Cyber Monday Sale!

I had no idea what Black Friday or Cyber Monday was until recently, but I do love a reason to celebrate and give a bit of a treat to all you out there who support us! For my fellow non-North Americans, Black Friday is the crazy sale day after the US Thanksgiving and people line up at 3am for $1 computers from Best Buy. Cyber Monday is the following Monday when all the online stores have their crazy sales once people are back at work....or secretly shopping online (thanks to Lili educating me in the ways of crazy sales days). So, up until midnight tonight everything in our store has been marked down by 15%! Also, because I love you readers so, I am offering free worldwide shipping to you all for the day! The sale prices have already been marked, so all you have to do to take advantage of the free shipping is to enter the code "Cyber Monday Bliss" and I will send you an updated invoice (note: do not pay when etsy prompts you to, but wait for the new invoice instead. If you forget, not to worry, I'll just reimburse you!)

Happy shopping, lovelies!

Crafty times!

Holy Hannah, is it ever busy here in Vancity at the moment! There is an abundance of amazing craft fairs coming up between now and Christmas, and we are excited to be at two of them! If you live locally, you'll be able to find us at the Blim Monthly Market tomorrow from 11-5 at the Cambrian Hall (Main & 17th). We've never been vendors at Blim before, but not only have we been to and loved their previous markets, we generally just love supporting what they do.

Then, next Sunday we're going to be at the Got Craft? Holiday market (11am-5pm, 2205 Commercial Drive)! We've done Got Craft? before and absolutely loved it! There are going to be so many fantastic other local designers, artists and crafters and its always a fun time getting to meet up with all of them and see their work also. Oh, and if you are planning on coming to Got Craft? remember that the first 30 people who come through the door get free swag bags full of goodies from all us crafters!

Finally, because we're so thankful to those of you who are able to support local artists, we're going to be marking all our products with our Etsy prices (ie: US dollars) so there is a little bit of savings there for you! If you do make it out to either of the fairs, please stop by and say hello!

Farmer Joe

1. Plaid Skirt by sohomode 2. Cape Plaid by sohomode 3. iPhone Case by blytheking

With the onset of cooler weather I'm all about all things cozy. Wool, flannel, quilts and the like. And plaid, of course the plaid! I can't tell if I first fell in love with plaid while simultaneously falling in love with grunge in the early '90s, or if it is more of a throwback to living in the country and being surrounded by farmers in the ubiquitous Swandri, but love it I do. Most especially if it is in wool or flannel! I know I am not alone in this love, as it has been everywhere lately, and I've also been squirrilling away some plaids to make things for the upcoming craft shows (and also really just for my own house...ha!). Here are a few of my favourite things plaid-wise that I've seen and loved recently, I hope you enjoy!

4. Plaid Day Van Parka by Sessun, 5. Mat Tower Cape by Sessun (h/t for me, for you)

6. Vintage Plaid Black & Tan Shirt by Miss Modish Vintage, 7. Pillow with vintage plaid by enhabiten

8. Bilfold key chain wallet by Stash, 9. Small messenger by Stash (h/t giant dwarf)

And this Teen Vogue shoot I am completely smitten with, in all its grungy plaid, layering glory.

Still here...

Hello lovelies! Just a quick note to say that I'm still here, albeit it drowning in craft supplies, dirty dishes and laundry. We've got a couple craft shows coming up that we're preparing for, plus the countdown to Christmas and all that comes with that (including the shop getting busier, yay!). We're good though, even if a bit busy, and are looking forward to getting out there and seeing other local crafters (but also secretly looking forward to the post craft fair sleep in). I swear I have crafting on the brain though, as the other day while at this crazy babysitting speed date like mixer, one of the parents asked me where the University of Etsy was. Apparently I'd put that on the resume this group of 15 or so parents now had. Good one, Becka. Ah well, I have got myself an iPhone and I'm pretty sure its making me magically way more organised, so I'm actually feeling pretty good about the next few weeks of craziness. Plus! Plus, we have some new products we're hoping to bring out in the next week or so that I'm really excited to share with you all!

I hope you're all having a lovely weekend! What are your plans for it?

xo

Stylin' 101

red cottage pillow by enhabiten

I'm so sorry I've been such a slack blogger lately, craft fairs are coming up, sickness comes and goes, not enough hours in the day, etc, etc. I do have a new post up at Poppytalk however, on styling product shots if you'd like to go take a peek! I have some posts stored away in my head (must start writing things down) though, so I will be back to regular programming soon I promise!

xo

Wordless Wednesday: Final bursts of colour.

My Place and Yours, My Secret Weapon.

I've been a bit bad at keeping up with the My Place and Yours posts due to sickness, but when I saw that the latest one was a shot of your 'Secret Weapon' it was too fun to resist. You really should go and take a peek at what others have done! My secret weapon is soup. The above is a delicious yellow split pea soup (recipe to follow) I made today for lunch (and then ate again for dinner with many, many biscuits), but I really love all soups. Meatless, natch.

If you talk to my aunt, you will hear many a story of me turning my nose up and pumpkin or vegetable soup when I was younger, which to me is totally crazy as I'm now basically obsessed with it. Due to my soup love, I have tried out many a recipe and can whip up a pretty mean potato and leek or ginger carrot batch. I love that you're really just building on a (perfect) base of onions, garlic and oil and then adding whatever spices, seasonings, veggies or beans take your fancy. Yum! It is perfect for the cold weather we're entering into, and a steaming bowl with biscuits make me a very happy lady!

Hearty Yellow Split Pea Soup

You'll need...

- 2 cups of yellow (or green) split pea

- 2 onions, chopped

- juice of half a lemon

- 1 Tbsp olive oil

- 2 celery stalks

- 3 carrots

- 2 potatoes

- 5-6 cups of broth or water

- Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Throw the oil and onion in your pot, cooking on medium-high heat until the onion is soft.

2. Add veggies and saute for a minute or two.

3. Add split peas and broth, bring to the boil.

4. Once boiled, turn down to a simmer. Cover and leave for around 20 minutes.

5. You can blend the soup or leave it chunky, and if at this stage you want to thin the soup just do so by adding more broth/water in batches.

6. Before serving, stir in some lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Keepy on the Sunny Side

Just a little somethin' for your Monday mornings. I've was listening to The Carter Family as I cooked dinner tonight, and I just can't get enough of that old timey music ( this is actually my favourite version, but it didn't have the great video)!

Hope you're all having a lovely day!

xo

Happy Weekend xo

Hello lovelies, just popping in quickly to wish you all a lovely weekend. I've been a bit under the weather lately and ended up taking most of this week off work to try and get back to normal. It's been a week of lots of lemon ginger tea, hiding under quilts and Dawsons Creek (which I'd grabbed from the library just prior to getting sick in order to watch while crafting, lucky!). Oh, Dawsons Creek! I think its almost better this time around than when I first watched it in the common room with all the other girls from my uni dorm. They're all so soulful and dramatic.

It's also been a week of stewed fruit, and lots of it. We get an abundance of apples and sometimes pears in our veggie box each week, and combined with a dash of cinnamon or whatever berries we have in our freezer and some chopped nuts on top, it's just about the most perfect thing I can think of on these cold, rainy days. In fact, I'm eating some right now with granola and yogurt, yum. I also think that I'll be making these toasty oats to go with them, throughout the winter months!

Before I go, here are a few treats to check out while you're enjoying your days off!

Homemade Pipe Shelving (love this)

Lovely Holiday Postcards from Abby Try Again

Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread (!!)

Pip's Where The Wild Things Are Christmas stocking!

xo

Happy Birthday Sesame Street!

Like most of us I'm sure, Sesame Street was a total staple of my childhood. I really, really wanted to live there! Recently we watched a bunch of the old episodes with friends and I was surprised by how ingrained into my memory it all was. Each time a new skit started it was as if I'd watched it yesterday! Also, I was reminded how incredibly progressive it was, which of course as a kid I just took as being totally normal. Of course its ok to live in the inner city! Of course its ok to breastfeed in public! Of course its ok to to be low income or on welfare! Of course its important to represent a wide range of ethnicities and abilities (and accurately and non-cheesy)! So, so good.

Anyway, here's one of my all time favourite moments. It was hard to choose! Aside from that the kids are getting to hang out with Stevie Wonder (whom I love), and hear real music not cheesy made for kid pretend music, watching the little girl just going for it in the background, kills me every time!


Enjoy! Oh, and also check out the other clips I've linked to if you get the chance....and this one. Mostly for the wee girl and kids dancing. Love!

Dia de los Muertos

So, its November. November!! When did this happen? I'm going to chime right in there with everyone else with the 'where has the time/year/Fall gone?' refrain. Because seriously, where has it gone? Christmas is coming scarily (ok, and also secretly excitingly) closer and there is a most definite chill in the air. This past weekend was so fun and perfect for welcoming in the changing seasons. Last night we attended the Day of the Dead celebration at Rhizome, which was lovely and cozy. We brought fruit for the altar that was lit up with candles, lights and decorated with beautiful paper cuts. People placed photos of loved ones, their favourite foods, coffee, beans, Zapatista corn, chili and of course Pan de muerto. I really, really love Rhizome and it is so perfect on a cold Vancouver night. We warmed up on their amazing lentil stew, home made chai and the Guatemalan hot chocolate. Not only that, but on all the company and good conversation that overflowed from all the family there celebrating.

Of course there was also Halloween, for which we dressed up and headed out the Vampyre Movie weekend I'd mentioned. We saw Let the Right One In and Habit, and I loved them both! I must be clear that I am not by any means a scary movie fan, but neither of these were actually that scary. For sure I got frights because, you know, people were jumping onto people in order to suck their blood and kill them.....but, still, so very good. In between our movies we had just enough time to head over to The Templeton for some fries and a shake, served to us by a lovely bearded lady (sadly no photos, I wish I'd asked!), as we watched the parade of costumes going down Granville Street. Can you guess who we were?

Ok, you don't actually have to guess who I was as I'm not too sure myself. My initial costume idea was a bust, so I grabbed this crazy lace mask, dressed all in black, wore a giant piece of amber around my neck and was some kind of Super Villianess/Labyrinth masquerade ball goer.

Oh snap!

custom state/province outline via treefox

I was recently asked by the lovely Jan over at Poppytalk, to do a couple of guest posts on product photography (which I must say, I took as a huge compliment as Jan has just about the best taste that anyone could have!), and my first one is up there now if you'd like to go take a peek! Also, have you seen the new Design*Sponge desktop wallpaper? It's designed by one of my all time favourite artists, Camilla Engman, and up for grabs (its free, so some for everyone!) over here! We uploaded ours this morning and I love it, so.

Happy Monday, friends!

xo