Imprintalish

Find me elsewhere...

2016-06-08T14:28:00.000-04:00

Before 2015 ends...

2015-12-11T14:02:00.001-05:00

....maybe I should say HI. Yes I left, and I've had lots of great intentions of coming back. To tell a funny story and share a cute photo, to share decorating dreams and inspirations. But what I really need to tell you is that raising three little people is tough. And I used to use the excuse that I had a newborn that kept my hands occupied... but that is no longer true. In fact my little baby was 10 months old yesturday! 10 MONTHS! As in, two more months and our little Archer-boo will be ONE YEAR OLD! So before that happens and another year passes by, I just want to say hi. And wish you and your family a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Eclectic Chic Dining Room-Chairish Mix n' Chic Challenge

2015-07-23T20:05:00.000-04:00

I am constantly dreaming about making our space pretty-practical and comfortable but still appealing to the eye. As of right now my style is an eclectic blend of traditional and vintage, with a heavy dose of toys.

Sigh....

There's really nothing I can do about that right now. Those bright blue, yellow and red plastic things just keep popping up!

So I dream....and dream...and rearrange, and scour the internet for inspiration, I thrift my way through antique markets and second hand stores and just dream. I love the way that adding in an item that has a story makes a room feel complete and real. It just gives it some depth and love, you know? Weathered wood, galvanized metal, rustic signs, crates...all the goodness of Shabby Chic!

When Chairish contacted me to take part in their Mix n' Chic challenge I knew this was the perfect chance to put my dreaming onto paper! If you've never heard of Chairish-shame on you! Chairish is an exclusive, curator approved, online marketplace for vintage and used furniture. Most styles go in and out of fashion, however; the Shabby Chic-ness of antiques and vintage items has continuously been a decor focus for the last 25 years; The spirit of the style is to work with what you have while mixing in historical elements and pieces with charm. The best part about decorating these days is that the matching look is out - the new look is all about creating a room that seamlessly blends a variety of styles., and that is my style to a tee!

Lately my thoughts have strayed to the dining room, so I knew I had to start there...

Shopping Sources

Harvest Table Dining Chairs Iron Fireplace Surround Mirror Chandelier Champagne Crate

Floral Vase Brown Vase Blue Vases Farmhouse Seed Bucket Lamps Credenza Vintage Bergere Chair Artwork

Some decorating tips I have for creating a space that flows and is balanced...

-Rooms always need a little dose of black. Whether its in a pillow, black and white framed photos, artwork or some furniture. Black just grounds a room and gives it an updated look.

-Always include a weathered piece. It could be something you scored out of the garbage or something that was a family heirloom. It just needs to have that beaten, distressed well loved look.

-Mix patterns. Find a good balance between super loud fabrics and tiny dainty ones, and then add in a geometric! Try to use similar colors, but not matchy matchy! It's all about pleasing the eye with a perfect balance of each!

-For my own personal style, my rooms must have a shot of pink and turquoise-I have no idea why other then it just makes me happy :)

I kept all of the above tips in mind while choosing my pieces from Chairish, and I love how it all came together! The perfect blend of shabby chic that combined traditional pieces like the harvest table and gilded mirror and Bergere chair with more rustic elements like the fireplace surround and tin. I added in some turquoise and pink elements, and voila-a very happy eclectic chic dining room!

And of course what fun would it be if I didn't create a 'dream' dining room of my own...and yep, we switiched our dining room and living room! More on that later...

As of late....

2015-03-29T21:03:00.000-04:00

Things have been uneventful...yet eventful...

Life with a newborn is pretty unpredictable and somehow one day just rolls into the next. If it weren't for my highly sensitive 6 year old and my energetic easy going 4 year old, life would be very boring. Those boys sure know how to keep us on our toes!

So as of late...

Other then just hanging out....we said good bye to Winter....the snow has been melting quickly (yay!)....I managed to get a little bit of creating in while little ones played or napped and reopened my etsy shop...Archer had his first smile...and they have been coming in bigger and bigger daily...plus he's now a whopping 14 pounds!

What have you been up too?

We have a baby....

2015-02-27T09:30:00.001-05:00

It's been a little quiet on the blog front here...but at home we've been super busy! Super busy with the newest addition to our family!!

Archer arrived 4 days before his due date and has been quite the little bundle of cuteness! He is seriously chomp chomp adorable! I'll let you decide for yourself...

See? I told you!

Mind you he may look cute and small, but this was one big boy weighing in at 9 lbs 9 oz!

It's funny how quickly you forget all those newborn things, even what it feels like to hold a baby...or how much they sleep, how much they pee on you (if your wondering-12 times in just a wee short 2.5 weeks!) how they love to be help and hate their crib....it's never ending! But luckily it is kinda like riding a bike-you just jump back on and enjoy the ride!

On the flip side of things, there are now 3 of them!! Three little rug rats that crave mommy and daddy's attention, and let me tell you, it's quite the juggle!

So far things have been ok-I made it through the first week and a half with lots of help from family and friends! And it's now Friday of my first full week all by myself-and we are all still alive and well! LOL! Although it's taken all week to do 2 loads of laundry (not folded-and all the hampers are still overflowing!), I haven't vacuumed or made any beds, the bathrooms are disgusting and we've only ventured to grocery store to grab milk-thank heavens for all the freezer meals I did ahead of time!

I also need to nap...a lot...and eat! OMG...I could seriously eat everything in sight! So while I head off to divulge in some chocolate chip cookies I'll leave you with some more cuteness...

A special thank you to Samantha King Photography for these beautiful shots of our special little guy!

Valentine's Craft-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

2015-01-31T21:01:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I find it hard to create crafts that my boys actually like. Valentine's Day stuff is always a bit tricky-pinks and reds don't really find there way into our crafts very often-EW that's a girl color! So on one of my many daily adventures in Pinterest I saw some animals made from a variety of hearts and thought, hey, those are cute! And what animal are my kids crazy about right now-TURTLES! As in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! So voila....here we are....

The original plan was the turtle above, but since my oldest is very much-this is how it's supposed to be- we added a brown shell and the appropriate weapons...lol. I honestly was just happy he was making an effort!

Basically you just need construction paper, scissors, glue and markers. For the turtles body, use one large heart, for his head use a medium heart, 4 little ones for the hands and feet, and then I just cut out a piece of colored paper that was in the shape of a mask. We cut out a large brown circle and glued it to his back and then glued on a little tail too. I added googly eyes to mine. Grayson wanted to draw his on and then went on to draw the belt with the correct initial and then we also cut out weapons for the turtles using black and brown construction paper.

They turned out great and the boys have been playing all weekend with them! They even added sicks to them to make puppets!

Do you have any good boy crafts?

PRE-BABY SALE HAPPENING NOW!

2015-01-26T13:45:00.001-05:00

I'm feeling a little generous in all my hormonal glory....SO from now till the end of January, get 20% OFF in my shop with code BABY20 + FREE SHIPPING to Canada and U.S. After that my Etsy shop will be closed for the month of February while we enjoy our new family of 5!

SHOP NOW!

Getting Ready...

2015-01-20T11:13:00.002-05:00

I can't believe the time is almost here to meet our third little boy....this pregnancy has flown by! In a mere short 4 weeks (hopefully) our home will be filled with baby diapers, sleepless nights (although lets face it pregnancy sure doesn't let you get any more sleep!), newborn cries and mental exhaustion. But it will also be filled with snuggles and cuddles, bonding and family time. And I plan to cherish this time! With one in school and one on they way in the fall, this is my last chance to just take it all in. BE PRESENT. To learn and love with all my heart, to hold and care for a newborn- just this one last time.

If 2014 taught me anything, it taught me that anything is possible. Change happens quickly and if your not ready it will knock you to your feet! So this year I don't have any New Years resolutions, I don't have a WORD for the year. I just want to be ready. Ready to take on the roller coaster of life and enjoy it. ALL OF IT! Whether it's good, bad, horrible, fabulous, beautiful, little or big, I just want to be here for it. It will take awhile to get into the mind frame of accepting all of those things above. But for some reason, right now, today-I feel like I can say that I am there. Perhaps now that our house feels a little more complete then it did 3 months ago-the nursery is ready, things are unpacked and organized (ya it took awhile-I was pregnant!) and my freezer is full of meals ready to go, I can now sit back and think of all the good things to come. I am ready to embrace and appreciate the future and all that it has to offer...

I can't wait to see Grayson and Westyn with their new little brother, watching them learn and grow as brothers. I can't wait to see Mike with a tiny babe in his arms again. And I can't wait to smell his little head and touch his little feet (I sure as heck hope they feel better then they do jabbing me in the ribs!) There is so many possibilities coming our way and I want to be able to appreciate it all, even through a mentally fog :)

So yes, I am getting ready....

I am ready.

I know the unexpected can happen and it probably will.

But that is life.

And I am ready.

Christmas Wishes

2014-12-24T13:43:00.002-05:00

Wishing you and your loved ones a very special holiday season full of wonderful memories!

See you in 2015!

My Eclectic Christmas Home Tour

2014-12-17T20:59:00.000-05:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year! On top of that I get to decorate our new house for our first Christmas here....oh, the possibilities! LOL...actually I found it a bit overwhelming this year and haven't been able to settle for where I put things the first time...so ya, I've redecorated my Christmas decor a few times ;) Alas though....welcome to our holiday home.....

The mantel has been changed a few times over the last few weeks too...I just cant make up my mind! LOL. This one is staying though, cause I am running out of time! The stockings (2 of them anyway) were my first DIY of the holiday season, you can read more about that here.The metallic trees were new additions this year too....

I can't get over how clean everything is! Haha....it literally lasted 15 minutes, and then that cute little guy in the photo below came ripping through the room! I think he was scheming the whole time I was taking pictures....

I hung several groupings of vintage ornaments high above out of reach from little hands ;)

Our Christmas tree found a home in the bay window in our dining room. At first I was a little skeptical about putting it there, I just love the idea of sitting in the living room and looking at the tree, and here you can't see it from the couch. But I am getting used to it and really there isn't anywhere else to put it!

I love the eclectic mix of ornaments that we have collected over the years! No color scheme here, just lots of color, old, new and handmade!

Check out that peak at my photo wall....ooohhh that's a whole other post :)

And finally in the kitchen, your greeted by sparkling mini lights and vintage baubles hanging on branches...

So are you ready for Christmas?! Only a week to go!

The Stockings Were Hung...Recycled Sweater {DIY} Stockings

2014-12-12T22:06:00.001-05:00

A few months ago I stumbled upon these cute little stockings while out shopping. They were just so darn cute-look at the shape- I couldn't leave them behind! However, I could only find 3 that I liked color wise. All of the stockings colors were a bit on the dark side for me, but my brain started turning and I thought perhaps I could copy them and add a bit of punch of color in the ones that I made....

So off I went in search of some colorful-kinda coordinating-sweaters at the local Goodwill...

I got 5 sweaters so that I had a variety of colors and patterns to choose from, I wanted some turquoises and pinks, but also wanted to keep some basics in there too like black and grey, just so they didn't look too out of place compared to the originals.

To copy the stocking pattern, I turned the original inside out and laid it out on the sweater I choose for the backing. I tried to use the original hem for the top of the stocking too-less sewing!

And then went from there, cutting and piecing together several colors to get the look I wanted. And then I started sewing...which ended in disaster for stocking #1...

How I thought this was going to be a piece of cake, I'm not sure, lol! I'm not an advanced sewer, but I can manage a sewing machine. But like any project, it's all a matter of trial and error...word to the wise...remember to reverse your sweaters so that the part you want facing out is on the inside of the stocking...oops...

Oh and once you get to the sewing part....The photo below shows where I should have made my first stitch. Sew the two smaller pieces at the bottom of the stocking together first, and then attach the longer part of the stocking. I tried sewing the longer part to the 2 smaller ones first-ya, not so much....

For the final step, sew the outline of the stocking...And then turn it inside right to admire your handy work :)

The final step is the fun part! Adding buttons.....

And voila!

Whatcha think? They look pretty sweet, huh?

...four for this year and five for next ;)

The Countdown

2014-11-10T12:32:00.003-05:00

via

Oh time! The thing that makes the world go round...tick tock...

It's a funny thing this whole time thing, it flashes by in a blink of an eye and then other times moves so slooooowly.

Right now, I feel as though time is flying by, the countdown to everything is happening right now...

I'm blaming the hormones...

Because really, everything that I am counting down too is still months away...so what's the rush?

Christmas Craft Sales-3 weeks away...

Christmas...a month and a half...

Baby #3's arrival-3 months....

and everything else-fall clean up outside (yes, we are behind), Christmas baking & decorating, finishing the baby room, organizing everything else....

BUT for some reason I feel like everything is going to happen and I won't be prepared...

Again...it's the hormones. The NESTING. God help the nesting! While I enjoy 'creating a home' and making things lovely, it's overwhelming right now!

BREATH.

That's what I have to keep telling myself.

DEEP BREATHS.

It Got Spooky Around Here...Halloween Decor

2014-10-27T10:46:00.001-04:00

Tis' the week of ghosts, goblins and zombies! My husband and I love Halloween and prior to kids we went all out-like gross blood and guts and a Halloween party to boot! But now we've toned things down in favour of the kiddies....we haven't crossed to the dark side of blow up bouncy things on the front yard though! We keep it simple....

Skeletons and spiders never go out of style and make it super easy to dress up your existing fall decor!

I love using pieces from nature too-less expensive and it gives tons of texture!

One of our favorite finds is this sign hanging on our front porch! It either says welcome or go away...depends on our mood :) It's kinda fitting for it to flip to the go away side for Halloween!

The front porch got a dose of spookiness too...oh, and check out my new cushion on the loveseat! You may remember my plans for our front porch here. It's well on it's way-but the magic will happen next year!

How about you-are you ready for Halloween?

24 Weeks & Life Lately

2014-10-22T17:39:00.001-04:00

I can't believe that I've been pregnant for 24 weeks already-6 months! That means there are only a few short months left....it's absolutely crazy how time has flown by...and I'm not completely sure how I feel at the moment. Unfortunately, we gave everything (seriously-EVERYTHING) away once we decided we were good with two kids.....So we kinda were a little unprepared to say the least, LOL! Luckily we received a ton of baby stuff from friends, so we have the 'staples.' But even though we have the basics, I still feel a little 'not ready.'

The Westyn mister and I have been getting lots done though...and even got some fall playing in....gotta love leaves :) Both kids have been a bit of a handful the past few weeks, so once we get Grayson off to school, it's nice to spend the one on one time with this cutie pie. I hope its just the change of seasons that's got them all in shook up and it passes soon....fingers crossed!

How are things in your part of the world?!

Playroom Reveal

2014-10-16T09:48:00.000-04:00

It's complete! At least enough that I can check it off the list ;) I can't wait to add some more personal rustic touches to it throughout the years to come...but for now, I am so happy with the way this came together and the kids love it. Plus, I feel so much better knowing that they aren't playing on a dirty old floor! Let's take a refresher peak at the before (from the old owners)...

And TADA! Love it....For those of you that are IKEA fans, you will notice that most of the furnishings came from there...What can I say-good quality for a good price, and I love the storage ideas!

One of my favorite focal points in the room is this mountain chalk board wall...so cool!

The dresser where the TV sits (for my husbands gaming issue, lol) is from Westyn's old room-he had to upgrade to something bigger...

And of course, what kid area isn't complete with somewhere to hang artwork?!

So there you have it, our Playoom! The first finished room in the new house! What do you think?

Playroom Inspiration & Progress

2014-10-10T12:42:00.000-04:00

Originally the first room I wanted to tackle and get finished was the dining room/office space...so I started that, got it painted and then stopped. LOL...everyone kept telling me to do one room at a time-but how boring is that?! I definitely don't have the patience to wait something out! So I started thinking about the playroom-because what other room in the house aside from the kitchen gets used that much?!

Here's a look at the before pic-this was one of the original photos used in the real estate listing-I totally forgot to take a before pic-pregnancy brain! The first thing to go was the horrible smelly carpet...I think that aside from it being the old owners playroom it was also the cat hang out-urgh...it was so nasty! The carpet was ripped out within an hour of us getting possession of the house, which revealed some lovely blue linoleum of some sort-it was gross too, but we scrubbed the crap out of it and have been living with it for the past 3 months.

And this is what things looked like during the process or painting and installing the floors (for those of you that follow on Facebook they will look familiar!)

Some inspiration I used for the kid's playroom...

via

Were almost there...toys are back in place and I just have some finishing touches to add...so stay tuned! Until then, Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

Fall Front Porch Inspiration

2014-10-03T12:49:00.001-04:00

Happy October friends! We've enjoyed a whole week of warm fall-ish type weather and now it's raining...booo....but that hasn't stopped me from dreaming of crisp fall leaves, warm colors, hot teas and cozy spots around the house..i.e I've been on Pinterest a lot, lol!!! The first item to get a fall makeover on our front porch was the door! It was a rather weird shade of hunter/forest green, that looked like it had been spray painted-yuck! So it go a lovely shade of turquoise to brighten it up :)

I'm not lovin' the gold accents in the window part of the door but unfortunately it's not changeable until the door goes...and that's not happening anytime soon! The whole porch actually needs to be repaired and restructured, but that is next Spring's job...until then we are making the most of it.

Some inspiration for our fall decor on the porch came from these 2 pics....

via

Unfortunately some of my lovely mums and corn stalks got attacked by squirrels...grrr...

The final missing piece to the front porch is to recover our very old and ratty cushions on our love seat. I've been ogling over this fabric for awhile now....

via

So at this moment I am sitting here staring at a roll of fabric that arrived on my door step yesturday! As soon as I saw it was available at Tonic Living I had to have it! Yippee! It's going to look so good (I hope so anyway-fingers crossed!) I'd also like to add a little glam to the vestibule window with a fancy chandelier...I'm liking this one from Ikea.

So what about you-any plans for decorating or changing things up this fall?

Recap of Etsy Made in Canada Show

2014-09-30T13:04:00.005-04:00

A huge thank you to all that stopped by and enjoyed all the handmade goodness at our local Etsy Made in Canada Show! It was such a great event!! Here's a little peak of my day...

Made in Canada-An Etsy Pop Up Market

2014-09-24T13:57:00.000-04:00

I hope most of you are familiar with Etsy-an online community of handmade products from around the world...and if your not-SHAME ON YOU! Go as soon as you finish reading this ;)

I have been lucky enough to be invited to join this years Made in Canada Market hosted by Etsy. It's a one day event with Pop Up Markets all across Canada! Yay I know...EXCITING!!! You can find myself, Imprintalish along with 35 other Etsy artisans at the event held in Kitchener ONT....more details are here AND you can also catch a glimpse at all of our goodness in this lookbook:

Keep watching my Facebook page for updates on the lovely items I will be bringing with me!Hope to see some of you there!

GENDER REVEAL!

2014-09-17T12:32:00.000-04:00

Of course the big question once you find out your pregnant and everything is healthy and looking good is....is it a BOY or GIRL?! For Grayson we wanted a surprise, for Westyn we wanted to be prepared so we found out and for our 3rd...

We already got a big surprise in finding out we were pregnant AGAIN, so we felt this baby's surprises were already well used up, lol...so we found out....

Want to know? Watch the video below :)

What WOOD you do?

2014-09-11T13:38:00.000-04:00

Moving is mind boogling enough, but to decorate, organize, create, parent, work, and grow a baby is making my mind even more jumbled! I practically think and dream Pinterest (when I'm not having freaky dreams about being a spy agent jumping off bridges-damn hormones!) but what I really should be doing is getting my butt in gear for the upcoming Made in Canada Etsy show in just over a week....eek....plus I started writing here again too-and I need to stick with that! LOL...

TODAY I need to get off my chest the first decorating obstacle that my husband and I stumbled upon in our new house...

WOOD TRIM VS. PAINTED TRIM!

Oh yes, the same old thing, husband wants the dark wood to stay the wife wants it to be white!
Mind you, I have no energy or time to strip, sand and paint it, but white just seems better-no?

Here are some pictures I took a few weeks after we moved in, so you know what I'm talking about...

After debating for weeks, we finally settled on leaving the wood, BUT only if after we change out the paint colors (which are so dreary!), we I like it :) And Mike thinks he won the battle, hehe....

Some inspiration that helped ease my mind on the decision...

via apartment therapy

via a beautiful mess

via damask & dentelle

via design sponge

What do you think? Did we make the right choice? What WOOD you do?

Bye Bye Summer

2014-09-09T20:07:00.000-04:00

So were into week 2 of back to school, yet it seems weather wise that were still in summer! In fact I don't think the summer actually came until 2 weeks ago....

For one last warm weather kick off we celebrated with a trip to the beach a few weekends ago...

Grayson is a huge water fan, so he was straight in....

Westyn on the other hand usually runs the other way at the mention of the beach, rain drops, splash pad....UNTIL NOW!

Who would've thought?! Water is actually fun! Such a goofball :)

Our Home-Outside Progress

2014-08-24T08:45:00.002-04:00

The first thing on our to do list after moving in was to tackle the jungle outside...But being a few months pregnant didn't really help that plan too well. It also didn't help with the whole unpacking thing either, but that's a whole other story! Lucky for us, our families have been pitching in with shovels and chainsaws...My mom has been working the hardest to help us get our yard looking neater and ready to plant some prettier things! She's been amazing! Even the neighbours love her :) It still has a long way to go, but let's take a look at some of the progress she's made...

The biggest difference in the front yard was the removal of an 85 foot Spruce tree. It was a massive tree that had become tangled and grown around the hydro wires, so it had to go! The end result will be lots of flowering ground cover overflowing different sized rocks with bulbs and perhaps some ornamental grasses...the vision is still a bit blurred.

Looking back on the before photos, everything looked so lush and green, but weeds and overgrown shrubs are in fact green! The after photos show grass that has been trampled by millions of feet and shrubs that have been cut back to the ground with hope that by next year everything comes back fuller and more manageable! All a work in progress...

So what do you think so far?

Life Lately

2014-08-17T16:01:00.003-04:00

Well, well...hello my friends! I don't even know where to begin, where to start filling you in, where to begin to tell you where I have been for the last year...So I am going to keep it short and sweet for you and hopefully by hitting 'publish' on this post I will continue on and not disappear on you for any length of time :)

So the short and sweet part. Life happened :) Some of it was good and some of it was bad, the aftermath of that led to some changes, a lot of things to think about and rework and most recently it brought us to a new house! Just 3 short weeks ago we moved into our dream home...

Which looked like this when we first walked through in late Spring...

And on our move in date it looked like this...

Seems like we have a bit of work on our hands to bring it back to it's former glory :) But we are up for the challenge...

AND THEN....

A few weeks prior to that we found out some pretty surprising news...

We will be expecting a wee little one in February 2015! You know, cause moving with 2 kids wasn't enough! LOL....

So there you have it! Your caught up :) What have you been up to?

Words to Live By

2013-12-04T12:36:00.000-05:00

For those of you that need some words of encouragement...I know I need them daily.

From top-left to right-Her Crossroads, This Line, Emily McDowell and Tumbler