Bowen Island, BC ~ Weekend Getaway

Nestled on BC’s coastline, Bowen Island is a weekend trip for someone who wants it all. The first thing I noticed about Bowen Island that made it special, beyond it’s gorgeous landscape? It smells heavenly. Seriously, someone ought to bottle up the various scents and sell them – I’d certainly buy a bottle or two. Even more fun for us – the island is filled with very tame wildlife. I took the top photo, standing just 5 feet or so away from that buck, the ducks in Snug Cove are comfortable with close up shots, and the bunny who we noticed having a snack in front of our b & b was happy to eat out of the palm of my hand with very little coaxing.

Our weekend was spent hiking, exploring the island, and enjoying Bowen Island’s great restaurants, cafes and shops (many feature locally crafted artisan goods). The local chocolate shop, Cocoa West, serves up organic chocolates made in house (they’re delicious), and just steps away is the Artisan Eats Cafe. It’s got a beautiful view and features a large L shaped table for anyone to sit at, so guests can mingle if they’d like. We had a really great lunch there followed by an afternoon hike on the Dorman Point Trail. We found the main trail branched off on to a lesser known trail that provided some breathtaking views of Bowen Island and the mainland. The kind of views that you can’t capture on film, no matter how hard you try.

I could write pages about Bowen Island – and for those of you who live in BC, I think you’ll want to visit it sometime this summer if you can! We’re planning to go back in September to explore more and see if we’d like to make it our new home.

~Posted by: Amy

Top right photo is courtesy of: Bowenhomes.ca

Above picture via Poppytalk

Links of the Week
Here we are, almost the weekend! Hope you have some fun things planned. I’m heading to my favorite art store today to pick up some supplies which will definitely keep me busy over the weekend.

Wanted to share some of my favorites from around the web with you this week:

1). How great is this public art project that Poppytalk featured here.

2). Scoutiegirl’s got us thinking about our creative selves in a great post here.

3). Did somebody say Contest?? Check out Indieicing here for a chance to win some beautiful prints.

4). I adore Bonnie Forkner’s new site design, and the pottery she featured here, so gorgeous.

5). Have you joined Indiefixx’s fun penpal project? Now’s the time, you can learn more and sign-up here.

~Posted by: Amy

I wanted to firstly say thanks to Tara of Scoutie Girl for inviting me to share my story.

Some history for you – Tara recently posted about a very important topic  - embracing abundance, which you can read about here. And further to that, the idea of kicking down the doors that stand in our way. And this evolved into a new project – Tara will be compiling the stories of many artists and creatives in to one inspiring zine, coming soon to a computer near you!

The image to the left is from Etsy Shop: Simply Hue

My Story:
I was told my whole life that I didn’t have any artistic talent. In retrospect I can see why – I was a fun-loving kid who couldn’t sit still for a moment, I was always climbing trees, having adventures and dreaming up ways to cause trouble. I had no patience for artwork and treated it as something that had to be finished quickly so I could move on to something more fun.  In my teen years I was encouraged to practice law or to become a professor – possibly because it was hard to get me to be quiet! Until I was 26 this made sense to me and was the path that I found myself on.

Then it came time to planning our wedding. I searched high and low for invitations and favors and all of those kinds of things and found nothing that seemed to reflect the look I wanted. At some point I decided – why not make it myself? Despite questionable computer skills and no graphic design training I set about making everything – from invitations to favors, to table numbers and programs, then jewelry for my bridesmaids. I got a lot of positive feedback on my creations – and I knew from there that I needed to be doing something different. Making things and being creative gave me a sense of drive and purpose that I hadn’t felt in a couple of years with my academic studies. At first I wasn’t sure how to direct my newfound creative energy – I considered a number of things, from wedding planning to custom cakes, and finally settled on web design. I was so excited by the prospect of being a web designer that I couldn’t contain myself – I knew it was the right choice. At first – people doubted me. Even my husband questioned what I was doing. But I knew somehow to listen to my instincts and to follow them. And here – 5 years later, I’ve found success as a web and graphic designer and am working for myself full time as a freelancer. And yes, my husband became one of my greatest supporters in this endeavor and continues to provide me with lots of encouragement and feedback.

My next frontier has been starting this blog and an Etsy shop. Again I see both as a journey – and yes, my husband has questioned my Etsy shop too! It took me several weeks to explain to him and for him to understand that while I love web and graphic design – I want to find more ways to grow creatively and to take on new challenges.

From my 5 years as a “creative” I have learned the importance of surrounding myself with people who encourage me, to believe in myself, and to always look forward to see how I can improve and take things to the “next level”. I see myself at the very beginning – again – as I design new products for my Etsy shop. I launched my store in January and am already hard at work at what I hope will be an even better collection launching this spring. I am so thankful for the folks who have nurtured me thus far and have seen something in my designs. I want to find all new areas of my life, both personally and professionally where I can: “Kick the Door Down” – and come to a place of believing in myself even more than I do today. I hope reading my story and those of others you’ll find something that encourages you to take a next step, either personally or creatively!

~Posted by: Amy

Did you see my guest post yesterday on Indie Fixx? I think it’s a good one to take you into the weekend! You can take a peek at the entire post here.

~Posted by: Amy

Click here to visit these shops

Evie Shaffer’s Beautiful Idea

I had one of those moments the other day – I think you know the kind of moment that I’m talking about. When you learn about someone’s idea and you can envision the potential it has – and you say – That. Is. Wonderful. Evie Shaffer’s new project, A Beautiful Idea gave me just that feeling. The kind of feeling that reminds me why I blog, and more specifically why I blog about Handmade.

Evie asks us to imagine one simple thing:
- “What if just 1% of Etsy.com’s 200,000 sellers donated the profits of one $20 item a month?”
- “That’s $40,000 a month.”

The point she’s making is not lost on me. There is enormous potential in the Etsy community to do good. It’s through collective efforts like this that we can help others in a very impactful way. I think when we join together to give – great things happen!

A Beautiful Idea has a simple model that you can read all about here – in short, artists and crafters donate an item, and pledge to donate the money to the chosen charity once this item is sold – the current charity is World Vision.

Do bookmark the shop and sign up for updates via either Facebook or Twitter – I know in time there will be a huge variety of items to choose from.

I wanted to learn more about Evie, her idea, and to find out more about getting involved – I’ve shared her answers below:

Q. (Amy) – A Beautiful Idea is off to a great start, but it must take a lot of your time and energy to maintain and promote it. How do you stay positive and motivated?
A. (Evie) – It is taking a lot of time to get the momentum going, but I can honestly say that is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done! My heart to see artists collaborate and make a difference in the world is what drives me. The results have been very fulfilling, and I look forward to it growing more and more so we can make an even bigger impact!

Q. (Amy) -There are a lot of great charities out there, what is one that is particularly important to you and why is it important to you?
A. (Evie) – Compassion International. It’s amazing what they are doing not only with child sponsorship, but in training children and families, equipping them to break out of the cycle of poverty. My husband and I sponsor two kids, a girl in India and a little boy in Kenya. My husband recently traveled to Kenya to learn more about Compassion and he also got to meet our sponsored child. It was life-changing to see the difference this program is making in their lives (more here).

Q. (Amy) You have quite a variety of products in your etsy shop. How did you learn how to crochet and craft?
A. (Evie) I love all types of arts/crafts. The difficult thing for me is focusing on one because they all are so fun and interesting! My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was very young. My grandfather painted and also taught us how to paint, and he also had a loom where we created our very own rugs! My mother is also very crafty and taught me to sew and really gave me a love for thrifty/DIY projects! I have her to thank for introducing me to my artistic self. All these people contributed to my love for crafting.

Q. (Amy) You’re a designer, crafter, artist, and mother. What do you do to cope with stress and re-energize yourself?
A. (Evie) Haha! I had to laugh at this one. I think the way I re-energize myself is something different every time. Sometimes it’s with a good book, an art project, time with my husband, even working! Most of all, I rely on my faith and my love for God which drives almost everything I do. Anytime I feel like I’m drowning in responsibility and I feel like I’m not getting enough done, I just have to pause and give myself some perspective. I’m only one person, I can’t do it all. I try to be a good steward of my time and do what’s most important in the time I’ve been given. For me, the most important things are God, my family, and my purpose. Everything else (including a clean house) is up for negotiation!

Q). (Amy) What can our readers to do support A Beautiful Idea?
A). (Evie) If you are an artist, you can join the network. If you love to shop, you can purchase products and know that 100% of your money is going to help someone in need, not to mention getting a great product! Since we are brand new, any and all publicity helps us out so we can keep the momentum going and keep building awareness. That means blogging, tweeting, and sharing ABI with your friends. You can also add a badge to your blog, become a fan on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.

I hope you’ll join me in supporting A Beautiful Idea! I stumbled upon it via Kyla’s blog (you can read all about her line Kove here, which I blogged about earlier this year).

~Posted by: Amy

Handmade Weddings ~ Guest Post on Going Home to Roost

Do take a peek at Going Home to Roost today – Bonnie was kind enough to ask me to do a guest post, and I’ve found some fun finds that are perfect for the bride to be. I’m especially excited about a free set of gorgeous printable invitations I found and have shared on her site. The pictures above are from the etsy shops of Bliss in a Teacup and Sarah Parrott.

Click here to read the post.

~Posted by: Amy

Open Door Studio features a lovely array of vintage goods – even some to get you ready for gardening season. Not only is the owner of this shop a wonderful collector of all things vintage, she also clearly has a way with a camera too. Just looking at these images makes me wish I had a garden! Perhaps when we move we can see about getting some window boxes or something along those lines so I can have an outlet for my aspiring green thumb.

Click here to see more from Open Door Studio.

How great are these handmade pop-up cards? These are on my “to buy” list for upcoming birthdays for sure.

To see more – Click here for Crankbunny’s Etsy shop.

I think I promised my last Valentine’s Day post would be my last? I couldn’t resist though. I love this holiday – hearts, sweets, red and pink! I’ve noticed so many great diy’s and freebies around the web the last week or two and wanted to share my favorites. Please see the links under each image to visit the site that is providing the DIY or free item.

Recipe by Lisa Wong Jackson – find it here on Mint Design Blog

Free printable card from June Craft’s blog available here – also visit her etsy shop here

From Ez (Creature Comforts) and Marichelle – who have a lovely shop, Nice Package – download here

Free download from Papermash, found on A Field Journal

Free card to download from Danielle Thompson – found via Creature Comforts

~Posted by: Amy

1). Images above from Elena’s photostream – click here for credits

I saw these images last weekend and I knew I had to share them. When I clicked on them I paused – kind of a bit beside myself, because to me they’re all so beautiful. Then I couldn’t help but think, wow – there is no way I could ever take photos that are this wonderful.

Later in the week Jena at Modish wrote a very insightful post about how fear can hold us back from trying new things…

In the end she decided that she ought to look to overcome her fears. I think in some ways this is already the attitude I’ve decided to take on this year – but it was so great to hear someone put it into words. It doesn’t mean I’m not going to fail at any point, and that it won’t feel awful – but that’s all part of the process. Some things I’ll try again, others I’ll decide weren’t meant to be. As a result I know I’ll feel more alive and awake and that’s the best feeling I know.

So far I’ve opened an Etsy shop (I’ve been dreaming about doing this for a long time) and have plans to work on even more illustrations. I’ve allowed my blog to be more personal (a big deal for me), and I’ve started to work on becoming more skilled in photography (an area where I seem to have little to no natural talent – my world is 2-d)! So what’s next? I’m not 100% sure, but I think this year that’ll be half the fun…

What do you have planned for this year – are there things you’ve been holding yourself back from trying, but have decided that this is the year?