Artist & Illustrator
I learned about Society 6 from my illustrator superstar friend Luc. I decided to give it a try. You just upload your images and they take care of the rest. Easy peasy.
If you are looking for some cute gifts for xmas take a look around my shop. There are pillows, iPhone cases and framed prints for sale.
Our friends Jenny and Josh made us this amazing light. I kind of can’t believe it…. it’s so beautiful. It’s made from an old laundry machine drum.
We are at a stage in our home where we have lots of things started and not a lot of things done. It’s so nice to have something this beautiful to inspire us to keep going, thank you guys!!
Happy anniversary to my main squeeze, Paul. Thank you for making everything better. xo
After almost 6 months of renovations on an old house you can imagine our Xmas gift budget is pretty tight! This year I ‘m trying to make most of our gifts and the Xmas crafting has already begun.
Sosi and I started these on her last PD day. We ran around town gathering all the pieces and spent the afternoon happily assembling some of the jars. Her 7 year old self got distracted pretty early on and they have stayed in my studio for me to finish. Each day when I go in, I work on one or another. A button here, a bunny here. A very happy procrastination.
I found the idea here, via Loobylu on Pinterest (so much goodness!). You can find me here on Pinterest too. 🙂
enjoying: these two monkeys
nursing: this little kitty back to health
wishing: everyday could be like this
thinking: i should make one of these for my own girls
thankful: for good friends and unexpected gifts.
When I was young my dad used to take me to the local library on Saturday mornings. It was the highlight of my week… picking out books for the week, getting to spend time with my dad. There was sometimes a puppet play or story time too, I have such fond memories of all if it.
So you can imagine how special it felt for me to be a part of a Saturday morning at our own local library. The room was jammed packed (with even some people I didn’t know!), good time was had by all.
A BIG thank you to all who came, and a super big thank you to Kids Can Press and Robert Heidbreder for letting me work on this amazing project that just keeps giving back to me.
Sorry for the radio silence here. Our house has been torn all apart for the last few months… but these last few weeks our kitchen has also been gone. I’m finding this hardest of all. I’m realizing just how important the kitchen is to me and my sanity. This whole renovation has really shown me how resistant to change I am… something I need to work on with myself! I have fought my husband every step of the way… that poor man.
This summer was a busy time for me work wise too. I just came across these little puzzles I designed for an Australian company called Glottogon. I think they turned out super cute. They were lots of fun to work on.
At this new house we have lots and lots of leopard slugs. The are HUGE, like hot dogs. They terrify me.
Unlike me, Sosi is quite in love with them. The other day she found some tiny white eggs nestled in the moss in our backyard. We did some googling and found that they are slug eggs, and then we found this. It might be the craziest thing I’ve ever seen… I’m convinced they’re aliens.
I have to admit, back in the Spring when I was moving all my kids’ craft stuff into my studio… I was a little worried. My idea was to make it a space for us to share. We were moving into a smaller home and there was no longer any room for all their painting/drawing stuff (there’s lots). I was planning to have them home with me this summer. Maybe we could share the studio?
My quiet, lovely studio. The place I go for time alone. To have time to focus and work. Was I really going to bring my loud, crazy ( but wonderful) children into that space? What was I thinking?
Whatever I was thinking it was good. These kids LOVE coming to my studio. We pack a picnic, head out for the morning or afternoon and they draw, paint or play… and I work. It ‘s amazing, and so much fun. I still get my quiet alone time , don’t worry. I go in some evenings and also usually for a full day on the weekend.
I ‘m getting work done and get to have my kids with me. Maybe it helps that I’m working on things like these frogs. The girls sit and play with them for hours. I love having them there with me.
Sometimes the craziest ideas are the best ideas.
I can’t say I sew because I LOVE sewing. I sew because I like to have nice things…things I can’t usually find here on PEI, or if I can, I can’t afford them.
That is how I found myself sewing our new blue slipcover. I can think of many, many things I’d like to do rather than sew a gigantic slip cover… but I’m super happy I did it. Our old gross couch is brand new again, and clean and so lovely. Everyone looks pretty sitting on this couch…
Especially this new pillow I made too. I found an amazing framed needlepoint at our local thrift store and thought it would make a great pillow. What I really wanted to do with the couch was this , but this is almost just as good…
The cost of the entire project? 140$. No joke. Throw in some sweat and tears and you have an almost new couch! It should last us another couple of years, until then, this one is making us all very happy.
My head has been spinning these days. Our house is in the midst of so many renovations… everywhere I look there is something for me to do.
I have the girls with my during the day and I have so many projects on the go. My mind is always thinking about what needs to be done.
I could continue like I’ve been, running in circles…or I could choose to breathe. Do one thing at a time.
There is beauty everywhere… even where you least expect it.
I’m choosing to slow down, because that’s when the magic happens.
Ila’s monkey quilt is finished! I used mostly outgrown monkey pjs for the squares… the ones she refused to part with and put in the bag of hand me downs for her baby cousins. Now she can have them forever.
Why am I spending my last few days of kids at school/babysitter sewing a quilt? That’s a good question. I have about a dozen different art projects I could be doing, but this just felt right.
Maybe I’m winding down, changing gears for the summer where I’ll have the girls with me and creative projects will have to be more like this. Something that can be easily interrupted, and doesn’t require all my concentration.
Or maybe I just wanted to do something special for Ila. She’s been having a real rough time lately. Lots of tears, tantrums, general super crazy behavior. I want to wrap her up in love, in the hope that my sweet Ila might return and this angry at the world and everyone in it phase will pass. Here’s hoping it works, don’t let me down monkeys!
Selling our house (!),
meeting my best friend’s baby boy,
doing paintings for adorable people.
Yesterday morning we were all lying around together when Ila looked up and smiled a great big smile and said “whole family!” Yes, whole family. There have not been a lot of moments like that lately. We have been pulled in a thousand different directions. Sometimes our kids know how to say it just right. We need to slow down, and just be together more. It’s so good when we do.
Yesterday we stopped everything, work, renovating, unpacking, garden work and just were together. It was just what we all needed. The girls fell into bed at the end of the day dirty from being outside literally all day (no baths on fun day!) and I felt more content than I have in ages. Remind me to slow down more often.
Small Fancy is a little late this week, but here it is. Now that I’ve thought about it more, I should have maybe drawn me waiting for the bus after work, in the dark, in Vanier, at 15. That was the worst part of this job.
I have so many of these, they might go on for a while… or maybe it is too depressing re-living all the jobs from hell. We’ll see…
I feel like I’m finally on the other side of crazy. The sleepless nights, the planning, the worrying, the moving, the cleaning… are over. We are in our new home, and loving it.
It’s really everything I’ve ever wanted in a home, and I’m loving it more each day. We have big plans for this house, but won’t start anything until our other house sells. For now we are just enjoying being here, which is pretty great.
Lori Joy Smith
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