O is for Owl and Oh My, October's nearly Over!

O is for Owl Print available in my shop.

Time flies when you're having fun and napping entirely too much.  That's what I spent most of September and October doing.  With a little work fit in here and there.  

I'll blame it on the little one in my ever growing belly :)

We are expecting a new addition to our family next spring and this time around has had me wiped out for the past few months.  As I head into the second trimester,  I'm already feeling like my energy is returning (knock on wood), as I would normally be napping instead of blogging during Whitney's nap.  Of course, it seems like Miss Whitney is not into taking her nap today.  Murphy's Law, right?

A long post wasn't meant to be today.  Until next time!

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!

my darling nephew, Jackson Jivan

at Grandma's & Grandpa's, in Saskatoon

Whitney with Grandma

at my sister's awesome baby shower

I'm an auntie now!  My sister had about 2 and a half years in that role and is now in the throes of being a super mom!  Whitney and I traveled to Saskatoon for about 10 days last month to meet her cousin, Jackson Jivan Peng Harrison.  He turned one month on August 22 and is eating like a champ to make up for arriving 2 weeks early.

I took full advantage of a little mini summer vacation (and my mom's extra hands) and did absolutely no work, in spite of bringing some things with me... which at one point, I thought had been stolen out of my suitcase by airport staff.  Seriously, it took me about a week before I even thought about taking out my work and then I had forgotten exactly where I put it.  And of course, it was still in my suitcase, just not in the place I thought I had put it.

Anyways, now that Fall is almost here, I'm in the midst of prepping new items for retailers and my shop.  The miniature tuxedo calendar is now in the shop.  Hoping to add a few new seasonal prints and introduce a new screen design in the coming weeks.  Be back again later this week with sneak peeks and some recent press.

Pussycat, Pussycat

Something for the little pussycat lover in your life.
Available in my shop.

Balancing Act

Balancing being a mom and running your own business certainly requires some superior multi-tasking skills. I'll be the first to admit that I've never been a great multi-tasker, so my absence from blogging is due in part to that fact.

Each week, heck, each day with Whitney seems to present new challenges and/or experiences. I spend a lot of time googling things about babies on a daily basis.

The latest challenge has been managing Whitney's naps. Several weeks ago - I think it's related to when her eyesight got a bit better - she suddenly decided that napping in her crib was out of the question. So a typical day involves me having to "wear" her for at least one nap a day. The other naps she either takes in her stroller or else, if I'm lucky, in bed with me, so I can catch up on some sleep too.

When Matt gets home from work that usually gets Whitney a bit worked up, since she's excited to see her daddy.

She is full of smiles these days and laughed her first real laughs the other week.



The rest of the evening is spent nursing her and winding her down, with a bath every other night. As we live in an open concept loft, putting her to bed at an early hour - 7 or 7:30 - is not really manageable. At least, we have not tried doing that yet and if or when we do, will involve at least a few nights of crying and tiptoeing around with the lights off. I just try to make sure she gets a nap after 2 hours of being awake and she goes to bed when we do, which is usually between 9:30 and 10 these days.

Gone are the days of burning the midnight oil for me!
Ah, the joys of parenthood!

Speaking of which, my mom will be back for a visit next week and we'll be celebrating Mother's Day together again. But this year it will be all the more special. And her being here will not only give me a little break from our darling daughter - I love her so, but there are times that I wish I had some relief - it will also allow me a little more time to get some work done. And possibly blog some more. For now though, being a mom - and hopefully a good one - is certainly my main priority.

Spring Things

Spring is in the air and I've got some new things to show for it. Hooray!

Melange Olive Hi Kitty Tee

Light Pink Love Cats Short Sleeve Tee

Fitting in time for my own work is tricky these days - I often sacrifice a much needed nap in order to get stuff done - so it seriously feels like a little accomplishment when I can print up a dozen or so shirts.

I will be adding either one or both of these tees to my shop soon, along with some baby apparel - still to be printed - hopefully.

Speaking of babies, I think our little one is waking up from her after lunch nap, so that's all for now.

A belated Happy Spring and Easter to you!

A New Year & A New Life...both welcomed a little late.

We're a month into 2010, so I'm just a little behind in ringing in the New Year. It would be an understatement to say that things have been just a little hectic since we welcomed our baby girl, Miss Whitney Bennett, into the world on January 11.

Here she is on Day 2...
(c/o a professional photo service offered at the hospital)
that's my arm on the left and Matt's (hairy one) on the right.

I half expected to be early and deliver Toronto's first baby of 2010 since there was a full moon on New Year's eve and there's an old wives' tale that you can go into labour on a full moon. But it turned out I was 6 days past due and with each passing day and no sign of baby, we all grew a little impatient... my mom and sister had flown in from Saskatoon on the 6th and there were only so many games of Scrabble that we could play to pass the time.

It didn't help that my parents and Matt's parents kept wondering when their first grandbaby would arrive, that Matt's parents were getting into Toronto on the 11th, that my dad was going to India on the 12th, that my sister was only in town until the 12th and that I was scheduled for an induction on the 13th. No pressure, right?

Well, once I finally experienced my first contraction, life as Matt and I knew it before, forever changed. My labour and delivery went pretty quick, considering this was my first pregnancy - just under 12 hours - and since then, life has felt like a bit of a whirlwind.

Here I thought the pregnancy was somewhat challenging... boy, was I clueless about what to expect afterwards. How anyone is able to raise kids on his/her own kind of boggles me. If I had not had help these past few weeks, I think I would have seriously lost it. Couple that with the fact that I had never before held a baby or changed a diaper, let alone babysat any kids, so it was all a bit overwhelming.


Basically now, my days are spent feeding Whitney every 2.5-3 hours, with feedings usually taking an hour on average, sometimes longer though if she's fussy and won't settle down. I'm lucky if I get more than 2 hours of sleep at a time, and 6 hours in total a day. The last time I left the house was more than a week ago - until today - so I've pretty much been in my p.j.'s and bathrobe 24/7.

Breastfeeding itself was a big challenge in the first week and we're both still getting the hang of it. We had to bring Whitney back to the hospital a few times because she was dehydrated and I needed help with breastfeeding... that's a whole other post for another time though. The carpal tunnel that I developed during the third trimester has not gone away and is probably being aggravated by holding and lifting Whitney constantly.


All complaints aside however, we are thrilled that our little "Whit-whit", as we like to call her, arrived safe and sound. Hearing her first cries brought both Matt and me to tears and I'm so looking forward to all the other emotions and milestones we'll experience together in the coming years.

All About Baby

The past month or so has been mostly about baby. Preparing for her arrival by making space in our home, buying essential furniture, etc., attending prenatal classes and watching informative dvds/reading appropriate books. You name it. We've been keeping busy with expectant mom & dad activities. (Yesterday we finally set up the crib in our bedroom, which makes it a bit more real to know that our babe will be sleeping in it soon)

So suffice it to say that I've felt a little overwhelmed (ie. stressed out - my poor hubby) with it all at times. Since Matt and I have both been busy working a lot as well, it feels like there's been little time to breathe or even to catch our breath. I've definitely neglected any kind of personal work in the last several months. My sketchbook has been untouched really for 2 or 3, except for being moved around, or written in. Napping, though much wanted and probably needed, was a luxury. Dishes sat in the sink for weeks...

And our baby girl has not even made her appearance yet!

We did manage to sneak in a photo session last weekend though, after months of no pregnancy "progress" photos. These are a few of the better ones of us.


I'm quite relieved that the shop is now closed for my maternity leave, but it feels a bit weird too since I would routinely check it in the morning as soon as I got up. Still, it is one less thing to worry about at the time being. All orders have been packaged and sent out as of today, including the blog giveaway packages. Now I just need to mail out some Christmas cards and a baby shower gift for this crafty expectant mom (who shares the same due date as me) before the week's end.

With Christmas less than a week away, I'm finally shifting my focus on making our home more festive. I was hoping to get this mini artificial tree since space is at a premium but the two Canadian Tire locations I went to were out of them, so I'm not about to trek all over the city just for that. We may end up getting a real tree from down the street since it doesn't quite feel like Christmas without one to me. I did pick up some cute stockings and wrapping paper from Ikea on my last few trips there. Deciding where to hang the stockings is the question, as we don't have a mantel/fireplace.

So my week is shaping up like this:
Today was my last shopping day out, getting last-minute gifts and post-pregnancy items.
Tomorrow I'll be baking up a storm since I have to stay home all day for a delivery.
Wednesday is yet another prenatal visit and I'll be delivering some Christmas goodies to a few people/places.
Thursday, I'll be happy to be at home and nest.
And Christmas day I suggested that we order take out for dinner. Yes, it'll be a quiet Christmas, which is fine by me. Matt will be working pretty much every day except Christmas up until the baby comes, so slaving away for a whole day in the kitchen for just the two of us seems a bit like overkill. Hopefully there are some decent restaurants open. Of course, who wants to work on Christmas?

Well, if I don't get a chance to wish everyone a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays before Friday, let me do so now. May your day(s) be merry and bright!

Long Overdue

I've been terrible at blogging lately.

So much to do and so little time.

That's kind of how I felt yesterday after Matt and I got home from doing some baby shopping, finally. We bought a crib, but the saleslady told us that a car seat and stroller are more important. We only started looking at some yesterday. Yikes!

I'm still not due for another 8 weeks - so that's not the "overdue" the post title refers to - but I feel like the clock is steadily ticking and it's hard to accomplish much these days.

These books literally sat on this cart for weeks, after we finished setting up our shoji sliding doors. I finally reshelved most of them yesterday morning. Still need to snap some "after" shots, but I'm waiting until the shelves are fully reorganized, which will hopefully happen next weekend, once we go to Ikea again.

Here are some more "in progress" shots of our shoji doors... these, like my home reorganization, are the long overdue things I'm referring to.


Oh, also of note: this morning I redrew for the winner of the October blog giveaway since I didn't hear back from the original winner. Congrats to Leslie, one of my etsy customers last month. Stay tuned for this month's giveaway announcement... happening in under a week.

Think Pink

I've had pink on the brain lately, so I'm loving this pretty treasury that I'm currently featured in, thanks to this sweet seller.

And I finally bought the first few baby clothing items over the weekend, including these oh so adorable sneakers from Old Navy, where I've done quite a bit of my maternity shopping. I've been resisting the urge to buy everything cute in sight, but I couldn't resist these.
I promise to share some photos of the finished shoji doors soon. They are mostly done, but we are wanting to add some castors to the bottoms to make them easier to slide back and forth. Another trip to Ikea is planned for later in the week for more baby-related items and more office and studio gear. As usual, I'm looking forward to it.

Bye for now.

Making Room for Baby & Shop Stuff

That's a bit of what I've been up to recently. Since we live in a loft, the open concept requires a bit more planning for a baby and we've been racking our brains on how to divide up the space. Right now we only have these curtains as a room divider.
I am leaning towards enclosing our bedroom to keep the cats out - where baby will sleep for the first year, most likely - but whatever we put up has to still let light in, be relatively lightweight but sturdy, be easy to install and affordable! Yeah, wishful thinking. Matt wants to build shoji screen sliding doors himself - I took out the book below from the library for him - but without a proper workshop and tools, I'm wondering how easy this diy project will be. Those of course would be ideal (except who knows how they would hold up with the cats loving to scratch wood?). We've got less than 4 months to come up with a solution.

{Oh yeah, we found out it's going to be a girl!

I've kind of just been savouring the news and telling a handful of people so far. We'll see if the results hold up, since I've already had my share of surprises with the pregnancy so far}

We've been making room for our new addition in there over the past several months and finally acquired a lovely new dresser for all of us on our last trip to Ikea.


Most of my clothes have made their way onto the other side of our bedroom and I am badly wanting to finish my walk-in closet plan for them, since it is kind of a sight for sore eyes at the moment.

The Stolmen system from Ikea is what I have in mind for our personal clothing and also for my shop stock, as it works well in places with high ceilings. So I'm on craigslist daily searching for that and numerous other Ikea pieces at reasonable prices.


And speaking of making room for baby, unintentionally, this past week we had to throw out almost everything we had stored in our building's basement storage locker, due to our own and someone else's ignorance. Apparently every time it rains - and this summer has been a wet one for sure - the basement in our building tends to flood. We only found this out recently. Well, combine that with someone not speaking up about a broken pipe in her storage locker and our choice to store stuff in cardboard boxes, and you get damaged goods. Plus, since we didn't try to salvage things right away, mold started accumulating and for our safety and our baby's safety, we - well, Matt mostly because I shouldn't be moving heavy things right now - had to toss out everything that we thought had been contaminated and wasn't utterly important.

That included all of his childhood mementos, albums, artwork and his most prized toy, a stuffed rabbit - his mom had gathered it all to give to him when she and his dad moved out east several years back. For me, I had to let go of a box full of old journals and sketchbooks, which had me a bit ill at ease. I don't want to imagine someone else reading those or going through my personal things. But oh well, if that stuff had meant such a great deal to us, we probably wouldn't have put them down in storage. That's what I've tried to tell myself.

As well as rearranging stuff in our home, I tried out the new rearrange shop feature on etsy the other day and colour coded all my items. I don't know why, but I tend to do that with things. My clothes are like that and when I had my own section for clothing in stores, I would do that. Our bookshelves are like that too.

Right now, red is on the first page. I will change that up probably every so often. At least you can still change the view to select "most recently listed".


Other than that, I've been pretty busy screen printing for others and getting together my own Fall stock to send out to various shops. This is one of the images I printed, which is also one of my favourite new ones available through Oddbird Designs.


I'm also working on a new design featuring an owl - yes, not just a puttytat! - and will hopefully have it ready to unveil and print in a week or so. And I've got a new custom portrait keeping me busy too, which I'll post about another day. So all in all, pretty busy and happy for it.

This month's giveaway will be another good one, with 3 different winners chosen, so be sure to check back on the 15th!

Woo Hoo!

My Too Cute bookmark made the front page in this great looking treasury last night. Thanks to Jenn for letting me know about it. And thank you to the new blog and twitter followers. There's still a few days left to enter my August giveaway! Winner to be announced on September 1st.

And I'll finally be able to find out if we're expecting a boy or a girl on the 2nd! My doctor is making me wait - poo on him! - until then. At least he/she is kicking lots, which makes me happy.

Have a great weekend! I'll be back in a day or two to unveil some new items.