The beauty of framing!!

I have been into framing this season! It started with 2 prints my husband and I had bought nearly 10 years ago that we had been constantly saying we would frame one day only to move them from pillar to post - never getting to display or enjoy them. I still am not getting good enough photos so sadly they have not been included in the pictures above, but we finally got them professionally framed and they look great. Now taking pride of place in our lounge - we get to enjoy them every day and they are motivating us to make the rest of the room look lovely in order to best display them. Now it is a little costly to have things professionally framed - but so worth it if you can splash out a bit! However what I have also started to enjoy doing is buying gorgeous prints from etsy and displaying them in very inexpensive, but rather cool looking plain white frames. You can have a fabulous piece of artwork - beautifully framed for around just $35. The artwork above is from 2 very gifted artists at Ferntree Studio and Penny Wishes on etsy. The owls really add a great finishing touch to my wee boys room and the flower/bold red prints are going to look stunning in my kitchen once I get round to painting it red/yellow! Etsy is the way to go for me and imagine buying some of these for friends for Christmas - unique designs for under $50!!

Tractor Inspiration

So this weekend has been a long weekend for us Canadian folks and today was Labor Day - the last day of summer and boy was it!! It absolutely peed it down today - it was grey, windy and rainy. Trousers had to be found and squeezed back into and boots dug out. I had forgotten how much work the winter can be with muddy paws and tiny footprints finding their way into the house and the woodstove needing to be stoked up soon. The only good thing abt the weather today was that my wee boy must have thought it was still night-time this morning because he slept in until 11:30 am (unheard of) and when he woke up and came downstairs the first thing he did was turn on the light in his playroom and say "It's still dark - is it night-time Mummy?"...honey I know what you mean. At the moment when the boy is asked how old he is he will reply "I'm a teenager"..I have no idea why he says this, but hey if it means we get more lie ins in the morning I'm all for it!

So the weekend has been a bit of a holiday for us here in the little blue house. We cosied up today - but yesterday was sunny and bright and we went for a little drive up Island to look at some new walks and lakes around Qualicum Beach - called Horne Lake and Spider Lake. They were both just beautiful - great for dog and boy and just made me yearn for that cheap, rustic cabin by the lake - that just doesn't exist - certainly not this side of Canada. Anyway I love getting away for a drive on the coast here - it really does awaken the senses and get me tingly abt possible new designs. I had to ask hubby to pull over when I saw this cool looking tractor by the side of one of the log roads. It is definitely going to be an inspiration for a farm themed flag me thinks - so watch this space.

All Sold Out!!

I would like to introduce you to the work of my dear friend Anita from Adoornments (www.adoornments@etsy.ca). We have been sharing a stall, every Saturday, this year at the wonderful Moss St market located in Fairfield, Victoria BC. She has been such an inspiration, support and general pack horse / coffee - popsicle fetcher for me during this first WallFlags season at the market and it has been such fun to share the start of this journey with a friend. Now Anita has been knitting her little heart out this summer (or should I say knitting her socks off) to try and keep up with the demand for her funky socks and fingerless gloves. With demand so high when the temperatures are soaring - who knows what stampede will occur for her when the weather really does spur a need! Her knitting is fabulous (this is the lady who knitted a Mona Lisa sweater within a week - enough said!!) her European style of knitting has been catching the attention of all the die hard knitters out there on Vancouver Island - as she tucks her big, pointy needles under her arm and happily clacks away during the day. So it is a relief for us that we are taking a break next Saturday from the market to let Anita replenish what stocks she can during a 2 week period (you would be surprised how much she can achieve) because this week she sold out of all her knitting and was only left with an empty right foot! You can also check out Adoornments gorgeous new line of jewellery on etsy where she is inspired by her beautiful cable knits and her finds on Vancouver Island through the medium of precious metal clay.