Life got crazy!

Sorry everyone if my posts have been lacking lately, life has been insanely busy in the past couple weeks AND I had been very sick on top of that. I didn't realize just how stressed I was by it all until I saw my doctor this past Friday and he told me the reason I'd been feeling so sick for the past 2 weeks, was because I have a peptic ulcer in my stomach. The stress factors are gone, but the damage was done. So right now, I'm on medication to help my stomach heal, and I'm just working on eating extra healthy (aka lots of juicing, salads and smoothies.).

But in every storm there's a silver lining, right? I guess this was my body's way of reminding me that I really need to slow down (again), meditate, stop sweating the small stuff, and do more things for me. And that's what I've been doing all weekend long, and it felt so good. Just staying home, hanging out with the kids, baking (because I enjoy it), crafting with them (because we love it), lounging with a good book and enjoying being in our pj's all day long. I had not done that in way too long. I know the kids enjoyed it too :)

I will be back to more regular postings this week. Hope you've all been well!

Love, Stephanie xx

{this moment}

{this moment} - (inspired by Soule Mama) A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.

Sibling love at sunset

There is a pond at the end of our street. And yesterday, around supper time, we could hear Canadian Geese flying above our apartment. Now, one can only assume they were getting ready to migrate since it IS October, though the weather could fool any bird into thinking it's spring! But I suppose they just know when it's time to leave, don't they. So I decided to take the kids for the short walk to the pond and see if we could see any birds, as we have sometimes.

Thankfully, right before heading out the door, I made the last minute decision to bring my camera with us, and boy am I glad I did.

When the sunset looks golden like this, you are sure to get some amazing glow in your portraits!

Don't worry, my daughter was not actually sad, she was just acting ;)

I need to frame this last one. What a perfect way to remember this fall, and the love those two have for each other!

Finally, he got his too!

Last year, I decided to make my kids a personalized door sign for their rooms. The only problem was, that I could only find one piece of square wood that was the right size, and I have two kids. My son graciously decided that his little sister could have it first, and we would make him one as soon as the store ordered more.

So I made hers very quickly and it was hanging on her door a couple days later.

I go to that store pretty much weekly, and fast forward over a year later, they finally got more in! So I made sure to snatch that baby up right away!

I gathered my supplies and got to work right away.

I use scrapbooking stickers to decorate them. His stickers were raised, and hers were flat, with a clear edge around the stickers. I like the look of her stickers better on it, but they didn't have any "boy" ones that I liked for him in that kind of stickers. So raised it is!

I painted the top of the square and gave it a couple of coats of blue paint.

Then I use letter stencils and traced the words on it with a pencil, followed by some yellow paint applied with a fine tip paintbrush to fill in the lettering. After a few coats of paint on the letters and once everything was dry, I gave it a couple of coats of spray varnish.

Then, I hammer into place the levelling hangers that you see in the picture above. (You can find them at the hardware store.) Then I finish with the stickers.

**No matter what kind of stickers you chose to use, I recommend varnishing before applying them. That way, when your child grows up and goes into a different phase (like from dinosaurs to soccer for example), you can peel the stickers and change the sign.**

He was so happy that he finally got his!

Sea shell picture frame

I've been wanting to decorate my daughter's bedroom for over a year now, but it just never seemed to happen. In the past few months, when asked what kind of room she'd want, she'd always say she wants a mermaid room.

Now, she's not asking for the type of mermaid room which requires "The little mermaid" wall decals and Arielle bed sheets AND comforter. But simply, a mermaid room. She has lots of hot pink accessories in her room right now, and since we live in an apartment and are not allowed to paint walls, I've been trying to use accessories to bring colour into our home. And since she wants a mermaid room, it just made sense to me to bring in some aqua as a second colour.

Today, I bought this frame at our local dollar store for a whole $2.5o. And I knew right away what I wanted to do with it.

So this evening, I gathered my (ahem) store bought sea shells (also from the dollar store), my paints and brushes and got started.

First, paint your frame the colour wanted. In this case, I lightened this dark turquoise with quite a bit of white to make it just the right shade of "sea water".

Once your frame is dry, place all your shells over the frame, and beach glass if using. Once you like the placement, use a hot glue gun and glue all shells one by one, without removing them all in order to keep your placement.

When y0u are done, you should end up with something colourful, handmade and inexpensive (it only cost me $5!!).

A seashell frame fit for a mermaid!

Over at Sunshine Foods....

Mmmm, chai breakfast quinoa.

This recipe is so easy and delicious! But I'm not gonna share it with you... well at least not here. I decided to "reopen" the food blog I had barely started months ago. I had been going back and fourth about weather to share recipes here, or just do a separate blog about it. Finally I decided it was time to stop changing my mind and just go with it. As much as I adore crafting and blogging about it, photography and our everyday life, I have this huge passion for food and natural nutrition that would just take over this blog if I share it all here. And that will also give me the outlet to share the occasional video about food related stuff that I'd love to share with you.

My goal actually, is to be a holistic nutritionist in a few years. But in order to talk the talk, I need to walk the walk. So blogging over at Sunshine Foods is also a good way for me to be accountable for my eating and make positive changes. Because after all, we are what we eat ;)

You can find the chai breakfast quinoa recipe HERE. And there are plenty more to come, like my mango green smoothie, vegan chili, and zucchini chocolate cake (also vegan). So stay tuned!

Photography series: Small elements of nature

I am finally getting around to post the last part of my photography series taken while on our trip to Jasper.

I've been enjoying taking pictures for a long time, and something that I noticed years ago, is that I prefer to focus on certain elements more than I have a tendency to take pictures of scenery's (except when in Jasper, of course ;)

I usually do that with flowers, but this time, being fall and all, I found myself taking a picture of a mushroom. Then another, then another. I just couldn't stop myself. They were all so unique and so beautiful. Especially this first one, it's my absolute favourite!

Focusing on one element at a time, weather it's a small group of mushrooms, a branch with juniper berries, moss on a rock, or a small fairy-like area of a forest, allows me to really appreciate the smaller elements in nature. And I just love looking back at these pictures and seeing just how much I did notice. Sometimes, it's not all about looking at the big picture.

Notice the animal bite taken out of the mushroom above? Look closer and you'll notice more bites missing in other pictures I posted here :)

Have a wonderful Monday!