Here Comes the Sun!

Is it possible to get drunk on sunshine?  Because I feel like I have been the past couple of days - stumbling around all squinty-eyed with a big grin, saying things like "oh it's just so BEAUTIFUL!" and "just look at the SKY!" and "I love yoouuuuu....."  I mean, it could be the wine I had with breakfast, but I'm thinking it's the sun.

There is something about yellow that just makes a person smile, no? I have some new yellow tulips stuffed in a vase in the kitchen and they just put me in the best mood.  They're so damned cheerful.

The way they brighten the space makes me want to switch out all my accents to yellow for spring. Candles, paint some wooden candle sticks, pillows, artwork, a throw... I mean not too much because that's just obnoxious, but little bits here and there to make everyone smile.

These paint colours are just the sort of shade I have in mind.  They would look pretty in a powder room, or a sun room, or maybe inside a closet or bookshelf!

1. Pratt & Lambert Shantung

2. Benjamin Moore Butter

3. Sherwin Williams Fun Yellow

4. Behr Lively Yellow

5. Benjamin Moore Hawthorn Yellow

6. Benjamin Moore Moonlight Natura

7. Behr Lemon Souffle

8. Benjamin Moore Lemon Sorbet

9. Benjamin Moore Sundance

Side note: It's so crazy how colour is not an absolute.  All of these yellows look completely different when you put them beside other yellows than they do when you see them on their own or with another colour. The Sherwin Williams colour (3) looks almost green here but seemed like such a sunshiny yellow in my file.  And they all look way more pink than they did in my Photoshop!

Of course, there's always wallpaper too - maybe because we had pretty yellow wallpaper in my front hall growing up, I always think fondly of yellow wallpaper.

How gorgeous is this Thibault wallpaper as seen in Better Homes & Gardens?

or this stunning Harvest Hare wallpaper?

I can't find the source on this other than here - any ideas?

pretty Farrow & Ball wallpaper from a Design*Sponge tour

If a whole wall seems extreme, what about putting a frame around it?

How fun is this Graham & Brown wallpaper?

more Farrow & Ball yumminess

and more!

For an effective splash of colour, one could always paint a door yellow - I love how happy they look. Too bad we have aluminum and glass doors...

via Simply Grove

via Modern Maggie

via jdrushphoto

via Apartment Therapy

via Real Sliding Hardware

via Remodelista

via The Art of Old

And of course, you can always count on Etsy when you need a spot of colour.  Etsy never disappoints.

Poster, Pillow, Shower Curtain, Light, Bedding, Vase

Yellow: I think you get the idea.  Have I convinced anyone? And now instead of looking up yellow on my computer, I'm going to go out and enjoy the sunshine!

Peace out.

Catching up

Well HELLO!  It's been a while, so I thought I would catch everyone up with a picture-filled post.

Let's start with skiing. One of my favourite things about being out here in Calgary is skiing.  The hubster told me this would happen, and next time he tells me something... I'm still not going to believe him.  But about this he was right.  I have never been a skier - I just was never really close enough to a hill to warrant buying the equipment and going regularly.  Plus, I was an artsy-fartsy - I didn't think skiing was in my repertoire.  But since I was forced to get gear, buy a season pass, and get up at the crack of dawn to get to the hill - I have gotten pretty good!  And being good at something, or at least reasonably good, is key to enjoying it, in my opinion.  Although they have never been on skies before, the boys are naturals, of course, especially Will.  I thought they would be on the bunny hill all this season, but we have already passed that and are doing chair lift runs.  So fun!

Pretty hoar frost is really common.

So winter here has come and gone, come and gone. Chinooks are REAL people - not just some nebulous thing that everyone kept telling me about to make me feel better about moving.  They're real, and they are spectacular!

Christmas happened, and my folks were here for a month.  It was a fabulous visit and a great holiday, and I think my parents were excited to sleep on a real bed instead of blow-up mattresses (Which was our 'guest room' in the old house).

You can't win 'em all...

Nenshi was kind enough to give me this great book for Christmas (haha) and we went on a few excursions with my parents.  We saw lots of dinosaur bones,

and hoodoos,

did more skiing,

and even made some pizza (but wouldn't eat it).

Chris and I got to have some 'date' time, which of course with Mountain Man means snow-shoe hikes.  Pretty amazing way to see the mountains, so I guess I won't complain.  There was wine too.

Since I wasn't blogging I had lots of time to do some knitting projects, including a few I didn't photograph.  I made up the pattern for the long scarf I gave to my mother-in-law and was pretty happy with it. I got confident enough to print out a sweater pattern, but haven't started it yet.  It scares me.

On the home front, having Dad here spurred me on to accomplish at least one project, which I'll do a separate post about later.  Here is my fancy drawing though.

I continue to be amazed by the spectacular sunrises and sunset out here.  Big Sky is right!

Someone had a birthday...

and I started a painting class.

Our first class we learned how to mix paints and do a quick apple - 10 minutes!

I have also slowly but surely been making it a little homier around here.  There are still lots of pictures to get hung, furniture to be positioned, and some painting to be done, but I am pleased with the boys' room.  The polka dots are my way to liven things up without painting (i.e. lazy solution).

Some day I will get to have a real tablecloth again... you know, those fabric ones?  Without plastic on top? Yeah, I like those.  Some day...

So that's what's been up in my world out here near the mountains.  I hope you guys are staying warm, and are having a happy 2015 so far!

Zachary Smith and Sevenly

Although I don't get to wander around the internet as much as I used to, I still manage to come across some cool, shareable stuff every now and then.  Today's share is via designworklife.com, and features the art of Zachary Smith.  Zachary does hand lettering and typographic art.  I do love the swoops and swirls of hand lettering, and that it makes the words as beautiful as the thoughts they express. Zachary builds one more layer on this by merging his lettering and inspiring phrases with his photographs to make some beautiful images, many of which he features on his Instagram account.

Zachary also contributes to Sevenly, an online store that sells t-shirts and prints of artist-made designs and gives $7 of each purchase to charity.  The designs are more than pretty; they seek to help raise awareness for the different organizations that Sevenly supports.  Each week Sevenly introduces a new charity partner and a new design. To date they have raised over $4 Million for various charities.

I love this business model!  Support artists - check.  Create beautiful, quality merchandise - check. Make a meaningful contribution to change - check.  Raise awareness of deserving charities - check. Make money and build a successful business - check!

Why not build a business around making a difference?  Why not shop and give to charity at the same time? I bristle at the idea that somehow these things should be kept separate, that giving to charity is simply a marketing gimmick to sell more merchandise.  I instead see a business with a soul, but that's not to say the former isn't out there as well.

How do you feel about "capitalist philanthropy"?