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!

A Sweet Holiday Giveaway

new pocket calendar (coming to the shop soon)

Okay, it's giveaway time again! Normally I announce them on the 15th of the month, but this past weekend just got away from me and I was not feeling energetic enough to do much else than veg after two full days of being out baby shopping and more.

Without further ado though, here are the details:

Since I will be closing shop for maternity leave, starting Dec. 16 (perhaps sooner), this month's giveaway will actually be for November AND December. And there will be 3 separate prize packs to be won.

With the Holidays around the corner, each prize pack features an assortment of goodies that are purrfect for giving away or if you're feeling more Scrooge-like, simply keeping for yourself.


Prize Pack #1
• Sukibaby Holiday Pack of 3 Cards
• Christmas Kitty Magnet Set
• 1 Set of Holiday Gift Tags
• A 2010 Pocket-size Calendar (choose 1 from 12 designs; only 1 not pictured is pirate kitty)
• Gift Certificate worth $25

Prize Pack #2
• Creme Owl & Pussycat Limited Edition Scarf
• A 2010 Pocket-size Calendar (choose 1 from 12 designs)


Prize Pack #3
• Aqua Clever Kitty Boy Brief Undies
• A 2010 Pocket-size Calendar (choose 1 from 12 designs)

Ways to enter (this time):
Leave a comment sharing your favourite Christmas/Holiday memory or gift received/given.

• Any purchases made in my shop from November 1st - Dec 6th will also get your name entered in the draw.

• All my Happy Customers and current blog followers are automatically entered every month.

Winner will be chosen at random, using the random number generator and I will announce it on my blog on December 7th!

To keep things fair, winners will be given 1 week to reply to my notification email. So please be sure to include an active email account in your comment/link or give me some way of reaching you. Otherwise, new winners will be chosen.

Thanks in advance for playing along. Happy Monday!

Hello November

Wendy and her kitty, Aoi

The last week of October was one of my most trying ones since I've been pregnant. I think the third trimester has brought back hormonal changes and fatigue, putting me on a bit of an emotional roller coaster for the last little while. Without turning this into a completely woe-is-me sour post, let's just say that Thursday was by far not my best morning, Friday was a bit exhausting - waiting 6.5 hours to get the H1N1 vaccination; and Saturday I spent most of the day on the couch or on the toilet, recovering from the shot that's supposed to keep me and the baby safe. Yeah, fun!

So, I'm looking forward to a better November. Pretty please!

I know I promised to share photos of our finished shoji doors, but I have not had a chance to take decent ones yet. Instead, I thought I'd share a photo that one of my super lovely recent customers sent to me, showing off her new tee along with her own wonder kitty.

And it's also time to reveal the winner of last month's giveaway. I made the draw this morning, once again using the random number generator. Out of 93 entries, Priscila was the lucky winner.

Thanks to everyone who commented, sharing your Halloween costumes, past and present. Hope you all had a fun, safe Halloween! And thanks also to all my etsy customers for your purchases and support in October. I was hoping to offer a free download in time for Halloween to thank all my blog followers and etsy customers, but I think it will have to wait until next year.

I may come up with something for the holidays. Christmas, after all, is my favourite holiday of the year. But I'll have to get cracking on stocking up the shop with things before baby comes. Be sure to check back at my blog and my shop announcement for important suggested mailing dates as well as my maternity leave dates. I'll be finalizing those dates in the coming weeks.

It's a Holiday (Again Already)!

Today is Family Day in (parts of) Canada. So our little "family" is enjoying a quiet day in after a lovely weekend together. Matt and I had planned on going grocery shopping but didn't realize that the store would be closed today. Oh well, we're making do with the stuff in our fridge and cupboards.

Hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's! Instead of exchanging material gifts this year, Matt and I spent the day on a photo expedition (which began last Fall on Nuit Blanche and Matt called it our "Love Walk") documenting all the apartments we've lived at since we've known each other. I'll have to post those photos on another day, but there's a sneak peek above and below.


We only took photos of the outside, so most of the places look a little sketchy. As the saying goes, "don't judge a book by its cover", but I think our previous digs certainly could label us as "starving artists". We've come a long way, baby!

We also stopped by Fresh Collective to drop off the goods I screen printed for my friends Tara and Kelly. Tara happened to be in the midst of reorganizing her display and very generously bestowed me with a pair of beautiful cast-iron birds that she no longer had room for. They are now sitting on a newly reorganized shelf in our kitchen where the microwave used to be. I really love how they look there among the glasses, etc.


The rest of Saturday was spent watching movies, dining on take-out and chocolate cake. A perfect day, really.

Now it's dinner time, so I best help my sweetie with it.