New hang tags for The New Domestic shop. I picked them up today and I’m so excited to use them on all our products. I’m so pleased with the way they turned out. Hope you like them!
Art / Design / Shop — No comments — Posted by: Nerissa
Art / Design
05/23/13
Luna’s Year 3 Book
Documenting Luna’s life one year at a time. I finally finished Year 3 book! When the book arrived in the mail, it is Luna who is the most excited. She’ll go through the book and scream “Oh, I remember that day!” and “Oh, that was so much fun!”. I also couldn’t help giggling seeing her kissing the photos on the book saying “cute little girl Luna”. Watching her with all that excitement going through photos and photos of her life makes doing this year after year all worth it.
Every year, I start off the book with a little write up summarizing that year. Here’s the intro for year 3:
To my daughter Luna,
Each year, I tell myself this is the best year yet and it couldn’t get any better. But you’ve proven that every year with you is so incredibly special filled with so much love and happiness. I love spending my days with you and watching your personality blossom to be the sweetest and funniest little girl. I love hearing you tell your stories about life at preschool & daycare and about all your little friends. I love watching you learn the simplest things in life but yet, they are big achievements and we are always there beside you applauding you. I love how much we say “I love you” to each other and “you’re my best friend”. We truly are best of friends. You’re the most beautiful little girl I have ever known and I love you to pieces. The pages in this book tells a story of our beautiful life together when you were just 3 years old. You sure are little but the happiness and joy you give is bigger than any of us combines. Thank you for being my best little friend.
Love, Mommy
I’ve noticed that when I tell her stories of her first birthday, a holiday we took… she will quickly run to grab the book and will reference my story to the photos in the book. Amazing. And only her who has the patience to sit for hours looking at the photos in the book one page at a time. After all, these book are made for her to remember our beautiful life together year after year.
If you want to make the same book, I use Blurb to print these books. All my books are all custom design (I’m a graphic designer) but they do make it easy for people without a design background with an easy to follow template. Here are the specs for Luna’s Year 3 book:
- 240 pages- Standard Landscape (10×8″)
- Hardcover, image wrap
- Premium paper, matte finish
You can see previous books here:
Luna’s First Year of Life
Luna’s Year 2 Book
11/29/12
Winter Workshop at Collage Collage
On Tuesday, I attended the first winter workshop at Collage Collage. We learned to make Pom Pom Garlands and Wreaths. When we got there, all the supplies were ready for us all stacked up on the long communal table. I couldn’t help but admire the mountains of colourful yarns ready for us to use. I was excited.
Once everyone were settled in, Erin Boniferro, the brilliant mind behind Collage Collage gave us a demo to make Pom Poms with a little handheld tool. We immediately started making our pom poms and by the end of the 2 hour workshop, we made over a dozen pom poms each. We had a choice to either make a wreath or a garland. I chose a garland and tied my little pom poms together with a white yarn. I couldn’t have been more pleased.
I went home that evening with 3 rolls of yarns and my pom pom maker tool purchased at the shop. I made a few more pom poms that evening before going to bed. I’ve been making more since then as it’s extremely addicting. I think my house will be filled with pom poms soon!
Collage Collage opened 3 years ago and located near 15th and Fraser in Vancouver. It is a shop filled with art supplies, little toys, books and prints. It’s like a mix of art studio and shop all at the same time. You will be inspired as soon as you walk in. There’s a long communal table right in the middle of the shop where workshops are held in the evenings and weekends. If you haven’t been to their workshop, check them out as they are so fun. They get filled up fast though! Details are here for upcoming winter workshop dates.
11/20/12
Instagram Book
Blurb had an awesome offer to make free 7×7 Instagram books via The 10 Cent Designer. It was only a 2 day offer so I jumped on it right away and made myself a little soft cover 60 page Blurb book with my Instagram photos. The hardest part of putting it together was choosing the images – I have so many!
This book is a collection of Instagram snaps that form a vignette of life and memory. Creating this book makes me realize that taking the time to capture the things we do ensures that we celebrate the little things. And it’s those little things that make every day an adventure.
Btw, I’m loving Instagram Profile. Nice to be able to see and share Instagram photos online.
10/30/12
Handmade Goodie Bags
We’ve had a very busy week with Luna turning 3 and having 4 birthday parties! Part of the fun of organizing a party are the goodie bags – I just love making special things for little people. For Luna’s 1st birthday party, I packaged the treats in a lunch paper bag wrapped in fabric & bakers twine. This year, I wanted to make something special again and more personalized for each child.
I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on them and wanted to be resourceful. I have a studio at home filled with materials I have collected throughout the years. I was going through my pile of fabrics and thought how fun it would be to make little drawstring bags. They are easy to make and are useful too.
Each bag is personalized with their name printed in front. I had some iron on paper from 10 yrs ago and luckily, I had a few sheets left so I used that to print the children’s names then ironed them onto the fabric.
For the string, I have a roll of red bakers twine which worked out great. There are probably better options for strings but that’s what I had at home.
It’s such a joy to make things for little people especially for Luna’s friends.
10/12/12
Inspiring Food Videos
Raspberry Tart. Filmed by Tiger in a Jar.
Ribboned Asparagus Salad for Kinfolk. Filmed by Tiger in a Jar.
The Cook’s Atelier. Filmed by Tiger in a Jar.
Lasagna for My Cooking Diary. Filmed by Mike Matas.
Classic Pesto for Kinfolk. Filmed by Tiger in a Jar.
The rain is back once again and it’s been a gloomy Friday. I’m back to wearing my thickest wool socks and keeping the house warm and cozy. I think this is a goodbye to summer and welcoming colder days. Usually when Fall & Winter comes, I love gathering with friends at home for a good meal. It’s my favourite thing to do on colder days as there’s nothing more cozy than having a big pot of stew or something warm on as hearty stories are told around the dinner table.
Colder days also means spending more time in the kitchen making food. I’m sharing some of my most favourite food videos that totally inspire me. I can watch these all day. I love the music, styling & production of all of them. They just make me want to put on my apron and stay in the kitchen all day. Not a bad thing to do on colder days.
Have a great weekend! xx
08/21/12
Carriage 44
During our short trip to Parksville, we went to an artisan market and found these beautiful soaps by Carriage 44. It was nice to see well branded products amongst the more folky country look normally found at artisan markets. I picked up a couple of their rose soap and coffee ones as well. They were individually packaged in these simple hemp & paper bags with a stamp of their logo and they smell so good too!
07/11/12
Poppytalk & Westphoria
Thanks to the lovely and talented Jan of Poppytalk for including me to her favourite Canadian Pinterest users. Wow, such an amazing list of people that I need to check out myself! I love Pinterest and use it almost everyday. I’ve always been the type to constantly gather all things that interest me and Pinterest has been great for that. I love how I can categorize them to different boards and able to follow only certain boards that I like from awesome pinners out there. You can check out my pins here. Happy pinning!
I’ve always admired Sunset Magazine so I am flattered and thrilled to have our Bon Journey bags featured on their lovely blog – Westphoria. Thanks guys! xo
06/10/12
The New Domestic Design/DIY RoundUp
Luna’s First Year Birthday Party Loot Bags
Here’s a collection of some of my most favourite DIY’s the past 2 years. I also feel lucky to have been able to work with the lovely Heather Cameron of Missing Goat Jams to re-design her delicious jam labels. They are the only jams I eat now. Trust me, they are divine! And those customized chocolate bars, they are so easy to do. Great for party giveaways. Enjoy and happy making!
02/12/12
Portland : Schoolhouse Electric & Supply
Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co. is a must visit Portland destination for homeowners and decorating afficiandos. The massive showroom is located in a 100 yr old industrial building that also houses their manufacturing and shipping center. It’s not just a candy shop for decorators – it’s more like Willy Wonka’s freaking Chocolate Factory. The brand’s signature products, reproductions of turn of the century American lighting, fill the space along with displays of the original-era molds that inspired them. On the day we were there, a group of college students were huddled around a long study table gathering reference from Schoolhouse Electric’s publicly accessible design library.
In addition to the lighting products that Schoolhouse Electric is best known for, the showroom also stocks a complete line of home accessories. The space is beautifully renovated, expansive and wide open while retaining the original factory feel. All the product displays and vignettes are finely curated and expertly styled – classic Americana filtered through an uncompromising modern lens.
For the products, for the space, for the styling, Schoolhouse Electric is full of inspiration and delight. And for extra enjoyment, there’s a boutique florist and coffee bar at the entrance. Highly recommended.
Bonus: watch this video to see more of the showroom and hear the owner of Schoolhouse Electric describe the backstory of the brand.
11/09/11
Almost There!
Almost there… We are working hard to get these bags in the shop soon. Been busy painting, painting & painting! Aiming for next week (fingers crossed).
11/06/11
Coming Soon To The Shop!
Coming Soon! Canvas and Leather Mason Bags made by Heritage Leather Company in California with a stamped The New Domestic leather patch. Available in two colours, process yellow & basic red – hand painted by us using waterbased screen print ink. Hope to have it in the shop within a week or so…
