My kids' nurseries have always been something I liked to work on after they were born. Though I would always start with something while I was pregnant — a blanket or a mobile — I just like the idea of working on the room when they are here and while I get to know them.

I always had it in my mind that we would travel lots while I was on mat-leave. And luckily we were able to go some pretty wicked trips in when we had my son — Florida, Portugal, Iceland, California, and we even managed a road trip to Minnesota before he was a year and a half. And now that we have a second little bundle of joy, we’ve added an all-inclusive trip to our list of travels with littles. So now I feel like I have enough knowledge about what to pack while travelling with an infant and a toddler and have my tried and tested lists that I turn to each time we have a trip coming up.

Baby number two is 6 months old and I feel like it's taken me this long to finally get into the swing of things. Some might say two under two + freelance design + side hustle Etsy shop + prepping for craft shows + planning events with a mommy group would be enough. But I like to keep things fresh... LOL. So I am VERY excited to announce that I will be hosting a workshop this Spring on how to make a felt succulent garden.

This has been one crazy year so far, and if moving and having another baby aren't enough, I've also been chosen to be a vendor at the annual Etsy Made in Canada show (the Burlington edition). Actually, let's make it crazier and do the show ONE WEEK before my estimated due date. Yeah, no biggie. ;)

User experience design, or UX, isn’t just a trendy buzzword… it’s essential if you’re looking to create products for people, and isn’t that what every organization aims to do? It’s easy to see when businesses treat UX as afterthought because it leads to products that are not intuitive and services that alienate customers and clients.

After having a baby, there are a lot of things that change, of course, but one of the biggest changes may be in the way you and your partner act (or want to act) as a family. What kind of values do you want to bestow on your offspring? What character values do you hope they embody? Lead by action is a wonderful way to set the right impression no matter the age of your child(ren) but sometimes it can be tough to get everyone on the same page. I think a family "brand" foundation might be just the thing to get the whole family on board.

Okay, so the title is a little misleading. I LOVED being on mat-leave. Well, okay maybe not at first. The first few weeks after having a baby for me as a new mom were HARD. Happy and joyous yes, but also really painful, and draining, and just plain hard both physically and mentally. But, there were a few pretty key things that I can attribute my sense of well-being during mat-leave to and I'll list them for ya here!

Okay, so doing a chalkboard wall might be a little late to the trend. But I have always wanted to do a photo wall with embroidery hoops. So combining the two in a feature wall seemed only to make the most perfect sense! Here's how I did it...

For me, this past year (or two, but who's counting) has been perhaps the most volatile as far as life-changes go and there are many, many reasons both big and small that have lead me to where I am this very moment. This is a little summary for myself about why I decided to open an Etsy shop.

If you know me, you know I've always got my eye on crafting something new. But ever since I first taught myself how, almost 10 years ago!, crochet has always been my "fall back" craft. So when we settled on a sea monster theme for Bobo's bedroom I had it my head that I would make a mobile.

At 10-weeks postpartum, this is my short list in a long read of a few key things to remember for next time (should I ever find myself having a baby again).

Think of service design as your experience in preparing for and watching a movie. Everything from the hype around the movie trailer, booking tickets in advance, reading box office reviews, seeing the latest tabloid buzz about the lead actors, arriving at the theatre, and finally, watching the movie has an effect on your overall experience. The moviemakers can control some factors and not others. What’s critical to grasp is that both the controlled and the uncontrolled elements influence not only your movie-watching experience but also what you do with it next. Do you love it or hate it? Do you buy all the fan paraphernalia or do you tell all your friends not to go watch it? Every little touchpoint adds up to the big picture effect.

I had a lot of fun with this "make belief" healthcare project with the team at Pivot... we identified a problem and then brainstormed a solution to see what we could come up with if there were no project barriers to get through. Read on to see how it unfolded...

In this series, we explored the methods and principles of user experience design (UXD) and how they could practically be applied to today's business problems. It's a 5-part series to feel free to take your time reading them — they're doozies.

This idea for this article came about from my final year thesis of Undergrad. It was then condensed and written in this blog format at Pivot Design Group — a Toronto-based user experience and communication design firm.

This idea for this article came about from my final year thesis of Undergrad. It was then condensed and written in this blog format at Pivot Design Group — a Toronto-based user experience and communication design firm.