What my Book Club Read: The Readers Resort by E.M. Jones

 

Available on Amazon

This month's book club pick was mine. We are a well-read group - in that we read a lot. Picking a book is always hard - and I took the approach of something new, a unheard of author and wanting to get into a Summerween vibe. 

It is about a women who has a haunting past - she is seeking a connection with her friend who died when they were teenagers. Her friend alway spoke of wishing to go to the "Reader's Resort",  a resort dedicated to giving readers unique and memorable reading experiences. She goes there and is surprised when things do not go quite to plan when she tries to call her friend forward form the beyond. 

Spooky vibes, some twists and turns and an ending that you don't fully see coming.  

Jack: Month Four

A little late posting this - the photos were taken on time though hehe. Jack turned four months on the 3rd. He is a big, little man. Loves his hands in his mouth, and becoming more and more aware of his surroundings.

He loves standing. This month, we've introduced him to his exersaucer - 10-15 minutes a day. The look on his face when he realizes he's "standing" without you is amazing - he is just so happy.  We got the exersaucer on loan, but he received a jumper for Christmas from some amazing friends - so I will have to put that together for him.  He has great head and neck control, so now he gets these toys hehe. 

We have also started going to a "Mommy and Me" workout class at a local gym. The babies all lie on the mat in the middle and we do circuit training around them. Jack just babbles away the whole time, just so much to see, and other little ones to babble to. 

We have also taken Jack out for rides in his little sled in the snow, and have gone snowshoeing in his carrier. While he is heavy, he is a little furnace, so we keep each other especially toasty while we are mucking about in the snow.  It's a lot of fun, but I am looking forward to warmer days, and spending mornings in the garden and afternoons at our beaches with him :)

This month we are going to look into swimming lessons. They do have to be 6 months in this area to participate, but I want to get him signed up, and then go to the local pool a few times before just to get him used to it... and have Mommy time with some of my other mommy friends :)

2018 Goals, 2017 Reflection

A new year is like the first clean page of a sketchbook. So wonderful and so exciting :) Ps. this post is a long one!

A lot of people would have to say that the beginning of the year is like any of time, but I think it's a great time to reflect and set goals - even if none of them happen, just the process of setting goals is a great habit, or I think so.

I am notorious for setting goals and not following through - you can just take a gander in my art room at all the half finished projects. I am someone who gets excited at 'starting' something... and then if that something takes a bit too long, then I get bored and start something else that's exciting again. I know this is me, and I'm okay with it. Sometimes things actually get finished, sometimes not for awhile, sometimes never.

Lets reflect on last year first:

Last year was especially tough for goals - I had a lot of creative milestones I was hoping to work on - some really big projects. And then we were blessed with our pregnancy. I don't want to make this sound like I wasn't thrilled - we were so thrilled. We were actually just about to start the steps needed to get accepted at a fertility clinic (yes, we had been trying a long time). But that also meant, that I did not figure a pregnancy into the equation until at least mid year. But then we 'caught'. It seemed like such a beautiful fluke - like we won some sort of lottery. I honestly did not believe it. I had only gotten my cycle twice that year (part of our problem), and hadn't gotten it since the previous early fall. I had gotten in the habit of peeing on a dollar store stick every Friday morning 'just to be sure' I wasn't pregnant, since I had no period to 'skip' - this allowed me to enjoy my wine and sushi more comfortably knowing for sure when I wasn't pregnant. 

But then one Friday, after peeing on the stick, I noticed the faintest line - I actually didn't believe it. I must have peed on all the sticks in the house, and then purchased a couple of those really expensive ones just to be sure before telling James. I didn't want to get his hopes up. We were pregnant. So super early pregnant. The digital stick said 1-2 weeks; and the pee sticks were so faint, you had to hold them up to the light just right. PS. those cheapo dollar store tests worked just as well as the fancy ones...and a little disclaimer: they are the same ones they use in the hospital. Don't waste your money on fancy ones until you get a slight reading on those.

We were pregnant. And honestly all my 'big plans' were still going to happen, or so I thought. The pregnancy was a fabulous one, only the slightest bit of nausea in the evening for a few weeks - but no morning sickness / vomiting. And then I felt perfectly fine the whole way through. But I felt no creative drive. No sense of wanting to create. It was weird. I was busy enough with everything: work and the nursery. But doing the nursery DIY's was hard. I just didn't feel the urge. And I had a hard time thinking up ideas. I also didn't have the urge to play in my gardens. I wasn't lazy, not at all - Chewie (our dog) and I went for endless walks. I did tons of outdoor maintenance things. Washed our vehicles. Just no creating.

So the year of 2017 was not a creative one. I can count on one hand how many times I pulled out my paints. How many times I doodled in a sketchbook. It wasn't good. After Jack was born, I still felt that way a bit. I'm only slowly, so very slowly, getting my creative juices back. I'm hoping that Jack sucked up a bunch of my creativity when he was inside me ;)

So now that you understand the lack of content here, and lack of artwork created this past year, lets get to this years goals - and we will keep in mind there is a little boy now that I spend most of my hours with :)

• Clean out the art studio: When we turned our office / storage room into the nursery, everything got dumped into the art studio with plans to sort through it and organize it later. I wasn't really working in there at the time anyways, so it seemed logical. Now it's just a disaster waiting for me. I'm hoping to clean it out by the end of the month, but it's a slow going process. To feel somewhat productive - as I had other organizing projects I wished to complete - I sorted, cleaned and purged our bedroom, and our walk-in closet has a floor again! 
• Learn to sew: I acquired a sewing machine from my Grandmother this summer when she moved out of her house into an apartment. I got it in mid-summer, and only opened it up this past week. I've made a bib so far (we will need so many of these, Jack's already a drool-monster), but it wasn't perfect by any means, so I need to practice. I hope to be able to make Jack some pants in a couple months - ones that fit over his cloth diapers a bit better (lots of patterns online for these) :) I also hope to make some baby gifts for my friends and SIL who are all having little ones this year. 
• Paint again: this one is obvious. I need to pull out my paints again. I want to play with them, maybe develop a new style. I will not have the pressure of the online store and custom orders to take up creative time. 
• Children's Book: I've always wanted to illustrate a children's book. This may go in hand with developing a new style. My problem with this lies with my current problem of not having much creative drive to think of my own idea. I'm trying to convince my husband to write a storey, and then I can illustrate it. I don't really care to have it 'published'. If it turns out well, I'd likely just put it through Blurb, or snapfish and make some books for Jack and a few of our friends children. 
• Sketchbook: I just need to take this out more. Jack and I are starting to settle more into somewhat of a routine. This has resulted in housework finally getting done, and our house looking clean on a daily basis. Now I just need to fit in some time for this. Once Jack starts more independent play, I feel I may be able to grab my sketchbook and 'play' while he 'plays' on the floor.
• Blog more, specifically DIYs: I did a lot of DIY's with Jack's nursery, and will be doing lots when I learn to sew. I'm hoping I can find the time to photograph and share these with everyone. 
• Relaunch store: While being on maternity leave for the year (thank you Canada for a year off!), I was not able to keep my online store open. That being, I cannot make an income while on maternity leave, as I am getting income in a form of 'unemployment' - that's how it's set up. So I shut it down to not mess with anything. I go back to work end up September, so I'm hoping to 'refresh' the store, and work up to a 're-launch'. I'm not sure if this will be a different style of work all together... I feel like my trees have been copied and spread around so much, they are not that unique anymore, and are 'tired'. We will see. 

So there we have it. Not many goals, but really big, but broad goals. Let's see what 2018 brings! :)

Jack: Month Three

A little late, but Jack turned 3 months on January 3rd.  Over the past month, Jack has consistently been giving this Mommy a full nights sleep. Waking up in the middle of the night is a rare occurrence now - less than once a week. He gets up between 6-730, and will go right back down for another 2-3 hours sleep after eating. I use this time to get him 'back on schedule', or to work the feedings around what we have going on that day - if there are appointments. I'm also going to guess he is around 15-17lbs now (based on our combined weight on our crummy at home scale). He's starting to get some baby rolls, but he is just so long that the weight doesn't make him very pudgy at all.

Our little Lumber'Jack'  :)

Jack is really starting to grab and grip items a lot better this month. He has started to consistently bring them to his mouth to 'eat' them...I know he's not hungry because he does this all the time, regardless. I joke that his cousin Adley, who he met at Christmas, showed him this neat skill.

Jack is really good at supporting his head now, he doesn't need very much help at all anymore. It still wobbles here and there, but for the most part he prefers to be sitting upright and looking around at his little world. He also loves to 'stand' - he will be in the bouncer before we know it! He also really loves to kick.

His favourite thing to do this month: flying in the air - complete with flying sounds.  No matter how grumpy he is, if you 'fly him' and make the noises, by the time you land, he is all giggles and has forgotten to be grumpy. :)

Christmas!

First I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas full of family, laugher and twinkling lights! Being Jack's first Christmas, it was extra exciting this year. Jack didn't really know what was going on, being under 3 months old - but it doesn't mean that he wasn't spoiled by everyone! We still have gifts arriving for him. We got gifts for different age ranges, so some will go away for now and come out when he's ready for them. I definitely appreciated that everyone knew that he didn't need tons of toys for now when he just starting to grip things and doesn't really care about them. 

What I loved most about it all was just how cute he was this Christmas - even though he was clueless, hehe.  Now, we did spoil him as well. Totally guilty here. It was just too easy. 

Christmas Morning

Santa brought Jack his first sleigh - and although he can't go in it right this minute, we are pretty sure we can bundle him up into it in a month or so. His neck control is amazing, so we will be able to use it soon, just not right now :) He also got some clothes, books (I love reading to him), and some stuffies. And of course some things he needed - some more bottles, a pacifier holder / clip. 

How can you not just love the cute-factor of the holiday season?! 

I am sad to have to pack up Christmas. There were so many cute baby things that we did, so many photo ops. I guess Valentine's is next on the baby-photography list, and then May the 4th follows ;)

I did a bunch of cute baby crafts with Jack, and I am hoping to share them in another post. I think that was one of the most fun part of the holidays...and will continue to be in the years to come, especially when he can do them himself mostly.

Jack: Month Two!

Jack was two months on the 3rd of December. He's growing up so fast! The biggest, and best new thing the past month: Jack is smiling and laughing all the time...and it's not just when he's doing number two. He is making lots of noises lately - lots of vowel sounds: ooo's and aaa's. 

Sporting one of our favourites - Doctor Who! Yes, we will be raising our child a little geeky ;)

He just such a happy baby (most of the time).  He's becoming more aware of himself - especially in the bath when he likes to kick water all over me :) He is definitely more alert and responsive to things like lights, noises and funny faces.  He's just so much fun, and is a little more everyday - and a little less of the 'larval phase'. 

Mommy may like the SnapChat filters a bit more these days...

The most exciting news, is that Jack is now sleeping in the nursery in his crib - the transition wasn't even hard - he did so well, and slept just as well there right from the start as he did in our bedroom. I might even go so far to say he's sleeping better... he used to get up once in the night between 3:00-4:00 AM, now he's not stirring until 5:30-6:00 AM. This momma sure appreciates it, and hopes it lasts. Although I know I've been pretty spoiled to have him only wake up once a night from the start. 

Chewie, our huge Bernese Mountain Dog, is starting to come around to Jack a bit more too. I have never seen someone so jealous for attention before. He gives Jack kisses every morning, and always makes sure he is still in the car seat when we come home from our errands - and of course, proceeds to give him kisses. I think he's still not 100% comfortable around Jack because he's so little, but once Jack is moving a bit on his own, and dropping food all the time for the dog, they will become the best of friends. 

Our tooth-less reindeer.... yes, those are Chewie's antlers, but he was more than happy to
pass them up for Jack, hehe. 

We of course have been getting ready for the holidays! We make our first big trip with Jack this weekend, to visit my parents. It's about a 5 hour car ride, but we've been in good in the car since the start. We have been making a few holiday crafts as well as doing numerous holiday photoshoots.... I just can't decide on one picture that I want to take, so I'm taking them all... as he'll only be a baby once. I've already 'pinned' many ideas for next year too when he's able to sit up, and maybe even stand on his own hehe.

Practicing wth our noise-cancelling ear muffs, for when we go to a hockey game in the new year.
Luckily, he doesn't mind them at all :) 

In terms of everything else, we are still successfully breastfeeding. I pump so he can still have the one bottle at night, to stay used to it. He still takes a soothie as well, but does not 'depend' on it - sometimes he wants it, sometimes not. He is now 13.6 lbs (mid-high percentile), and 24.5" (top of the charts). So he is growing very well - despite his weight, his height makes him tall and lean. We have had him in 3-6 month clothing for the past two weeks - because he's just so long.

We have been cloth diapering, successfully, for the past month. It isn't even "hard", and I can't imagine not using cloth - it's so easy, and just makes sense to us.  He sort of 'smells funny' when he's in disposables -  guess it's the scent in them. I sort of wish more people knew how easy it was: I think they're just scared of the extra laundry, and 'touching poop' - but it's really only an extra 20 minutes, maybe of folding and I have yet to touch poop while changing a diaper...but I don't want to be pushy ;) I have one friend who wants to learn about it once she starts having children, and I guess I'll leave it at that - I'll have newborn diapers for her to borrow, and then she can decide. But when people - who doubted it - ask about it, I do sing it's praises - but I do still get weird looks about it.

 I purchased more of my favourites during the black friday sales, and now we have a good 'stash' that I don't have to scramble to do laundry every other night - we have lots more wiggle room :) And many, many more cute prints! The hardest part is trying to stick to 'somewhat' gender neutral prints - since he is our first, and we've had plans for more than one, I'm hoping to use these diapers with future kids as well Hello?! Can you say 'free diapering' for future children?!  Of course, there are always new and super cute prints, I'm sure I will pick up more as time goes on....

Well, that is Jack's two month update! I have been hoping to share some other posts, some DIY's... they are honestly all half photographed and half written. I just have to find time to do the rest of them hehe.

Nursery Series: Woodland Forest Mural

We unfortunately, did not get any super awesome photos of the wall before we filled the nursery with baby stuff.

I knew from before we were even pregnant, that when we did the nursery that we would paint a mural. I searched and search on Pinterest, and other websites for inspiration and ideas. I ended up starting with one image that I saw, and then searching based on that one to find inspiration that was more in line with our nursery design plan, the general Woodland theme. I knew I wanted greens and aquas, even some blues - despite that we were 'Team Green' and did not know the gender then (we had a little boy), I absolutely love those colours, so even if we knew, I don't think it would have changed this plan at all.

• Our layers are, in Beauti-Tone paint:
• I See Blue (Base wall colour)
• I See Blue + Ainslie's Aqua; ~ 2:1
  
•  Ainslie's Aqua (Small can)
• Calmness (going into greens) (Small can)
• Calmness + Cute Pixie - not sure of the ratio, I started 2:1, but it wasn't dark enough, so added a bit more Cute Pixie. 
• Cute Pixie (large can, it took so much to get it solid).

 The most important part, was ensuring that with the paint that we mixed, that we mixed enough as we would never be able to mix that exact shade again. I used old measuring cups to get a general 2:1 ratio, but having painted so much in my life - I know the slightest change in ratios can really change a colour, and I feel on a big wall, it would be easily noticeable. Always add the dark colour to the light colour, in small amounts. A little dark colour can really change a light colour, but you need a lot of a light colour to change a dark colour.

An easy way around that is to just purchase all the shades, but we needed so little for each layer, that it just seemed like a waste of money. I could have mixed just the main light blue to the main dark green to save even more money, but I really wanted a more true green for the lower part. I put left overs of the mixes into very tightly sealed mason jars, in case we need for touch ups in the years to come - as I mentioned before, we would never be able to mix those colours perfect again.

An important note: paint dries darker than it is wet. When the layers were wet, they sometimes look very close to each other, sometimes even the same as the prior layer - and then dried darker. This sort of can mess with you when you are just trying to get subtle shade differences - what I did was just put a small 'swatch' of the paint on the lower part of the wall that would be covered with the dark green, and blow dried it to see how dark it would dry.

The final layer, the dark green, took a lot of coats of paint to get solid and get rid of patchiness. That's just the nature of a dark colour I guess. It was also sort of frustrating, but we eventually got it all even looking. It was especially hard with the trees where we had to use a paint brush.
 

Super pregnant with Jack :)

 I was fortunate that my husband was 100% on board with this idea. I was working night shifts the week we started the mural. I would come home in the morning and draw a mountain "line" on the wall with a light pencil...and then he would paint it that morning / evening... then it would be dry the next morning when I got home, and I would pencil out the next layer. We used a brush for the 'line', and then a roller for the rest, trying to get as close to the line as possible with it, for the most even coat - obviously harder with the trees.

When we got to the trees, I painted the first coat to get the tree shapes down - I thought it would be too much trouble to draw then out with pencil. That also meant there was no return... I was so incredibly nervous starting this layer - so worried I would mess up the awesome work we had done so far. I started with the tiniest tree. But, once that was done, James painted over it - 4 or 5 times? - until it was even.

I'm so very happy with how it turned out! Once I'm done sharing the other DIY's, I'll share the finished nursery :)

Jack: Month One!

Our little moose, Jack, is a month old! The time just flew! We cannot believe how much he has already changed - in his looks, personality and developing mannerisms.

He's found his thumb this month - something we are trying to keep on top of, he does get a pacifier for our sanity :) He is working on his smiles, and he's starting making some new noises. He loves being held in the upright position where he can look around - from day one, he has been lifting up his head. He's also got his hand grip down pat - lacking coordination still, and of course does not have the 'release' figured out... my hair has been caught in those tricky hands a couple times.

We also celebrated his first halloween, we dressed Jack as a Lion with a crochet lion hat that I made for him. He wasn't as cooperative for that photoshoot as he was for his one-month photos:

Our friends and family really enjoyed this... expressive.. photo of dear Jack. I'm still pretty grateful we got a smile for his one month photo hehe. :)

I must say, Jack has given me plenty of opportunity to play with my DSLR camera, and with Photoshop - I've been learning so much! :) 

We Have A Baby!!

Jack at almost 2 weeks of age.

Our baby bear finally decided to grace us with his presence :) Baby Jack was born on October 3rd at 4:00pm. Measuring in at 8.95lbs and 23 inches! He was 5 days overdue.

We went into labour late in the evening on the 2nd - it started off with just what felt like Braxton Hicks, but they became regular at 5 minutes for over an hour, so I called L&D as I wasn't sure and they recommended I come in and get checked out. They confirmed that they were indeed contractions, so I got to stay. By morning when my doctor came in,  I was dilated a good 4-5cm, so they broke my water - which made the contractions worse, but I was able to hop in the shower and clean up and the hot water was soothing. I was happy that we did the 20 minute drive while I was not having any pain - I couldn't imagine the drive with full contractions. 

Things just progressed more and more through the afternoon - it was uncomfortable, but manageable with the resources they had available : birthing ball, tub, nitrous gas ect. We gave birth at birthing center, and the nursing care and support was just amazing.  I think that really made a difference - I had always thought that I would be demanding an epidural right away, but we did it without one... and I will 100% attribute that to the support from the nurses and my husband, as well as my very calm and confident doctor. Although, I'll admit the last half hour I was really wondering if it was a good idea. But we did it! I had back labour, so I was most comfortable standing and leaning forward - two things I would not have been able to do if I had an epidural: lying on my back and sitting were the worse when I was labouring. My husband was a tremendous help, applying counter pressure when needed to help through the harder contractions and just amazing overall support.

It got real around 1 in the afternoon, and by 2 we were in hard labour - pushing hard for about 2 hours. Finally Jack, stubborn as he was, came into the world at a very precise 4:00pm with the help of some vacuum assistance after 18 hours of labour. He did not make it easy, that is for sure - but he was completely worth it :)

Because it was a birthing center, we had a huge room to ourselves, with our own bathroom facilities, microwave and everything. I got to stay in the same room where I labored and gave birth to Jack - so it was nice that we could settle into a room and not worry about being moved around all over.

Day One

By the way - those wondering about 'old wives tales' while I was pregnant (we didn't know the sex of our baby during the pregnancy):  majority of the 'tests' said we would be having a girl - James actually almost didn't believe it when he announced that it was a boy - he 100% thought it was a girl. Also, I had zero heart-burn / stomach issues, ect - despite how much hair Jack has. And for those super concerned about pregnancy weight - I was all baby. I gained 20lbs during this pregnancy, and when I left the hospital, we carried almost 9 lbs of that home (baby Jack), and the rest we left there, I came home to pre-pregnancy weight. So moms - do not fret about your weight :)

Jack at one week - I know he's crying, but I love how this photo caught so much expression.

Jack has been doing well, Oreo (cat) and Chewie (dog) are still adjusting, but coming around. He's feeding like a champ, so we have been able to breastfeed exclusively so far. We've introduced one bottle at night, so dad can do a feeding, I can sleep a bit more, and to prep Jack for if there's a reason I can't breastfeed him. We introduced the soothie the second night for our sanity, and it has been a blessing, and there has been zero nipple confusion - our nurse pretty much told us to 'do us', and not to worry about the whole nipple confusion 'ridiculousness' as she refereed to it hehe. We have also started introducing some cloth diapering this week, started yesterday, now that I can move a bit better and have a better handle on the feeding and such. So far I've just done some prefolds and covers - and no leaks or problems (yet). I have some other diapers to try in the smaller sizes - he's not far away from the one-size diapers though with his big birth weight.

One month to go!

I cannot believe that we are less than a month away until Baby C is due! The beginning just seemed to drag, and now things are just going by so quickly! I have two and a half weeks left of work at the hospital (I took a week and a few days vacation before my due date), and I will be closing my Etsy shop this week and taking care of last minute orders. I will keep the shop open for communications, in case there are problems with shipments, but will eventually put it into vacation mode.

I'm really excited for delivery (and nervous as well, of course being a first time mom). We are delivering at a birthing center, and are super excited for the options available to us.  I'm curious to see how our pets, Chewie and Oreo, react to our little one - and super excited to know if we have a little baby boy or girl!

The countdown is on!

Prepping for the baby: DIY mobile and refinished baby furniture

I have begun to work on the various DIY projects in anticipation for baby and the nursery. The coming of our little bundle will probably be one of my biggest DIY projects since our wedding (and will probably trump that too). We are 24 weeks now, and I'm hoping to finish most of these projects sooner than later - in case I don't feel up to it later in pregnancy.

 The first one I started (I have them all in various stages of progress), is a 'woodland' mobile for above the crib. It will have little critters and such to float above baby while baby drifts off to sleep. I have been keeping track of the felt pieces I've cut out with hopes of sharing the pattern with you all at a later time :)

I was also fortunate to be given a previously loved crib for baby. I decided to refinish it, and being that chalk paint is non-toxic and super easy to apply, I choose that route. It's a nice soft, light grey colour with the slightest tint of brown. I was also given a pre-loved dresser that I am refinishing the same way - this way all of our pre-loved baby furniture will be all matchy-matchy for the amazing cost of a bit of paint :o)

I have a few other projects on my mind - some will have to wait until the nursery room is cleared out, but others I'll begin as soon as these two projects get a little further along.  I am hoping to give each of the above projects their own post when they are complete in placed in their proper new home in the nursery :)

It's A Summer Sale!

Today I am sharing a summer sale! I have never had a sale on my original paintings before - but we are moving things around for the new baby, and I thought this would get a great opportunity for everyone to get some original art for their walls for way less! Some of the paintings are 50% off their original price!

You can find all of the available paintings in my online store, here.  Happy Summer!! :)

And then there was three!

Things have been very quiet over here... with reason. I had a lot of big plans this year for my artwork and art business, but then we got a very happy surprise - we got pregnant! :) Baby is due September 28th, and gender will be a surprise :) We could not be more thrilled! We had been trying for quite some time, so actually *getting* pregnant was far from my mind when I was dreaming up all these plans as it just didn't seem to be happening for us - and then it did :) 

We officially passed the halfway point last week. We did our 20 week ultrasound the other day, and all is well - so I thought I would finally share it here. I won't lie - I feel like I have been pregnant for forever - we found out when I was just 3-4 weeks in mid January - so super early.

The first trimester was a little rough - I had nausea only at night, so I could at least go to work and function during the day. I never threw up, which was amazing. Then around 13-14 weeks, I had to work a week of night shift - and after that week I have felt completely back to normal :) So I am now in what I'm calling my "honeymoon" baby phase hehe. My biggest craving so far has been watermelon.

Being that making a baby is hard work, and I work at a job where it is pretty physically demanding on a normal person - I work in a hospital - I am pretty pooched at night and only do what I have to do, and then go to bed. So that would explain my absence here, and if you follow me on my other platforms - my absence of creativeness over there.

We are creating a 'Woodland' nursery, and I have a few DIY projects that I hope to share - but again, I cannot promise that will happen. ;)

Snowflake Keepsake Watercolour Painting

It has been blustering cold these past few weeks where I live, and the snow has not stopped at all. I've been home numerous days due to roads being closed and poor driving conditions. Last week, the days I did end up going to work, my drives have been almost twice as long due to all the snow. It is scary sometimes, driving and not seeing even the hood of your vehicle. It just sneaks up sometimes too - where it will be nice at work, and nice at home, but somewhere in middle it's not. I go slow, and make it home :)

But once I'm home, and I look out - the snow is beautiful. And I do love being cozy inside drinking copious amounts of tea while the snow falls - or, being out in the snow trudging through it with my snowshoes. It has got to be one of the best outdoor, winter workouts. Especially if you have to break the path yourself!

"Snowflake Keepsake" - Original watercolour painting

It is no surprise then that I painted this Mason Jar winter painting. "Snowflake Keepsake" brings together those huge, fluffy snowflakes that I love so much, together with the Mason jar motif that I have really been feeling this winter (and that has shown up in other art work as well).  

This painting came together so much better than I could have imagined, and I'm so excited to share it with all of you :) 

2017 Watercolour Calendar and FREE print!

I am pleased to be offering a 2017 calendar this year! It was on Pre-Sale in 2016, and I have a few left.

This year's calendar features a lot of new artwork - some that have yet to been added to the store! So a lot of fresh, new artwork to grace your desk and walls with.

As always, it comes with a mini-easel to display the calendar. I've also included the option this year to just receive the cards to display as you wish. That way, those who have purchase the calendar with the easel in previous years can just opt for the cards and re-use their easel if they wish.

As an incentive for the remainder of January and February - all orders will include a FREE 5x7" print of your choosing from the shop. All artwork presented in the shop can be printed 5x7". When checking out, just include the name or link to the print that you wish to receive in the 'Notes to Seller', or you can message or email me after with your choice. You can find this calendar in my online shop, here.

Cook With Angie: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

 
Winter days have us craving comfort food to warm the soul. This simple soup is silky and delicious! You can make it with typical pantry items. We used a Butternut squash that we purchased from a local farm stand in the fall.

I typically do not like winter squash - it has just never tasted amazing to me. But, in this soup - the celery gives it a more 'mixed vegetable' taste, and the squash makes it super creamy without having to use any cream. Making it so much more healthy. If you would like to make this soup vegetarian, just substitute in vegetable stock for chicken stock.

This soup recipe does not take a long time. While roasting the squash takes the longest time, you can throw the squash in the oven while doing other things around the house. Then when you take it out to cool, start prepping everything else and go on wards from there. You could even do that the night before!

Total cooking time: 45 min - 1 1/2 hr.         Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

• 1 medium - large butternut squash
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 - 3 stalks celery, chopped - I included the leaves on the stock and everything, no need to waste
• Olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 4 c. chicken stock (I used pre-made)
• Salt and pepper to season

Step One. 
Preheat the over to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut your squash into quarters and scoop out the seeds and 'innards'. Place squash on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Roast until soft. (~ 30 - 45 minutes). Take out of oven, and let cool to touch so you can remove the skin from butternut squash. Set aside

Step Two.
In a pan, drizzle in some olive oil and saute the garlic, onions and celery until soft.  While cooking the vegetables, heat up the chicken stock to boiling.

Step Three. 
In a blender, or food processor, combine the butternut squash, cooked vegetables, and half of your chicken stock. Add nutmeg, maple syrup and salt and pepper to taste. Blend until smooth. You may have to do this in batches depending on the size of your blender. Stop to check the consistency of the soup - if you would like it thinner, add more chicken stock. I typically use all the chicken stock, as I enjoy a more soup-like consistency.


To serve, spoon into a bowl and drizzle with some olive oil.  Sprinkle some nutmeg on top and enjoy :)

Happy New Year!

I would like to welcome everyone to the New Year! It always feels so amazingly refreshing to start a new year. Last year was a pretty amazing one over here. It was very busy, but big things happened! I'm looking forward to an even more amazing year this year - with much bigger plans!

My biggest accomplishment (besides getting married to my favorite person ♥) - I started teaching! Yes! That's right! I've begun teaching short private group painting lessons. I'm still pretty new and it's all very fresh and exciting - but it's the stepping stone to much bigger things. It is something that I quite honestly never saw myself doing - I'm pretty shy in front of people I don't know. But I pushed myself, and here I am! :)

I feel that experience has pushed me to be more this year. I have some exciting goals I am hoping to set for myself in this New Year. And I cannot wait to share them with all of you! :)

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Free Christmas Mandala Colouring Page

Merry Christmas from Me to You!!

I hope you enjoy this free Christmas Mandala coloring page that I created just for all of you.

 To download, just click on the image to make it bigger, and then save it to your computer and print it out :)

Many Merry Christmas wishes to everyone :)

DIY Burlap String Christmas Tree Card Display

Well, it's the beginning of the holidays, and a time for all things crafty! This is the time of year that the arts and craft stores hit the wallets of creative people all around the hardest. But, it doesn't have to be that way! Looking around your house for items that you already have and reusing them can make a big impact on your holiday displays without touching your wallet (very much, at least).

In our home, we always display the greeting cards that we receive from friends and family.  Every year, we try to display them differently. Some years are more creative than others. But, I think this year is the best so far!

This Christmas Card display is so easy to put together, and just too adorable. We have twine at our house from all my gardening, and what a better way to use it! What you will need:

• Twine (or thin tinsel would be so pretty too)
• Damage-free hanging hooks (I used about 10-12)
• Clothespins
• Tape 
• Optional: light ornaments, and paint for the clothespins

That's all! All the rest, is just extra! So let's get started! You're going to first choose you wall. You will need a fair amount of space - but it depends on how many Christmas cards you are expecting. Once you have decided where, we create an outline with the string and some tape. This way, when you create your tree, the shape will be correct.

I choose a wall that we usually have two small paintings hung up on, so there are already two hooks that I could use (that's why my shape isn't a perfect triangle, but you will see in the end that doesn't matter). I just play around with the string until I'm happy with the shape and symmetry.

Next, we affix the damage-free hooks to the wall. You could also use push pins, but I didn't want that sort of damage on this wall. Just follow the directions on the package:

This product required me to stick all the sticker backs to the wall first, and then the hooks on top of them. So I went along my string on either side and "zig-zagged" the stickers of where I would want my hooks. You want to ensure that the stickers make good contact with the wall. I washed my wall first to make sure these won't fall off later when there is the weight of a bunch of cards.

And then I took down the string, and attached all the hooks to the stickers.

I know, it doesn't look like much now. But, it is time for this tree to take shape!

I tied a small slipknot into the beginning of my twine, and attached it to the top hook, leaving a little bit of twine. Then, working my way down, I would wrap the twine around each hook - stringing it back and work between then. When I got the bottom, I worked my way back up to the top. I then tied this to the little bit of twine we left and presto! We are done!

Folks: you have yourself a lovely twine Christmas tree!

I then proceeded to put clothespins all along the twine for when we get cards. Mine are painted in the Christmas colours red, green and white. And, using some of those clothes pins, I attached some glittery snowflake ornaments to dress up my tree while I await more cards in the mail :)

You could add any small ornament to your tree. Just make sure not to load it up with too many heavy items - when you start adding greeting cards, those will add some weight and you don't want the whole thing to topple down!

Happy Holidays and DIY-ing! :)