Floundering Around

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I'm really struggling with blogging right now. I've reached the point where it feels like homework having everything scheduled and then making myself sit down and write.

I know it's important to write and get my ideas, thoughts, and feelings put down on...well...the screen I am excited as I write down my ideas for blog posts on my schedule, but when it comes time to type them up and get those ideas written down, I'm not excited anymore.

I know that scheduling is important because I didn't do it for a while and I felt like I was floundering then too, but something needs to change because I just don't care anymore and it's not fun. I want to care.

I need some time to think; I need some time to figure out what I want to do with this blog and where it's going to go -- if anywhere. I know that I don't want to copy what others do and take my own path; I want to keep sharing my life and the things I love with the world, but I also know that I want to inspire. Right now I don't feel like I am doing that.

What have you done when you get stuck in a spot that you're unhappy with?

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Etsy Favourites: Purchases

Rather than just sharing a few of my favourite things that I have found on Etsy, I thought I'd share with you a few of my favourite things that I have recently bought, or have been bought for me, from other shops on Etsy.

Naughty Card

I bought this hilarious card from the lovely shop Julie Ann Art -- have you heard of it? -- for my husband for Valentine's Day. He laughed :)

Fog

This lovely photograph from the shop bomobob can be found hanging on a wall in my bedroom. Although I haven't quite finished my bedroom yet, I have a vision of serenity and calm for it and this photograph fit in perfectly.

I know that I've shared these lovely yellow shoes from the shop The White Ribbon before, but I finally bought a pair of my own and I love them. They are so beautiful and feel like heaven on my feet. They are a new favourite shoe.

These beautifully simply earrings were a gift from a fellow shop owner as part of a fun exchange that we did at Christmastime. They have since become a favourite, and a go-to for any outfit as they are perfect for all occasions. These earrings can be found in the shop Sparrow Grey.


 

Little Wooden Trees

These lovely little trees from the shop Saw It For You decorated my home during the holiday season. They added an extra touch to a Christmas display, and are among my new favourite decorations.

What are some of your favourites that you have recently purchased from a shop on Etsy?

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The Film Project

As I was sitting at my computer last week while working on some photos that I had taken, I realised that I am out of tune with everything that I have learned about photography. I only took one photography class in university, but I learned so much about how to take a beautiful photo, about the parts of my camera and what they do, and about film and how to develop it -- I took this class around the time that digital photography was beginning to make it's way in the world.

I feel that the ease of working with a digital SLR has made me lose what I learned in my photography class, and so I have chosen to go back to using a regular old SLR simply to get back to the basics of photography. I want learn how to pay attention to aperture and shutter speed again: how to properly meter without looking at the photo that has shown up on the screen and adjusting through that method. I want to focus the camera myself without relying on a machine to do it for me.

So I decided to do something that I'm calling "The Film Project". It is my goal to use up one roll of film each month and share my journey with you. I don't know what will come of the project, or what the real purpose behind it is, but I do know that I want to get back to the beauty of film, and how precious each photo must be so I'm not simply snapping away, hoping that I'll get a good photo. No. Each photo on that 24 roll of film must be a good photo, and I am going to savour each moment. 

Have a great weekend!

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Going for a Ride

I had wanted to get the Little Boy a quality riding toy for him to use when his legs got long enough. It wasn't until last Christmas that I happened upon the perfectly simple toy in a local boutique. It was this amazing little animal made with wood and wheels that rolled in all different directions. My parents helped us buy it as a Christmas gift for the child as it is not the cheapest toy, but he loves it, and I love hearing it roll down the hallway and watching his smile as he goes for a ride. It is my favourite toy of that he owns.

This amazing little riding toy was made by a company called Wheely Bug.

What's one of your favourite toys for your child? What was your favourite toy as a child?

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The Little Art Table

For his birthday, my Mom and Dad gave the Little Boy a little table and chair set that belonged to my Mother when she was a girl. A couple of weeks ago, I sanded it down and applied a dark stain to the top of the table and the seat of the two chairs, and then painted the legs of the table and the legs and backs of the chairs. Little Boy helped me pick out the colour of the paint -- he's very helpful with that kind of thing.

 

He loves sitting at the table to paint, colour with markers and crayons, and play with stickers. He has spent many a Sunny day sitting at the table to do art, and it makes me so happy to see him having so much fun -- especially because I am an artist myself :)

Have you done any fun little projects recently? Do your kids -- or hope your kids -- share some of your interests?

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DIY: Glitter Plate

When it comes to weddings, I am horrible at giving gifts. I usually forget to give a gift until many months later, or I grab something after the ceremony and wrap it before the reception. We have a wedding coming up soon and I have been brainstorming ideas of gifts to give -- details to come -- but I've also been thinking about the weddings that I've been to in the past year and haven't given the couple a gift. I understand that it might not be considered a mandatory thing anymore, but I still like to give a little something.

After seeing several pins on Pinterest about using Mod Podge and glitter to paint the soles of shoes, I thought that maybe I could do the same thing with a plate.

I Used:

A glass plate

Mod Podge

Glitter

A Sponge

I found a beautiful glass plate at the local Value Village to use for the project.

Using a sponge, I mixed some Mod Podge and some glitter together and painted them onto the glass plate.

After it dried, I noticed that I was going to need a couple more coats of the mixture to make a consistent look -- so it didn't look so splotchy.

I painted only the bottom of the plate, but I love how it looks like it is coming up the sides. This project turned out fantastic. I almost don't want to give it away :)


Have a fantastic weekend!

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What's That You Sang?

We've all been there: the road trip, or just a night out with friends. We're all singing a popular song in the car, and you don't quite know the words. Now, there are two things that might happen. You might just mumble the words that you're unclear of, or you belt them out because you honestly believe that those are the actual lyrics to the song.

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The following is a list of songs that I have recently learned that I misheard the lyrics:

1. I realise that the words are in the title of Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me", but I honestly thought they were saying "Pour some soup on me" until I belted it out one night when my husband -- then boyfriend -- was driving me home and informed me that I was singing the wrong words.

2. For the longest time -- and I mean until this year -- I thought the first part of Blur's "Song 2" went like this: "I got my head shaved/by Ichambochay", but I was wrong. Really wrong. The actual words are "I got my head checked/by a Jumbo Jet", and now I hear it correctly every single time I listen to the song.

3. Please tell me I'm not the only one out there that though Tone-Lōc was saying "Funky comadeena" instead of "Funky Cold Medina".

4. I didn't know the name of Classified's song "Inner Ninja" until I had heard it several times and my husband and I wanted to know what it was called. I thought he was saying "Playin' a ninja" when, in fact, he was actually saying "My inner ninja". Even though I now know what he is actually saying, I still can't hear it properly.

5. This one is kind of embarrassing because this song has been out for a while, but I just realised the other day that Pink is singing "You gotta get up and try" instead of "You gotta give love a try". It's like all of a sudden it clicked and my ears started hearing it properly. It felt like I had discovered a lost world or something as I shouted out "Omigod! Thaaat's what she's saying!" because I was in the car by myself.


What songs have you misheard lyrics to?

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A Wonderful Day to be a Mother

Yesterday we went for a swim, ate a pizza/Cheesies/raspberries and blueberries picnic at my elementary school park, and played in the park. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day, and I couldn't have had a more wonderful time. My heart is full, and I feel so blessed to be the mother of this precious little boy.

Cheers to all the Mothers! I hope you had a great day, and a fantastic weekend :)

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Floral Arrangement DIY: A Mother's Day Project

Just in case you didn't already know, Mother's Day is this coming Sunday. This year I decided to make my own Mom a gift, as well as my Mother-in-Law, and I thought I'd share with you exactly what it is at the risk that one of these fantastic women might see it.

What I used:

A Glass Vase

Wet Floral Foam - cut to size and soak

Flowers

It seems simple enough, right?

Wrong, but here are some tips to get you through it:

Tip 1: Pay attention to your floral composition. I recommend starting with the largest flower and then adding all of the other flowers around it, going back and forth between small and large flowers.

Tip 2: Sit down while doing it so that you can see your composition from the sides and the top. I didn't pay too much attention to the side for the first one I made when I started it. I also placed the sponge on a plate so I could rotate it.

Tip 3: Know how big the mouth of the vase is and if your arrangement will fit through it when you're done, or if you're going to have to shove it all in...like I did.

Tip 4: Have fun! I loved making these floral arrangements for our Mothers, and, while I know that I will never be a florist any time soon, I know that practice makes perfect and they're going to love them.

Happy Mother's Day!

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Mother's Day: The Gift of Your Time

Sometimes it's tricky to figure out what to do and how to make your mom feel special on Mother's Day, let a lone find -- or make -- a special gift for her. I've compiled a list of a few ideas to help you out. Also, these are things that I would be interested in doing on Mother's Day -- hint, hint to my husband.

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1. Take Mom to visit a -- or the -- local art gallery.

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2. Take Mom out for some ice cream.

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3. Pack up all of Mom's favourite foods and head out for a picnic.

 4. Load yourselves into the car and go for a walk by the river or on a hike.

Do you already have some special plans for Mother's Day? Please share it, and add to the list :)

 

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Shop Update: Affirmations and Quotations

I'm so excited to share with you my next adventure with the shop. I have received wonderful comments from people and customers about my handwriting -- which isn't nearly as amazing as my Mom's -- and have decided to make some little prints of quotations, affirmations, thoughts, whatever-you-want-to-call-them available in the shop. The first two are a mixture of a quotation from a song that I love -- here is a beautiful version from Ella Fitzgerald -- and a thought that I came up with all by myself.

What do you think?

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Recipe: Marbled Cupcakes

I saw this pin for a zebra cake floating around on Pinterest recently, and decided to try and make cupcakes in the same fashion. Like it shows in the pin, I used chocolate cake mix and vanilla cake mix to make 24 cupcakes -- and a loaf cake with the left-overs.

I carefully spooned layers of the two different mixes over top of each other. This can be a bit tedious with cupcakes as I normally get cake mix everywhere when just using one kind of mix. The result is a really fun marbled effect, and nobody complained about how they tasted :)

A little weekend baking for you! Have good one :)

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Not the Kind of Envelope You'll Find in the Mail

I love purses, almost as much as I love shoes and jewellery -- okay, equally. I'm not so crazy about purses that I have a whole closet dedicated to them, but I do like to have purses for different occasions and it's fun to buy a new one every once-in-a-while. My husband would probably argue that I have too many, though. One is enough, right?

Imagine my delight, or any woman's delight really, when I came across this fantastic green envelope clutch from B.Lush -- I tried so hard to find a website or information on the company. Yes, I already have a green purse, but it is not an envelope clutch. Justified. I found it at the gift shop in a hospital. That's right...in a hospital. It was on sale for 40% off and I just happened to have my Visa with me to buy some candy -- I have a problem. Kaching!

 

I'm looking forward to using it this Summer -- ahem -- while going to jazz concerts, festivals, and on dates with my husband.

Have you found any great accessories recently?

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