TGIF - Ice Cream Cupcakes

Ahhhhh *big sigh* It's finally Friday!

Last night I made cupcakes as a special Friday treat for everyone. Sent some to my Mom, sent one along with Rorie for her snack at school today. Baking is so relaxing... it was a nice end of the day wind down activity, and they turned out so cute! I remember when I was in grade school, someone's way cool parent would always make these for bake sales, and so I decided to whip some up. YUM!














I spy a Morris looking for dessert

Also, I snagged a couple of pictures of Rorie on her way out the door this morning. It's backwards day today at school, so she had all her clothes on backward, even her hair (though I put it off to the side a bit so she could still see where she was going haha).




Any relation to cousin It?

Plan to go for a walk today with Rorie after I grab her from the bus, maybe play some new boardgames too. We are even going to have a girlie sleep over tonight (in my room) since Ryan is having a friend over. Maybe even watch some more of the original Addams family. We love it! Should be an excellent Friday! Hope all of you lovelies have a good day! *squish*

Selling on Etsy

For years I have been creating jewelery off and on, as a creative outlet. I love to make pretty things, and make things pretty! Over a year ago I created an Etsy shop, with every intention of adding my handmade goodies, upcycled lovelies, and vintage thing-a-ma-jigs. Somehow the whole thing got put on the back burner, but I kept creating whenever I had the urge.

Last month I brought over some jewelery to local photographer Jackie for a photo shoot. I had worked with her previously doing hair, makeup, creative direction, helping hand etc. I had a lot of fun at this shoot. I had full creative reign, styling, makeup, hair, you name it. A friend of Jackie's modeled the jewelery and did a lovely job.


Owl In A Clockwork Tree


Clockwork Garden


Her Secret


Sea Flowers


Sea Horse


Spring Bloom


Secret Garden

I've been slowly getting things together, from packaging for when I ship items, little cards, the promo shots, and of course the jewelery (which I like to think of as wearable art :D), but I've still not yet taken the leap? What is wrong with me?

I am really excited to finally get things going, and have so many more things in mind to create in future. (I'm dying to buy more bits and bobbles for the jewelery, as well as eventually gussy up plugs and such for gauged ears.)

I love everything I've created, but I guess I've set up my own mental road block. ("I don't know how much I should charge... I don't want people to think I charge too much, but I don't want to undersell myself... What if no one likes them? What if I miss them... What if something breaks, and then someone rages about it? I still need to figure out how much shipping will cost... blah blah") So, all of that being said... I would love to get some opinions/feedback! How much would you be willing to pay? What is fair? Etc.

For all you business savvy ladies, tell me about your business' beginning. I would love to hear it! ♥


On a sidenote: I Trade Handmade, and would love to make a trade with you! (I've not yet been added to the page, but have been assured I will be soon!) I would be more than happy to trade illustrations or jewelery with anyone else who is participating! Email me to set something up: deerelora@hotmail.com

Hair Inspiration

One of the things I am looking forward most to doing again once I'm not pregnant anymore (besides the obvious spending time with my new little bundle of joy) is dyeing my hair. I get bored of my hair pretty quick, and so even just a touch of bright orange to my natural auburn hair is a good quick fix for me, that makes me feel shiny and sparkly and new.

But it has been so long! I've been wanting to dye my hair like nobody's business, and hoarding inspirational pictures for when the glorious time comes.


I have naturally curly hair, but it seems since dyeing my hair so much, I've lost a bit of my curl (and none of the frizz! bah) so, one thing I've thought (or fantasized) about is getting a perm to amp up my curls.



I also would love to try a mix of purple orange and blond high/low lights in my hair. Yum! (Just reverse the colours so red/orange is the main and blond and purple are the accents.)









Another thing I'd like to do again, is add a bit of pink to my hair. It would be simple and fun :D





Oh oh! And in the past I've gone yellow, with orange chunks, which I adored. But in future I'd like to try going all the way blond with pink and orange accents (or perhaps other colours too!)





*wipes drool from chin*

Which leads me to yummy fantastical all out rainbow hair!



I've collected these pictures over time, and so I don't remember where I got them. If you have a credit link, I'd be more than happy to add it!


Since my hair is curly and frizzy, totally rainbow hair is probably out of the question, unless I'm going for clown chic (maybe someday for fun *pout*). But some of the other hair colour ideas have practically gotten me drooling all over my keyboard.

If you could dye your hair any colour(s), what would it be? Share your hair inspiration! ♥

Thrifty Thursday

I'm going to try my hand at a weekly theme, and see how it works for me. So, welcome to my very first Thrifty Thursday. If I stick with it, each Thursday (ideally) I'll showcase something (or many things) that I've purchased at thrift/second-hand stores, garage sales, etc.

This week: Vintage Mira Fujita Print

A couple of weeks ago, my boyfriend and I were looking around at Value Village. I usually linger at the front and work my way back slowly, but my boyfriend bee-lined to the back to check out the larger items. He came back to the front to find me carrying a huge 27x39x.5 inch board (he had the front to him). I watched him curiously as he then flipped it around in a *TADA* like motion, and my jaw dropped. It was gorgeous! I honestly had no clue who Mira Fujita was (and from what I can tell from my looking around on the interwebs, not a lot of people do), but I really loved the piece, and wanted it instantly. For it's age (1984), it only had minimal wear that I didn't mind at all. It was only $6 dollars!

After we brought it home, I cleaned it up, moved some things around, and hung it up.




For fun I decided to do a little research with the info: Mira Fujita - Charming Harlequin - printed in Germany (scan decor) 1984. Surprisingly there seems to be a shortage of information on this woman and her work, and on eBay anything Mira Fujita seems to go for quite a hefty sum, compared to the thrifty price I paid, because of how difficult it is to find her work.

So, needless to say, this was a great find, and I am more than happy to have this piece in my home. I love it! ♥

Have you ever picked up anything at a garage sale or local thrift shop, and found out after that it was worth much more than the nickles and dimes you paid? Share!

Blogger Love

So, yesterday's date turned out nicely. Ryan and I chowed down at a Chinese buffet (yum!) and then did a little bit of shopping. I found myself some big comfy jammies that'll fit my ever growing baby bump. Also, found a nice little owl to add to my collection that I can put pens or makeup brushes or something in, haven't decided yet.

Tonight we'll be taking Rorie out on a family date to go see Gnomeo and Juliet after we have some dinner at home. Should be great!

So, as the title suggests, this post's main purpose is to show some love to a couple of bloggers that I really enjoy following. I find their looks to be cute and totally inspiring, and so, I decided to illustrate their wonderful selves, just for fun.




The Dainty Squid - Kaylah


Blargle Fargle - Rai

Make sure to check out their blogs, I'm sure you'll love them!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone has a super sweet day full of friends, family, love, smooches, and snuggles (single or taken, V-Day should be for everyone to be extra sweet and lovable)!

Yesterday Rorie and I made her Valentine's for her J/K class. I wrote the names of all the little people, and she wrote out her name. I was impressed, she was incredibly patient. Each classmate got 2 chocolate kisses and a heart shaped sucker. Ryan, Rorie and I then went to get groceries, picking up some goodies to make cupcakes. For fun, I quickly painted some hearts on our cheeks.



This time I didn't make them from scratch (which I am always so proud of when I do :P), but bought Betty Crocker cherry ones with whipped vanilla frosting, plus sprinkles.

OMNOM





I woke to a nice surprise this morning, what I thought of as my boyfriend being neglectful and ignoring me the last couple of days, was just him sneaking about putting together his own little V-Day surprise. Yay! I'm glad I didn't let my hormones get the better of me and get snippy. haha







We also bought Rorie some Valentine goodies that she opened before school this morning that she was super happy about.

Now tonight, my Mom will be having Rorie over for a visit (I'll be sending done a bunch of cupcakes and stuff for them) while Ryan and I go out on a date. We planned on go grab some chinese and spend the evening thrifting. Can't wait!

We are all connected

Well, it's a Saturday morning, and a friends post on facebook actually reminded me of this song. I hadn't listened to it in a little while. Very enlightening, pretty, and relaxing. We'll be bringing the little one to gymnastics soon, out for some lunch, and then off to the winter carnival again. Should be a fun day :D




Happy Saturday!

Winter Carnival

Every year where I live (and I'm sure in lots of other places too) there is a winter carnival. They usually go all out with fun winter activities for everyone to participate in, as long as they've bought their Carnival button.

Ryan and I were super excited to take Rorie this year. I will say, I'm a little disappointed with the carnival this year, just a few short years ago, I remember it being so much bigger, with so much more offered, and the buttons for admission cost much less too. But all that being said, she(and him) still seemed to enjoy themselves on the bum slides, if nothing else. I would have loved to slide too, but being pregnant, I opted for taking photos instead. (Maybe next year!)

Valentine's Day

I wasn't really sure what I should post about first, but being as Valentine's Day is just around the corner, I thought I would make a little post about the fun stuff Rorie and I have been doing to celebrate the love!

Firstly, no Valentine's Day would be complete without sweet holiday treats. I made some chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing a couple of days ago, and needless to say, they're gone already. I used a basic recipe for both, and they turned out deliciously! I topped them with strawberry flavoured heart marshmallows and red sugar sprinkles.




Rorie and I decided to make a couple of cards for her Grandparents. She really loves to do arts and crafts, so it's always a fun time. We still have glitter all over the place! Lots of glitter, googly eyes, pipe cleaner, and special gems, and some paint. They turned out really cute.




I'll probably make another batch of cupcakes before V-Day. I've been thinking about making strawberry cupcakes. Yummy ^,^