O-ffic-i-al! urbanLove is in Gift of Art!

Holy AND cow!
What just happened recently (I can't say 'days ago' because it's actually been in the making for about a month) to urbanLove was HUGE!

We landed a display space at the tremendously unique and awesome gift store, Gift of Art, on Richmond Row, London Ontario!!
HUGE!!!
If my mouth could stretch across my face wider than what my jaw would allow, I'd do it! Because that's how happy I am!!

OK let's start at the beginning because that's always a good place to begin, so as not to confuse the locals, lol...

Around July 20th, I was sitting here thinking of ways to advertise effectively and how else to get my name out there other than bridal shows (which although are alot of FUN, are also kinda costly) and pinning my business card on local community boards across the tri-city area. When I say tri-city, I mean Aylmer/St.Thomas/London. Disclaimer: I realize Aylmer is NO where near the size of a metropolis, but we ARE google-able. So that counts.

I began thinking about how they did it back in the day: pounding the pavement, cold calling, that sorta deal. Hey, you hafta start somewhere. I thought of all the places I wanted to network, day-dreaming about being in certain stores in the area, and achieving world peace.

Gift of Art crossed my mind. I was introduced to this store by sheer accident and chance many years ago; I was in a coffee shop waiting for my tea and glanced down. Staring up at me was a picture of a man standing outside of his store. It was an article in the business section of the London Free Press about a store that offered Canadian art and gift alternatives to what you see in mass-produced big box stores.

After scanning the article, I felt something warm in my chest and no it wasn't just the hot tea going down my throat...it was this sensation to want to see this store in person. After all, it mentioned one thing I loved: art. I immediately felt the desire to maneuver my car through downtown traffic to this little piece of heaven.
So I did.

It's a small store that is so beautifully decorated by pieces of art that it took me a minute to gather myself. It was candy to my eyes! Bright bold acrylic paintings adorned the walls, trendy little trinkets filled the store, and colour and art was alive and kicking in this small space.

There were pieces I've never seen before and never will again; which is the beauty to Gift of Art. Nothing is mass-produced, but everything is 100% original.

No where else will you see 3-D heart-shaped paper weights made out of blown glass that is hand painted with such detail and skill. No where else will you see steel that is twisted and contorted to make gorgeous eccentric wall hangings.

And what's even better, is that ALL the art is Canadian made, with at least 25% of the inventory being from right in the London area. How's THAT for keeping business local??
Awesome, that's what.
Exactly!

I knew then, in that moment of kid-in-a-candy-store/Lisa-in-an-art-store that I either wanted to own this place one day, as silly as that sounds, or somehow become a part of it.

Who knew. Funny how life works out eh?
I would try to visit the store each summer as part of my secret rendezvous with Richmond Row but had no idea that one day my designs would be displayed in Gift of Art.

Fast-forward to July 2009; I called up Gift of Art that sunny July afternoon and spoke with Brad, the owner, for all of 4 minutes seeing as though he was closing for the day in 5 minutes. I told him quickly of my business, what I am trying to do with it, and if he was interested to peruse my website.
Which he did.
And was impressed with my portfolio. He suggested I come in and we talk shop in person.

So I scheduled it for the day after the Hip concert since I was going to be in town anyways. I dressed in a cute dark fuchsia top that I bought at le Tarjay, and a nice pressed pair of black pants (that I got from Value Village for $5 - not ashamed at all to admit I shop at thrift stores, I mean seriously have you BEEN there recently?).

I gathered up my portfolios, my keys and my smile and headed out into the warmth that was the 10am sun.

Arriving at the store, I was so totally nervous. To me, this was a little piece of heaven and there was a part of me that wanted to just toss my credit card on the counter and shop till the plastic melted from all the swiping.

'Ah, patience my friend' my conscience said gently.
'Move forward, for great things await you grasshopper' followed my internal Mr. Miyagi.

I greeted Brad with a thousand watt smile laced with 500 watts of nervousness, said 'hello I made it' (duh, obv. Lisa), and set my portfolios down on his counter.

Initially, he said I would probably only be there for 15 minutes...
An hour later I walked out beaming as he not only boosted my confidence that day, but placed an order for me to create wedding cards that would be sold exclusively in Gift of Art AND offered me an area in his store for me to display my invitations.

As we brainstormed over ideas and signage and businessy things, I could see that he was a well versed and secure business man, yet at the same time, completely cool to just hang out and talk shop with as well.

Since that day, I've printed off the wedding cards and assembled them, complete with Card Candy as I call it (aka Swarovski crystals that adorn certain designs), created/printed/and displayed posters in gorgeous bold black frames, and commissioned my co-worker Eldon Peters (yes, I have a 9 to 5 as well) to manufacture me a sign made out of expanded metal and galvanized steel.
See attached. Hell, see all the attached photos, they pretty much tell the story! :)

Currently we are tying up loose ends; I've printed and assembled by hand some cute-n-colourful labels for my display, I've worked on a new design for his bag stuffers as I am doing some marketing work for him, and I've also had time enough to spit out the new urbanLove catalogues! Which Brad will have on display in Gift of Art as well.

Rock-freakin'-on, yo!
It's SUCH an ago boost to see your art on display in a prominent and well-liked store. To see my passion on the walls does wonders for my psyche. To have someone believe in me...priceless.

So here's to a new venture in both our lives ::cheers clink::

Gift of Art is located at
575 Richmond Street
London Ontario
519.642.4095

Hours:
Mon-Wed: 10am-6pm
Thu: 10am-7pm
Fri-Sat: 10am-6pm
Sun: 12pm-5pm

Photo Shoot with David Irvine

It became apparent to me, quite a while ago in fact, that I needed a new profile image for my Facebook account. The one I had was done professionally but was from when my son was about 9 months old. He's now 25 months. Yep, it was time.

I mean, I had a few "homemade" self-portraity shots I did in the privacy of downtown traffic, lol, but they just didn't quite capture ME.

Back in March I posted a blog about doing a Bridal Show at the St. Thomas Golf and Country Club. Which is where I met David Irvine. We talked shop over the next few months, when we both had TIME to talk said shop, and then I finally sat him down and booked a session.

Last Wednesday we couldn't ask for better weather. It was super warm out (not hot tho) and the sun cooperated magnificently...except for when it was in my eyes, lol. Squinty shots were not processed as you can imagine ;)

I did indoor shots, outdoor shots, shadowy "low light" shots, several wardrobe changes...2.5 hours and what seemed to be a million images later, we were done. I was actually exhausted from not only stretching my body into proportions and angles in an attempt to get that "perfect" shot, but from trying to not laugh half the time; not out of nervousness, but because I felt super comfortable around David and let him see my natural goofy side. I had a freakin' blast :)

David is really professional and a good conversationalist as well, and really makes you feel at ease. He's truly talented and knows how to properly guide you with head tilts and glances ("ok look at the corner of the desk, not at the camera, and think about what you did yesterday") so that you find that right moment of composure...and then you hear the soft click of the lens knowing that that image is caught on film foreva :)
OK maybe I'm being a little melodramatic, lol...

I swung by his house today to pick up the photos and disc. He handed me my album and gave me a quick tour via his computer of what I was receiving.
I oohed.
I ahhed.
I gasped in shock and utter glory, covering my mouth and pointing as I was totally impressed with his ability to capture the moment and make it look even more real than real life, if that makes any sense :P

I will not disclose how much I paid or how many images I received (so don't ask, lol) because that's a personal deal between he and I, and really, everybody's portrait package is going to be different.

But I will say though that he is absolutely worth my time and money. His talent exceeds others I've been introduced to and I am officially hiring him as my photographer; for our family portraits and possibly, one day if I am so lucky to say this, my wedding. Hopefully he will still be around by the time that day comes! LMAO...

He was also gracious enough to take some non-portrait images that I will be using for an upcoming wedding invitation design. It g'onna be awesome.

Please, I suggest that if you are looking for a great photographer for either your wedding or how you look in your favourite outfit as you lean up against a brick wall (um, ME), follow the link to his site and start there. His work speaks for itself. www.jdwiphotography.com

Thank you David for a great time and for your professionalism and talent. At the risk of sounding a little teeny-bopperish, you rock! :)

Baby showers and Ba-Dunka-Dunk Tanks!

WOW!!!
Whatta weekend!
Jam freakin' packed with fun-filled activities, cool peeps and of course, like I can get enough of this: SUN!!!

It started out Friday night with a Girls Night Out with my long-time close friend Lisa. She was down from Calgary visiting with her husband and daughter and called me up basically saying "Alright. You, me, the bar and some drinks. You game?" Ummm of course!!

We joined her and our friend Lisa (stop me if you heard this one: 3 Lisa's walk into a bar...) and had a FANTASTICAL time grooving to the new dance-hop tunes that frequent mainstream radio now-a-days, haha. We were Cougarific! :)

Ok wait, maybe 30-somethings don't qualify as Cougar's...I think more Puma's? Cougars-in-Training? Either way I was milking the fact I was about a decade older than half the crowd; it personally didn't bother me at all. It's all about growing old gracefully while shaking your ass on the dance floor ;)

Unfortunately I did not bring my camera for this event. I really didn't want to be responsible for it, truth be told. How can you catch a decent groove with a small but obvious piece of machinery in your hand? Raving with a camera? Don't work.

So I let one of the other ladies do all the picture taking. Once I get some images I may upload them on here...maybe ;)

The next day I headed to Londontown to my good friend Deb's house. She and her man Tony are about to become 1st time parents!! I'm super duper excited for them both.

I can't say enough how having and loving your child expands your heart in ways you can't possibly imagine. I can definitely admit that I consider both my kids my soulmates. I love them so dearly and would not be as complete a person I am without them.

It was a pretty low-key shower. Tony emailed me quite a while ahead of time to ask for advice and suggestion on games and decoration and advice and suggestion I had! He originally planned to have a couple of her girlfriends take her to the spa but plans changed so we all headed over for 1pm and enjoyed the summer weather in the backyard of their new home.

Deb gave me the dime tour; beauiful house indeed. The baby's room is lime-freaking-green!! I love lime-freaking-green! So, I had to take a pic :)

There was a light snack and lots of beverages to go around, great company and conversation. Good times had by all.

I could not stay long as I had other previous engagements with family out of town and about an hour or so drive from Deb and Tony's so mid-afternoon I headed out to join my family for a going away/fund raising event for my cousin Owen and his girlfriend Emily.

Owen and Emily got accepted at a college in East Ontario so both sides of the families got together for a homegrown Fair. Food, fun, games, a pretty big crowd, music, balloons, laughter...

No lie. There was a dunk tank.
And I totally went in it to help raise money for their tuition. As per attached fotos.

Everyone took a turn; various relatives of Emily's, my Aunt and Uncle(Owen's parents), me, Nick and even Owen's 67 year old Grandma got up there!! Now THAT'S living life!

We stayed till the bitter end or pretty close to it. Nick and I had to get our son home for a bath and bedtime so at 8:30 we pulled out of the driveway and headed home.

It was a perfect day.
It was a great weekend!
How was yours?

ACK!!! %&$%&#$&(*#!!!

Don't worry - this is a happy post. The above only means I'm freaking out in a good way :)

Yesterday...ahh, twas a grand event at least for me.
I had an opportunity to have professional photos taken of me by the wonderfully talented David Irvine.

Morning started off as such: hair and makeup at Les Ciseaux at 8:30am sharp (Jenny doesn't like to wait around, lol). My hair was styled by Jenny Luong and I love her because she's so hip and cool and young and modern. I walked in there with what I thought was the most fantastic punkiest idea EVER...and walked out looking edgy and sexy, not childish. The style I had chosen, in Jenny's words, would cause me to look more like a tween than a sexy 30-something.
Fair enough.

I sat in the cushioned salon chair facing myself in the mirror. I slightly resembled what I can only call a hip hag. Jenny stood behind me eyeing up the task at hand and as she fingered my hair (sorry, I suppose that sounds a little tawdry) she says to me "Girl, did you colour your hair blonde recently?" Yes, I said back. On the weekend in fact.

"It wasn't done professionally was it? It's too brassy. I have a solution for that." she proceeded to inform me of a product that thankfully I can find at Shoppers that helps make blondes look like blondes and not, as she said, brassy.

But brassy rhymes with sassy, which I am!, I thought with a smile.

She fluffed, straightened, styled, and product-ed (in other words, put "product" in my hair) until I was perfection in her chair. She's like that though; ANY strand out of place and she will fix that asap. I've never met a stylist as anal as her (I say that with love, I really do) but it's also what makes her so darn professional. :)

It took her all of 20 minutes to help in the transformation of Lisa. I had streaked my blonde hair the night before with Manic Panic red (that looks more like fuschia) and it was a pretty awesome job if I do say so myself! ::snaps suspenders proudly::

"Okay girl, makeup next with Kayla. Good luck today eh!" I smiled and thanked her for her awesomeness and scootched 3 seats down to where Kayla was waiting for me. We exchanged pleseantries and I showed her the eye shadow that I brought along to use: beautiful bright blue.
Srsly.
I was going ALL out today: edgy pink hair styled to funkterrificness. Blue eyes so bold and vibrant. God I love colour!

Might I take a moment at this point to say how incredible it is to get pampered. You know that light dreamy feeling you experience when someone is playing with your hair? I kinda got that same feeling when Kayla was applying with gentle brush strokes the powdery softness of the eye shadow.

Until she said "Open your eyes and look UP."
Riiight. Having someone draw eyeliner on me is not something I enjoyed. Not because it hurt or anything, just because it makes me uncomfortable. It's something that I should be doing because well, I'm not going to poke myself in the eye...not that Kayla did...crap this is going somewhere it shouldn't.

About 15 minutes later she stepped back from working her magic, handed me my glasses and a mirror. I was like, whoa. I had bright-assed blue eye shadow on and it.looked.GOOD! On me! Makeup! Who knew?

Long story short, both Kayla and Jenny did a remarkable job transforming me into VaVaVoom girl. :)

By the time I left the salon I was jacked...emotionally speaking ;)
I weaved in and out of downtown 10am London traffic with ease, enjoying the heat of the day already, slinging my left arm casually out my window all the while shifting gears, dialling my girl friend's number to OMG over my transformation and punching the radio keys to find the right song to fit my mood.
As soon as I heard Sex on Fire, I blasted it and waited on calling Rebekah :)

45 minutes later I arrived at David's house, hot and sweaty from the ride down from not only the weather, but my nerves. I was tres excited!

As I have explained to so many people over the past few weeks, this photo shoot was for ME. It was an ego boost I was in dire need of and no amount of sexy shoes on sale could help, to my chagrin. So I saved my pennies and found images online of the look I was hoping to achieve, and prepared for the day on so many levels.

And 'sides, I ain't gonna look this good in 10 years so I might as well get this shizz on film while I can, lol.

As David opened the door to his house, he complimented my hair and allowed me to walk past him with my props. I was armed with gear and attire; I had prepared for about 3 wordobe changes plus the usage of my props (chains, Fedroa, skulls, stilettos, and dolls my Aunt Carol sewed for me from my childhood).

I was there for about 2.5 - 3 hours and we logged over 400 images. That's not to say I will walk away with 400 pictures; David's going to narrow them down to the best ones based on so many aspects; shadow, light, skin tone, eye colour, atmosphere, personality...he will keep all the images for future reference but what I end up will be the best of the best.

David, I might add was VERY professional. Really easy to work with, made it such a comfortable experience with beverages and music and his overall talent. We did indoor shots in his studio and outdoor shots to take advantage of this beaitful sunny weather we had.

His 2 storey brick country home was located on sprawling farmland; there were 2 barns and a couple other little buildings, one being a small smoke house which was originally used for his kids to play in, but that day we used it to do one of my scenes after clearing out the colourful toys and taking down the art taped to the brick wall.

Near the end of the session I asked that David take some shots of the skulls for an invitation idea I'm working on. He set up the red suede background that I supplied and I positioned the skulls in the way I wanted them to be.

He took several images and when prompted for explanation on different lighting techniques, showed me the difference between general flash and flash with a puffer..?..buffer?...see I can't remember, but it was this white plastic piece that sat in front of the flash and makes certain portions of the props look more...real? I dunno. I can't explain it. :( But it was pretty cool stuff.

I also had him take some pics of my tatoos...they turned out AWESOME. Very nicely done. The whole session was tastefully done too. Yay and yay!

As we wrapped up, we talked shop about how many images I may walk away with, the difference between RAW images and jpegs, and when he figures I will be able to attain said images.

So. I'm excited, still. Another week or so and I get to see Lisa Transformed :)

The Tragically Hip @ Harris Park

Nick surprised me months ago with VIP tix to see my fave band (other than the Pumpkins but they are in limbo between being in tact and disabled so...), the Tragically Hip!

I counted down the days with baited breath and finally July 23rd was here!

We drank VEX at Brent's, walked to Harris Park, saw a guy who was obviously undecided between peeing in the women's washroom or the men's, meandered through the crowd to our VIP area and had at it!

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure. I think they are self explanitory. :) But yes just to clear the air, Nick is definitely drunk-ass in the one photo. Me? Not so much! Still had fun tho!

Road Trip to Tr'anna - The Distillery Edition

Well!

As stated in my previous post, lots has been going on...such as my social life has kicked into high gear! YAY me! I'm popular! :)

One day I was sitting here googling for things to do in Ontario. Originally I wanted to just find some interesting little area that I could hike and some small town shops I could peruse and just find somewhere to have a something for myself.

I found a link on a website that lead me to an advertisement for the Mid-Summer Artisan Fair in the Distillery District in Toronto. I know; small town girl let loose in the big city? Oh dear.

And as usual, I decided to kill 2 birds with one stone. Not only did I plan to go to this art fair, but since my bestest wife ever lived in the area I thought "hey! Bring Amanda!" So bring Amanda I did. :)

I packed up my 12 year old daughter, who I explained the importance of art in one's life is quite vital to one's health, and we headed East bound on the 401. I swung by to pick up Amanda and her BF Roger. Now this is where it gets silly and funny and a little stressed out for Lisa.

I asked Roger, who is a Torontonian, as we buckled up our seat belts (safety first people!) if he knew the fasted and easiest route to the Distillery. He did not. I shrugged nonchalantly as if not at all bothered by this and said "Meh, that's that GoogleMaps are for. I can just head down the Gardiner. No probs, yo."

Well...I shoulda done my research. Not only was it Civic Holiday weekend, aka cottagers on the highways, but it was also Carribanna weekend so THAT added to the influx and congestion of traffic. It took us an hour and 10 minutes to get to the Distillery when normally it would have taken 20 minutes. I was in between 1st and 2nd gear for over half an hour. My foot hurt. My toes were numb. All this in a feeble attempt to expand my horizons! SHEESH! :)

Plus, Roger tried in vain to give me directions. I ended up here and there, he directed me to go north when he meant south so I almost missed a turn off, and trying to get through Front Street traffic!? Yeah right.

I intended to also meet up with my friend Melissa. She and I originally met while waiting in line to meet Billy Corgan for a book signing a few years ago back in 2005. Haven't seen her since although we've always maintained a good online relationship ;)

So I emailed her a week prior and said "Hey I'll be in the 'hood lady let's hook up!"

Things went ahead as planned but she informed me that she had to work that day so she only had till about 1pm. I really thought we would have made it there in time.

Well, as luck would have it, by the time I had got to the Distillery and parked, thanks to the crazy collection of cars I endured, she had already departed. Oh well, I will see her again I'm sure! It kinda bummed me out a bit but once I saw all the booths and the galleries I quickly forgot about that disappointment.

If you've ever been to the Distillery District, then you know how absolutely BEAUTIFUL the architecture is. Olden tyme brick work, exposed rusty piping and cobblestone streets! Yes! Gorj! I wanted to fill my memory card with all these wonderful rustic images but risked looking like a tourist...wait, I was a tourist...ack. Moving on...

The first booth we stopped by was put up by artists from Ottawa called Postart Blooming Collective. Friggin' creative ladies they are! Basically they take anything that can be recycled and make it into art. Fr'instance: an old vinyl record? They put it into a mold and shape it into a bowl! How cool is THAT? Or, they take interesting bits and pieces of fabric, strings, and wires and make the funkiest necklaces! I should know, I bought one. It's totally me: eccentric, bizarre, and colourful.

They also had a small table set up for their friend who bends and shapes old spoons and forks into bracelets. See? Creative folk indeed. You can view more of their fantastic handcrafted bits and bobs at http://www.eclection.ca/

I did NOT want to leave the booth but there was so much else to see and do and eat...

Eat? Yes, at CafeUno. Lunch for my daugher and myself was $27 smackeroos but I tried food that we would normally have available to us in our small town. I drank Aloe. Yes. That same stuff that is in lotion. I drank it. And it was good. And apparently, good for my body. At least according to the colourful lime green label. Who can say no to lime green? I can't.

And Roger apparently was NOT letting me leave the place until I tried Expresso. And not only tried it but he got me this honkin' huge styro-cup of it! And I drank it! I don't even LIKE coffee, but goodness me that Expresso was quite tasty!

After leaving the Distillery, Roger suggested that we take a hike somewhere neat and interesting since I like neat and interesting places to hike! :)

I can't tell you where it was we were as I didn't ask nor pay attention to road signs, but all I know is that on this beautiful sunny day we were under a series of half-moon bridges that were adorned in grafitti. I took pictures because to me, grafitti is art.

My daughter climbed the structures that held up the bridges and dared Roger to join her, which he did easily enough as he himself is pretty agile.

I also caught a moment between Roger and Amanda kissing under the bridge. Ok, truth be told, I kinda directed them to stand next to a word that indicated closeness because I thought it was a great photo op. I see things through the lens that some people might not. If I might be so bold to say that I have an "eye" for photography. Not that I'm bragging. I'm just saying.

After the hike, I really did want to get going home. I missed my son, I missed the comfort only my juice-stained couch could offer (hey man, you have a toddler and see if your furnishings don't get ruined), and yes, I missed my man. (Cue the audience "awww!")

So after dropping off Amanda and Roger who I thanked for a wonderful time out because really, if it weren't for them, the day would not have been complete, my daughter and I buckled up our seat belts (safety first people!) and off we went, West bound on the 401 towards Londontown.

The whole ride home was awesome, due in part to the fact that traffic was jogging along nicely, and also because thanks to the Expresso, I was jacked and had the tunes blaring out my factory-installed speakers. We sang along to all the tween hits at the top of our lungs and just had a great car ride home to end a great day.

Next year we will do it again. :)

Paula Jolly - local artisan

Hello all! It's been a while... I know, bad Lisa. I apologize for the delay in the goings-on. But lots has been going on FOR the goings-on! :)

I wanted to let you all know about a fantastic and truly intelligent friend of mine who is also very much like a sister to me. Her name is Paula Jolly and she's a ridiculously talented artist who at the tender age of 22 followed her dreams and her passion which lead her half way around the world and ultimately has brought her back home where she bought a house and made it into a Gallery!
I know! Twenty Two!
Frick, at 22 I was potty training my toddler...digressing.

Last week was her official open house and naturally I attended to support my girl. I brought along my daughter and my awesome friend Nicole (who's made appearances in past blog postings) as we were also hitting up the Ribfest in Victoria Park in London. Fun times ya'll!

As we approached her house, I saw a large tent in the backyard and a structure I can only describe as a "cage" which displayed her best work. Wait a second, in my opinion, ALL her work is her best work. I've known this girl for ages and have never once seen a piece that I would label as mediocre. Art and talent seeps from Paula's pores like a creative sweat.

People milled about the yard, some entering the house to engage their senses in colour and textures, and some retreating with smiles and praises spilling forth as they nibbled on delicious tidbits of fresh fruit and freshly baked cookies.

I first stopped to say hello/congrats/you rock to Paula to let her know we showed up, and then we headed for the great indoors. I had stopped by a couple times in the past few weeks and saw the rooms-in-progress, so seeing it upon completion really took my breath away. She did SO much freakin' work it was unreal!

Paula of course, has some of her pieces displayed but 75% of the Gallery was dedicated to her artists; digital photograhy, sculptures, and textiles upon canvas. Amazing work. Really. Holy and Cow.

The track lights were perfectly positioned over and above the canvasses, spilling about a gentle light across the colours and textures. Each room was decorated with little funky tidbits and trinkets that just goes to show Paula's true personality.

Her friend had an extensive collection of old-school manual 35mm's and she had them displayed on shelves throughout the house to show the love of photography that was more than welcome in her domain.

I get that, totally. I get that SO much that a few days later whilst shopping for booth supplies at Value Village (BTW, that place rocks), I found an old-school camera myself. I've never heard of the manufacture before, but I think it just looks cool sitting up on my desk, looking down at me promising a world of photographic opportunities. I don't even know if it works, but for $3.99 I didn't care; to me it was a new found treasure.

We eventually made our way to the outdoor gallery and to see this "cage". Beautiful work was displayed and I even took notice to the little details of the yard; the position of the patio set, the interlocking brick for the patio area that was hand-stained, and naturally, all the flora and fauna that added a soft woodsy feel to the set.

Paula's Gallery, Jollyway Studios is located at 1217 Hamilton Road, London, a stone's throw from EastPark. She's open Mon-Fri, 8-5 but suggests you call ahead to ensure she is in the Gallery. You can contact her at 519-851-DRAW.