Multitude Monday

I love this little summer home - finally stopped to take a photo of it last week.

It's Multitude Monday!

What is Multitude Monday, you may ask? Well, curious critter, each week I like to list ten things that I'm currently thankful for. It helps me to stay focused on all of the positivity events and energy in my life. There is so much negativity that surrounds us every day, and it can be very easy to be sidetracked by the "bad stuff". Feel free to create a list of your own in a journal or on your blog... or just in your head.

This week, I'm thankful for:

561 - having a lazy bones weekend with Dan, aka Mr. Sniffles.
562 - a new niece or nephew being born this week... can't wait to meet the little one!
563 - a glorious long weekend without much school work.
564 - two craft fairs coming up this weekend... Mom and I made plans to attend.
565 - booking my table at the Christmas Market in early December. Eeek!
566 - tea dates galore with myself last week - I'm hoping to have two more this week!
567 - an appointment to get our winter tires put on our car: winter's right around the corner.
568 - getting to chat with some friends after remembrance meeting at church yesterday.
569 - my lovely new thrifted lamp that's casting a pretty glow in our living room.
570 - getting to see my little bro yesterday - nothing like a little family quality time.

What are you thankful for? Do share!

Happy Monday!

Thrifting 101 - Coming Soon

I've been working on a project for the past little while that is just about ready to be shared!

Thrifting 101 is a newsletter that I've created with tips and tricks that will help you in becoming a pro thrifter. I know that some of my family and friends are hesitant about shopping at a thrift store, which seems like a foreign concept to me. I remember going second-hand shopping with my mom for as long as I can remember. Whatever your comfort level, I hope that this project will help you to become more comfortable in your local shop. Keep your eyes peeled, the project will be revealed soon!

Happy Thursday!

Autumn Beauty

Sunday, October 14

Tuesday, October 23

Autumn colours never cease to amaze me. Sorry that I keep talking about the fall, but I just can't help it! Every day I see more and more that I live in the most beautiful province that Canada has... but I may be a little biased :) The trees and hills come alive with the sound of music lush shades, tints and tones of warm harvest colours that make my heart smile.

I drive by the prettiest river on my daily commute, and I wanted to document the change in colour. The first photo was taken on October 14 (last Sunday), and the second was taken yesterday, October 23. Crazy, what a difference a little more than a week can make, eh? The side-by-side comparison blows my mind. What a beautiful world God has created.

I'm sitting in a local coffee shop, working on a few assignments and studying for a quiz on Friday. Can't beat a soy London fog, snuggly scarf, bright sunlight and a relaxing atmosphere. It's a great start to my day before I head off to my afternoon class. Free wi-fi doesn't hurt either.

Happy Wednesday!

Can I Move In?

I want to pick up this home and put it in my pocket and carry it with me until I get to my place and I can fuse the two places together and move in and make it my own. Done and amen.

Home tour and photo via Design*Sponge, as per yoush.

You're welcome.

Music Must-haves

Lately, I've really been enjoying two new (to me) albums. Nothing like a good tune to get you going! They both have similar mellow feels and are lovely background music, perfect for listening to as you relax, read or cook. I only have the music on my laptop, not in my car... I think I need to use my iPod connector to get these tunes on the road! Both albums are available from Amazon, and I've included the links below in case you feel so inclined.

1 - The Head and The Heart's self-titled album
2 - The Civil War's Barton Hollow

Hear any good tunes lately? Do share!

Happy Tuesday!

Multitude Monday

It's Multitude Monday!

Each week I like to share ten things that I'm currently thankful for in my life. It helps to keep me aware of the positives in my day-to-day experiences, and it's also a great way to start my week. There are so many things in each of our lives that can weigh us down, but if we stop and think about it, we are so blessed. I am so blessed. Feel free to use the idea and start your own list.

Today, I'm thankful for:

551 - having a movie night on Friday with two of my favourite people

552 - watching Moonrise Kingdom - hilarious. I recommend it if you like a good quirky film.

553 - going grocery shopping with Dan - it's nice not to do it by yourself!

554 - noticing a student discount sign at the grocery store. We'll have to change grocery night from Thursday to Tuesday to cash in on the 10% discount!

555 - getting to go to the farmers' market with my mom again this week. I found the perfect present for a new baby in my life, and I also bought German pretzels for Dan and I to snack on.

556 - having London fogs and soy chai lattes like crazy the past week. Spoiled!

557 - being able to text Janelle now. Yay for technology! She's Janelley in my contacts, to distinguish between my two Janelles :)

558 - my friend Ashley finding a house, just in time for their new baby. It looks beautiful in photos!

559 - being able to snuggle up in our warm home every evening, so blessed. I love to light candles after everything is tidied up after supper. It's so cozy.

560 - listening to a fun new non-fiction book on CD on my drive in every morning.

What are you currently thankful for? Do share!

Happy Monday!

Weekend Quote

As we get closer to the weekend and the past week's busyness begins to fade, I've been reflecting on my week. I really can't believe that I'm back in school! Assignments, learning, and homework aside, it's an incredible feeling to be enrolled in a course after not attending school in years. I was so nervous before September, but now I'm attending class like nobody's business.

I saw a quote from Helen Keller that a friend posted on Facebook this week that really resonated with me: "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." I wanted to create something meaningful with it. For now, I've altered a photo that I took of the pretty lights at the wedding last weekend, but I have a feeling that it's not the last that I'll see of the quote. Perhaps a painting will be in the mix shortly. I know that I would like a daily reminder of it in my life, so I'll have to find a way to make that happen.

Feel free to save the photo for your own personal use. It's not sized to be printed, but let me know if you'd like me to send you a copy of a printable photo.

Have a lovely weekend! Do you have any fun plans?

Happy Friday!

Blog Makeover Peek

As part of my Web Media course, we have an ongoing assignment of designing a website from scratch. I'm redesigning the face of Polka Dot Soup... exciting, eh? So far, we've come up with moodboards to establish the "feel" of our website. I thought that I would share a peek at the look I'm going for here on my blog. If you are interested in the sources of any of my images, let me know and I'll send you the link!

To start, I've made a moodboard illustrating various websites and blogs that I'm inspired by. Each of the following sites have elements that I'm attracted to:

I've chosen a light-hearted colour palette to work with here on the blog. There are lots of whites and neutrals with vivid pastels (is that even possible?) thrown into the mix. I wanted a fun mix that will be complimentary to both photos and text... making your daily visit to my blog even more eye-catching and fun. Take a look:

The fonts that I've chosen for my font board are not necessarily the ones that I'll use, just some that I'm inspired by. Most of them are free, so there's a good chance that I will use one or two of them. Question: did you realize that a san-serif font (the font that doesn't have little tails on the letters) is the easiest to read in section of online body text? You learn something new every day! Here's my font mood board:

I can't wait to get my site design to the next level! I have my Web-based Media class first thing tomorrow morning, so I'm sure that I'll be working on the next step soon. I'll try to share my progress as I take the next few steps of creating a new vibe for Polka Dot Soup.

Happy Thursday!

Mustard Mania

Mustard yellow has really got my heart pumping this fall... wait, who am I kidding? I always love mustard! I thought it would be fun to come up with a mustard wardrobe refresher. Here are a few items that I'm loving on the internet lately:

1 - August Spice Mustard Pleated Dress, Ruche - $38.99

2 - Mustard Long Sleeved Top, Dorothy Perkins - £15.00

3 - About the Benjamins Heels, Modcloth - $104.99

4 - Skinny Heart Belt, Forever 21 - $5.90

5 - Crisscross Pattern Beanie, Forever21 - $9.90

6 - Crafted Dots Blouse, eSkakti - $31.95

That colour seriously has me weak in the knees! What's your favourite piece? I think that the heels would be my number one pick (of course - they're the priciest!). Time to go raid my closet for that perfect shade of yellow!

Book Love

I preordered two books off of Amazon last night that I'm super excited about! I ordered Decorate Workshop from Decor8's Holly Becker and Young House Love from YHL's Sherry and John Petersik. Between all of the hard work at school lately and the low pre-order pricing, I couldn't resist. Dan gave me two thumbs up when I mentioned making a purchase - how could I pass that up? Both of the books will be released in early November, which is right around the corner. My mailbox will be doing a happy dance when it sees the big brown Amazon box!

(image sources: 1 // 2)

Read anything exciting lately? Eager to read a new release? Do tell!

Happy Wednesday!

Art Nouveau

Today I thought that I'd share my process for my most recent assignment (I'm in school taking Graphic Design, if you're a new reader), which was due today. In Design History, we were assigned the task of choosing an Art Nouveau poster, print or graphic, and creating our own grayscale poster. Here's the poster that I chose, an Albert Angus Turbayn design: 

Next, using Photoshop, I turned the poster into greyscale to see the different shaded areas:

I wanted to try and find a phrase that had something to do with feathers, birds or movement. I love the phrase "birds of a feather" so I went with that. The feathers reminded me of the ocean or waves, so the cultural group that I chose to represent was a surf club. I researched several different fonts that are age appropriate to use for my lettering. Here's a look at my desk (and by desk, I mean kitchen table...) last night:

Several hours and a few hand cramps later, here's the result:

... and here it is mounted on black paper and posted in our classroom:

I found it really challenging to get back into using pencils. It's been...ugh... about seven years since I've been in a high school art class. I don't know if I've ever done a sketch at this size, either. I'm relieved to have it finished and passed in, though.

Happy Tuesday!

Multitude Monday

No intro to Multitude Monday today, folks. You know the drill. If you're a new reader and you would like to learn about my weekly feature, check out my previous posts. I'm squeaking in this week with only a half hour to spare.

This week, I'm thankful for:

541 - the loveliest of autumn colours that I get to see every day on my commute
542 - joining in the celebration of my friend's wedding this past weekend
543 - being able to borrow a cute high-waisted black skirt from my mom for the wedding
544 - having a delicious bowl of Mom's fish chowder for supper tonight
545 - finishing my ginormous Art Nouveau drawing - I'll show you this week!
546 - an opportunity to apply for several scholarships and bursaries - hopefully I'll get free money.
547 - the safe arrival of little Vava, my pal Janelle's new baby girl
548 - Dan and I tag-teaming a kitchen clean-up yesterday afternoon. Yay for teamwork!
549 - my baby brother turning another year older last week
550 - a less stressful week at school for the next few days

What are you currently thankful for? Do share!

Happy Monday!

Autumn Vignette

The minute that the weather starts changing and you need to wear a sweater or coat out of necessity, not for fashion's sake, is the moment that I start with the decorating itch. When the leaves begin to change colour, all I want to do is bring the outside in. This year especially, since I'm a student (!!), it essential that I decorate our home as inexpensively (read: free) as possible. Last week, I couldn't put it off any longer: the fall decorating had to begin.

Here's what I started with: 

We have a gorgeous antique organ in our living room that belonged to Dan's grandparents. Neither one of us play, so it just sits there in all of its loveliness. I love to decorate the shelves for every season - because if I don't, it just becomes a catch-all. I dismantled the summer ensemble, pulled out my wood polish and shined away. Ready for action!

Vignette elements:
- two milk glass vases
- dried craspedia
- driftwood wreath
- three gourds
- fresh greenery
- fox
- wood frame

I picked up three mini gourds (three for $1!) at a market that I pass on my daily commute. Their saturated colour attracted me, and let's face it - pumpkins and gourds sing the fall's praises. I bought the lovely driftwood wreath this summer and used in in my summer display, too. The dried craspedia have been rockin' out in my living room for quite a while, I just can't get enough of them! Mr. Fox came from the Atlantic Superstore in July and his colour is perfect - plus he adds a nice bit of whimsy. The empty frame at the back is a great size for a backdrop and the wood tone is quite complimentary. I had one little sprig of greenery from my last summer bouquet so that finished it off!

What about you? Have you added any lovely autumn-ness to your home? Do share!

Happy Wednesday!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday, sweet Heid!

xo

Multitude Monday

It's time for Multitude Monday!

Each week I like to take the time to sit down in front of my computer and come up with ten things that I'm currently thankful for. It helps me to get my Monday, and my week, really, off to a great start. We all have a tendency of responding to and reflecting on the negative aspects of our lives when really, we all have so many wonderful things going for us.

Feel free to list some things that you are thankful for on your blog or in your journal every week. I'd love to hear that I inspired you to keep track!

Here's what I'm thankful for today:

531 - the beautiful drive that I have, Monday to Friday. I snapped some photos last week.
532 - a well-maintained vehicle that I'm not constantly worrying will break down on me.
533 - roads that are in great condition and safe to travel on.

534 - no loss of cell phone reception on any part of the daily journey.
535 - having Dan to travel with for the first section of the trip in the morning, and last in the evening.
536 - being able to get to class early every day so far. What a change from the regular me!

537 - having a water bottle at my side filled with fresh spring water from our tap at home.
538 - lots of time to eat my breakfast on the way - I just need to make healthier choices!
539 - listening to some of my favourite albums every day - and singing along without anyone to hear :)

540 - watching the leaves change - it's so exciting to see all of the new colours! The moody skies are beautiful, too.

What are you currently thankful for? Do share!

Happy Monday!