New adventures

OOAK Spring 2014: I never got a full finished booth shot (bad me) / The Home print from the calendar was a hit / Ferdinand the Fox and I filled up on yummy lemonade

Yesterday was my first full day of NOTHING. I slept in (waking up at 7 is still sleeping in if you went to bed at 9:30 the night before, right?) lounged and tidied up and napped and lounged and watched crappy movies.

It was really nice. Sometimes you just need nothing days, and I needed that one. So much has been happening lately, and still so much more to come. It can all be overwhelming at times. But so exciting that I can really only mellow for one day then I get itchin' to get back on the wagon and get shit done.

That's where I am today, as I work on the new To Do list, that is much more complex than I anticipated. The Midsummer Collection is starting to take shape and I'm pretty excited about it. It's going to expand into some new (well not so new - more like reborn) pieces, there's a a book all about Trolls, there's a pretty freaking awesome collaboration with my good friend Quilter Steff and I've already got Christmas back on the list. What the….??? Yep, seems June is when all your favourite card selling stores want to take a peep at the Holiday collections.

Crazy. Right?

But I figure that gives me July to kick back and plan my big trip next year. And other BIG adventures. And to figure out how the heck I'm going to fit in a big 40th shindig one week before the Holiday One of a Kind show.

Small Business never stops plotting and creating and planning and conquering. I know this because I'm just finishing up Arlene Dickenson's "All In". Highly recommend it to anyone and everyone on an entrepreneurial path, or even for those who have crazy entrepreneur friends and loved ones.

Don't forget to follow me over on Instagram (thunderpeep) for all the sneak peeks and if you want to share your card giving or card receiving adventures tag your pics with #thunderpeep and I might just share it with all my peeps! I'm all about sharing the love (and non-love ;)

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The weekend has been all wrapped up!

Wow, even I can't believe how quickly this month has gone by! This was the first weekend in the last year of my 30's (yes my birthday on Wednesday saw me turn 39 - holy crap) It's the last weekend before the One of a Kind show. Saturday was our first snowfall this season, it didn't last long but it's still awesomely frigid here! I finally have my living room back as the packing station was itself packed away, and all my stock is boxed are ready for move in on Wednesday. Lot's more happened in the past 24 days but honestly I don't even remember half of it, it's been such a whirlwind!

I started putting the final (and best) parts of the booth together. And man, is it looking sweet. I can't believe it looks pretty much the way it did in my head.







































If you're in the Toronto area, come on down to the show to see the final booth, it's pretty fun! If not you'll get the whole post show wrap in a couple of weeks. I have some fun posts all ready to go during the show too.

I went searching and searching for a specific video for today's post. Unfortunately this one's an oldie (but goodie) so there's only audio. In honour of our first snowfall, this is one of my favourite Holiday songs. Because I love snow. And marshmallows. And sweethearts.

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thunderpeep gift guide part 1

need some help finding fun paper gifts for your friends and family....

1. All thunderpeep Holiday cards and gift tags can be found here

2. Get Shit Done and Honey Just Do it notepads

3. Holly Goose and Owlie letter writing sets

4. Manon / Bergtroll & Awesomesauce / Bergfrue Notebooks

5. BergTroll tote bag

All these pieces are available now online and will be with me at the One of a Kind show (except for the tote bags) I'll also have a limited selection of the gift wraps that you may have seen over on the facebook page

You may have seen the sneak peek of the mugs on the facebook page, but come back on Thursday when I'll showcase some other exciting pieces that would make excellent gifts for your peeps

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Weekend Rap

I had the opportunity to hang out and catch up with some of my crafty circle friends this Saturday and it was exactly the medicine I needed. I am truly blessed to know some extraordinary women who run creative businesses, all different mediums, at all different stages of their business. All inspiring and encouraging. I wasn't sure, when I first moved back to Toronto from Vancouver, if this was going to be the case.

I"m less than 2 weeks from a crucial time for my business and it's been a tough couple of weeks, for the business and on a personal level. But as I sit here typing on Sunday evening I feel like I could kick the crap out of anything the universe throws me.

But enough of the Dr. Phil moments. Friday I got to hang out with the Roses at Ikea. I love that place. I may have to cut out the Swedish dinners from now on (yeah, Ikea is most definitely NOT a gluten free friendly eatery!) But all my booth building necessities were acquire and some salty licorice seemed to have fallen into my cart as well (I can't leave Swedishland without some sort of treat ;) and the building of thunderpeep arcticland has started. Guys.... I am SO excited for you to see the finished product. Ao psyched about this display!

So, I'm on schedule. The product is all packed. I feel ready. I know I still have a ton to get done. But this is going to be the best Christmas season ever.

There's a couple of really fun posts coming up this week, to help kick off your Holiday shopping - that is if you haven't already started. Maybe some more extra ones as I'm feeling guilty about last weeks lack of posts.

Now... I've been saving this one for a few weeks, but now that the Christmas show season has started I figure it's safe. It's a bit more Solstice oriented and pretty funny.... enjoy!

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Holiday Shipping!

Someone posted on facebook that there are only 9 Saturdays left until Christmas.

I was shocked. I mean, I KNOW it's the middle of October, but still... only NINE Saturdays?

So, I can't help you with your shopping, but I can help with shipping woes. I certainly don't want you to be that frazzled person standing in the massive Post Office lineup so I've put together some super FUN shipping deadline graphics for you. Feel free to download them to keep on hand and pass around so all your friends and family send out their parcels on time (especially the ones to you ;)

These are based on shipping out of Canada, if you're outside of my awesome country just check in your countries postal website. I'll list a few at the bottom of this post for you.

Now, if you're looking to order some gifts from the thunderpeep etsy shop or the Society 6 shop (which are both fully stocked with Holiday goodies) here are my shipping deadlines to ensure arrival by December 24th. Don't forget that during the super busy Holiday shipping season things can get delayed, especially crossing borders so it's always best to order ahead of the deadline.

Here's a list of links to some other post offices:

United States Postal Service

Australia Post

New Zealand Post

UK Royal Mail

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Weekend Rap

Last week SUCKED. I don't know what was in the air, but it was one of those weeks where everyone seems to be off and nothing goes right.  This weekend was a welcome retreat. And I do mean retreat. I burrowed in and worked the weekend away, watched some scary movies and played with the kitty cats I'm looking after for the next week. You may have seen pics of Brutt on my Instagram but now she's got a younger bro, Jasper, who's a bit of a diva. They get a long for the most part, but if I pay too much attention to Brutt then Jasper gets a bit jealous and gives a wicked stink eye!

Brutt and those soulful eyes ~ Jasper is just a big sucker for attention

The pressure is on to get everyone ready for One of a Kind. I have a gal in my building who has been doing the show for years and she was giving me some advice on how much stock to bring and now I'm starting to think I need to plan on more. MORE. Oh my gosh, my little house is already stuffed to the gills and so much packaging needs to be done. Plus I have to start planning my online stock and all my lovely stockists. The Joys of small business. I do have a packing party planned for next Saturday. Putting all the little elves to work stuffing and wrapping and cutting and stamping.

On some really FUN thunderpeep news I put the finishing touches on both my 2014 calendar as well as the Polar Nights collection. I'll be test printing this week and then the calendar will be available next weekend and the Polar Nights on November 1st.

The Calendar is a collection of typographic works of some goofy and perhaps somewhat inspiration sayings. Kind of like the cards, but not really occasion based. I realized last year that the season illustration calendar was a harder sell when my customers are all over the globe. Not everyone has the same seasons at the same time as I do here in Toronto. There are some really funny ones, and some will make their appearance as cards next year. Oh yeah, and I forgot to tell you, in 2014 I'll be officially switching over to silkscreening all the cards, not just limited edition ones. Yay. That will mean some re-designs, but that's all good!

As for the Polar Nights collection, I may have mentioned that this one was inspired by my love for the polar regions and this year I stayed closer to home, focusing on the Canadian Arctic. The illustrations feature and new Troll character as well as some Arctic wildlife among polar scenery. I'm in love with the collection and I was showing the cards to a coworker who is usually my first test market and is a pretty good gage for what will be well received, and she was ooing and awing and giggling so I'm super excited to bring it to everyone else :)

As it is still October, the month of all things horror, I watched a lot of scary movies this weekend. That means I didn't have any musical inspirations for your Monday video. SO.... how about one of the most awesome music videos ever made, that features Vincent Price. Can you guess?

Happy Monday peeps!

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Long Weekend Rap full of Good Food and Thanks

As you may have heard, it was Thanksgiving Weekend here in Canada. An extra long weekend to spend time with friends and family, enjoy big feasts, sleep in and even take naps. It also meant I had lot's of time to finish off all the work in progress, including the Holiday Collection, which I posted about yesterday, finishing up the 2014 Calendar and the Polar Nights Collection.

I can't wait to share the Calendar - hopefully I'll get a test print this week so I can share it with you next weekend. This years calendar is 12 months of extra special quotes. These ones are just too damn special special for regular old cards, so I decided to use them on the calendar. All month long you'll be able to see them and have a little giggle. Who wouldn't want that?

I'm really excited to launch the Polar Nights Collection next month. I didn't release one last winter so I had to make this one extra special. I wanted this collection to be more personal and Fun. I'm been wanting to created more Troll stories and illustrations and as I was working on a new one, he kind of evolved as a bit of a super Troll. The Grandpappy of all Trolls and since I wanted the collection to be a bit more Canadian inspired, I figured he should be from the Arctic - the Protector of the Arctic. Because we need one..... That's all I'll give you for now, maybe a few more sneak peeks before the official launch at the One of a Kind show ;)

That's what I was up to this weekend, on top of dinners with friends and making my first ever Gluten Free stuffing. It was surprisingly easy (this was my first time ever even making stuffing from scratch). I had this basic recipe from GlutenFreeGirl and the toughest part was finding the right GF bread. I certainly wasn't make it from scratch! My house smelled sooooo delicious while it was cooking, I think one of my candle making friends needs to make a sage scented stuffing candle. Yum! It turned out ok. A bit mushy and not quite as flavourful. I think my next attempt at Christmas will be more adventurous, maybe some cranberries. Any suggestions?

Instead of leaving you with the soundtrack of my weekend, I thought I'd leave you with something a bit more festive... you can watch the entire Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on YouTube!

How did you spend your weekend? 

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Holiday Well Wishes

It's finally all ready to go. The 2013 Holiday Collection that is. This one is smaller than previous years, but there's more variety, and one product I'm SUPER excited about. (all products available online here)

The Cards

2 new designs... all in good Holiday Fun! (seriously, what IS the point of a naughty list?)

Don't want to write out a bunch of cards? No worries... we've got Gift Tags!

2 designs - both come in packs of 8 tags!

This year we've even got GIFT Wrap 

2 designs to choose from. Will come packaged with 4 sheets - for the Wreath design you'll get 2 of each colour

(sorry kiddos, this one will only be available at the One of a Kind Show and select stores in Toronto)

and the big top secret piece... ready made Letters to Santa!

I've had this one up my sleeve for awhile. And it was all hush hush, you never know who's watching, and I couldn't find anyone doing anything similar - I wanted to keep it that way ;)

You can sit down with the kids, help them fill out all the info the Big Guy needs to know to fill his Big Bag of Gifts before liftoff on December 24th. Fold the letter in and use the awesome stickers to seal it shut. And if you live in the US or Canada you can just drop that letter into the mailbox (yeah, Santa is such a Rockstar you don't need postage to mail him a letter) FUN all around! I was excited to be able to design some stickers to go along with the set, what kid (or some grown ups I now) doesn't love stickers. I wish they could have been scratch and sniff, but we'll have to work up to that one!

So, I'm almost all ready for the Holiday rush now. Just need to finish off the Polar Nights collection, which will be the centrepiece of the One of a Kind booth. *hint... I stuck a bit closer to home with my inspiration, it seems our Arctic was in need of some serious protection ;) Look for the launch later on November 3rd.

*Order any of the Holiday goodies during the month of October and you'll get Free Shipping (blog readers this one is just for you because you've been so patient with me lately) use the coupon code BLOGXMAS at etsy checkout. Hooray for Free Shipping! There are also some of last years cards still up in the shop, and they are part of the Free Shipping deal as well.

PS. As this is Thanksgiving Weekend here in Canada tomorrow is a Holiday (yay for an extra day to sleep in) so the Weekend Rap will come to you first thing Tuesday morning!

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