Featuring: Glory2727

Today I'm featuring the wonderful artwork of Gloria Wilson, which she sells in her Etsy shop, Glory2727. Just browsing through her shop made me smile - the gorgeous, soft colour, and all the pretty flowers! Just look at this lovely field of daisies! This 16 x 20" watercolour features gorgeous speckled daisies. Have I ever mentioned that daisies are my favourites flower?

Flowers also happen to be Gloria's favourite subject - and who can blame her when they are as lush as these irises. The foggy background reminds me of the swampy areas where, as kids, we could find beautiful purple irises growing. This 16 x 20" watercolour comes matted and ready to frame.

But this Florida artist does paint on quite a range of different canvases. You'll find candle holders, glass bud vases, wine glasses, wooden treasure boxes, note cards and book marks in store. The note cards are prints of original paintings. This little pink flower pot candle holder is one of my favourites. I love the baby pink and the leaves with a touch of pink on them. It even comes with a pretty pink candle in the scent "fresh cut roses". What a perfect Valentine's day gift for your sweetie!

Alright, I have one more favourite to show you before letting you go check out everything else she has in store. These pick a pair salt and pepper shakers are just too cute to pass up! The succulent grapes look good enough to eat, and they're sure to add some cheer to your kitchen!

Plus, did I mention that for every item she sells, she'll donate $1 to the Daytona Beach College Foundation? I think getting an education is one of the most important things one can do, and helping those in financial need is a great cause. Do be sure to check out Glory2727, you're sure to find something! Oh, and make sure to check out her blog too!

Featuring: mommy and me boutique

This pretty little store, called mommy and me boutique, was splashed with pink and cute girly things... so I decided to make this a slightly Valentine-y post. Corline, the creative force behind the boutique knows, as her banner states, that every little girl likes something special ~ and so do no-so-little girls. Her specialty is cute ruffly aprons that are perfect for entertaining, as well as children's aprons and accessories. Here's a small sampling of some of the pink things that have caught my eye.

First off, that ruffly, pink polka dotty apron is adorable! That bow in the front is the extra-long ties, so that you can adjust it to your preferred style and be sure that it would fit women of all shapes and sizes. Would this be perfect for entertaining your special someone this Valentines? Or perhaps a dinner party with a few close friends? You can't go wrong with pretty in pink polka dots!!

Is your little girl always a big help in the kitchen? Why don't you surprise her with this cute little pink 'company is coming' apron so that she can look as sophisticated as you during those nice family dinners? She is sure to proudly show it off to all your company! The lovely pink and brown fabric, adorned with a pretty pink bow will ensure that she will not want to take it off!!

What is it about pink and polka dots? They just go together so nicely, don't you think? Here's another great example from mommy and me boutique: a gorgeous hot pink with black polka dots bib and burp cloth. Now if your little girl is still too young for playing hostess, this is perfect for including her in the festivities. Your company (though this is so cute it should be used all the time, regardless of who's eating with you) is sure to coo over how adorable she looks.

Now, I'm from Canada so I've never really seen an American Girl doll... but apparently they're all the rage for little girls in the States. If your little someone is attached at the hip with her doll, why not treat her to some designer clothing?? This robe is perfect for lounging in, especially when paired with the matching pjs. White with red polka dots, this piece will be quite versatile for Valentines and Christmas, so your American Girl is sure to be stylish year round. Actually... I wonder if this is available in a medium??

So do pop by this shop and check out what else is in store... And don't forget to peak at her blog for other features on the great shops in this 90 day (which ends up taking longer than 90 days) challenge!

Featuring: George McKim

As my first 90 in 90 feature in over 2 months, I'm going to feature a great shop that has already returned the kindness by posting about my shop. George McKim has a shop full of gorgeous paintings, collages, lino prints and note cards. This graphics artist actually fills his shop in his spare time. And you're in luck: for today only, you can get 10% off all items!!! How great is that?!?

If you know me or some of my past posts, you know that I LOVE flowers. And look at these beauties, all available in GeorgeMcKim's store. The first one you see at the top is called California Flowers, and is a collage made with paint and torn paper. This is so bright and beautiful, I'm amazed really. And inspired... I've never been able to make a collage look more than just pieces of paper glued to page..

Another inspiring piece is this stunning yellow and pink sunflower. This is a print from a linoleum cut, which are characterized by the fine lines and detail. I remember making a lino cut in high school art class ~ you had to carve a negative image of what you wanted to print. It was so much fun! If you browse through this shop, you're sure to find these sunflowers cropping up all over the place! I just can't get over the amount of detail in these pieces!

Here is another flower abstraction number 2 that I particularly enjoy. The striking colours really remind me of spring, which seems so far away, and yet imminent since the weather hasn't been so cold, and there isn't any snow here. I find that this mixed media collage really speaks of warmer weather: the bright yellow sun beating on the green meadows, gorgeous flowers starting to bloom. I love the spring, almost as much as the fall. I also love the uneven edges of this print, which would look amazing with proper matting and a great frame.

See a picture you like but don't really have the money right now? Why don't you ask GeorgeMcKim for a notecard? He'll make them with any image you ask, and you can get one or a pack of 5. This picture is just an example of a black lino-cut sunflower notecard. You can get more than one colour combo for the sunflowers too, if you wish.

While you're browsing these amazing prints, be sure to check out his website and blog!

I'M ALIVE!!!!!

Hi everyone!! I'm not sure if anyone even checks my blog anymore, since I haven't posted in MONTHS! I can't believe it.. time certainly flies. I went home for Christmas, and since I don't have access to the internet, I didn't post anything. Once I got back to Hamilton, school started and it was NUTS!!

Being off and working (co-op) for a year was great, but getting back to the school frame of mind was difficult. I've lost my science vocabulary and my organization/study skills. It's been tough. And busy. I guess the final semester was bound to be a bit more intense than all my other semesters... especially since I'm taking 3 problem-based learning courses and 2 other biologies.. I have lots and lots of research and reading to do, ALL THE TIME! That all I did all weekend in fact.

To make matters worse for my first week back, I found out the first Tuesday back that my thesis was due the next Monday... not a week Monday like I had thought. So I finished my thesis in a week instead of the 2 I had planned... needless to say, my supervisor didn't get a chance to go over it and I'm more than a little worried it sucks, big time.

Once that was done, our class lectureship was in full swing. As the graduating class (we're 17 in total), we had to put together a lectureship at the University to generate interest and prestige for our program. It was part of our mark for one of our pharm courses (5% if we came up with a few solid candidates) and although we didn't get that full mark, and most of us (including myself) didn't work all that hard on organizing it, it was a great success! We invited Dr. William Catterall to come give a talk, plus we had a pharm PBL tutorial with him before (and lunch, and a reception, and a tour of the McMaster Museum of Art)... it was great! But it was an extremely busy week / day.

Now for one of my 3 pharm classes this semester, we have 2 components: one is to do a presentation and the other is to promote the program. We got to decide on the marking scheme as a group (Denis, our program coordinator and this tutorial leader didn't help us decide at all) and the presentation will be 70%, the promo 30%. Isn't that crazy?!?? 30% of my mark in this class will depend on how well we promote our program (and set things up for next years class to promote). I think it'll be a lot of fun, and really makes the honours Biology & Pharmacology program a unique and fun program.

Ok, this post turned out to be much, much longer than I planned, and I haven't even begun to update on everything I've been up to!! Ok, that's partly a lie since I haven't been up to much. Just a quick note on Pat, my boyfriend of over 6.5 years ... he was hired on full time after his internship, and has been taking on responsibilities higher than his pay scale! He's actually off to Montreal for the second time in as many weeks, and he'll be doing an accelerated work week: Monday to Thursday (when he comes back) and he gets Friday off. It sucks for me since I've gotten quite used to having him around all the time, but I'm so proud of him. He's doing so well. :)

Anyway, as for Etsy, I'm still running my shop!! I haven't had the time to be very creative, and I really want to be. Since Pat is gone, I'm really going to try and get some business done. And the first thing on the list is to restart the 90 day challenge. I don't remember exactly how many I've posted so far (you can see all the great shops I've already featured in the side bar) but it isn't nearly 90. So I'm going to try my best to post once a day again... although they might not be as in depth as they were before...

Ok, I'm off for now. I'll be posting soon for the 90 day challenge, and maybe update you again soon. There are so many things I've purchased on Etsy that I want to show you!! So much I haven't taken pictures of though... so we'll see.