Hello again.

image via ankepanke

I've been focused on finishing up roughs for a children's book, while stocking shops and filling wholesale orders...
and weaning Whitney.
Finally.
But I'll save that story for another post...

I wanted to share a little collaboration piece - well, it really only involved me sending my art to the woman behind the real work - that is now available for purchase right here. It's a planner themed around girls. So if you are a girl who's into planners, like I am, then this would be a great one for 2012. Or anytime. You can fill in the dates yourself. There are 3 different covers to choose from. My favourite is this one. What girl does not love shoes?

This would make a great gift for someone. Or pick up a copy for yourself. I know I'm going to.

A Zoo (Birth)Day!

This year we spent my birthday (last Saturday) taking Whitney to the Toronto Zoo for the first time. As we don't own a car and neither Matt nor I like to drive in the city, we ttc'ed it there and back. One way was about 75 minutes by bus, subway and bus again, so it was quite a long haul. Thankfully we have been blessed with a pretty easygoing and chill little girl - she must take after her daddy :) - who despite skipping her nap, was in good spirits right up until her bedtime.

She got to see so many of her favourite animals…






And enjoy some cake too.



If you're able to count all the candles on the cake, you'll see I'm now 36.

If I've learned anything this past year, it's to not be so hard on myself and on the ones I love. Of course that's something I'm continually working on.

I'm also striving to appreciate living in the moment, to cherish these first few years of our daughter's life, when everything is new to her, and she is learning so much and becoming her own little person.

Whitney has recently started talking in short little sentences and surprised me the other day by saying "Thank you, Mommy" after I gave her some crayons. It was so sweet and unexpected.

In the evening we watched this documentary which had me shedding many a tear and got me thinking about some things that I haven't really thought about yet. When you're in the moments of overwhelm, it's sometime hard to appreciate time with your little one. Especially as a self-employed work-at-home mom. But this movie certainly reminded me that our kids are only young for a little while. So if it means shifting my focus for a few years, then so be it. Not always an easy thing to remember when my ego (and work) gets in the way.

Anyways, hope everyone is enjoying their weekend so far. Bye for now!

Hello Weekend!

Matt emailed me this image that he came across yesterday morning. I thought it was too cute not to share and it sets a light-hearted tone for the last weekend of the summer.

This week was semi-productive, but I never seem to get as much done as I would like. Things usually end up taking way longer than I estimate them to take.

My belly is definitely expanding quite easily these days. Sitting on my ass coupled with not leaving the house for a few days certainly helps its growth. All I can say is, thank goodness for drawstring pants.


Here's a peek at what I was working on for most of the latter part of this week.


I'd been toying with an owl and pussycat idea for some time now and it finally occurred to me to make a pattern out of the animal pair. Each critter will also be made into individual screens too and I'm excited to print them onto scarves, totes and other textiles.

I'm loving the new clever kitty, as I like to think of "her".

The owl took a bit more trial and error until I was finally satisfied with "him". Getting him to look as cute as the kitty was tricky, but I think they look good together now.
Another nice online surprise I got yesterday morning was discovering that one of my items is currently in an etsy gift guide. I think that's the first time I've been featured in one, that I've known of anyways.

Hope everyone else had a great week and has a happy weekend! Bye for now.

Back to Work... finally

Photo courtesy of now vintage

My mom's visit was lovely and involved lots of eating, plenty of relaxing and a bit of shopping. As suspected, she was not thrilled with our digs, nor with the cats, though I think she had warmed up to them by the end of her visit. Dex certainly didn't let her feline distaste deter him from jumping on her lap on several occasions. (Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos, but my mom took quite a few that I will share once she sends them to me.)

I was sad to say goodbye to her on Monday. Happily though, we will be seeing each other again in a few months when we meet up out east at Matt's parents' place to celebrate a number of milestones.

Naturally, I put off doing any work while my mom was here, so now I'm playing catch up. I've got a new stationery set or two in the works, a new print that still needs to be inked and painted and a new screen that needs to be made so I can print up more cute tees. I'm also doing some design work for this sweet friend. At least this little deer (pictured above and my most recent purchase on etsy) is keeping me company while I work on the computer .

I'll be back later in the week with some progress shots, hopefully.

April Showers, Indeed!

April's here and I'm wondering, will the rain ever stop? I need to get me some red wellies anyway.

Well, as predicted, I did not get a chance to blog last week. It was mostly work that kept me busy, but some play was involved too. Basically I worked (outside of the house) from Monday to Sunday, so by the time I got home, all I wanted to do was veg... I mean, relax.

I helped out this sweet friend again at the One of a Kind Show. Although it was quite a bit slower on the first few days - due in part to the "two R's", rain and recession - things picked up on the weekend and I think it was another successful show for Candice. Her tanks and dresses sold like hot cakes and I'm thrilled that I'll be getting my hands on one too in the near future. My fingers are crossed that she can find the same fabric again.

I am finally considering applying for the Christmas show myself. We'll see if I get in. I spotted someone wearing one of my clever kitty tees on my way out of the show the other night, so that was a little confidence booster.

There are a few new things in the shop:

Nine Lives Version 2 Magnet Set

Fancy Felines Button Set


And I updated most ofmy website finally. The individual product pages still need to be updated but everything else is pretty much current. Yay!

Later this week I'll share with you my new home decorating related obsession.