This week got away on me once again and here we are at Friday already! I’m off to work now but thought I’d leave you with some Valentine’s inspired DIY’s to start thinking about. We’re far behind on getting a class schedule up this month at the shop (still recovering from the bustle of our first holiday season!) but have a number of fun and crafty workshops in the works. If you were to take a hands on creative class, what type would you choose? I’d love to know!
We’ve been enjoying plenty of cold crisp sunshine in these parts and there’s more in store for the weekend. I’m looking forward to a rare weekend off and lots of time bundled up outside with the kids. Wishing you bright days wherever you are and I’ll be back to chat again on Monday 🙂
Did your weekend fly by as quickly as mine did? A little bit of work and a little bit of play with a good dose of sunshine thrown in for good measure…no complaints here! This week is sure to be busy so I thought we should start it right with some colourful blooms and a bright studio tour. Laura Jones is a still life and portrait artist in Sydney and I couldn’t help but be drawn to her boldly brushed paintings when I came across them at The Design Files last night. I think you’ll agree that they are bursting with life and I just love the intense colours and heavy brush strokes…
Do you have a busy week ahead? We’ve got lots of new and vintage product arriving almost daily at the shop which will keep us occupied. I also really need to get more organized on the home front. My hall closet is constantly overflowing (so frustrating) and I should really work on some realistic meal plans, to name a few specific things. Looks like it’s time to start some new lists…if only there were a couple of extra hours in each day! Have a great Monday 🙂
It’s been another busy week already and I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever be able to sit back and put my feet up…not for a while, I’m thinking! The shop has been really steady and there’s always something to do between ordering new stock, hunting for “new” vintage treasure and reorganizing the space itself. Yesterday I brought a load of pumpkins, fresh from my father-in-law’s back field, over to the shop and the front porch is finally looking ready for the Fall. I also snipped quite a few trimmings from around my backyard and its amazing what some colourful (and free!) branches can add to a corner. Do you have a certain harvest look for the Fall or do you wait to dive in at Christmas? Rich autumn hues are so easy to work with (as are most of nature’s colours) and I love the warmth they bring to a space…
We got a great demo of our new line of CeCe Caldwell’s chalk + clay paint on Monday night and I’m excited to dip in and try it out on some unsuspecting pumpkins at the shop today…and maybe a few spare canning jars too! I’ll see what happens before promising to share pics though 🙂 I also tried out that Lemony Pesto Pasta recipe on my family the other night and guess what? They liked it! And it literally only took me 15 minutes to whip up. Win win. Did you know that its Small Business Saturday across Canada in a few days? Celebrate small businesses and entrepreneurs in your neighbourhood by shopping local this weekend!
Despite this record-breaking string of sun-filled days and warm temps, the crisp chill of Fall is definitely in the air each morning and evening. It felt great to have a few much-needed days off over the long weekend and I feel like I got somewhat caught up on chores and I must say that it feels fantastic to have a clean desktop again! I even got some “downtime” clocking in on Pinterest and found myself Pinning many a DIY. A lot of them are ideas for potential classes at the shop but I think most of them would make really great gifts too. Christmas isn’t all that far away (gulp!) and I would love to finally have a chance to make the majority of my gifts this year. I don’t know if it’s all that realistic now that I’m working but I’m willing to give it a shot! Here are some that I would love to be on the receiving end of too…hint hint…
I find that I generally have lofty ambitions when it comes to handmade gifts but leave them until far too late in the season. By starting soon, I’m hoping to get at least a few completed before the hustle and bustle of the holidays moves into full swing. If you live nearby, be sure to check out our lineup at the Spruce Workshop….we’ve got screen printing and jewellery making coming up later this week…and get a head start on your gift giving list too! Do you have a strategy for Christmas gifts this year? Online shopping or handmade all the way? It’s easy to get overwhelmed but I’m aiming to keep it as simple (yet thoughtful) as possible this year. Have a wonderful Wednesday 🙂
Exciting things are happening around here, that’s for sure! I’m so sad to be so very far away from all the action as Lily and company set up shop, a “real” shop. Yeah! I wish them all the very best and I will make sure it is one of my stops when we visit home. I’ve got news of my own although it’s not nearly as exciting. With our recent major life change, I feel like I need to really dive into the experience and make myself available to the opportunity that lies in wait for me here in Florida. So, in order to do that, I’ll be taking a break from blogging for awhile. I’m not exactly sure for how long at the moment but at least long enough for me to feel like my feet are more firmly planted here on the ground. It’s been a fantastic couple years with Lily and I definitely miss having her only 4 minutes down the road but our paths have changed and we now need to go with the flow.
I’ll finish up with a couple posts next week and then I’m off on my own adventures. Thank you so much for stopping by to read what’s inspiring us and for leaving us encouraging comments, some of you almost daily. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Ah, yes, the weekend is here and it will be much more relaxed than the last! I’m looking forward to resting my brain and catching up with some friends with lots of chill time fit in for our own little family. We don’t have a whole lot on the agenda except for brunch with friends after a local parade, going out for drinks for a friend’s birthday and then Rachel + I get to have a little spa day with some other friends on Sunday . I have high hopes that Brad and the kids will let me sleep in a little bit and that the rest of the weekend will look a little something like this…
What do you have on the agenda? I’m thinking that some R&R will be just what the doctor ordered to get me feeling back to my usual self again. That and some much needed sleep! Oh, and you can read more about Rachel + I over at Hodge:Podge today…the lovely Barbara included us in her So Canadian, Eh? interview series. And come visit me over at Poppytalk for my latest guest post featuring edible gardens…lots of Sunday morning reading for you! Have a wonderful weekend!
After a very long day of travelling, we made it “home” without any major issues. The girls were fabulous and I’m so proud of how they kept up with me through the airports while pulling their own suitcases. I hope our trip home will be as easy. Before we left, I was granted Mother’s Day off to go shopping. Pure bliss. Of course, I stopped in at Anthropologie to have a look around and came across the lovely stationary of Quill and Fox that I’ve been eyeing on Etsy. The Terrarium Postcard Set came home with me because my stationary stash hasn’t been replenished in a long while. Who wouldn’t love to find any one of these in their mailbox?
Phew, what a week it’s been! Rachel and I have been so busy with market planning, family fun, and another exciting project that we’ve got to keep under wraps for just a wee bit longer. Yesterday, we had a fantastic (and very hot…in the full-sunshine kind of way!) photo shoot with the lovely Jayme Lang. We’re pretty excited to see the final photos! We used a gorgeous yellow settee from Jessica of Trove’s amazing furniture stash, packed up some of our own vintage treasures and headed out into the field behind the EcoDairy with our new market partners, Helinda Vanderkoii and Tanya Curtis. We had lots of giggles and more than a few awkward poses but it was really fun….even the horses kept coming close to see what in the world we were doing in their field!
Needless to say, I’m feeling a little bit fried in the brain department right about now but I did manage to collect some pretty and unique table settings to share with all of you brides and party hosts out there…
Isn’t that window seating chart incredible? So beautiful! And I’m loving the DIY script projects in the latest edition of Canadian House & Home. Off to regroup before we leave on holidays to Oregon next week. Don’t worry, we’re filing away blog posts to share with you while we’re at the beach!
I thought I’d feature a little Before + After that I did over the weekend. Now, it’s not picture perfect but I was happy to get at least one small project checked off my list before we leave on holidays for the Oregon Coast next week. My front door and outside entry have been looking more than a little blah lately. I’d originally wanted to paint the front door a bright grassy green but chickened out and went for a “safe” moss green instead when I painted over the white metal a couple of years ago. Notice that I also neglected to paint out the bright white trim…
So, I took myself on down to the Home Depot and picked out Martha Stewart’s Caper Berry and had our door painted in under a couple of hours. You know those projects that you finally tackle and then wonder why on earth you put it off for so long? Yes, this was one of them. Notice I still neglected to paint out that bright white trim! Question of the day for you: Our window trim and fascia are all black. Would you paint the door trim black as well or paint it green like the door? I’m leaning towards green to add a bit more punch to our shadowy front entry but haven’t quite made up my mind yet…
Next stop was our local wholesale nursery, Devan Greenhouses. It’s by far the most affordable place to buy plants in our town and my kids love making the trip there as well…the petting zoo and kids corner definitely help! Devan didn’t disappoint me on Saturday. I filled my cart with all of these lush plants (that’s 4 flats hiding in there) for a mere $40! Seriously! I found the little green metal cart at a garage sale last weekend for $5 and it just so happens to match a larger green trolley that Rachel + I used for our last market display…you can see it in the window behind.
I came across these outdoor blue and white pillows on clearance at Homesense last week and you know how much I’m loving blue and green colour combos these days! Next step is to stain the front deck…and repaint the rest of the black trim and fascia. Funny how house projects snowball into more, isn’t it?
Wondering what that building permit in the window is for? Check out my handy hubby’s new man-shed. He’s been working hard building it for the last few weeks and just got a fantastic deal on all of this gorgeous cedar siding through a friend of ours and I’m loving how it looks with a fresh coat of stain! Now, if only I could use it as my dream studio…
How are your summer projects coming along? Hopefully you’ve checked a few more off of your list than I have…but at least we’ve got one last month of summer before school’s back in session. By the way, be sure to stop by our fresh-faced Fieldstone Vintage Market blog. Steph Anne of Yellow & Savvy Designs put together yet another gorgeous web page design for us and we even have an online application form now!
A Beautiful Mess
The Proper Pinwheel
A Subtle Revelry
Delighted Momma
Photo by Alice Patterson forThe Sweetest Occasion
Krickelin
