happy fathers day to my main man dean. thanks for always being good for a laugh, and teaching me what’s important in life- like beer.
cheers to many more bevies with my bud!
camping in 1986. that’s my cousin heather at his shoe!
my cousin kaitlin is getting married this september and she asked me to do the design work for her big day. she came to me for something hand-lettered, fun and floral. she knew she wanted to work the colour navy into the design, but everything else was pretty much decided as we went.
step 1 was hand-lettering, and lots of it. i always start my sketching with a black ink pen in my sketchbook, then photograph the sketch with my iPhone, send it to myself and photoshop the sketch. once i clean it up to my liking, i take it in to illustrator and make it a vector image so it’s scaleable. from here, it’s time to play with colour, layout and adding actual fonts to get the design down.
below are just some of the doodles i worked on while sketching out the concept. stay tuned to see the final product.
the ouc home & garden show has come and gone. it was lots of work to prep for, set up, and get the design pieces done ahead of time, but was definetly a success.
i got to go home to ottawa for the weekend to see the show, as well as to celebrate my sister’s birthday. i packed light, so i have some iphone shots to share with you today!
welcome to the show! my dad cut out these wooden signs for the entrance, then my mom painted them to coordinate with the poster i had done for advertising.
the church was selling flowers and plants from laportes in ottawa as a fundraiser. they were so popular they sold out.
i set up the display for my dad’s woodcrafts. he is a cabinetmaker by trade, and has recently spent his spare time making birdhouses, drink caddies, letter trains and toy cars. have a look at the photos of his product. he is the most talented dude i know- tradesmen are just so skilled! i even picked up a birdhouse for myself- white with a copper roof made with my grandfather’s copper.
i designed the first business card my dad has ever had for this show. his talent and word-of-mouth has always been enough for him to work with. they are super simple, but the great thing is that they’re printed by cards of wood on real oak. i thought this was a great touch for him since wood is the main material of everything he makes!
i also ended up selling some of the goodies my friend steph and i used to make when we were both living in ottawa. we had a registered business called lou&lau after our childhood nicknames, and sold at craft shows. we hand-silkscreened on american apparel tees, tanks and hoodies, as well as made jewellery using new and vintage material. check out some photos of my little table setup i snapped with my iphone .
the last of the lou&lau merch, as well as dean weatherston‘s woodcrafts will be on sale june 14th from 10am-4pm at the parkdale united church in ottawa. 429 parkdale avenue.
hope to see you there!
this year the orleans united church decided to host a new event where they would sell flowers & plants, as well as, have local crafters sell their goodies. i was brought back in to help with design to help spread the word. may flowers mean cheery colours, organic lines and airiness. with this concept in mind, i came up with an illustration of flowers in a teacup- merging the main focus of the the event- flowers, with the other offering of the ouc- a little cafe where the shoppers can grab a tea and some homemade goodies. i used brushstrokes in illustrator to mimic the feel of watercolours so they appeared softer than a flat 2d shape. the poster was the first piece to roll out as advertisement in the community.
once i was done the illustration and lettering for the main poster, i had to design a simple brochure that could be printed at sure print, the local print shop. we went with their blue laser paper to tie in to the palette of the poster.
next up was an 11×17 poster to showcase the flowers they would be selling. i drew a garden pick to be used as a template that i could pop the flower photos into. next i hand-lettered the plant names, and we were ready for print.
one of the last advertising pieces for print was a poster for the digit gloves. the ouc got their hands on a ton of these gloves, which won’t be hitting stores like canadian tire and home depot until later this season. the gloves are specially designed to protect the tips of the fingers. for the ladies, this means no messing up your manicure while enjoying the great outdoors. check out their site to read more. before the show has even happened, they’ve sold over half of these gloves.
i’m on the train now back ottawa for the big show. i look forward to sharing some photos with you soon!
i just discovered this song thanks to a new friend at work. i love ben howard and was happy to find some new (to me) tunes by him.
well the bazaar has come and gone and it was a huge success! i’m so happy it all went off without a hitch. i saw how much work my parents put into it, let alone all the other members of the church who have been busy like santa’s elves making crafts for months.
here’s a few photos i took while setting up on the friday and then again at the bazaar on saturday.
can’t wait to see what they come up with next year!
pet shop booth: this mouse-cat-dog-combo display comes from a museum in ottawa. how much do you love the pet tie?
birch tree candle holders at the christmas booth. these sold out right away!
look whooo got a gift card for christmas! owl gift card sleeves that i’m obsessed with.
tutus for all the little kiddos. they were quite the hit!
goofing around with my little cousins emma and gracie.
i made letter templates for bunting banners for every booth. my mom and all her bazaar lady elves stitched them all together.
i scored this antique washboard from a man’s mother in new brunswick and these antlers from the vintage booth.
handmade wooden toy cars made by my old man.
ornament hangers to jazz up your tree. i designed the packaging.
happy sunday everyone!
today i hit the road with friends and we ventured out to the aberfoyle flea market to spend the day. it was chilly but at least we had sun and were able to enjoy a few hours of shopping outdoors. there were amazing things to be found and given a big budget, i could have easily furnished a whole street of homes.
after years of searching for a keeper, today i picked up a type tray for a bargain price of $25! i also got a W, H, I and a 2 to display on it once it’s hung on my wall. the third and last thing i picked up was an old wooden ruler for $5. i could have filled a monster sized truck and this will definetly be going on the calendar as a must attend event next year!
mark your calendars… april 27, 2014 the market will reopen for the 2014 season. see you there!
upcycle booth: so many caddies made from old wood. some even use grillwork leftover from a job my dad did at the governor general’s home.
corkboardcreative.com 
