circles

You know what's amazing? Moms. Specifically, my Mom.

My amazing mother made the long trek from Saskatoon to Montreal this past weekend, just to help me with the countless hours of ironing and sewing that has to be done in preparation for the upcoming sales. As the "to do" pile has gradually morphed into the "done-and-done" pile I realized that I really couldn't have done it without her. Amazing.

And on that note, this post, from Claire Loves has really resonated with me.

This past year has not been easy. I took a 9-5 graphic design job earlier this year for some financial security, and feel like I'm constantly running in circles. I currently spend over two hours a day commuting, 8 hours a day trapped in an office far far away from my studio (and anything else, really), and my evenings and weekends working my butt off to try and catch up. I'm constantly exhausted, and as a result feel like I'm never living up to my full potential.

I know there are people out there who somehow manage to juggle two careers or careers and families, or families and lives or whatever, but man, I don't know how they do it. For me, something as simple as taking photos of new work takes a week for me to accomplish, which is so discouraging.

My health is taking a hit, my sanity is taking a hit, and most importantly - my happiness is starting to hit rock bottom.

I need to start making some real and significant changes in my life towards what I really want and really love doing - illustrating and printing textiles - and it's never been more apparent than now.

January is just around the corner and to that, I say bring it on. Let's make something happen.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the USA!

In conjunction with Poppytalk Handmade, I'm running a special Thanksgiving weekend sale - free shipping on everything in the shop, to anywhere in North America.

This only lasts until Sunday, so head on over to my today!

goodbye, beautiful

We noticed on the weekend that this lovely old sign that used to live on Park Avenue has disappeared. I'm not sure when it was decided that it was an eyesore, but as J put it, it was really the only thing interesting about the business below it. What a shame.

I wonder what became of her?

pillows!

Some new pillows made it into the shop this weekend, printed on a really lovely and durable linen/cotton blend.

I only have a few of each kicking around at the moment, so get them while you can!

busy! busy once again!

Like the majority of the crafting world, I'm ridiculously busy at the moment. Busy and starting to panic as I creep steadily towards the "holy crap I don't know if I'm going to get it all done" stage.

I'm preparing for two upcoming craft sales: Smart Design Mart, to be held on December 4,5 & 6 in Montreal, and City of Craft, on December 18th and 19th in Toronto. I'm extremely excited about both, but definitely have my work cut out for me! I'm sure the talent at both will reach the blow you out of the water stage, so you should definitely check one or both of them out.

Posts will be few and far between as approach December, but I'll try to sneak in some updates on some new products I'm working on (bikes! glasses! glow in the dark ink!). In the meantime, check out this cute etsy treasury, created by etsy seller marcela. I think it's so pretty, and I'm very pleased to be part of it!