Needless to say I have been in preparation mood for sometime and have not really had time to use my new skills on my own site. That will come in due time. So while taking a little break I once again found myself window shopping on Etsy and thought I would share some of my favourite things. Click the image to see more about an item!

Until we meet again! Much ♥,

Hope you all have a wonderfully creative weekend!

Much Love,

One ordinary morning I realized I was emotionally and physically exhausted from concentrating on things I wanted to buy but couldn’t afford.  I felt trapped in a vicious circle.  The more I focused on lack and on what I couldn’t have, the more depressed I became.  The more depressed I became the more I focused on lack.  My soul whispered that what I really yearned for was not financial security but financial serenity.  I was still – quiet enough to listen.  At that moment I acknowledged the deep longing in my heart.  What I hungered for was an inner peace that the world could not take away.  I asked  for help and committed to following wheresoever Spirit would lead me.  For the first time in my life I discarded my five-year goals and became a seeker, a pilgrim, a sojourner.

When I surrendered my desire for security and sought serenity instead I looked at my life with open eyes.  I saw that I had much for which to be grateful.  I felt humbled by my riches and regretted that I took for granted the abundance that already existed in my life.  How could I expect more from the Universe when I didn’t appreciate what I already had?

After I was done reading and taking inventory of some of my life’s assets I went to check my email and found payment from a women I have been talking to for a few weeks about doing a website for her.  (Stay tuned for the launch of my new companies website!)

Later on in the afternoon I received a nice little note from Dita of Maulani on Etsy and her random act of kindness today is sending me one of her wonderful prints! (see image below)  You can be sure that will be going right above my computer!  Thanks Dita you are way to sweet and really made my day with your kindness!

As I am inspired from Simple Abundance I will be sharing with you because we all need a little pick me up now and then!  Remember: You are never alone in this world.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Much Love,

]]> http://www.thehouseofhearts.com/2011/01/simple-abundance/feed/ 3 http://www.thehouseofhearts.com/2010/12/shop-sale/ http://www.thehouseofhearts.com/2010/12/shop-sale/#comments Wed, 15 Dec 2010 21:01:35 +0000 Crystal http://www.thehouseofhearts.com/?p=2489 December is well upon us and I have been so busy with moving into our new home and setting up my dream studio/office I have 100% neglected my blog.  But I know you guys must be equally busy as this is a crazy time of year for most people.

With moving I realized I have more inventory then I thought so before I close the shop for the season I want to extent to you a little sale to Thank You for supporting me this year with all your kind words, great snail mail and of course your purchases from the shop.  What to get in on the deal? Just enter WINTERLOVE in the coupon code box at the checkout and it will give you 15% OFF.

The new year has some great things in store for the shop with a large and I mean LARGE amount of home decor coming your way.  So stay tuned!  And of course I will be bringing back Mail Love.  If you need my new mailing address send me a quick email at crystal {at} thehouseofhearts.com and I’ll send it your way.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week!

Once upon a time there lived two girls named Monica and Grace. Fate brought them together when they were 14 years old. After discovering they lived just one block apart it only made sense for them to spend every waking moment together. They became inseparable. They spent their days watching old movies, second hand shopping, writing music and even having 1950s tea parties in full costume! They enjoyed dedicating hours at a time to creative projects together from writing music to sewing and designing clothes. But despite all of their similarities they weren’t exactly the same. Monica was more of a Marilyn and Grace more of an Audrey. Or was it the other way around?

As the years accumulated so did the kilometers until they found themselves 2,962 km’s apart which is how EmenGee Designs was born. As a way to stay in touch and keep up with their creative friendship they began collaborating long distance. But now Monica has moved back and the girls are only a short car ride apart and the collaborations can continue face to face again.

Is your Etsy shop a hobby or do you do this full time?

Our Etsy shop is a hobby at the moment. We would love to be able to sustain ourselves on our art alone but currently we are still at what we consider a starting point. We are going to be participating in our first craft shows this coming November and are hoping to spread the word about our little shop around our local crafting community.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?
Apart from creating things Monica also has another successful Etsy shop called Babbs Boutique where she makes Bridal Clutches and Accessories. During the day Monica opens envelopes part time and writes numbers on cheques, for what reason…she’s not sure, but she believes her job would be done more efficiently by a machine. Other than crafting Grace is a jazz musician performing at local cafes and bookstores. She is also a member of a new Electronic Pop group which released a CD last fall called Collection get!  During the day Grace works as a receptionist in an office where she answers phones, makes coffee and changes toner cartridges.

What was the trigger for you wanting to become an artist?
Both Grace and Monica were born to create things and have been doing so as a duo since they met 11 years ago in middle school. When they see something they like their immediate response is not “I want to buy that” but instead “how was that made”.  As for a “trigger” I guess we just bounce ideas off of one another and they eventually reach a point where the only thing left to do is to make it happen.

What inspires you to create what you do?
We both find inspiration everywhere we go. In nature, everyday life, everywhere! When we are seeking out inspiration we look to vintage patterns, old movies, musicals and fashion/decorating magazines. We also love love LOVE Vintage/Second hand shopping and frequently find new ideas in older items. Grace visits the Goodwill store roughly 2-3 times per week and Monica frequently finds herself at flea markets and vintage shops. Our goal when we are coming up with new patterns/ideas is to incorporate older styles into newer designs.

Name your top 3:

Grace’s Favorite:
Book: The Birth House by Ami McKay
Music: Kurt Elling/Jill Barber/Caravan Palace
Website: Colour Lovers
Movie: Royal Tenenbaums

Monica’s Favorite:
Book: The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
Music: Erykah Badu/Feist/No Doubt
Website: Selective Potential
Movie: Mermaids

Monica & Grace’s Favorites:
Book: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Music: Marilyn Monroes Greatest Hits
Website: Etsy
Movie: Some Like it Hot

In 5 years where would you like to be?
In the next 5 years we would love to run our Etsy store full time and not have to work at our current day jobs. We would also love to see our designs sold in a few Canadian boutiques. We hope to one day soon be a “featured seller” on Etsy and hopefully, eventually a “quit your day job” feature as well! We also are making plans to expand our accessories line into housewares and decor, which we are very excited about.

Ladies it was a pleasure to get to know you a bit better.  If I still lived in Winnipeg I beat we would be great friends.  I wish you all the best in the growth of your shop and hope you can quite your day job soon!

Make sure to check out the ladies beautiful shop for great gift ideas or bridesmaids gifts and keep up to date on the additions to their shop on their Facebook Page or  their blog.

Missed last weeks Inpsired Canadian Murano & Tagua and her wonderful knit shop?  Take a peek at the HERE!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Sarah Parker, I’m 28 years old. I live near the lake in a very pretty town nestled in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).  I am married and we have a two and a half year old son… with another one on the way!

I struggle with the word ‘artist’;  I’ve never labelled myself as such – that being said, I’ve never been without an idea, an interest or a hobby of some sort.  Growing up I used to write and draw, keeping countless numbers of journals and sketchbooks.  I did all four years of art and then art history in high-school and I carried on with graphic/multi-media design in college.

It wasn’t until my first child was born that I discovered I was interested in making things that others could wear and as I’ve always been more of a winter person I’ve always had a strange love for scarves and sweaters.  Everything sort of took off from there, even more so when I saw how incredible a platform Etsy can be if you really stick with it and do your absolute best to project what you’re capable of creating.

Books:

Life of Pi

Pillars of the earth

Way of the peaceful warrior

Each was read at an important time in my life so I feel very connected to them and it’s been so long since I’ve had the time to start a book.

Music:

like the books mentioned, I’m sentimentally attached to these bands:

Radiohead

Broken Social Scene

Led Zeppelin

there are many more…

Websites/Blogs:

Etsy

eBay

Apartment Therapy

In 5 years where would you like to be?

In 5 years I want to be doing exactly what I’m doing now: creating, sharing, and learning.  Surrounded by my growing family and with any luck selling with success in local stores.

Thank you so much Sarah for sharing with us all!

Make sure to check out her:

SHOP & BLOG

While spending Sunday blog surfing which is a classic Sunday for me.  I came across Lovely Clusters a creative blog run by Rachel Follett.  I figured I am a pretty lovely person and I thought this would be a great way for you my readers to know a bit more about me!

My name is Crystal and I live in Montreal, Quebec with my boyfriend and our 3 cats!  I love all things creative and really put my hand in everything from sewing, screen printing, mail art and photography.  I have a soft spot for vintage and paper ephemera.  I have so many wonderful vintage books I have been picking up along the way and I hope to bring some paper ephemera packs to the shop!

I love creating Mail Art.  When I was younger I had pen pals from all over the world and we always made our mailings pretty but with the busy traveling and college years I lost touch with them all.  So now that I have been inspired by Bianca from Goodnight Little Spoon and started creating again, I was thrilled that my Mixed CD was featured on another blog!  It feels good to see others like something you have put time into.

If you are already a follower you know I have a series going for my 27th year on earth A Photo A Day which is more like 7 photos on one day.  Some of my favorite from this series are below.

Taken in Niagara Falls with no color correct!

Paul’s 29th birthday on the beach in the middle of no where.

My newest camera to the collection.

My blog evolves as I am do.  Which means that this blog is really all over the creative board from cartoons, stop motion, design, vintage and a whole lot of photos!

So I know it has been a long time since I have put anything up here other then my photos but I have been very busy with my intensive French class (which I am loving!), working on a music video with Paul and a secret project I am uncertain when i can reveal to you.  I know that is mean but in due time, in due time!

What I do want to share with you is my love for writing! I think there are few things better then receiving a nice thoughtful hand written letter and decorated envelope in your mail box.  Now I know I have said this before in a few post that I use to have pen pals as a child and let me tell you I loved it! I had shoe boxes full of all the letters, stickers, magazines, stamps and random things I collected over the years from my pen pals all over the world.  The sad thing is with all my travels and moving, those boxes are gone.

The good news is I am going to try and find myself a pen pal (or maybe 2 or 3) I have signed up for Swap-Bot which is not only a great place to join people in swapping snail mail items but to find pen pals as well. So with that said I have been doing a little shopping around for some super cute stationary.  I received a package in the mail today from Julie at We’ve Got Paper and I believe that Etsy sellers that go above and beyond deserve to be celebrated!

Now Julie is closing down her current online shop to open up a new & improved paper shop made with eco-friendly papers and dyes, so watch out! But in the mean time she is clearing out some of her awesome current stock where I snagged these cute Panda Girl Note Cards and got some pretty sweet surprise goodies! (See Picture Below)

If you need some cute stationary or notecards I highly recommend checking out Julie’s SHOP & for updates on her new online shop check out her BLOG!

What are your thoughts on snail mail?

Did you or do you have any pen pals?

While blog surfing I got a chance to have a good look at the first collection from Squid Whale Designs out of Philadelphia, PA.   I found out  of Squid Whale through Sarah Hunt and her amazing vintage shop and then I saw her mice pins and I was hooked.  But Squid Whale is a brain-child of two divergent minds of Elizabeth J. Smith (the squid, fine artist and textile designer) and Sarah L. Hunt (the whale and fine artist) and they have come together and created something totally unique.  Which I think you will really love!

This collection is inspired by French 1890′s Turkey Red fabrics, the designs of Richard Hofmann and the short story The Yellow Wallpaper.  Truly a collection after my own heart, with such amazing designs and color!  The collection is complete with Turkey Red mice pins, a beautiful upcycled vintage embroidered mice and black eye susan’s doily and of course pillows!

I highly recommend that you have a look at their Flickr set for more pictures of this beautiful collection!

Also check out their:

Blog for how this collection came to,

Etsy Shop to purchase these amazing items,

Twitter to hear of upcoming things,

&

Be friend them on Facebook

Lastly a treasury I created inspired by Squid Whale’s collection.

Click the image above to go to the treasury!

Have a wonderful and festive long weekend everyone!

With all the celebrations happening I want to share some of my celebrations with you.  Now I always get excited when someone wants to do a feature on me or compliments my shop or blog.  I think that is just simply human nature to want to have some recognition for the work they do.

One of my items from my shop has been featured in this amazing all Canadian post on Weezi!   Now what is Weezi?

Weezi is a Canadian clothing company for gals with an independent sense of style. Weezi designs and sews quality clothing and accessories inspired by the 1950′s and 60′s that she sells out of her studio and her online shop.

Check out her Canadian Post here.

Candice from The Design Boards contacted me awhile back about doing a Vintage Love feature and I was simply thrilled!  The Design Boards is a mix all the things Candice love mid century modern, all things handmade and indie, polaroid cameras, good recipe, anything vintage, letterpress, typography, good diy project, thrifting, collecting records and milk glass, craft books and her sewing machine.

Have a look at my feature here where I answer questions like:

What do you love about vintage? What is the best item you have ever come across when you have been vintage/thrift shopping?  Do you have a style or method that you like to use when vintage/thrift shopping? Is there one tip you could share that might help someone who is new to thrifting/vintage shopping?

Hope you all have a wonderful long weekend celebrating Canada and the 4th of July!