Life and Olive the Above

It seems everyone goes through that feeling of not having enough hours in the day and I can certainly sympathize right now, though I don’t want to come accross complaining. I’ve been booking up my time with soap making, photographic engagements, floral design and more weddings than you can possibly imagine.

It’s a good predicament to be in, not for everyone, but for me at least. I’m hopeful that one day I won’t have a desk job during the day, or if I do it’ll only be part time so I can have a little more time to do the things that excite me and challenge me.

Yesterday alone Steve and I recieved two wedding invites, one which will conincide nicely with a visit to my parents on Vancouver Island and my dad’s birthday and the other is in Kelowna and well… we can’t go… I’m going to be designing flower arrangements and doing photos for a wedding in Langley the same weekend so unfortunately we’ll have to opt out.

I still haven’t managed to plan a summer vacation just yet but maybe I should get that in the works sooner rather than later. Our usual trip to Orca’s Island for Woodsong has been cancelled this year and we weren’t planning our other usual trip to the Oregon coast so we’re left with the question of what to do!

One thing I know for sure is that I want to arrange our patio to be a little cozier for the next few warm months

Another busy weekend in my life. I’m in a frenzy of activity to have prices sent out to clients for flowers, photos and custom soaps. It’s great to be so busy with the things you love, unfortunate when you realize you still work a desk job full time.

No less I had the pleasure of joining with Jo and Austin as they celebrated their weddding this past Saturday and had a chance to photograph Jess and Jonny in Granville Island on Tuesday! To keep things interesting I thought it best to post some photos!

Got Craft? is coming up this Sunday May 3rd! Also this Sunday! My birthday! If you show up and mention my birthday I’ll give you $2 off a bar of 4 oz.  soap. *Limit to one per customer.
See you at the show!

Steve and I are sick this week. Somehow it’s so much worse when both are down because it’s just such a sad sight to behold.

The Liberal Arts Students at Trinity Western University opened their graduating art show, “Gift Shop” last night at the Langley Centennial Museum in Fort Langley. The gallery space was a cute venue and a definite step up from the underground parking lot on the university campus last year and it served as a great place to mingle and run into old faces. Although a small graduating class I must say that each year I’m impressed by several of them for to work they put out especially when I spent the last 5 years in art school and, at many times, felt disappointed by the work that would come out (though of course there are exceptions). I have often felt that TWU has been a great support to their artists and has really helped to develop and challenge their skills in a unique way that is very exciting. It will be running all month at 9135 King St. and is definitely worth checking out.

Before I sign off, a photos of the sun setting on the horizon, it was so beautiful and gold I just have to share!

Well it would appear I haven’t posted on here for some time. I’ve been working away trying to get everything in order since my graduation from University in the spring.

It’s apparent that winter is settling in as I begin to read more blogs again and prepare myself for a season of craftiness. The possibilities seem endless in winter as there’s so much more time to pass indoors. I’ve been highly interested in reworking old furniture. I love freshly painted pieces that have a certain crispness. I’ve been looking through the Design*Sponge before and after section getting nearly giddy with excitement. Most recently they posted about a reworked beach house and the transformation is phenomenal.

Also an update of photography a few from trips this summer as well as some more recent shots from fall and for a more full view of my portfolio have a look at my website!

The temperature this last week or two has been comparable to November I think I heard! Thankfully most of the photos here don’t seem to reflect that and even the umbrella shot looks pretty nice out, however it was entirely stormy, with thunder and that rain that comes in heavy drops and it comes in sheets! Regardless of all this, we’ve still managed to have a great time and take some great photos!

First are a couple of shots from a band photo shoot with Stalking Stella:

The Honeybee Festival in Cloverdale, BC:

Shopping and changing a flat tire with Kari and Amanda:

Bowling with Kari, Amanda and Steve:

After a very long and cold winter, even a few days ago chattering in the cold weather, this weekend brought with it plenty of hot sun and I could not have been happier!

I thought I would display a couple shots I took last night while at a fondue party a friend of ours hosted. I am working on getting a great night time shot for an on-line assignment and these were my first two attempts. They are 13 Seconds long with a slow flash.

Well it’s been smooth sailing since last Friday when I had my first day of Summer holidays after classes commenced Thursday evening. It was a wonderful sigh of relief to know that the worst is over with (at least thus far.) But then as the days continue on I realize there’s the anxiety of what comes next, and where the heck should I be applying for jobs? I’d really like something stable from 9-5 Monday to Friday, as boring as that sounds, but it’s closer to the schedules everyone around me has.

Tomorrow evening Steve and I are heading to Victoria to celebrate Robyn’s birthday. I’m so excited. Last summer when we went there we indulged in something we’d wanted to do for quite some time. Scoot around the city!

Here’s hoping for some more adventure when we arrive tomorrow night!

The temperature went to a very comfortable 21 degrees yesterday and so it was no surprise that outside was the place to be.

Steve, Holly and I went to an art show at a local University and then proceeded to enjoy the lazy day on the grass, and in the trees of the campus.

I’m an avid “do-it-yourselfer” (sure selfer isn’t a word, but so it goes.) Whenever possible I will find a way to do it myself, even if it costs a bit more initially just to know it’ll save me over time and give me the satisfaction of finding an effective solution that I made with my own two hands!

This week was no exception. On Friday, being my first day of freedom since finishing classes I set off to hunt down all the products I would need to keep the business running, while also allowing me to flex my muscles to create a natural all purpose cleaner. After much milling about at the shop I had everything I needed. I headed home to create my masterpiece…. first attempt… a flop. I ended up with a gelatinous lump that was less than desirable. The second one was a go so I filled up a spray bottle and off I went to clean off the counter-tops. They looked lovely and smelled of fresh oranges then I came to the stove and looked at the drip trays and thought about every past attempt at cleaning this blackened miseries. I decided even a little cleaning wouldn’t hurt and the smell they’d been giving off every time I made tea wasn’t the most pleasant so I set off into rough waters and to my absolute amazement they came TOTALLY clean.

I was pumped! It’s as though I get this adrenalin surge when the house is clean and it’s something that I didn’t even expect to get results with. So next I thought about the grout around the bathtub that since we moved in two and a half years ago I haven’t been able to overcome. What happened to it? It came off!

Unfortunately I’d cleaned the dirtiest parts were clean by the time Steve entered the bathroom to check on my progress, but he still wanted a before and after shot.

Before:

After: