Amy Victoria Wakefield, an old soul with a knack for capturing beautiful snapshots of the otherwise mundane, pulls at your nostalgic heartstrings with her resin-encased mementos.

Inspired by nature, the Rocky Mountains and farm life, Wakefield looks to these sources when creating her original artwork. Images of abandoned buildings, antique school buses (our favourite of the Arizona bus here) and back alley graffiti come across poetically as she frames in the perfect composition.

With no real rhyme or reason, her photographs jump off the salvaged farm wood they are mounted on and choose their new owner.

At Studio Intent at Art Central, #105, 100 - 7th Ave. SW, Calgary, www.etsy.com

Recently opened and offering up fresh and inspiring exhibitions, Avalanche is the new artstar on the block.

Situated in historic Victoria Park, the Institute of Contemporary Art focuses on exhibiting new work by emerging Canadian artists. Bringing together  experimental, site-specific and installation-based works, Avalanche presents a little more to the gallery experience. Its current group show Heart of the New West (for the Calgary Biennial 2012) features 24 Calgary artists discussing the notion of home through various media.

Thought provoking to say the least. —Kait Kucy

Avalanche! Institute of Contemporary Art, 1235 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary, www.avalancheavalanche.com

The short film series programmes are the best for film-goers who lose interest quickly and love plump up their festival checklist.  Here are our top three flick picks for this year’s festival:

Animated Worlds: This package is chockfull of great animated shorts including the 2012 Academy Award winner The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore.

The End Of Days: A collection of comedic doomsday shorts featuring everything from zombies, aliens and the end of the world. Our top pick is The Voorman Problem starring Martin Freeman (Tim from the British Office) dealing with a prisoner who is convinced to be the allmighty deity himself.

Short, Fast and Funny: Who doesn’t love to laugh out loud? Really loud? This collection of hilarious shorts will make you gaffaw until you tear up. The standout motion picture of the package has got to be the Blitzen Trapper Massacre featuring the weirdest funny-guy around, Rainn Wilson, stalking his favourite band. —Kait Kucy

Calgary International Film Festival, 207, 214 11th Ave SE, Calgary, 403-283-1490, www.calgaryfilm.com

With the last long weekend of summer fast approaching, we're hitting the beach with a bottle of SPF and a good book.

Anya Georgijevic, Beauty Editor
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

I’ve been on a 1920s kick since... forever. This fictionalized story of a tumultuous relationship between the womanizing literary legend Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley Richardson is just the right combination of romance and jazz age nostalgia. $19.76 at www.chapters.indigo.ca

Kelsey Dundon, Lifestyle Editor
Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

Leave it to HBO to get me so hooked on a series: I’ve turned into a full-on fantasy-lover. I couldn’t wait to watch the third season of Game of Thrones so I decided to do things the old-fashioned way: read my way through it. The series is light reading yet each book is thick perfect for stashing in your weekend bag. $21.97 at www.chapters.indigo.ca

Kait Kucy, Calgary Editor
Adventures in Solitude by Grant Lawrence

The CBC's Grant Lawrence recalls his long summers growing up in the misty and wet depth of British Columbia's Desolation Sound in this perfect Canadiana piece of literature. Excellent for long weekends at the lake or beach, this book will bring about new gratitude and love for your Canadian surroundings. $17.78 at www.chapters.indigo.ca

Athena Tsavliris, Toronto Editor
The Book of Marvels by Lorna Crozier

A friend dropped in for tea today with this book (and homemade jam tarts) in her bag. It looks utterly charming. The perfect escape from that 700-pager on the nightstand. $15.165 at www.chapters.indigo.ca

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (Sponsored)

An ordinary walk to the corner mailbox sparks an extraordinary journey of self-discovery in this tender, touching and captivating new novel—the newest addition to Indigo Spotlight, a curated selection of outstanding reads. $19.76 at www.chapters.indigo.ca

Christine Laroche, Montreal Editor
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The novel is dark, sneaky, and incredibly addictive, and Reese Witherspoon seems to agree: The actress has bought the book’s film rights. $16.47 at www.chapters.indigo.ca

Maria Tallarico, Managing Editor
Who Killed Mom? by Steve Burgess

Popular Vancouver writer Steve Burgess brings his trademark wit to this tale of familial bond. His love for his mother Joan shines through every quippy story, and his quest to both understand and honour the woman who shaped him is quite touching. And did I mention how funny he is? Very. $17.44 at www.chapters.indigo.ca

A handmade chunky scarf has always been at the top of our DIY list.  We just have to learn to knit first.

With that in mind, we signed up for classes at the cozy new STASH Needle Art Lounge. They'll teach you everything you need to know to get knitting and provide all of the supplies (saving you time stressing out at the craft store). Located in the historic 1912 Hudson’s Bay warehouse in Inglewood, we picture ourselves hibernating here come winter.

Next up on the to-do list: build a tiny world of greenery at their terrarium class. —Kait Kucy

Stash Needle Arts Lounge, 1B, 1215 13th Street SE, Calgary, 403-457-0766, www.stashlounge.com

Settle in along the banks of the Bow River with a lawn chair and some popcorn for a beautiful evening of Open Air August—classic films screened al fresco every week this month.

Projected on the 100-year-old Simmons Building that has become a cultural hub for the area, films such as Best in Show and the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory are slated for family-friendly movie night.

Yes, we're seeing stars. —Kait Kucy

East Village Experience, 618 Confluence Way SE., Calgary, www.evexperience.com

It is that time of year again; the running of the tarps, the amazing food and the main event - sweet, sweet folk music. Our top-three must see acts of the festival:

Justin Townes Earle (July 26, 3:20 p.m., 6:30 p.m.)

Son of the legendary Steve Earle and a bona fide Tennessee native, his modern take on traditional roots and blues will keep your toes tapping in the fresh green grass.

Beirut (July 29, 7:35 p.m.)

The eclectic layers of the multi-instrumental act bring forth romantic images of being whisked through a dark Paris side street and leisurely picnics along the Spanish Riviera. The mixture of accordion, piano and strings ultimately creates a beautiful composition of daydreamy Euro-Baroque tunes.

Chris Isaak (july 26, 8:50 p.m.)

The king of crooning will be taking over the stage on Thursday evening in his flashy embroidered suits. Singing ballads from his recent release of Sun Studio covers and the heartfelt classics that made us fall in love with him in the first place, Chris Isaak will be kicking off the festival in the best way possible.

—Kait Kucy

July 26-29, Calgary Fold Music Festival, 414 Memorial Dr. NE., Calgary, 403-233-0904, www.calgaryfolkfest.com

Prince's Island Park is a picturesque setting for Theatre Calgary and Mount Royal University's production of Shakespeare in the Park, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

A classic and humorous tale of love triangles gone wrong, you'll want to round up your friends and family for an evening in the park for this one.

Admission is pay-what-you-can meaning you can splurge on a picnic basket from the nearby River Café ($34). —Kait Kucy

Shakespeare in the Park, July 4 – Aug. 10, Prince's Island Park, Calgary, 403-292-7447, www.theatrecalgary.com

Every year I learn so much from our readers when we run our survey – thanks to the more than 1,000 of you who took the time to respond. The overwhelming theme in your editorial requests was for more stories about affordable travel. We hear you! Here is a random sampling of your questions, answered.

1. “Can you do more things like “A day in the life” of the editorial team, or “What’s in your purse?”
SB: I agree! Our “what’s in your suitcase” doses were some of our most popular last summer, and we plan to do them again. In the meantime we are always going behind the scenes in our Editors’ Diary, and, you probably don’t want to know what’s in my purse!

2. “I would love to see a mobile app of your site.”
SB: We’ve got them for every city (click the apple icon at the top right of each city landing page to download for free.) I use them all the time when I am travelling or on the go. So easy to search (like a glam version of Google!).

3. “You should establish a presence on the East Coast! I’m originally from there and they’re starving for fun, relevant style-savvy blogs.”
SB: Here’s the official call-out for an East Coast Editor! Anyone? We also heard from a lot of you who would like us to open editions for Ottawa and Victoria. Send us the perfect editor, and we just might!

4. “Have you ever thought of having some sort of get-together for your subscribers or gala event? Maybe a fashion show or shopping event?”
SB: We do partner with lots of companies on shopping events throughout the year in Vancouver (Banana Republic, CB2, DKNY and Libertine, to name a few). But we’ve been throwing around the idea of hosting a conference for women entrepreneurs and bloggers. We learned from the survey that almost 60 per cent of you have started your own business or would like to.

Visit our Editor’s Diary for the rest of my responses to your burning questions!
For highlights from our 2012 Subscriber Survey, please click here.

Ignite! is gearing up to being the biggest outdoor party this summer. Celebrating the summer solstice on the Stephen Avenue Mall, Pivot, the Glenbow Museum’s fresh young art-lover crew, is presenting this exciting al fresco evening of festivity.

A highlight of the night will be the sounds of BassBus, Calgary's only DJ-equipped school bus lounge. You will fall in love with the woodsy custom interior and the original artwork handpicked by the BassBus team.

Anticipate live art demonstrations, delicious cocktails and succulent bites provided by some of Calgary’s award-winning restaurants. See you on the Avenue! —Kait Kucy

7p.m.-11p.m., Thursday June 21st 2012. Tickets; $40 each for non-members and include food, entertainment and one drink ticket. Glenbow Museum, 130 Ninth Ave. SE., Calgary, 403-268-4100, www.glenbow.org