This is it for my first "blog" newsletter. I think I captured the year. But if I missed someone or something my apologies.
My best wishes to you all for a happy & healthy 2011. I hope you all have a great year and I look forward to seeing you or connecting with you over the months to come.
Lots of love
ali
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
5. The Compact
I ran an experiment this year called The Compact. This was inspired by a blog called The Non-Consumer Advocate http://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/about-2/. Her premise is not to buy anything new, except of course food, basic toiletries etc. And this is done for a few reason. One is financial- by shopping at thrift stores & garage sales you can still find great items in good condition for a fraction of the price. The second is environmental- by buying a used items, the resources required for production, shipping & marketing are minimized. Since David and I had combined two households and recently gotten married, it was easy to sign up for the experiment. Besides food and health products, I made some exceptions, like souvenirs from abroad. :) Plus all items related to putterpaperie were exempted.
Overall it wasn't that difficult. It made me appreciate all that we have. I was surprised at how long it takes to work through all the travel sized lotions and face washes. It seemed I had a lot of those "gift with purchase" cosmetic items. I would also like to publicly thank mum for her hand-me-downs. My sweater drawer is bursting. There were a few breakdowns, I bought some new items as gifts. And for myself I found out that I have thing for magazines. Aside from my subscriptions (which have now expired) I bought 2 or 3 magazines over the year.
On a side note as I consider myself a recovering packrat, over the last few years I have tried to ensure more Stuff leaves the house than new Stuff coming in. For example this past year, I have been "releasing" books into the "wild" (public places) as a member of bookcrossing.com. The books are either found (by strangers) or tossed but ideally picked up, read and passed on. Some of my books have been "caught" and one book made its way out to the Maritimes.
Anyway back to the compact. The most difficult part was Christmas gifts. Not buying something new out of a store meant I had to be creative. Here is what I did for the family. For mum and dad, they were the first recipients of my first ever knitted scarves. Well mum actually received more of a knitted square but luckily I get a chance to re-do it. For Jennie and MIke, I worked with mum throughout the year to take photos of mum making our favourite recipes. The end result looked great as I had them printed in a photo book (yes new but a Canadian printer). And for David, well he received a bedside table from an antique show in the fall. Overall it was fun but it was also very time consuming. I won't lie, I finished Dad's scarf at 5pm on Christmas Eve!
So will I do the compact for 2011. Yes! Probably a similar version with a few exceptions. Although the exceptions are TBD, they will probably be tied to gifts for others. It is one thing to limit items/gifts for yourself and buy used. However to impose that on others is another thing. Especially if that perfect gift is at the bookstore or on Esty!
Overall it wasn't that difficult. It made me appreciate all that we have. I was surprised at how long it takes to work through all the travel sized lotions and face washes. It seemed I had a lot of those "gift with purchase" cosmetic items. I would also like to publicly thank mum for her hand-me-downs. My sweater drawer is bursting. There were a few breakdowns, I bought some new items as gifts. And for myself I found out that I have thing for magazines. Aside from my subscriptions (which have now expired) I bought 2 or 3 magazines over the year.
On a side note as I consider myself a recovering packrat, over the last few years I have tried to ensure more Stuff leaves the house than new Stuff coming in. For example this past year, I have been "releasing" books into the "wild" (public places) as a member of bookcrossing.com. The books are either found (by strangers) or tossed but ideally picked up, read and passed on. Some of my books have been "caught" and one book made its way out to the Maritimes.
Anyway back to the compact. The most difficult part was Christmas gifts. Not buying something new out of a store meant I had to be creative. Here is what I did for the family. For mum and dad, they were the first recipients of my first ever knitted scarves. Well mum actually received more of a knitted square but luckily I get a chance to re-do it. For Jennie and MIke, I worked with mum throughout the year to take photos of mum making our favourite recipes. The end result looked great as I had them printed in a photo book (yes new but a Canadian printer). And for David, well he received a bedside table from an antique show in the fall. Overall it was fun but it was also very time consuming. I won't lie, I finished Dad's scarf at 5pm on Christmas Eve!
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| Mum's purple knitted square vs. normal scarf width! |
So will I do the compact for 2011. Yes! Probably a similar version with a few exceptions. Although the exceptions are TBD, they will probably be tied to gifts for others. It is one thing to limit items/gifts for yourself and buy used. However to impose that on others is another thing. Especially if that perfect gift is at the bookstore or on Esty!
4. Putterpaperie
Last year, 2009, I really started to work on my handmade greeting card business. But with the wedding and all it didn't really roll until this year. I made more of an effort of posting cards on my etsy website putterpaperie.etsy.com.
As well I accomplished one of my goals which was to attend a one day craft sale. I found one in Ottawa in the summer called Urban Art@ Minto Park. I signed up and was accepted which was great as they mentioned there was a waiting list for vendors. I was given a great spot, one of the first locations inside the park. The day held up weather-wise with only a few windy gusts to make us (David was my super-duper assistant) worried about rain. The sales were not as high as I had initially hoped for but, once I arrived and saw the traffic flow, in the end I was very pleased with the outcome. My heart went out to one of my vending neighbours who didn't sell anything.
In December I participated in two other shows. One in my building which was fun and the second one at Mrs Nelson's house, hosted by mum and Mrs. Nelson. It was my first home show which was a little nerve-wracking. The nerves were all for naught, it was very successful and I received some great feedback as I am trying to better define my style. I love creating all sorts of cards with different materials. Great year but don't quit your day job :)
As well I accomplished one of my goals which was to attend a one day craft sale. I found one in Ottawa in the summer called Urban Art@ Minto Park. I signed up and was accepted which was great as they mentioned there was a waiting list for vendors. I was given a great spot, one of the first locations inside the park. The day held up weather-wise with only a few windy gusts to make us (David was my super-duper assistant) worried about rain. The sales were not as high as I had initially hoped for but, once I arrived and saw the traffic flow, in the end I was very pleased with the outcome. My heart went out to one of my vending neighbours who didn't sell anything.
In December I participated in two other shows. One in my building which was fun and the second one at Mrs Nelson's house, hosted by mum and Mrs. Nelson. It was my first home show which was a little nerve-wracking. The nerves were all for naught, it was very successful and I received some great feedback as I am trying to better define my style. I love creating all sorts of cards with different materials. Great year but don't quit your day job :)
Sunday, January 9, 2011
3. Other travel
Along with all the overseas travel, I also made some road trips. In April I headed to Aurora for an unofficial scrapbook weekend but really it was a girlfriend catch-up with Lisa. It was great fun as various friends popped in throughout the weekend for memory recording. As always at Lisa's we were well fed with her delicious meals. I continued working on an album for mum and dad which I started a while back........ oops.
October there was an official scrapbook weekend in Peterborough with Tracy. I continued working on the album all the while enjoying the relaxing B&B.
November, I jumped back in the car to Stouffville, Ontario. There along with Lisa and Tricia, we baked over 1000 cookies in less than 36 hours. This is my third annual cookie bake and this year we had extra time to demo some chocolate making. All great fun but still tiring.
Love was in the air in December and David and I headed to Toronto for Tori and Constantine's engagement party. Besides catching up with cousins and old friends, I also managed to connect with one of my professors from uni. Talking shop of hotels and such was a great way to start the weekend.
David and I also had some visitors come our way. Tracy and Darren in February. Lisa, Mark, Wesley and Paige to Balsam in July and Tracy back to Ottawa last month.
Wow- as I write this, I realize this was a great year for connecting with friends and family. I hope that it will continue in 2011.
October there was an official scrapbook weekend in Peterborough with Tracy. I continued working on the album all the while enjoying the relaxing B&B.
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| Moi & Tracy overlooking Chemong Lake @ Selwyn Shores B&B |
November, I jumped back in the car to Stouffville, Ontario. There along with Lisa and Tricia, we baked over 1000 cookies in less than 36 hours. This is my third annual cookie bake and this year we had extra time to demo some chocolate making. All great fun but still tiring.
Love was in the air in December and David and I headed to Toronto for Tori and Constantine's engagement party. Besides catching up with cousins and old friends, I also managed to connect with one of my professors from uni. Talking shop of hotels and such was a great way to start the weekend.
David and I also had some visitors come our way. Tracy and Darren in February. Lisa, Mark, Wesley and Paige to Balsam in July and Tracy back to Ottawa last month.
Wow- as I write this, I realize this was a great year for connecting with friends and family. I hope that it will continue in 2011.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
2. Travel
2010 turned out to be a great travel year with some big trips. The first one was in March. David and I headed to Courmayeur, Italy. David's sister-in-law, Fede, has a winter chalet there which was great as Rob, Fede and baby Giovanni were there too for a ski week. This was my first time skiing in the Alps and it was also my first time skiing in 9 years. The crazy bit about travelling from Canada to Italy was that it was COLDER in Courmayeur, but aside from that it was wonderful and the weather cooperated for great skiing. I was lucky and my ski muscles came back to me quickly and thankfully the majority of the hills were my level. The food was amazing and I am still thinking of some of the meals we ate. Not the mention the hot chocolate at the cafe in the village. Yum!
September brought us back to Europe again, this time to France. We were there to celebrate a big birthday for Uncle Tim. He can tell you the number :) We stayed at a beautiful manor house in a small village of Sarrazac. During the week we (13 adults and 3 kids) toured around the Dordogne region. We came across so many beautiful towns and villages. Included in our touring there was a cave tour in Les Eyzies and hot air balloon ride ( I did not do that). But I was more than happy to hike up the BIG hill every morning, with mum and Susan, to get the freshly baked croissants at L'hopital St Jean. This was a great start to the day! As you can see we did not go hungry and we were spoiled by some amazing dinners, too many to describe. It really was a trip of a lifetime. Thanks Tim for being the birthday boy! David and I finished off the trip with two days in Paris. What a beautiful city. I hadn't been there in over dozen years and had forgotten how architecturally stunning the City of Light is. We walked everywhere and David was kind enough to follow me as I tried to track down paper stores. The hunt found us in some more local neighbourhoods which is always a treat. The good news is that even though my hard drive ate my photos, I had not erased the France photos from the camera so here are a few to entice you to visit rural France. One more thing. The word of the trip "Fermé". I had not realized that there seems to be a siesta time from noon to 2pm. We found out that many places closed down during this time to rest. Even in Paris there were stores that shut. Not to worry, we quickly adapted and we too were "ferme´" and rested.
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| Village of Turenne, France |
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| Store in Collonges-la-Rouge, France |
Saturday, January 1, 2011
1. The Start
It is January 1st 2011 and a foggy day here in Ottawa. I am trying something completely new by putting my Christmas newsletter "out there" in a blog. However there are many great reasons to try. #1. A new challenge, working with new technology/software. # 2. My hard drive died on me in December and so I lost all my documents (including the xmas letter draft), music and photos. # 3. Free technology. #4. Since this update is for friends and family, it is the ideal audience to start with.
So there it is, the intro. Now I will try and scramble together the highlights from 2010 and publish them on the next post. In the meantime my very best wishes to you all for a wonderful 2011.
So there it is, the intro. Now I will try and scramble together the highlights from 2010 and publish them on the next post. In the meantime my very best wishes to you all for a wonderful 2011.
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