My dog Isabel is a Border Collie/Australian Shepherd crossed with something small. I think she’s part Corgi because she’s so long and short. Whatever she is, she LOVES snow. Here’s a video of her running in the fresh snow earlier today. Makes me smile.
Category: Favourite Things
Time to Start Thinking About Ordering Holiday Cards
Yep, it’s that time of year again. It’s chilly outside. Thanksgiving is passed (here in Canada, anyway) and Halloween is around the corner. And I’ve started thinking about Holiday Cards. You know I love making personalized photo Holiday Cards online, and my go-to spot is Tiny Prints. Three years ago my order got held up at the border (which is a problem with customs, not with the supplier) so Tiny Prints quickly reprinted the order and sent me replacement cards with expedited shipping, at no extra cost. Now that’s customer service.
I was poking around Tiny Prints’ website, checking out the new designs for 2013. I love the ornament cards, pearl white shimmer and doublethick matte paper cards, and clear cards (how cool is that?). It’s also super cool that Tiny Prints has cards by designers I love, like Dwell Studio, Lotta Jansdotter and Rifle Paper Co (remember these ones I made two years ago with a Rifle Paper Co design? Swoon.)
Of course, one of the most important choices is which photo to use on your cards. We’ll probably do a little family photo shoot in the next week or so (my brother-in-law takes excellent photos). And then I’ll have to make my choice! Right now my favourite cards are the ones pictured above:
1. Shining String ornament card
2. Yuletide Cheer flat card
3. Pure Snowflakes clear card
4. Gleeful Glitter ornament card
5. Blissful Blizzard tri-fold
6. Golden Holiday flat card
7. Merry Snow Globe ornament card
I promise to let you know which one I pick, and how they turn out! PS – if you’re having trouble picking a design, you can get 3 free samples to help you choose. Use promo code 3FREESAMPLES for that deal.
Is Domino Magazine Coming Back?
I wrote a post here on the blog in February 2012 (that’s over a year and a half ago- yikes) that said Domino Magazine was doing a special edition, and *might* be coming back with more content in 2013.
I saw this tweet earlier today that hints Domino is “coming home”. Apparently new content will be on their website on Thursday, and they tweeted an image of a Holiday 2013 issue (pictured above). YES!
Favourite Colours
What’s your favourite colour? I have two… brown and orange (on their own, definitely NOT together). I love a rich, deep, chocolately brown, and a bright, vivacious, happy orange.
I have lots of brown in my home, but other than a few accents, I mostly shy away from using orange, since it can be overwhelming. But this “best of orange” roundup over on Design*Sponge has me rethinking. Don’t you just love that orange sofa?
[image of Polly Alexandre’s sofa via Design*Sponge]
Favourite Things: Uppercase Mag
I have a bit of a problem with magazines. I’m kind of obsessed. I have subscriptions to 8 magazines that are delivered to the house (Oprah, Chatelaine, Toronto Life, Fashion, Wired, Spacing, Canadian House & Home, and Uppercase), and when I’m out, I’ll often pick up others on the newsstand (The New Yorker, Budget Travel, Vanity Fair, Ready Made, Dwell, Style at Home and New York Magazine are often found lying around here). Oh, and don’t even get me started on the online magazines I read.
But without a doubt, my favourite magazine right now is Uppercase. Uppercase is a gorgeous, award-winning, proudly Canadian magazine about design, illustration, and a bunch of other creative stuff. I love the content of most magazines, but the design is also very important to me. Uppercase is a perfect mix of gorgeous layout and design. Even the paper it’s printed on is spectacular.
I used to get HOW magazine (subject: print design) for creative inspiration, but Uppercase inspires me more. And I used to get Domino magazine (before it went under), and Uppercase has interviews and showcases of quirky people and their interiors, filling the void left by Domino.
Uppercase Issue 7 just came out (there are 4 annually) and I should get my copy in the mail any day now. I’m really excited…
Happy Canada Day!
Today I’m out at my cottage with friends, enjoying the fine Canadian tradition of lounging in the lake-side hammock, reading, drinking beer, and enjoying the sunshine. Okay, maybe those aren’t strictly Canadian activities, but I’ll let it slide.
Kind of Canada related – check out Modern Karibou, an online shop for modern stuff that you can actually get in Canada. It’s so frustrating to read about a cool product for your house in an American magazine, only to find out they don’t ship to Canada, or the product isn’t available here.
Or, for the ultimate in Canadian interiors, check out the iconic Umbra. Maybe treat yourself to my favourite Umbra product – the Aquala Bathub Caddy. With a book holder and spot for your wine glass, it takes a bubble bath to the next level.
Favourite Things: BBC Radio 1 Scotland
If you haven’t already noticed, I love Scotland and all-things-Scottish. Since I have no plans to return to the Highlands anytime soon, I get my Scottish fix by listening to BBC Radio 1 Scotland online. I like to tune in throughout the day, but you can pretty much guarantee that I’ll be listening weekdays between 9-11am (Toronto time). That’s when the Tom Morton show is on – an excellent mix of pop music (new and old), witty Scottish banter, and Scottish news. If you can’t listen live, you can download podcasts of the show here.
You can listen to all the BBC radio stations online here. And if you want BBC Radio 1 Scotland, click here.
Favourite Things: Picnics
Picnics are way cool right now. Lots of hipster blogs are encouraging picnics, detailing picnic style, and swooning over photographs of picnics. So, being the rad person she is, The King suggested we start a picnic club in Toronto, where we invite all our friends to bring food and eat it together in various parks around the city. Last night we hit up Riverdale Park (on the Cabbagetown side, by the farm). Those are some shots up there. If you look closely at the picture in the middle, to the left, you can see bubbles! I picked up a bubble blowing kit at the dollar store. Super fun.
Favourite Things: Ian
Okay folks, watch your gag reflex, it’s gonna get a bit mushy here.
Today’s post is for my husband, Ian, on his 32nd birthday. Back when I didn’t have a blog, and I just had a “favourite things” page on my website, Ian would ask “how come I’m not on your favourite things page?” I told him it was because I was trying to keep my personal and professional lives a little bit separated. But that’s just BS. Anyone who knows me knows that I have almost no distinction between my personal and professional lives, and I like it that way.
So Ian, here you are, out in the open, as one of my Favourite Things. We’ve been together over 5 years (cue the Colin James), and I’m still crazy about you. I love your intellect, your sensitivity and understanding, your cooking (Ian is the chef in our house), your shared love of our dog, and I especially love your sense of curiosity and wonder (like how you were willing to drive 6 hours just to see some architecture, and you always go with me to art galleries and museums, just to learn something new).
And you look ridiculously good in your MacNaughtan tartan scarf. Happy Birthday.
The only thing I’ll put my pen to…
I love pretty paper. I love fancy pens. I love all things written. But I’m pretty predictable when it comes to my notebooks of choice – I go old-school with Moleskine. I’ve tried other brands, but I keep coming back to Moleskine because of the paper texture and the different shapes and sizes available (and available without lined paper – I don’t like lines). I use this one for my notes on my biggest client (there are a lot of notes), and I use the smaller cahiers (available in three packs) for everything else.
I’m working on a web design right now that features a moleskine notebook as the background for the site. More on that later.
Also, check out these laser-etched Moleskines – cool!