Happy holidays!

Holiday Cards are printed and ready to be folded into envelopes and sent all over to friends in far and not so far places.

These cards are lino cuts. A little tricky to get the hang of but I am fairly happy with the results.

I hope everyone has a very happy holiday season filled with lots of love and good people.

Busy monsters...

Above is the Monster Factory, One of a Kind Show booth.  This is what has been taking over my life as of late.  So many monsters! 

I can't wait to get back into sketching and illustrating over the break.  Some big ideas! 

Things are finally starting to slow down some, which is good because I also need to do some major house cleaning...it's hilarious what happens to your home when you are working around the clock for a month straight.  

This weekend, I believe I will have a chance to finish my holiday card and hopefully attend city of craft here in Toronto!!!! If you are in this city I implore you to go because it's going to be fantastic!

Paper Memories

Wow, November has flown by! I can't believe December is almost here. I also can't wait for the holidays, I am dreaming of hot chocolate, hot cider and a billion baked goods...which i am hoping to bake.

I have not had as much time for sketching and blogging over the last few weeks due to all the craziness over at the Monster Factory. Things tend to go a little banans during the holidays.  But I am still finding the time to throw down ideas here and there, as I plan on developing my first attempt at a line of textiles for the end of January. 

None of these sketches are concrete, more just bits of inspiration on paper, things I don't want to forget, kept for later.  I am really excited to get going...don't you just love the beginning stages of a project, when you have so many ideas and then you actually start to see them appear in front of you...it must be one of my favourite things in life!

ps...there are some AMAZING textile designers down at the Toronto One of a Kind show.  I met Alison from Lovell designs...she was so lovely and made incredibly inspiring work...check it out!

Breath Out and In - A mail post.

I have finally found a moment to put together a few letters to let loose into the wilderness.  My 'Flurries' dioramas are flying off in these little quiet envelopes.  I think they will be cozy enough wrapped in their paper blankets.

These colourful folks are carrying some special surprises for old and new friends! I hope they move quickly through the woods.

I have also been getting a few lovely treats in the mail myself!  First my friend Tanya sent me one of her own creations.  It's so beautiful, I've been keeping it on my desk and looking at it whenever I find myself craving a pocket of stillness during the day.

I have also been so lucky to have received, not one but two amazing packages from Merissa!  I was introduced to her via my friend J.  Her calligraphy is out of this world awesome and she shares a love of Elvis with me!

Finally, I'm not even 100% certain how I stumbled on Beebee's blog, but I am so glad I did.  We are doing a zine exchange and I received her package first.  Holy smokes...it's outstanding.  Her Workshop zine is so beautiful! But not only beautiful also crazy informative, full of diy projects, and informative tips about stationery and stationery accessories.  Here is a link to where you can get your own copy!  I can't wait for our next exchange, but first I must send out her package!

A little DIY gift you can make!

Kawaii sticker sets! my favourite!

Flurries.

Looking to the sky for clues.

It's a very misty morning.  The leaves have been shed and nature has moved to a cool and hazy colour palette. I can feel winter on the tips of my fingers.  I made some sketches last night and turned them into these little dioramas.  Going to send out some treats in the mail tomorrow.  Not much time for too much else.  The one of a kind show is around the corner and our office is slowly filling to the ceiling with monsters.  I am looking forward some quiet time at christmas, but until then I am really enjoying the rush of the holiday season.

Let's all disguise ourselves in snow piles.

Catching winter.

Textiles...The early stages.

early stages...mucking around in illustrator.

So when I started to get back into my blog a couple of years ago after a long monstrous hiatus, one of the goals of this project was to make a dream of mine come true: Textile Design.  Before I started though, I really wanted to develop my illustration style more and give myself some room to work on a mess of ideas...but now I feel ready.  So I have given myself a deadline, and I want to have a line of textiles ready for end of January...fingers crossed I can make this happen. I think my first line will most likely be called 'The Friendly Bears'...it's a hunch I have...

Pocket Sunshine

I've been buried deep in my sketch book for the last few weeks. Time is thin during the holiday season due to all the monster madness at work, but I've been enjoying my swift and stolen moments with my journal. I've posted most of these little bear drawings before via quick instagram shots, but I thought I would display them again in a bit more detail. 

My mail box has also been a flutter of beautiful treats...I can't wait to share some of the posted secrets that I've been keeping.  I'm also looking forward to a big mail out myself, I have been a little behind on my correspondences lately, and I've got my own post secrets to ship off to old and new friends!

There is no snow yet here in Toronto...and I am OKAY with that...the longer the snow stays away the longer I can stay on my bicycle....but it will come.  Luckily I've been stocking up my music pod with a whole new soundtrack for the frozen months.  I am calling it either 'Mix for Snow Stepping' or 'Pocket Sunshine'.  Here are my top 5 favourite tracks so far:

1. Lana Del Rey - Video Games

2. Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know

3. Kavinsky - Nightcall

4. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Home

5. Kenny Loggins and Stevie Nicks - Whenever I Call You Friend

 (Please do not hesitate to suggest other tracks)

Into the meadow, following old footwork home.

The last fall flowers.

She keeps secrets tucked deep in her pockets.

A hint of spring through wool and fur.

It's always best to cover your ears in a wind storm.

The birds that stay on are stand out against the quiet winter horizon.

They decorate the branches and telephone wires. Removing some of the stillness from the cold sky.

Envelope Diorama: Winter!

The snow is coming, so we bundle our hearts in covers.

The two of us dress in wool, our breath tangles, frosty kisses iced with crisp sunlight.

Long walks...sound of feet and crackling snow. it's a happy kind lonely.

I live in the mountains for the cold months.

Ice bergs waltz together at the edge of the world.

Pieces of winter in piles around our feet.

His eyes are the warmest thing about this day.

We close our eyes and hibernate in envelopes till spring.

Greeting Cards Available!

 Party!

That's right it is a party, a greeting card party, and it's happening over at Kid Icarus! They have posted up our greeting cards on their online store and on their esty site! That means if you would also like to join the party and order one or more of our limited edition cards you can! Check out the rest of the series below.  I have linked to the store pages. 

*All photo credit goes to the good folks over a Kid Icarus 

 Thank You!

I miss you! (The tear jerker)

I love you! (Personal favourite!)

 Happy Birthday! (The blue version)

Happy Birthday (The pink version)

Halloween is My Favourite.

I Heart Halloween!

I'm a Love Letter.

The Busy Months.

Memory of a Summer Whisper.

As the holiday season approaches things at my work really start to ramp up.  The best way to handle this time is really to just head down and power through, but also to make sure and escape once in a while for some quiet time with just a set of pencils crayons.  I've been researching Lithuanian textiles and folk costumes for the last while and it's really been inspiring me.  Here are a couple more 'Lithuanian bears' to add to the mix.

Heavy Weave.

Towards the Woods...

I feel like this guy is telling me to run to the woods this weekend and join in a big forest party.  Instead, I will be running downtown and joining in the fun of the Zombie walk! I have never been before, because I am terrified of zombies (irrational fear I know)...but since I am turning thirty something this weekend, I also feel like it's time I start facing my fears! Though, I still not ready to deal with spiders.

Bear and Bear!

As the seasons trade places...I can tell that hibernation is becoming higher on my priorities list.  Also, I have been digging up all things made of wool, that have been buried in closets for the sunny seasons. Oh winter.

Hey Mr. Postman.

My mail box has been happily supplying me with some lovely things these day, but I am also very happy to see that my friends from all over have been receiving their own gifts from me! So a big fuzzy Thank you to all who shared about my bunny zine! Jaime made a lovely post over on Send More Mail, Jessica from Nature is my Friend also gave the bunnies a great shout out, and Jeannine from Saylor Made just made an epic mail art filled post with a sweet bunny mention! Finally, my new friends from overseas Le Funky Mamas also dropped my little zine a line.  Happy fall to all!

Now as for my own treats, I am posting some snippets of the treasures that have graced my letter box as of late.  There is a lovely birthday card full of unicorns from my friend Heather in SF.  I love unicorns and I love Heather...and I frickin' adore this card!

There is a beautiful stamp pack from Jaime, including a little curling stamp, which made my morning when I opened it, as I am hoping to get married at a curling club here in the city.

There is a letter made up of several postcards from my friend Clare, one of my oldest pen-pal's after Skye.  We've been writing letters since High School and I love that the story continues.

And finally there is an incredible wedding thank you card from Airy.  Filled with photos of a wonderful day, that made my heart swell when I opened it.