http://moonandsparrow.tumblr.com/

Ba-Bye!

Thu, 26 May 2011 07:15:21 -0400

The Moon and Sparrow Blog has officially moved to www.moonandsparrowblog.com

Thanks for joining me here and hope to see you on the other blog!

Sandy

Changes...

Mon, 23 May 2011 08:54:25 -0400

Happy Monday off, all you lovely people!

It is overcast and warm (best weather ever!) and my mom is in town (extra set of arms! clean dishes! sleeping in! Yes yes yes!).

Just wanted to put it out there that yes, there are some strange things happening on the site and the blog these past few days. I’ve gone a little crazy with changing things up. Come next week, nothing will look the same!

In the meantime, you can still access the shop on Etsy and I’ll see you Thursday with a new on-line look!

Enjoy your day off, I hope you all have parents in town taking care of your little ones and letting you sleep longer!

Sandy

Hello again!

Fri, 20 May 2011 09:16:02 -0400

Hi there lovely people,

This was my first official week off the blog. I even skipped the Wednesday Eye Candy post (which by the way, I had prepared and everything!) - what a couple of weeks!

Our family had a pretty terrible stomach bug. Twice. We even had to take the little peanut to the baby ER at Ste. Justine (the kids’ hospital). All is well now, I’m happy to report, but that’s just one reason I’ve neglected the blog a little (lot).

Another reason is that I’m just about finished tweaking my new Wordpress Blog. Not to sound too whiny, but I can’t wait to leave Tumblr. Every time I log into my account my banner looks different and my links look all wonky. Anybody else have similar experiences with Tumblr?

AS WELL — I’m finishing up a new line of products and my wholesale catalogue! I can’t wait to approach retailers and see where Moon and Sparrow ends up selling. I’m focusing on Montreal and Toronto for now. Keep your eyeballs open for great kid and baby shops, people!

On that note, I’m off to finish working while Flora sleeps off the last of her bug.

Hope you are all well and vomit free this misty Friday morning,

Sandy

Movin' on up!

Tue, 17 May 2011 09:28:46 -0400

That’s right!

It’s time to ditch Tumblr for good and move on over to Wordpress. After having done some (probably way too much) research, I realize it’s time to take the blog to the next level. I’m tired of logging into my Tumblr account only to see that my header is wonky, my links don’t work, my stylesheets aren’t linked, or, more often, Tumblr is down.

So over the next few days I’ll be finishing up the last touches on the new blog (ummm so installing Wordpress onto a Cargo Collective hosted website with a masked address turns out to be … a little bit complicated! Ah! But we did figure it out. If you want more info on how, send me a message and I’ll be glad to share.)

I’m really excited to have a more consistent looking / functioning blog. I’ve got lots of news to share, I know I keep saying that but really. Here’s a teaser:

Moon and Sparrow stationery!
New Moon and Sparrow wall prints!
A new affiliation with the David Suzuki Foundation! Coming soon; products featuring polar and grizzly bears from which proceeds will go to my favourite foundation!
New website and products coming in the next months…

Well folks, it’s Tuesday, which means we should all be listening to Dan Savage’s Podcast (stream it here). Make yourself another coffee, and enjoy the rain!

Sandy

P.S. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the whole blog thing. Anybody else a bit fed up with Tumblr?

Wednesday Eye Candy

Tue, 10 May 2011 21:26:00 -0400

Hi lovelies!

Welcome new characters Effie and Umberto by Moon! and Sparrow

I smartened up and am getting this post ready before bed Tuesday night instead of tomorrow (Wednesday) at 5am. My Wednesdays are now packed full of business classes and getting up at 4am to work before has just got to stop.

Tomorrow we are practicing doing sales calls - which I really need. I realize that my French is seriously lacking in vocabulary in certain situations (like selling my products for example) and this is a great exercise for a language geek like me. I love this stuff. (In fact, I learned french largely on my own by visiting my best friend’s mom every Friday. She speaks French — as well as a whole pile of other languages — and we would speak french and eat croissants while I jotted down new verbs. We also did fake phone calls in French- ha ha!)
I guess I have always been a total francophile.

Guess that’s why you always see lots of stripes popping up in my Wednesday picks. I cannot get enough of stripes. (Am humming and hawing over whether or not to order this striped dress included in today’s picks. For sure made in China right? *One of my resolutions this year was to not buy from China.)

awesome uk kids store
kid coats that just kill me!
smart smart smart kid’s furniture
new Etsy love interest
Holy Eff you’d think I wrote this book myself!
I keep coming across Pigeon Toe Ceramics - LOOOOVE
Totally my kind of scarves
Awesome toys I am for sure going to make for Flo (with all of my free time?)
Pepillo kids products - yum!
New kid mag Papier Mâché (via Droolicious)
Man kids sure have cool accessories to choose from these days
Killer striped dress (maybe probably from China)

And on that note, adios et joyeux mecredi!

Sandy

Interview: Mary Cobb of the Greengoat

Tue, 10 May 2011 09:47:50 -0400

Tell us a secret about yourself
Well, I am obsessed with toys! I am pretty much a 12 year old stuck in an almost 34 year old vessel. Sheesh. I am going to be 34! It looks weird when I type it out.

What’s your professional background ?
I graduated from college with my degree in graphic design, but I have always considered myself more of a studio artist. I like it all…painting, drawing, print making, photography. I never could decide what to emphasize in, so I picked them all. It took a little longer to finish school, but I couldn’t help it. I needed to learn them all.

When did you start The Green Goat?
I had always wanted to try screen printing. Of course, they didn’t offer that class at the college I attended, but luckily my print making professor gave us a demo one day and I was totally fascinated by this process. Did you know screen printing first appeared in a recognizable form in China during the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD)! How did they come up with this? Amazed me.

Anyhoo, I graduated, got married, had 2 babies and did nothing artistic for darn near 4 years! It’s like I became a mother and forgot everything else I used to be. Momma was missing something.

I started by using iron-on transfers because it was more easily attainable in my mind than setting up a print shop. I SO did not like the quality and non-durability of this method, but I was still rather intimidated of the whole screening process and it seemed to be out of reach.

Then, in April of 2009, my husband bought me a YUDU machine for my birthday. This seemed like the perfect little all-in-one screen printing machine! Once I got the hang of it, I wanted to go as BIG as my little 5’1” body could handle. I needed the real deal. So, I saved up all my pennies from onesie sales and bought everything I needed to go bigger. The rest is history.

Where does the name The Green Goat come from? I am an avid supporter of organic living. Little Mary tree-hugger, if you will. I really don’t understand how one could not be. Supporting an organic lifestyle just makes sense.

I strive to always work in as many earth and kid friendly ways as possible. I use organic material whenever available. I hand dye the garments using low impact dyes, which have a higher than average absorption rate (70%-80%, depending on the color).This means less water is required in the rinse process and less dye runs off in the water; therefore, the dyes have a lower impact on the environment.

Low-impact dyes also typically do not contain heavy metals (like chrome, copper and zinc), nor do they require toxic chemical mordants to fix them to the fiber. Everything is hand printed by me using eco-friendly and non-toxic water based inks, making it a safe and wonderful addition to anyone’s wardrobe.

Tell us about your products. What is your best seller? The onesies were all I had in the beginning, but now I have a little something for everyone. The little girl dresses sell the best. They are probably my favorite thing to make too. I think it’s because I can cover almost the entire surface of the garment with my biggest screen and that is so exciting to me.

Walk us through a day of your work.
That should read “night” instead of day. I usually get to work after I put the kids to sleep. Scott (my man) helps me dye the clothes one night, and I print the next. Then I heat-set, iron, photograph and edit the photos the following day. Finally, I get to list them and package anything that sells in between. Sometimes my mom comes over during the day to watch the kids if I have deadlines approaching. She is a lifesaver. Yay for grandma.

On the business end of things, was it formal training or learn-as-you-go?
Definitely learning-as-I-go! I am still trying to figure it all out! So much to learn. I feel like I am just winging it. I don’t really know what I am doing. Just floating along, riding it out. I like to make things. That’s all I know for sure.

What do you find are the biggest challenges to running your own business?
As a mother of two, work hours must get pretty nutty? I have learned to function on half the amount of sleep that I was used to. I used to LOVE sleepy time.
I’m getting used to not having as much. Juggling everything and managing my time is where I fall short sometimes. It’s hard.

I constantly feel like I can’t give anything my full attention. I miss those days when I was in school with all the time in the world to kill. I could focus completely on my art.

Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to have started this then. It just seems to take SO long to finish a piece sometimes because I have to do it in baby steps. And, the computer is a total time sucker! My biggest challenge lately, is trying to limit my computer time. I so easily get lost. Damn you facebook!

What are the biggest freedoms to running your own business?
I can work in my pj’s and have a beer or two while printing and spinning my favorite tunes. I love that. I love being home with my chitlins too. They are getting old enough to come up and watch me print and give me input on designs. They help with the snow dyeing too. It’s so fun to share it with them.

Tips for people who would like to start a creative small business?
Just jump in and do it! As long as you are passionate about what you are doing, that is what matters the most. Everything else will work itself out.

What’s on the horizon for The Green Goat? Oh! So glad you asked :) There are lots of things going on right now! I am starting to print up my own fabrics so I can sew them into my own designs.
I still consider myself a beginner seamstress, so I am starting small with little doll clothes. As I get better and more comfortable with my sewing skills, I plan to make lots of new things with my custom fabrics.
I am also partnering up with a good friend to help me with this new venture. Hopefully together, we can produce more goods with a quicker turnaround. We are also almost ready to open a second etsy shop, featuring vintage clothing. Me + She Vintage. We live in an untapped midwest town where the vintage goods are ripe for the pickin’. We figured, “Why not?” I am already a garage sale junkie, so this seems like the natural next step in my etsy career.

I am already having thoughts of a third shop, where I combine the screen printing with the upcycled vintage fabrics. Oh, and as of today I decided to homeschool my son! Geez Louise…I may be nuts! We shall see :)

Thanks Mary!
Check out Mary’s blog here, her Etsy shop here and follow her on Twitter here!

Yesterday was Mother’s Day. My mom was here (which is...

Mon, 09 May 2011 09:40:00 -0400

Yesterday was Mother’s Day. My mom was here (which is always the best), and we all took Flora out to play in the park. The sun was shining, and Sylv and my mom changed all the poopy diapers, so I clearly had a great mother’s day!

We also took Flora out into the back alley where she tried out her new Big Wheel, so that was obviously wicked!

REMEMBER HAVING A BIG WHEEL!?

Life does not get better.

Wednesday Eye Candy (Mother's Day Version)

Wed, 04 May 2011 07:29:02 -0400

flowers by Coriander Girl

Hi everybody! It’s Wednesday and that means I get to close some of these tabs on my computer and share some pretty stuff with you all. This week I thought I’d share my Mother’s Day Wish List with you all (and by ‘you all’, I mean ‘the husband man’ )

Anything from these talented potters
or these ones!
these planters
pretty much anything from Jessica Swift’s shop — yum!
or from Milk and Paper
for those Toronto folks — a bouquet of lilac, or a posy from our very favourite Coriander Girl
Some pretty shoes from El Naturalista

Hope you all have a lovely and rainy day — I’m off to school for the whole entire day. Good luck to me!

Sandy

Collectif nënë's first show...

Mon, 02 May 2011 21:04:46 -0400

Our window display at Gallery OFF Interarts

Hello and happy Monday, my friends!
I hope you are all enjoying this warm rainy weather as much as I am.

I am typing away beside the husband man listening to the best radio show ever, sipping tea and gathering all of my photos from the weekend.

This Saturday was a) the first hot sunny day of the year! and, more importantly, b) the collective’s first show — which was a huge success! It was such a pleasure to be exhibiting in such a lovely gallery in the company of such talent.

We had constant traffic from the minute we opened at 11 right up until closing at 6. A steady stream of strollers, pregnant women, stylish dads, and passersby passed through. What a fun atmosphere too, especially when we started popping the bubbly!

Here are some of my waaay too many photos. Hope you enjoy!

Some pics from the kids corner (where Poids Plume shared a wall decal with us which the children wrote their names on! Super fun.)

Collective kidlets and Awesome kid art (above)

My new style icon (above)

Jodie Bard of Twig Toys scored extra points for wearing tights that were nënë green (above, left). Flora scored a pile of Coucou Salut dolls (above right).

crowds and traffic (above 3 photos)

outside fun (above)

Extreme cuteness from Jules mon Poisson Bulle offspring (eating Dinette Nationale lollipop, above)

We did it!

See you next time!

Wednesday Eye Candy

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:16:29 -0400

beauty products by Love and Toast

Hi people!

It’s a misty warm Wednesday - the kind of day I love.
Does anybody else love the rain as much as me? I don’t think so.

I return to my classes today, and I’m at school from 9-5. Yikes! We are starting the Sales and Promotions session of our business course though, so I’m actually pretty excited about it. I can learn how to make a good sales pitch… in French! Booya!

As well, the Collective is all abuzz with the news that we’ll have an article in the Métro newspaper tomorrow (keep your eyeballs peeled). As well, CTV Global is coming to check out our show, TVA may make a little mention this today on their morning show Salut Bonjour, and we’ve got a few mentions on some of our favourite blogs. Thanks everybody! It’s really exciting.

I guess I should go get ready for my class. Here are your links for your Wednesday Eye Candy. Enjoy!

spring tapes by Room6

Awesome tape by Room6
Adorable kits for kids by New Zealand company Seedling

Dying over Love and Toast beauty products (especially their packaging!)

Gorgeous chandalier by Omer Arbel (be sure to check out his spread this month in Dwell Magazine… droooool)

Love this bunny clock on Etsy!

Matching parent / kid art

Holes! colouring book — great idea!

Okay people. Get your rainboots on and go get ‘em!
See you all Saturday, I hope.

Sandy

Hi there Sandy. I love your site too...I'm new to Tumblr...started a year ago but really launched over the weekend. I see your from Montreal... I'm in Oakville Ontario. I'll keep an eye on you! Thanks for saying hi. Janice

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 06:23:55 -0400

Nice to make a new Tumblr buddy! Just saw your message now! :)

Rocking bath time...

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 22:25:48 -0400

Hello my lovely people! It’s later than I usually stay up, and I’m starting to feel a bit better. I’m still in quite a bit of pain and can’t move my left arm too much so I’ll keep this short and sweet — here’s a quick and easy way to have an awesome time for $5.99

Crayola Bath Crayons approx $6, (available at most toy stores)

I’m not really sure who loved these more, but I seriously lost my mind when Flora and I opened her new bath crayons tonight that we got her for Easter. Holy moly! Awesome!

We discovered that not only can you use these to draw on the tub and tiles, but you can also draw on humans, rubber ducks, bathmats, and other crayons!

I loved walking into the bathroom later tonight after dinner and being reminded of the wicked bath time we’d had earlier. What a happy mess.

I hope to be feeling better soon to tell you about all the great things happening right now! Until then, be well and don’t forget to do your stretches.

Sandy

Wednesday Eye Candy and OUCH!

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:06:48 -0400

World’s Smallest Aquarium, by Siberian artist Anatoly Konenko

Shower invite by Petite Alma

Hello folks! Remember yesterday when I wrote about my gratitude for my healthy, boring life? Well, about ten minutes after posting I sneezed and that was it. My neck seized up and I was on the floor til this morning. Life is funny that way. (Funny as in “infuriating’” and “extremely difficult at times”).

Those close to me have seen me in this state many times. For any new readers, I have a neck condition that I refer to as ‘Rotten Neck’ but that doctors usually call ‘a bunch of herniated discs’. Sometimes it pretty much leaves me alone, and other times it’s quite debilitating. I was supposed to start my classes again today and I can barely sit up. I am typing laying down sideways on ice with a towel wrapped around my neck.

I won’t go on and on about it, but I want to mention that I have learned the following from living with this chronic pain the past 5 years:

Patience patience patience. I have some and need more.
Breathing techniques that we learn in preparation for labour are actually very useful in all kinds of pain management.
There is usually something funny or laughable that I can find when I am filling full of self pity and pain. Like drinking gin out of a sippy cup while laying on the floor! Funny!
We should all take a minute at least once a day to appreciate everything that’s good in our lives. Even if it feels like you have swords in your spine. Even if you have to drink from a sippy cup while laying on the floor on a pack of ice.
Having a friend visit when you are in this state can be the most valuable visit in the world.
It’s actually a really bad idea to mix muscle relaxants and alcohol. Whoops! I honestly thought that was okay. Nope — turns out it’s a big no no, and I’m glad I learned that from my super brainy pharmacist friend last night.

Okay people. And without further griping about my Rotten Neck (RN), I’ll leave you with these lovely links for this dreary and cold Wednesday:

fortune cookie onesie!
awesome projects from Modern Family Messy Kid
Am loving these adorableBaby Bear products
kid friendly wall art!
Cute stationery by Petite Alma
I am pretending that I own this Beautiful house
Lovely giveaway by Nicola Rowlands via Imaginative Bloom
World’s smallest aquarium! I love love love it.

Happy Wednesday people! I hope you all can turn your heads to the left, to the right, and even in a full 360 degree twirl.

Sandy

Hello!

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 06:37:59 -0400

Crocheted Nurse Bag by JargOn

Oh my. A sick baby sure can put your life on pause, can’t it?

Flora got her first real baby flu last week! A real milestone for us. Also, the first time I haven’t slept at all for 3 consecutive nights since she was born. Nice reminder to appreciate my everyday boring life, when the family is happy, sleeping, and the amount of diarrhea on my arm is minimal.

All is good now though and I have a pile of work in front of me to attack. For now, here is an excerpt from Tina Fey’s new book, Bossypants (must get!). My friend sent this to me this morning and I just had to post it.

A Mother’s Prayer for her Daughter

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be beautiful but not damaged, for it’s the damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the beauty.

When the crystal meth is offered, May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half. And stick with beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from acting but not all the way to finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes and not have to wear high heels. What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking you, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, dammit.

May she play the drums to the fiery rhythm of her own heart with the sinewy strength of her own arms, so she need not lie with drummers.

Grant her a rough patch from twelve to seventeen. Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short - a tiger flower blooming magenta for one day - And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers and the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a bitch in front of Hollister, give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends. For I will not have that shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back.

“My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a mental note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.

Tina Fey, Bossypants

Happy Tuesday! Don’t forget, Dan Savage’s weekly podcast is every Tuesday! That’s what we listen to first thing in the morning.

Sandy

Mint.com! Yippee!y

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:00:06 -0400

Yep, it’s tax time. Before you crawl up into the fetal position, I would just like to pass along this link to Mint.com!

This super easy (okay, you’ve got to spend a bit of time looking around, like most new online tools) and very helpful site has got me planning out my expenses and making out a real … gulp … budget. The best part… it’s free!

I found Mint.com through this post (funny, the author actually shies away from using this tool, but I took a look anyway and didn’t find it too intimidating. I signed up right away.)

Why do we hate doing our freaking finances so much?

photo Jill Greenberg

In my case it’s had to do with not knowing much about the process of filing taxes and therefore not wanting to be surprised… so I’ve tended to shy away from the numbers part of my work. I also never enjoyed seeing where I tended to spend most of my money. (I mean, who does like that?!)

Up til now.

With the start up of Moon! and Sparrow I’m resolving to stop that bad habit dead in its tracks and I encourage you to do the same. After all, wouldn’t it be nice to not spend the energy on dreading our taxes each year? And maybe we could learn to not mind all those numbers, if we could just find a way to make it all faster and simpler…?

So this is what I’m trying. I’ll keep you posted!

(*As a side note, I took this similar stance with the dentist years ago…resolved to stop avoiding my appointments and just get those fillings filled and done with. And now I am actually one of those freaky people who loves going to the dentist. Human beings are such little weirdos, aren’t we?)

Happy Tuesday people! I’m off to a very fun and exciting meeting that I’ll tell you about when I have a bit more time later this week. Hee hee. It makes me laugh just thinking about it…

Wednesday Eye Candy

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:07:00 -0400

snow-dyed fabric by The Greengoat

Hey folks! It’s Wednesday, it’s grey outside, and we have pulled our SECOND consecutive all-nighter with a molar-ravaged Flora. AH! Molars! Leave us alone!

I plan on taking a 45 minute nap this afternoon, drinking lots of water, and listening to archived episodes of This American Life.

Today’s Wednesday Picks:

Loving these Smiling Earth kids’ dishes!

The best rocking horses EVER!

How much would I love to be drinking my coffee HERE today!?

Love the look and feel of this cottagey home. (my obsession with white houses continues…)

Amazing kid linen (my favourite is the Tea Pea Apple a Day duvet)

Mary from The Greengoat breaks down Snow Dyeing for us in this awesome tutorial. Worth scrolling to the bottom to see her fantastic results. And keep an eye open for an interview with Mary later this week!

Well, today’s a sewing day. So I’m off I go to make more mullet dolls.

Sandy

Art for the kidlets...

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:17:56 -0400

Family Tree by Timothy Karpinski

So, yet another newsletter I subscribe to (sooo many newsletters! ah!) is Little Collector.

This on-line gallery curates and sells art for kids! Simple! I love it. Check out what they have to say about their project:

Here at Little Collector, we are committed to inspiring the next generation of art lovers through the presentation of accessible contemporary art. We believe that viewing art is an essential part of childhood—a fundamental creative experience. And we know that good things happen when art becomes a part of any home.

Amen to that! Flo already has a fine collection of art on her walls, thanks to the ridiculous amount of talented people I have in my life.

My favourite artist on Little Collector is Timothy Karpinski.

Not sure if this site is entirely necessary, what with our huge access to kid-friendly wall art via places like Etsy, but I really love the idea and I do check back every now and again.

Happy Monday! Enjoy the warm rainy weather,

Sandy

Meet me on the Moon, by Timothy Karpinski

**Make sure to check out the work of Collectif nënë for more kid art - we’ll have a few members selling lovely illustrations for your kidlets at our Spring Show April 30th at OFFInterarts Gallery here in Montreal! For click here!

New header?

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 10:00:41 -0400

You’ll notice some new designs in the header these next few weeks. I’m experimenting with some new branding! It’s a live experiment. Would love to hear what you think. I like these new looks for their less vectory, clean look. My designs are not usually very clean and that’s why I’m not comfortable with my current logo.

Happy Sunday! It’s day two of biking around with the kiddo. We got a CoPilot seat for Flo and are loving it!

Spring spring spring!

Sandy

Raingear for kids...

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 12:37:02 -0400

I am one of those freaky weirdos that loves the rain. I LOVE rainy weather! I lived in Vancouver when I was 23 and once it rained for 19 days in a row. It was some sort of a record at the time and people were freaking out, S.A.D. all over the place. But I was energized and happy. I also hate hot sunny days. (Maybe I should have been a Goth, or a Gollum.)

I have been dragging Flora around in the rain with me trying to pass my enthusiasm for ‘bad’ weather on to her.

I realized though, that Flora needs a good raincoat for my forced rain walks / bikerides. Since I’m still trying to not buy in China (oh my lord this is hard) I am a bit stuck. While I keep scouting out all the Goodwills (allowed on my year-off-of-China) I might just go ahead and order this lovely raincoat by Kushies ($34.95), made right here in Canada (Stoney Creek, to be exact, an hour outside of Toronto).

To see more of my favourite kiddy raincoats, keep reading!

Love Catamini’s super stylish girls’ coat:

$103.99 (yowzas!) made in France

And lovely new rain gear by supercute children’s store, Hatley.

Girls’ Watermelon coat

Cookie Monster coat

both $51.99 made in USA

Also check out their rainboots for boys (dying to get the shark ones!) and girls — very cute.

And speaking of rain, here is a pretty song from my brother Brian, called Let it Rain.

Happy Thursday people! I just cut my TERRIBLE AWFUL hair off and feel like a million bucks.

Back to the sewing machine I go,

Sandy

Wednesday Eye Candy

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 05:00:00 -0400

twinkle curtain by GRAstudio

Hi there! It’s Tuesday night and I just had a one and a half hour massage. Wheee! I hope you all had the same.

It’s rainy and cold out, and honestly, I just love this weather. I don’t know what people are complaining about. As long as I don’t have to wear 3 pairs of pants, there is no ‘weather warning’, and my hair isn’t sweating, I consider it to be perfect weather.

With the coming of Spring my thoughts turn to the return to the pool (Just signed me and the peanut up for swimming lessons again), bikerides with Flo (we just got her seat put on our bike! YAY!) and what I’ll plant in our little garden at the new place we move into in July. (This year I am officially giving up on cucumbers. Cucumbers just DO NOT GROW… right?)

In the meantime, have a look at these awesome links:

Yogabba gabba cake!
Ha! Jumpsuits for kids! I kind of hate them and love them all at once.
Twinkle curtain for baby’s room
Awesome project by French artists to raise money for Japan.
Check out this beautiful IPAD magazine for kids! Get the app here!
Weird and wonderful kid’s room via Papier Mache Magazine
Ah! This toy makes me want to cry. Must must have.

Alright friends — have a wonderful Wednesday. Go get ‘em!

Sandy