two new cave explorers

cave explorer 12

Just a quick post today to let you know that there are two new Cave Explorer necklaces in the Sadie shop. I have a question for you regarding the future of the Cave Explorers: silver or gold? So far I've only had these available in silver, do you think that gold might be nice, too? A friend of mine ordered one of these and her young son called it "spiffy". Perhaps gold would be that much spiffier?

cave explorer eleven

Hope your week is off to a great start! I'm off to pick up some huge print outs for school this morning!

the other half

I don't want to imply that our apartment is bigger than it really is with these photos. The bedroom and office (and bike storage area) are all basically the same room in our new apartment. Maybe it's a good thing that I fall asleep in the same room as my desk--I know I dreamt about school last night!

Taking these photos I realized how lucky Jeff and I are to be surrounded by things that have meaningful stories attached to them or that remind us of our good friends and our families. Now let's just get to the photos!

Above: Doesn't Lola look happy on her doubled-up super comfy bed? In the first photo you can see one of the cabinets that holds a murphy bed. Our apartment building used to be a nun dormitory and so has places for two murphy beds that would have been used in the early 1900s. Now we just use it for storage and I love these built-in units. Middle: My sister and I at the beach in Nova Scotia quite a few years ago. My grandmothers orange "Kitty"...it actually looks worse now, but I still think it might be the cutest cat ever! Amethyst slab and earthy geode from Calgary this winter. Below: A little antique photo from Commercial Drive in Vancouver and two "doogies" that my sister sent me. Not sure why we called them that, but we did, and we loved them.

Above: A jewelry tray from Nova Scotia last May. I think I have to go back sooner, rather than later. I was so happy living in my sister's attic and going thrifting every day. It might have been the spring weather, the feeling that I'd returned home, or the fact that school was finally over for a while...whatever it was, it was an amazing visit/vacation and I want to go again! Right now! Middle: The Olympus manual SLR from the '70s that my step dad let me "borrow" this winter. Ten Years Together LP. I like this one because Jeff and I are approaching ten years together, so having this on display seems fitting. Below: My favourite painting by my friend Grady, named "Farmer Pissing While Turkey Explodes" in a night of pure awesomeness. Truly one of the best gifts I have ever been given. Also a view into the drop-down secretary desk that is above the murphy bed. My favourite Swedish soap (Talba) keeps it smelling woodsy in there!

Above: A close-up of two of the plates in my collection. I love the multi-coloured ones the most, especially if they're for a particular city or National Park. Not sure how many I have these days, but if you see one...you know where to send it! Middle: What Jeff and I are reading. Lords & Lemurs is his, Under the Banner of Heaven is mine. We are big fans of the public library AND Powell's Books in Portland. Below: Finally, a beautiful Nova Scotia tartan wool blanket that my mom gave me...and we need it! These old buildings are pretty drafty!

One more thing! This is an amazingly awesome project that I'm going to try to be a part of this year! Check out Swap With Me, especially if you're a photography lover!

Hope that you have a lovely Sunday! New Cave Explorers will be arriving in the Sadie shop soon. Oh, and now you can follow me on Twitter, too.

this is where I work

Over the next few days I'm hoping to share some photos with you of my new apartment. The reason for this? Well, for one thing, there's predicted to be sun in Vancouver, which will hopefully make for nicer photos. Also, we're finally starting to get things straightened out around here, so even though there are still some things that need to find homes and one special picture that needs to be framed, our new place is starting to feel like a home.

So, here's a couple of photos from my new office space. Above you see some of my favourite things, including the view from my window to our fire escape. The mug is not beautiful to look at, but it's for the Calgary Eyeopener, which I guess is the number one thing that I miss about waking up in Calgary every morning. The host, Jim Brown, is just so much better than the CBC Radio 1 Vancouver host. Incidentally, I heard that This American Life is joining the Radio 1 schedule, and I'm super excited. The lamp doesn't look like anything special, either, but it has a built-in magnifying glass and is super helpful when I'm making jewelry. Other things that I keep close at hand: pens and pencils, a sketchbook, some key books and magazines that are helping me right now and that little red tin of Vaseline. It's the best lip balm I've ever gotten my hands on, but it isn't sold in Canada. Whenever someone goes to Europe it's the only thing I ask them to bring back for me (thanks, Mom!).

The table practically deserves a post of its own. It's something we inherited from very good friends of ours when we moved into their old house. It's been painted but the paint is peeling off here and there, making it this amazing piece of art. I hope to someday put a sheet of glass on the top of it to preserve some of its character, even though I prefer the wood surface. It's been the best work table over the years.

And a little close up of a photograph that I got a million years ago at the Edmonton Antique Mall, my rock, sea glass, and chestnut collection, and my favourite houseplant: a rat tail cactus that I bought for $5 at a houseplant sale at UBC. This space looks pretty organized right now...but you should see my studio desk! As soon as I start working it starts looking like some sort of garbage dump. In other words, when things look clean, it's probably because I've been procrastinating! What do you need around you to work well?

animal collection II

I have a dog, but at one point I had a cat, too. Her name was Sadie and she died suddenly a little over a year ago after we'd had her in our lives for just eight years. I miss having her around, but Jeff and I haven't rushed out to get another cat because we are so busy with school and also because we're pretty sure we can never replace Sadie. More on her crazy personality some other time perhaps...

I was given a few animal-related gifts this Christmas, which made me very happy. I've also found some pretty awesome animal objects on Etsy lately, so I'm going to share those here, too. Above is a picture of the little bush baby (?) miniature my good friend Asrai gave me. These little figures used to come with Red Rose tea. Being from the Maritimes (where Red Rose tea is the only tea one drinks), my mom has a pretty impressive collection of these little guys. Perhaps this one marks the beginning of my own collection.

Jeff gave me this amazing necklace, made by Beetle & Flor from Brooklyn. It's the lower left mandible of a skunk jaw, and, yup, it has gold teeth. I honestly don't know how Jeff came to find this necklace. It is everything I love: natural history, gold, porcelain, and wearable. Amazing. I used to love teaching kids about all the animals skulls and bones that we had at the migratory bird sanctuary I used to work at. I would definitely have worn this every day to work if I'd had it then! Below is another porcelain favourite. These two bears hugging are made by KG & AB. I really love the clean materials and little details of all of their pieces. The figures under glass are my favourites, but I also covet the little porcelain forest animals.

bears in love under glass

letterpress whiskers poster

Finally, I found this whisker print in the Sycamore Street Press shop. Their posters are really fun and super affordable, and their letterpress cards are equally awesome. I think this one might be my favourite, but I'm having a hard time choosing just one! What are your favourite animal objects? If you want to see more of my favourites check out my first animal collection post.

Incidentally, here's a picture of Jeff and I and our dog Lola taken on New Year's Day. We went on a beautiful walk with our pals Jacqui and Blair and saw an amazing sunset with views over the entire city. Hope you have a greet weekend!

the suburbs

bridge over the Fraser River

Here it is, the real first day of this final semester of school! I can't take much time out of my work schedule, but I wanted to share another photo from a site visit that I did not too long ago and a little colour study of the Fraser River that I composed from the photos I took that day. Also, a video and song all about the suburbs. I haven't really listened to this Arcarde Fire album at all. I liked their first record a lot and liked the second one less. Perhaps this third one is destined to become the soundtrack to my thesis project? You never know. It is relevant and kind of catchy so far. Hope you are having a great day! If you have a chance, check out this awesome New Year's Resolution post over at Dinosaur Toes.

colours of the Fraser River, winter 2010

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs from Merge Records on Vimeo.

Did you grow up in the suburbs or do you live there now? I lived in the suburbs of Calgary for a while and it was isolated but very green. We did things like ride the entire loop of a bus's route or make up synchronized swinging routines for fun. How about you?