More Playing Dress Up

We all had so much fun working on our very pink dress up inspiration shoot. It was (for me) the first time working with children in multiples, which could have ended up going in any direction really. It was all good, although there was a teeny petulant area when they got to the table and found out they would have to wait another three minutes before they were actually allowed to eat the pretty cakes :)

Also, we changed the location last minute both because one of the desserts was a white chocolate mousse cake and there was concern of it dissolving, but also because there was a storm coming in. Yes. With large, angry black clouds. The kind of weather that you see and run indoors for a cup of cocoa... not the kind of weather you see and grab all the pink glass you own to run outside and set up a tea party. So we were racing against the clock before we even headed to a local park. (This is where I say another big thank you to Heather for her "apres" work on the editing and making it look MUCH sunnier than it was.) All of the above shots are the setting up of the table... all of the below shots are what was accomplished in the few minutes we had before the sky tore itself open and poured torrents down... Luckily by that time the cakes had been consumed :)

The couple from All About Afternoon Tea are lovely Brits who have lived here for almost a year and they are extreme foodies. They take their white chocolate mousse cake very seriously. Becca also takes very seriously the fact that her mother in law was visiting, and the shoot was on the last day of the visit. It is rather a wonder that they were able to work with her perched five feet away in a lawn chair, fussing. I'm pretty sure all the table planning that Becca and I did in advance was directly related to the amount of time she had to escape the house for the previous two weeks. Of course, I thought it was so wonderful that she was so keen :)

The kids were troopers. I am constantly amazed (being a mom) how resilient children are. There were a few grumblies about being shuffled about, but for the most part, they were amazing! Our bride disappeared three days before the shoot. Welcome to the Kootenays. So in the interest of efficiency, we decided to simply focus on the girls and nix the bride. Well, then then one of the girls wasn't able to make it. Then another one. We were down to Aziel and Aeowyn and a whole lotta cake!

I had asked another friend to bring her kids initially, but she had to work and couldn't make it to the first location when it was forty minutes away. When we changed the location to five minutes away I left her a voicemail and a plea. Not only did she (and her four gorgeous children) show up, but she also volunteered to model the part of the bride! So this was somewhat a family affair (as Aziel and Aeowyn are the photographer's daughters and Paloma is a friend of theirs).

When I went to pick up the flowers, Nadine wasn't home (she runs the Green Poppy out of her apartment downtown) and it was such a lovely surprise to find the gorgeous bouquets in a box on the floor of her adorable abode... so I still have yet to actually meet our Organic Flower Goddess, but I am most pleased to have made her acquaintance. She is a woman with a talent and some serious enthusiasm! Her ability to take my ideas and throw them back at me far better than I was able to explain and in a fabulous package is brilliant. Much happy. I have known about Honey Candles for quite some time, as they have an excellent reputation for organic and beautiful beeswax candles. I know I keep saying so, but they smell divine! The birdcage veil hat came from the most adorable little boutique downtown called the Fairies Pajamas. Such pretty things!

All in all, the day went swimmingly (literally toward the end there...) and we all walked away pleased. I'm even more pleased to be able to bring you some info about each of these vendors in the next bit on the other blog (I know, back and forth, back and forth... I am getting confused as well) and will bring you a bit more of the story about each one.  I went out of my way to try to find locals who use organic and sustainable business practices, and each one gave me a big smile. If I can do it in such a tiny town, so can you! Part of the process that falls under the sustainable category is that each is a local small business and / or artisan. Supporting the local arts and culture and helping them run a business from their craft while not cutting corners is really the way to go! It also means that you are probably working with awesome people :) Hope you enjoyed the process and the photos!

T minus ZERO

It's SPRING!

Yesterday I went outside to see if the neighbour's dog was defecating once again in my driveway and four hours later I was still pulling dead wood out of the forest to build a "fence" around the lower bit of my yard that runs along the road. The different family members came out to take turns telling me how nuts I was and that if I thought that a four foot high wall of sticks was going to keep the four year old in check, I would need to add barbed wire. Little did D know that in fact I do intend to add a deterrent... how long do blackberries take to grow?

future garden party

 I am beyond excited to see the forest emerging from the snow, bit by bit. I really want to create useable space (for garden parties of course!) throughout the yard and while it has the potential to be beautiful and woodlandy, it is currently the unfortunate creation of too many past tenants who neglected to do anything but let the branches fall where they may. I found four year's worth of X Christmas trees, six bags of moss and yard waste buried under last year's maple leaves and the remnants of at least a few bear visits. "The Bear," which all of my neighbours have now told me about, apparently nicks the garbage in the area and holes up under the massive fir tree in the back corner of the property to indulge in old yogurt and stale bread... won't get into the nastier bits, this is a nice and happy Spring post... :) Going to have to do something about that though.

The high point of my day was finding the snowdrops peeking out from beneath the snow and leaves. Spring is truly here!

I have a few other Spring Fever thoughts. One is that I am intent on updating my wardrobe with the nicer weather. This whole concept of finding any part at all of my pre-child body is just going to have to give way to the fact that I have a crappy closet.

I just happen to have found a few happy pieces in the new Lilikoi Spring collection which fits my bill of local, eco, and GORGEOUS! I also might be a bit biased because the model she has used this time is just friggen' stunning. I may even have to do a red hair rinse and start wearing makeup again...

Another Spring thought, is that wedding season is once again upon us... so I have done some tweaking to the other blog. It used to be a NON-blog... essentially a place where I put stuff so that I had someplace to send people who were looking for info on the Celebration Quilts that I do. A recent setback in the social department left me with some time on my hands and the need to occupy my brain, so I have been diligently slogging away to rehabilitate my NON-blog into an actual blog. I can use it as a place to deposit those strange but intense needs to peruse and research that industry. Try as I might, I simply cannot get it out of my system. If you would like to give me some ideas or feedback, please do. I feel very OLD when I post wedding info because I have no idea how to include words like "adorbs" and "gorge" in my vocabulary. Nor am I able to commit to rhyming Shoesday with Tuesday. But I think I will be able to hold my own ;)

In the bridal department, there have been some very interesting ideas unfolding. Purely by accident, I was put into touch with the right people at the right time, and some VERY EXCITING things are in the works. Funny how life works like that. Sometimes you have to take something out of the equation to allow room for the new. Now, if only I could take care of that dog. Do you think capturing him and shaving him bald would teach the them a lesson? I hesitate to punish the dog for his owner's rudeness. Perhaps I will wait till the warmer weather for that...

Runs with scissors...

Holy Freakin' Cow! The effort one must put out to find a few minutes on a computer in this town! (Cows are holy by the way, it is OK to say that.) My computer has, it seems, fallen into the vast nothingness that is the office of the only Mac guy in town. I sent it by way of sneaky-like-spy through a friend of a friend who he owes a favour to and it STILL has taken weeks and weeks! Not a very big favour obviously. So frustrating!

I keep seeing things during my wanderings (like this...



...and this...)

Christmas tree made from coat hangers and snow of crushed glass...

that make me want to run to the nearest USB cable and download, but it just doesn't work that way in such a town as Nelson. I have even resorted to cleaning my house to keep my mind off blogging! Did I mention the cow? The holy one? Yes, like that.

I will have to continue this the next time I can steal time on a machine. It has taken so long to download these photos and whatnot that I must now depart. Ack! So soon! I have barely written anything and I have so many things to chat about! I hope you are all out there feasting your wallets on craft faires and markets! Indie and handmade are our mantras this season (as should be every season) and I will be bringing you some lovely ideas from my deeply camoflauged Martha streak soon enough! This year I combined a bit of Domino with a dash of Martha and taught myself how to make stained glass gingerbread. YUM! Pictures soon, I promise! Let's all keep our fingers and toes crossed that I get my little metal friend back asap! Till the next time, here's to more rum in your nog!

And Just Around the Corner...

This might be cheezy, but has to be done...

While browsing quite some time ago, I discovered Cafe Cartolina through a blog I have become rather attached to as it is based out of the city where I grew up. Vancouver's Poppytalk was having Cartolina guest blog, and lo and behold, there were all sorts of wonderful shots of the lovely and teeny town in which I now reside, Nelson B.C. That is waaaay up in Canada for those of you who are desperately trying to find it on the map. (It's worth a look-see by the way.) So now I have attached myself to Fiona's very fun blog also, partly because she regularly posts yummy pictures of New York which is on my hit list, but alas, I have not managed to visit as of yet.

Anyhoo, part of Fiona's Nelson story covered my most favoritest tiny shoppe in the entire world. Wait... that is pretty hefty... Nope. I can't think of another favoritest tiny shoppe. I think this place is genius and while I really try not to copy other peoples stories, I simply have to write about them myself. I hope that is blog kosher, I am still unsure of the rules. I keep coming across these photos I had taken and every time somebody comes to visit I usher them down there to take a peek, so why wouldn't I post a bitty blurb, right? (Do head over to Cafe Cartolina to see her beautiful words and pics of Nelson though.)

If you know anything about Nelson, you know that we are filled to the gills with talented artists and crafters. Very Hush Hush is the brainchild of a duo whose prior ventures have already established them as creators of unique ceramics and textiles that have sophisticated personality.

Joining forces, Tracy Fillion and Cathy Terepocki have pulled together an imaginative and perfectly selected group of wares in the most stylin' shiny silver walls of an upcycled '64 Airstream tucked away in a back alley downtown. There is nothing more appealing to me than unearthing the ultimate find in a random place and the Very Hush Hush gallery is just that.

These lovely ladies have a keen eye for local talent and use it! In addition to their own pieces, they carry wares from designers such as Flight Path and Doha Chebib from the Loyal Loot Collective, whose colourful lathed log bowls are being seen in various esthetically astute places as of late. Very Hush Hush is definitely small town goes big style. In a teeny weeny space!

A New Friend...

I just want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to Fiona from Cafe Cartolina for helping me figure out my recent blog nightmare. It doesn't take much for me to make things go wonky on a computer... and here I thought I could get away with doing something that seemed so simple at the time but sent my entire layout into Never Never Land. She went way above and beyond to get me back on track and I can't say how much I appreciate it!

I had intended to do a bit of a blip on her stunning cards anyway because I just finally got to see them in person and yes, they are as gorgeous as they appear on your screen. As I had hoped, they have a wonderful feel to them and the colours are amazing! So I am being extremely efficient here and showing off her work as well.

I know one of these doesn't actually say thank you, but it is my favourite design of hers so I just sort of slipped it in there. I can. It's my blog.

Thinking in Green

I am usually loathe to suggest that people buy from a chain store such as Pier One or Pottery Barn, although my love for IKEA stands uncontested. I usually buy artisan made pieces, thrift store finds, or retro-fit pieces myself. There are definitely stores that I snoop through but I am lucky enough to live in a place that has an abundance of artists and finding a unique piece is, to me, a far more enjoyable and satisfying option.

Having gotten this disclaimer out of the way, I have to say how much I love these pieces out of the new Pottery Barn catalog. I love the fabric selections for both the 'Madison' and 'Brooks' chairs and the simple style of the chairs themselves.

There are a few accessories that I may have been tempted into buying if I lived anywhere near a store, but with the headache of shipping glass and the added cost of shipping period, I can get an artist here to reproduce them. This is something that you can always consider, in this day of greener thinking and trying to support a local market, there is no reason not to collect your ideas from stores, catalogues or the WWW, but always keep in mind that these can be re-created by an artist in your area and often sourcing them out is a wonderful experience. Getting together some friends and doing a tour of a studio or even an art school (where the prices tend to be much lower) can make for a rewarding weekend activity.