[NEWS] Updates Galore

Whew...what a whirlwind!! There is so much happening in my little world, I hardly know where to begin! First off WELCOME AUTUMN! Welcome fresh, crisp air, nature's colours, spicy chimney smoke and fresh starts. My boy welcomes grade three and my girly is in her last year of preschool - I savour every moment of this short chapter in our lives.

Now onto the FRESH STARTS + NEW BEGINNINGS. I am so excited to present a new endeavour I have started with the help of fellow artisans - Bowen Island Artisans Collective. We are a diverse group of local artisans that are so proud to call this little rock in the Salish Sea - HOME. Our focus is to bring local, handcrafted goods to the heart of Snug Cove in the form of Pop Up Shops, hosted at the beautiful Sugar Cube Gallery. We had our first this past Labour Day long weekend - it was so much fun...I'm still on cloud nine.

In other news, FOXGLOVES Lovely Lads + Lasses will be on display starting September 22nd at the CityScape Art Gallery at 335 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver. The dolls will be available for purchase through the Christmas holidays.

And even more news...FOXGLOVES Lovely Lads + Lasses is so happy to join Collage Collage in their brand new space at 3697 Main Street. The dolls will be making their debut shortly once all the eyelashes have been trimmed, beards shaped and sequins in place. Stay tuned...

Our little homestead has also grown in leaps and bounds over the last couple months...but that will have to wait til another day. Kirsten xox

[DOCUMENT] Family Album Update

I am LOVING the process of putting together this years Family Album. It is so rewarding to sit down throughout the month and recap our days.

The simple grid I created is working really well and I love how the filter I'm using on all the photos makes everything cohesive.

Since my last post, I found this wonderful digital scrapbook site that allows you five free downloads per day. I've been busy collecting the beautiful digital paper. I've incorporated it into my layouts...what do you think?

Some pages are actual events, but most are little snippets of our days. Documenting them through words and photos makes the everyday, extraordinary.

[DOCUMENT] 2015 Family Album

Remember I said I was going to tackle our family albums this year?? Well, I'm back at it and (fingers crossed) I have finally worked out a good template to easily organize my photos and have the design flow from page to page. I laid out a basic grid, and am creating my photo boxes within these guidelines.

I have also found some great Photoshop Actions that mimick my favourite filters from Instagram, which I can apply to all my full size photos, so all the colours flow together. I also came across a free on-line photo editing site that has some fun retro filters that also work well with my colour scheme.

Journalling has been kept very simple, and works well within my grid. I am keeping all my fonts to a minimum and keeping all journal entries consistant.

The introduction pages are super fun with a big bold number indicating the month and a filtered image inbehind. The colour of the number is pulled from the image...love it!

Another fun element I've been using is a wood texture background combined with imagery. It's a nice break for the eye, when there's been several pages in a row with a lot going on. So far this layout is working really well...what do you think?

************ NOTE ************

I should add that the book I'm designing is 8" x 10" portrait layout. The above images are a double page spread (10" x 16") and all photos are from my iPhone.

[EXPLORE] Spring Tides

Spring has sprung on our beaches! Today's beach exploration revealed all kinds of babies under the rocks and in the pools. Baby starfish, sea urchins, crabs and even a mama crab protecting her eggs on her belly. We've found baby jellyfish on other excursions and teensy sea anemones too.

I thought it would be fun to 'classify' our findings in a muffin tin which I brought from home...but Miss Chloe had a different idea - BABY TIDEPOOLS or as she called them 'baby habitats'! That's my smarty pants.

Besides the babies, we also found hermit crabs, a bright orange sea slug, crabs, fish and quite large blennys.

To top it off, I think I got a sunburn...in May!!! Racing towards summer on this little isle.

[FAMILY] Monster Party

Logan's EIGHTH (how did this happen) birthday party theme was a little out of my element this year - MONSTERS. I was finding it hard to switch gears from Chloe's beautiful Under The Sea soiree (pictures to come soon) to zombies, skeletons and gravestones. Once I started collecting bits and pieces, (and my Mom had already scooped up a ton of stuff after Hallowe'en...thanks Mom) it was really fun. We hosted this shin dig at Collins Hall - A beautiful little hall and church with a fenced in yard and small playground that was absolutely perfect and saved my house from a dozen hyper, crazy kids. Phew. And we totally scored with all the creepy decorations from a total stranger that offered up their very extensive Hallowe'en collection - gotta love Bowen for the absolute trusting kindness of strangers!

First up, the food. We had Monster Boogers (popcorn), Potato Chips (cartiledge), Ghouls (chocolate pudding and cookie crumb cups with body parts candy coming out of the dirt), Monster Blood (fruit punch), Monster Eyeballs (Oreo cookies with the top off and fuzzy peach candies with a raspberry wine gum in centre), Bag O' Bones (veggies and dip) and of course creepy zombie cupcakes.

The craft was MY FAVOURITE. And the best part...it was my own idea not Pinterest (unlike everything else). I spray painted a dozen terrecotta pots flat white so it would be easy to colour on, purchased beautiful and interesting tropical plants and a ton of fun googly eyes, monster mouth stickers, pom poms, etc. to decorate.

Once the pots were turned into MONSTER HEADS, we headed outside to the planting station and placed gravel in the bottom, followed by potting soil and then a lovely plant. They turned out AMAZING!! SO MUCH FUN!!

The party finale was a piniata filled with candy - I left this event for when the parents arrived so I would not be responsible for the hopped up candy filled children for longer than I had too!! I could not find a monster piniata, so settled for a Tiki Head - it's monstery right??

[SHOP FOXGLOVES] Packaging

Busy getting ready to launch the FOXGLOVES Etsy Shop - what a fun and exciting journey. In my usual Kirsten fashion, I am completely obsessing over it, and totally neglecting everything else on my plate (sorry house, kids, dog...). Just waiting for my boxes to arrive, then I can get some accurate shipping costs from the post office and open up my wee store.

During my quest to find the perfect box (much harder than you would think), I started thinking about how I would package my dolls for shipping which of course launched a Pinterest marathon that took up way too much time but oh such lovely inspiration.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/105882812/set-of-2-yellow-personalized-french

http://www.dreamkey.nl/a-35640349/oh-so-pretty-party/oh-so-pretty-wrapping-sheets-set-van-3/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/decor8/8142638714/

http://www.ishtarolivera.com/blog/2012/02/letter-to-a-friend-%E2%99%A5-carta-a-una-amiga/

http://www.snailmailmagazine.nl/search/label/april%20snailmail

http://www.cocogold.nl/2012/10/snailmail-inspiration.html

[DOLLS + EVENTS] Refresh Market

Just coming out of my post market haze - what a day! I've never done a market off my little rock before, and was feeling freaked out a little nervous about a new venue and a sea of strangers in a city I'm not very familiar with. Turns out, I had absolutely nothing to worry about as the day went off without a hitch and as an extra bonus, I had the nicest 'table neighbours' a gal could ask for.

The atmosphere and vibe at Refresh is always exciting. The structure is perfect as it boasts natural light, neutral finishes, high ceilings...nothing to distract from the vendors wares. There's live music throughout the day, activities for the kids and yummy food.

I added a couple more characters for this market - the Fisherman's Wife and the Lighthouse Keeper. The Fisherman's Wife features whispy white hair, a pretty cotton dress with patterned leggings, and a soft toque and cowl to keep her warm on the seashore while waiting for her Fisherman to return.The Lighthouse Keeper is a handsome gent with his perfectly trimmed white beard, tailored dark denim pants and thick wool turtleneck - ready to tackle the storm and light the way for the brave sailors.

My set up was pretty much the same as the last market I did, with the addition of another doll stand for mermaids and a lovely grey linen table cloth and geometric table runner. Once again, the typewriter attracted almost as much attention as the dolls (it is a great typewriter).

Now to finally stock the shop...