Welcome to La table carré!!

Yes! That's right, the fun little project my friend Heather and I have been working on for the last 2-3 weeks has been getting ready to open our own Etsy shop! The idea to open at this particular time came pretty randomly, but it's been something I've been secretly wanting to do for months, probably since I first discovered Etsy at the beginning of this year. We decided to start with knits since it was something Heather was really into doing and we saw lots of cute things that we wanted to start making, plus it's the perfect time of year for that (around here anyway), but we have a big list of ideas that we want to try, so as the year goes on we'll be switching up the main focus of the shop, which makes it twice as fun!! For the most part Heather is the talent behind all this, I've just been helping with ideas and colour choices, etc ("creative consultant" she calls it), but I'm hoping to be able to contribute more creatively as time goes on. But we're partners and we are super excited, we've been working on it alot, talking about it alot, and now that's it happened I'm really happy with all the work we've done!

(the gorgeous model and designer, Heather)

So, please, if you have a chance, check out our shop! I have us listed in my sidebar, or visit http://www.latablecarre.etsy.com/

<------Check back often as we'll hopefully be updating more soon! And if any of the more experienced Etsy shop owners out there sees anything that we can do to make our shop better and would like to pass along some advice, please let me know, we'd really appreciate it!

Geneviève & Heather, La table carré

(Note: I realize that many people open Etsy shops and that they don't always work out, there are so many shops out there, many that are exactly like ours, but I am perfectly fine if our little shop doesn't become a huge business, it was an amazing project for Heather and I, we are really proud of what we've done, and if La table carré decides to shine bright, I will be truly grateful, but if it decides to fade away, I'm ok with that too.)

Today I am...

-wearing my green boots and i love it, though i'm a little overheated
-thinking i need some more mini trees for my village
-not quite able to get into the christmas mood....almost, but not quite
-kicking butt at my job
-eagerly waiting for my sister and her husband to get here for the weekend (visitors! wee!)
-posting this random picture of me and Anna because i think it's funny (it's so us)

-super excited for tomorrow, but you'll have to check back to see why!
-getting used to the idea of taking my temp every morning
-wishing I could go home early
-hating loving care, and more specifically, the french version of it and transcontinental printing!
-wishing all the Americans a happy long weekend!
-listening to Christmas tunes and Iron and Wine on the same playlist
-checking Etsy about every 20 minutes
-realizing i've barely done any Christmas shopping, even though I said I would do most of it in november...
-lusting over pretties like this and this and these and anything here
-shocked that november is almost over
-wanting to connect with my hubby
-wishing there were snow on the ground (yes that's right, I miss it!)
-not scrapbooking, because i've taken a break from the marathon last week
-fantasizing about a winter photoshoot with heather...snow and a red dress, oh my
-thinking I'm going to read "the bloody chamber" by angela carter
-looking up dates and times to buy tickets to see "the nutcracker"
-happy, but a little bored, life is floating along so smoothly
-here.

Happy Weekend everyone!

Winter is here.

Well, we got our first winter storm of the year, over a foot of snow in 24 hours, and we got completely snowed in, I couldn't get my front door open and the snow was up to my knees, but I was happy and sad to see it at the same time.

Happy because it meant looking out to this:

But sad because it meant doing this:

It's supposed to warm up later in the week so the snow is going to be gone soon, but we definitely got a taste of what's to come, and I'm excited for it :)

Since the weather outside was frightful, but my scrapdesk was oh-so delightful, I had a chance to work on a few layouts, including this one I made just for fun (aka not for any Challenges)



I definitely have a love-hate realtionship with my cellphone. I held out so long before getting one, and now that I have it I find it mostly annoying. I'm embarassed to answer it in public, because, really, am I that cool that I have to talk on my cellphone in public? Please. I leave it in my purse most of the time at home, it always surprises me when it goes off actually, I'm just not comfortable with it. Stupid handy little thing. Anyway, I got to use lots of scraps for this (been aiming to get my enormous pile down), so that was good, I'm trying to use only one sheet of background paper and then use scraps for the rest of the layout, no cutting of new paper until what I have in scraps is gone. It makes it a bit harder to get the pages going, but it's worth it. I'm thinking that in the New Year I'm going to reward myself with some new scrap goodies, maybe in the form of a kit or two. Mmmm. Up next: Mojo and Creative Type Challenges.

Now, I didn't get as many layouts done as I would have wanted this weekend because I was too busy spending my evenings with this man:

Oh swoon. I watched the entire Long Way Down series in 2 days. I highly recommend it, if only to hear Ewan talk for 12 hours. Never will you see a more charming, kind, boyish, funny, hot, and wonderful man as him. The same thing happened when I watched Long Way Round last year, I just can't get enough of this Scot on a bike. My weekly obsession. Never mind Edward Cullen (although he's pretty swoon-worthy too.)

Anyway, tomorrow is my Modified day off and I'm going to see my friend Sara in the Valley to take some pics of her and her family for Christmas pictures. It's perfect that it snowed, actually, I'm hoping we'll be able to go outside for some. I hope they turn out ok!

Happy Sunday!

Note to self (because I use my blog like a notepad...)

Challenges I want to do this month:

-OLW: ENERGY
-Creative Type: Painted type
-TAIF: Texture
-Scrap Mojo: Make a Statement
-Scrapjack: Cut outs, clouds, slanted pic

Woah. Good Challenge.

Also note to self: You are very FRUSTRATED lately. Try not to let it get to you though. Think about something else. Something fun that's coming up. Ok? Ok.

We are supposed to get a freakin' snow storm tonight and tomorrow (about a foot of snow in 24 hours, and we have no snow tires or food, lovely), so it's time to bunker (or is it hunker?) down, put on your PJs, and get your scrap on. Oh, and watch the Hunter S. Thompson doc "Gonzo" with hubs. And maybe get some Christmas shopping done. And clean.your.freakin'.bathroom.

Have a lovely day.

So many dreams, so little time...

Every once in awhile it'll hit me exactly where I am in my life and more importantly, where I WANT TO GO with my life. Not to say that my life isn't good right now, because it is good, I realize it more and more as time goes by, despite some little challenges along the way. It's hard sometimes though because I seem to want very different, (even polar opposite) things for myself and my life, but want them at the same time, like

...I want to live in the city in a cool loft,
...but I want to be in the country in a big house
...I want to have kids,
...but I want to have a great career and be a cool social girl
...I want to stay home,
...but I want to travel the world (and even live in another country)
...I want to live a simple, 1900s country life,
...but I want to be constantly online
...I want to stay in the background,
...but I want to put myself out there
...I want to be practical and realistic,
...but I want to follow my silly dreams

I guess the key to it all is to have balance. I can have both things at the same time, maybe just not exactly how I pictured it, maybe some compromises would have to be made. Basically I just have to really search inside myself to find out what I REALLY want, and to not be afraid to go for it and to not wonder whether I made the right decision. I see so many people online who are following their dreams and I must say I envy them, a) they aren't afraid of people knowing their dreams for fear of judgement for having them, b) because they are following their dreams and c) because they HAVE dreams that are clearly laid out for them, while I feel like my dreams are still in a fog and I have to find them among my day to day stresses and life. But I'm 25, and I'm learning. Hopefully I'll get there one day.

Heather and I are working tonight on our super fun project, I'm hoping to be able to post more on it next week, let's just say I'm dipping my toe in the water to see how it is, and I'm hoping it goes well...

I got the Christmas issue of Martha Stewart magazine (that's right, I'm not ashamed!), and there are so many fun little projects/recipes I want to try. Her Christmas editions are always so nostalgic and traditional and old fashioned, I love it. Heather and I have our Christmas events calendar all planned out, i think I might have to add some craft nights/baking nights to the mix :)

Well that's all, sorry for the ramblingness, I am trying to write when the urge hits me, so many times I think things in my head and wish I had written them down at that very moment, because the emotions were real and raw and genuine, as opposed to trying to re-create it later on. So I'm working on it.

Happy Mid-Week, sorry for the lack of photos! Gotta pick up that camera again...

Ok, it's all over, I can't fight it anymore...

I want to get into Christmas, and get into it BAD!

Rachel was posting such lovely Christmas photos from Country Living magazine on her blog this week, that I had to check it out for myself, and oh.my.word. What pretties. I can't wait until next week when I can officially start getting into Christmas decorating and crafting (I promised my husband I would wait until the 21st, for his own sanity...grinch!) There are so many things I would like to make and do this year, I really don't know if I'll have time for it all! All I know is that I'm going to need alot of pinecones. And spray paint. And pine boughs. And silver glitter. And Christmas balls (preferably vintage.) And old frames. And greenery. And hand made garlands. And berries. And ribbon. I guess that when it comes to Christmas, I prefer a more traditional/country approach. I like to keep Christmas close to nature, family and nostalgia, so to me that means country. And it's beautiful :)

Be still my heart.

So, I took a pledge that I saw on this cool chick's blog, and I really hope that I can do it:

I am planning on making and/or buying handmade for most of my presents this year, I really want to keep it simple, and try not to focus on the gifts so much, but focus more on the family time, the food, being outside and just relaxing. Not to say that it won't be crazy busy leading up to Christmas, but I enjoy that anyway, and it'll all be worth it I think to have a special, magical time :)

Has anyone started listening to Christmas music yet? I've listened to one song, once, but I'm not sure how much longer I can hold off...I love it too much!! (Favourite Christmas album?: The Carpenters Christmas...absolutely perfect.)

Happy Weekend!

Can't.Resist.Christmas.Much.Longer....

Winter is coming, yes it is. When the branches are bare and the berries are all that you see, you know that winter is on its way. Somedays I want it to snow (mostly days where I''m in a Christmas mood), but most days I'm happy for the little sunshine that we do get...

Thought I'd post a quick layout I did the other night for my sister's wedding album. I digressed from the pink/black/white combo I was doing and decided to go with some different colours, and I really think it turned out cute (but how could it not with that adorable Sassafrass paper?!) Most of the stuff if from my Sweet Twee June kit I got over the summer, still trying to use it all up!

My sister is so pretty :)

So, some not so great stuff has been going on around here for me and Dan, but some fun projects have been developing for me as well, so I'm in this weird place of being happy/sad/anxious/excited all at the same time. I try to let the positives outshine the negatives and see the good in it all, but sometimes it's hard, especially when the woes are financial...but we'll be ok, we've made it through before, no reason we won't again.

Heather and I are working on a fun little project together, we hope to have it all done by the end of the month, can't wait to share! I'm excited for it, I really hope it works out, but at the same time I'm not putting all my hopes into it...call me cautious, pessimistic, whatever, but I don't get my hopes too high about much anymore, because I know what it's like when you get them up and they are crushed. I'm not much of a dreamer anymore... still, it's fun while it lasts :)

Trying to be somewhat consistent with the 365s, it's going to be harder now though since it's dark by the time I get home from work, so outdoor/interesting shots will be harder to come by, but I'm going to try anyway, I just need to be more creative with them I guess.


Dan and I on a mid day walk. He's always so dreamy looking...



Showing off a pretty scarf Heather made...you may see it pop up somewhere else in the next few weeks :)

Here's our little kitty-baby, Shimi, 11 weeks old already. We've only had her for 3 weeks but it feels like she's been around forever, we're so used to her now, and she's used to us. Every morning she jumps on our pillow and goes about purring very loudly for us to hear and licking Dan's ears to wake him up...she's still cute. We are bringing her home this weekend to meet my parents, my sister and her furry cousins, we'll see how that goes. I am also planning on doing some may-jah scrapping this weekend, wish me luck!

Well I'm off, Happy Thursday everyone!
G.

Sometimes all you need is a good Challenge...

Alice took up the fan as the hall was very hot. She kept fanning herself all the time as she was talking. "Dear dear, how queer everything is today. And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think, was I the same when I got up this morning? Or if I'm not the same, then who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle."

Here is a layout I did tonight for 2 Challenges; first off, the ScrapMojo Challenge this time was to use Alice in Wonderland as your inspiration, and also to use some lace. I absolutely LOVED Christina's darker interpretation, very much my style, so I took inspiration from that in many ways. I was also inspired by this print that I saw earlier today...again, darker, but I love it. I chose to use a quote that was used in an episode of LOST this past Season (ha), and I also used a few items from the story, including a key and the watch, and the title "Through the Looking Glass" (also the title of an episode of LOST-haX2). Purple and gray are my fav winter colours right now, so great!

The second Challenge was a new one I've never played before called The Creative Type. It's all about type and text, I love it, and this week's Challenge (#6) was to mix up your types. I used 5-7 different types on this layout (background patterned paper, computer type, Dymo labeler type, word sticker type, strip of paper type, as well as date stamper type and question mark type.) Christina was the Guest designer on this as well, so she's been a huge inspo to me tonight! Thanks Christina!

Well, off to bed now. Night all!

Friday morning Etsy Loves (Pic heavy)

TGIF! Thank goodness the week is over, it's been quite busy and I could use the rest...luckily next week is only a 4 day week, with Remembrance Day.

So, I've totally fallen back in love with Etsy. I was obsessed with it when I first discovered it earlier this year, then I kind of stopped checking it over the summer, but lately I've been getting back into it and I must say that there are still some incredibly beautiful things on there, so many pretties (though alot of not-so-pretties too, but that the fun, hunting for the treasures.) This lovely fellow Canuck said on her blog recently, along with a few others, that they are trying to do a 'hand-made' Christmas this year, either making their gifts themselves or purchasing hand-made gifts from places like Etsy. I really like that idea and I may try to do it as well (mostly purchasing since I'm not too too crafty when it comes to gifts.)

My most recent Etsy obsession has been looking at Art prints. There are so many beautiful prints, I would fill every wall in my house with them if I had the money! Here are a few prints/shops that I'm swooning over right now:



This print from dazychic. She has really cute stuff, this would be so cute in an office or something like that (alot of the prints I like seem to be for either nurseries or offices, hmm...)


Even though Fall is over, I adore this cute print from Stephanie Fizer. She has a cute set of owls from all 4 seasons as well, that would be super cute in, again, a kid's room...



The black apple of course is super popular, but this one in particular is my favoutite, kinda dark, kinda weird, kinda cute, just like me :)



I found this one recently from Yellena , it's called "Someday" and I LOVE the colours.



Probably my favourite print artist on Etsy is artandghosts . Her work is beyond amazing; dark, moody, unique, slightly creepy, yet incredibly beautiful too. I always have at least 4 or 5 of her prints in my Favourites folder, I love "In the Gloaming Sukki walks". She even used the word "gloaming"...come on!



I love images of trees, so I always have quite a few of them in my folder. I found these two recently from MWilson's shop, I love them.



This one from shirae is cute too, simple, but I think it would look really nice in a playroom or kitchen.



I'm not sure if it's because it's November, but I'm loving the colour gray lately, so this print by cathynichols is really appealing to me now. Love the pop of red from the bird, and again, a tree...



I love images of little girls, I guess they remind me of myself (I always tend to choose dark-haired ones), and I love this image from Multiplepersonality called "Just be quiet". It really speaks to me right now since I myself have a hard time just being quiet in my mind, it's always buzzing with a million different things.

As for non-print stuff, I am always drawn to scraves/chunky knits/ponchoette type things, like this amazing one from simplybasicdesign. It really makes me wish I knew how to knit!



And finally, check out this super cute wallpaper I found on RealSimple's site about a month ago, it's adorable, I would love to have my child's room in paper like this (it would be cute if they made all paper for all 4 seasons, I would do each wall in a Season...hmm, I think I'm seeing a pattern develop here for a future nursery...)



Well that's all for now, off to do some more Christmas wish-listing/shopping!

Happy weekend!

Coupla layouts...

It's so nice to be actually productive sometimes...yesterday I had the day off and I used most of the time to get some things done that I've been meaning to do for awhile (clean the stove, mop the floors, hang out the rugs and sofa pillow/cushions to air, made supper for Dan, etc) I was a good little housewife for the day. I also accomplished my goal and finished a layout from start to finish in one day, a small miracle for me, and also got one off my desk that's been sitting there forever. All in all a good day :) Let's hope I can keep it up...

This page has been sitting on my desk forever, I had it all laid out, I just didn't know what to do with it, what to write about, so I decided to write about my lack of writing (journaling) skills. The circle cardboard thingies are from a coffee cup holder, and I used my Dymo and date stamper, felt so good :)

This is another layout for my sister's wedding album and I LOVE how it turned out. Something about the black and white paper and the colourful pops of colour on top, the layout, where I put the journaling, I don' t know, I just like it. I'm having fun doing my sister's wedding pages, there's less stress than doing my own, feels like I can have more fun for some reason, I guess it suits her personality and wedding more than mine (hers was very casual, fun, mine was more traditional, so my pages kinda match that??)

Well I'm rambling. Going to watch the results of the Election tonight (yes, us Canadians are actually very interested in the US Election, it affects us, maybe more than most other countries, since we do so much trade with them and are so close geographically and culturally...) I just hope to goodness they make the right choice this time!

Happy Tuesday all!

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robot (kinda)

Here is my latest project, a little felt robot I made for our kitten. Every since we decided to name her Yoshimi, I knew I had to make her a Pink Robot to battle. So I picked up a few pieces of felt from M's, hand drew the pattern, added some felt buttons and a heart, stuffed and sewed it together, and voila, a little robot for 'Shimi. I think it turned out really cute, and I had a lot of fun making it (I made it in a few hours while watching some movies), so this might end up being a little side hobby of mine, making little felt creatures for fun :)





Here is 'Shimi, battling (well, sort of) her Pink Robot.

Well, October is over. It makes me sad, because in my mind this also means the end of Fall. Now winter is only a month away, and today it got dark at 5:30pm, and I almost cried...
Halloween ended up being pretty boring, didn't do much at all, but I did get about 20 kids at my door, which was cute, I was hoping to get some this year, and I was happy with the turn out, considering where I live. Still had some treat bags left at the end, but that's ok, more candy for me and hubs. All in all though, I think that my Halloween Extravanagza with Heather went very well this year, and I can't wait for next year already!





This weekend is ending up being extra long for me, since Friday I had most of the day off as Time-In-Lieu from a trip I took on Thursday (love the government!), and tomorrow is my MOD (Modified Day Off-basically I work 30 extra mins every day for 3 weeks, and I get every 3rd Monday off. It rocks.) So I have a 4 day weekend, I love it! Tomorrow my main goal is to scrap; I finished a page today I've had lying on my desk for weeks and it felt great. I have 2 more layouts on the go right now, and I'm going to make myself finish them tomorrow, because the longer they stay on my desk, the longer they take to finish, so no more slacking for me!

Today Dan sat down and starting looking through my scrap albums (isn't that sweet of him?), so I sat down and looked though them with him, and it was really fun to see all the layouts I've done over the years (I have seven 12X12 albums and two 8.5X11 albums, almost all full, plus about 7-8 minis, spanning about 3 years.) I could definitely see my style evolve (or devolve, depending on how you look at it), but I realized that the most important part was the words, not the layout or the papers or embellishments or even the pictures. The journaling was what was most interesting, and I realized that I need to focus on that more, to take inspiration from Ali and really focus on the words + pictures, but mostly the words. Telling my story, leaving behind a piece of my life. So hopefully there will be more journaling on my layouts, but still lots of pretty papers and embellishments, because I love them too :)




Our cat has decided that sleeping in front of the computer screeen while we are using the Internet is her new favourite thing to do...she also likes to paw at the screen and watch Dan play video games. (In fact, she is pawing at my hands as I type...) It's definitely fun having a kitten around, we're very happy we have our baby 'Shimi.

Well I'm off for the evening, hopefully I'll have 3 layouts to post tomorrow! Night everyone, countdown to Christmas is on! I leave you with my Halloween 365, tried to look as scared as possible...only 151 days to go!!