Some more #WeBeTest Love

So you know that I'm participating all month long in the #WeBeTest instagram challenge right? If not you are clearly not paying enough attention to me! (follow my instagram here)

Ok but seriously, yesterday one of our prompts was Fellow TEST fav - showing some Valentines Day love to your favourite team members. I've made quite a few great friends through the team and I've also discovered some incredible artists. How the hell could I just pick one? I decided to showcase some of great things I've acquired from my fellow teammates, but still... you can't help but feel like you're leaving someone out! So I decide to post a few more of my favs here today and links to their shops. You know, in case you wanted to do some shopping ;)

1. Carolyn Draws

2. Art That Moves

3. Leikey Designs

4. Salvage Ink

5. Grey Matter Collection

6. Your Hearts Haven

7. Pikelet Workshop

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TEST challenge

If you follow me on Instagram you may have noticed some rather personal pics going up. And the hashtag #WeBeTest.

There's a very good reason behind it. My lovely friends of The Toronto Etsy Street Team (or TEST if you will) are doing an Instagram challenge for the month of February. For a number of great reasons. To help bring awareness and promote local Toronto makers, artists and vintage curators, for our followers to help get to know us a bit better and for the team mates to get to know each other. We're a team of well over 1000 members now and that's a lot of people to keep track of. Putting some faces and interests to each other helps us all bond. Happy Happy Joy Joy! Group hug time :) Wow, image a 1000+ person group hug. I couldn't be in the middle of that one. I bet it's in the Guinness Book of World Records somewhere though.

But back to us. You can follow along by searching #WeBeTest on Instagram, and of coarse you can follow me for all the challenge and other thunderpeep fun times. And below is a list of the daily prompts we are all following along with.

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Holiday show prepping

Halloween is over now. Us craft show folk are now free to start talking winter and holiday shows without the wrath of friends and family! As much as thunderpeep is still very much in re-branding mode,  you'll be able to catch me at a couple of smaller, more intimate events over the next 2 months. It's also November.... which means there are birthday celebrations to plan!

I got back into show mode with the Etsy: Made in Canada show at the end of September. It was really weird being back in a show environment. I almost didn't know what I was doing at first. Luckily I had Steff there to keep me focused!

Next up....

November 14th - Rotary East Christmas Show Always one of my favourite Holiday shows. Eastenders are such enthusiastic supporters and the Rotary runs one hell of a smooth day. Come out for handmade goodness - including a very popular bake sale table.
10am to 5pm - Eastminster Church, Danforth and Chester (subway to Chester stations)

December 12th - Toronto Etsy Street Team Christmas Market Yearly tradition. Hanging with my lovely teammates, with goods for the almost last minute shoppers. There will be some workshops. Santa will be making an appearance again this year from 12:30 to 1:30 only. You don't want to miss Santa!
11am to 5pm - Church of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields, 103 Bellevue Avenue @College Street (just East of Bathurst)

If you've followed me for a while now you might be surprised that the One of a Kind show isn't listed. I'll be taking the year off from the show during the re-branding, but I'll still be there helping out my fellow artist friends and, of coarse, shopping!

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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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Thanks for Great Night!

For anyone who came out to last nights party....

We had some serious fun, hung out with some other fab businesses on Danforth East
(including one of our favourite restaurants The Borough) and discover
a great new band in The Rattlesnake Choir

halfway through the setup //  swag from our high five lovin' neighbours Indie88 //  and a sweet colouring station!

The weather was fantastic, the people came out and enjoyed the music and I got to meet and swap 
adventure stories with some pretty interesting folks!

first book sale to my talented friend Michelle of Kempton Jones and Dexter // scrumptious smores //  some new branding!

The book is finally up for sale in the Etsy shop now, along with a really cool colouring booklet that features some of the illustrations from the book, combined in one extra long spread - just waiting for you to colour in!

HUGE thanks to Christal at LEN for letting me take over the booth and launch my book in the park, 
with a built in party!

More about the book this weekend, including a sweet giveaway in celebration!

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everything old is new again

Well, maybe not EVERYTHING. Some things should stay old and in the past. Like acid wash jeans. Seriously what is up with them? Every now and again I see some random person wearing them. Sure they are young and still trying to find themselves, but still... I. Just. Can't.

Anyhow… we're here talking about old cards getting a fresh makeover.

Yep. Part of the thunderpeep re-branding will result in the re-design of pretty much all the old cards. There are a couple of the newer ones that are safe, but everyone else better hold on to their acid wash pants (no really, I think I'll have to find a way to work some of these hideous jeans into a design - and NO this does not mean I'll put any of the Trolls in acid wash jeans Lindsay!!! ) Out of the 8 new designs coming to the shop, 3 of them are actually re-designs.

With the exception of the BFF card, both the 30th birthday and You're Old were not huge sellers, so they made sense to be first up for re-design. Now, for the BFF, the greeting card side of thunderpeep is moving away from the character driven illustrations a bit, to fit in better with the new aesthetics (don't worry I have a post coming up that gives you the ins and outs of the re-brand) 

These, along with the new, new cards will be available in the Etsy shop this Sunday. Wondering about the new, new cards? Well you'll have to wait until the weekend to get your first peep at those ones, but I can tell you that there are 2 new birthday cards, an engagement and 2 new friendship cards. Well maybe 3 new friendships. One is still not quite right, so not sure if it'll make it in time.

Midsummer is Coming. Only 6 more sleeps!

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Fun Friday: Loving the Bees!

I'm super excited to have my friend Christine Pensa from Art That Moves visiting the blog today. Well, she's not actually sitting inside my blog, but if anyone can make that happen - yes please. That would be so rad! But what I really mean, is that Christine has created some special artwork as downloads for this instalment of Fun Friday. And it all revolves around a pretty great cause, one she's very passionate about.

Bees. I'm totally afraid of them. Yeah, I can handle a giant moose, but some fuzzy buzzing insect will have me running for the hills (no kidding I will actually run away if there's something buzzing in my ear.) To be fair it's more likely those horrible wasps and hornets I'm actually afraid of, not having been stung creates this larger than life horror around them {one day I'm going to have to tell you about my wasps invasion - when I think you can handle it}

So anyways, I've known Christine for a couple of years now, I can't actually remember where and when we first met, she's just one of those people that I instantly connected with and she just kind of fit into my world that it feels like I've known her my whole life. It could be because her favourite place to visit in Newfoundland and I LOVE that province too. She has this great presence, one of great creativity and peacefulness but also knows how to laugh and joke around (and makes some wicked cocktails - most likely a skill she learned from her earlier days working in politics!) She creates artworks by combining inspiring words with her magical illustrations, and pieces vary from original art, to prints and stationery to her sweet line Om for your Home - a selection of silkscreen pieces for your home including tea towels, bread bags and pillow cases (all available in her Etsy shop). If you follow me on Instagram you may also remember our trip to the AGO to see the Emily Carr exhibit, where Christines' paper Emily doll tagged along.

inspiring Hafiz quote print available here and Ladies of Art paper dolls available here

Christine recently put together a show here in Toronto, to raise awareness and funds for the bees at the Graven Feather Gallery on Queen West here's what she had to say about the show and her reasons behind it:

I have been passionate about bees (and other pollinators) and the threats they are facing to their very survival for some time. Over the last year and a half I have donated 10% of proceeds from my bee themed art products in my Etsy shop, at the One of a Kind Show and in other retail venues.

This spring I wanted to do more.

I contacted Graven Feather Gallery in Toronto’s west end and asked if they wanted to host a show in support of the alchemist insect – the bee.
Once we put out a call for artists our Bee themed art show came together rather quickly. I thought we might start our first year with 25 artists, but after the overwhelming response we received we opened the show up to include 48 artists participating!
The response is so gratifying and the opportunity for spreading the word about the plight of pollinators has grown exponentially.

People DO want to make a difference and that makes my heart happy!

Each of the artists in the show has agreed to donate 10% of their sales to the David Suzuki Foundation‘s work to help the bees.

The show runs until June 27th, so if you're in the Toronto area I highly recommend you go and check it out. Some of my other friends are also in the show - Ele of Minouette and Michelle of Kempton Jones both have pieces in the show.

Want to know more about what you can do to help the bees and other pollinators at risk? here are a couple of useful links: David Suzuki Foundation, the Sierra Club, and of coarse don't be like me and run away from bees. They really are our friends.

Christine has created some gorgeous screen savers for your phones and desktops, to bring a bit of bee love into your daily life. So download and enjoy. Just click on any of the images below and it will pop up in a new window. Right click the image and download it onto your computer, then select it as your new wallpaper and BAM! you now have a super Fun image on your screen - or use the same process to upload to your phone as a screen saver. (please note that these images are for personal use only they are not for resale but feel free to share this post with your friends!)

some bee love for your phone!

Eat Local and organic Desktop screen saver

Bee Love Desktop screen saver

Yay Bees! Thanks for caring about these pollinators and thanks for sharing your beautiful images with us Christine :)

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We're celebrating a wee bit over here….

My {not so} little Etsy shop is oh so close to a milestone 1000 sale and that means it's time for a little bit of celebrating.

Now, maybe I can't clink shot glasses with you BUT I can offer you something {not really} even better. For the next 24 hours the ENTIRE shop is 50% off - yes even the custom listings - just use the code: 1000AWESOMES at checkout for the deal of a lifetime {seriously I haven't had any shots yet….}

All orders using the code will get some extra love with their order - and if you're lucky #1000, well you'll be getting some serious extra love.

Thanks for hanging out on this journey with me. No matter how far or how close I've had fun with every single order!

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Midsummer… is coming

It's been a bit of a struggle to get this years collection together, and to be honest it's still a bit of a disaster zone over here, but I can see the light at the end of the fox hole and the new (although maybe a bit small) Midsummer 2014 collection is looking awesome.

And… I'm super excited because this year I actually have an event on the actual first day of summer (that's how us North Americans refer to Midsummer). This year I'll be launching the first bits of the Midsummer collection down at the Leslieville Arts Market. The Leslieville Wanderlust is putting on it's Lemonfest event to welcome in Summer (and to mark the end of street construction the past few weeks) and hopefully drinking loads of lemonade (have I mentioned it's my favourite - although usually with a little something extra added in;)

I'll be posting all sorts of fun sneak peeks over the next 2 weeks so be sure you follow thunderpeep on instagram and twitter!

Any big plans for your Midsummer weekend?

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