Enchanted Chameleon

~ may 16th :: whole foods 10% off day ~

Today is the day to do your shopping at Whole Foods my friends!  Here in the Vancouver and West Vancouver stores only, Whole Foods Markets are celebrating their 10 year anniversary of opening up their first store in Canada.  On Wednesday May 16th only, customers will get 10% off their orders.  10%!!  Yay for customer appreciation!  

I have such a busy day and I normally do my shopping on Thursdays but I'll be there bright and early, squeezing my shopping in before the day really begins!  Hope you have the chance to take advantage too!  XO.  S

~ easter-nanigans ~

It was a great long weekend.  Hope yours was too!  XO.  S

~ wolftress and cub ~

I'm in love with this painting.  One of my bestees, a fellow kula member, painted it.  Just had to share some beauty and talent.  Spread the love.  More details on this paiting and the beautiful wolftress behind it can be found here.  

I love the little dedication to the Kula Clan near the end.  

"My Kula. My clan of women whom without you my life would lack such great depth and understanding. Ours is a wolf pack of strong Alpha females who arise to power in that of nurture."

LOVE.  XO.  S

~ waldorf school spring craft fair ~

Although I'm sad not to be a part of the Spring Craft Fair festivities this year, I had hoped that I would at least have the Juice Caboose there but I was already booked for the Winter Market when the date of the Spring Fair came out, there are many wonderful reasons to go to the Vancouver Waldorf School this Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm to stock up on all your Easter gifts and Spring celebration needs from the parents and entrepreneurs of the local Waldorf community.  Two of my favourite crafty mama's will be there:  Ella from Little Red Caboose and Gwen from Barn Raising which among the many guarantees lots of delightful goodies to wear and to play with that are handmade with love for your little ones.

I hope that you can make it to both the Spring Craft Fair and the Winter Market.  What better fill of local and wonderful everything in one day!  And of course there will still be time for a green beer or two afterwards!  XO.  S 

~ I Support Teachers ~

Just want to send my support out to all the striking teachers out in BC this week.  I've honked every time I've passed picketers.  It's true my son is not affected by this strike.  He attends the Waldorf School which is private.  So yes, I pay for my son's education.  I know exactly how much it costs to ensure a small classroom and quality education.  I know that my teachers are passionate and well taken care of and in turn so is my son.  The teachers at my school make sure we are doing our job and getting them enough sleep and feeding our children right and not exposing them to too much media and junk.  And they are able to do that because the government is not dumping on them and treating the school like free childcare.  We get what we pay for and will continue to do so or even homeschool to ensure that my son doesn't get the repercussions of the state of affairs in the public school system like being lost in a class of 30 or being in a class room full of special needs students with no support system.  

It is my opinion that anyone that pays taxes should also get the benefit of quality education and the teachers are just not given the opportunity to do so and haven't for quite some time.

Go teachers!  Get what you deserve!  Go parents!  Get what the children deserve!  XO.  S   

~ rhythm of the home :: spring edition ~

:: photo source ::

I'm super excited to see that the Spring Edition of Rhythm of the Home is up and online for our viewing pleasure.  Here's a few things that have caught my eye besides the Surprise Yarn Eggs pictured above!

Indoor Spaces for Imaginative Play

Inspiration in Your Own Backyard ::  Fairy Houses & Crowns

To Market, To Market Play Money

New Day ::  Celebrating the Spring Equinox

Spring Festivals and Celebrations

Spring Reading for Families

Naturally Fun Parties for Kids

There is always something wonderfully fresh and new to discover at ROTH. Enjoy the treasure hunt!  XO.  S

~ juice caboose on tha loose :: whole foods park royal ~

I'm so pleased to be sharing this with you.  When I took the job at Whole Foods in October I had no idea that I would end up collaborating with them. One of the Assistant Store Leaders came to me wanting to find a way to bring the Juice Caboose in and I'm pleased to announce that this Saturday March 10th is already our first appearance.  

Whole Foods is taking a big chance on a little company.  Juice Caboose will be coming in and setting up out front from 12-4 pm at the Whole Foods Park Royal location and selling our awesome concoctions to help women all over the world start their own businesses and lines of work and get themselves up and out of poverty.  This is a really great cause.  I can't tell you what part is my favourite about the Whole Planet Foundation - women, helping alleviate poverty, small businesses but one thing that I especially want people to know is that out of the money raised 100% of it goes directly to the cause.  Whole Foods the corporation pays the administrative fees of the Foundation.  Not many nonprofits can claim that and that makes me extra proud to be supporting.  

Naturally, I'm also really excited for a great location this Saturday and again Saturday March 24th and the opportunity for a whole new group of people to try my drinks.  This also makes me greatly nervous.  I really have come to love and greatly respect the people I work with and I truly hope not to disappoint.  

Here's hoping that Juice Caboose makes a big stamp in alleviating poverty this weekend and hopefully many more returns to this neighbourhood.  XO.  S

~ rocket ~

I love making handmade things for C's friends for their birthdays.  It brings me a lot of pleasure.  I love that they have something unique and special and well, shucks, I love the feedback that I get back on how much they love their stuff.  I couldn't find the perfect present anywhere for the little ones, the way I do when I go on a google search for tutorials and patterns in their favourite things.  Little J was the most recent birthday celebration.  He is faithful in his love of rockets like no one else.  I was happy to search out and find ideas.  It was a toss up between a stuffed rocket and the t-shirt.  The t-shirt won out because C still wanted J to have a wooden rocket that he could play with and we did find a pretty simple rocket craft for him to do at the craft shop.  C wanted a t-shirt as well and I'm happy to oblige as well. It gave me a chance to test out the pattern and washing instructions and it also gave him something to wear that both he and J were excited about.

I was impressed with C's colour choices.  I let him pick the felts for the rockets.  You can't really tell in the pictures, but the pink, lavender and grey that C choose for his shirt turned out better than I thought it would.  Both t-shirts were $1 each from the thrift shop but they were already sitting in my closet... waiting.  The Free Pattern for the Rocket Ship Applique is found here at the Lil Blue Boo blog.

So I guess in the end the moral of this story is, if you want cool handmade gifts, be our friends.  XO.  S

~ enchanting friends :: serena from heavens earth ~

It recently came to my attention how lucky a lady I am.  Not just because of all the good things that happen to me but also because of the good people I know.  When I posted about raising funds for a new generator for the Juice Caboose, I was so honored to receive donations from fellow bloggers.  Women that I had never formerly met, with whom my relationship has been completely online.  How incredible is that?  I think it's pretty amazing.

One of those amazing ladies is Serena.  We connected a while ago during one of my Green Smoothie Challenges.  She is an incredibly talented artist, photographer and mama, and I really wanted to share her and her work with you.  She lives in Winnipeg with her two children and hubby, sells her goods on her Etsy Heavens Earth and blogs about life on What a Sweet Life.  Please welcome the enchanting Serena!    

EC - What are your biggest challenges as a mother?

Serena -  For me the biggest challenge is giving up control. I generally want to just go go go and always have a new project in my head, something I want to do with the family or a place I want to visit. Having a just turned three-year old, a seven month old, and a husband who is on 24/7 call, means that if we want to have quality time as a family, we can't have a set schedule where on Monday we would do this, Tuesday that and so on. Living without a schedule is actually pretty freeing. We do have a rhythm at home that we fall into regardless of who is home and what we may want to do that day. I've also had to accept that just because I want to finger paint in the morning and bake cookies in the afternoon with my son while wearing my daughter on my back, doesn't mean that either of them want any part of it or any part of me, sometimes they just need their Daddy!  I'm learning to just roll with it and not take it personally.

EC - How did your work as an artist begin?

Serena -  I don't have a grand story about how I became an artist. I didn't go to school for it, in fact, I did the opposite, I was a science student in university. In my late teens and early 20's I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease - this became my wake up call. I wasn't studying sciences in university for the right reasons; suddenly having a "good" job wasn't important to me anymore. I decided not to finish my degree, got a job (that turned into a wonderful career) with the federal government and started to do things just for me. I have always loved art.. always. I honestly can't remember not being interested in it in some form. Being "sick" suddenly made it ok for me to start exploring art on a professional level. At one point I was in a local gallery and just casually asked the owner if they were looking for new art and she said to bring my stuff down, so I did, and she loved it! This was a pretty big milestone for me. From there I started to do more and more art, have it displayed and sold in more galleries, and explore what would be involved in representing myself as an artist. 

My husband has also been very involved with me pursuing art - he has always 100% encouraged every new project, every new genre, medium; I know how blessed I am! He really encouraged me to open up Heavens Earth on Etsy and put in the time to create new work. 

EC - What motivates you?
 
Serena - My family is my biggest motivation. I love my family more than anything in the world and I just want them to be proud of me. Pretty simple eh?! 

EC - What lessons have you learned from selling your artwork and starting a business?

Serena - I think the biggest lesson that I've learned from selling my art online is to not take it personal. I used to feel bad about my work when it wouldn't sell hours after being uploaded on site. I soon realized that there is a lot more to just making art available for purchase.  Promotion and advertising is huge and something I struggle with. I've also had to learn and embrace that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It used to make me very upset to see people using very similar techniques and layouts. When Cloth Paper Scissors magazine contacted me about doing an article on my technique, I didn't know what to do!  Thoughts of everyone knowing how I create my art and copying it started rushing through my head! I did come to realize that no one gains anything by hoarding techniques, and that even if everyone knows how to do my work, it doesn't mean that they will do it or if they do, that it will be exactly the same... its like cooking; just because you have your favourite restaurants recipe, it doesn't mean that you'll stop going there to eat! 

EC - What fulfills you?

Serena - So many things!  And they do change from day to day, season to season. Right now I'm finding fulfillment in: seeing the way my children look at each other;  making my husband come out of his comfort level and try new things; nourishing my family; being authentic (living the beliefs I preach); letter from our sponsor child overseas; giving thanks for the small things (I think its the easiest way to make someone's day); finishing a custom painting. My list could go on and on! 

EC - How have you evolved over the years as an artist?

Serena - Over the years I've leant that it's OK if I don't want to do something that will generate revenue every day, or even every week; that its ok to do art/create something for me and my family.  Being ok with this, makes me a better artist because I'm truly doing my art because I want to, not because I "have" to.  I've also learnt to embrace my style and not be so worried if someone will like it. 

EC - What is your ultimate creative goal?

Serena - This will sound strange I think, but until about a month ago, I never had any creative goals! I've just been happily treading along doing my own thing. Around Christmas, for some reason, I got it in my head that I want to be in House and Home magazine - ridiculous eh?! Id love to see my painting, jewellery or my fabric in it; I would be over the moon! 

Thank you Serena and family for sharing your stories with us.  You can read more about Serena at her blog What a Sweet Life.  If you are interested in Serena's art work, jewels or fabric check out her Heavens Earth Facebook Page or go directly to her Heavens Earth Etsy site.  

For the month of February you can receive 20% off anything in Serena's Heavens Earth Etsy store!! Just use the code:  feb2012 to receive your discount.  Start your Easter shopping early.  There is such fabulous stuff to be had!  XO.  S

~ buying from small businesses ~

Hubby posted this on his FB the other day and I just loved it.  Had to share.  I know so many great small businesses and this is so true.  Consider it when you're getting something for Valentines' Day.  Start your search at two of my favourites:  Etsy or Bird on a Wire Creations.  XO.  S