Ok, so the lead up to this One of a Kind Show was probably the most chaotic. Life just hasn't slowed down, and to be honest burnout is starting to set in. It makes me a bit sad that all the things I had planned for the show couldn't get finished. But this is the reality of running a small business solo. Only so many hats I can wear, and the Michelle hat has been neglected a bit lately, so a rest period is long overdue.
But don't be sad. Rest time = super creative time. And all those things that are boiling around in my head will be created and this Midsummer we'll be having one kick ass parté!!! And you know that I'll be sharing the process here on the blog and on Instagram (stop laughing I really will be blogging about the road to this years Midsummer collection)
For now, if you're in the Toronto area come on down to visit me at the One of a Kind show. I'll be hawking my stationery goodness in Booth N06 (this Wednesday to Sunday at the Direct Energy Centre)
There's been a lot of growth over here at peep HQ over the past couple of months, and even more in the works.
It's been exhausting, exciting and I won't lie, stressful. When you run your own business you have to keep moving forward and that journey has been rather interesting with thunderpeep. When I look back at the past 3 years I honestly did not expect this to be the path it took. But I'm also a firm believer in everything happening for a reason, people come in and out of your life for a reason and all you can do is enjoy the ride and never EVER let any opportunity pass you by.
That all being said, one of the big projects I've been working on has finally launched and I can share it with you guys! Back in January I was approached by Etsy Canada about designing some online invitations for a collaboration they were working on with the online invitation site ECHOage.com Now I've been a bit hesitant about online designs and the digital download side of invitations, but this collaboration was the perfect opportunity to take the leap to the *other* side!
Head on over to ECHOage to check out not only my designs, but those of other Etsy artists!
You will also notice that some digital downloads have started to pop up in the invitation section of my Etsy shop, including the super popular and FUN 40th birthday card design being re-designed into a party invitation (awesome!)
You can check out the DIY listing here and the custom invitation design here. They're already working their way up to BestSeller status!
Unfortunately though, with all this fun stuff happening, I haven't had the chance to really work on the Midsummer collection is no longer going to be debuting at the Spring One of a Kind Show but back to it's original launch date of June 1st. Don't be sad though, there are some seriously FUN new products that will be new at OOAK and this gives me the time I really need to bring all the awesome I have in the works for the 2014 Midsummer collection.
And stayed tuned for all the other fun things that are in the works!
This past weekend I was able to get out of the city and spend some super fun time in the snow with one of my favourite buddies Amy. We are very similar yet very different and the friendship works like magic! We both love goofy things, rocking out to music and snowshoeiing.
My all-time favourite winter activity is snowshoeiing. I never really got into the up the hill down the hill or skiing or snowboarding. It was just so boring. Considering how much I love to hike and spend time in the hills snowshoeiing was a natural fit. I can literally just wander for hours in the snowy winterland. Lucky for me Collingwood has had a shit TON of snow and Amy's folks like on a massive chunk of land that is perfect for winter wandering. So we strapped on the shoes and hit the fields.
I haven't seen Amy since I went up for the bomb that was the Elvis festival. Remember that one? No, neither did I. So, what brought me up this time (other than spending time with my buddy and playing in the snow)? Well, as you may have noticed, I'm a HUGE Nirvana fan and local celebrity singer Drew Wright (former Canadian Idol contestant) and his band were doing an MTV Nirvana Unplugged tribute night. Paint me skeptical. I just do not approve of anyone covering Kurt, but it would be fun night out. For sure. It was a fun night out, but I stick by my statement. Please Don't Ever Cover Kurt Cobain. NoBody! Don't get me wrong, Drew has an amazing voice, much better than Cobain, but he just doesn't have the dark tortured awesome to pull off Nirvana. No one can. That's why they are legends. Nuff said.
Lastly, I'd like to leave you with a little giggle this Monday {or whatever day of the week you are reading this} this was the kind of goofy running joke Amy and I had all weekend. We watched Jimmy Fallon's Best of Late Night and it was Freaking Hillarious. It's nice when you find another friend who can find the hilarious in the same things you do.
I have curly hair. Pretty nice curly hair that is fairly low maintenance (you can be jealous, it's ok!) That is until I moved back to Ontario and we had a real winter {because the first 2 really weren't that different than Vancouver winters}
I love wearing toques (that'd be a knitted winter hat for all you non-Canadians) but between the toque, the super dry air and the static my hair is a flat mushy mess.
The lovelies over at Simple Smiles know all about these dramas, being makers of super fine knitted head wears (and other goodies). So they made up a little video tutorial to give us all a couple of sexy options for hair and headwear solutions.
Here's the video, and you can read the full post here
Have a FUN weekend I'm off for some BFF time and to soak away the past few crazy months at the spa. You'll be even more jealous when you see the pics!
You remember those books you got in elementary school, the ones with all the lines to help you practice your letters with? I still love those books, and they've become even more useful to me know as I've taken on the task of learning Modern Calligraphy. I found this amazing class through Skillshare (what you DON'T know about Skillshare -> go look now!) I really want to start working more hand lettering into my work so need to up my skills.
January has been a tough month. Still trying to reclaim all the spent energy from the Holiday. It seems that sometimes once you stop and take a moment it can be hard to get back into a groove. At least for me. And so many distractions!
I've got a couple of new collaborations in the works that have helped to get the creative juices flowing. And all this time spent getting the house & studio back in order were accompanied by great tunes. I love just putting random music on and was getting bored of my same old itunes selection, so I headed over to Songza (if you don't know it you must check it out) Being that I love most things Nordic and Scandinavian I decided to search to see if there was anything under either of those categories. Gold Mine! I found this amazing Scandinavian Folk mix. I'm not really a fan of any one specific genre and really the only folk I like is the more modern Of Monsters and Men and Mumford and Sons style. So I was a bit skeptical, but it also listed Bjork on the playlist and I love her quirky tunes.
One thing I do tend to lean towards in my music is dark and moody lyrics. Might surprise some, considering the style of a lot of my work, but there it is. Along those lines I found a couple of great new bands that are great for working to, just getting lost in the words and melodies, so I thought I'd share them.
First up is First Aid Kit, a Swedish girly duo. So pretty and moody and you just kind of want to lay in the grass and stare at the clouds all day music. Did I really just say that???? Listen for yourself
Next up is the adorable Jens Lekman, who is also Swedish but his record label is called "Secretly Canadian" so you have to love it for that even if you don't like his music ;) He's a bit more pop jazz??? Not sure what to call him, but he's cheeky and I like it. He's got a song called "Some Dandruff on Your Shoulder", of course I'm going to like him!
He doesn't seem to have any videos that I can find so this will have to do. Turns out this was actually on the Whip It soundtrack (bonus points for that because that movie was rad - still trying to bring that word back ;) And he may remind you of a certain British singer….
It seems with all this Swedish music being thrown into my universe I may have to actually add it to my big 40th birthday trip itinerary.
Any new tunes you've recently discovered that you want to share?
So much has been happening for usually slow January. You will notice the blog looks a wee bit different today, it's undergoing a bit of a facelift. Not quite fully functioning at the moment, but it'll get there. And we'll all have a fun as we get there :)
So first thing, the super sweet Ashley over at chic.toronto did a feature on thunderpeep today and it's fantastic. It's a funny thing, seeing yourself through someone else. But the most exciting part… there's a super fine giveaway happening on the post so GO check it out. You could win!
A couple of super exciting collaborations are in the works, I can't quite tell you about them yet, but hopefully by early February I can spill the beans. It SO hard not to say anything!
The Spring One of a Kind show is coming up really fast… and this marks a bit new step for thunderpeep. A big booth. Like a mini storefront. Scary or exciting or perhaps a bit of both. I'm starting work on the booth now and you know there'll be sneak peaks up on Instagram as it's being constructed. Lucky for me I have an incredibly talented co-worker who is quite versed in carpentry and has offered her assistance. The ideas for all the new designs are slowly being worked on, some of the Midsummer collection will launch at the show with the rest being debuted at Midsummer in June.
For now let's all bundle up and enjoy the winter weather!
