collage: singing red bird

It's a beautiful sunny day here today and I am in a bright and cheery mood, despite it being tax deadline day (eeep!). So to brighten everyone's day, I thought a collage of a little red song bird would be appropriate. To hear its song (and bring the outdoors indoors), click here. I love the description in the link of what the bird song sounds like: "purdy purdy purdy... whoit whoit whoit... what-cheer, what-cheer... wheet, wheet, wheet, wheet."

more blossoms

Ok, as you may have noticed, I am really into this blossom kick this year... I can't seem to get enough of them! Perhaps it's the rare week of full sunshine we have had up here, so now that I am actually outside more, I am noticing them all around me. I think this one is a plum tree? Not sure... I am not that great at identifying flora yet. If anyone out there knows what this is, let me know!

blast from the past 4

It has been a month since I last posted one of my "Blast from the Past" 90s collages... otherwise known as some embarrassing goodness from the teen vault. At the slow rate that I am scanning and posting these, I will have enough for the next 20 odd years and blogging will be a retro communication form, so perhaps I should pick up the pace. This one is the 4th one I have posted (there are close to 200). Some references to sexism in this one, as well as random bits... it's always weird looking back at things you make as a teenager years later.

Collage: boy and kite

We were walking through the park yesterday, when we spotted a very Charlie Brown moment indeed. Two kids shaking a trunk of a tree trying to retrieve their rainbow kite. The adults that they were with had managed to fly it right into the arms of the kite-eating tree. It reminded me of a collage I had done a few months ago. I have a feeling that the tree claimed victory that day.

typography day in vancouver

The mayor has declared it Typography Day today here in Vancouver. So to keep with the theme and be a bit of a type nerd, I thought I would post a page from an old vintage book I had found in a used book store last year. The 1962 book (titled "Books!" funny enough) has pages and pages of very cute typography – perfect for today!

collage: casting a spell on the bear

Now that it is spring time here in Vancouver, there will be more black bears waking from hibernation and roaming around our local mountain trails. A few years ago we had gone for a summer nature hike uphill on Mount Seymour when we heard a distant warning from another hiker, who was quite a bit ahead and above us. Hearing someone shout, "Hikers! There are three bears up and to your left!" is not the phrase you want to hear whilst enjoying a promenade. (Three bears can only mean a mama and two babies). Anyways, we quickly clapped, hooted and hollered (to scare the bears away) and made a quick detour, thus avoiding any bear encounter and ending our hike. I wish I had a magic wand that day to cast a spell on the bears to let us pass, just like in the fairytales.

social designer

Social Designer is a site that curates and creates products, such as t-shirts and tote bags, for the greater good. A percentage of proceeds from each item go to select charity causes, and the designs are chosen from submissions from around the globe. I recently submitted a design for a "World Peace" t-shirt. If you like my design, come and vote for it here!

happy earth day!

Happy Earth Day everyone! Hope everyone is doing their part today (and everyday) to be a little greener. Here are a few of the little things we have been doing in our house to try and be a bit greener: 

1. recycling as much as we can, and donating things we don't use any more (we are in the middle of spring cleaning, so a lot of this going on now!)

2. trying to eat locally/seasonally/naturally as much as we can, and eating slow food (good thing we both like to cook).

3. walking or taking transit whenever possible and driving only when necessary

4. planting a garden on our balcony (even though my green thumb isn't very good)

5. trying to use more sustainable materials in the crafts we make

6. switching out our old light bulbs as they die to more energy efficient ones

7. switching to earth friendly cleaning products and natural health and beauty products

8. turning down our thermostats (pretty easy since our condo gets super warm very easily)

Every month we seem to find another green solution to add to our list, so I am hoping it will keep snowballing. If you have any other green tips, please share!

magnolias at night

The magnolia trees are blooming all around our neighborhood. I had to post this pretty photo Roger took while the sun was setting. The lighting was so nice, it sort of reminded of a painting.

Also thanks to both Glitzer and I Love Devon Rose for passing on the "Kreativ Blogger" Award!

The rules for this award are. 1. Add logo to your blog / 2.  Link to the person from whom you've received the award/ 3. Nominate 8 blogs of your choice/ 4. Leave a message on the nominees' blogs.

Here are my eight picks to check out: Yumi Yumi Studio · the craft begins · belua designs · crea8ive juice · Stapelia · Track and Field · sugarloop · Creative Happiness

collage: boy and rain cloud

It's Monday morning and it's dreary and raining here again... sigh. Funny how a little grey can effect my mood so easily. So to try and brighten up a cloudy day and the end to the weekend, how about a bright and sunny rainy day collage... yes a bit of an oxymoron, but I think this one works. 

collage: dancing donkey

A cute collage post for the weekend! I figured this one would be appropriate for any of you partying these next couple of days. What could be cuter and festive than a dancing donkey happy trotting along?

my barbapapa collection: salt and pepper shakers

As you may have read in previous posts, I am a huge Barbapapa fan, and have been collecting the odd Barba-item here and there. And no, my house is not filled top to bottom and wall papered with all this stuff (since that would be a bit scary). I got this lovely set of ceramic salt and pepper shakers for Christmas from my sister. Aren't they cute? It makes me want to constantly season all my food.

collage: that boy can sure yodel

A bit of an alpine influence in today's collage. I think I had visions of Heidi, the Sound of Music and that darn Ricola commercial all rolled into one when I put this one together. Who could resist yodeling, if you were dressed like this cute fella. Yodelaheehoo!

Also, thanks to Vivi for featuring some of my collages on her blog Hiving Out this past weekend, and thanks to Jen for featuring my fawn bookplate on her blog Naughty Secretary Club.

cherry blossoms

Being an allergy sufferer, I have a love/hate relationship with spring. Despite my stuffiness though, I must admit that one of my favorite times of the year is when all the trees start blossoming all over the city. I love walking down the city streets and seeing all the petals sprinkling the ground. To see a map of all the cherry blossom hot spots around Vancouver, check out the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival site (the festival runs from March 28 - April 24th).

snoopy tattoo

This past weekend, my hubby Roger got a tattoo to celebrate his birthday. I have never actually seen a tattoo being done before, so it was very exciting! Since it was mostly black line work, there was no blood, thankfully (I can get a bit squeamish). On the inside of his left forearm, he got a trio of Peanuts characters (Snoopy being his favorite) in their Halloween costumes (his favorite holiday). Snoopy is even wearing a cute scary mask!

collage: blue girl and singing bird

Perhaps a good day for another spring/easter inspired collage today since it is technically easter monday. Hope everyone had a great long weekend filled with lots of chocolate eggs and rabbits! I'm sure all the shops have all their chocolates and candies on sale today... but just be sure to not eat too much, or it may turn you an off-color like in this collage!

collage: funny bunny

It is easter weekend, so I thought I would post something bunny related. This little guy reminds me of those large chocolate bunnies I used to get with the candy eyes. Actually, the chocolate ones were never as cute, and a lot of times it was such a disappointment to learn that they were hollow inside - they should really stop making those. It's like false representation.

love in the mail

I love getting surprises in the mail! It's so nice not to get another bill or piece of random junk mail. Things have been so busy latley, I forgot I had won a recent giveaway on The Pink Needle's blog in late March... and it arrived in the mail a couple of days ago... yay! The hand embroidered pin is so cute I had to take a pic and share it with everyone. Check out Jessica's other lovely pin designs on her etsy shop here.

collage production

I have been a busy bee this past week working on a new batch of collages... my goal is to try and post a new one on etsy every one or two days, as well as post them on this blog as well. My table is scattered with bits of paper and wood here and there, and I am finding the oddest scraps seem to stick on random pieces of my clothing every now and again. Always have to do a mirror check to make sure there isn't any patterned paper stuck on the back of my jeans before I leave the house... that would be a tad embarrassing! Will start posting more new collages in the coming days!

collage: fun and games

When I walk to the bank from my house, I always pass the local daycare centre down the street. This one time, the bell rung and the door flung open to a barrage of 3 - 5 year olds screaming "Yay!" at the top of their lungs as they streamed out the door way. It was the cutest thing. I think it would be awesome if adults still did that when it came to the end of work day. Could you imagine a group of corporate executives doing that?... how funny would that be!

dick bruna

My long list of favorite illustrators include a lot of children's book artists. One of my fave illustrators is Dick Bruna. I have been a fan of his Miffy books, along with his other characters, since being only wee tall. If we are ever in the Netherlands again, we will definitely have to make it a point to venture to the Dick Bruna Huis, a museum of all his art work... it must be amazing! I usually am not a fan of museum gift shops, but I think I could go buck wild in this one.

bird sanctuary

On the weekend, we went for a walk at the local bird sanctuary (about an hour's drive outside of Vancouver). Armed with two small paper bags of bird seed, we mostly encountered mass flocks of ducks that would follow the rustling sound of our paper bags. One of the trails was heavily guarded by several pairs of hissing geese at several points. In order to bypass, we ended up throwing bird seed one way as a distraction, while quickly scooting past. The last thing I needed was to be goosed by a giant goose.

collage: little bird singing the blues

I fell in love with this blue flower pattern paper, so I had to use it somewhere in one of my collages. I think this is what it would look like if birds were to sing the blues... I mean they must have their good and bad days too, just like the rest of us?

collage: owl talk

Some owl-ey goodness today! I don't know why, but owls are one of my favorite birds. Perhaps it's there night time habits, or ability to rotate their heads all the way around, or association with autumn and Halloween.... not sure... they are just so darn peculiar and fascinating. Anyways, I couldn't resist making a collage when I spotted this wise fellow... hoot hoot!

bearbrick collection

My husband and I like to collect things, and one of the small collections we have is a series of Bearbrick figurines. Originally from Japan (although easy to buy here in North America), each Bearbrick design has a different theme - some are based after famous characters, while some are designed by different artists. A few of my fave ones are the Monchichi one (bottom panel, far right), the Eames pattern one (bottom panel, back row, yellow) and the Warhol-inspired yellow and pink camouflage one (top panel, middle). We try to pick up a couple each year to add to our collection. Aren't they cute?

collage: girl and approaching rain cloud

Woke up today and there is a mix of heavy rain, hail and sleet.... sigh. Instead of crawling back into bed and hiding under my pillow, I think I will work from the home office today. Perhaps this is mother nature's April Fool's joke on us all in Vancouver today... grrrrrr.