BOO!

 
     Our decorations are up, the costumes are made and the pumpkins- planted by wee hands last spring- are ready to be carved into fierce or funny faces. Halloween we are ready! The Littles are really into the whole Halloween thing this year- obviously they are really excited about Trick or Treating- since we live in a building full of families this is a really fun night of the year. Many parents in our building are like my Mr. and I- we grew up in smaller towns where Halloween meant running willy nilly all over the neighbourhood collecting candy. The older kids were a bit more savvy and knew which neighbourhood had the best candy- once you were old enough you too could venture to the legendary neighbourhoods that handed out full candy bars!

       As a community we come together and organize Trick or Treating with in the building- it is a much safer version of what we did as kids- floor to floor instead of street to street. Families  who wish to participate decorate their doors and put out the carved Jack-O- Lanterns and then at around three P.M. the candy fueled madness kicks in. This is just one of the many ways that an apartment building in the city has found a sense of community and a bit of small town feeling. Of course- because as many would like to accuse I like to take the fun out of things- I decided to hand out an alternative to candy this year. I still think the wee ones will enjoy the mini bubble wands that I found at a craft store- a bit healthier and a tad bit longer lasting than tiny bars of chocolate.

       The final touches were put on The Boy's costume this weekend- it is very elaborate and I am impressed the Mr. is doing such a great job- I don't want to give too much away but lets just say his costume rhymes with "Eggo". Pictures of course to come - after the big reveal to all his buddies! Miss Lo is going to be adorable and is really excited about her costume as well- she picked it out weeks ago on a shopping expedition with Oma- it came with a wand- I think some wand training will be needed before the big day.

      I love Halloween- the true end of the harvest- saying goodnight as the earth goes to sleep for the winter season- the sun from now on is much softer and watery when it makes an occasional appearance. I also tend to jump directly into Holiday mode after Halloween- as I have mentioned before our family celebrates many different Holidays- Solstice, St.Nicolas and Christmas- my parents also celebrate Serbian Christmas which is something I would like to introduce to our Littles this year as well. Celebrating so many holidays might sound extravagant but it need not be so- most of our gifts are hand made and mostly the celebration is about the meal and the candles and being together on a special evening.

       Another thing that I love- especially at this time of year is sending and receiving mail- it is this personal touch sent by the hand of a friend or loved one that led me into creating Plain Jane Designs so many years ago. I have to brag a tad and mention that I feel this season is shaping up to be my personal favourite- the line this year is simple and clean but still with oodles of personality and quirkiness!

      This pleasant little juniper branch with bright red berries that pop out happened in my studio today- the Littles were otherwise engaged in a game that involved all their dress up clothes and the pop up beach tent- so I had a little time to sit and sketch. These beauties are tiny but statement making-
 2.5"x 3.75" in size with matching envelopes. Packages of six are available for $12 plus shipping- either message me or wait till they pop up on Etsy next week.

   
 

Thrifted Thursday

    In our city there is a mysterious corner - famously known as the place where free stuff just shows up. It is like a revolving garage sale but no one runs it- furniture, computers, TVs and yes even clothing- although I am a bit suspicious about that last one! For years I was so confused who was leaving stuff out at this corner? Was it a recycling dumpster diving angel? It was pure city magic!

      One day at while at work I expressed my wonder at this mystical place- one of my co-workers had the answer- all the goods came from the thrift store across the street- this was the place things came to rest when no one would buy them. Mystery solved!

       While wandering along the side walk past this particular corner one hot summer evening I spotted a wee little lamp- very much worse for wear. In spite of my Mr's eye rolling I grabbed it and dragged it home. A quick wash, a few coats of white spray paint and a new shade later - I had myself a new reading lamp.

        I was satisfied for a while with my make over project but recently have felt this wee lamp needed some thing extra- and so with half a yard of fabric in hand it underwent a wee face lift!
 

     To begin with I traced the existing lampshade out onto a piece of newsprint- this became my pattern- I added about a half inch extra when I cut the fabric out so I would have enough to fold under and glue.

    I next applied Yes Paste all over the shade evenly with a stiff brush- you could also do spray glue- but I like Yes Paste as it is a vegetable based paste that is non yellowing and obviously not aerosol. Once  the glue has been applied roll the fabric onto the shade, folding and gluing the edges under as you go- I secured everything with clothes pegs until the glue had set.

    Ta-Da! My newly updated free- to- me lamp! This wee lamp is sure to give my side of the bed a hit of colour as well as providing light for my late night reading sessions!

 

Thrifted Thursday

    On this Thrifted Thursday I am bringing you into a sunny corner in our living room, this is the place I like to sit and read or take refuge when the couch is overflowing with small children. Our books have come to live here and way up high rests a few of my thrifted treasures. The giant wine jug I traded a little while ago at a Garage Sale for some of my hand made cards- eventually I would like to turn it into a lamp similar to one I saw at Anthropologie. The small Ball jar came from Old Faithful a few years ago- the folks at Old Faithful occasionally buy vintage pieces to mix in with the new treasures in their shop. I like to think this mixing of old and new is what makes my own style interesting and, thanks to the vintage bits, one of a kind.

    This mixing of old and new has always been with me- I use all sorts of vintage flotsam and jetsam in my artwork. Old stamps and ripped books find a new life as part of my collages and cards, I am always drawn towards something with a past or a story. Combining well crafted vintage things into our life is preferable to buying something cheap and new that will last a brief time in our life- I feel buying vintage or even secondhand to be a more sustainable way of living. Using what is already here for us or using what falls into our life and trying not to buy more newly manufactured stuff.

 
    In this sunny little corner I like to sit and read, I sit in a chair that belonged to my Grandparents- it is comfortable like a hug. Combined with a woven pouf from Serena and Lily I feel this is an eclectic mix with a touch of Mid Century balancing out the Boho- for it is in my very nature, deep in my soul, I should be living in a Victorian Mansion surrounded by Brick a Brack. The Mr. however, common sense man that he is, prefers clean spaces with no clutter- and so we come to a compromise. A simple Ikea couch but it is bright green, a clean white book shelf with a Moroccan lamp and lots of art make this place we live in our home.

ps- Im not going to lie I love Ikea- if shopped well a person can find well made basic items that will last in their life for many years. Ikea is also a responsible retailer in regards to the environment- refraining from the use of chemicals ands substances that are harm full to people and the environment- ie. formaldehyde free glues. If I could build every piece of furniture in my home I would but for us Ikea is a good compromise.

 

Thrifted Thursday

    I am a lover of all things vintage AKA old, furniture that is seen better days, clothing long out of style,old bits of paper and other ephemera- chances are if no one else wants it I do! So many lovely ladies I know are passionate about the past- perhaps as so many of our relatives suggest we were born in the wrong decade or increasingly in the wrong century!

   My mom started me off on my thrift store path when I was in high school, she pointed out that my allowance would go quite a bit farther shopping the local church basement. Our parents bought us the basics at back to school but any thing else we wanted my sister and I had to pay for ourselves.So I was that girl sporting a giant vintage men's tweed sports jacket (50 cents) with a pair of totally rad harem pants  sewn in Mrs. Edstrom's Advanced sewing 9 class and Doc Martens- for our small town I was ahead of my time fashion wise and may have caused more than a few head turns.  My mom always told me I looked great and my outfits were interesting.

   Fast forward through years of vintage clothing passing through my hands, at one time I once planned to open a vintage clothing store, and to the present day. My love of thrifting obviously has endured the years, Thrift stores, Consignment stores, Antique Market,Hand me Downs, Back Alley, Side of the Road, Free- all these words get me excited! The trill of the hunt and the anticipation of what you may unearth make this an exciting way to beautify our life.

   That brings us to the introduction of Thrifted Thursday's a place where I can share some of the goodies I have rescued from the land fill and given a home. Stories to be told when I know them, other items- well their history will have to start where I found them.

   
   This is the usual situation in our front hall closet, it is getting increasingly worse the bigger the kids get as they are responsible for putting their own shoes on and taking them off- usually they just get stuffed under the desk. So I felt a little re-aranging was the order of the day, the desk found a new home in our bed room.

    This little cabinet was holding DVDs and Games in the living room, it has tonnes of shelves which make it perfect for shoes! The cabinet used to belong to my parents who rescued it from a neighbour who was throwing it away, I think my mom used to store her painting supplies in it, at any rate I needed furniture when I went to University and so my dad painted it this dark navy. During our last move the glass panel that sat in front of the blue lattice broke and so I just lined a piece of foam core with linen.

     My amazing turquoise type writer came from the Hospital Auxiliary Thrift store in Kelowna and cost me a dollar( it makes a great place to display photos), the change bowl my Grandpa turned on the lathe and the vintage globe came from Step Back in Kitsilano.

    The real super star of the front hall is this beautiful vintage window that my lovely cousin Laura scored in a back alley. The window was leaning against a garage in the alley for weeks, lovely cousin Laura decided to put a note with her phone number on it- the owner called and said she could have it! This was our house warming gift- I love it!

It's a table runner! A.K.A. something for Mamma

    This past Saturday I got to do something that I never get to do, I haven't done this in months- possibly in years. I went shopping by myself! I didn't really need anything in particular although I had the vague idea that since my Birkenstocks had cracked in half I should look for some new sandals. At any rate 10:00 am on Saturday morning found me getting dropped off on the side of the road in the middle of my favourite shopping street- South Granville! Eeee! thats right I squealed!

    The Mr. had taken the kids for a hair cut and a movie so I felt like I was in no rush to get home, I tried on clothes till my little hearts content. And didn't buy anything. I hit all my favourite interior's stores looking for inspiration to freshen up our space. I am in our home a great deal- I would say I am often home 20 hours a day. So I am constantly looking for ways to spruce the place up and make it interesting, similar to our nature collection our home is a constantly evolving exhibition.

     A wonder through Restoration Hardware was a breading ground of ideas for me. Also known as inspiration or appropriation in the arts world but more commonly known by the rest as stealing of ideas. Thats right folks I get my ideas from other places, things I see and love then change to make my own! I don't come up with this stuff on my own!

     At Restoration Hardware there was a plethora of "hand made" quilts and throws on sale, lots of linen, and loads of neutral tones. I let all this inspiration ferment for a few days and yesterday while my babes were chilling out in the shade on a hot afternoon I came up with this little table runner. I had a whole bunch of left over grey linen from a top I made a while ago, I pieced it together in a fun way- part of the goal was to use up as much scrap as possible. I backed the whole thing with a piece of sturdy Belgian Artists Linen.

      My last stop of the day on Saturday was one of my favourite stores- The Cross Decor & Design- on the corner of Davie and Homer in Yaletown. I love this store and if I could just sit one of their chairs and smell the candles and look at beautiful books and people all day I surely would! The cute little succulent pictured above came home with me as did some John Robshaw tea towels. The lantern pictured is also from there but from last summer.

    Now our deck is almost the oasis I am dreaming of- the final step is to sand and paint the coffee table, maybe put some new castors on it, paint the planters, get a new run, sew some cushions.... "Love Where You Live"!