Posts in Category: House & Home
Free Printable: Dark Pasts and Bright Futures
Download the high-res logo-free version to use as your desktop wallpaper, or to print and frame! Or … share the one with our logos on Instagram and Facebook!
Pictures of Recently Made Things
The winter has been long and the crafting and visualizing and dreaming and mapping and tackling has been much. Here’s a bit of what our hands have been up to, feeding our spirits and continuing to make our home uniquely our own. Where our hearts live and dragons breathe fire on occasion, when it all becomes too much. So we make felt and pipe cleaner crowns and wands and hope it’s magic enough until the frost breaks. (Which it did, and then it didn’t, and then it did … and we’re currently in a state of blizzardy DIDN’T.) The making of said crowns and wands turned more into a mom-craft than a kid-craft as they lost interest, but they still have fun playing with them anyways.
Our home: where no one else knows and no one else but us, my little family … sees the joys and failures of each day. As long as we use our hands to gather hugs, make art and build pretty things, I’m confident, all will be fine. I know I breathe fire a lot less when tapping into creativity and art. Something I hope to continue to pass onto my chldren. Play is the work of childhood after all, as Maria Montessori so simple yet brilliantly coined many moons ago.
Below are some floating shelves I’ve been conjuring upon since last summer, using galvanized steel, pine I measured, had cut at the good ‘ole Home Depot, stained and cured myself. Of course I measured the pipe I had cut wrong, but everything else was perfect, I swear! If not for some very good friends who came over to help, we would have been doomed. (I’m talking to you Sean! And Char, your lovely wife for holding up the windows that I had to take down one by one and clean, inclding all the runners and all the yuck. At 10 o’clock at night. When you were both supposed to be our dinner guests. And I fed you vegetarian that was spicy. Becasue of course.)
Anyways, aren’t they pretty? I had a hard time getting good photos since the shelves hover over a window, hence an epic battle with natural light and all, but you’ll have to trust me, they are quite dreamy and my kicthen is slowly turning into the unique, totally custom, inviting headquartes of magic-making, love-making, , ecclectic, homestead-y, jungalow type of warmth that I’ve been dreaming about …
Free Printable: Choose To Become
For you because sometimes I’m nice, if you dig it … use it. Free high res download here: print | hang | post | share | pin | Insta | credit
You are a Badass
Free printable, created by me, quoting Jen Sincero. Because THIS BOOK. Download the high res version here. (Just remember to credit where ya got it from!)
Feature Friday: The Incomparable Adventures in Sweetland
“O Canada 2005″
That up there is one of my favourite early photos from Toronto based touring songwriter Kristin Sweetland’s self-portrait photography series, ‘Adventures in Sweetland.’ I first met Kristin as one of my husband’s dearest friends, many moons ago when we first started dating. I was immediately smitten with her mysterious and creative ways. She’s the kind of woman who emanates artistic sensuality and a dark fire, yet constant grace and sweet friendliness. An air of fantasy and intrigue embodies all that she does. You at once become entranced with her intoxicating, witchy ways, if you’re lucky enough to meet her.
My husband describes her as a surprisingly and uniquely brilliant musician and photographer; a friend he has loved and admired for 15 years. A mind that flirts the line between the innocent and the macabre.
For years I’ve been blown away by her vision and the flawless execution which she unfurls into her photography. This is completely her alone at work here, using a tripod or mirrors and other tricks she may or may not tell you about. She definitely doesn’t have someone following her around snapping the shots. Most of them feature herself as the subject of muse and at times, she opens up the lens to include those she travels with on tour as a musician.
This collection dates back as far as 1999. That’s nearly 16 years. I would say it’s about damn time she released a book of her work and had an exhibition of equally (to her) fanciful proportions. The book layout is designed by Toronto-based promoter and graphic designer Michael “A Man Called” Wrycraft, who has worked on album covers for Bruce Cockburn, The Trews and Sweetland`s most recent instrumental project: Captain Dirt & the Skirt, amongst literally hundreds of others.
The Adventures in Sweetland series began when Kristin was given an assignment in a photography course at the University of Victoria to document her emotions through a series of self-portraits. The class ended, but the series never stopped. Watch the video teaser for this project…
Holiday Home 2014
What to say? We’ve been recovering / steeping in new health diagnoses and recovery. Jen will fill you all in on her news when she’s ready, as for us…well. Part of me doesn’t want to get into it because it’s gotten to the point of feeling over-the-top. Ludicrous even. I wrote a Facebook status a few nights ago that seemed to humour quite a few people with it’s dark embrace. For those of you who aren’t in the know I’m going to cheat and copy and paste that status here.
“Oh Christmas of 2014. December has been a month of saying goodbye to pneumonia and hello to the extraction of my wisdom teeth to be met by dry socket (don’t google that). Gout diagnosis (the husband). Unplanned holiday shopping ending in too much Frozen crap. Currently nursing (and by nursed I mean vodka at this point, because really I just need to laugh off these past 6 weeks off) cracked rib and a hairline arm fracture from wiping out on that bitch Ariel’s stupid mermaid tail on the stairs. And yet, I still have faith in my paleo cookie baking prowess and my house looks badass, in the way that a real tree, magazine worthy mantle action and overdone twinkle lights at every corner a la Martha Stewart wannabe styling can accomplish. This will be a holiday to remember that’s for sure. I hate to say it but it would appear as though Disney has been more than partially responsible for my demise. This should probably be a blog post since I haven’t updated that in a good month or so complete with perfect bokeh shots, but meh. I have carrots to peel and Baileys to switch to. Don’t judge my self-medication and yes, I’m popping pain pills at this point too! I dare say I’m going into 2015 with a streak of honesty if anything. *Hits post*”
I have a turkey to brine and presents to wrap, moving at a bout 1/2 the pace I usually do, so. Please enjoy a few snaps of that which my alter ego Martha Fishwater finds deep pleasure in executing: holiday styling.
Trevor + Selena Got Married: Part One
There are many things that I could share about our wedding; from the love and support that came pouring in from all directions to help with every little detail and DIY project, (in advance and in the very hour before), our traditional Midewiwin ceremony on the shores of Kempenfelt Bay just down the street from our home and our (questionably – we’ll link to some service reviews down the road) fabulous reception.
It was a day – and night – that we’ll always remember as being remarkable in it’s wild journey, yet final serene moment – that brought is walking through the Eastern Door to honouring our central and third fire. To honour our love, our relationship, our children, our family and let go of any pain from the past.
It was in said wildness of the day that as each love-filled, hectic moment continued, that I tried to savour and ruminate in what I un-folding – but, truth be told – as most brides expereince supposes – my mind was racing and my hands were in a myriad of projects to be finished in time. I definitely wasn’t at the spa getting my make-up and hair done, sipping champagne. Which is fine. I wanted to do a (mostly) DIY wedding and that’s exactly what it was, with everyone we love and who loves us, helping (as if they had a choice!) along on our (my?) quest.
So.
When I received our wedding pictures last night I took pleasure in re-visiting our day, which is the point really. Everyone loves wedding photos – they are a visual, time-less testament and I am deeply grateful to our dear friend Ratul Debnath of Image Pros Photography for lending us his expertise. He is a kind and generous soul that has a place at our dinner table, in our hearts and in our family forevermore. (Thanks dude, for being you.)
We have A LOT of pictures so I’ve decided to break things up into two parts, today’s pictorial is all about the ceremony, beginning with some behind-the-scenes action in our home.
CONNECT WITH JENNIFER
CONNECT WITH SELENA
