Lost and found inspiration

My inspiration for many things went missing for a long time. The things I enjoyed the most, making things and fashion, felt bland. I wore the same things and barely made anything new. I did get rid of a lot of things and with a very brutal purge of items in my closet, I started feeling lighter and even a tinge of inspiration.

I started feeling drawn towards patterns. The bolder and more colorful, the better. I wanted to find something really over-the-top. I got my wish!

I struck gold at the CAFTCAD movie wardrobe sale. I came home with a jacket, two tops and a large piece of fabric.

Value Village was good to me too, I found the amazing skirt on the left!

I won't be wearing all these things as they are, but I want to try my hand at making something new. I haven't decided if I dare to try sewing a skirt out of the fabric I found, but let's see if I feel brave enough!

I figure if nothing else, I can make some new sofa cushions!

What do you think of my crazy patterned finds?

Boardgames

I have to make a confession. I don't like playing boardgames.

Weird, right?

I just can't really remember enjoying them much. There were a few I played with my sister when I was a kid that I think I liked, but as I got older I really didn't enjoy them.  The only exceptions I remember in the last decade that I had fun playing, or that at least seemed like fun, were Risk and, more recently, Scattergories. I'm much more of a puzzle kind of a gal, so that might be a reason why. Also, and here's another new piece of info about me, I am absolutely tone deaf*. So, this really limits my ability to play games like Cranium or anything that has a musical ("hum or whistle this song while your team tries to guess it") element to it.

The reason why I am telling you this is that, even though I don't like playing boardgames, I really love vintage boardgames... Makes no sense, right?

I am irresistibly dawn towards the boardgames at any thrift shop. The older the games, the better. I have an unexplained weakness to collecting colorful playing cards and cute game pieces.


Even though it's very hard for me to top the joy in finding the vintage treasures I've been searching for a long time, like the globe and the trunk, I did make a little squee of happiness when I recently found these two in the shop! how amazing are these cards? I simply adore them!





Anyone else out there who dares to confess not being a fan of boardgames?

*) and I don't mean this in "oh, I can't really sing very well" -kind of a way. Oh, no! I mean this in a "everyone who has ever heard me even hum along a song, has asked me to stop" -kind of a way.

More books

While I was thinking what shall I do with my new vintage trunk, my friend called me telling her mom is moving to a new home. Why she thought this was particularly interesting to me was because there was a basement full of books no one wanted...

See where I'm going with this?


...this happened!

There were some really amazing things I found in that basement... More one those as I start using them!

The trunk was put to good use immediately.

The big reveal - Vintage Trunk

I'm so excited about this. I have been looking for one for so long and now that I wrote about it, I found one within a few weeks. (Just wait, I'm going to start writing about all sorts of other things too that have been on my list for a long time)

The cats have so far accepted the trunk as another place for them to nap on. Gossamer especially seems to like it, partially because he gets a clear view of the TV from the top of it. They haven't paid particular attention to it since it came into the house, but the second the camera comes out, they start play-fighting right in front. And of course, once the trunk was opened, I couldn't get Gossamer out of there. So, kitty-infused photos, s'il vous plait!


[Yes, that ball of fur on the left is two cats rolling around on the floor trying to bite each other. Not one large, oddly-shaped one]

Not only did I find one, but I found three trunks in the thrift shop. One green, one blue and one burgundy. The other two were in worse shape than this one, so I picked the green. It was the one I liked best anyway and it's actually a very similar shade of green I've painted the living room.


The inside is paper covered entirely and comes with a tray. The tray part has been re-enforced with duct tape, so I'll need to come up with a way to fix that. Besides that, however, it's in pretty great shape.


At the moment it's sitting at the end of the current coffee table in the living room. It's too small to work as a coffee table by itself, but I'm not concerned about finding uses for it. Right now it will stay where it is since it feels like it belongs there. Perhaps later I'll find another spot for it.


I will still keep an eye out for another one to work as a coffee table, but I'm just so excited to have found this one. Oh, and I'm always curious how much people pay for their amazing finds, so I think it's only fair to share, right? I paid $40. Which I find pretty damn affordable.

So happy!

Have you made any kick-ass finds recently?

Latest finds - books, maps and superheroes

I haven't shared any thrift shop finds in a long while. Partially because I haven't spent much time treasure hunting and the times I have gone, I haven't found anything interesting enough to share.

Last Friday I felt like I needed a little break and took an afternoon off from my usual schedule to go for a walk. Somehow when I decide to "go for a walk" I end up at a second hand store or a thrift shop. I don't know how that happens, a total mystery. (Does this ever happen to you?) I think it helped that I hadn't been to my regular shop in a while, because I found some pretty neat things.



Two vintage atlases and some old maps. The maps are especially nice find and I already have a use in mind for them. I'll share it with you guys once I've finished. The larger of the two atlases is a Spanish one from 1992 and the real treasure is a French atlas of the world from 1978.



I also found a few other books, "Curious George" and "the hole in the hill" as well as a Pillsbury dessert cookbook from 1968. The photos in the book are awesome. As much as I'm tempted to try some of the tasty-sounding recipes, this book will be made into envelopes. How much fun would pictures of pies and pastries be in your mailbox?

The last treasure is a picture book of Mont Saint-Michel. It's absolutely beautiful with large, high-quality photos of the details of the castle. It's falling apart pretty badly, but I can make such beautiful things out of these pages. I'm really excited!



Finally, I couldn't resist cheap comic books. With 25 cents a piece, they were a steal. I grabbed a few that I think I'll read first and then see what I might make out of them.

Have you found anything fun recently?

Wall of awesomeness

I know myself and as soon as I feel like the winter might end one day and spring is going to, eventually, come around again, all I can do is scheme all these new plans for my home. How can I change the decor a bit? What new and fun things can I do this year? Honestly, now that I think about it, it seems to start immediately after new years.

Source: miss-design.com via Katri on Pinterest

With all the amazing thrift shop, garage sale and flea market finds just waiting to be discovered, I am constantly trying to come up with new ideas. As you might also know, I tend to be cheap stingy frugal financially aware. I'm always on the look-out for those perfect pieces for my home, but I'm not willing to spend a lot just because it's labeled "vintage". So, I've been thinking of different things I could do, inexpensively, that would bring in the change and add some eclectic touches to my home.

Source: cruise01.blogspot.com via Agnus on Pinterest

One of the things I've started noticing around all my usual haunts are picture frames. I've bought a bunch before for various projects but I feel like there's more to do. This is not necessarily a project you can finish in a day or two, but if you already have some pictures you meant-to-hang-up-that-one time-but-never-really-got-around-to-it, this would be the ideal project to do.

Source: or-so-i-feel.blogspot.com via m i t a n i . d e s i g n s on Pinterest

I'm especially drawn to those that have other things in there than just photos. You could combine a bunch of different frames and add the odd little trinket in there too... Maybe just keep the colors uniform. This is definitely something I want to try out.

Any thoughts or ideas on the topic?

Friday Inspiration - More Art on your Walls

I'm really liking this idea of putting together a mishmash or art work, photos and odd little trinkets into a cohesive collection.

Source: discophile.tumblr.com via Katri on Pinterest

It could just be one unexpected item, like the boxing gloves on this one.

Source: desiretoinspire.net via sally on Pinterest

Here we have a few small object, all in the same color scheme.

Source: rrantiques.tumblr.com via Kendra on Pinterest

I like the black and white photos and scetches, combined with the warm wooden pieces.

Source: catherineofaragon.tumblr.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Even though this is not exactly my personal style, I love the pastel colors and the antique mirror.

Source: aplaceidliketocallhome.tumblr.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Again, a few mirrors and warm wooden objects matching some of the frames. Quite attention to detail having those beautiful wooden boxes beneath adding to the collection.

Source: planete-deco.fr via Katri on Pinterest

This is quite impressive. I would love to take time to look through all those frames to see what's in them!

What do you think? Do you prefer the more eclectic and random collections or the more curated, uniform wall displays?

Friday Inspiration - Old and new at home

My love for repurposing old, unloved items has certainly become clear in the course of this blog. I mean, I did start a business on that passion. It's not just limited to paper products (as much as Chris would probably hope it did).

I obviously can't get that little table out of my head. The one I mentioned just a few days ago, the one from the thrift store.

Source: miss-design.com via Anzhelika on Pinterest

I want to have older pieces of furniture in my home. I already have some and am constantly on the lookout for more. I mentioned the trunk last Friday.

Source: parisapartment.wordpress.com via Sarah on Pinterest

I love the idea of combining old and new together. I already do a lot of that in the way I dress. I want to bring that even more into my home.

Source: miss-design.com via Anzhelika on Pinterest

I love the industrial look. I think it could be tricky to make work at home, but man, do I love it though...

Source: madebygirl.blogspot.com via Lauri on Pinterest

I dream of the day I'll find that perfect piece of furniture. I'm not quite sure what that would be yet, but I'm convinced I'll recognize it when I see it.

Do you have an awesome old piece of furniture? I would love to hear about it!

Found treasures - vintage airmail

I've found some really awesome mail related treasures recently. I like the graphics and feel of old school airmail, the red and blue striped stuff. Somehow I've been stumbling on these great vintage items in the last month or so.

I've found three different piles of airmail envelopes and to top it off, I just recently came across unused Canadian stamps from whenever the price of a letter was 34 cents. Considering the price now is 63 cents, I have to assume that was a while ago.

I found the envelopes from a thrift store and the stamps from eBay. I can't wait to start using them!

On a related note... I just can't believe how fast I run out of stamps! I keep buying more practically every time I go to the post office and here I am again, having to use several lower value stamps to send even a regular letter to Europe... I'm convinced there is some kind of a stamp hoarding gnome living in here... Probably the same one that lives on socks...

EDIT (July 21, 2014): commenting disabled in this post due to spam.

The Year in Review - part 2 of 2012

You can see the first half of 2012 in the post below. Here's the recap of the second half:

July

In July we had visitors staying with us and we were wandering around town all times of the day. We went to see fireworks and spent a lot of time at Jean Talon Market. Brinner made an appearance at the McGill university and I made some great finds at the thrift stores again.

July was a month of bridal showers, I attended one and helped organizing another. I made shower favors for the second one. I suffered an identity crisis and saw the Muppets live.

August

In August I spent a lot more time with wedding related activities. I was asked to photograph a Nikkah ceremony, I showed some details from the shower I helped organize, a few of us girls took the bride to be to a relaxing spa getaway in lieu of a bachelorette party and I went dress shopping, but came home with the most beautiful shoes in the world.

Chris and I spend a weekend in Quebec City, walking around and eating well. I fell in love with books (again!), learned how to make granola bars and went bonkers ordering Korean stickers from eBay.

September

September felt long and scattered. There were exciting things like being featured in 365 magazine and finally finding that one elusive item I've been looking for a long time. It was also the month were George got sick and I lost my creative groove. I tried different approaches to creating, starting from painting the bedroom and trying my hand at collages. I baked cookies, killed zombies, watched an amazing documentary and talked about books. A lot.

When September was coming to a close I geeked out with friends and finally started getting creative again.

October

October was a month of big days. It started right off the bat with my nephew Ryan being born on October 1st. Then the second of the weddings for this year got under way on Thanksgiving weekend, this is the one where both Chris and I were in the wedding party. And the party just continued on October 10th where Hipstercurious turned 1. I also discovered some ancient Egyptian artifacts and started employing complex vernacular to substantiate my intelligence.

As all the celebrations were done, I started preparing for Halloween. We carved a pumpkin that became Evil-Bob, I discussed costumes and made a bat card tutorial.

November

 [I think this is my favourite photo of the year]

I started November with a better plan for the blog, followed by an unsuccesful hunt for discounted Halloween candy. I was over the moon to be featured in the Discover Paper Holiday guide and that fueled my creative endeavors. I started making a ton of one of a kind ornaments for the December fairs. I found some beautiful vintage ornaments and made a DIY advent calendar tutorial that I know at least one person found inspiring.

I enjoyed the dark nights, said goodbye to fall and welcomed winter.

Chris and I set a new high score and celebrated the second anniversary of getting hitched in Vegas.

December

December was awesome in more ways than one. Obviously because of Christmas, but also because of two crafts fairs, Old Skool Crafts and Puces Pop. Besides that, my work was featured in two major places; Urban Expressions and my first print magazine feature, Koto Living.

We got a bit of snow first and then a whole lot more, which really allowed me to stay in and make some awesome DIY projects, such as a vintage ornament wreath, a winter scene complete with a plastic deer and of course some marshmallow chocolate pops, all with tutorials of course.  I shared some details about my tree and a peek at my home.

2012 was an awesome year. On a more personal note, it was unexpected in many ways, but definitely fulfilling in others. Thanks to my blog, I learned new skills and made some new friends in Laura, Jess and Mary. I had a successful year with Brinner and developed in leaps and bounds when it come to running my own business.

I'm still not quite done with finishing off this year and I have tons and tons of ideas and plan for the next. Stay tuned!

What were the highlights of your 2012?

The Year in Review - part 1 of 2012

As 2012 draws to a close, it's the perfect time to look back and see all the wonderful things that happened this year.

I wanted to make a top 10 list, but I then started reading through the blog... Top 10 is not going to work. There's just too many awesome things that happened this year. Looking back makes me so happy I started writing Hipstercurious! All those little things I forgot about. So, instead of a list, I decided to pick a few highlights from each month. I also decided to break this into two parts, so here's part one, January to June:

January

We rented a cabin and spent a long weekend doing all sorts of winter activities like snowshoeing, skiing and skating, not to forget soaking in the hot tub. After this weekend I decided that skating was the least offensive of the wintery activities and Chris and I started thinking about buying skates so we could do this again. It worked as I now have brand new skates! more on that later.

In January I also thought about perfectionism, I introduced the small notebooks as the newest product for Brinner and made some awesome vintage finds.

 February

In February I was finding my creative groove that had gone missing for a bit. I made one of my favourite tutorials, the DIY stamps from erasers. It was so much fun and I've used the same method so many times since then. In my creative mode I also talked about what to do with old magazines and tried my hand in the kitchen too, where I ended making a true crowd pleaser, the Cilantro pesto.

I also spent a weekend in the suburbs of Toronto for a long overdue girls weekend. The secret we found out about that weekend, was born this fall! I celebrated my 2 year Etsy Anniversary and thought my cats were being real brats.

March

In March I thought a lot about my blog that I had been writing for 6 months or so. I realized it didn't look the right way and changed the look much closer to the current one. I turned 32 and continued my escapades in the kitchen. This was a successful month in that department as I came up with two successful recipes that are still in use, the tortilla soup and DIY "sun" dried tomatoes.

I also made mini notice boards and wrote a tutorial, expressed my true feelings about healthy living and finally observed the encounter of the great hunter George and his nemesis.

April

April was all about shoes. I bought a few (Marni) new pairs (glitter) and started my dream shoe closet project. I made some fantastic thrifty finds and talked about Batman. A lot (and even found a way to combine Batman and shoes).

In April I also finally bought a new lens for my camera and started learning how to use it. Friday the 13th happened in April and I was not superstitious.

May

May was a busy month for me. I started preparing for the first craft fair of the year, it took a lot of planning, crafting and I wasn't immune to craft-related injuries either. But, I was fueled well! Even though I was busy, I took the time to walk around my neighborhood and snap photos.

In May I also took the time to bake brownies, answer 10 random questions and finish the shoe closet. I found one of my all time favorite thrift store finds, a vintage globe. I also spent a weekend in Ottawa, where I ate well and started the journey toward my friends wedding by making prototypes of her invites.

June

June was very hot and humid. It was also the month of the Puces Pop craft show. I made a whole lot of products and tried to improve from the previous show. I even practiced my table setup at home. I really got into snail mail, even though I had been sending more mail earlier in the year as well. It was the transparent mail that really sparked the creativity with snail mail.

I really put a lot of thought and effort into my mini balcony and ended up extending my living room to the gorgeous outside. I was thinking about cultural differences and schedules, started working on my friends wedding invites and found a treasure in the thrift store that still results into purchase requests from strangers.

Part two of 2012 recap will follow soon!

Vintage Christmas Ornaments

I went to a charity shop last Thursday looking for some new materials. It was slim pickings when it came to books, but I found something even more awesome.

 
I found a box of vintage glass Christmas ornaments. The box alone was worth the few bucks I paid. They had tons of ornaments there, they've probably been stocking up all year, but I found one box of these vintage beauties. There are seven glass ornaments and three plastic ones. The plastic ornaments weren't anything special and I doubt they're vintage, but the ones that were are simply stunning. They are in unexpected colors too, pink and mint green.

 
I loved all the vintage ornaments, but the best ones were these one with the ornate middles. I'm so happy to have found these!

As you might be able to tell from the photos, I had more ornaments out as well. I did buy a few boxes of non-vintage ornaments from the shop as well, since I found them in amazing colors and they were the right price for a project I've been wanting to try. Once I get to try it out I'll report back. However, after getting home with my hoard of ornaments, I realized there's quite  bunch that are glass... I love them, but they might not be the best idea with two rambunctious cats around...

[It might have occurred to me when I dropped one of my new ornaments on the floor and was promptly reminded that as beautiful the glass ornaments are, they don't simply *break* when they fall, they *shatter*]

So, what do you think; crazy colorful vintage ornaments or tranquil and coordinated decorations?

Ancient Egyptian artifacts

Yesterday, when I went to pick up my dress, I ran into some minor setbacks (I couldn't breath in it, so, minor. At least compared to where I started from). Due to these minor complications I found myself having a couple of hours of unexpected free time. I try to always use my time wisely and have a pet peeve with not being effective. So, I tried to run as many errands as I could, but still had about an extra half hour to kill that I couldn't fit anything else into.

So, naturally I felt like that time would be best spent at one of my regular charity shops doing what I do best, thrifting. Man... I found some pretty awesome stuff...



As I was browsing through the isles, (I have a specific way I go through it) I noticed this box. I've mentioned before what a history nerd I am, and probably that the first topic of my fascination when I was a kid was ancient Egypt. I have since them studied several other periods in history and even though  ancient Egypt is no longer on the forefront of my historical passions, I will always and forever have a soft spot for it. (I even have a tattoo relating to the time period (no, it's not an Ankh or the eye of Horus))

So imagine my delight as I see this box that says "Ancient Egypt" on in. It looks like a board game and it was in a huge pile with a ton of other board games, so it's a pretty safe assumption that it is, in fact, a board game. Now, imagine the little squeel of happiness I involuntarily let out when I saw the rest of the box; "adventure stamps" it says. I have absolutely no idea what that means, but it sounds pretty friggin' awesome.


I open the box and it is exactly what it says it is, but better. It's a ton of clear stamps depicting various things relating to ancient Egyptian culture.

This *exists*? Like, for realz? *mind blown*


Just look at these! There's a Sphinx and a doorway to a temple. There are also things like columns and pylons, so you could put together large buildings with the pieces. Oh, and some people and plants and whatnot.


My favourite is this one with the gods and goddess.

This set has 17 stamps, so I'm missing 4 from the original. I know I'm missing a few pieces from a pyramid and I didn't see the obelisk. All in all a pretty awesome find...

So, what do you think? Have you found anything awesome recently?

P.S. Did you see the price in the first photo? $1.50! Seriously!

P.P.S. I did find a few other things as well. Like more vintage wallpaper and a plastic hippopotamus. I promise I have a use for them. No, really, I do. I'll show you guys later.

Bon Voyage, madame!

I made an amazing find yesterday at one of my regular thrift stores! I've been on the hunt for a vintage suitcase ever since my first craft fair last December. (Ok, I might have been wanting one before then, but after the show I had a 'real' reason to want one) I borrowed my friend's suitcase for that show.

I needed one to be used at my table display at the shows. Now, there's quite a number of old suitcases out there and they are relatively easy to find, however, finding a good one is hard. I needed a very specific kind. Not too big, but big enough to display items in. It had to be a hardcover one, the soft ones are not sturdy enough. Even when you find one that meets these qualifications, there's this the color (both outside and in) and condition to think about. I'm not buying one to be ket close, so the insides need to be in good shape too.

After all this time, here it is:

I'm so excited! (Unlike Chris who did not seem quite so impressed when I showed it to him. Oh well, he knew who he married) Ok, I need to properly clean and sanitize it first, then I'll be excited!

So, what do you think? Yay or nay for my new, old suitcase?

P.S. The manager of the store wished me "Bon Voyage, madame" after I purchased the suitcase. "Madame". In French it sounds kinda old, doesn't it?