baby's first christmas

We hope everyone is having a great holiday break! I thought I would sneak this post in between the two holiday weekends, amidst the buzz of visiting, family gatherings, and constant feasting (perhaps, too much feasting). Here is a pic of our tree (yes, it is real... uh, and, yes... it is sort of a mishmash of old and new ornaments... I like to think of it as my anti-designer tree... heehee). This was Jasper's first Christmas... and we found out very quickly that he loves playing with wrapping paper. We probably could have wrapped up piles of wrapping paper as a gift and he would have loved it, but alas, Santa did get him real gifts. Here he is with one of his favourites... the dancing Snoopy doll (the head and feet move so it looks like it's dancing to the Peanuts song!).

peppermint forest

I am just finishing up some last minute holiday baking... ok, well not really baking in the case of these... technically melting and prepping... ta-da... some cool white peppermint bark. These will be packaged up with a batch of cake balls that are currently baking in the oven. (Notice how I chose super easy recipes?... as you can guess, I am not much of a baker... heehee). My goal is to finish making all these treats and eat as little of them as possible. These are for giving, and I have to keep reminding myself that it would be very disappointing for the receivers to get a sad half empty box of treats. Must resist!

snowy mountain tops

Roger took to the slopes a few days ago and snapped some amazing photos (these shots are from the chairlift at Cypress Mountain). I can't wait to go up this year... it has been quite awhile, since I was preggo last year and this year we have the wee one... oh, I am so itching to go! Anyways, thought these pics would help put everyone in a winter holiday mode!

hubert the gnome

It has been a while since I have posted a picture of little Jasper (now 6 months old!), so today I am posting a picture of him with his new friend. We picked the little stuffed gnome up at the Got Craft event a couple of weeks ago from Hudsonny, and he just looooooves it! (Uh, yes, I admit I was shopping whilst working the craft fair... it is very hard to resist). Anyhoo, after running through a list of names, "Hubert" got the biggest laugh and smile, so "Hubert the Gnome" was born. Check out the Hudsonny etsy shop here for some very cute things!

craft show hangover

It has finally come and gone... the big One of a Kind show was last week, and I can finally let out a big sigh of relief! To be honest, I am pretty exhausted... I feel like I have craft show hangover. The four day show (plus the two days of set-up and take-down) were starting to make me feel a bit batty. My feet are sore and my smile hurts... I guess I am not destined to work in retail, huh? Here are some pictures of our craft collective's booth – the other two crafty companies forming the Hob Snobs Craft Collective being Track and Field Designs and The Beautiful Project (so, yah that is why you can see some other very cute crafty items in the pics too). Thanks to everyone who came out to the show and visited our booth! And now some time to relax... oh wait, the holidays are coming!!! Eeeeeek! Where does the time go????!!!

one of a kind

After hours of set-up and many days and nights in panic mode (apologies to everyone around me having to deal with my panicky state, btw)... the Vancouver One of a Kind Show is here! This is the big mondo show I have been sweating about all year long... a four day affair, it is the mother of all craft shows for me. Eeeeeeeeeeeeep! I will be working the booth with two of my lovely crafty friends under our collective name Hob Snobs. Hope you can come visit us... we are booth #E5 and right by the entrance... woohoo, so you can't miss us. I will update with photos of our booth soon!

One of a Kind Vancouver Show Info:

This holiday find everything you need under one roof at the One of a Kind Show and Sale. 250 of North America's most talented artists & designers will showcase unique gift ideas for everyone on your list.

December 9-12th

Booth #E5 (Hob Snobs Craft Collective)

Vancouver Convention Centre

www.oneofakindvancouver.com

got craft?

I can't believe it is finally here... my first holiday show for the season... oh, where has the time gone! Apologies for not blogging more lately... I have been in crazy production mode this past few weeks (and I have the craft explosion in my house to prove it). This weekend I will be at Got Craft in Vancouver, featuring 50 local handmade artists, a DIY table and free swag bags for the first 45 people through the door. Yes, you read that right FREE SWAG! But do come early if you are trying to claim one of the 45 swag bags... there is quite a line-up every year... and no one wants to see two craftistas wrestle over the last bag whilst wielding knitting needles... that would be very un-holiday like. Hope to see you there!!

Here are the details:

GOT CRAFT

Vancouver's largest indie craft fair featuring 50 local handmade artists.

Sunday December 5th

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Royal Canadian Legion

2205 Commercial Drive (@ East 6th)

http://gotcraft.com/

sweet swag

It has been super hectic lately since I have been gearing up for some upcoming holiday craft shows. My first show is this coming Sunday (Got Craft). Every event, each vendor at the show contributes some crafty items to fill the swag bags that are given away to the first 50 entrants. Here's a sneak peak at some of the sweet swag I am contributing... some cute mini cards! Check out all the other swag everyone has contributed here. Too bad I'm not eligible to get one of these bags! I'll post more details of the show soon!

what a punch

I found a set of mini craft punches at the dollar store a little while ago and couldn't pass them up. There is a leaf shape, a cherry blossom shape, and (my favourite) an apple shape. I like the idea of having a bunch of cute shaped confetti, however, that would require some tedious hours of punching... which would then make it too darn precious to want to throw. Instead, I punched out some label paper and made some cute little stickers.

snow snow snow!

So would you believe that we have had our first snow fall already! This past weekend we woke up to a pleasant surprise. It usually never snows very much here in the city (on the local North shore mountains, yes, but not too much here)... and especially this early! Time to dig out all the scarves, boots, and mitts! Hooray for snow, snow, snow!

bear-y cute surprise

I found a cute little surprise in our mailbox yesterday... a little handmade gift for Jasper from one of my crafty friends, Heather (also, one of the original members of our craft collective Hob Snobs). I love crochet and amigurumi (and never ever did figure out how to do it after several failed attempts..ugh)... aren't the orange pants and little letter "J" on it's shirt the cutest thing? The little bear has already been welcomed with a big slobbery kiss (from baby Jasper, of course).

the sky is falling

It's getting colder and wetter here as winter approaches, so we are trying to enjoy the last few sporadic days of sunshine and clear autumn air. The last few leaves are clinging to dear life on to their branches... so, today I thought I'd share some pretty pics my hubby Roger took on his way to work. I guess these pretty little leaves are always nicer to look at when you know you don't have to rake them.

coasting along

Craft production is underway full force over here... if you can see my workspace now, you would think a bomb went off in a craft supply store. It is dawning on me that the November days are going by very quickly, and that the two holiday shows I have signed up for are fast approaching, so I am getting a wee bit nervous. Since I am too embarrassed to take a picture of my mess of a table top, I zoomed in on one of the batches of cork coasters I just finished burning. Now to find energy to package them all...

counting the days

Hooray! It is finally done and now available in the shop... the Cabin + Cub 2011 desk calendar! The new calendar features 12 months of a selection of my favourite mixed media collages... and yes, it comes with a nifty little wooden easel stand too (uh, did I just write the word "nifty"... I guess I did). Don't you want one for your desk now? Check it out in the shop here. :)

yellow and gold

It has been sunny here that past few days, so me and Jasper have been going for long stroller walks along the autumn tree-lined streets. Who wouldn't want a little yellow and gold to brighten the day?

a wild halloween

This was Jasper's first Halloween. So after much contemplation, we thought it would be fun if he dressed up as a character from one of our favourite children's book, Max from Where the Wild Things Are. Since my sewing skills are subpar, I cheated a little bit – I only made portions of the costume (the tail, claws and crown). I can't take credit for the white snuggy suit part... I can thank Old Navy for that portion... so, in the end, Jasper was able to roam wild in his little costume without me having to worry about it falling apart. Hope everyone had a great Halloween weekend! ;)

pumpkin family

We have finally carved our pumpkins! We carved them a bit last minute this year, and sadly one of three big ones we got from our trip to the pumpkin patch was a wee bit rotten...ugh. So, instead I carved a wee baby pumpkin fella for our wee baby. Here is our pumpkin family! Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween with lots of treats! We will be enjoying some yummy sweets (yummy store bought pumpkin and chocolate tarts)... mmmmm.

pumpkin pressure

Ok, so we still haven't carved our pumpkins yet (where has the time gone?)... and Halloween is coming up fast. I think that is what we will be doing tonight. For inspiration though, we did venture out last night to view other carved pumpkins. The pumpkin pressure is on! Alas, I haven't been a total Halloween slacker... after some struggle with the sewing machine and needle and thread, baby Jasper's costume is done! Check back this weekend for the big reveal!

spooky train

Halloween is fast approaching... hooray! To get into the Halloween spirit, we visited the Stanley Park Ghost Train for our annual spooky ride (only a little spooky, of course, since it is for kids of all ages). The theme this year was Alice in Nightmareland. The wee one pretty much slept the entire train ride... but I guess hard not to when you are too little to see the actors and scenes while being genlty rocked in a train in the dark. At least we didn't have to worry about him being scared. I'll post some more Halloween goodness soon!

pumpkin patch kid

A new picture of Jasper to share with you today. This was taken on our trip to the pumpkin patch (see yesterday's post). I had to get him all gussied up in his autumn attire for the occasion (yes, I am going to enjoy playing dress-up with the baby as long as I can). Oh, and that is my knee in the bottom right of the photo propping up my child... he is still a bit tippy.

picky pumpkin patch

With Halloween just around the corner, we headed out to the Westham Island Herb Farm on the weekend for some pumpkin picking. With baby in the carrier, we trekked out into the muddy field to pick out our soon-to-be carved victims. Murphy's law that all the wheelbarrows were taken, so poor Roger was left juggling three pumpkins (one for the each of us), while baby and I kept changing our minds on which ones we wanted... ok, ok.... I was the indecisive one, the baby is a bit too young to be picky about pumpkins. I'll post pics of the carved creations closer to Halloween!

collage: two cats for one bird (and shoe)

As promised, although a bit late in the posting, is one of the new collages I have been working on! This one is called "two cats for one bird (and shoe)". A bit strange perhaps? But there was once a time where bartering was super common and made a lot of sense... ok, so maybe not in the 1950s department store, as this collage suggests, but that's just getting technical. Not sure who is getting a better deal here... I guess that depends on whether you are a cat person, a bird person, or a shoe person (I am the latter, btw). I have put a lot of those collage-y bits I posted about to good use, so will be posting more collages soon!

clickety click

Ok, so you all know by now that I am obsessed with all things Barbapapa, and that I have posted a lot on my growing collection of Barba-things. Well, who knew I could find one of my fave vintage cartoon characters on Etsy! I don't think I ever hit that "Add to Cart" button so fast (has anyone every had a mouse-clicking injury before? haha). So, after a clickety-click, I now have a new bag... now acting as a diaper bag (yes, that's right... I am starting my baby off early on Barbapapa collecting too). Check out the cute etsy store, Ella Osix, here to see more cute bags.

oh gourd-ness!

I hope everyone up here in Canada had a great Thanksgiving long weekend! We had a great weekend with family and visits (ie. ate lots and lots and then complained about it afterwards), as well as enjoyed the very autumn-ey weather (woo-hoo, fall sweater time!). Thought I would share a pic of some gourd branches my sweet friend Carley (check out her blog Secret Squirrel) gave me the other day... aren't they pretty?... they almost look like tomatoes. Not sure if they are edible or not... I am thinking not... it always seems the prettiest plants tend to be the most poisonous and non-edible. Perhaps it's their way of luring prey in... mwahahahaha.

collage teaser

I have made a bit of progress with collaging this week... am almost done a few... just a few more illustration-ey bits to add to finish them up. Here is a tiny bit of a teaser... will reveal one of them in its entirety next week after it is done! Intrigued, aren't you? Ooooh, the suspense... and over the long weekend too (well, if you are in Canada, like me, and celebrating Thanksgiving). Happy Weekend! :)

pretty petals

Our patio garden is slowly perishing as the weather is getting colder, so we're having to enjoy our indoor plants now. Just got this pretty orchid from the parents, who are orchid obsessed... er, I mean orchid aficionados. I am glad they are really into orchids and not spider plants - not that there is anything wrong with those plants - they're just not as exciting, in my eyes, as these pretty petals.

birthday bounty

Back from a bit of a blog break last week... it was one of those hectic head-spinning weeks, so I was glad to have this past weekend to relax and celebrate - it was my birthday! Roger surprised me with a wonderful weekend... a festive family breakfast outing, fun walks amongst the autumn leaves, some window shopping, lots of cool gifts (a new jacket, concert tickets to Avi Buffalo and a new Barbapapa book... yay!), and a home cooked gourmet dinner paired with lots of wine. I couldn't ask for a better birthday. He even took pictures for me of his cookery adventures, so that I could share them with you today! How sweet!

born to skate

I got inspiration for this photo of Jasper from this cute little blog called Mila's Daydreams (if you haven't seen this site before, it is a must-see... sooooo cute). Anyhoo, seeing as how Jasper's dad loves to skate, I thought introducing the wee one to his first ride would be a good idea. And if you are wondering why the skateboard looks like a giant puffy hotdog, well it is just a Tony Hawk skateboard pillow I found at the local department store... soft and puffy, so no helmet required.. teehee. ;)

first day of fall

Today is the first day of fall! While I am sad to see the summer come and go, I must admit that fall is my favourite season... colourful leaves, fresh crisp air, autumn harvest and Halloween and Thanksgiving... can't wait! Time to shelve the sandals and tank tops and break out the socks, suede boots and cozy sweaters!

mmmm.... butter

We celebrated my sister's birthday over the weekend (she just moved back into town from Ontario, so better celebrated in person rather than over a long distance, even if a bit belated). Nothing like a good family dinner followed by a selection of colourful pretty cupcakes (we got these ones at Butter on Dunbar in Vancouver). Hard to choose which one to eat, hmmm... or more like, hard to choose which one to eat first. ;)

collage bits

I am making some slow progress (which is better than no progress, right?) on my collages. Have clipped out lots of cool images and will start working on layouts and illustration soon. Also, I figured out a way of storing and putting away these itty bits of paper a lot less tedious ... (which might be a useful tip for some of you). After seeing a puzzle mat in a Lee Valley catalogue, I decided to make my own out of thick felt and a mailing tube. Now, all I have to do is roll it up, when I'm not working on them. Hooray!... craft mess contained!