getting ready for market

Wow, mid-November already? These last couple months seem to have just whizzed by! Well, I thought I'd pop by here to share what I've been busy with these last few weeks. I've been getting ready for the Dunbar Holiday Craft Fair coming up on November 24th. Here are just a few of the things I've been working on:

Fold up Eco-Totes

Lucy Dresses

Drawstring Project & Gift Bags

Large Stripey Tote

I've been shopping at this market for years and it's really quite incredible. I think pretty much every room in the building is filled with wonderful local crafty wares for sale (over 140 vendors!) and it's just buzzing with cheerful holiday spirit! This is my first time as a vendor here so I'm super excited to be a part of it all. If you're in the Vancouver Area on November 24th, come on by the Dunbar Holiday Market from 10-5 and please stop by my booth (in room 212, table 37) to say hi! Hope to see you there! Ok, back to the sewing machine now..

family time and a happy new year

I hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas holiday! Here's a bit of what we've been up to..

illuminated tree at Stanley Park's Bright Nights

kid-made sugar cookies (yes, it was messy, and a little stressful at times, but sooo fun and delicious!)

 family trip to Victoria (Vancouver Island) where most shops on the main strip seemed to require *very* large, often well dressed animals to sit at the shop entrance

hotel dining at its best :)

 Duncan, BC (Vancouver Island) to visit some family. Amazing backyard!

Aunt S's sweet dachshund relaxing by the fire

back home for Christmas Eve and some pretty awesome presents - 

 fairy wings from Aunty S and a spy suit from Nana

Christmas day dinner with the family at my childhood home. Especially excited my sister made it home for Christmas this year! (yup, everything in that kitchen is yellow. It's no wonder I am so drawn to that colour now)

 the classic punch bowl

 the dessert table (I forgot to get a picture of the actual dinner spread which is always an impressive mix of potluck contributions - turkey with sticky rice stuffing (my mom's specialty), Thai noodles, radish cakes, yams, veggies, dips, spring rolls, zucchini pie, prawns, curry pastries...)

C with one of his favourite aunts

stockings lined up and ready for Santa :)

I'm feeling a little sad that the holidays are almost over. It was actually pretty relaxing and although we didn't end up doing half the things I thought we would, it ended up being perfect. New years eve for us will also be pretty laid back, dinner at home with the kids and maybe some grandparents. My kids haven't been sleeping all that well lately so I'm sure it won't be too much of a stretch if they wanted to stay up until midnight (not sure I'll make it though..) And then it's a new year! I'm not normally a 'resolutions' kind of girl, but I do like to think about what I'd like to do with the fresh year ahead. You know, the usual 'start exercising more', 'eat better both health-wise and in a more sustainable, ethical way' (just watched FOOD, INC. again and feel like I just got a good kick in the butt to be more pro-active with our food choices again)... But as for sewing and crafting, oh man, looking all the patterns and books I've accumulated recently, it seems like I have pretty lofty goals for the new year. I'll get into this more in another post.. Do you normally come up with new years resolutions? Do you believe they actually help achieve your goals? 

Well, I'm not sure I'll get back on here before the new year, so I'd like to wish all of you an absolutely wonderful, exciting, and joyful new year! And thank you so much for reading this little blog of mine. This past year was an exciting one for me with the start of this blog and my shop and I feel like since I joined this community, it's really helped me focus more and actually make time for doing what I really love to do. And for that, I'm grateful :)

xo melissa

happy holidays!

Happy Holidays!

Wishing everyone Peace, Warmth and Joy! 

xo melissa

(photo taken at Bright Nights in Stanley Park)

o christmas tree

Last weekend we set up our Christmas tree. It's one of my favourite holiday activities and it's become even more fun now that the kids can help.

Although you might not be able to tell from the picture, about two thirds of the decorations are hanging from the bottom two feet of the tree. And check out that nicely tangled strand of gold stars! I think I've always loved 'random' and colourful Christmas trees. Although I can appreciate a perfectly colour-themed and meticulously decorated tree, I prefer chaos, which is the mindset you need when decorating with little kids. Every day some decorations are removed, and some are added. I've found stuffed toys (including this little worm), plastic bugs and hotwheels balanced on the branches. This tree is truly one of a kind!

As for our 'real' ornaments, we have a pretty solid mix of ornaments from my childhood, and from my husband's, most of which are handmade and were purchased at craft markets and church bazaars in the '70s and '80s. And every year, we buy or make one new ornament for each of the kids and sometime for us too. Here's a small sampling of what's hanging on our tree right now..

a sweet little mouse from my childhood tree

a folksy horse from my husband's family tree

 I've named this guy 'disco mouse' (love his orange suit and green tie!)

and of course, you need a Christmas seahorse! (or is this a loch ness monster..?)

a cutie little felted wool penguin (I bought this handmade from a craft market in Vancouver a 3-4 years ago and I'm kicking myself for not being able to remember the crafter/artist's name. Hopefully it'll come to me. She had some pretty amazing stuff!)

And this is one of this year's new ornaments. A Christmas Yeti that was selected by Big C from Sweet Earth Celebrations at this market. Yup. Pretty hilarious (and a little scary!) A couple ornaments that I made last year are in the background. A scrappy owl from this tutorial, and a bird from this tutorial. I'm hoping to make a few more ornaments  before Christmas. If you know of any other fun ornament tutorials, please share!