The snow has finally arrived in Nova Scotia!

I got up & out early this morning to finish dressing
the bows - let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Soon enough we will have our ice rink back!



Snow Angel?



Mister Fluff now has the best kitty fort in town!

A Look Back to the Festival of Art

On October 1st & 2nd Flying Cloud Boutique hit the road to attend the 5th Annual Festival of Art, hosted by the Hants County Arts Council at the Vaughan Shand Centre in Windsor, Nova Scotia.

Revealing for the first time our folky "mini cloud" kiosk, we were able to show off a small selection of items from the shop while also providing free artist demonstration for visitors who came out to view the showcase of 20 Hants County Arts Council members.

Instructor at Inspire Art School, Jaki Durocher created a sculpture from clay while Tacha Reed demonstrated needle felting techniques.

For more information and pictures from the event please visit the Hants County Art Council's Member's Gallery Blog: http://hcacmembersgallery.blogspot.com/

Grand Opening and First Summer Party!

On July 23^rd we had our Grand Opening and our first of hopefully many summer parties here at Flying Cloud Boutique!

Artists Jaki Durocher of Inspire Arts School, along with other Hants County Arts Council members Carlos Da Rosa and Dora Davis, worked some magic with their paint brushes creating a beautiful mural of the Blomidon cliffs on our garage doors (on what turned out to be the hottest day yet this season - bless their hearts for sticking it out) 

Local artist (and I mean local – she lives just down the road!) Patricia Dillon was set-up in the shade with an assortment of supplies teaching our visitors how to create their own beaded mosaics. As a surprise she presented me with a beaded portrait of Sylvia! Just amazing – I love it!

No good party is without music, and Christina Martin with her usual charm and wit delighted us with some new stories and tunes, creating an entertaining atmosphere for all in attendance.

One of Flying Cloud's own, photographer John McCarthy, got a few great shots of Christina serenading us - one of which you can see on his website

We had many local visitors and Nova Scotian artists stop by throughout the day helping us to celebrate the coming together of so many talented people.  It was a festive event overall and I look forward to planning an even bigger and better anniversary party next summer!

The journey of Silver Sue: As told by Nicole Trask of Halifax Magazine

Trouble reading the article? You can also read it online here!

Hallelujah the Postal Strike is Over!

At long last the postal strike is over, and now I can finally get on with my printed marketing plan! My flyers and rack cards have arrived and now I just need to spread the word!


Phew! It was difficult enough arranging to get product in throughout the strike, but to have to try and advertise too - I'm just thankful things are back to normal :)


Now maybe my birthday cards and box of birthday Barbies will arrive!


It's always exciting to get a box of toys in the mail, no matter what age you are! Come on, admit it - it's true! 


Moments ago a big box arrived from Rock Maple Toys full of wonderful wooden cars, puzzles, even baby rattles. Toy maker Dan Campbell finishes his wooden creations with organic, environmentally friendly products. Looking through this box takes me right back to when I used to play with my own wooden trucks.  


Milk paint and hemp oil are used to seal the wood with a child safe tough finish.  The toys are then topped off with a hand rubbed beeswax finish for a truly green toy! 


I can't wait to put these beauties away in the shop :)

Open for Business!

This past Saturday we hung our open for business sign and welcomed guests into Sylvia for a tour of Flying Cloud Boutique.

Many friends from throughout the province made their way down to see just what it was I'd been working away on these last few months. Sylvia and her collection of unique local wares were a big hit - I was a proud momma for sure!

I have to admit it was a huge relief Saturday morning to open the door and look in on my little store; I'm really thrilled with how she's turned out and feel so blessed that I get to spend each day in her making and selling art!

Talk about dream job!

The highlight of opening day was when my very first customer picked out a kitty I had just given whiskers to only 45 minutes before hand. A hot pick critter to match her hot pick outfit - how purrrrrrfect! These are the moments I live for :)

Now that we're open for business I can finally get around to some other things on my very long to-do list... like the website, which has a huge update coming this Saturday! 

                 

This online addition arrives just in time for release of Halifax Magazine's summer issue which includes a feature on the store, her reno's and a few of our artists. Look for it in this weekend's Chronicle Herald and at local new stands like Atlantic News. 

Until then I'm going to be making flag banners and working on the promo for our next big event - July 23! More to come on that and other summer events shortly.

Welcome Home Sylvia!

Sorry for the delay folks, I know you've all been patiently waiting for some news on the homecoming, that being said I will now take this opportunity to proudly announce that Sylvia has finally arrived!


For months I've pictured what she would look like in the yard, where she would sit, the gardens around her... but nothing beats seeing the real thing. There is still a bit of work to be done to get her looking her best before the opening on the 18th. We're going to polish her up a bit, and there's still some painting and landscaping that needs to happen before I start putting away the stock that has been arriving daily. 


I promise to start sharing some of the treasures with you shortly, but for now I'm going to leave you with a collection of shots since her arrival - enjoy!

Welcome to Flying Cloud Boutique!

She fits in here quite nicely!

She even looks good from the bug tent!

Looking cozy.

These shelves were once the floor - yay free-cycle!

Hello from Tacha and Gary!

Experiments in cleaning aluminium...

Bryan did all the dirty work.

One side with $25 spray the other with $5 oven cleaner

After a buff she is going to shine like a mirror!

The quilt top I found at Frenchy's is a perfect fit for the booth!

I'm sure this find was a gift sent from my Grammy, it
looks as though something  she would have sewn herself.

I'm thinking I might do a little decoupage in the accessory area 

I'm a little tired right now, but it's all worth it!

Multitasking the Days Away!

Well the count down is officially on! Sylvia will be coming home in 8 days and Flying Cloud Boutique will open it's doors in 21 Days!  That's just 3 weeks away!!!


I feel like I've been busy just about every minute of every day, working on one thing or another, getting ready for the soft opening Saturday June 18th.


Last week I had two interviews - the first with the lovely Nicole Trask for a feature appearing in the summer issue of Halifax Magazine, and the second with Glen Parker from the Chronicle Herald. 


I've never been interviewed for a publication before, it was quite an exciting experience; my only disappointment was that I couldn't show them Sylvia up close... but they, like me and you all, will have to wait for the big reveal next weekend!


Until then I am going to keep working away... getting contracts signed, organizing inventory, writing informative blogs on all the participating artists who've come on board... and no doubt fighting off mosquitoes and black flies as I try and make Sylvia's new home as pretty as possible.


Wish me luck!

This Week in Reno's: Some very clever recycled racks

The view from my counter, it feels so open and spacious!
I just love how the turquoise bounces off of the walls.

The always inventive free-cycler Gary puts some old racks to good use!

Here's another one salvaged,  now cleverly disguised as a magazine rack.

In three more weeks I'll be sitting right back there wearing
 the biggest smile you've ever seen, I can hardly wait!

Last Week in Renos

Gary found the perfect match for my colour scheme - it's called Scooter!

Bottom shelves complete!  Now to build the towers of shelves & drawers.

Fulka: you have to marvel at the beauty of fate!

Fate is a funny thing... can you even call fate a thing? 


Fate is a ironic, humorous, romantic and knowing reality. Today's gift from fate was brought to me by the universal language of the interweb! 


Many months ago when my life long dreams were finally jumping full step into fruition - it seems so were someone else's. 


Initially when I had finally narrowed down exactly what the shop was going to be, and found Sylvia to serve as the store front, I had to come up with a name for the business... which is easier said than done!


A long time favorite was "Birds of a Feather" - but that was already out there in multiple forms. "Local Yokels" was Bryan's choice;  boy oh boy was he defeated when we found this killer local site already in existence http://www.localyokel.ca  home to a Canadian Maritime collection of earth-friendly small-scale businesses. (*note to self, I must make friends). 


Our friend Lee took the name to the next step with "Locals Only". We thought that perhaps this name was a little too edgy... we didn't want to come off as elitist or anything. I went online and tried out various language converters... for days I typed in adjectives until it hit me - the perfect name of course would be Fulka Art!


Now according to good ol' wiki fulka means:

The English word Folk is derived from a Germanic noun, *fulka meaning "people" or "army". The word became colloquialized (usually in the plural folks) in English in the sense "people", and was considered unelegant by the beginning of the 19th century. It re-entered academic English through the invention of the word folklore in 1846 by the antiquarian William J. Thoms (1803–85) as an Anglo-Saxonism. This word revived folk in a modern sense of "of the common people, whose culture is handed down orally", and opened up a flood of compound formations, e.g. folk art (1921), folk-hero (1899), folk-medicine (1898),folk-tale (1891), folk-song (1847), folk-dance (1912). Folk-music is from 1889; in reference to the branch of modern popular music (associated with Greenwich Village in New York City) here it dates from 1958. It is also regional music.

Fulka Art! It makes sense right? 

Brilliant I thought... then I googled it and nothing came up... at first... but a few weeks later I thought I should check again and this time sure enough I found a "Coming Soon - Fulka" page - a really freakin' awesome page at that! 

It was the graphic of a woodgrain patterned deer that hit me in the gut with  "I don't know you but I already love you!"

But... damn it... now I was back at the drawing board... plus my business counselor added that "fulka" might sound too close to something else (drop an "a" and you get the f-word in a  Nova Scotian accent) it would no doubt be rejected  by the powers that be in the good ol' government offices. 

After a while I realized I had known the name all along. Ever since my prolific dream the night before I found Silver Sue (now that's a story for another day), I began recalling it as the "Flying Cloud" dream. One day I stopped short  with a  "duh!"  and I knew I had my name... Flying Cloud Boutique!

This morning I decided to check back in on the Fulka site and find out just who they were? 

Wow, what  a very nice surprise! 

Here's a snip-it from the Fulka Website and Facebook pages:

Fulka is the stage and recording name of folktronica singer-song writer Ola Kobak from Pretoria, South Africa. 

Fulka have been performing live since the 25th of February 2010 when the band was invited to play their first live show as the opening act for Dear Reader at the Rustic Theatre in Lonehill, JHB. 

Alongside Ola is a very veritable army of talent that includes her husband, well known electro maestro Jacob Israel, layering the drum beats, vintage synthesizers and production; multi- instrumentalist Corné Roodt, playing anything from piano to bass, drums, accordion and banjo; Christian Henn, whom the group describe as a kind of ‘song construction engineer’ and Jean-Louise Nel whom captivates with her backing vocals and viola. 

Other artist featured on the album include progressive trumpeter Marcus Wyatt and Janus van der Merweand Ola’s father, Speedy Kobak, who has been sessioning as a trombone player for many bands including Lucky Dube, Natalie Cole and Johnny Clegg.

Pretty freaking awesome right? The tune "Dancing in our Darkest Days" is definitely now on the soundtrack to my life - absolutely! 

If you're interested to find out what all this fuss is about and want to learn more about Ola and her tribe of musicians then check out http://fulka.co.za and dance your afternoon away to the goodness of her streaming audio!

Oh fate, thank you once again for being wonderful you, always bringing me sunshine, even on the grayest days.

Checking in on Sylvia's Renovations

This last weekend we took a trip to Annapolis to check in on Sylvia's progress and exchange ideas with Gary about the designs for the shelving. 


So far things are looking really great! I just love the combination of recycled and salvaged material; transformed by such a clean design style, it is what I would build if I had the first clue as to how to build! I may have done well in junior high "Wood-shop"  pumping out a spice rack, a loonie shaped piggy bank and a foot stool, but I've always been a little too afraid of power tools to take on any project as detailed as this one on my own... so I'm pretty thankful we found Gary! 


One obstacle for us had been what to do with the floors, but super Gary came up with yet another brilliant solution, one that I think will end up looking absolutely fabulous (but you'll have to wait for the reveal to see for yourself!)


We had a great visit with Gary as he showed off all his hard work and displayed the benefits of his versatile designs. One example being the transformation of the dinette into a double sized bed! Gary has so many tricks up his sleeve...  now I just have to patiently wait for the next four weeks to pass so I can finally revel in Sylvia's complete makeover! 


Until then here are a few pics of what's been done so far...

The view from my counter.

The built in storage also hides the wheels.

Gary showing me how the storage cupboards
on the other side will be deeper.

Gary has plans to build me a display
case made from recycled windows.

Gary had to replace an old leaky vent - bye, bye water!

The previously built in cupboards are pretty rad themselves, with
a little paint they are going to work nicely as display boxes!