Sarah Walker The Curated House, Author at The Curated House

Friday Giveaway! | Custom iPhone Case

I just love it when you stumble upon something lovely, only to discover the person behind it is even lovelier! That couldn’t be truer with the maker of my new iPhone case. In search of something unique and inspiring, I perused Etsy and was delighted to stumble upon SeptemberWren‘s cases, customized with Meg’s vintage-feeling, sun-drenched photos. It was hard to choose, and the debate came down to these two.

My love of water won out {after all, I still got to have some trees too!}. Given that one of my happiest places to spend time with my sweet family is on Lake Muskoka or Lake Joe enjoying a day of light dancing off the lake framed by fragrant pines, I had to choose the second one. I was so excited to place my order and couldn’t have been more delighted when I opened the box. It is warm and charming and happy and makes me feel like a family getaway is not too far off in my future. Nothing like a little visual escapism for the everyday! Perfect.

I had to message Meg of SeptemberWren and tell her how much I loved the case, and being the incredibly generous and lovely human being that she is, Meg suggested we share her lovely cases with you lovely readers!! Here are the details:

Meg is giving away not one, but TWO iPhone cases! The case can be customized with any of her photographs and can be made as either an iPhone 4 case or an iPhone 5 case. Holla!

To be one of these two lucky winners, here’s how you can enter:

1. Pin It To Win It – pin your favourite design {either from this post or from Meg’s Etsy shop} and post a link to your pin in the comments below. Be sure to include the hashtags #SeptemberWren and #TheCuratedHouse on your pins.

2. Follow me on Twitter and ReTweet the contest out to all your friends! Just post a link to your tweet in the comments below to help us track all your amazing Twitter activity.

3. Publish this post on your Facebook page, and again, just link us to it in your comments below.

It’s really that simple! Meg will then send a customized iPhone case of your choosing to you, the two lucky winners! How generous and lovely and perfectly delightful is that?

I will announce the two winners in the comments stream of this post on Sunday night, so you’ve got all weekend to Pin, Tweet and Facebook it up!

If you are looking for a thoughtful and personalized gift for a friend, I highly recommend considering one of SeptemberWren‘s cases. Christmas is coming. Why not get some of your shopping done early? Go fall in love with Meg’s photos and see if you can choose just one…I dare you!

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|October 26th, 2012|9 Comments

Joy Cho | Blog, Inc!

Photo by Bonnie Tsang

In seven short years, Joy Cho has taken the blogging world by storm with her delightful blog Oh Joy! After working as a graphic designer with numerous fashion clients in New York, Joy brought together her passions for food, fashion and design with the launch of her blog and business in 2005. Her ensuing blogging and design success have led to collaborative opportunities to design stationary, textiles, wallpaper and even a line of children’s clothing. If that wasn’t enough to keep her busy, this lovely and talented lady has also amassed an impressive portfolio of brand development projects for clients in the fashion and food industries through her Rx program. Joy Cho is clearly a woman for whom the sky is the limit, and the launch of her latest book, Blog, Inc! is just further proof of her creative prowess.

Blog, Inc! really reads like an inspiring conversation with a great friend who is offering you her best advice over a good cup of coffee. Packed with insights for everyone from seasoned bloggers to those just starting out, Joy offers wisdom on how to create community while translating your passions into an inspiring online presence. Joy’s business savvy and strategic approach {along with the many features of other interesting and highly successful bloggers such as Emily Schuman of Cupcakes and Cashmere} left me dog-earring countless pages! She also left me feeling like this little blogging adventure I’ve nicknamed “my sanity project” isn’t so crazy after all. In fact, it might just be a really wonderful way to knit together my life and work. Thanks for the encouragement, Joy!

Joy was kind enough to do a small interview with me as a part of her blog tour. I hope this little Q & A offers you a more personal glimpse into who Joy is and what she’s all about.

1. If you could express your blog’s mission statement in one sentence, what would it be?

A place to come and feel inspired and happy.

2. Your blog has evolved into a beautiful business, leading to several opportunities to create lovely product lines via collaborations with other creative individuals and companies. How many of these opportunities developed organically, and how many of them were as a result of strategic goals you set for yourself?

Thank you! I’d say it’s a mix. I certainly set goals for myself of things I want to accomplish. So, some opportunities came from me approaching various companies I wanted to work with and simply asking or pitching my ideas for a collaboration. And, in some instances they approached me with the opportunities. I’m all about being a go-getter, and believe in going after what you want. The worst thing that can happen is someone can say no. And the best thing that can happen is it works out, and you’re now working on your next big dream project!

3. How do you envision the next season of your creative life unfolding? Dreaming big, where would you like to take your blog and your business next?

I’d love to design more products. So far, I’ve done lots of smaller capsule collections, and I’d love to go into more in-depth collections where I can really showcase more of my ideas on home decor products.

4. In what ways does your blog enable you to live and work outside the boundaries of your physical location, and in what ways has it empowered you to nest and savour the sacredness of “home?”

My blog has made it so that I can do my job from anywhere. A few years ago, we had to move twice in two years for my husband’s job. While many of his colleague’s spouses stayed behind and had to have long-distance marriages during that time, I was in a unique position to be able to move with my husband since I have my own business that’s not dependent on being in a specific location. And in contrast, I’m even more of a homebody than ever. I love the fact that I can work from home, but I always try and make work time separate and stay in my office most of the day if I’m not out at meetings or running errands. I keep the non-working areas of my home (living room, dining room, etc.) separate from my work day so that they feel special and a place I come to unwind at the end of the day.

5. What are your best recommendations for creating meaningful community in the ever-changing, fast-paced world of social media?

Just be yourself. People love seeing your style, your creativity, and the things that make you special. But they also like knowing you’re a real person dealing with the same things as everyone else.

6. What is your favourite way to decompress from work and stay grounded?

It used to be exercise. I’d work out 4-5 times a week as my stress relief, and it was always an activity that totally distracted me from blogging or my design work since it’s so different from what I do for a living. But ever since I had my daughter last year, now my favorite thing to do is spend time with her. Nothing gets me away from the computer and living real life more than playing with a baby!

Photo by Bonnie Tsang

I’m with you, Joy! Time spent with my sweet family is truly my favourite way to decompress and get reconnected with what {or more importantly, who} matters to me most. As my little guy is getting older, working out has started to become a part of our family time together as well! Best of both worlds.

Wishing all of you, my lovely friends, the opportunity to just unplug today and get nose-to-nose, eye-to-eye and heart-to-heart with the ones you love. Happy Thursday!

P.S. Here is Joy’s outrageously adorable trailer for the book. {Warning: you may come away craving a slice of chocolate cream pie and a mint green Vespa!}

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|October 25th, 2012|3 Comments

Weir’s Lane Lavender Farm + Apiary

Some days just cry out for an adventure. Not necessarily a big one, but a change of pace, a new environment, a sensory experience. On just such a fine and recent day, a friend and I decided to take a drive out into the country to visit Weir’s Lane Lavender & Apiary. When we go on these adventures {we are prone to day trips together} I always try to brand it a Thelma and Louise adventure. She then reminds me that Thelma and Louise actually kill someone in that movie. I acquiesce that perhaps it’s not the best branding of our adventure, and then we move on to just being our normal, pacifist selves and enjoy the day together! It’s a rather charming pre-adventure ritual we’ve developed.

Photo by Cathie Coward

It really is amazing to realize that our South of France lavender field of dreams is being realized just outside of Burlington in the sweet farming community of Flamborough. The couple who own Weir’s Lane have quite an interesting story. After 25 years in the software industry wearing thin for one, and the other tiring of the commute from Toronto to teach at McMaster University, the owners decided a few years ago that a major change of pace was in order. They packed their Bloor West bags and headed for the country, still uncertain of what they might do with the farm they had chosen to be their new home.

After exploring the possibilities of goat farming and realizing that the cost of enclosures to protect the goats from the local coyote would be too precious, Kevin {the former software specialist} landed on lavender. I’m not sure he realized how poetic and therapeutic a choice this would prove to be.

Kevin describes the process of slowly converting their massive corn fields into lavender fields, smiling about the learning curve he’s been on since he has taken on this fragrant adventure. We wander and listen intently as he tours us through the newest lavender plants he put in this past Spring. Even the rarer white lavender are doing well, and it’s clear that Kevin has honed his agrarian skills quickly as he describes his process to us.

Where there is lavender {especially lavender in abundance} there are bound to be bees, and this simple law of nature led Kevin to Part 2 of his adventure: The Apiary. Bringing in an experienced local apiarist to get him started, Kevin is now producing raw honey and beeswax in abundance.

Photo by Cathie Coward

The farm now boasts an impressive 250, 000 bees who feast not only on the lavender, but also on the natural wildflower fields that frame their main source of sustenance. Most of the bees die off for the winter save the queens and a few of their workers. The process of disassembling the hives is fascinating as the bees literally clean the screens themselves, eating away at the remaining honey and beeswax.

The lavender harvest at Weir’s Lane leads to all kinds of amazing uses. We learned that French Lavender – less fragrant and milder than English – is primarily used for cooking. In contrast, English Lavender is the therapeutic lavender most of us would think of being used in aromatherapy to soothe frayed nerves. It also has some amazing uses topically, such healing cuts and scrapes and soothing bug bites!

Photo by Cathie Coward

Of course, the lavender can also be purchased dried by the bunch. The buds can be purchased by the bag if you feel inspired to create your own bath salts or therapeutic eye pillow. The charming little farm store is brimming with lotions and creams, beeswax candles and even lavender-infused raw honey – endless gift-giving options. Just delightful.

The season really has come to an end now, but I highly recommend putting this fragrant farm on your adventures list for this coming summer! We will definitely be back to see how the newest fields of lavender are doing while we drink in the therapeutic bliss of their fragrance.

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|October 24th, 2012|0 Comments