Friday Faves

Just a quick post of faves tonight! I have been addicted to a few "fashiony" blogs recently... not sure why... however I was thinking not too long ago about what I used to want to be when I was all grown up and the main one that sticks out in my head is a fashion designer. Which is actually kind of funny because I am the least fashionable person I know.

The Cherry Blossom Girl - The clothes, the shoes, the photography - love, love, love!

Le Blog De Betty - French girl with awesome sense of style.

The Sartorialist - Kind of goes without saying.

Some Girls Wander - The fashion blog of Emily Martin a.k.a. The Black Apple (a.k.a. one of my favourite artists).

Hel Looks - Always good for a quirky (and sometimes fantastic) outfit idea.

I Am Fashion - The name pretty much says it all.

Something a little happier, perhaps?

Holy cute!!!

via A Cup of Jo

Tear Jerker Alert

I read this post on the Scott Adams Blog and pretty much bawled my eyes out for half an hour! (Seriously, do not read it unless you have tissue handy.) It was really sad, but very touching.

It really made me miss my cat Jake. He was such a super awesome cat (no offense Josie - love you too)! He would do tricks for treats, play fetch, come when we called his name, "talk" to you (no joke)... This is probably my favourite picture of him:


In this place I used to rent before I was married, for some reason Jake liked to sit on top of the fridge. I'm not sure why - he never did that at any of the other places I lived in - and I had moved around a few times. But whenever you would walk by the fridge while he was up there, he would stick him "arm" out and just lightly brush his paw against your shoulder, as if to say hello (it was one of those shorter "apartment size" fridges). And if you stopped in front of him he would just rest his paw on your shoulder. It was the cutest thing! Anyways, my hubby (before he was my hubby) was visiting from Texas and he snapped the photo.

Jake's been gone for almost exactly 4 years now but I still think of him often. He was so cute, my funny, furry, sweet little Jake.

Quote of the Day

"Sometimes good things fall apart, so better things can come together."

I have no idea who or where it came from, but I love it.

Photo from here.

Happy Friday! (Faves:)

I'm loving that people are posting their personal journals for the world to see on Flickr. I could seriously spend DAYS looking through them all. (As if reading blogs for hours on end wasn't enough.) It's like seeing little pieces inside someone's mind - their secrets, thoughts, wishes, feelings and dreams.
I used to keep a journal a long time ago but I stopped after I once went back and read some old entries - I hated it! I guess I kind of used my journal as my little paper therapist where I downloaded all my issues... and when I went back and read some of the stuff I wrote about - it was just embarassing! Granted that was way back in high school, so I guess it HAS been a while since I was a moody teenager... but anyways... back to my Friday faves!
I am especially loving people's art journals. I'm really gonna have to try it one of these days. They are so beautiful and inspiring.... check these out, for starters...

Rachel's "Art Journal" Flickr Set

Anna's "Moleskine 2008" Flickr Set (she has one for 2007 and 2009 too!)


Geninne's "Journaling" Flickr Set

And last but certainly not least...

The "How to Wreck a Journal" Flickr group pool.

I love love LOVE this idea. It's not a journal, it's a project, created by Keri Smith... she's actually pretty amazing herself. I recommend checking out her blog too.

Happy Friday!

Yum

I was craving some warm, chocolatey goodness the other day, and was tired of the usual warm mug of hot chocolate or Ovaltine (though I usually just have the "original" flavour, not the chocolate one)... and lo and behold, somehow I discovered this:

Slow Cooker Hot Fudge Sundae Cake

Holy mackerel - I made it the other night, topped it off with some vanilla bean ice cream and it was sooooooo good! (Although, I must admit that mine did not look like the one in the photo, and the sauce was not as "saucy" as I would have liked - I think I let it cook about 10 minutes too long - so it was more like a runny pudding than a sauce... but anyways, it was still damn tasty!)

Who knew you could make chocolate cake and chocolate sauce all together in a crock pot?! Well, Betty Crocker, that's who.

Hope

Happy Inauguration Day to the USA!

A Lazy Sunday

I'm enjoying a very low-key day off today, getting caught up on some magazine reading, chai latte drinking, couch lounging and fuzzy slipper wearing... but I've had a productive past few days, playing with some ideas I've had for a while now... and I just finished adding some of my newest creations to the shop!

Friday Faves

Today I thought I'd share a few of my favourite movie soundtracks... especially my most recent one as of today - the Yes Man soundtrack. You can listen to it here. The husband and I went and saw that movie tonight - I liked it! It was cute, your typical Jim Carrey movie I guess... but what I really liked was the soundtrack. It features some great Eels songs, as well as the singing talent of Zooey Deschanel - who I think is now my newest girl crush (but more on that another Friday), especially after her appearance in the latest Domino. Ms. Deschanel also has been making her own music lately with her little band She & Him, which I also quite like.

Another movie soundtrack that I love is from Lost in Translation. It probably helps that it's one of my favourite movies OF ALL TIME, but seriously, I love the soundtrack too. It's kind of quiet and a bit strange, but in a good way. Actually, I also really like the soundtracks from Marie Antoinette and The Virgin Suicides (the original score is quite good as well), so I guess maybe I really just like Sofia Coppola's taste in music.

Of course I can't talk about great movie soundtracks without mentioning Juno. I'm pretty sure everyone out there has not only seen the movie but also listened the soundtrack. But if you haven't yet - just do it. Okay? Okay.

Last but certainly not least is the Garden State soundtrack. This movie is what first introduced me to The Shins and boy am I glad it did - love them! I think the soundtrack even won a Grammy or something. It's basically just a really good mix.

{I should also quickly mention the Amelie soundtrack. It's just cute little french songs from the movie, but I like to listen to it once in a while. Usually after watching the movie for the 148th time.}

EDITED to add: OMFG! I can't believe I forgot to include Across the Universe!!! Soooooo awesome (the movie, the soundtrack, and The Beatles, obviously).

Love is in the air...

... and also in my shop!

Love it or hate it, Valentine's Day is less than a month away! Check out the lovely new items I've made recently... and even more coming soon!

I friggin LOVE that envelope necklace... it's actually a little locket that opens up to reveal a tiny little love letter - how sweet is that?! I think I might have to make one for myself as well :)

Much better today, thanks.

No grumpiness from me today. Nope! Here are some things that are making me happy...

- I'm a winner! I found out last night that I am one of the lucky winners of some BEAUTIFUL Cartolina notebooks from their latest giveaway. I can't wait to get them! I loooove pretty notebooks.

- Sweet potatoes. Specifically - the gigantic plate of baked sweet potatoes covered in salt and pepper that I had for dinner.

- Chocolate covered black licorice. That's right. Trust me, it's amazing. I was first introduced to the stuff by my boss, actually... and am now addicted... and am slowly working on getting all my friends and family addicted as well (well, those that already like black licorice in the first place, that's kind of a pre-requisite).

- Funny/sweet things that my hubby says. I've actually started writing them down. Today I will add: "You should be put in a bubble. Filled with air. And pretty music."

- This.

- And this.

Ho hum

Jiggs the Bulldog from The Daily Puppy

Well I thought I was off to a good start of progress this weekend as I was able to make some new pieces of jewellery, however... I forgot to take photos of ANY of them so I'll now have to wait until next weekend to get that done - since I work full time, I'm never home during daylight. (And I've tried taking pictures of my stuff using a flash but they never look right.)

I completely forgot about taking the pictures as I was busy taking down our xmas tree and decorations. My home looks so barren and plain now. I tried convincing the husband that we should leave the tree up all year and just put on seasonal ornaments throught out the year (you know, like birds, flowers and butterflies for spring - seahorses, shells and starfish for summer - leaves, acorns and pinecones for autumn) but I didn't have much luck with that!

Yesterday we discovered that our car is on the fritz again. I've just about had it with that thing. We just had to get it fixed a few weeks ago! (At least this time we didn't breakdown in the middle of the highway though!) It's just bad timing right now... first we had to fix our car (the "first" time - although technically more like the 6th), then I found out I had to take a week and a half off unpaid while my work closed for the holidays, then my monthly rent went up, then I found out that my hours were getting cut at work (not a LOT, but even a little is a lot these days) and now the car needs to get fixed again... all in about a six week timeframe... good times! (I realize I'm sounding really pathetic right now, and of course I realize many other people in the world have it much worse, but... well, it still sucks!) The husband and I are thinking we should finally bite the bullet and buy a new car (since the repair costs are starting to be more than monthly payments likely would be). And then at least I'd feel a bit better about learning to drive in a safe new car. And then we could actually go on little road trips in this beautiful area I live in (since our current clunker wouldn't make it up most mountains - at least, not without having to drive at 20km/hr). And car prices do seem to be at their best right now... Well, I guess we have a few things to think about!

Anyhoo, sorry for the whiny rant there. I'll be back to regular, happy, perky stuff tomorrow! :)

Friday Favourites

I thought Fridays (although it's technically Saturday now) would be a good day to share a couple of my "Favorites" from Etsy, Flickr, or anywhere, really... but especially Etsy, since there are so many amazing, creative, talented hand-makers out there, and I'm all for supporting independent artists rather than big box/chain stores any day! (Um, also Flickr because I'm just plain jealous of people who can take great pictures, and I could look at photography all. day. long.)

Large Pleated Bag in Yellow and White by daphnenen on Etsy

Wouldn't this bag be perfect for spring?

Gold Point Vessel by upintheairsomewhere on Etsy

I think this delicate paper-maché bowl would look great sitting on an antique vanity... or just my plain old dresser :)

heavenly bandit, by Jrtippins on Flickr

I have no idea how I came across this photo but I just thought it was soooooo sweet!

Sail away by Serendipity on Flickr

I wish I was jumping off that boat and swimming in those waters right now!

Happy weekend everyone :)

Charmed, I'm sure...

I tried making something a little different the other day - a beachy little charm bangle!

I think it's pretty cute, if I do say so myself :) I'll definitely be making more of those in the very near future. I love charm jewellery!

I made a couple of other new little goodies on the weekend also...

That last one I made sold the very next day! Perhaps I should make another one soon?

I think I will take new pictures of that 4 leaf clover locket necklace this weekend - it turned out way too light. I'm still trying to figure out my photographer-hubby's fancy camera... maybe I should just stick to using my own! (Or get him to take all the pictures for me :)

I think I'm finally over my horrible cold/flu - my creative spirit is back! I have so many ideas running through my mind of new pieces I want to create. I just need to have a couple more sales, so I can buy a few more supplies, so I can make more stuff! (It's a vicious circle, really.)

Walking in a winter wonderland...

Just a little snippet of my and hubby's little holiday get-away! It was wonderful!

The last time we went to to visit that same waterfall was in the summer, for my birthday... quite the difference!
That waterfall is probably our favourite spot to visit in the Okanagan.