teacher notepad giveaway

Today's Parent is hosting a honeybunch giveaway this weekend, with the chance to win one of five teacher notepads or a gift pack containing a personalized notepad and matching flat note cards.

Hop over to Today's Parent to enter by leaving a comment about your favourite childhood teacher. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, May 31. Bonne chance!

DIY party ware

We once hosted a barbeque for 60 people and to avoid using disposable cups and plates I borrowed a hodge-podge of plastic cups and plates from neighbours. I spent much of the party washing cups, labeling cups with masking tape and a Sharpie, and urging guests to remember where they put down their cups so they wouldn't have to use a fresh one. I was a lot of fun that day. I now believe that when people outnumber the cups, it is OK to use disposable/recyclable. These plain white paper coffee cups have been gussied up with a slash of watered-down acrylic paint. Cute, no? And easy enough for the kids to do.

The full tutorial, with photographic step-by-step for the crafty challenged, is at Design Sponge.


Happy weekend.

interview at true cuddles

Yes it's holiday Monday but there is no rest for the self-employed. Plenty of bare-faced and bleary-eyed blogging but not much actual rest. The weekend has gone by in an altogether pleasant blur of sunburned shoulders (thank you Saturday!) earned while painting some furniture outside (sorry passersby for hogging the sidewalk!) and attempting to build a sun canopy with Mr. Honeybunch. A project which ended, rather predictably, with a crushed toe (mine), hurt ego (his), some salty language (both) and a near shearing off of my nose when the roof beam collapsed millimeters from my face. We did the only sensible thing: retreated to Frank's for pizza and cold Moretti and left the canopy to stew for a day.

I can report a successful conclusion was reached this afternoon, with no further injuries (but for a torn piece of canvas trim that I had to hand-sew while standing on the top rung of the ladder). I am woman. Roar. On that empowered note, I am today's interview subject over at True Cuddles. Read it here. My daughter sprouted thirty new freckles over the weekend so the Pippi Longstocking comparison is especially apropos.

Happy Victoria Day.

15% off personalized teacher notepads

As announced in today's newsletter, the lovely and always gracious personalized notepads are 15% off for the next week or so. Regularly $23, they are on for $19.50.

You may be interested to know that each notepad is made by hand in my home studio. The personalized artwork is printed out and then each pad is handcut into notepad-sized stacks and given a piece of backing board. The notepads are loaded into a press to keep the paper secure and aligned. Three layers of binding glue are painted on to the spine, with drying time between each coat. The next day, when it's good and dry, I carefully cut the pads apart using an Xacto blade, and then package them into clear cello sleeves before sending them off into the world to become the nicest grocery lists.

New: Wall Tiles

I had a brief but intense flirtation with Harvey before Oscar caught my eye. And then George. But in the end Henry won my heart. Dreaming of baby names was my absolute favourite pregnancy activity. (If we're not counting double toasted bagels.) I know I'm not alone. Every baby's name is special, and the result of happy hours spent daydreaming and pondering and, probably, a little bit of negotiating too. Then one just fits. And you know you've got it right.

Brand-spanking new to the shop this week are these cutie personalized tiles. Birth Day tiles include baby's name, height and weight; Baptism tiles commemorate this special day. Both make a rather precious gift that becomes a keepsake down the road. Name tiles come in a ton of really cute designs, and would be such a lovely gift to celebrate the arrival of a sibling or moving into a big boy or girl bedroom.

The tiles are handmade in the USA by a husband and wife design team. Southern California natives Charlie and Kathleen traded in sun and surf for an East Coast community complete with Amish buggies and small town parades. The original designs are inspired by vintage fabrics, Kathleen's doodles and the pair's two young daughters. Sweet.

Now through the 19th of May the tiles are at an introductory price of $36.80. Check them out here.

New: Flat Cards

As a kid I was fascinated with my mother's working life as an executive secretary. It all seemed very glamorous and terribly important. For secretaries from her generation penmanship was one of the more important subjects to master. For some reason my mother kept her spiralbound steno practice notebooks from secretarial school, and I would flip through those pale green-lined pages admiring her tidy, perfect shorthand. I still appreciate nice handwriting, especially when it arrives on a lovely notecard.

These new personalized flat card sets were made for people who enjoy the simple act of putting a nice pen to good paper.