I miss this: Vancouver.

If you know me then you also know that I can be incredibly nostalgic, about anything.  Really, just try me, it's a little ridiculous.  The place I am currently nostalgic for is Vancouver.  I went there last May with my mum and absolutely adored it, every single part of that trip was amazing, even the rain, especially the pink trees!  And, with a lovely friend and her sister moving back home to this wonderful city/area, well I really can't help being nostalgic, I want to go back so badly.  In the mean time, I just keep looking at these pictures and wishing I was there again...

I'm pretty sure this program has made me far more emotionally unstable  and nostalgic than I was before...but I still really wish I was in Vancouver right now.  xo.



some [permanent] love.

Fun, not surprising fact.  I love lists.  A lot. Like, I make them for fun sometimes.  Lists for each day, month, life goals, craft projects, random things...this is totally normal right?

One thing I refuse to make a list for is New Years.  I hate pressure to make resolutions because I 100% guarantee I will do precisely none of them.  I don't know why, maybe its because everyone else is making them.  Maybe because it happens to be in the middle of a crazy school year.  Maybe because I can never think of anything because everything seems awesome and new in January.  But I still really like lists.  Probably because it involves pretty paper and pens.

This year I decided to make a birthday list.  A "21 before 22" list of things I wanted to do before I turn 22.  A list of fun, enjoyable things, like sewing a dress, learning letterpress and hanging out with my cousins, not like, lose 100 lbs before summer/learn french/ master the melodica before Christmas.  Simple things that I could actually have a chance of achieving in a small amount of time and make me happy.

So, two weeks ago I finally crossed one of these off.  I got a tattoo. 

Its beautiful and perfect and I love it.  It's a female leconte sparrow that lives in the prairies around here.  And I love the prairies.  And birds, they are something I have adored since I was a child.

So, here is a little peek, I'm sure there will be more pictures this summer!  It makes me happy every time I see it in the mirror!

I also really love the White Stripes.  Not as much as birds, but you should probably listen to this anyways, its been my favourite today.  Actually, it was really hard to pick a favourite, just listen to the whole 100 video youtube mix.

and this....

Have a lovely morning.  xo. [ps. two blog posts in one night.  whoa.]

little craft project: eyelets, pastels and things I cannot afford.

While in Brazil I happened to buy Vogue magazine.  An occurrence that happens generally only in airports where I all of a sudden feel a very great urge to catch up on fashion and pretend to be stylish.  I have no real explanation for this.

I read that a magazine approxiamately 100 times over the three weeks we were in Brazil.  It was the only English magazine any of us had.  It was well loved. 

Generally I only look at the pictures and never actually read anything.  Fashion magazines are supposed to be all about the pictures of gorgeous clothes anyways right?  Well, you can only look at pictures for so long.  I caved.  I read a article about Marc Jacobs.  I fell madly in love with his spring Louis Vuitton collection. Carousels.  Pastels.  Carnival music.  Eyelets.  Mint green.  Metallic.  Top buns. I have honestly watched the runway show so many times, as that is as close as I will ever get to wearing any of these magical, airy outfits.

watch this right now.  Its pure magic.

I came back from Brazil with magical images of eyelet lace, feathers and gauzy, light, pastel outfits in my mind.  Totally not South American.  Whatever.

So of course when I happened to go on an adventure to fabric land I was immediately drawn to the eyelet lace.  And then the pastel ribbon.  And then the metallic thread.

This was the result.  It isn't Louis Vuitton.  But it is eyelets and ribbon, which I will love forever.  It is also a T-shirt, which is kind of a big deal.  I now proudly own five shirts....all of which have been sewn/stamped/tye-dyed to perfection.  Plain things are boring anyways.

I hope the rest of your weekend is pure spring magic.  xo.

little craft project: lavender oatmeal face scrub.

So.  It happens to be right in the middle of the essay writing/tech drawing/omg I finish school in 6 weeks time frame, ie. I should be writing an essay not doing craft projects.

However, this is also the reason why craft projects are great, because otherwise I would probably just die from only thinking about concrete construction and magical sugar worlds.  Although I drew a plan of a sugar cafe today that involved drawing electric mixers and that was pretty wonderful.

It's even better when they take like two minutes! 

Flipping through the body & soul magazine website (yes Martha Stewart owns it) I spied the D.I.Y facials section.  You should probably know that I often get really excited about making my own beauty products (that sounds so pretentious, but it's midnight and I can't think of a better word, sorry!) So healthy! Natural! I get to pretend to be a hippie child! Field trips to Vitahealth!!

And then I read the ingredient list (which of course, is supposed to be oh so simple) and realize that half the ingredients are so natural that I have no idea what they are/where to buy them and that I do not possess the magical pioneer skill set to mix said ingredients.  And then I go back to back to buying Burt's Bees lip balm.

But, this one was different!  I could pronounce all of the ingredients!  AND we had all of the ingredients in my kitchen!  Even the lavender! (This is a big deal, because if you know me you know that I somewhat despise lavender.  But, we're trying to be friends so I bought some this summer with visions of magical floral cupcakes in my head.  Lets just say we won't be making those again.)

And the only steps was dumping it all into a jar.  And I love jars.  So much happiness.

Oatmeal Lavender Face Scrub from body & soul

1 C. oatmeal.

1/2 C. lavender dried flowers.

1/2 C. powdered milk. (okay so I lied, I couldn't find the powdered milk, its somewhere in the deep recesses of our cupboards and I plan on buying some to add next time I'm out.)

2 tsps.  cornmeal.

Mix all together and store in a jar! 
Massage onto damp skin.

They suggest using it once and seeing how your skin reacts, and then possibly increasing it to three times a week.  I have pretty sensitive skin and it just felt lovely and smooth after!

Lasts for six months, but I have a feeling it will be gone before then!  There is something so comforting about oatmeal...even when it happens to be on your face. 

I also went fabric shopping that afternoon, because even though I probably won't touch my sewing machine until May, I needed to buy things while all the lovely projects were dancing around my head.

I hope your day is beautiful.xo.

Oh! and this is post number 20! yay! I love all 7 readers that read this. 

oh and this too..Follow my blog with Bloglovin

little craft project: earring frame.

So I've been meaning to post this one for a while, like  possibly two months, so here you finally go!  This is maybe my favourite recent craft project as it involves three of my favourite things: value village shopping, pretty paper and...power tools.  I like saws, they're fun.

Anyways, this project came about while I was attempting to decide what to get my mother for Christmas.  I wanted to find something that she would love, and that I could make.  In the like four days I had between school and Christmas.  So, when she listed a earring tree as one of her Christmas wishes I was like "I CAN TOTALLY MAKE THAT!" And then I happily set off on a search to find an appropriate DIY.  And failed.  They were all ugly.  Or involved wire, which, as soon as it gets bent, looks gross and drives me mad. 

Then I realized that having been practically raised by Martha Stewart I could probably think of something myself. 

This is the result.  It was super simple and I like that it involves nails (read: no bent wires with earrings hanging off of them, yay!) and pretty paper.  I also really love paper.

However, because I was having so much fun making this I didn't take any photos.  So, in place of that you get these awesome sketches.  Lucky you!

1.  Go on a super fun shopping trip to the thrift store.  After buying a new purse go look at the picture frames.  Find one that is wood.  Mine is roughly 10" x 12" and I chose a frame that had some depth to it so that I could prop it against a  mirror if I wanted.  It doesn't matter if your frame has a back, you'll replace it later anyways.

2.  Take out the super ugly German pastel picture of some terrifying child with her fluffy cat.

3.  Paint it.  Mine was just wood without any coating so I painted it with two coats of white primer.  If yours does have a coating or a layer of paint I suggest sanding it lightly first.

4.  Cut a piece of wood to fit the back of your frame.  Mine was 1/8" thick pine siding that was in our garage but it doesn't really matter as long as it is smoothish and easy enough to nail into.

5.  Pick some pretty paper and spray glue the sheet to your piece of wood.  trim the excess edges with a knife.

6.  Decide on a grid.  My nails were spaced 1.5" apart across and 3" apart high, but choose a grid that fits with width of your frame and allows for longer or wider earrings - you don't want them to get more tangled! Lightly draw out this grid in pencil and erase later.  Then go for it and have a fun time hammering things and making lots of noise in your basement and impressing your father with how straight you can hammer nails.  I used small finishing nails.

7.  Once your frame is dry screw your piece of wood into the back, one on each side should hold it tight enough. 

8.  You're done!  You can lean it on a shelf or attach a frame hanger on the back and mount it on the wall to display all your lovely little sparkly earrings!

Have a lovely week!  xo.