woodland watercolour calendar available here
Happy February everyone! I have some fun banners I’m going to be listing in the shop this week as well as a few new designs that are already available: Filled and Assorted Mini versions of my printed Watercolour Donut banner.
Additionally all orders this month will include “The Heart is a Dumb Dumb,” crystal heart AND conversation heart stickers FOR FREE!
I hope you all have a great month!
This week has been a weird one; most of us (especially Gwen) were/are sick with a gruesome cold, and for most of the week it’s felt like the wrong day. The former was a nightmare of coughing, sneezing, runny noses and nowhere near enough sleep for anyone. The latter was because Sym switched the days she stays at her dad from Tuesday & Thursday to Wednesday & Thursday- there was a good reason for it though, and that reason is PRETTY LITTLE LIARS. It’s basically the one show we watch together, it airs on Tuesdays and we’ve always had to wait until Wednesday or sometimes even Saturday to watch it. It was actually my suggestion she change her schedule and spend PLL nights here so I can’t really complain, but it made Wednesday feel like Thursday and Thursday feel like Friday and it all just made the week seem extra long.
Also this week (just yesterday in fact) Sym got a palate expander added to her braces, which sucks and she hates it. We have to adjust it twice a day for two weeks and she’s having a helluva time eating because every food gets stuck in it. I have no idea what to make for dinner now, like should I make her favourite foods so the hassle of having to clear it out of the expander is worth it, or should I just make a blended soup to reduce the amount of hassle? I’m reminded of the time my high school boyfriend’s older brother had his jaw wired shut and their mother would just take whatever the family was eating and blend it up with milk into like a ham-peas-barley smoothie. NASTY. Anyway I’m going to wait until she gets home from school and then figure it out together.
I’ve been adding more things to my shop and society6 but I don’t want to make constant picture posts about it; maybe just once a month? With my new shop policy I just have all this extra time and I’m feeling super ~inspired~. Most things I do post on instagram so you can follow me there to keep informed. This weekend I plan on working on EVEN MORE new things, as well as finally figuring out what the heck I’m gonna do with all the baby clothes; the bins of them are still all over my kitchen and dining room and even though I took some things out of them (I gave Gwen some of her tiniest sleepers to dress her “babies” in instead of her current size 4 pajamas) somehow they’ve expanded and no longer fit in the same bins? It’s a mess.
Ready to ship Everything Is Okay and Feminist Killjoy mini banners are now available for purchase in the shop. I will probably only be making these once or twice a month from now on so once these are sold they will be out of stock until the next update. Don’t miss out on these perennial faves!
New! Fun! Products!
The main reason I switched the popular banners to pre-made ready-to-ship instead of made-to-order was to give myself more time to work on creative projects, as I’ve felt pretty stagnant for a while. This weekend I was able to make a bunch of fun new things that I’m really excited about.
When Life Gives You Lemons… I Say Fuck the Lemons and Bail Inspired by the classic Kunu scene in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I’ve been wanting to make this for literally months. Dark green text and yellow lemons on a light green background. Available on my Society6 as a print AND MORE.
Mountain Road This is available as a print BUT it’s actually designed as a rug! As you may know I’ve been planning on hand-painting a road play mat for Gwen since the fall but I never got around to it. Last night as I was uploading the “Lemons” print I was like HANG ON, Society6 does rugs??? I quickly finished up the rough design I’d started working on, adding mountains, trees, an alligator-infested lake and a sly little fox. This design only works in the 2×3′ and 3×5′ size (the 4×6′ aspect ratio is wrong so it crops weird). I ordered one myself last night and if I like how it looks once it arrives I will probably design more- those roads that drive off the edge need to go somewhere!
Watercolor Ring Donut Banner Another idea that’s been brewing for a while! This fun new banner features six assorted watercolour donuts hung on red & white baker’s twine. The watercolour donuts are printed on a glossy paper and affixed to 2mm EVA foam. This makes them sturdy and prevents the donuts from curling up. Each donut is glued to the baker’s twine and finished on the reverse with plain paper. The donuts are 3″ wide and 2 1/2-2 3/4″ wide, and the full width of the banner is 42″, including 8 1/2″ of twine on either end for hanging.
I have lots more ideas that I’ll be working on in the upcoming months; follow me on instagram or like me on facebook to keep up with the latest!
All pics by Taylor.
I so wish I didn’t have my eyes closed in that last one but OH WELL. Maybe I will just photoshop my eyeballs into it. We may have not had any real snow this winter but at least we had some good frost, right? Taylor took these photos one morning during our break after we walked the dogs. These were actually all taken in the alley behind our house; it’s very picturesque.
I’m trying something new with my shop this month. I’ve deactivated the listings for some of my most popular banners (the mini feminist killjoy, everything is ok & what is the point) YES I KNOW THAT SOUNDS INSANE but there’s a reason! Instead of making them to order one at a time I’m going make a bunch of them all at once. Then I’ll list them and hopefully they’ll sell out, at which point I’ll make more.
Honestly I should have switched to this type of business model long ago but once my shop became semi-popular I never had the time to get a bunch of banners pre-made. I’m committed to doing it now though and
feel it will allow me to a) make my customers happier with faster shipping times, and b) allow me more time to work on other projects, either for the shop or just for myself! I have a lot ideas for different things I want to make but it’s hard to justify spending an evening painting or sewing or appliquéing when I have outstanding banner orders; hopefully this new direction will change that.
Just a quick lil shop update… I’m is now offering free shipping in Canada, on everything with no minimum purchase required.
I plan on making a few other changes to the shops in the upcoming weeks so keep an eye on this blog (or the facebook page) to stay informed 🙂
Over this year a lot of people (okay two people) have asked if they could get a whole calendar from me, but the truth is I was making my 2015 calendar pages one at a time. For 2016 I decided to try to get the whole thing done at once and so this week I hunkered down and here it is: my Woodland Watercolour 2016 calendar! I’m selling it in my shop as a digital download so you get buy & print it in plenty of time for the new year, or even to give as a gift this Christmas.
Available in 3 different sizes: full-page, medium and itty bitty, this calendar costs just $6 USD and comes with a free bonus “happy new year” print. Get yours here.
New sticker, inspired by one of my fave shows, You’re the Worst. The second season just ended, so if you haven’t watched it now’s the perfect time to marathon the whole series. It’s funny, dark, absurd, and basically amazing. And for more unique, handmade stickers, check out my shop.
Yesterday I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner (meal planning problems) and I just started craving something with chorizo and peppers and little pearl onions (my fave). I went and got everything I needed and just fried it all up with loads of garlic, red pepper flakes, pepper and smoked salt (my other fave). It smelled SO GOOD while I was cooking it and according to everyone else it also tasted delicious. Not that I would know because literally two minutes before it finished cooking I got sick with food poisoning from something I’d eaten earlier that afternoon! So instead of eating this fantastic meal I’d slaved over I went to bed and felt sorry for myself. Later in the evening I was able to stomach some tea and toast but like. That’s not what I wanted!
I’ve been making good progress on my ongoing project of Taming the World’s Most Skittish Cat. Mark Fluffalo is actually hanging out with me in the office as I type this, rolling around on the floor and begging for pets. Honestly this cat loves being petted SO MUCH, it’s really his downfall because he has no choice but to confront his fear of FRIGGING EVERYTHING (cat toys, blankets, velcro, etc) in order to get the pets he so desperately wants. Anyway, normally he is only friendly in the bedroom and super antisocial everywhere else, but literally just this morning he decided to hang out. Georgie is loess than thrilled with this development as she wants all the pets for herself. So does Mark Fluffalo tbh; last night I was petting Georgie and Mark walked up and flumped down right between us. In spite of this sibling rivalry I swear they are on their way to becoming best friends (also in spite of me smooshing them together and saying “best friends. BEST FRIENDS.”) and I predict they will start playing together any day now.
Gwen has a new obsession with lip balm, only she pronounces it like “baum.” Last week I gave her a zerbert and she christened it a bart(fart)-kiss and now she gives us bart-kisses all the time. Only she doesn’t know how to do it so they are just loud smacky kisses.
We put all the decorations on our tree and so far it hasn’t been a disaster. Last year Gwen spent the month of December undecorating the tree & breaking ornaments; this year she has mostly ignored it. Except for the lights! Turning them on every day is her job exclusively. She has been kind of reckless with our holiday Legos, but they are new this year and also toys so what else did we expect?
Since I’ve been taking a semi-blogging hiatus I obviously haven’t been posting my meal plans, but I’ve been keeping up with them… sort of. Maybe I don’t plan the whole week at once but I have been making some good meals. The other week I made some ameezing sweet & sour pork with using fresh meat (instead of frozen pre-battered bits) (just never mind that I used sauce from a jar, haha).
I’ve instituted a new rule that on Wednesdays Symphony cooks dinner, which is kind of perilous and also tedious. The point is that her cooking means less work for me, but she makes such a fuss it’s kind of the same amount of work IF NOT MORE. Last night I taught/helped her to make macaroni & cheese from scratch and she nailed it, the sauce was literal perfection. She also got to experience some very real frustration when Gwen, who loves cheese and loves macaroni and loves macaroni & cheese just straight up REFUSED to eat it, for no reason. I would say Sym now has a deeper appreciation for some of what I do around here but like… teens.
I think I am mostly finished with my holiday gift shopping, although I am VERY behind on my gift-making, oops. I am pretty caught up on etsy orders but I thought it would be a good idea to do some last-minute gift & ornament exchanges which was not my brightest move ever. Today I am going to get started on painting some things, partly because painting is easier on my wrists and my carpal tunnel has been pretty terrible lately. I got new wrist braces and I am being more diligent about wearing them, especially during the day, but ughhhh it’s sooooooooo annoyinggggggggggggggggg. First though, I made a new set of stickers! As in, I’m making them right now: I designed & printed the first sheet but haven’t cut them out yet. You can get them here.
I just shipped the very last order that was placed before my holiday cutoff so hopefully things will be a little less frantic around here. I still have open orders but I don’t feel as desperate to get them out like YESTERDAY OMG so I can focus a little bit more on Christmas presents for my family.
I put our Christmas tree up a few weeks ago, just bare with lights so Gwen could get a little used to it before we add the decorations (which we’re doing tonight). My old cat Claire used to love lying under the tree and so when I saw Mark Fluffalo doing it I felt all warm and fuzzy… until I noticed today that a whole section of lights were out! Taylor told me the cat had been under the tree last night (he was working from home) goofing around before running off, and when we took it apart we found a wire that had been chewed nearly clean through. Why oh why are cats such dodos? Hopefully it was not a pleasant experience and he doesn’t do it again, but Taylor (with small help from me) was able to splice the wire back together.
Last Saturday was Taylor’s office holiday party and also the ninth anniversary of our first date. NINE WHOLE YEARS. He surprised me by hiring a limo to drive us around the city before the party while we drank champagne #hearteyesemoji The Saturday before that we went to Ikea and I bought a credenza for the dining room and filled it with all our board- and card games.
This afternoon I got Gwen to take her nap in her bed for the first time since May, which meant I was able to clean the house while she slept. It was a short nap, but I feel triumphant.
The holiday season is upon us and that means the deadline for Christmas orders from the shop is fast approaching! The deadline this year is November 23rd, which is next Monday so if you are interested in any banners for gifts or decor this holiday season please place your order asap! All orders placed by the cutoff will be shipped no later than December 7th (and hopefully much earlier than that), but for any orders placed after November 23rd I cannot guarantee delivery before Christmas.
To ease some of your holiday shipping woes I’ve added a shipping upgrade for tracking for US customers only on certain items: full size banners, boots, blocks, and plushes. The cost is an additional $8 on top of the regular $8 shipping charge (so $16 total). Items purchased with upgraded shipping will not ship faster; the upgrade is to provide tracking only. Canadian orders for these items already have tracking at no additional cost but unfortunately I am not able to offer tracking on International orders as it is extremely cost prohibitive ($45 instead of $15 O___O). Tracking is not available on mini banners, medium banners, stickers or patches unless it is specifically requested.
Also please note that from November 23rd until December 23rd the Sara M Lyons + Unicorn Parade banners will not be available in Sara’s shop. They will still be available in mine BUT please remember that any orders placed after November 23rd will not ship in time for Christmas!
If you have any questions about the deadline or any of the changes to the shipping policy please do not hesitate to contact me! Thank you to everyone who has supported the shop this year and happy holidays!