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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

Kid Icarus Artist Series Cards!

photos courtesy of Bianca and Mike over at Kid Icarus

So I am so excited about this bit of news I have to share tonight!  The greeting cards I collaborated on with the most excellent folks over at Kid Icarus are all printed up and ready for cuddles!  If you don't know Kid Icarus, please check out their website, and if you are in Toronto make sure you stop by and visit their store/print shop located in the heart of Kensington Market.  These are my first ever greeting cards and I am over the moon with a net collecting stardust, stray sun-rays and bursting with excitement.  I have linked to the Kid Icarus official blog post so you can check out more photos and if you are interested in taking a couple of these guys home, just shoot an email over here with a request: info@kidicarus.ca or stop by the store!

photos courtesy of Bianca and Mike over at Kid Icarus

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.

A birthday and some bunnies.

Jumping.

First off, I need to send out a huge thank you to the ladies over at Le Funky Mamas, a modern culture blog for mom of today, for featuring my blog as their blog of the month! Totally amazing to be featured on such an awesome and beautiful place here on the internet! Thank you, Thank you!!!

Mom's flowers!

This weekend my sister and i had a party for my mom's birthday.  It was just small and sweet at my place.  We decorated with fabric bunting, flowers and I made my first Angel Food cake from scratch (which turned out somewhat right…but i am not sure it rose to the full extent).  Essentially we had a mother-daughter slumber party.  It was hilarious.  We watched Bridesmaids and feasted on take out.  But the highlight of the night was our spontaneous dance party.  We pulled out some supreme moves.  I made note of our play list for those who would also like some awesome tunes to 'shake a tail' to:

Hold On - Wilson Philips
This Must Be the Place - Talking Heads
Cherish - Madonna
How Bizarre - OMC
Pictures of You - The Cure
Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston
Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice
River Deep Mountain High - Tina Turner

Process work!

 I am getting closer to finishing up my next zine all about bunnies! I have included some of the process images.  Essentially these are all the cut outs that I will paste onto the zine pages, to make into little scenes, also adding bits of colorful paper to add more colour, and text and line work to add some more details.  I can't wait to finish it off, print some up, fold them up and see what it looks like!  I really hope it works out. 

Bunny dreams.

The clouds and trees.

Ready for the party.

A lonely cupcake

Finally, my latest macarons! Espresso with caramel buttercream filling! Delicious, though while making the caramel some dripped on to the stove element and things got pretty smoky.  Oh the ups and down of baking!

Espresso Macarons with Caramel butter cream filling.

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!

Mess ups and Macarons

one flower.

I cannot believe that it's been almost two and half years since I set my mind back to my journals and really started to explore and develop an illustrative style.  It has been an excellent journey up to this point, and I feel that my pen and pencil now speak with a distinct Rhya style... it's all very exciting!  That being said, I realize that there is still a long road ahead of me, as I work towards perfecting the translation of the thoughts and characters that frolic through my brain onto paper...or whatever medium they tumble on to. 

Bliss' birthday card.

I make many mistakes...and I am queen of erasing.  But it's usually from the mistakes that I stumble onto different ideas and or realize how I can make my next image stronger.  For example, tonight I made a hand drawn card from my friend Bliss and I am almost happy with the results.  My big error was that I didn't do a preliminary sketch (something I usually do) and thus there are elements on the card that I wish I could go back and change.  I tend to go a little over board with my work, I am always adding another little detail here and there, yet I think I much prefer my minimal work.  Anyhoo...I thought i would post this card up, with some close ups of some of the things I am not 100% satisfied with. Taking a critical eye to your work is always a good exercise...though I try to keep my eye constructive and positive! It helps you understand why you do things and I think it leads to you developing and defining your own process and style.   

Here is where I think i really ran off the rails.  I wanted there to be some colour under my little character...but I should have tested my materials a bit more, as I am not satisfied with the pencil crayon on this paper.  Also, my little character could be higher on the page to help with balance.

Though I really love this style of text and the balloon, I think my scale and spacing was off.  It's not really displayed here, but the 'Happy Day' could be moved down into the space below the balloon.  But I do look forward to do more text like this!

On a totally unrelated note...i have gotten obsessed with trying to perfect the art of macaron making.  I even started a 'macaron' journal! I will get some pics of it at some point.  The photo above is from batch #7, where I got brave enough to add food colouring!  The ultimate goal is to get good enough at making these so I can have them at my wedding....dreams...I have them!

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.

Weekend Sketches

a message for the forest.

I've been working on some little illustrations over the last few weeks for an upcoming project.  Here are some snaps from this weekends rough sketches.  So excited.  I also have a big post coming about some lovely mail packages I received in the mail recently.  As for my weekend a few things stand out:
1. a long swim under the blazing evening sky.
2. a hazy bbq with so many lovely friends...and then there was that bag full of boxes with black widow spiders...the non-poisonous male kind...they belonged to a black widow spider expert I met that night! So amazing!
3. finding the venue for a very big future event!

Party Sweater.

Lost in a field of flora.

He is lonely.

Mutual respect.