Contest @ ThePaperTrail.Org!

Hi all! Wanted to let you know that ThePaperTrail.Org is having a contest... check it out on the "About" Tab!

Everybody enter! Deadline is May 21st! Good luck!

I lovvveeee Tofino!

Traveling for work has it's ups and downs... but going to Tofino last week was definitely a up! The weather was beautiful and the people at the hospital were great.

I was introduced to a very great place to eat called SoBo. If you ever get to Tofino, check it out. The food is amazing!

Next week I will be in Port Alberni and Nanaimo... I am a little run down and I can't seem to catch up on any sleep when I am home for the weekend.

On the great news front - a couple of my friends had their babies! One had a girl (Chelsea) and one had a boy (Tyler). Congrats guys!

Awake and Away!

Awake and away is the story of my life right now. I am traveling somewhere outside of Victoria everyday until the middle of June. I will be in Nanaimo tomorrow, Port Alberni on Thursday and Chemainus on Friday... at least that is what I think my schedule is! Feff... I am exhausted already! Of course it is for work and I won't have time to do much exploring. But you never know!

Baseball season is starting in a couple weeks. We have our first tournament April 26 & 27. Unfortunately our team has lost some players. It seems like the older we get, the busier we get!

Well, I better get back to work. I was procrastinating, so I thought I would write a quick note!
I will try to keep everyone updated with my travels!

Weekend Fun and more painting!

Fefff... boy was I busy this weekend, I don't even know where to start!

Okay, I will start with Easter weekend. I dragged my friend Niko out shopping and in our travels I found a bed! It isn't as great as the Flower bed by BDDW, but it is pretty close. So, I dragged db to the store to check it out and he loved it too! It is the shelter bed by brownstone furniture (picture below - it looks WAYYY better in person).
Once I realized we found our new bed, that meant more painting! Off I went to the Benjamin Moore store to get paint! After the fiasco with the colour choice of the bathroom, I decided to get a sample of the colour I thought for the bedroom. Well, good thing I did because it didn't turn out anything like I thought. It is probably because we have a huge window with a large field right outside. Our neighbours did warn us about how the field affects the colour of items. So, I hummed and hawed and realized that the other spare bedroom needed to be painted in order to move our old bed into it.

Yup, again I was off to the paint store to buy paint. db helped me sand, putty and wash the walls to get ready for painting. Then Saturday I went to baseball practice and then picked up Niko to start the painting. db went to Vancouver to watch the Flames vs. Canucks (Canuck won... boooo).

Niko and I painted 1/2 the room and then it was time to go to the Canada Women's hockey game! It was awesome! I love those girls. They were in Victoria practicing before the World Championships, which are on in China from April 4 - 14. Details can be found on the Hockey Canada website. Niko and I took lots of pictures... I will post once I get them back.

Well... long story short. The painting is done and I had a good weekend. My next plan is to paint our walk-in closet while we are still looking for that perfect paint colour. Hopefully it won't take long!

Love at First Sight...

Flower bed from BDDW

For months now, db and I have been shopping around for a bed frame. I suppose we feel that we should get grown up furniture for our grown up house (okay - maybe it is just me... ). We currently just have our box spring and mattress on the floor - I would post a picture, but it is way too embarrassing.

In our search to find that perfect bed frame, I came across BDDW. Yes, as the title suggests, it is love at first sight. The bed I want is the Flower bed (as seen in the picture above) - sounds very romantic and it is the most beautiful thing I have seen in a long time.

I was reading about design today and one designer said that live simple and love each piece in your home. Well, he's right. I love this piece and I am getting up the nerve to call BDDW to see how much it will cost and if they ship to Canada. If not... road trip anybody?

New Chair!

Last weekend, I went shopping for the binding and I quickly jumped into the Polished Home to check out what they had in stock. They were having a huge sale and I ended up purchasing a brand new chair for only $200 (it was reduced from $600). My original plan was to purchase a used chair and recover it, but for $200... I doubt I could have refinished a chair for that!

It was sort of a hasty decision, but the owner of the store was there and she even had my paint chip (silver grey by Benjamin Moore) in the store so I could check and ensure the colours would go together.

It fits the bedroom really well and db likes it too. Now I want to get a round footstool in a deep teal colour to go with it. My searching for furniture never ends!

Meme: 7 Random Things

My sister @ Bright Turquoise tagged me for a meme (see below for details for memeing).

7 Random things about me...

1. I don't believe in random... I think that everything has a pattern (you just have to look long enough). Maybe it is because even when I try to be random, there is alway a pattern. I use to try and make beaded necklaces that had no pattern, but if you really looked at them, there was alway a pattern.

2. One of my hero's is my grandma Ruth. I think she is an amazing person and I hope I become more like her as I grow up.

3. Like my sister, I rarely wear matching socks. I feel like folding socks is a waste of time and I rather waste my time doing other stuff.

4. I still haven't unpacked all the boxes since we have moved into our house (over a year ago). Mostly the boxes contain my craft stuff, books, and random other things.

5. I love making lists! I have a little book in my purse that I write down my lists for various stuff. Some of my current lists are: 2008 Christmas Presents (i.e. My Mom, my dad, Steph...); Movies to rent; Books to read; Things to buy; Stuff I want.

6. I am the worst gardener ever. I buy plants, but then forget to water them, so db has to take care of them.

7. I love this commercial and I have no idea why!

I'm tagging some peeps for this meme thing. The people I'm tagging are (sorry - I don't really know 5 people that blog):

• Jenn Francouer Sewell- My penpal for about 20 years now!
• Kim Senechal - My old roomie from Courtenay

“7 Things” Meme How To:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 random facts about yourself
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their Blogs
5. Have fun!

Happy Birthday Steph!

EmptyGeorge's Card - available here on Etsy

Happy Birthday Steph! Hope you have a lovely day.

In honour of my sisters birthday, I have composed the top 4 of my favourite eCards:
.::. Screaming Banshee Birthday Card (Hallmark.com)
.::. Cirque du Soleil's Creative Cards - It will re-write your message in a fun way! Must be a member, but sooo worth it!
.::. Espectro - It is more an art postcard, but you are able to browse many artist and send postcards
.::. Red Hat Cards - not eCards - but very fun!

If anybody has any to add to the list, please send away!

Binding... Binding... Binding

My binding troubles continued this weekend. I went to the store to buy some of the pre-made bias binding, but after going to 4 different fabric stores, I realized the colour I wanted didn't exist (In Victoria anyways).

So, I had to take a crash course on how to make your own binding. I started with this tutorial how to cut fabric on the bias. I learned that you cannot just make straight strips - unless you are doing straight lines. Here is another tutorial: http://www.quilterscache.com/StartQuiltingPages/startquiltingfive.html

It is quite simple and didn't take long at all. I wish I had a rotary cutter though. That would have made the job simpler. I will put one on my Xmas list!

Once I had all my binding strips cut out and sewn.... I remember reading on Sew That's It blog about a tool to make binding or bias tape. The tool demonstrated on this blog made ironing and finishing the binding tape very simple.

And voila... here is the bias binding! I wouldn't do this for every towel, but for very special people, I will definitely do this again!



I also finished another towel. I had some troubles with this one, so I am glad that it is done. Only 2 more to do this week!

Binding Troubles

Well, I was back at making more hooded baby towels. Except, I got really frustrated with the binding! It kept puckering... I was using a zig-zag stitch, should have been simple, but it was very finicky and looked bad.


So, I watched a video how quilters sew binding to their beautiful quilts... amazing! Very easy to do and looks so much better! I recommend this video if you ever have to bind something :)


And the finished product... I love the towel so much more now! Now, I have to take apart the blue one and fix it. Luckily all my friends that are having boys aren't due for a little while.