgot to mention that the highlight of the trip for Matt was his 5 minutes in a $3400 massage chair. He couldn't stop talking about it after we left. I didn't want to sit in it for fear of what I'd be missing later on... and I'm sure the chair was very soothing, but if we ever spent that much on a chair it'd have to look darn good too. And well, massage chairs to me are an eyesore not a design piece ***

Lately I've been obsessing over my home office space as well as dreaming up ways of decorating our place. When we first moved in I was more than happy to stick with the colours the previous owners had painted the walls upstairs.


But I think with the new season, I'm ready for a new look, especially since my office faces the kitchen. I'm leaning towards white walls or at least brighter ones in my workspace. It would make it easier to photograph items for my shop too.

And I would really love to get this desk but it's a little out of my budget at the moment. So I will likely just make my own from the different table tops and legs that Ikea carries. It's amazing how much more they charge for adding a few drawers to a table.

Catching Up

I'm getting back into the swing of things here, now that the One of a Kind Spring Show is over. An awesome fellow clothing designer asked me to help her out for the 5-day event and seeing as how I had not been to a show in ages, I thought it would be a great chance to see all the great stuff they have there. Plus, the extra cash didn't hurt.

The first day was alright though there were a few issues with the lighting in our booth. Luckily those issues were resolved and the rest of the day went smoothly. It wasn't too too busy since the show started on a Thursday...

Friday was MAYHEM though. I wish I had a picture to show how busy it was, not only at our booth, but pretty much in all the aisles. Photos were generally not allowed though, plus I didn't have much time to eat or sit down, let alone take a picture that day. I think it was the best sales day ever for a lot of the designers who are a part of the Collective. This is kind of how I felt for much of the day I was there:


A bit frazzled to say the least.

But after Friday, things were pretty much a breeze the rest of the show. I was able to trade for these two cute cups and saucers by ketto design who are from Montreal.

I'd been longing for some more generous sized cups for tea and hot chocolate for some time now and had picked up another piece by them years ago, at the first One of a Kind show I went to. So these were purrfect!

Candice was also gracious enough to give me one of her beautiful new tops (no picture as of yet as it is in need of washing) and a pair of her rather famous undies. It's very true, they ARE "super cute and seriously comfortable!" I had bought Matt a few of these before but had never treated myself. The undies were such a show-stopper that they even managed to get on tv. You can catch a glimpse of me too in the background in the first few seconds of the clip.

Other things of note during the show:
- I met one of my blog readers though I didn't get her name. Sorry (if you're reading this). I guess I was surprised to find out that other people besides a few friends and family read this. I feel like a relative newbie in the blog world and am flattered to know that I do have a readership too. There are some great blogs out there, so thank you to anyone who takes the time to read mine :)

- I also ran into a college peer and chatted for a bit about what's been going on since then. Ah, the college days. Feels like only yesterday, but at the same time it doesn't. How time flies.

And speaking of which, I best get a start on catching up with work. I'll finish the post with a photo of Suki and Dex from earlier today:

Wishful Thinking and Exercise

The snow just doesn't want to stop falling yet. Toronto is under another storm watch and once again I will have to venture out into it tomorrow. As long as the ttc keeps running smoothly, I'll be happy.

But I'm still longing for warmer days and pretty flowers...





Maybe when it warms up, I will take up running again. Or perhaps I will stick with working up a sweat indoors with Kathy Smith. I exercised for the first time in years - or what feels like years - this afternoon and feel like a new woman. I always forget how good it can feel after a good workout. Endorphins are a wonderful thing.

Of course, that's not going to stop me from baking chocolate chip cookies later on. Mmmm, cookies!

Oh and I was also pleasantly surprised (well, sort of, as I already knew the post was coming) to be featured here. Angie has been a sweetheart to work with so far and I look forward to selling in her and Tyson's shop.

On a Day like Yesterday...

I sure could have used a pair of these sassy boots:

Instead I trudged through the snow and slush with my now extremely weathered winter hiking boots:


They've got paint drips on them and there's a hole in the back of the left one, so it's not exactly the warmest footwear. Even though Toronto doesn't really get that cold, this winter has had its share of large snowfalls and I didn't expect more white stuff so soon after the last storm. I'm hoping for Spring weather soon!

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.