Bounty.

Sept 5th farmers market, originally uploaded by tanisalexis.

Hush now child,
and don’t you cry
Your folks might understand you
by and by
Move on up
towards your destination
You may find
from time to time
Complications

Bite your lip
and take a trip
Though there may be
wet road ahead
You cannot slip
Just move on up
and peace you will find
Into the steeple
of beautiful people
Where there’s only one kind

So hush now child
and don’t you cry
Your folks might understand you
by and by
Just move on up
and keep on wishing
Remember your dreams
are your only schemes
So keep on pushing
Take nothing less -
not even second best
And do not obey -
you must have your say
You can past the test

Move on up

Curtis Mayfield – Move On Up

This song by Curis Mayfield is playing in the background as I gear myself up for this blog post.

I am not sure why it’s been so incredibly challenging to try to post regularily here. But I know I do have many excuses. Time being one of them, and then there’s that pesky voice in the back of my head that says: “well that blog-post idea wouldn’t be very interesting to read.”

and so the battle continues.

Time certainly flies. Only moments ago it was the start of Summertime, one of my favourite times of year, full of warmth, colour, vibrant antics, and lots of sunshine. This year though it’s a different kind of embrace for me. My energy is in reserve, tapped from the slightest chore, or small feat..sending me back to my bed to sleep the time away and re-energize. It also takes time to get to know my new self in all of this. Growing babies is hard work. Though physically I don’t need to tell my body what to do and how to grow this little bean in my belly, it still takes energy, patience, time and faith.

We’re fortunate to have the local and one of the larger city farmers markets a mere minutes walk away from our front door. Every Saturday morning we stroll over to the market and make our pick out of the fabulous selection of fruits, veggies and foodstuffs for our weeks diet. I feel lucky we can live in an area that can produce such variety, such abundance, and such amazing, healthy colour. It brings the ’squirrel’ out in me around this time of year, and I get a tiny bit frantic knowing that this freshness will not be fully available to us for much longer. I yearn to can, to freeze, to preserve and to concoct delicious tidbits to enjoy during the cold months.

I’ve been spending more time in the kitchen whipping up yummies rather than in the studio whipping up artful goodies. Because my energy dictates my mode. Call it a slow mode. Similar to the Slow food movement. A slow life.

I also have this same theme occuring in my business/art life as the Art Show and Craft Fair applications come tumbling into my email inbox. I know I just can’t commit this time around. I am saving myself for the mysteries of motherhood, the wintertime hibernations, the slow life of doing things on a different time. Re-aquainting myself with, myself.

So I will try my best to continue my regular posts, but can’t promise anything. This coming Autumn/Winter brings many question marks and I am finally embracing the ‘out-of-control’ feelings I have now with the world. The one true wisdom of many I’ve gleaned this Summertime is that no one is really in FULL control of their worlds.. we can maintain a sense of balance and sureness and goals to head somewhere we dream..but we are never in full control of how those goals will come to us. I feel good about this. 

It concocts a sense of wonder, curiosity, and innocence to me and my little world. I hope it does for you too.

 

In the meantime, I am not too far away. I am still here, I am still online checking up on things, keeping my hands in the pots of goodness that abound in the wonderful worlds of art & craft..

Be sure to check out my flickr photostream, where I do post photos regularily. I’ve built up a nice world of contacts and friends there. A truly supportive and inspiring environment to get lost in. Flickr is my blog too, because sometimes, photo’s are a lot easier for me than words.

I wish you all love, happiness and wonderment. Happy changing Seasons!

xoxo!

….and the winner is…

without further ado, the winner of our tomate d’ epingles graffiti necklace giveaway is:

alexkeller!!! see her great blog here: http://alexkellerblog.blogspot.com/

I was hoping that more people would post their comments to enter the giveaway, but then again the upside to so few entries is more chances to win.

we used random.org to generate the results.

I will be contacting Alex shortly with the good news but in the meantime I would love to extend thanks to each of you for your interest and send my best wishes your way.

Enjoy the days, friends!!
XO!

Graffiti necklace – a giveaway!!!

and about time too, huh?

sorry for the delays friends, life is tripping me up a bit with all the newness&change with baby bird arriving this fall, plus my computer gets very angry in the summer heat so she needs a nice siesta in the afternoons.. just like I do! lol.

this fun piece is available to someone special…could it be you???

a collaboration of my sketchy & painty skills along with tomate d’epingles’ words & jewelry design came up with a delightful, fun and surprising project for all of us. I primed and painted about 40+ wooden circles with poetry and quotes in a not-too-serious kind of way..once dry, I sent them all out to the girls in Quebec for them to create unique pieces to wear. & out came a whole series of necklaces for their customers & clients!!

this is a really fun and whimsical trinket packed up in all signature eco-friendly packaging to adorn your neck! (psst….I’m throwing in a wee arty secret treat made from my 2 hands for you to enjoy with your necklace also-double the fun! )

all that is required for the special someone to recieve this in their letter box, is to go to both tomate d’epingles blog, to read some of the fabulous things they’ve published and to make a comment in the comments section of one of their articles. easy peasy, done & done!

 then come back here and make a comment, with your email, on this very post.

I’ll throw everyone into the random.org generator, shake it to mix thoroughly & see who comes up!!

lucky lucky for somebody!!

this offer will go until end of this month. and I will contact the special someone by email for mailing details and announce it here when I can!

 

best summery wishes everyone!

July 30th update: With this heat wave we’re having, and my holidays coming up any day now, I’ve decided to extend the deadline of this giveaway until August 15th. More chances for you to enter and win!! big summer loves to you! xo!

tomate d’epingles giveaway

tomate d’epingles giveaway, originally uploaded by tanisalexis.

pssst…..did someone say give-away?!?!?!????
these special treats are ready to be sent out to a lucky reader this Summer….More details later today! I wont leave you hanging on too long! xo!

update: check it all out here friends http://tanisalexis.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/graffiti-necklace-a-giveaway/ best wishes!!

baby bird summertime sale – deal o’ the week

I’m back after a much needed restful weekend. I hope this greets you all with fresh new energies and a fun, fun, fun Summertime so far.

Deal o’ the week time here.. these puppies have been very popular thruout the times and I wanted to share them with you, dear readers, since they are ultimately limited edition and !!! I only have 3 left!

that’s right, once they’re gone, they are gone.

i heart mail pack

I heart mail – a paper sampling kits!!

here’s a bit of a description:

do you love mail?
do you love making up fun little packages for your friends?
do you like getting those little extras in packages that add to that personal touch?
I sure do!!!
Every item in this kit is hand-stamped and lovingly packed up for you. Part of the challenge in creating these was for me to make sure that every single ingredient was eco-friendly, recycled, reclaimed, salvaged and re-used.
for example, the vinyl envelopes were claimed by me from a box of goodies another artist wanted to throw away.  

Like mentioned I only have just a tiny few of these left, and!!! what’s better than this crafty-licious kit?

only $16.00 and FREE SHIPPING!!!!!!

just go here: tanisalexis.etsy.com

or click on the images above to see these in my shop.

Big time deals for your Summertime pleasure.

Mention you’ve saw this on my blog and I’ll send you some other goodies too!

All part of our big “Baby Bird Summertime Sale” going on while stock lasts.

Loves to you all! happy days!! xo!

a world of wonderfulness

a world of wonderfulness, originally uploaded by tanisalexis.

I wanted to share some of the amazing finds I’ve stumbled upon in the last while from flickr.com
I am constantly amazed, challenged, surprised and delighted by the astounding amount of talent on this site.
Be sure to check these wonderful artists out by clicking on the image.

Best wishes everyone!
XO!

100!

100!, originally uploaded by tanisalexis.

hooray!!
we hit 100 sales on etsy.com this past week and it’s been a swell ride so far.

Many great big thanks to all of our amazing friends and supporters of our work thruout these past few years.. it’s been quite a unique experience for us.
Happy July everyone!!!
xo!

baby bird summertime sale – deal o’ the week

Thought I should post some of the nifty deals that I’m offering this summer under my “summertime baby bird sale”  

This is a seasonal sale, but is very rare. I wont be offering deals like this anytime in the near future and may have to temporarily close shop by years end, so catch this while you can friends.

I am also telling my artistic and crafty friends that trades, too, are definitely welcome! Send me a note or comment here and I’ll be in touch with you to talk more details.

but without further ado…..the deal o’ the day!

these 3 original pieces were all created with a handcarved bird stamp, placed on unique handmade papers, with ink and acrylic accents.

All packaged up with bristol board and tages of authenticity, these are some sweet little gems for your art collection. Each measures about 6″ x 6″

All pieces are marked down at 50% off PLUS free shipping! I couldn’t dream of a better deal.

Interested in something else? Intrigued by the sale and it’s offerings? comment below & I’ll reply as quick as I can!

Check out my shop and the one-time deals here!

happy days! xo!

the good people – Guylaine & Isabelle Martineau

Long overdue but well worth the wait in my opinion, the next artists’ in this feature include the fab sister duo working together as .tomate d’epingles.

Please read on to learn more about these amazing ladies.  

  

Tell me what you do, who you are, and the area you are located
.tomate d’épingles. is a sister act, featuring Guylaine and Isabelle. We live in Québec city, Canada. We are self-taught jewelers, who share a love for all things shiny, and fashion!  Combining recycled, vintage, retro and natural materials into unique creations, our quirky handmade jewellery and accessories will surprise you!

  

-What lights your creative fire?
Guylaine loves to scavenges all sorts of bits and baubles, in thrift stores, dumpsters, garage sales… that’s what inspires her : the random shiny object she found, doesn’t know what she should do with but that she just CANT leave there and has to bring it back home with her.

For Isabelle, it’s mostly textures who talk to her. She often gets ideas just before falling asleep and sometimes when creating a model, she gets new ideas. She loves to jot them down in a pad, draw them, exaggerate them and then try to see if it can actually become something.

When we both use the same materials, the final result is never the same. We inspire each other that way.

 

 

-Do you collect/hoard anything?
Oh yes! we collect tons of stuff, from vintage buttons to beads, sewing notions, vintage patterns… Our appartment is chock-full of goodies! Guylaine sorts all our treasures by shape, color, size – she’s an organized pack rat!

-List some of the things that make you happy:
music, birds, family, kisses, dancing, sunlight, shinny objects, friends, cats that purr, green…

-What is one of your pet peeves?
Disorganized stuff! ) Angry people. Cars that honk for no good reason.

-Describe your (almost) perfect day.
imagine there are no guns, no bombs and no disease, no hungry mouths to feed
that would be the perfect day
an almost perfect day is sunny, on vacation, drinking a very strong coffee or a glass of red wine somewhere in Italy
or a sunny day, with friends, chilling out to good music and reinventing the world on our huge patio
you know, we just try to have fun every day! its not easy.

PHOTO CREDITS: Québec Scope

-Do you have a current project that is exciting you? Would you like to share a little bit of it?
our jewelry was featured in an eco-oriented fashion show at the Capitole de Québec, in Québec City, on April 19th. We had 50 models to adorn with our jewelry! Its a huge task, but we had SO much fun! Pictures are posted on our blog www.tomatedepingles.blogspot.com

 

Thank you so much ladies! Keep up the amazing work! 

 

You can see more of Guylaine and Isabelle’s photos and work here: http://tomatedepingles.ca

We’ll also be holding a wee giveaway of a poetry pendant I mentioned awhile back next week. These ladies have even gone to the lengths of wrapping it all up in awesome eco-friendly tomate signature wrapping paper just for you…plus, just for kicks, I’ve thrown in some extra fun little things for you too!

so stay tuned!

xo!

baby bird!

baby bird!, originally uploaded by tanisalexis.

our baby bird is coming soon!
& we’re having a summertime sale at tanisalexis.etsy.com

we are having a big sale here at tanis alexis land
to make more room for our first baby to arrive this fall.

we want you to own some nice handmade goods from us.
we want those handmade goods to make you happy

we also really want you to know that your purchases will directly help us to make, create, scavenge, hunt-down, & purchase all the little and big things that come with a new family addition.
we want to make more great things that will put a smile on your face.

we want that to make you feel a wee bit happier than you already are.

we like happy!

sale will start June 12th , 2009 and continue throughout the summertime until quantities last.
deals include free shipping & up to 50% off (!!!) selected items.

p.s. this is one of those rare, once-in-a-lifetime sales that may not ever be repeated. so catch us while you can. xo!