winter eyes....

through all this cold and bleached landscape, there has been pops of colour and warmth scattered throughout. I like almost everyone I know have downloaded the hipstamatic app for my iphone. And why not, it is so much fun! I am a huge fan of toy camera/holga/Diana photography, I have a vintage Diana myself, which I love to use. I love the lack of control and the unexpected results that you get in your photographs from these cameras. It is such an enjoyable process. I know that my iphone app is not exactly the same thing...but it does offer a little of that same surprise when you finally see the results of your hipstamatic images all tinted and hazy and framed in an awkward way. It's like winter magic.

a warm night of letter writing. that one sheet says 'criminal lovers', it was the title of a beautiful illustration on a card my friend was sending...and it conjured up many great images...been thinking of writing some poems based on it.

Lastly, Jaime's trunk of vintage stamps at the Love and Rummage Craft show! They were all beautiful and delicate! I can't wait to send off some letters covered in these little lovelies...though i am so torn as I also don't want to use them!

letter writing...

of course turns into making stationary...can't wait to mail there notes off!

I also stopped by the Love and Rummage show today and picked up some beautiful cards and vintage stamps! If you are interested in receiving a letter, shoot me an email and I will send you some mail! Along with a few new sheets of stationary!

Snow and lace...

today i watched at least three types of snow fall from the sky. First, large heavy flakes, that glob together and clomp around the streets, like they have heavy feet that just need to touch down. There were also tiny ice pebbles, more like sand, that stung for a second when they whipped at my face, but then instantly erupted into tears on my fiery cheeks. And finally there were those perfect little individual flakes that are like little swatches of lace suspended for a second right before your eyes. Knotted ice, delicate and sweet, dressing the city in frilly elegance. These ones are my favorite.

in a mere couple of months the gravel will show through the ice again and the greenness of everything will once again stain my eyes.

Sundays are for rest.

January is coming to a close. It's late tonight and I feel a little short on words. I had a weekend full of family and it was good. With brother living a giant plane ride away these days, it's nice to get to spend a whole day with him now and again. Plus he's got me hooked to listening to The Music Ninja, a great place to hunt for new tunes. my mom and sister also came into town and we had a day of delicious Italian sandwiches, board games and of course big belly laughs. Maybe that is why i feel ready to crawl into bed and make a cozy fort out of pillows and sheets.


I probably should have had one of these today, instead i made tapioca pudding and wrapped myself like a taco in towels straight from the dryer. it was pretty toasty and sweet. i recommend this activity on a cold winters day.

Winter has grown shark teeth...

so last night i tried to ignore winter's sharp bite and i shuffled over to the Naco gallery on Dundas and to check out what Pal-Sac is all about. The Post a Letter Social Activity Club, meets twice a month and the main goal is exactly how the name sounds...post some letters and be social.

I have to say I loved every second! I went with my good friend Jaime, who has recently started a super beautiful 'mail' blog (check it out) and Jaime's buddy Phillipa, who is now my buddy! See it's very social! Actually there were tons of friendly people all scattered about writing, chatting, and sipping on a drink of choice. There was a lovely lady across from us who was writing a GIGANTIC letter! All long hand. It was so awesome...and I was really envious of whoever was going to receive that epic masterpiece. I wrote three letters, and it was so strange...I haven't written a real letter in such a long time. I used to have regular pen-pals, who I shared my handwritten thoughts with on a monthly basis. I especially remember exchanging long rambling tales with Kelsey, a camp friend, and later a life friend. I have to admit I felt very out of practice last night...what you write in a letter is so different from an email or a text...i found myself describing everything around me...my chilly toes and the warm lamp light, and the stormy snow showering down outside. And I can't spell anymore!

I am rusty, but after last night, I am ready to get back into letter writing shape. So send me your addresses cause there could be some mail in your future.


and you know what else letters make me think of...stationary...i'm totally going to design some!

Cold Snap.

Winter boots, winter hat, heavy jacket, leggings, mitts, scarf, frozen cheeks, cracked lips, hard skin, watery eyes and a runny nose. This is pretty much me every morning as I scuttle along Spadina to work these days. I have yet to tumble on the black ice that hides under almost every step, though I have definitely slipped on my heels for extended periods of time, arms flayling and waving like an aged puffin on the edge of a cliff. It is never graceful, and I am always inches away from tilting too far back and landing in a scattered pile of winter grief on the curb. But winter walks are good for the lungs. Cold and crisp breakfast air, followed by sips of steaming hot coffee.

These walks also help to tire me out for the end of day sleep, which is by far one of my favourite parts of winter. Burrowing and squirming until I have a decent and warm sleeping place amidst our sheets and comforters.

Cold air also equals cozy sleeps.

Lost in the fields that rustle behind closed eyes.

i have a day dream where i stumble out of the city into the green fields of a long lost home town. Tall grasses, damp with dew hug and lick at my knees as i settle in a nest near the edge of the woods. I make a crown from wild flowers, curl up and have a nap till night. Sometimes i may dig a blanket out of earth. It's very quiet and still.

All the heavy.

Do you ever have those days where nothing really goes smoothly. Today was a mountain of mess. I don't know if I just woke up out of stride, but it was comically rough. My work computer totally quit, i dropped my entire sandwich all over me at lunch and then proceeded to lose $20, plus there were numerous other bumps in the road which i can't even begin to get into.

Mess i say, one big mess!

So it is now the end of this ridiculous day, and all those frustrations are so easy to see and i'm thinking maybe it's time to look closer and find all the good stuff that was peppered through out that tangle of flubs. First, i went to work and shared my day with some super wicked people, and then Adam did an imitation of me after my computer died which really made me laugh. My sandwich which I spilled all over myself was REALLY good, and after all my anxiety I found my $20 in my pants at home...so it was never lost in the first place. Plus I had a lovely walk to work this morning along Spadina, spying into all the un-open store windows along the street, and then enjoyed a delicious coffee. Finally came home and ate my favorite: left over Indian cuisine! I suppose that though this day may have been a mountain it wasn't all mess.

Outside under the laundry lines,
sheets blow all around me,
cotton prints blurring in my eyes,
soft kisses that smell like Tide.

The Sketch Book Project: Done and Done!

So tonight i finished my journal for the sketch book project. i have a lot to scan and post before i mail her off. But here is a tiny sneak peak of what i have been on about over the last few months.

Covers on.

Covers off!

You need one of these in the Toronto winter.

sound asleep under a blanket of brambles.

always good to have a travel blanket with you for impromptu mini naps.

a choir sings in our living room,
lazy hymns blanket the walls and floors,
i let them keep me warm.

blankets being quiet.

Get back to it...

Holidays are over. I've eaten a billion clementines. My teeth are made from Candy Canes and now it's time to come back to reality. My adventures with the Sketch Book Project are almost finished. I can't wait to post up some of the pages I worked on over the holiday here...stay tuned...Hope everyone had a great break! Any good resolutions out there? My goal is to join an amateur concert bank or orchestra. I need to get my music on!