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.

January Wind

The wind twists and ties my memories down
It howls and sparks and would rather I not forget...

January has been such a peculiar month so far.  I feel terribly behind in my creative pursuits but yet at the same time energized and excited for the year to unfold.  I think it's just been hard to get back into work mode after such a long holiday break.  My mind still seems to be focused on boiling large root veggies for stews and curling up in a nest of comforters on my bed and napping hours away.   

You leave tiny stab wounds, slivers of small branches.
Leaves flutter around us, an added drama.

To curb these lazy actions, I am giving myself little goals and creative adventures.  Sketch for five minutes before I head to work (meaning get up 5 minutes early already...lol).  Or next week I have challenged myself to swim at least once.  I need to be back in the pool...let my mind wander through lengths of chlorinated blue.

I suppose I have also been a little preoccupied with planning a wedding...kye and I are finally getting married.  Anyone who knows us well, also knows that we have been engaged for a very LONG time.  It's fairly ridiculous.  This is our ten year anniversary year, so it seems fitting to throw a party and get hitched.  Of course with a wedding comes invites and decoration and thus crafting! Hello favourite things!

 Our theme is robot marries monster.  I've been sketching out some ideas for the invites...nothing but ideas at this point...and we have many...I like the one above...and want to colour the tie and head band with pinks and orange, leaving the rest of the line work black.  I think that would look sharp.

We are also playing around with some 8Bit imagery...might be a fun take...I like this image...but it's just not entirely there yet.

I am also in love with these lithuanian wedding head dresses...something tells me I will be making these!

My dad has also offered to help construct these hats...they are so crazy...but I kind think they would be a real show stopper!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Journal pages.

cotton dreams.

October is so pretty here in Ontario.  Our trees are getting all fancied up for one last big night out before the winter sleep and it's impossible to not want to join in the party.  Well, I don't know about you, but I can't wait to break out into this gorgeous day and soak up the beauty...let's go!

all through the night.

lake dreams.

Somewhere in September...

sending postcards to the one i love.

It was a quiet weekend for me.  Lots of puttering and baking.  I put the finishing touches on some pistachio macarons this evening and boy are they tasty! I also did some journal pages and started work on a new little zine...hint: it's full of bunnies!  I hope everyone else had a lovely weekend as well...any highlights?

catching the last tangles of summer in our hands.

good times.

Friends!

framed in branches and forest light.

pistachio macarons!

The First of September's Pages.

Autumn. The oranges and yellows started me thinking all about the fall.  It will be here so soon!

These are the first of my September journal pages.  One is made up from things Jessica sent me in the mail and the other is really all about a memory of Kyle and i floating over the lakes in Algonquin...a memory i am going to savor all year long.

Kyle and i floating along.

Journal Pages

hibernation.

August is almost closed for business, that is alright I guess.  This month has been good, full of woods and fields, trees and wide horizons, not much more a girl can ask for.  I think I have knitted enough branches together in my mind to last me through the coming winter.  I even buried a bit of my heart in a backyard forest north north of a tiny home beside the highway, it will rest there till next spring.  Now it's time for sleep.

a love cluster.

algonquin on the horizon.