Callaloo Soup

The Wednesday Window | Testing

When we visited friends a couple weeks ago, Kieran tried out a big boy bike. He wasn't feeling it though, he really prefers his pedal-less strider bike!

 

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Snap up that French vintage item you've been eyeing at Callaloo Soup Vintage, or grab a printable poster of notebook at Callaloo Soup Designs

Enjoy :)

I Inked & Stamped! | WCS June Sneak Peek

It's been quiet around here lately because since last Thursday, Kieran has had a nasty stomach bug . As you can imagine much of my energy was devoted to looking after him, and doing the basic necessities. I'm happy to say that today he seems to be back to his lively happy self!

I was able to get working on my layout for WCS before this all happened, so here is my sneak peek for the June gallery

I got very inky and stampy in honour of our June theme. Get more sneak peeks from the team by following the links below

Christine | Amy C. | Diane| Christa| Katie | Lisa | Aliza | Jenny

 

The Wednesday Window | Wildflowers

The nature portion of our walk home is now bursting with all things spring including wildflowers! There's a huge patch of buttercups, known as boutons d'or in French, along one path. Kieran especially likes them because of the bugs that seem to live on them. Of course.

Tuesday To-Do | Kieran's Gallery Wall DIY and an Ode to Gummed Paper Tape

Now that the sunshine is back, I am super motivated to work on home and garden projects again. You would think that winter is the perfect time for that sort of thing, but the dreariness really affects my mood and energy level, and I feel way more creative when it is sunny and warm. What can I say? I am a tropical island girl!

Today I was able to quickly work on an idea I've had for Kieran's room: a sort of gallery wall. He really loves to stick his art, and other bits and pieces up (hmm, where does he get that from?). He also has a mad passion for washi tape (that sounds familiar too), but we have these weird walls that aren't very smooth, and the washi doesn't stick for long.

Those two pieces of art are actually secured with clear scotch tape over the washi.

Since we rent I needed to find a temporary non0destructive solution, and one day while looking at the drawing paper I used in my office for my goal keeping I had an aha moment. So I decided to "wall paper" a portion of his wall, so he could stick things easily to it.

Here's what I used

Mala drawing paper from Ikea

gummed paper tape - this is used for bookbinding and has a dried gummed side that becomes sticky when wet.

Temporary/low-tack adhesive

Cutting mat

Craft cutter

Metal ruler

Measuring Tape

Water & Acrylic letters (not pictured)

Tip: before attempting this project, it's a good idea to test your gummed paper tape and adhesive in an unobtrusive spot to see if it will be easy to remove, and also not totally destroy your wall finish. I have found that the gummed tape comes off quite well by just spraying it thoroughly with water. I love that the same thing that makes it sticky, is what gets it off the wall!

Steps

Measure your space and cut enough lengths of the drawing paper using the craft knife and metal ruler.

The drawing paper is 18&1/2 inches wide (47 cm).  I needed two 5 foot lengths to cover that spot

Cut four strips of the gummed paper tape to fit around the gallery space.

Apply some low tack adhesive to the top and bottom of each length of paper and stick them to the wall. I used the edge of the baseboards as a guide to place the paper as straight as possible

Now use the water to activate the adhesive on the kraft tape. I just use my fingers, but I guess a foam brush would work too. For really long strips I found it was better to wet as I went along the edge as the adhesive dries really fast. Use the strips to frame the paper like so, making sure it sticks to a bit of the paper edge as well as the wall, since it is the main thing keeping the paper up.

(Whoa! That's blurry! Sorry.)

While you're quickly wetting and sticking, make sure that you don't place your cup of water on your son's t-shirt shelf, then knock it over and get his clothes wet. And a huge puddle on the floor. Nah, that didn't happen to me, I'm just saying be careful okay?

And there she is!

You can stop here, or go a step further with acrylic letters

Trucs is French for things, stuff, crap...... Hey! If you have one of those fancy Silhouette machines, you can even cut your own letters! I'm totally annoyed that the R and U in mine have the same colour background. It's the little things....

If you were paying attention to the clock in the photos, you'll have noticed that I did this in less than 30 minutes. I love quick and easy DIYS!

Now the boy can go crazy sticking things up. I think I will have to get him his own supply of washi tape though, he keeps using up my stash.

I really love how useful that gummed paper tape is. A scrapbooking friend of mine turned me on to it several years back to use for making mini books, but it comes in really handy for other things like this

Just a simple "frame" on the wall. I used it to make this mini-album

Instructions here

Here it is in my current office as a frame again

Yeah, I think I know now why Kieran likes sticking things up!

I'm working on another idea for art for his wall, and will post that once it's done. 'Tis the season to create!

 

A Weekend in Lyon

We just celebrated a super long weekend in France. Both Kieran and Lucas were off from Wednesday until Sunday! We spent Wednesday at home working in the garden and doing other household projects, then headed into Lyon on Thursday to spend the weekend visiting friends.

That's Lucy in her teaching kitchen!

There were lots of good things to eat and drink. Of course.

We went to see our old friends at Parc de la Tete D'or

While wandering around the city we came upon street art,

(That sign means "Post No Bills"!)

and marching bands

While I have no regrets about moving to wider open spaces, it is always fun to revisit our old stomping grounds. Cities are so vibrant and full of energy, you can't help but be affected by the spirit of things there!

It's Time for the May Sister Sketch!

Here is the sketch we will be using this month.

You can grab it by right clicking above, or download by using the links below

PDF | JPG | PSD

Check back in two weeks to see how we used the sketch. Anyone is welcome to play along!

 

The Wednesday Window | l'Arbe de Judée

These gorgeous trees known as l'arbre de Judée, or Judas Trees, are blooming all over the countryside right now, and they are stunning! The legend goes that this is the kind of tree Judas Iscariot hung himself from, hence the name. Morbid or not, this is definitely going on my list of trees to have once we have a permanent garden!

En mai fais ce qui te plaît | Welcome May

Happy May Day!

In France there's an expression

En avril
Ne te découvre pas d'un fil
En mai
Fais ce qu'il te plaît

which basically means that in April you shouldn't pack away the winter clothes yet (literally don't remove even one thread from your clothes), but in May you can do whatever you like!

This morning it sure looked like the May portion of the saying wouldn't be coming true. We've been suffering about a week of grey, wet and extremely chilly weather, with a sudden thunder and lightening storm this morning. During lunch however we noticed that we could see bits of blue sky, and by the time we were through eating, the sky was completely clear, and the sun was shining brightly!

Kieran didn't need any encouragement to finally get out of his pyjamas, and we all headed out to enjoy the garden. Our plants seem to be the only ones who enjoyed the wet week, because everything is really green and blooming.

The seedlings are popping up, and the lettuce plants are growing.

We're hoping for a bumper crop of tomatoes, and we are trying some companion planting too. Basil and marigolds in between the tomato plants.

The berry bushes are not only blooming, we even have tiny green red and black currants already!

The potted plants are happy on the patio:

See that avocado tree to the left? It's this one we grew from a seed back in 2008!

We were able to get some more planting done, as well as clearing up a bit outside, and making that patio nicer for dining al fresco.

Crossing my fingers that all will be sunny and bright from here on out!

 

30 Days of Blogging at Callaloo Soup

Source

It's been a busy month around here. I blogged every single day this month! I totally enjoyed it, but it is quite the undertaking. To end off I thought I would link to my favourite posts of the past month.

April 2nd: Easter Eggs, and Easter Baskets

April 5th: Is This a Hybrid Scrapbooking Project?

April 6th: One Little Word

April 15th: Kieran's Birthday Party

April 19th: Wordless Friday

April 27th: I Love a Good Challenge

You can see all the posts from the month by clicking here.

Which ones were your favourites?

Gearing Up for May

April is drawing to a close, so I am working on my plans for May. This was a busy month with Kieran's birthday, school activities, Spring vacation and visiting friends, and May seems to be at least as busy. One project that has now become a constant for me, however busy the month may be, is the Photo-a-Day challenge from Fat Mum Slim.

I started it back in October and have done it every month since. Some months I manage to actually take a photo every day, other months I do what I can. It's all good.

Chantelle posted the list for May today, which is what prompted this blog post, and jumpstarted my planning for the month ahead.

Have you ever played along with the challenge? Is there a challenge or project that you fit into your routine monthly?

 

Instagram Picks of the Week

My pick: he loves his swing

Most likes: Kieran gets a haircut

You can follow me here on Instagram