Modern-Day Quilt Lore

Telling stories through textiles. It seemed like the logical next step on my creative adventure. I've fallen head over heels for quilt block design. So much to learn and so many stitches to sew.

Potato Stamp City!

 

The potato stamp is wonderful thing! Am I right?

I love the organic and graphic shapes that you can create by simply carving into a solid spud.

And they are great on fabric too! And there is something so wonderful about the lack of control with this material. It's impossible to guarantee the same result each time. I'm doing a whole series of fruit right now, and loving experimenting with using two shapes to create one image. Next up... Apples!

All The Fuzzy Feels!

How to begin again after so much change... just dive in right! How about I lay down some goals for what remains of this hot and wonderful summer and the coming fall and winter! 

Goals 

1. In general make more!

2. Craft the heck out of everything!

3. Surface Design... it's time to dive in... oh it's overtime!

4. Poems. Write them!

5. Collect Inspiration!

6. Blog. I miss this process. I just do.

This seems like a good start. 
Hello old friends! Are you all still out there?

Finding My Footing...

Summer Run.

I've been after my dreams again...patterns and one day what I hope will be a line of textiles. Due to my wedding sabbatical I fell a little out of practice...but now I'm back...wobbly and uncertain, but I'm finding my footing and it feels awesome.  Been searching out inspiration where ever I go, and really trying to just get my ideas onto paper.  I hit the computer tonight...more to just play around with some techniques and see what works best...

Hollyhock Tea Time.

One of my biggest challenges has always been combining colours.  It's funny because colours are one of my most favourite things about life...the spectrum, the combo...the beauty...what's not to love when a sunset steals your breath away.  I find that it's actually out in the wild that I see the most inspiring mix of palettes...which got me to thinking...that I should start using my Colorschemer app more and start creating colour palettes from the photos that I've taken of day to day life.  So this is what I tried with these 'Hollyhock Tea Time' patterns.  I've also posted the original photo that I pulled my colours from.  I am really excited about the possibilities of working this way...can't wait to see where it leads...

Again, on a Grey Day

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Original Inspiration.

Summer Soundtrack

Bear-ry Day Card...envelope diorama the birthday edition.

Oh man I love summer.  I've been living in pools and watching the blue skies float amongst the water surface.  Bright bike rides and flapping skirts in light breezes which carry the colours of lavender and hot pink roses around our ankles. Who could ask for anything more.

I've also been obsessed with creating a soundtrack to commemorate this lovely season...so far I've got three tracks:

White Sea - Overdrawn

Austra - Lose It

Justice - New Lands

I am open to more suggestions...

A Bunny Blizzard.

Sugar Mouth.

Life is slowly being wound up with wedding plans.  I am left with only tiny moments to wonder...that is alright.  For some time I wondered about ornamented bunnies hoping around the woods, chasing hearts and being caught in a quiet storm of love.  The following is documentation of said wildlife.

Captain Heart Break.

Sweet Joe.

Heart Storm.

Quiet Benjamin.

Branch Magazine.

Exciting news, my good friend and writer Lindsay Zier Vogel and I, recently collaborated on some written and illustrated work and it was accepted into the newest issue of Branch Magazine!

This issue focuses on the theme 'Make Believe'...a perfect place for mine and Lindsay's imagination to marry.

Check it out! There is a ton of other incredible work to see and read.

Spring time.

sky stories.

It's warmer now. I can cycle, I can run, I can wander the city streets without frost bite.  It's spring!

The other night I took to the track and was witness to a very big performance of sky stories.  It was moody, it was bright, there was rain and sun and all the colours that make your heart burst with exhilaration. It was magnificent.  I ran with my eyes glued to that sky...I suppose it inspired these stories...

I tie myself to a handmade cloud. Sewn out of cotton candy and dandelion fluff.

i lose myself in a spring storm.

lost in sunset now...and ready for sleep.

Secrets in the night.

It's so quiet tonight. Only a fan and the humm of the city sky. In the midst of the spring one of a kind show here in Toronto, it steals time. But I am squirreling away moments to jot down ideas. Projects percolating!

The Invite

The invite.

Originally this post was intended to be all about the incredible mail art I have been receiving in my post box for the last few months...but alas, when I went to edit it this morning off site this was the only image that had saved in the draft....drats! So I will be re-posting those images later tonight!

The image above is of the final wedding invite that Kyle and I finally completed together a couple of weeks ago.  I am still in working on getting them all out...I have been terrible with address collection! But it's a relief to have them done and making their way out the door!

I am also excited to start to work on some other projects again! The invite and wedding details took up a bundle of my time and I haven't been able to properly document some of the lovely treasures coming in the mail for me these days and thank all of my friends for their sweet posts about my little packages on their blogs.  apologies!

But there will be a mail rich post later this evening...and then I am tackling my first textile line!

ps...This is my spring anthem!

Make Believe.

Walking with rainbows.

Forgotten lunch.

Mythical beasts.

Wind racer.

Slow poke.

The sneak.

Secret Fort.

Sweetness.

The entire cast.

The setting.

Sometimes simple is best...

simple always wins.

Monster and Robot.

Monster and Robot...in love.

So kye thinks I look like a bear...and he's right...but frankly I like this little monster bear...we may choose to change the colours up and add a little tooth to the 'monster'...but at this moment I do like these two little characters.  Invites are almost done! phewf!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's to all my friends. Hope it's filled with lovely things that make you laugh.

A Valentine Diorama...

Hearts in disguise!

A quick post tonight dedicated to the season of love notes! I've been seeing many tutorials over the tubes that show you how to fold a paper heart into an envelope. It turns out that these heart's in disguise are the perfect home for my valentine dioramas!

Surprise...a folded away friend!

piles of sweetness.

Valentine diorama unfolded.

Team Heart Beat!

Paper Sunshine!

It's January in Toronto...that means...snow...or well it used to.  These days we are flip flopping between freezing skies and rainy afternoons.  Either option would be improved with sunshine. 

So for my latest mailing project, I created some little bursts of sunshine packed up in the tiniest of envelopes! I am shipping them out tomorrow...so hopefully some familiar friends will have a little bit of extra warmth pass through their hands this month. 

Paper Sunshine: inside the a tiny burst of happy!

I am also getting really excited about making some valentines...i have some ideas cooking in my imagination. Next step, put them on paper!  Also, my other life's work, the Monster Factory is running an awesome contest/activity for this very love filled holiday. Essentially you write a monster a valentine, and they will write you one back! All the details are available via the link above. 

Bear in the snow.

Bear making a million wishes.

The tiny envelopes for the tiniest of letters!

A little letter made out of paper sunshine.

And now back to my blanket fort a.k.a. hibernation station!