Over the last few weeks I've been focusing my attention on photographing things from my shop and above is one of those photoshoots - laying out some of the items from my store together to see how they worked. It is pretty reflective of what I love right now - gold, glitter, and of course, stripes. And that ribbon. Oh. That ribbon. Anyhow, that is it. Just a pretty photo. :) xo Lindsay

All products from The Penny Paper Co. 

I took some photographs of some new prints I designed. Oscar's room comes in handy for these photoshoots thanks to amazing light and his dresser. All of the prints are framed in Ikea shadow box frames - but instead of making them shadow boxes as they are intended I've framed them with the print right up to the glass - I prefer this look for these prints.

Did you know Ikea had 50% off their picture frames this past weekend?!! I happened across the sale by chance and flipped out. (had a "start the car!!!" moment) I loaded up my car with a ton of frames and I've put it in my calendar that the sale happens around this time so maybe next year I'll be more prepared. (So do the same!)

(Ps., the Beaver and the Moose look ridiculously cute when hung together as they face one another.)
P.p.s - Happy Canada Day!

If you're on my shop's e-mail list you would have heard that I brought back calling cards to my shop and about the crazy sale of 50% off that ran all last week. My calling cards been absent from my shop for almost a year while I searched for the perfect paper for the cards - so to celebrate their return we hosted a pretty awesome sale. Since it was so popular of a sale (and because a lot of the orders we did last week were for bloggers) I thought you may like to see the new designs and take advantage of the pretty crazy savings too. The sale have been extended until Friday - be sure to enter SAVE50 in the checkout and get 50% off the calling cards.  xo Lindsay

I am working away over here on orders for the shop, so sadly no more progress on the bathroom design to report on. :(  Anyways, I needed to make up some buttons for a project and they turned out so sweet. I have some available in my shop but I would love to give some away. If you would like one, just comment below - I will hold a draw and pick ten winners. I know it is a super small giveaway but I thought that they would be sweet to send to some people. Anyways, comment below if you would like one - maybe tell me what the weather is like where you are, or just say hi. No pressure. I will draw ten people randomly on Friday. xo Linds

P.s., Did you know my shop as a facebook page? Well, if you like my shop I would love a follow over there! xo

The main reason for the trip to NYC this past week was to attend the New York International Gift Fair. Although I've attended gift shows in the past, this was my first "big" show and I wanted to see if I could find some new items to broaden the selection in my shop.  Here are a few booths that I drooled over - As you'll notice they are more decor related (what can I say, I'm a decor nut) but I did find some little gift items to bring into the store later in February. With me came my Mom, and Elise - a longtime friend who now lives in NYC but a few years back interned for me.

[PICTURES ABOVE] [1] Spoon Chandelier via Cake. (Picture taken by Elise) [2] Uncle Goose Toys are ridiculously gorgeous. I'm sure I've seen their stuff around before but after seeing the products in person I'm obsessed [3] BlaBla dolls will always be a favourite of mine - I loved how they were all displayed on the wall [4] The entire line (bedding and clothing) by Roberta Roller Rabbit  made my heart skip a beat. [5] Dash and Albert Poufs. Need I say more? [6] This print Fairhope Graphics caught my eye. Beautiful for a nursery.

[7] Jonathan Adler always brings to the table awesome colourful designs - I wanted to walk away with that turtle stool! [8] I first noticed Barr-Co. in Chapters here in Toronto and have since been a fan of their packaging and branding [9] Uncle Goose Alphabet Blocks appeal to the typography nut in me. I'd love to pick this up for our house for a coffee table decor - it's just awesome. [10.] I always wanted the Jonathan Adler giraffe lamp for Oscar's room but it was always too expensive for me to justify, but I loved how they paired the lamp with the bright table.

Anyhow, those are some of the booths that I loved at the show. I'll post more of the exploring I did in the city next week. xo Linds

I'm getting ready for the gift show next week so my dining room is filled with boxes of stock and my dining room table is acting as a pretend display table. It feels like chaos. For someone that likes organization + order, this is driving me a little bit insane.

I'm not a stranger to shows, but it has been awhile so I feel a wee but rusty. I used to do the BIG shows and have BIG displays. Pop up signs, lights, tables, I thought that you had to look bigger for people to take you seriously. But this time I'm doing things a bit differently. Maybe it's a comfort in my own skin and after 8 years I've hit my groove. I'm scaling back on the investment of booth displays and going a little more organic. I don't feel like the booth has to stand out as much as I feel like the product will instead. It also is economical this change - the less money I invest in display, the more I profit from sales at the show. I'm keeping things simpler this year, and it feels nice.

Once I've come up with a layout I'm happy with I'll snap photos much like I've shown above so I can remember the layout when I go to set up next week. And then everything gets back back into boxes so I can transport it to the show.

Is it crazy to say I'm feeling exhausted and it's only November 7th? ;)
xo Linds

Today is my 8th anniversary of marrying Aubrey, and also, the official date that I started my business. Two major life moments that have turned out to get sweeter with age.

It's fitting to me that on the anniversary of starting my company, I reveal a new development in my business. As of a few weeks ago I signed with an art publisher. An art publisher is a company that produces high quantities of art for retailers. As an artist this is an amazing opportunity because I get to create but let my publisher take care of all of the other details such as selling, printing, shipping.

Let me stop here to explain that I'm trying to write this post in a semi-professional way, but for the moment, let me stop, do a dance around my office, squeal a little bit with excitement, and I will now sit back down and compose myself.

This is something I feel is perfect for my brand. Just a few short months ago I made a decision to regroup & refocus on what I truly enjoy - creating art, and building my company. Although I'm beyond excited, I'm also somewhat nervous. For any artist reading this, that feeling should come as no surprise. Even after 8 years of creating art there are always nerves when putting work in front of a new audience.

I'll still be selling prints in my shop, but what this art publisher will be able to produce is unlike anything I can create myself - huge canvases, framed prints - it's amazing and I'm so excited. I'll be updating my website with stores where you may be able to find my work. But for now, I just wanted to announce this huge new development. Yay! xoxo Linds

A little break from home stuff..... I'm organizing and prepping my office/studio for Christmas.

I know that sounds nuts but for the last 8 years of running my shop I've come to realize that getting ready now helps make my busiest 4 months of the year run smoothly. Although running an online store and a bricks and mortar location are very different - I think one similarity is an online store requires the same "editing" of product and attention to merchandising.  If you walk by a storefront that hasn't changed its window display in 4 months, you tend to feel as though the inside of the store hasn't had any updates either. This is why I like to try to rotate things in the store, so it continually feels fresh.

Now is the time that I start planning out the release of new products, I look over my existing inventory and remove designs that aren't selling. I'm taking product photography (like the photos above), re-evaluate the fonts I use. I look back at when I did sales in previous years and I have notes to what did well. I either plan to do the same sales, or switch things up a bit. This process can take weeks and weeks and although time consuming it is really refreshing.
In the last month there have been some cool new developments with my art. They have yet to blossom into something substantial enough to talk about but the news was enough to make me giddy about the future. This is a nice spot to be in vs, how I was feeling 2 months ago.

I thought I'd post on the process of editing & prepping for the holidays. As running your own online store becomes easier for everyone (way easier than when I started 8 years ago) I thought I'd give some insight into some of the important things to keep in mind in maintinain a store.

Anyways, back to the house. The kitchen has two things left before I can take the reveal photos. The grouting, and adding the valance by the under cabinet lighting. It's hard to finish the little stuff once a kitchen is usable and looks not so bad. You kind of keep putting things off. But I think Aubrey is grouting today, so that will be nice. :)

xo Linds