All Posts By

Kelsey Dundon

The Cool Kids | The Diaper Bag That Doesn’t Look Like a Diaper Bag

Mom style gets a lot of flack (thank you, Tina and Amy!). So you gotta love anything that doesn’t look too mommy, the kind of thing you’d wear even if you weren’t toting around bottles and baby wipes.

The Stockholm bag by Ikabags is one such find. It looks like a tote you’d take to the beach instead of the tot pool, yet it has compartments for all the soothers, diapers and nonsense you can no longer leave home without. Plus it’s handmade in Paris, which makes sense since you’ve never heard anyone talk smack about mère style.

Pinstagram | Water and Watermelon

The Anthology’s Pinstagram column marries the dream (Pinterest) and the reality (Kelsey Dundon’s Instagram photos of places and faces in and around Vancouver).

Blushing. A bouquet from the lovely folks at Talk Shop Media and a peek into Julian Schnabel’s colourful home.

Wrap it up. A gift for my bebe from my friends (and Northill clients) at The Cross Decor and Design and a brilliant lace and craft paper wrap job out of Sweet Paul Magazine.

A fresh take. I have yet to open Gwyneth Paltrow’s latest cookbook but I’m confident it’s packed with fruits and veg, not unlike this watermelon and leaves print, which you can order here.

18 karat. A view of a gold-banded sunset at Jericho Beach and gold-leaf cuffs.

P.S. There are more photos where these came from so add The Anthology on Facebook.

Style | Skinny Fatties

It’s been a little while since I’ve posted a before and after. Okay fine. It’s been a really long while. But I was pregnant and what’s the point of scouting a dress that looks like your mom’s kitchen curtains and getting it reworked if it’ll only fit for one week? Exactly.

So. Anyway. Skinny Fatties had me feeling nostalgic. Because it’s as brilliant — and simple — as before and afters get. They’ll take your no-longer-favourite ties (or your dad’s ties or your baby daddy’s ties — hello Father’s Day!) and tailor them so they look a little more of-the-moment. And if you’d rather shop off the virtual rack, they have a collection of already skinnified vintage ties.

Either way, one size fits all.

[Photo from Skinny Fatties’ Instagram]

P.S. I haven’t taken any photos of reinvented ties but you should follow @KelseyDundon on Instagram anyway.

Beauty | Lush Ultrabalm

The concept is simple, really. Lush’s Ultrabalm is like that old standby Vaseline but it’s made with ingredients like jojoba seed oil instead of petroleum. It’s a staple that you can use anywhere (even, apparently, your hair, though I use it as a before bedtime lip balm) and though its texture is not as silky smooth as the all-purpose jelly you grew up with, it’s my new go-to.

Would Tyra Banks be this excited about it? I don’t know. But I sure am.

Bookmark | Emmadime

In The Anthology’s Bookmark column we explore some of the most inspiring places on the wild, wild web.

In case you need further convincing that graphic designers have the best blogs, I present Emmadime by Emma Robertson, a designer, knitter and blogger from the Bay Area.

It’s chockablock full of quirky fashion…

Sweet food shots…

Design (’cause she’s a designer)…

And all that is beautiful in life. So bookmark Emmadime already and bookmark The Anthology while you’re at it.

[Images from Emmadime, naturally.]

P.S. Beef up your list of favourite links with The Anthology’s Bookmark picks.

The Cool Kids | The Alison Show Leather Mobiles

I’m hoping my kid grows up to appreciate beautiful handmade things instead of noisy plastic things (says the woman who thanks heaven every day for this music-making contraption). So as long as I have a say in things I’m outfitting the nursery in beauties like this leather mobile by The Alison Show (thank you, Amanda!).

It’s cool, it’s colourful and, unlike a newborn baby, it’s quiet.

[Photos from The Alison Show]

Workspace | Shannon Molenaar of 8FOOTSIX

The Anthology’s Workspace column takes us inside the creative spaces of some very creative people.

The moment I saw Shannon Molenaar’s workspace on the Steven & Chris Show, I invited her to share her home office with us. It’s so proper! So personalized! In her own words, the Toronto-based interior decor blogger behind 8FOOTSIX takes us through the space, which is overflowing with objets and books and somehow manages to be very, very tidy.

Plus, how pretty is that wall colour?

1. I blog from our upstairs office. I enjoy spending time in here because it is filled with my favorite things – books, plants, art, and my collection of milk glass vases!

2. When I look around, everything has a story. Most of the furniture came with us from our condo.

3. The desk (Pottery Barn Kids), the leather chair (Mitchell Gold) and the two black end tables that hold the colour photo printer are a few of the things we didn’t want to give away when we moved, so we shoved them in the office – and it works!

4. I bought the tallboy dresser from Craigslist.  It was a gorgeous wood grain but smelled musty/fishy.  So I sanded it down and painted it white.  It holds… well… everything!

The picnic basket on the chair by the door was given to me decades ago by my sister-in-law and is now stuffed with felt scraps.

5. There are tons of accessories scattered around the room. There is a wooden fish on the wall from Bilbao, where I spent a summer studying Spanish.  There is a pencil crayon drawing of naked chickens (don’t ask) that I made in high school, along with my son’s first painting.

6. Treasures I brought back from Paris flea markets, like my little brass hedge hog, are sitting on the bookshelves, alongside things I found at local thrift stores.

P.S. Get a peek at Shannon’s latest projects here.

P.P.S. Creep the creative spaces of some very creative people, like Erin Shaw of Shaw TVErica Lam of The Style SpyNiki Blasina of A Haute Mess, and Anya Georgijevic of I’m the It Girl in The Anthology’s Workspace column.

P.P.P.S. Know someone whose Workspace should be featured? Send a note to KDundon@TheAnthology.ca

Beauty | Estée Lauder’s Pure Color Nail Laquer in So Vain

Typically I opt for bright colours on my fingers and twinkletoes (see exhibits A, B, and leopard-printed C). But there’s something about Estée Lauder’s Pure Color Nail Laquer in So Vain that has me putting a sophist-o-twist on my usual palette. It’s as neutral as neutral can be so it goes with everything and it’s slightly sheer so it makes your nails look extra glossy.

It gives me new hope for taupe.

Pinstagram | Sunshine, stripes and sangria

The Anthology’s Pinstagram column marries the dream (Pinterest) and the reality (Kelsey Dundon’s Instagram photos of places and faces in and around Vancouver).

Earned stripes. My favourite striped Topshop maternity dress and a shirt that would look great on my baby girl once she outgrows all her onesies.

Faster than a… The world’s speediest (and blurriest) Jack Russell Terrier puppy and another kind of speedy beast, this time in wallpaper form.

Good enough to eat. A gourmet bakery-made Pop-tart from Vancouver’s Bigsby the Bakehouse and gilt Oreos.

Mirror mirror. A quiet corner of my living room (lamp from Pottery Barn, mirror from The Cross in Vancouver) and stunning(ly expensive) mirrored pitchers.

Sunshine in a bucket. A bunch o’ daffodils outside Quince Fine Florals and a bushel o’ apples turned into sangria.

Flower power. An orchid fit for my desk (thanks Nick and Shevawn!) and a floral bikini fit for the beach.

P.S. There are more photos where these came from so add The Anthology on Facebook.

Art | Alison Francis Photography

As far as I’m concerned it’s the bigger the better when it comes to photos. In fact, this one by British Columbian photographer Alison Francis would look amazing the size of a living room wall. As wallpaper, even.

Her work is on display at The Whip in Vancouver until May 29th and her prints are also available on Etsy. Happy viewing!