Our triumphant return...

Hey Everyone!!

It has been ages hasn't it? Last we spoke and wrote it was back in 2010, shame on us! The year of 2011 has been a busy one. Our new year started off with an adventure out to Edmonton to see family and friends. Our return was welcomed by busy work schedules and job hunting and just when everything became calm, our computer went on the fritz and died. That was long ago now, but we still have not fixed our computer, which has really hindered us in making blog posts and updating our Facebook page.

So we were lucky enough to get a laptop loaned to us, and funny enough, the day I was going to do a blog post the laptop became infected with 31 viruses.....*sigh* You may have noticed this all play out on our Facebook page or Twitter. ONCE AGAIN! We are back! The laptop it healthy again! Woot!

Even though we have not been the most active on your Community pages, you can bet your bottom dollar that it has been pretty hectic in our studio.

Last night was particularly productive, with the R-Unit finishing a painting and immediately starting a new one, which is looking good already!

The mood was just right for a painting night, with some good comedy on the tele and as always good company. But one thing that made things all fall together was Richard's decision to reel in his over-active brain and let his paintings happen. He feels that his best works are things he doesn't plan too hard, if at all. Often he will start from a line or a shape, or a very vague idea and just dive right in. With that, he also decided to stop trying to be so creative, and play a bit with his "old school" or normal style. Dark, moody, abstract and surreal imagery with a touch of lightheartedness and sometimes even comedy. This is where he enjoys to play most of all. And that brings us to a point that we discussed late in the evening.


Sometimes we as artists, crafters and designers feel that we need to be creative. Now that may sound silly, as we are creative, it's the nature of what we do. However, we can spend time thinking about a new project, trying to come up with new ideas, trying to find new subjects, to push the proverbial envelope, and we can find ourselves getting nowhere, the dreaded artist's block (similar to it's writing cousin). Yet we all have a particular style or technique that we enjoy doing, and often comes out in our work anyway. Sometimes, in a way, being less creative can be better. You can perfect a technique or an execution, elaborate on a previous subject, and you may find that your work from this point is actually more satisfying than what you were trying to "create" or think up.

At least that's what we discovered for ourselves last night. Doesn't hurt to try!

And here's the finished product from the Moto's paint session last night: The Last Flower in the Valley (Just for you)

Frohe Weihnachten

This year a new event was held in Vancouver. It was the first annual German Christmas Market. This market features a large assortment of traditional food, unique imported gifts and entertainment. Having a German background, I was practically inline waiting for the place to open as soon as I found out. It has been nearly 6 years since I last visited the motherland, so I was hoping to get my fix through the Market.

My cohort and I went on this German adventure and let me tell you, it was PACKED!!! I should have known better then to go Saturday evening in December…but you know….wait…apparently I didn’t :P While it was no more than 5 minutes in line to enter, I wish I could say the same about the food line ups. Not having had dinner yet and walking through the aroma of various Bratwurst, Raclette, and Roasted Chestnuts, my tummy was about to break out in tears. Fighting the urge to jump into each vendor stall and swipe myself a dish, we wandered through to check out each stall.

While I was a bit disappointed in the merchandise shopping selection, I absolutely loved presentation and atmosphere. There were a large variety of entertainers during the night, accompanied by music, that smell of traditional food again…which stalked my nose….wooden huts decorated in garlands and lights!

We picked up ourselves some Feuerzangenbowle (I wish I had a reordering of my co-workers pronouncing this) which was served in ceramic mugs. Tomorrow I will be venturing out again to this event with a group of my co-workers, and most likely be substituting my Feuerzangenbowle for something along the lines of warm apple juice :)

Pre-Boxing Day Sale

Hello Everyone! Starting now until December 23^rd to Midnight (PST) we are having our pre-boxing day sale. All of our Jewelry and Flasks are 20% off! What better way to finish off your last minute holiday shopping or to treat yourself this season.

We will be posting more Flasks and Jewelry designs this week, so continue to check in for our fresh hot off the press work!

You can check out our items on our Facebook page. Be sure to email us your orders soon at info@tlrstudio.com to secure your purchase and take advantage of this fantastic deal! To receive the item at sale price, orders must be received before midnight on December 23^rd. Shipping rates still apply to orders being sent outside of the Greater Vancouver Regional District, please contact us for further details.


Happy Holidays!

Goodbye 2010 Craft Shows

Saturday was our last craft show for 2010. Time to hit the futon, kick up the legs, snuggle in my Snuggie (yes I do have one) and drink some holiday tea. These last four shows were great, even though a little more hectic than usual. We met a lot of fantastic people, both customers and artists, and we were glad to share our work with everyone. We also send a thank you to Crafty Bunny again for helping us run one of our tables and showcase her work on November 13th. We hope to join forces with her again in the new year

While our candle tea cups and jewelry were the top items this year, we would like to know what your favorites were. Was there something you would like to see that we didn’t have? Or a new and fresh idea you would like us to showcase? Let us know as we love hearing your feedback.

As for now, you can continue to buy any of our items in which you see on our Facebook Page. Just shoot us an email, and let us know what you are interested in. If you live outside the Greater Vancouver area, not to worry! We can send it your way for a small shipping fee (shipping fees are dependent on location of where the item must travel to). Don’t forget to drop us a line if you are curious about any custom work. We are always excited to take part in paintings, drawings, sewn items, jewelry, graphics and more!

Coffee Art

Let it Snow! I love winter. Sure it gets a little chilly, but nothing that can’t be battled out with the use of gloves, hats, boots and the excessive layering system of clothing! Honestly, since moving from Edmonton these Vancouver winters merely remind me of Edmonton summers. Okay, I am exaggerating a little, but you get my point:)

The first half decent snow we got was on Thursday, and of course it was like watching Dawn of the Dead, the zombies were a bit more aggressive though and trying to get on Skytrains and ended up turning on each other…. while the helpless few who remained uninfected were out on the roads driving. I got to be a zombie, it was pretty sweet.

My better half was unable to get to work. Waiting for buses which never showed, and then getting on one which took him on a joy ride, the poor man had a hour walk from his final destination to the core of downtown in hopes to find transit. He made it, but sadly got lost downtown. A call for help was made, and after giving directions I took the last few minutes of lunch to meet up with him. Seeing him soaked, and freezing, we made our way into a coffee shop to warm up for a bit. For the first time ever I was severed art in a cup! You have no idea how excited I was because of it.

I wish I could say, the snow continues, but sadly it has turned back into rain. *Sigh*

Circle Craft 2010

Circle Craft = Inspiring and Tempting. Circle Craft is a very large annual craft fair which takes place in Vancouver during the winter season. Today I ventured out to the event with Crafty Bunny and our partner’s in crime. While Crafty Bunny’s companion was overly thrilled to be going to the event, but I am pretty sure we supplied him with a good amount of entertainment while we were there.

One of the most exciting and unique artists we saw created helmet covers (www.tail-wags.com). Crafty Bunny was ecstatic about the…well…the bunny one, and I latched on to the lobster version. I also was pretty excited about the goldfish. While I do not have a bicycle helmet at this time, I do have a snowboarding one…

We were fortunate enough to get a glimpse of a free glassblowing demonstration. I am pretty sure that whenever I break a glass now it will feel guilty. The time and various techniques they used alone to incorporate the colour and pattern of the piece was MIND BLASTING. While I was truly mesmerized by their work, I don’t think I would have the patience to ever take part in it myself. A few years ago I had traveled down to Tacoma with my family and watched a similar demonstration at the Museum of Glass and since then have grown a new appreciation for glass blowing. Here are some of the artists we saw today:
www.mellonglass.com
www.psdesignsglass.com
www.illuminatiglassworks.ca

One of the pieces by PS Designs was their two and four sushi sets, sadly I don’t eat nearly enough sushi at home to justify the purchase.

Another vendor which made are day was Diabolo Puppets. These cute and quirky characters were a blast! Without hesitation we started picking up different characters and animating them with the strangest voices. Piranha, Bunny and this other odd fluffy creature which kinda resembled someone’s beard but in a brighter colour…what do you think?

Tumies were rumbling and so we decided we best head out, but we did make one last stop…at the Calgary Fudge Factory. Worst idea ever. We spent $40 in fudge! Rather, Crafty Bunny…I have some money I need to pass on to her. Sadly their website does not show nearly as many flavors as they had at the show such as Green Tea, Garlic, Pistachio, and Jelly Belly Jelly Beans! The men we eager to try the Eggnog version (and dunk it in some Rum of course) but they were sold out :(

I truly recommend going to Circle Craft next year if you have never been. Do try to go early to beat the crowds, and perhaps give yourself a budget J The artists are all very talented, and there is no shortage of variety, thus easily getting the best of a person...and their wallet hehe. Darn it! I totally didn’t do any Christmas Shopping…oh well :(

Craft Shows of November 2010

Well it has been a while hasn’t it? Shame on me, but is has been an insane last few weeks!! Insane is a very nice understatement actually. Art shows, long hours at work, a second job and Avon Calling!

The month started off with Craft Show preparation panic attacks. GRAB THE COFFEE!! With my mom being out, we did not get as much work done as we had planned to. Our first two weeks of November consisted of three shows, two of which were on the same day but different locations. This year our top sellers were jewelry and our new tea cup candles, which oddly enough, we were predicting these to be one of the lowest selling items…well we were sure wrong. Same luck I have with picking the winning lotto numbers…huh…

We have one more show for 2010, which is scheduled on the last Saturday of this month and we would love for you to swing by J The details are as follows:

Name of Event: Christmas Artisan Market 2010
Where: 1287 - 56 Street, Tsawwassen Town Centre Mall in Tsawwassen, BC
Date: November 27, 2010
Time: 10:00am - 4:00pm

We were also happy to have Crafty Bunny participating with us at our last show. She was an extremely big help (Thank you so much!), and we were glad to have her showcase her handmade earrings. Unfortunately she will not be at our last craft show, but if you are interested in any of her items, give her a holler on her blog, Craft Bunny.<--Click it…you know you want to ;)

If you are interested in any of the jewelry or candles by The Living Room Studio please shoot us a message on our blog, email (info@tlrstudio.com), Facebook page or Twitter as we are willing to hold them for you if you can not make it to the show. Be sure to get them before they sell out, as we will not be producing may more until the new year.

After we rocked our socks at the three craft shows, we were gladly looking forward to a week of down time, and so was our immune system. Awesome. My second in command got hit and hit hard, and my for some unusual reason my body thought it would be a good to follow his lead. Both of us have been living off massive amounts of veggies, hot beverages, and cold medication for a week and a half. We have also grown a new fondness for our futon and the system of food delivery. Mixed Veggies on Rice for the win! Luckily we are both close to recovery, and should be in tip top shape early this week thank goodness.

Tomorrow we will be attending Circle Craft with Crafty Bunny and perhaps her partner in crime. I will be sure to follow up with another blog, and of course some fantastic pictures! :D