New prints available, and free shipping until August 10!

I've recently added some new art prints to my Society6 shop, so now, along with my favourite photographs from Asia, there are some favourites from past trips I've taken to California, Bermuda, Spain (I was there for La Tomatina, but the photos I've posted are from Granada), Morocco, and Italy (where I ran my first—and so far only—marathon: the Maratona di Roma)!

And now, until August 10 at midnight (Pacific Time), you can take advantage of free shipping worldwide!

Here are a few of the new photographs available:

Shop update: Gnome Home

My Spoonflower fabric order arrived, and I've busily building Wee Fabric Houses and puppets, and will reveal my new designs over the coming weeks. First up: the Gnome Home, now in the shop! I'm really excited about this one — I had a lot of fun illustrating all the travel-themed details inside, and all the flora on the outside.

The permanent home of the traveling Gnome! When he's not off galavanting the globe, Gnome calls this forest dwelling Home. Surrounded by flowers, mushrooms, and sheltered by a thick moss roof — Gnome curls up by his fireplace, reading travel books, and getting inspired for his next adventure (suitcase always at the ready)!

Each Gnome Home comes with a wee Gnome stuffie.

Even though he travels light, Gnome still needs to get caught up on laundry when he gets home.

Dandylions, tiger lilies, mushrooms, acorns, and clover.

Mementos and souvenirs of his travels — including, of course, a selfie in front of the Taj Mahal!

His front yard offers a peaceful respite from all the business of traveling.

Globe and travel books for planning the next adventure!

Sick in wintry Quebec City

Last weekend Mark and I went to Quebec City for an ultimate frisbee tournament. As timing would unfortunately have it, I was hitting the peak of a cold that I still haven't shaken. So instead of watching Mark and his team place 12th of 120 teams (!!), I spent the majority of the weekend in the hotel room resting and watching horrible (but very entertaining) shows on TLC. I did muster myself together to go for one short walk to the old town, because it's just so beautiful! I also found a fantastic raw/vegan eatery just around the corner from the hotel, and had an incredibly delicious sandwich and juice there — food medicine :)

Looking down on the lower old town from the terrace by the Chateau.
Note the very ice-covered St. Lawrence in the background!

One of my favourite view points in Quebec City.

Walking back downtown along Rue Saint-Jean.

A delicious and nourishing sandwich from Om Prana.
Sprouted bread, beets, spinach, cashew "cheese", basil pesto, sprouts, and tomatoes. Delish! 

I've been Blurbing again...

I've recently been happily (though wistfully) reliving my time in Asia as I turn all of those memories into photobooks. It was daunting to take all of our photos and turn them into just a few manageable books.

Back in the days when I wasn't as ruthless in my curation, our two-week honeymoon in Switzerland became a 10-book series... I know... a bit much, right? I was also a little more snap-happy then. But I still find it hard to choose which photos make the cut, and which ones will gather dust on some hard-drive somewhere, or worse, be abandoned to drift forever in the cloud...

After some very difficult decisions, I whittled down over 20,000 photos into one book of just 81! It was painful, I'm not going to lie. But for all the photos that really share the experience, I used the photos and stories from the blog, which I am increasingly grateful that we kept up. The blog book actually became two, because there was a lot of stories, and a lot of photos to go along with them.

So until I get the real thing in a few weeks, here's a full preview of all three books! (There's a button on the right that allows you to view it full screen.) Enjoy!

Half a Year and Half a World Away

Hereness + Thereness: Asia Edition, Vol. 1

Hereness + Thereness: Asia Edition, Vol. 2

Free shipping AND $5 off!

From now until midnight this Sunday, December 8, receive FREE SHIPPING worldwide, AND $5 off each of the prints in my Society6 shop! So if there's one you've had your eye on, now is the perfect time to order! And if there's another photo from my blog that you love, let me know, and I will make it available in the shop. Thanks for your support!

SEE ALL MY PRINTS ON SALE HERE!

A year ago today: we set off on an adventure

Aw, look, we were just pups!

I remember barely sleeping the night before (or really, the night of) our flight. Waking up with my heart in my throat: excited, anxious, nervous, jittery... Eyes wide as we took one last look around the house, so quiet and empty without the cats and most of our stuff packed away... Hoisted our stiff, pristine packs, full of our carefully thought-out things we thought we would need... Locked the door, to be opened in a few days by our tenant who would be moving in... Leaving the known, and setting off into the unknown in the pre-dawn darkness... Tears of excitement and disbelief pouring down my cheeks on the cab ride to the airport... The day had finally arrived! Mind racing through all the possible scenarios that awaited us... Flying west-ward and passing the edge of Canada, the farthest west I'd ever been in my life.

And then being thrust into the intensity of Bangkok. Eyes wide at everything... trying to navigate our way around... Getting suckered at every turn (and oh, we were suckers...). Our first tuk-tuk ride... Our first dish that was too spicy to eat, and we didn't know how to ask for it any other way... Seeing more Buddhas in one day than possibly my entire life up until that point... So many colours, and sights, and sounds, and scents! And oh, the heat! I remember being so overwhelmed... everything was so new and unexpected and in-your-face... It was incredible, and I would do it all again, but I'm still happy to be home, and excited for the first good snowfall to arrive.

I haven't had a good snow for over a year and a half...

Leaving O'Hare after appropriately dosing up on Gravol as I failed to do for the first leg. (Lesson learned.)

The only way to get around! Ottawa could use some tuk-tuks.

Today is the day.

Tomorrow will mark exactly three months since I returned from my life-changing trip around Asia, and began making some direction shifts in my life and career. It had become clear over the course of the trip—being away from what we get immersed in; thrust into places and situations that shake you and challenge you and force you to redefine what you think you know—that life would be different when I got home.

I couldn't see myself returning to life as a graphic designer. Instead, I completed a month-long intensive training in India and became a certified yoga instructor. In addition to this, an idea started percolating in my mind about the possibility of setting up an Etsy shop. See, I have this need to create. It's not just a hobby or a pastime to draw, paint, sew, and make things. It is something I have to do. And I had so many ideas that were just aching to be made real. I finally realized, I just have to give this a try.

So for the last three months, I've been busily and happily working away, and today I am thrilled to announce that my Etsy store is now open!

MY ETSY SHOP

Head on over, have a look around, and let me know what you think! I'm eager to hear from you. And a huge thank you to all of you for your support and encouragement with this endeavour! It sure is a super feeling when you can tell that others believe in you. I can't thank you enough for that.

Japanese Teahouse

Japanese Teahouse — opens to reveal a tatami-mat room overlooking a zen garden.

Wee Hobbit House

All Pinked Out

Look closer

A new destination offers so many new sights for the eyes to delight in. Unsurprisingly, the west coast of Canada is no different, and has stunningly beautiful landscapes in all directions: soaring trees dripping with moss, imposing granite peaks, and vast stretches of ocean extending off into the horizon (or entirely obscured in fog), and if you look a little bit closer, there are so many incredible textures and colours to get lost in...

Fossilized rocks.

Golden ochre sea weeds and cream barnacles.

Some sort of ewwy, awesome, slimy sea worts on a rock. Anyone know what these are? 

Burrows etched through layers of tree rings.

Off again. This time to the West.

Barely two months home, and we were off again. But this time, we weren't gone nearly as long—it was still the same season when we got home!—and we stayed in the same country. What could possibly make us pack up our backpacks to hit the road again? Two very, very good reasons: Mark's best man getting hitched, and Mark's ultimate frisbee team playing at Nationals; both of which very conveniently happened to be in Vancouver, and only a week apart. In between all that good stuff, we had a couple of fun road trips in our stellar Rent-A-Wrecks* exploring beautiful British Columbia, and long overdue visits with friends and family.

Radiating out from Vancouver in spurts, we visited Tofino on Vancouver Island, taking in the magnificent splendour of vast stretches of beach (often enshrouded in impenetrable fog), towering cedars, mossy rainforests, and bogs full of lichen and stunted, gnarled trees. Then on to the mainland where we did a loop to take in Whistler (and happy relive our engagement there, 10 years ago this winter!) and through the mountains and glorious landscapes that changed with every mountain pass and curve in the road, to the arid Okanagan Valley where we tasted our way through the orchards and vineyards while ospreys soared overhead. Then back to Vancouver via Canada's desert (who knew?!) for all the wonderful wedding festivities befitting the most perfect pair, and happy reunions with old high school mates. Good times, I can assure you. There just may have been some jumps to the left and other such dancing-related shenanigans.

*A note about our car rental experience in Vancouver: Apparently August is a very busy and popular time for renting cars, so fleets sell out quickly, and for the remaining cars the rates are extortionate (like $149 per day; this is five times the rate for renting in Ottawa). But fear not! For a more respectable rate of about $40 per day, you can Rent-A-Wreck, which just means the car has a few more km on it than regular rentals, or has some other fun quirks that you will grow to love. For instance, our second rental, a Malibu with almost 200,000 km, was a bit bi-polar and prone to random freak outs (the car alarm would go off if the car was unlocked for too long, very embarrasing), with non-functioning A/C, and had a bit of trouble maintaining speed to get up those steep mountain roads. We lovingly called her Ursula, The Little Car that Couldn't. Well, she did, but barely.

First glimpse of the Pacific through the trees.

I love this quote seen on an interpretive sign in the forest:

There are themes everywhere... tender youthfulness laughing at gnarled oldness. Mosses and ferns, leaves and twigs, light and air, depth and colour chattering, dancing a mad-joy dance... only apparently tied up in stillness and silence. You must be still in order to see and hear.  —Emily Carr

Introducing! Prints for sale at Society6!

I am so excited right now, I think I might burst! As part of the new, creative endeavour I'm embarking on, I am starting my own Etsy shop (launching soon!) where I will sell fabric houses and portrait tees. But after taking over 20,000 photographs in Asia, I have a few of those I'd like to share, so I've set up a little shop over on Society6 where you can buy gallery quality prints in different sizes.

So head on over and have a look! I do hope you enjoy, and would love to hear what you think!

Here are a few of the photographs for sale:

Auburn haze in the dusty streets of Bhaktapur, Nepal.

Boatman on the bow. Railay, Thailand.

Lusciously green rice terraces in Tegallelang, Bali, Indonesia.

Sun rising over volcanoes and craters in Java, Indonesia.

Fields of tea in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia.

Morning alms procession in Luang Prabang, Laos.

Kite flying from rooftops in Varanasi, India.

Late afternoon haze in Vang Vieng, Laos.