UPDATE: WWW.LYSAFLOWER.COM’s new site will be going live September 5th, instead of the 1st. See you there!

Hello you! How have you been? How’s your summer been? A whirlwind, like most summers? Our family just got back from a typical family wedding.

In Italy!!! That part not so typical for us! For those of you who followed me on Instagram, you know what I’m talking about. It was marvelous. Like most people I love traveling but my two favourite reasons are:

1) I get caught up on my reading (I may need an intervention a some point. My stack of books is growing faster than they’re getting read). I was thrilled that I got through all three books I brought with me on our trip. Now if I can just resist buying more books…

2) Travelling gives me time to reflect on BIG PICTURE stuff. What I’m doing and why I’m doing it.

And with number two I’ve made these three decisions:

     1) I’m retiring my drawing project (at least for now).

     2) (so I can) Focus on my surface pattern and sewing designs.

     3) Create a website that reflects and shows my work more prominently. Still including a blog where I’ll continue to share projects, inspiration and my creative journey.

Which  means this will be my last blog post from this site. It also means if you subscribe you’ll no longer receive email updates from this site.

So how will we stay in touch then?

I will continue to use WWW.LYSAFLOWER.COM for my new site and bonus! It’ll also have an email subscribe.

I cordially invite you anytime after September 1st to visit WWW.LYSAFLOWER.COM. I’m beaming with pride about it. I’m so excited I can barely contain myself!!! It’s so pretty! I can’t wait for you to see it.

I’ve always been so grateful for, loved and enjoyed you all so much. Thank you so very much for all the support, comments and camaraderie you’ve been so kind to give…

Now, let’s see what kind of trouble we can get into over there!

On the 11th of May, I joyfully attended my friend Lori Weidenhammer’s book launch dinner. I can’t even begin to tell you how proud I am of her!  Lori and I met 16 years ago at a Momma and baby group in Vancouver. We were both transplanted prairie girls, her from Saskatchewan and me from Alberta. Her son had the BEST moose hat and Lori has the most contagious laugh! Seriously I LOVE her laugh. When I heard her laugh and saw the moose hat I just knew we were going to be friends!

A few years later we moved away from Vancouver. Somehow, thankfully, Lori and I continued to stay in touch. I remember the beginning of Lori’s love for bees and gardening. I also remember her telling me about her Madam Bee Speaker persona. It was so fascinating watching on Lori’s blog, Bee Speakers Saijiki, as she worked with various gardens and started to educate school children about bees. When she called and told me she was doing a book on bees, well, it was just perfect! It was totally meant to be. And totally a labour of love.

Fast forward to this past November, I received this little email from Lori, “hey wanna do a poster illustration for my book?”

“Um. YEAH I do!”

I was thrilled and excited just to be asked. I have to admit, one of my favourite parts of working on new designs is the research. Lori pointed me in the right direction and off I went, learning everything I could about Bees and Victory Gardens. This isn’t the exact illustration because… well you’ll see in the next two scheduled posts. I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

A few months after finishing the illustration, Lori and I met at Shatkea, the place she wrote everyday while working on her book. As we chatted I suggested we do some kind of booth together, either a craft fair or farmer’s market. We could promote and sell her book and I could do up some bee themed fabric and garden wares. We looked around and decided Mini Maker Faire would be the best fit. So that’s what we did!

Booth 2103, that’s where we’ll BEE! (see what I did there? wink, wink!) Save the date and if you’re in the area, pop by and say hi! We’d love to see you!