I am a sucker for large, vintage botanical prints used in interior design. It could be my biology background; or my background in illustration, as I actually had to paint some botanical prints myself! And it's trickier than it may seem - you have to portray the right balance of scientific accuracy, with simplicity, with something that is visually pleasing. Not an easy feat! I consider botanical illustrations as art and I love displaying them that way.
Mmmm lilacs. I don't think I've ever sniffed anything so lovely! I was at my dad's this weekend and his lilac trees had just bloomed. I snipped a few branches and now our house is filled with an amazing scent. They don't last long so you have to enjoy them while you can! I may just sneak up there again this week to get more of my fix.
Inspired by this blog, P. and I tried making pizza on the barbeque tonight...and it was INCREDIBLE! I'm not sure what the difference is, but pizza - which is usually pretty yummy - was raised up to a whole new level! Find the instructions here {and homemade tomato sauce definitely sets it over the edge}. Enjoy!
How cool are these letterpress moving announcements? And from a Toronto company! The scored postcard can be cut and folded into a little moving truck. Now that's genius! {via Oh So Beautiful Paper via FPO}
I just loved this little bluegrass song 'Pretty Flowers' written by Steve Martin {the comedian!} that was performed on the American Idol finale last night {yay Kris although I would have been happy either way}. So cute and sweet and charming. It would work perfectly as a wedding song for a rustic, garden wedding...or for a quirky circus wedding, like my sister's, perhaps?!
{note: the American Idol version of this performance was taken off of YouTube so instead I've posted another version from Steve Martin's album...I think I like the American Idol version better but this is cute too!}
Cupcakes are one of my favourite things ever! And they would taste even better in these pretty little liners from Cupcake Social. {found via Style Me Pretty}
Sunday will be the second anniversary of The Breast Darn Show Period, a breast cancer charity event that my sisters, friends and I held in honour of my mother and for those affected by breast cancer. If you want to learn more about the event, there is more of a scoop here. I also recently gave the website a bit of an update here. But I just want to highlight one of my favourite decor elements of the entire event!
The event was held at the Fermenting Cellar in the Distillery District, and if you have been there you have probably seen the two very large vats on the wall - remnants of when the building was actually used as a fermenting cellar, and not an industrial chic event venue! Well when we saw those vats, we just knew it was the perfect place to hold a breast cancer charity! We came up with an elaborate plan to cover the 'breasts' with an extremely large bra. See above for the before and after pictures. And kudos to my grandmother, who I told you is very crafty and lively and imaginative! She took on this task and did an amazing job, creating a ginormous bra complete with lace and clasps. To give you a sense of scale, one of these vats is at least 6 feet wide {if not 7!}! Apparently the bra is a bit of an urban legend in Toronto, as I've recently found out. Way to go gram!
I know it's spring and I should be thinking about shorts and bathing suits! But I still have Larry on my mind {sorry P.} and how cozy it would be, even on a summer's night at the cottage. I did a search on Etsy for scarves and I found this cute girl from Hamilton who makes some lovely knitwear...and she has great style! I'm digging some of her funky, vintagey, boho outfits and am deciding on the Larry-esque cream scarf. You can see more at her Etsy shop, Yarn Over Movement.
This month's Canadian House & Home magazine features artist Bobbie Burgers' weekend {weekend!} home in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. Can you even imagine waking up to this view from your bedroom window? I can certainly see how the landscape has inspired Bobbie's fabulous, vibrant paintings. Sigh...to have a weekend home like hers. What must her during-the-week house look like?!
If I ever have a store one day, I hope it looks a lot like ink & peat. Everything is so earthy and vintagey and lovely. I'm not sure when I'll ever be in Portland, but it actually looks like it might be worth a trek to the west coast to check it out. The owner's lovely blog, housemartin is enough to suffice in the meantime though!
Have you seen the new Ecofont? Inspired by 'holey' cheese, SPRANQ Creative Communications in the Netherlands developed this font with little holes in it to cut down on the amount of printer ink used. This font can cut down up to 20% of ink usage and yet it still maintains readability! The Ecofont can be downloaded here for free...what a great idea! It has its own cute little website too.
The bloomers were busy this week! On Wednesday, for inBloom Event Design, Melanie and I created some casual, loose white centrepieces for an upcoming magazine article. There is nothing as beautiful as a cluster of simple white blooms if you ask me!
My cousin Barry is on the board of the Canadian chapter of Blessings in a Backpack - a program that on Fridays, provides a backpack full of food for underprivileged children so that they have food to eat over the weekend. The children then bring their backpacks back to school on Mondays, and they get filled up by Friday again. Because of this program the kids have had better test scores, reading skills and improved health and attendance. Hilary Duff is a huge supporter of this cause.
On Tuesday night, Barry organized a rock concert in support of Blessings called Feed the Future, hosted by Tanya Kim at the Tattoo Rock Parlour. See the ticket and poster I designed for the event - I was so excited to see them plastered all over the walls! Barry's work band disORderly conduct {they work for law firm Ogilvy Renault...'OR'...get it?} along with two other bands played. It was amazing and P. and I rocked out! Yay Barry...great job! And click here to check out Blessings in a Backpack...it really looks like a wonderful cause.
I am a sucker for large, vintage botanical prints used in interior design. It could be my biology background; or my background in illustration, as I actually had to paint some botanical prints myself! And it's trickier than it may seem - you have to portray the right balance of scientific accuracy, with simplicity, with something that is visually pleasing. Not an easy feat! I consider botanical illustrations as art and I love displaying them that way.
