What I've been up to…

een a busy little bee this month because I've been doing so many preparations for Christmas- making my own Advent Calendar for my son; shooting our family Christmas portrait; making our annual calendar and designing our family Christmas cards. I've also been doing a lot of shopping and going to parties.
If you don't follow me on Instagram yet please do- @Cujo931. I usually post what I'm up to there daily. I'm addicted to it!

Shopping at Old Navy. Was debating whether to get this leopard-print cardigan, but
passed on it. 

My OOTD last week.
Top is from Wilfred by Aritzia, jeans are from Paige Denim, bubble necklace is a
J Crew-inspired necklace from eBay.

I had a gift certificate from Club Monaco that I was saving until I lost my pregnancy
weight. I was eyeing this Reva coat…

I took the plunge and got it. I initially bought it on sale for 30% off the original
$299 sale price, down from $398. But the day after I got it I received an email
from the Club Monaco newsletter that they were having a 40% sale off the sale
price. I ended up returning it and repurchasing it for 40% off. Yes!
(FYI: Club Monaco has a policy of not doing price adjustments on sale items, but
the salesgirl I dealt with allowed me to do a return and repurchase)

The faux-fur collar is removable.

The coat is a bit wrinkled, but I adore it.

I'm loving my makeup here.

I happened to go in Gap to check out their sales and I came across this sequined
clutch. I missed out on the Zara sequined clutch that all the fashion bloggers have
been sporting so when I saw this I couldn't pass on it. The Zara clutch is a gold colour
and this is obviously not gold, but I still like it. I think it'll go with a lot of items in my
closet. It's hard to capture the true colour of the clutch. Here, the sequins are pointing
up and it gives it a completely different look than the shot below.

Here the sequins are pointing down. The clutch looks more silver here.
I love how this clutch has a strap. I don't think the Zara one did…
I got this for 20% off 39.99?

Here I am holding it. It kind of looks purple in certain lighting.

Surprisingly it fits a ton of stuff. I can fit my huge Kate Spade wallet plus many
more.

This will be great to carry around with me when I don't want to carry a huge purse.

Last Thursday I stopped by Indigo (one of my favourite stores) to kill some time
with the family. It is a bookstore, but they have a fantastic home/gift section.
I came across this Botanicals Labels and Stickers book by Rifle Paper Co. I have
one of their other labels and stickers book and I always use it when I gift wrap because
it really makes the package that much nicer. I ended up purchasing this and I can't
wait to gift wrap!

This is the Cath Kidston 2013 agenda.
Although I loved it I already have a Kate Spade agenda and I buy the refills every year.

The lovely frames and display cases at Indigo.

They also had a shelf with ombré book covers of classic titles. Such a pretty way
to display books, no?

Lots of stocking stuffers out too. They had colourful enamel bangles and other
knick knacks. 

Voluspa candles.
The packaging on Voluspa candles are exquisite. I had to stop
myself from getting these because I had already made several candle purchases
from Bath & Body Works.

One thing to note is that I rarely buy home goods from Indigo for full retail price.
They always have sales and if you wait you can get things for 30-50% off.

Indigo is holding a contest now on Instagram where if you hastag #MagicalHoliday
on one of your instagram pics with something relating to the theme "Christmas
Morning" you have a chance of winning a $100 gift card. This was my entry.
Fingers crossed!

Lastly, I'm starting to restock my Etsy store. It's just so time consuming to take photos
of all the pieces, but that is my New Year's resolution this year.

What I did this past weekend

orry I've been MIA. I had so much going on the past few weeks. Most importantly my twin sister had a beautiful baby girl last Thursday! I'm now a proud aunt :-)
Last week I was so busy at work and on top of that I was making jewelry for a film festival swag bag. This past weekend I participated in a local craft fair where part of our proceeds were donated to a charity that supports women in Africa. It was my first time doing a craft fair so I was so nervous. I wasn't sure how people would respond to my jewelry and if it would have any interest at all. Thankfully I did pretty well and I had a great time meeting new people and setting my station up. Sorry for the quality of the photos (my SLR is still in the shop), but I wanted to share with you my little station.

All the local crafters had a small table that they could display their goods. The stations came with
a white table cloth, but I decided to put my own tablecloth with a lace detail to
give it something extra. I was still in the midst of setting up, but you get the idea on how everything
looked.

Some of my necklaces.

Here are my earrings displayed in a dessert stand.

I also put a little bio about my jewelry line near the front of the table so people could see how
June/July/August came to be.

My rings were my best-sellers.

Here are my hair pins. These are popular with little girls.

I'm getting the crafting itch

've been neglecting my jewelry making for a while. I've been so consumed with other stuff, but now I feel like getting back into it. Today I felt like making a necklace so I looked at what I had in my supply bin and created this really pretty necklace. I looped some odd-sized pearls in between. I think it's so pretty! The great thing about this necklace is that I didn't put a lobster clasp on it. That way I can wear the necklace any way I want it by moving the chain. I'm definitely going to be wearing this tomorrow for work.

I'm hoping to re-open my Etsy shop sometime in the near future with more great jewelry and some of the classics I had before. I just feel like re-vamping it somehow...

I love a great find

few weeks ago I was visiting my cousin's store to sell my jewelry and she happened to be displaying my rings on these really neat porcelain mini hands. I've been looking for vintage porcelain glove molds for a really long time since I first saw them at a photographer's studio, but the ones that I found were really expensive. The one I saw at a photographer's studio was used to hold mail which I thought was a really neat idea. However, when I saw the mini ones at my cousin's store I decided I liked these better. Plus, I thought it was a brilliant idea to display my rings on here. I asked her where she got the hands and she said she got it in NYC. They were a bargain at $5 each! She's in New York a lot to go to trade shows so I asked her to pick these up for me the next time she went. I saw her today at my sister's birthday party and she brought these for me. I couldn't wait to go home and show you guys what they look like. I think I'm going to use one as a display above my shoe shelf and use some for my bookshelf where I display all my June/July/August jewelry.

Shop update

just updated my shop with a few more rings and necklaces. The one shown above is my Chiara ring in pink. I'm going to be adding more very shortly. Thank you to those who have been so patient with me. I was so busy with work that I haven't had time to do anything for myself. I really want to go back into crafting and other stuff I was doing while I was mat leave.

My jewelry line had a little blurb on a local blog

y cousin told me that my jewelry line, June/July/August got a little blurb in a local blog along with my cousin's store. I'm so flattered! I made a few more rings today and I took some pictures of it today and posted it on my Etsy store. Hope you guys like it!


Naomi rings



Denise earring in blush


Denise earring in white

Biggest sale yet

've been extremely busy trying to take photos of my jewelry and also making new ones for Tabula Rasa. I went down today to show Jenn my stuff and she bought 48 pieces! This was the biggest purchase yet from her. Apparently my 'Stephanie' rings were one of her best sellers as well as the 'Naomi' rings. Naomi is my niece, btw. I've named all my jewelry after people I know. I took a few snapshots of the items that are displayed in her store with my iPhone camera.


Jenn pinned the earrings on the mini corkboard in the jewelry section of her store. It looks so cute!



My necklaces! BTW, the first one isn't mine. I think that one is from Hibou?



My bobby pins and rings

Next time I go there I need to do some shopping. I've been so broke lately because I'm on mat leave that I haven't done any shopping for myself. Since I go back to work next month I need to buy some clothes! I'll show you guys what I pick up next time. She has some really great pieces at her store. I would have looked today, but I went there with my husband and son and it was really difficult because they were getting restless while I was doing business with Jenn. I didn't think they would like it if I started trying on clothes. You know how boys are...

On another note, my husband and I bought a car today. We don't get it until next Friday, but it's a used Acura 2007 MDX Special Edition. It's so sweet! I know I said I was broke, but since I go back to work next month I think we'll be ok. We were driving a 1999 Acura 1.6EL and that car is way too small as a family car. With my baby's car seat in the back I have to really squeeze in to get in there. And I'm not even a big person! If we have another baby in the near future we won't be able to use that car. Plus, my husband knows how frustrated I was being stuck at home all day for almost a year because I didn't have access to a car. He usually took it with him in the mornings to the train station to go to work. I live in the suburbs so it's really hard to get around unless I have a car. My husband has been in love with an MDX for a long time so he is pretty stoked. I don't think he'll let me drive it for a while. He's kind of anal that way. I'm not that anal about things even if I get it for the first time. Whatever.

Necklaces and brooches

hat a terrible day to take photos. After all the sun that we've been getting, I think this week will be lots and lots of rain. Well, that's what the forecast is telling me. I'm just about to head out, but I thought I would show you guys some of the photos I took of my necklaces and brooches. I might go to my cousin's store tomorrow because she texted me last night saying she only had 2 rings left and none of the hair pins and earrings left. I'm always so pleasantly surprised when I hear that people are buying my stuff. It started off as a hobby and now it looks like it might be a lucrative side business.






I'm off to pick up my husband from the subway station and then I'm heading over to my parent's house for dinner. My mom is making one of my favourite Korean foods- Naeng Myun! My husband is a meat and potatoes guy so he's not too excited about dinner. Too bad! I always beg him to take me to this really good naeng myun restaurant, but he always refuses. What a bad husband.