Furniture and Photographers

Hello Saturday morning!

Remember I told you about the meeting I had scheduled last weekend with a couple of photograhers? Well I'm super excited, because they have both officially become new Lather Creations clients! Erin and Melanie both shoot family, baby and and children's photography here in Winnipeg and I absolutely love both their style!

Here's a little peek at Erin's beautiful work...

{image via Erin Keown Photography}

 And Melanie's stunning shots...

{images via Moments by Melanie}

 When Melanie contacted me about using some of my furniture as photo shoot props and bringing along some photographer friends, I said yes yes yes to that! *If you're looking for local photogs, these are two great girls to call...

Melanie took home the Milk White Weathered Warm Chair I had for sale. Remember this sweet thing?

Plus I'm working on this toddler-sized school chair for her as well!

 

Erin wanted her own 100-year-old pressed back chair, but in a more vibrant colour. So I'm hard at work on this for her...(no hints - you have to check back for the colour she chose!)

Plus I'm recovering this antique bench in some super bright and fabulous fabric...

They won't be done for a while but I will definitely share the 'after' pics when the time comes!

This weekend I also have my Splurge group, my sis and I are taking my grandma on an outing and I FINALLY have to finalize the design on my wedding invites.

How about you friends? What are you up to this weekend?

Arts Junktion

This week I discovered a very cool place here in Winnipeg called Arts Junktion. This not-for-profit has a super simple premise - salvage junk from landfills that could be used as art supplies. You can drop off and donate your old supplies...and you can come and take what you need! It's like 'leave a penny, take a penny' for creatives.

How can you support this great idea? Check out their website for a list of accepted items for donation, artists can donate pieces of art for their annual auction and by becoming a member, it's free and Arts Junktion can show strong membership numbers when applying for grants and other funding. Become a member here!

So what did I find in my treasure hunt? All kinds of great wedding finds! These fantastic wood frames...I'm thinking of painting them and using them as signs or photo props at the wedding.

A collection of rustic clothes pins that I plan to use to hang my seating charts...

And an assortment of pretty ivory and teal buttons to use on my wedding dress! (they will act as centres for the lace clusters on my waistband)

There were all kinds of cool things at Arts Junktion for fun projects. They have a reasonable sized fabric section with lots of good sized scraps, it's even divided by colour! There's stacks of old magazines, wallpaper remnants, scrap wood, old file folders, pieces of tile...all free! Yay for creativity! I could go on but you just need to go there yourself...

For those of you outside Winnipeg, do you have programs like this near you? Isn't it just a simple, smart concept? I love how they're promoting the arts while being kind to the planet. :)

Have an amazing day friends!

Blogging and Social Media Workshop Update

A while back I told you about an exciting new workshop I would be teaching here in Winnipeg at Red River College on Social Media and Blogging for Beginners.

Well based on feedback I got, the college has decided to break out the course into 2 separate workshops that can be taken separately or together.  So if you are a complete newbie to social media, but have no interest in blogging, you can take 'Intro to Social Media'. If you are already somewhat comfortable with social media and have your own Facebook page, but would love to start your own blog, you can take 'Learn to Blog'. Both workshops will be casual, very hands-on and lots of fun!

They both take place on Saturday mornings in May for 3 hours each at Red River College in Winnipeg. Please spread to word to anyone you know who might be interested!

Here are the full workshop details and links to register:

Workshop #1
WRKS-9011   Intro to Social Media 
What is a ‘tweet’? How do you ‘friend’ someone? Learn to speak the language of the growing world of social media in this fun hands-on, introductory course. Students will create their own Facebook page and Twitter profile, interacting and connecting with others through these popular social media channels.  This course is ideal for parents and can be taken on it's own or in conjunction with 'Learn to Blog'.
*Students must have personal email account they can access from a remote computer.
Register here!

Workshop #2
WRKS-9012   Learn to Blog 
What is a 'blog’? How do you become a 'blogger'? Where is the ‘blogosphere’? Join the growing world of blogging in this hands-on, introductory course. Discover what blogging is and how it can be used as a source of creative communication. Students will develop their own personal blog and begin posting, sharing it with others and interacting with the blogging community. This course can be taken on it's own or in conjunction with 'Intro to Social Media'.
*Students must have personal email account they can access from a remote computer.  
Register here!

Have an amazing day friends!

Hello! It's Wednesday!

It's a busy day but I thought I would just stop and say a quick hello! 

I had lunch today at a great new restaurant with a fantastic old friend.  Isn't that a great combination?

Kawaii Crepe serves up ecclectic combinations of sweet and savoury crepes in Osborne Village.  I picked the chicken, bacon, cheese and ranch, and we shared a Fruitella with nutella with strawberries and bananas for desert.  The crepes were rolled into user-friendly cones and were delightfully crunchy on the outside and warm and chewy on the inside.  Yum!

Are you a lover of crepes?  What's your favourite filling?



Hope you're having a great day and talk to you soon!

Giveaway weekend and other fresh finds!

This weekend was a free giveaway weekend here in Winnipeg.  They've done a few in the past year and half and they've been hugely successful and keeping great used items out of the landfills.  One woman's trash is another woman's treasure!

I was busy painting most of the weekend but I thought I would troll a few streets on my way to get groceries.  Imagine my delight to only drive one block from my house before I found this!

Aren't the little round feet just adorable?  The shelves need a little TLC but when it's free, who cares?  I think J and I might keep this little guy for ourselves, with so little storage areas in our wee house I could use a place to store my never-ending library of new books!

I also did some regularly scheduled thrifting this week for new furniture pieces and picked up these great pieces.

A set of solid wood chairs just waiting to be reupholstered with my new fabric from South Africa perhaps??

And a set of tres ugly side tables that I'm thinking of trying out the 'oh so of the moment' chevron pattern on...

Hey Winnipeggers, did you check out the free giveaway weekend?  Any good finds?  For the rest of you, have you come across any great thrift items that have excited you lately?

Have a great week!

A River Point of View

Today I saw Winnipeg from a whole different point of view.  J and Gus and I took the boat on the river and cruised through the city.  It's a beautiful Saturday and well deserved after weeks of rain.

Here's what Winnipeg looks like from the winding rivers!

Hope you are having a fabulous weekend!  What have you been up to?

Written with love,
Lenore

A list of things I'd like to do in my city

Funny how you develop your routines and your 'places' and every day you pass by little gems that go undiscovered...

{Photo from Travel Manitoba}

I've been in the Winnipeg for 2 and a half years now but there are so many places I have yet to explore...Here's a list of places I would love to go sometime, right here in my adopted city.

1.  Ride the bumper boats and go-karts at Thunder Rapids - who doesn't want to feel like a kid again?

2.  Sunday brunch at the Fort Garry, preferably the night after a Hamam...yes ladies, one day I will know the joy you speak of...

3. Take the haunted city tour and explore the old history, more for the architecture than the ghosts!

4.  Ride the water taxi through downtown on the river.  It just sounds so cool.

5.  Dine like a princess at 529 Wellington, one of Winnipeg's most elegant dining addresses.

6. Spend an afternoon sorting through the past at Ragpickers, looking for the perfect vintage piece to mix into my wardrobe.

7. Meet a group of girls for family-style brunch at the Tallest Poppy and savour a decadent weekend breakfast.

Well I figure that's a good start...so much to see, so much to do!

What have you always wanted to do in your own home city but never got around to?

Written with love,
Lenore