This weekend, come visit me!

It's finally time to get my show legs back on. Yep, it's been a long while, but I have my first show of the year coming up this Saturday - the Etsy: Made in Canada show (check it out here), right here in Toronto at the historic MaRS Centre Atrium.

Now, if you've been following me for awhile you know that I'm also one of the organizers of this event, which means I'm extra excited. It's definitely been a beast of an event to pull together, but I'm lucky to work with 8 other amazing women between the Toronto Etsy Street Team and our partners for this venture the 416Hustler team. We've been working our asses off to make this second year even more kickass than last years - because if you were there last year you know how insane it was.

We've got more space this year, yes MORE space. We're pretty much taking over the entire ground floor of the MaRS building.  140 vendors including vintage sellers. 8 fantastic free workshops. 100 unreal swag bags are being handed out to the first 100 through the doors at 10am (last year the lineup started around 7am, if you're keen you need to be really keen to get in on these bags!)

As for things thunderpeep... I've still got some copies of my book What Hides in the Forest as well as the usuals, loads more prints and a new notepad featuring Kaippo from the book. I'll have the new Holiday cards and this will be your first chance to get your hands on my 2016 calendar. I'm SUPER excited about it. It's in line with the new direction of my work, so it's a whole lot of new!

This years calendar isn't going to be a flip calendar, it's a very large full year calendar. And did I mention yet it's awesome? It introduces a new collection of prints I'll be launching throughout 2016. Limited edition works all based on original Fairy Tales (well no one knows where the original versions truly come from but these are some of my favourite Grimms/Anderson/Asbjornse/Moe stories) Basically not the Disneyfied ones. Nope. The collection is called Good vs. Evil - and it's going to depict just that. The good vs evil battle in all fairy tales. The first piece will be featured on the calendar and it's based on the Snow White story. If you haven't read the Grimm's version you really should. It's quite creepy. My artwork, not so creepy, but that's ok. I love creepy things, but just can't draw creepy. It's quite tragic really.

I just approved the design today so I don't have a photo of the finished piece, but be sure to follow me on Instagram to get the first peak at it (or just come down to the show and buy yourself one) and oh yeah, I may not have mentioned, this calendar is a commitment piece. It's 13" x 19" and is set to be printed on a heavy 130lb card stock. Yeah, fancy. Starting to see why I'm so excited. Limited Edition. You'll want one. And you'll want to collect them all! I'll do another post on that after I get myself through this weekend.

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All sorts of excitement!

Well, the show season officially kicked off this past weekend. Along with a whole bunch of new product. Whew. It was exhausting getting here, and still so much work to be done between now and the end of the year. But Goonies never say die, right ;)

This past weekend was one of my favourite shows, the Danforth East Arts Fair. As an East Ender myself this show has has special meanings for many reasons. It's right in my neighbourhood. I have made a ton of friends at the show customers and vendors. It was my very first big 2 day outdoor tent show and has always been super successful so I tend to launch a lot of new product here. I guess we kind of share the same quirky sense of humour - and it's a great barometer for what will be popular. We are so much more twisted in the East End of town ;)

There were 2 definite hits this year, not surprisingly both dwell a bit more on that twisted side of the tracks.

Ghost Friends is officially a bestseller after selling out at #Deaf14. Now available in the Etsy shop

I keep getting requests for a new Best Friend card so i was super excited to launch this one. I mean Come On… who doesn't  want to come back and freak out all your frienemies! I love a good Ghost story and this one brought out some really interesting ones from my lovely customers. I wonder if Trolls can be ghosts?

Old Milk is Gross. Your Old Friends are not. Also now available in the Etsy shop

In my circle of friends I'm always the one who will sniff milk (or pretty much anything) to see if it's safe to consume, but do I actually sniff my friends to be sure they are still fresh enough to stay friends with? Well only my close friends will know the answer to that one (and yes someone did actually ask me if I did that over the weekend!!??) But you can let your friends know if they pass the Old Milk test with this awesome new birthday card.

There are even more awesome new products being uploaded to the Etsy shop this week, I'll showcase most of them as we head into the next show, Etsy: Made in Canada on the 27th. I'm pretty excited for this one. Not only because I got to work with my lovely ladies over at The Toronto Etsy Street Team and 416 Hustler Team on organizing the event, but because it's the first EVER nationwide event to help promote the Shop Local movement here in Canada. Etsy is really working hard to make Canadians aware of all the amazing talent here and all the incredible locally made goods so this event will see pop-up markets in 26 cities from coast to coast. If you're in Toronto you can check out our show at the MaRS building (College and University Ave) as well as our sister show over at OCAD. If not check out the MIC homepage to find a show near you (ps --> Vancouverites yours is in Robson Square, AwEsOmE!)

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Let me introduce you...

When I was younger I LOVED chain letters. I was big into penpals and letter writing though so not a huge stretch.

Then when email came along and spam was invented (you know, those friends who would forward Every Single Funny Joke/Photo etc) I absolutely hated it all. I didn't want to be sent anything that would bring on bad luck in 24 hours if I didn't pass it along or whatever crap it was spewing. Thank god those days are long gone. Or at least they can be hidden in your facebook feed ;)

So when my fellow stationery buddy Queenie of Queenie's Cards sent me an email about participating in a blog hop I instantly cringed. But then I read further and realized this was kind of like those recipe chain letters and I kind of loved those. (who else is in on starting this up with me?)

So welcome to my Blog Hop post!

As I mentioned I was tagged to participate by the uber sweet Queenie. We met a while back at a show and slowly had some email chatting before finally sitting down to chats and eats at The Wren (yes I pretty much go there with anyone and everyone!) She designs an great line of cards over at Queenie's Cards right here in Toronto. She did her first Stationery Show last spring and we're super excited to see her make a huge mark on the Stationery scene.

Check out some of my fav cards

seriously… I love to drop an F bomb in real life, but would never mail one. This card is perfect!

I still own and use a calculator. Word. Love it!

So now… on to me. I have to share some tidbits now.

1. What are you writing/working on?
At the moment I'm prepping for show season (show prep is a full time job in itself!) which starts in about 3 weeks {yikes} I'm launching the new line of stationery on the 13/14 of September at the Danforth East Arts Fair and still putting the final pieces on the Holiday line coming later this Fall. In the longer term I'm just starting on the Polar Nights Collection launching this winter (well I guess November isn't quite winter but it'll feel like it) and even more exciting = my first book. It might have Trolls. And some online workshops. And of coarse all the fabric goodness for my collaboration with Quilter Steff over at Pickled Herring Designs. Oh Yeah and OF COARSE planning my big 40th birthday party this November ;) Man, it's no wonder I have no life, when do I have time to sleep!

2. How does your work differ from others in your genre?
I think thunderpeep stands out because it's very much me and my sense of humour/adventure. The weirdest things tend to come out of my mouth, or I latch on to something someone has said to me that I totally take out of context, and most of that ends up on a card. There are some gorgeous illustrated cards out there but I really love to focus more on the typographic styling of my cards, because it really is all about that cheesy line, telling it like it is! And I love typography. 

3. Why do you create?
Oh gosh. I wouldn't know how to not create. It's just a part of me, I don't even think about it. I'm happiest when I'm lost in the world of design.

4.How does your creative process work?
I don't have a specific process, I'm a very digitally oriented so all finished artwork is created in Illustrator. sometimes I doodle out the beginnings of the design and sometimes I just get down and dirty on the computer. I have a big sketchbook that I'm constantly jotting down sayings or little ideas or doodles and when I'm looking for inspiration I just open to a random page. It's all very organic, which I love, but is sometimes a bad thing, trying to get myself to work when I'm just not feeling it is really tough.

Now, let me introduce you to amazing creative spirits that I'm better for knowing.

First up is Ele from Minouette. I first met Ele through the Toronto Etsy Street Team, she's our Captain. A couple of years back I was invited to become a Leader on the team and I've been able to get to know her a bit better working on various team events (including the upcoming Etsy: Made in Canada show - are you coming?) and now I'm honoured to share a bit of her with you. 

Ele combines her artistic side with her scientific side (because she's also a Marine Geophysicis who's lead an incredibly interesting life so far) in creating lino block prints, fabrics and other goodies.

Magic in Antartica

Polar Bears and Aurora Borealis, 2 of my favourite things

combining Art with Scientific Women - Florence Nightingale

My next uber cool and creative friend is Katie from Heart's Haven. I also met Katie through the Toronto Etsy Street Team and we quickly became show buddies! Katie's an East Coaster at heart, with a whimsical spirit, maker of lovely recycled wears, screenprinted beings and loves greyhounds! Plus her Grandma sounds like the second most awesome grandma ever (no one person alive is as cool as mine was) Here are some of the pieces I love from her collection.

Free the Bears! I'm patiently waiting for cool mornings to be able to wear my Bear infinity scarf

Greyhounds and scarf and skin! I'm loving this fuscia

with every broken heart we should become more adventurous - quote from her page not mine!

And to end this gorgeous Blog Hop Post I thought I'd share one last thing that inspires me. Since I'm planning my first vacation in what feels like forever (in celebration of my 40th Birthday) to one of the most magical places on the planet, I thought I'd share one of the insanely creative Lyric videos by my fav of fav bands Of Monsters and Men. If I could live in this video I would!

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