An inspired beginning of summer

This past Monday I returned from a very busy and delightful trip to St. John's Newfoundland. I loved spending time with my Aunt Karen & Uncle, we were just too busy being creative and seeing the sights to write any blog posts at all! I spent a lot of time painting and Aunt Karen did a little painting of her own. One of our favourite "canvases" would be...

Rocks! Abstract flowers are always satisfying. AK's best pointed tip brush has been fully worn out because I am an avid black-thin-liner! 

One of my favourite St. John's activities would be "tea in the crypt." The Anglican cathedral hosts a delicious English cream tea some summer afternoons. WE ATE EVERYTHING. (And everything was homemade.) Hahaha, We were served several plates of cookies and squares, scones muffins and loafs. Yum! I had green tea while AK enjoyed Earl Grey. 

A walk around the harbour/Quidividi is always a necessity. 

Newfoundland is so much more European than the rest of Canada and I just love it! 

Have a great summer,

FN

La belle ville

This past week I spent a few days in the very old and beautiful city of Quebec; located in la belle province. It was a trip organized with school and a very busy one. However, having 10 different sights and activities crammed in to our days did mean that we got to see and do a lot. (I don't think there's a thing we didn't do!) Below is a list complete with photos of (only) some tourist attractions in Quebec City.

The Quebec Legislature 

Politics doesn't really interest me very much...but this building was huge and just beautiful. Everywhere you looked there was an intricate detail! You can see on the front of the building there are statues perched on the walls of French politicians from ages ago. The inside had two large meeting rooms for the MPs...one red for the English and one blue for the French. 

The colours used to be much brighter but were softened to look nice on black and white television. 

Montmorency Falls 

This waterfall was beautiful and the forested trails around were so pretty! We took a cable car that drove above the falls. The view was nice and we took great photos that way. Once we got to the top we walked across a bridge going right over the top of the falls which was so much fun! 

Above is the view from off the ground and below is the view from the top of the falls. {Notice rainbow} 

Love it! 

Old Québec 

Old Quebec was amazing with it's cobblestone streets, touristy boutiques and French style cafés. We spent lots of time there - an evening ghost walk, shopping and lunch. There were adorable fountains and statues all over the place! It was a lovely place to stroll around and take photos. Also, I would definitely recommend the delicious waffle café.

Voila, A night time view from a high point in old Québec. 

 A mural on the side of an old building. 

I had a wonderful trip, and have only listed 3 of the sights I've seen. Québec city is one of the nicest places to tour in Canada! 

La fleuve St. Laurent 

Thanks for reading,

Mathea fn ❤️

A fun DIY with Sharpie paint pens

With Father's Day being this weekend, I'm glad to have finished my gift. I decided to try something new and delightfully fun! I found the perfect oil based sharpie paint pens at our local Michaels and got to work doodling my brothers and me on to a white ceramic plate. The plate is intended to displayed, not eaten off of and I don't know if the ink is food safe or not. I do know that my dad will display the plate in his office! 

The paint pens worked wonderfully and I would definitely recommend them; the oil based formula took to the plate nicely. I used this idea for father's day but it could be made for any gift-worthy occasion or just for fun! Now that I own the convenient little pens I'm hoping to decorate more ceramics in the future...and improve my skills a little! 

Materials used for this project: 

• One white ceramic plate from the dollar store 

• Oil based sharpie paint pens in black, yellow, green and pink. 

To start I sketched out what I wanted with a plain old fountain pen. This way I could wipe away mistakes easily with a damp cloth. When I was satisfied with my (very simple and cartoon!) drawings, I traced them with the black paint pen. Only after a night and a day was the ink dry enough to add a little colour! Even then it smeared a little, adding a greyish tinge which I was able to fix, mostly. 

Voila, the finished product! 

As you can see I've used my favourite chair as a backdrop. 

My drawings are very, very amateur and basic. I am cringing at those feet and the height proportions. Nevertheless, simple cartoony drawings were my intention with this! As long as it's neat and tidy (my little OCD area) I don't mind if it's apparent that I'm not an artist. I know my Dad won't mind! He'll appreciate that my little brothers are doing karate and gymnastics (hobbies of theirs!) for sure.

Thanks for reading! 

Mathea, FN

The beginning of our sparkling new blog

I love the feeling of starting a fresh new blog! My Aunt Karen and I are aiming to make this blog our nicest yet. We want to document our creative adventures together to inspire each other and you, the reader!

 Despite living in different provinces, ma tante et moi have always had very much in common! My Aunt inspired my love for dogs, writing, and my creative streak. Over the years we've always liked being artsy together and I usually visit her home in Atlantic Canada every year. There should be many lovely posts on here by the time I visit her in July.

What to expect from our blog? Expect photography. Expect craft projects, FAK loves to sew. I love all sorts of crafty things! Lately, scrapbooking. Expect delicious, nutritious and very impressive culinary art. FAK is a master chef! I guess we'll post whatever we like. Our pets, beautiful vintage finds, maybe some travel, perhaps some creative writing by FN.
Above all, we'll have lots of fun with this! Through this blog we will express our "joie de vivre". The joy of living and thriving.

Of course since this blog is shared, we will always indicate whether it is Karen or Mathea who is the author of a post or comment.

5 facts about me, favourite niece Mathea:

• I love acting and the theatre.
• I love style and pretty clothing.
• I am excited to travel to old Quebec city with my school class next week.
• I have a Schnoodle named Loki, (Poodle/Schnauzer) and a tabby cat named Juliet.
• I am bilingual and speak French. (Well maybe 3/4 bilingual!)

Always remember your joie de vivre wherever you go! Be creative and lighthearted and do what makes you happy.

Mathea, FN         

 I think that these little flowers I photographed in Mexico are gorgeous!