Take Your Sister to Work Week

I had a big job this past week for a certain store's summer toy catalog.  My sister volunteered to come out to LA to escape the Toronto winter for a bit and put her talents to work helping me paint and organize the sets and props.  Putting her masters degree in Psychology to excellent use!

It may look like she is having fun, but it was a LOT of hard work and long hours to put this one together.  My favorite part was when she would have to stand in for the talent.  Off to camp in the photo above and pictured below she is standing in for a one year old while we get the toy placement and the lighting right.  Oh if only she had pursued that modeling career!
 

Thanks, LK, for all your hard work! If you decide not to pursue the psychology thing there is always room in the Art department!

The Cake Pop Disaster or W N D I Y*

I was in Urban outfitters the other day and happened upon this adorable book:

I don't really know why, but I thought to myself "oooh those would be fun to make".   Who wouldn't love a tasty cakey treat on a stick?  I envisioned myself as the hit of every party.  Move over Martha, Sara K. is in town! Of course keep in mind that me and the kitchen are NOT the best of friends.  Instead of buying said book at Urban Outfitters I  took the next logical step by going home and researching "How to Make Cake Pops" videos on You tube.  If professional bakers can do it, errrr, so can I?   This was my favorite video, by Cakebot Simple, Easy to follow, (and groovy music). 

 

So where did I go wrong? Lets see, maybe it started with not buying the proper tools and ingredients.  I went to a cooking store instead of a baking supply shop.  They sold me molding chocolate instead of melting/candy chocolate.  They were out of lolipop sticks, I thought I would improvise and use a bunch of chopsticks we had lying around.  Um, yah, you can laugh but it made perfect sense at the time.  Not that I got to the point of using sticks.  It was about the time when I mixed the cake and frosting together with my electric mixer (a process that looked relatively easy on the How To Video) that I decided to call this project a WNDIY*.  

Martha, you can keep your title for now.  It looks like I will be bringing a bottle of wine to the next party I'm invited to.  Now excuse me while I go clean chocolate cake and frosting off my ceiling!!!

*When Not to Do It Yourself

Inspiration: Preppy Alligator Nursery

 

Alligator Mobile by Bananafish available at amazon.com

Stackable toy boxes by Kanga Room also available at amazon.com

There are a lot of great children's story books that feature Aligators and Crocodiles,  one of my favorites is The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl. Collecting a few adds a nice touch to any theme inspired room.

Alligator Plush Blanket - by Zoobies, available at amazon.com

Alligator Children's step stool by Custom Climbers on Etsy

Croc Pattern Rug "Amazonia" from the Martha Stewart Collection at Safavieh

Big and Baby Crocodile by Skartshop

Fitted Alligator crib sheet  from the Nantucket collection by Bananafish   

DIY argyle wall -- for detailed instruction on how to achieve this amazing effect check out designdazzle.blogspot.com

Procrastinating Actually Gets Stuff Done

This week has been all about procrastinating, and who knew that procrastination could be a valid method of getting something done.

For example.  Right now I'm procrastinating from cleaning my office.  I was cleaning my office because I was procrastinating from doing my bookkeeping.  I was doing my bookkeeping to procrastinate from cleaning out the fridge (that's a scary task),  I started cleaning out the fridge to procrastinate from folding laundry.   I was doing laundry to procrastinate from going to the post office,  I was going to go the post office instead of going grocery shopping.  Oh, I should really clean out the fridge before I go grocery shopping.

I'll be right back....

I cleaned out the fridge to procrastinate from writing this blog post.

Oops, one sec....

Sorry, couldn't think of any more procrastination points so I decided to fold laundry and then vacuum the floor.  I know, I know,  should just finish this blog post already.  But, maybe a little data entry of my expenses wouldn't hurt, I can come back to this post tomorrow ...

Bookkeeping done, but now what can I do instead of finishing this post? Maybe if my office were cleaner, my head will be cleaner.  I'll finish this later.

Decided to go to the post office before cleaning but now I'm hungry, so I'll clean in a minute, better go get groceries first.

Okay. back.

Lets recap:  While procrastinating from writing this post I managed to: Clean the house (not my office), empty fridge, go grocery shopping, drop of package at the post office, balance my books, catch up on a some tv shows, run a few miles, clean the lint and cat hair from under my keyboard,  and accomplish a slew of other random tasks that weren't even on my list.

Okay, so my office isn't clean but this Blog post is DONE!!!

Love takes Patience

As proven by this art piece made entirely out of matchsticks by artist Pei-San Ng.

It's Valentines Day.  What are you doing to celebrate? Do you exchange cards? Go out to dinner? Get flowers?

The Husband and I are not  into calendars or Hallmark telling us when and how to show our love so we started an ironic tradition a few years back.  For Valentines day we give each other the gift of "space".  A day where you can go off an do whatever you want to do (within the limits of the law).   Last year The Husband went camping and I went out to dinner with the girls.  This year I think he is going to take a beer brewing class and I will take a dance class.  

For Valentines day we will be appreciating ourselves so that  for the other days of the year we can love and appreciate each other.  

Small print by Wild8flower on Etsy 

Do you have any quirky traditions? How will you be celebrating Cupid's Holiday this year? 

Under the Tuscan Sun

 

Over the holidays I began experimenting a little with a new printing process.    I created  this limited edition print set inspired by my summer vacation to Tuscany. I love how soft the texture is and how rich the wood grain shines through. 

 

It is not yet available for sale, however, it opens a whole new world of possibilities.

Sequin Love

 This is  hanging in my dining room.  It looks amazing when the sun shines, shooting bursts of light all around my the room.  It makes the whole world sparkle.  It is definitely the show stopper in our apartment and I have had quite a number of requests to make more of them.   Although it is kind of a dream of mine to become known as the Michelangelo of sequins, I don't have the time to make another one just yet.   Instead, I thought I would share a little "how to" insight so you can make it yourself.

It was originally made to be used in a photo shoot and it was quite an ambitious undertaking.  We used approximately 10,000 pins and sequins.  It took nearly 36 hours of work time with a revolving team of people participating.  However, don't let that scare you.   It's super simple to make, the hardest part is planning your design and grid ahead of time.  After that it's surprisingly soothing to zen out and stick sequins into a board.  This is my first (of hopefully many) DIY posts, so please feel free to ask questions and/or leave a comment with suggestions.

Check out the quick timelapse movie of the process:

Look at me, I'm a real blogger!

It's one thing to blabber on your own blog, but now I've been published on another blog.  My very first guest blog post.  Check it out at: seejenroerun.blogspot.com

 The blog is written by my friend Jen.  If you need a little inspiration in your life, you should really go on over and read it.  She is a working mom struggling to find balance in her life.  She is honest and spirited and makes me both laugh and cry with her posts.   This is just one example of one of my favorite and HONEST posts.  Check it out:

 

To follow her journey check out the rest of  her blog: FROM FAT TO FINISH LINE