Berry Time

Summer Day Dioramas, piled and ready for post.

Toronto summers are certainly a lovely sight, hot hot heat, blooming city gardens, and wildlife signing along with the city scape and car songs. We've been taking it easy in my neck of the woods and that has been a welcome break from what seemed like a whirlwind spring.  With the wedding and some major work projects I let myself get caught up in a whirlwind of fun and deadlines. But those projects are all cleaned up and closed off, and I am feeling focused again! The next goals are to really focus back on pattern and textile design.  I have so much to learn and try that at times it feels overwhelming, like there is no way I can figure it out...and not to mention there are so many talented artists out there it can be rather intimidating, yet at the same time so inspiring. And speaking of awe inducing designers, I am totally in love with Elizabeth Olwen's work! Make sure to check out her site! It's fabulous and her blog is a wonderful read!

Doing textiles is a dream I've had for so long, I just need to go and do it and not let my fears stop me...it's all about the making right? 

I've also really missed making beautiful mail...so to stretch out my fingers and imagination I thought I would start with making a small run of envelope dioramas...it has been so long! This one is about bears (a favourite of mine) and berries...I've been eating so many blackberries I seriously think I may be turning into a some sort of woodland creature.

Unfold and find a hungry bear, a berry for snaking, a tiny meadow and a mini forest friend for company.

Stuffed into their warm wood-like envelope.

Family on the run.

Berry dreams.

Sweet leafy spirits.

Following the storm.

Sharing

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.

Mountain of Mail...

So, over the last few months things have been busy, and the beautiful stack of mail beside my desk has been piling up.  Actually it has become more of a mountain of wonderful words, and images and paper secrets. My penpals are so wonderful, and I apologize to them all while I am so behind in my own correspondence back.  As mentioned in an earlier post today, Kyle and I finally finished our wedding invites and most of the organizational details which were occupying much of our free time outside of work. But now I am back on my game.

So to start I have a HUGE backlog of mail art goodness to mention, beginning with a wonderful zine that came to me from Sewon who keeps up the most beautiful Maps and Fragments blog.  Her zine is full of her photographs, which I just adore.  Somehow she manages to capture so many stories in a single frame...and now I have pages of stories all wrapped up in one lovely book!

The envelope was also so cool. There was a hand painted speech bubble for the address...and i can't lie, it totally inspired our invite envelopes!

I received a little bit of spring in an envelope from Jaime! And it was a welcome treat!

 This stationery blew my mind! Love it so much.

I just love the tiny bits of flare that J adds to all her letters! This washi tape is like a tiny whisper of spring hanging on to the edges of my eyelids.

From Phillipa, I received two beautiful cards...that both look hand printed.  One was of the type writer above, which just makes me long for the click clacking of keys...

...and the other was of a friendly panda bear, who came wrapped in the most delicate envelope I have ever seen.  It was transparent...and I could see the bear looking up at me when I peeked into my mail box.

Anika sent me an incredible package. It was FULL of beautiful things.  Including a piece of her art, which I find so interesting.  Her experiments with patterns and shapes are facinating to me.  I made a collage of a few of the things that stumbled out of the envelope she sent me.  For some reason the collection of colours and textures reminds me of the beach at sunset...running in sand as the landscape changes in big sweeping gestures right before our eyes.

Jeannine from Saylor Made also sent me a beautiful package, full of other little packages. It always feels like her mail takes me on a tiny journey, through images and textures.  These round circles came tumbling out of a brightly coloured orange envelope.  They looked like ideas caught in the wind to me...so I tried to illustrate that concept above.

I also found this older print work she made stunning! Made me want to try some creatures using this technique.

My lovely Lindsay sent me these paper snowflakes...I love them!  I want a room full of them.  I want to dance through streams of paper snow flakes with playing a loud love anthem! I'm pretty sure Linsday could make that happen!

Valentines also came and went while I was in the wedding storm.  I received so many lovely heart filled cards! Tanya's simple yet sophisticated Valentine was just so perfect....i think i may need to frame it! And Jaime's embroidered heart made me swoon!

A week ago I came home to this wild work of art...and thought it had to be from Jessica! I love the collage and altered postcard.  But I especially love the 'oh hey'. Don't you? There is something so humourous about that statement with this image.  It keeps me chuckling.

And last but certainly not least, Kye sent me an entire TUBE of papers...incluing vintage wallpaper...which I don't even know how to start using...so many ideas.  She also sent me on old map which I couldn't resist using on a little character.  Thank you so much Kye, your generosity is out of this world.

Well that sums it up for now...next it's my turn...I think Jaime's spring letter has stirred an idea in my brain for a new envelope diorama...and possibly a zine...Happy Spring to all!

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.

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!

New year, new journal...

a new beginning.

Kye bought me a new journal for Christmas this year and I love it! A size change from my last journal...more roomy, and it has a horizontal layout, which makes me feel like i'm journaling on long landscapes...and that makes for many happy pages.

treasures from sewon!

The first few pages i've worked on have included some of the treasures i've received in the mail from my art pen pals. There are a couple collages of small special secrets from sewon, whose blog i absolutely adore following. Her photographs are so lovely and really capture the everyday!

handmade stickers make everything better!

Along with sewon's secrets, there is a collage of handmade stickers that jeannine sent me from the west.  They are so fragile and sweet. I had to use them in collaboration with some illustrations.

a trio of owls.

And of course i received a package of sunshine and rainbows from my friend jessica, which included a trio of handrawn owls! I've yet to journal with these wonders, but my mind is racing on how i might...so many possibilities!

rain dancing.

Another creative beginning that I am really excited about is getting back into poetry with the help of one of the most incredibly talented writers I know Lindsay ZV. On the second day of 2012 we ran into each other on our way to work and challenged each other to write a poem or poems each day and send them to one another. 

Way back before the monster factory began, i used to write poems and pair them with images and drawings. As the monsters took over, I continued the image making but let the words fall aside...but it's time to collect them again.  I feel a bit like a baby deer on wobbly legs falling a whole lot, and writing hilariously bad verses...but hey we all have to start somewhere right! Oh and thank you Linds for bearing with me while i try and find my words again.  I've sprinkled some of my first attempts in amongst the images.

a winter collage.

i hear a song
a blue jean melody

and then

worn memories
catching in my chest.

handmade stickers from jeannine...i love the sprinkles...like rainbow snow flakes.

in the cold months
i carry bits of green and sun,
tucked in with bank statements and receipts.
my wallet burns.

our resolutions.

the cotton flowers in the closet
softly mimic
the sounds of summer.