DIY Wreath

Its almost christmas! and I am definitely getting into the spirit of the season this year. I love the coziness of Christmas - just ask my Hubby, I go on and on about how I love being cozy. Blankets, fireplaces, candles, the smell of a real live Fir tree living in my house...Christmas is cozy!

As always, my DIY project had humble beginnings at a variety of second hand stores. I got the wreath and Styrofoam balls at MCC on two separate shopping trips. I got like 25 of the balls, and used most of them on my tree! I stole two for the wreath though, because they're just cute. I am starting to acquire a nice collection of neutral fabric bits which I used to transform the balls into cuteness!

The bells I got at the dollar store, which always makes me happy. I have a whole bunch hanging on my tree as well.

The star was the most involved part of the process since it involved hand-sewing! But still, it took me a max of 15 minutes to sew around the edges and stuff it with fabric bits.

I attached everything with string so that next year, if I so desire, I can re-use the wreath for an entirely new look! I know, very thrifty of me.

Soo, now all I need to do is have a Christmas party. Where we eat fancy cheese and admire my wreath. Kidding!

pillow fun

So, I made these pillow cases probably over a month ago (you see how the photos are sunny? Not exactly the weather we've had lately lol...), soon after we came back from "the honeymoon." I had two bare big pillows that I picked up cheap at a garage sale (gross? not when you make your own cases for them...lol!) and I wanted to get them covered and on our bare couches! So here they are...not super exciting, but the look great and they're pretty cushy. They make movie-watching better.

I staged them out on our back patio with the planter my mom gave me. The silver plants were planted for our wedding, we used them in our bouquets and had some extras! She spoiled me and gave them the left-overs. So far, they're still alive! Although the flowers have died, but I guess that's what happens when it gets cold...we all start to shrivel up...lol! Good thing I've got lots of pillows!

Wedding Details: Website!

One of my favourite details to work on was our wedding website. I haven't done much web design at all in the last year, especially coding (at work we have a web guy for that...lol! He implements all my designs for me). Anyways, I really do love coding, especially the simple stuff (html and css) so I was excited to build our wedding website! I went cheap, because I'm dutch to the core, and hosted it under my own portfolio website (why buy a domain for a temporary website?!).

I had to do some "soul searching" to decide what to include on the site. In the end, I just had fun building it and found it a good way to share our engagement photos and our "love story." It also seemed like a good place to share last minute details in case the weather didn't turn out how we planned...but of course it was a lovely day!

My first draft of the site had "Wednesday, august 8 2011" on the top of it...um oops! I guess I was thinking more about html tags than the actual date of my wedding...lol! thanks to sisters for calling me out on it before I went live! 

Click on the photo to view the site:

Sweet or Sour?

A shot from a magazine spread I'm working on...

(it is inexplicably fun to doodle on lemons).

Working on this shoot today put some things into perspective...Dwayne and I are facing the probability of his truck kicking the bucket, which, well really really sucks since he depends on it for work. Not what you want to be worrying about the week before your wedding! (or the week after while in Mexico...). But its hard not to evaluate your own reaction to bad news when you spend the first few hours of your morning carefully etching the fruits of the spirit onto bright yellow lemons with a sharpie.

As the author of the article points out, grace has been given and our salvation is assured. All of the issues that really matter were taken care of at the cross. The fruits of the spirit are the tools we've been given to cope when life happens, when we decide to deny our sinful nature and embrace our savior.

There's always something to laugh about. In this case, lets start with the irony of it all...lol!

Jodi and Russel! Its almost here!

Dearest Jodi, only 16 more days! Can you believe it? 2 years ago we were both single and crazy! just over 2 weeks from now we'll both be married and crazy. I've been missing you and thinking about you so decided it was a good time to blog about you, my dear friend, and finally share your wedding invites! Add to the anticipation a little, since I'm sure you're lacking in that area...not!!

I am SO EXCITED for Jodi and Russel!
You may remember their fun (and freezing!) Kamloops engagement session (see the original post here): 

 

Jodi also asked me to design their wedding invites. I have to say, it warmed my heart to be working on these invitations at the same time as I was designing my own. Somehow it makes it easier that due to our wedding dates, neither of us will be able to attend the others wedding. We keep having "Ok fill me in on all the planning you've been doing!" conversations and commiserating about the busyness of working full-time and planning a wedding. Its been fun, even though its been long distance!! 

So here are the invites: Jodi wanted something fun which incorporated their engagement photos as well as a beautiful poem she and Russel found. I have to say, on top of being a fantastic friend and room mate, Jodi makes a great client too :D. She gave me all the right information but also all the freedom to come up with something.

 

After this most special of wedding seasons, I have to say I thoroughly enjoy both engagement photos and designing wedding invites. So future brides...you know who to call!

Whats that fowl smell?

 

Today I decided to have some fun and make an illustration based on those kindergarten appropriate jokes, "what do you get when you cross...?" The first one I found did the trick, and was oh-so-fun to illustrate!

Question: "what do you get when you cross a chicken and a skunk?"

answer: "a fowl smell."

What do you think? Anyone have more good suggestions that I should try?

Moustachio?

Lately I've been eating a lot of pistachios because they're delicious and I can eat them in spite of my Naturopath diet. Not that this has much to do with my post, but I've taken to calling them "mustachios" just because its more fun, and once I started I couldn't stop.

The connection is this: I'm working on some concepts for an upcoming magazine that has to do with laughter, and I wanted to create a vector of a laughing "moustache."

I got started and quickly realized it was going to be harder than I thought. The thing about moustaches is that, depending on the size, they can totally obstruct one's view of the laughing face. So I did some visual research via "the internet" and got on the right track! So here is the evolution of a laughing moustache. If it ever ends up in a final design I'll be sure to post it!

sweet sappy love :)

Yup, not much else on my mind lately. I'm getting married in 20 days!! I saw a cute little illustration today and ran with the idea to try and lighten my design mood. Lately I've been getting pretty drained at work, and it helps to have 5 minutes of fun! And I just love my soon-to-be hubby!!

Summer Live! Vancouver 125

This past weekend, we BC lower mainland folk had the awesome opportunity to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Vancouver with a whole slew of amazing concerts, free in Stanley Park! I didn't make it out until Sunday, but that was good enough to see the VSO, Spirit of the West, We are the City, and Dan Mangan: all absolutely amazing acts! The whole experience was AWESOME, besides a few minor distractions (such as waiting an hour in traffic to actually get into the park, and stepping in 2 inches of mud during the dark walk back to the car in flip flops...lol!) I am so proud to kind of be a part of such an amazingly talented city. (lets be honest guys, Abbotsford isn't actually a part of Vancouver...)

Enjoy the photos!

 

(the photos in the dark are Dan Mangan, the others are We are the City)

You're a card. No I mean it.

Wedding season is here! This summer is going to be FULL of people tying the knot (including yours truly), and I'm super excited. A few weekends ago I got started with a CRAZY road trip to hit up two weddings, one in Shushwap on saturday and the second in Edmonton on Sunday. For those of you who know BC geography...that means driving through the night!! But it was fun and a welcome break from the usual.

In preparation for our wedding visits I did some card making, and now that it's been delivered I can show it off :) enjoy!

 

(I got some lettering stamps from Michaels for a buck fifty!! I had to pull out the ink).

Oh Sister!

I gave a bit of a story in my last post, but here are a few more details! My youngest sister Jenna is graduating highschool this year so we decided to do something fun. Not only was it an excuse to get some fun photo memories, I got to use her as a practice model! The advantage of directing your sister is that you aren't afraid to make her do things lol! 

Jenna is the youngest of 4 girls, and I'm so excited that she's going out on her own next year to adventure. I'm gonna miss her after being at home with her this year, but I'm leaving too (YAY marriage!!) so its a prime time lol! She's taking off to England in the fall for a year of Capenwray and adventuring. I'm maybe a little jealous. Jenna is amazing: gorgeous, independent, charismatic, and adventurous. She's by far the trendiest of the sisters, but I like to think its because she learned from those who went before ;) I can't wait to see what she accomplishes in the coming years! Jenna, you rock! And I'd like my white sweater back please. :D

I brought along my favorite stool as a prop, and we had fun in the dandelions. And oh my word, isn't she gorgeous?!!

A Rarity

I havn't done this much, if ever, on my blog...but here goes a purely personal, design-less blog post. But I'll keep it brief!

I just came back from walmart, and on my way home I made a list of things that aren't my favorite. You know how you do that in your head, in a "if I had an ear to listen I'd rant until the cows came home" kind of way? It went for a bit and then I started to feel dumb...because its a gorgeous day. And so I started to list things that ARE my favorite. So there you go. Perspective.

Not my Favorite:
-when I spend $40 at walmart and get charged $5 in HST
-when my moms delicious tasting slow-cook chicken smells TERRIBLE as its cooking (...so weird, I know. but true.)
-when you finish a GREAT book and don't know what to do next

My Favorite:
-Dwyane
-my job
-my new car
-the future
-being cozy (gimme a book and a big blanket anyday!)
-chewy candies
-absolutely free salvation (i just jesus-juked myself because this should be at the top)
-creative revelations (i had a few this week)
-sunshine

and those are just the top 7 that came to mind, but I could probably go on until the Canucks win the Stanley Cup. God definitely uses sunny days to remind me that I'm blessed!

Vancouver Photo Workshops: The Colour Moment

This past Saturday I was SERIOUSLY privileged to spend the day at an Arthur Meyerson photography workshop in Vancouver. The first half of the day was spent in class, looking through samples of his work and other respected photographers, discussing in essence, what really makes a photo. As in: what makes your photos different than every other Joe Bloe's? He talked about finding your own "composition key," which basically boiled down to figuring out what makes your photos tick. I had an "aha" moment...if I apply the elements of design which I know so well to my photos before I take them...kinda dumb, but I had never thought about planning out my photos that way. I usually just go by "feel" (which is also great), but it definitely became a challenge to myself.

I went home that night extremely exhausted,  inspired and refreshed. I loved spending the day with other creatives and hearing . Hearing about photography from someone who's been doing it in film, polaroids, and digital SLR --experiencing the evolution of photography--was extremely valuable. A lot of the photographers I admire are from my generation, and we just can't bring that experience to the table!

We spent the afternoon at Granville Island taking photos, with the assignment being to capture these four things: light, colour, moment, gesture. It was definitely a good day of learning, being reminded of what really makes a strong photo and being challenged to "see" rather than "look" at what is around us. It was also a bit freeing to be "on assignment" and feel justified in taking photos of people around me, something I'm usually too scared to do! So anyways, I took over 500 photos that have no practical purpose, so I'm going to share quite a few! I think I'll break it up over a few posts over the next few days.

This first batch (my first draft said "patch"...why do i find typo's so hilarious?!) is my "kids" collection. The kids were fun, colourful, and not shy. This is where I really pushed myself out of my comfort zone: these are not my usual type of photos!

Pillow Perfection!

More creative fun! I love it when I get an idea, run with it, and then get to blog about it. Yeah...lame, but somehow it makes the excitement last! And I think you'll like this one. I felt the itch to dive back into mine and my moms fabric boxes again yesterday, and this is the result!

I'm starting to spend hours a day dreaming of the home I'll get to decorate in just over 4 months (!!!) with my fantastic fiance. Now, there is one thing I love that he's not so excited about: pillows. If I have my way, we'll have LOTS of pillows. If he has his way, we'll have a few pillows. So my compromising plan is: just keep making pillow covers!!

All of this to introduce my latest pillow project. I'm not sure what my long-term plans for this pillow are, because it looks great on my bed, chair, and on our lovely leather couches. And probably many other places (as demonstrated in my photos-it was sunny, so I used my favorite natural studio again-the yard). But for now, I will just look at it and love it! I love a sewing project gone right! (this is largely thanks to me actually taking the time to measure, pin, line up stripes, and change the bobbins so the thread is actually the right colour...half my sewing projects don't get as much attention to detail lol! And strangely enough they don't usually turn out well).

See? Lovely on the couch.

little birdies

Just for fun, a little illustration. I guess its a sneak peak of my latest painting project, which follows the same "little birdie" look. Maybe someday I'll make a series of cards.

Oh. and by the way...4 months, 16 days till i get MARRIED!!!