the uniform

This summer I’ve really knocked it out of the park wrt wearing the same thing every day. I’m just not a morning person and I start work earlier than I’d even wanna be out of bed, so I really don’t want to think about what I’m going to wear. Especially since the only people I’m gonna see all day are little kids! For my job (and life) I need something comfortable and easy to move around in, simple, and to be honest, cheap. To that end I’ve figured out the best bargain-basement athleisure basics & foundations (underclothes? idk) for myself, stocked up accordingly, and wear most of these items most days.

short sleeveless top, H&M // high-rise crops and leggings, Old Navy // cotton bralette, aerie // high-rise panty, Muji

stanley park in july

Some pics from when Taylor & I took the two little kids for a walk through Stanley Park. We’re lucky to have the park within walking distance of our house and I love wandering the trails in all seasons. This time we hit the Rose Garden, Beaver Lake and Prospect Point. Gwen walked the whole way with only minor complaints which was honestly impressive, and Nicky was also mostly cheerful; he did have a small meltdown from being in his stroller too long but we let him run around on a few trails with his sister and then he was golden.

vending at mural fest

Last weekend I packed up big a suitcase full of wooden displays, curtains and tablecloths as well as a VERY SMALL box of crystal tiaras and gave vending at an art market another whirl. If you recall I tried it once last summer and it was a total bust, but this time it went a little bit better. This market was part of a larger event (the Vancouver Mural Festival) with a street party, bands, a beer garden, and food vendors with thousands of people in attendance.

I was pretty anxious at the start of the day that it would turn out to be a waste of time & money, but in the end it was pretty successful for me. I debuted a couple new products (two different style of barrettes) which I almost completely sold out of, and also sold about 1/3 of the tiaras I brought with me. It was pretty exhausting (I’d forgotten what it was like to have a job where you have to stand up for most of the day!) but all in all it was a pretty great experience. I would definitely consider doing more events like this!

Some things I learned from this market…
– Have a variety of products at a range of price points! I actually already knew this (from selling both full-size and mini-size banners, remember those???) but with the new barrettes it was starkly obvious. The crystal tiaras are beautiful (sorry for tooting my own horn but… u kno) and pull people in, but not everyone has a lot of tiara occasions in their life, so a smaller & impulse-purchase friendly item at a lower price was a great way to still make a sale.
– Short haired people like crystal hair accessories too, and while I’ve been planning on making headband-style crowns for a while I haven’t gotten around to it yet and I’m KICKING myself because I feel like those would have been good sellers as well.
– Don’t drink an extra large americano with like four shots of espresso when you are already anxious/nervous because you WILL have regrets.

For now I’ve listed all the rest of my unsold new merchandise in my shop and will be adding more (including barrettes) as I make them, as well as new hairpick-style tiaras I came up with this week for a customer’s wedding.

I typically post things to my instagram as I make them so follow me if you want to stay updated! You can also see a lot of my recent work in my story highlights here.