J is for......

J E L L Y F I S H

November Scarves!

Okay, please look past the crappy photo.....but I just wanted to post this tonight....What you see here are some Koo & Poppet scarves in time for the chilly season! I will photograph them properly over the next few days. They will be available in the shop by the weekend :-)

730 days

Re-Inventing the School Photo: Stomping Ground

Now THIS is what a school portrait should look like:

Photo source: Stomping Ground

But instead, most of us grew up with school photos like this:

Ahhhhhh, the cloudy background. Let us take a moment to revel in its glory.

Yes, that is yours truly in 1985. Woooot! Let's hear it for '85!!

Miss Chubs! Killer bangs, as usual. (and no, I did not go to a private school. I just liked my plaids, okay?)

It appears Renee Zellweger took a cue or two from my pursed smile. Copycat.

Well I am hear to shout from the rooftop that Stomping Ground has really saved the day when it comes to school portraits.

Based in Brooklyn, NY, these peeps are on to something. I love the commitment in these photos! Just look at this warrior's clenched fist. Now that's passion.

Photo source: Stomping Ground

I first discovered Stomping Ground in a summer issue of Print Magazine and I just had to share with you.

Aaron Kenedi writes:

"If ever there was a visual trope in need of an overhaul, the school portrait is it. Perhaps you have overcome the agony, shame and abject horror of having your most awkward years captured for posterity, but 30 years later, I still have not. So when I heard about the photography studio Stomping Ground, my heart swelled for all those kids who will be spared such lingering wounds. The big idea at Stomping Ground? Let kids be kids. Let them celebrate themselves how they choose, in all their goofy, adorable, sweet, funny, and enviable glory. Let them laugh and dance, wearing the Batman costume or the princess tiara. Kids don't get to be kids for nearly long enough - so why not encourage them to enjoy it while it lasts? These are photos you'll acutally want to look at 20 - 0r 30 - years later instead of hiding them away in a drawer."

Photo source: Stomping Ground

Photo source: Stomping Ground

Photo source: Stomping Ground

Adorable.

Best Baby Products: a BIG FAT HEN sale!!

Calling all moms and dads of little tiny people! Have you started your holiday shopping yet? How much of it will you do online? If you're looking for a good place to start, I have an idea for you.....

Until November 7th, Canadian-based BIG FAT HEN is having a crazy sale on their organic cotton sleep sacks. You'll get them for 50% when you order off their website www.bigfathen.ca. Yes, 50%! Not to mention, the first 50 people to share the sale on their social media sites and report back will receive a Big Fat Hen gift (click here to follow BFH on twitter). It's win/win!

Plus, I happen to know Miss Emily (BFH's CEO) personally, and I can tell you with complete confidence that these products are of the highest quality and craftsmanship!!

Check out the sleep sack selection here. These are a perfect holiday gift for babies far and wide......

(Sound familiar? You might remember BIG FAT HEN from this collaborative giveaway)

Happy Halloween.....

Stuffed monster by JUNKERJANE

Today we rode a ghost train and drank hot chocolate.....

Then we carved pumpkins and listened to The Monster Mash.....

Now I'm off to finish decorating for tomorrow and maybe watch a scary movie.....

Have a very haunted Halloween everyone!

Morning has broken....and is unfixable

#1: I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON

#2: We live about an hour (on a good day) outside of Victoria, where Scott and I both work. Sometimes it takes us 2 hours to commute one way!! I know, it makes me feel sick too.

THUS, I am forced to drag myself out of bed at a heinous hour. An hour in which the land is still dark, no neighbourly porchlights have yet been turned on, no cheerful birdsong has broken the silence. Do you know of this painful hour? Probably not, because, civilized person that you are, you wake up when it is clearly morning, and not when it is STILL NIGHT.

After snoozing my alarm clock for about 40 minutes, I stuggle out of bed and into the shower, where I pretty much continue to sleep. Believe you me, I think the following thought nearly every morning: "I can't wait until bedtime tonight."

Meanwhile, Scott gets Sadie fed and dressed and into the car, bless his patient soul. I try to plan ahead what I'm going to wear but inevitably end up standing in front of my closet staring into space (my friend has coined a term for this early morning expression: "Sock face"). I've written about this topic before, kind of. You can read more about it here.

The coffee's brewing. The clock is ticking. The car is running.

I run through my final checklist:

- teeth brushed

- coffee/coffee-maker off

- Sadie's bag

- coat

- shoes

- 15 lb purse

- lights off

- lock door

Then we begin the drive over the Malahat, through Goldstream Park, and eventually come to a stop when we hit the suburbs of Victoria. Here we inch along in a sea of red brake lights. Here I put my make-up on. Here Sadie starts to lose it in the backseat. I don't blame her. There comes a point when you cannot tolerate a 5-point harness any longer.

Eventually the bottleneck works itself out and we sail into town. This was the view of that part of the drive this morning:

If this looks early to you, remember that I had already been up for nearly 2 hours when this was taken!! I muster the strength to appreciate the sunrise.

That, my friends, is my morning tale. TGIF - maybe I'll get to sleep in tomorrow....

I'm in love with: ANTHROPOLOGIE

Here are a few items I am longing for over at Anthro right now.....

WHOA. Has Anthropologie always had kids' stuff?!

That hooded cardi is adorable, is it not? I know a dimple-faced nearly 2-year-old who would look especially sweet wearing it!

Fellow Anthro lovers - what is on your wishlist?

Apple Jackets: Really? or REALLY

I know what you are thinking.....

You're thinking "really? Is an apple jacket really necessary?"

I thought the same thing when I first saw this novel item at the Curiousity Shoppe. I figured it elevates the user one rung higher on the crazy ladder, just above dressing dogs in rhinestones and cargo pants. But then I began to ponder it further and I realized this may actually be a great invention! Kind of like the questionably shaped banana protector? (Sorry, I forgot this is a G-rated blog)

Because, really, I can't count how many times I have taken an apple or pear or some other fleshy fruit (maybe a nectarine - how about a nectarine anorak?) for my lunch at work, only to have it battered and bruised and juiced from being knocked around in my bag all morning. So what is the solution?
1) apples do not fit nicely in most tupperware
2) plastic or paper bags are wasteful
3) get an apple jacket!

There was also the time that I moved to Halifax for university and my dad packed up all of my electronics (stereo, printer, camera, phone.....) in a moving box and shipped it out to me in the middle of August. With the best intentions, he included a bag of pears from the tree in our backyard. He even wrapped them in bubble wrap. Didn't matter. When the box reached me in Nova Scotia I opened it up only to find a temporarily unidentified sticky beige mess in every crevice of every Sony, Panasonic, Nikon and Epson.
Where were the pear ponchos when I needed them most?

So YES to apple jackets, I say! Who says fruit shouldn't be cozy? Plus, I just kind of like saying "apple jackets" ;)

(Designed by Jacqueline Dufresne)

Kollector Koo Daisy

Oh, how I love me some black and white gingham!

This is Daisy. She likes black sheep and dislikes wolves in sheep's clothing.

Daisy is perfectly at home in meadows, pastures and fields of all kinds, but she is entirely skittish in large cities (even her proximity to the San Francisco print in this photoshoot unnerved her).

Happy Time....enjoy the nature and forget the rest for awhile.

Betsy and Ricardo

Do you know what I love? POLKA DOTS!!!!

You guys, you don't even understand how much fabric I have in gigantic bins at KP world headquarters.....nevertheless, I continue to add to the supply because now and then I come across adorable Japanese linen cottons that I SIMPLY CANNOT RESIST. The Koos need them!! It is entirely justifiable.

These two are also available at Hip Baby, however methinks I will list them in my Etsy shop too :)

Thanks for checking in, more tomorrow.....

He'll steal your heart, for sure, for sure

Our first new Kollector Koo of October, boys and girls please give a warm welcome to aptly-named Acorn!! I just love the heather grey wool he is made of - it's SO soft. He also has corduroy pants and a dignified acorn crest on his back - perfect for Fall. This cuddly creature is currently residing at Hip Baby on Johnson Street in Victoria, BC, while awaiting his new home.


I have several yet-unseen creations to post this week - exciting! Tomorrow's stage is set for Betsy and Ricardo.....

A Rocky Mountain Fairy Tale

Last weekend we left our little island home and set out on a road trip through the Rocky Mountains. Our destination was a wedding in Canmore, Alberta, and after an eventful night in Vancouver with a couple of our favourite people, we drove for 11 hours on a beautifully bright first day of October.

Sadie was amazingly well-behaved, although we did stop in Kamloops to buy a portable DVD player. We made the mistake of allowing her to pick the DVD she wanted though, and now the shrill, inane voices of Strawberry Shortcake and her sugary friends are forever burned into our consciousness. On the way home, we picked up Toy Story and it was a MUCH more pleasant ride. We made the usual road trip stops: coffee breaks, gas stations, diaper changes. We marveled at the mountain vistas and lamented our numb bumbs. We also stopped at the Enchanted Forest because we thought Sadie might enjoy it, and she did...mostly. But.....have any of you ever been there?! It is seriously CREEPY. Allow me to post a photo:

AAGGGHHHHH!!! I KNOW - I WAS NOT AWARE THERE WERE DUCKS AT THE CHERNOBYL DISASTER EITHER.
I will spare you the image of the "Chucky"-like papier mache baby head that is resting at the bottom of the pond outside The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe's Shoe. Intentional?? Or an unfortunate and macabre casualty of molded glued paper left to withstand the elements?
The Enchanted Forest is fairy tales and papier mache gone wrong. Gone horribly, horribly wrong.
But, I give credit to the effort that went - and is still going into - making a "magical" place in the forest for children. But I would highly recommend against the use of ANY form of hallucinogen while visiting. To be on the safe side, I'd stay away from even Gravol.
Wait - come to think of it, you might need that one...

The rest of these photos were taken out the window of our moving vehicle somewhere between Revelstoke and Banff, with the exception of the last two, which were taken at Lake Louise on our way home.

With Thanksgiving coming up this weekend (in Canada), I will be thankful for the sun-drenched colours of Autumn and for this wide open wilderness we had the privilege of passing through.

Ingredients!

I could look at these compositions by Swedish photographer Carl Kleiner all day.
From what I've read, these photos will be used in a recipe book by IKEA (available in Sweden only - oh, Scandinavia, you have such great style so please share it with the rest of us). This is an example of something I love about the internet....coming across little gems like these and posting them here on this blog. Who needs baked goods when you've got eye candy like this?

I love the orange peels in this one:

Do you have a favourite? There is more to see here.

Fox and Bear like sweaters too

Put away your whites and start sipping Chai Lattés - Autumn is knocking at the door and wants to come in for Banana Loaf (and judging by the amount of brown bananas in my freezer, it's gonna be a LONG season people). The kiddies have stuffed their pencil cases, the forecast calls for rain, and I officially don't care whether or not I have a sun tan anymore.

But you know, I don't really mind that summer has come to an end for now. I like Halloween and pumpkin pie and crunchy leaves too much to mourn the warm season for any length of time. I love that day, the Equinox, when the season officially changes and the sun's passage is marked in the sky. You notice a chill on the breeze, less people at the beach on a Sunday, and a general golden hue. You know a familiar change has come, persistent in its subtlety. An ending dependant on a beginning, and a beginning dependant on an ending.

Welcome Fall, and all your cozies.