DIY yarn love

Just in time for Valentine's Day! See instructions here.

Glittering Lightscape

I really like this idea of poking white lights through a canvas. Might have to try this one myself!
Here are the instructions from apartment therapy
• Paint a stretched canvas from an art-supply store in your desired color.
• Plot out your design in pencil on the back, keeping dots a half-inch apart.
• Gently press an awl through each dot in your design to make a hole slightly smaller than the diameter of the bulb.
• Press a bulb into each hole; secure each with craft clue.

{via pinterest}

Cable and Cotton

I love these adorable string lights from Cable and Cotton. You can choose from pre-selected colour combinations or choose your own colours to create your own unique string!

A Baby Shower

This weekend I hosted my first baby shower for a dear friend of mine...it also featured another first- my first sewing project- a flag bunting decoration that mom-to-be could use in the nursery afterwards. It was a time consuming project, but I am really happy how it turned out! I also made an easy paper garland (punched circles fed through the sewing machine- so simple!) that I hung from my dining room light fixture, and a diaper cake gift.

Guests could serve themselves bellinis, mimosas, raspberry lemonade, or quench their thirst with water bottles wrapped in custom labels (I wrapped leftover bunting fabric on the bottle tops to hide the ugly blue plastic), and munched on brunch food and yummy cupcakes from Susie's.

It was such a lovely afternoon spent with friends anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new baby!

Little owlies for a little peanut

A good friend of mine asked me to create some art for her gender-neutral nursery. We decided on an owl theme (you know I love owls!), and these are the little prints I threw together for her to fit in Ikea frames she already had. The lil peanut is due is a few weeks, hopefully he/she likes them!

And this is the invitation I made for the baby shower:

 {With my busy month, I didn't really have time to be uber creative, and therefore can't take credit for the prints. As you can see I was very much inspired by Lee Arthaus}

Modern Mailboxes

Although we have come to a standstill on painting our front door (Hubster wants yellow and I want purple... however, I am starting to sway), I still have dreams of a welcoming porch. This includes finding a new modern mailbox to replace the ugly 'ol plastic one we currently have.
I never realized how expensive (nice) mailboxes are, it's insane. Here are some cool options I came across online while ignoring the price points.

 (Centrifuge Transit Mailbox $150, Knobloch Mailbox, $399, Metropolis Stainless Steel Mailbox, $119, Umbra Postino Mailbox, $119)

Do you have any modern mailbox suggestions? How have you made your front porch welcoming?

The Prettiest Disposable Tableware

Almost to pretty to use! Wasara, by Japanese design studio simplicity, elevates disposable tableware to a new level. The earth-conscious product is made from tree-free renewable materials: bamboo, reed pulp and sugar cane fiber and is fully biodegradable and compostable. The sturdy and simple designs fit comfortably into one's hand.
{on designboom via upon a fold on twitter}

First Impressions

We are trying to decide whether it is a good idea to paint our front door (and if we will be able to do it without messing it up). I would love to have a bright welcoming door that would be a pop of colour on our beige home. Our colour choices are a bit limited to compliment our blue shutters (that I would also like to someday paint dark).
I am leaning towards a purple door, while the hubster likes the yellow door. Which option do you think works better? What colour is your front door or what colour would you like to paint it?

For the Birds

These adorable little bird houses are so funny and original! Made by artists Luke Bartels and Jeff Canham, "For the Birds" can be found here. I would like a whole village of these cute birdy establishments.

{found via Design Crush}

Amy Butler: rugs and other pretty things

I want ALL of these rugs designed by the lovely Amy Butler for Chandra Rugs. I can't decide which one I would want in my own home...I think I am leaning towards the one on the top row, right. Check out Amy's website for more products including bags, towels, bedding, stationery and more! She also has FREE sewing and craft patterns you can download that are equally lovely.

Painting

This is a (pre-framed) painting my sister asked me to do as a wedding gift for one of her girlfriends. She wanted something reminiscent of the marshes we all grew up on in Sackville, NB. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out considering I normally work on much larger canvases.

I've been enjoying working with a palette knife a lot lately. This is a textured triptych painting of a Newfoundland landscape I made a while ago for our living room.

I would really like to do some more paintings, and perhaps even try to see if I can somehow sell them either online or locally. Anyone have any suggestions? Must. Get. Motivated.