1 8 Fresh + Pretty Ways to Decorate Easter Eggs

Are you decorating eggs this weekend? We usually make it a Good Friday activity, and so I searched out recently for some fresh inspiration. You'd think after a point there would be no different way to decorate, but the internet still amazes me!  Here's 8 new ones I've noticed this week:

1. Decoupaged Eggs
Pretty colours of birds and butterflies from Livet Hemma.

2. DIY Natural Easter Egg Decorating
Beautiful colours using natural colouring. From Nourish and Inspire Me.

3. Mr. Humpty Dumpty Eggs
A playful retro-inspired cartoon face by Confetti Sunshine.

4. Watercolour Eggs
Painted pansies using water colour from Craftberry Bush.

5. White and Black Marbled Eggs
These pretty ones were made using nail polish by Henry Happened.

6. Botanical Decoupaged Eggs
Beautiful eggs with a free printable to make your own.  From The Paper Mama.

7. Egg + Box Printable DIY
A cute idea to give as a gift. From Carrie Can Blog.

8. Cascarones Easter Egg Surprise
A fun take on the traditional shell hits by The Paper Mama.

3 DIY | A Spring String Garden

I've been wanting to try my hand at making a string garden for a while now and this past weekend was so nice, I decided to try the idea out on our back patio using spring bulbs and blooms.  I thought they would also make a cute hostess gift or something you could give to a neighbor for Easter.  They are fairly easy to make, in fact I want to try making some in "upside-down" mode.  Here's how I made them.

What you will need:
A plant or plants of your choice (for spring—pansies, tulips, hyacinths work well)
String (cord or wool —colour of your choice) or you could go with fishing line to make it invisible too.
Sheet moss (enough to envelop each plant)
scissors

How to:
Start off by emptying the plant out of it's original pot (being careful not to damage the roots too much). Surround the plant with wet soil creating a ball. Cut a piece of sheet moss, enough to completely wrap around the ball.  Wet the moss and then wrap it around the ball.  Tie at the top to start.  Then take another piece of string and wrap around the top a couple times and start to then wrap the string around the ball, wrapping tightly, and at the same time keeping the shape of the ball.  Keep wrapping the string around the ball in random places until you have covered the entire ball to your liking. Tie a tight knot to secure.  To hang, cut a piece of string and tie a knot tightly, on each side. Hang and enjoy, or give to a special someone as a spring gift!

Happy Easter and happy making!

37 Update Announcement | Our Poppytalk Retail + Workshop Space!

If you were around this past weekend, you may have noticed our instagram revealing our newest venture, bringing our online world into the real world! We're super excited about this next and what seems like a natural progression of our Poppytalk world.  Our new shop and workshop space, called Poppytalk will open it's doors early May where we will continue to support the handmade community with a curated selection of local and internationally-made goods from some of our favorite makers we have come to know these past 9 years online.  We also will be carrying a bit of vintage (to fulfill that bit of retro addiction) along with the odd guitar or two!

Along with the retail component, we will also be hosting an ever-changing selection of workshops from DIY + crafting workshops (think weaving, terrariums, embroidery etc.) to small business classes (from photoshop courses to blogging and social networking sessions).  With Earl's experience as a new media instructor at BCIT (e.g. photoshop, illustrator, html, apps), along with our experience running a blog and online business for the past 9 years, we plan to share our thoughts, tips and strategies for those interested, along with bringing in master makers to teach us how to make some amazing things!

Stay tuned for our brick and mortar opening date and online store site where we will be announcing workshops, (along with an online shop)!Our new address is 109 East Broadway (at Main), Vancouver, B.C.

Can't wait to meet you all!

Jan and Earl

2 New Book | Petit Collage 25 Easy Craft + Decor Projects For A Playful Home

Today Petit Collage's first craft book, Petit Collage, 25 Easy Craft + Decor Projects For A Playful Home goes on sale, so we thought it would be appropriate to give you a sneak peek of this wonderful book which author Lorena Siminovich says is a labor of love, glue, and paper. The hardcover book, published by Potter Craft features 25 modern projects with Petit Collage's signature look.

Founder, Lorena, offers super-cute ideas for making easy, yet unique items for children, from newborns to school-aged kids. All using Petit Collage's sought-after motifs and whimsical combinations of colors and materials. The book also includes templates, instructions, and loads of tips.  Click here or here to order your copy.

Let's take a peek!

Petit Collage, 25 Easy Craft + Decor Projects For A Playful Home by Lorena Siminovich is available through Random House or directly through Petit Collage.

4 Dispatch from Vancouver | Shop Tour - Production Road

Today we're virtually stopping by a cute little shop here in Vancouver (in the West End), called Production Road. Annie (whom you may also know as the designer behind the locally handmade collection, Lemonni, along with her partner Hubert, a documentary/commercial photographer run this multifunctional space – a studio with a retail component.  Annie tells us a bit about their space.

"The space where Production Road is right now was empty for quite a long time. We had an opportunity to take over the space in late 2012. At that time, we weren't quite sure how exactly we were going to use the space, but we knew we need a studio space to work in. So we spent the next few months designing and renovating the space. Since I was developing Lemonni products during that time, we thought, "Why don't we use it as a show room?" I could showcase my stuff, and Hubert could showcase his photography. And that's how the idea of combining studio and retail came by.

In the end, we don't just sell Lemonni products, but also other unique products made by local and international artisans, mostly independent. Our space is small, but well curated. We thought it would be neat to bring a creative space like this to the West End neighbourhood. The space is meant to be a place of possibilities; the retail space doesn't need to be just retail. In the future, we're also open to ideas of having workshops, pop-up shops, or short-term exhibitions. For now, the shop is enough to keep us busy! Also, meeting our lovely neighbours everyday has been a blast for both of us!

If you're wondering how we got the name Production Road... it's a name of the road where I grew up in Taiwan. There are coconut trees along both sides of the road. Over the past few decades, the coconut trees were threatened many times to be cut down due to road expansion. The local community has fought so hard to keep those 80-year-old trees there. I think this is the spirit that we'd like to have. The word Production also describes what we do as a designer and photographer – we create"

Let's take a closer look:

Production Road is located at 990 Nicola St., Vancouver, B.C.
and online at: www.productionroad.ca