THE WAIT IS OVER.

The 2011 baseball season starts today, with the Blue Jays playing their first game tomorrow. For Dennis and I (and our baseball loving pals) that's very good news! The wait is over. Yes, that umbrella is indeed a ridiculously large Jays hat. And yes, I love emotionally manipulative, totally over the top sports commercials that feature all of my favourite men.

Nothing signals the start of spring quite like the beginning of baseball season (though the cold, grey conditions I see outside right now are doing nothing to back that statement up!). I eagerly anticipate trips to the dome, Sportsnet monopolising our TV, and the soothing sound of Jerry Howarth on the radio (hello friends).

KICKSTART-HER.

Check out this video for Becky's Kickstarter project: The Sweetie Pie Press 2011 Summer Craft Tour. Do you like helping awesome people continue to do cool things? Do you also like getting rewards in the process? Because donating money and recieving a reward in return is a pretty awesome kind of multi-tasking. Check out her page to get all the details!

I NEED A REMEDY.

Been enjoying a quiet night at home and the celebration issue of Remedy. Anne Zimmerman's story is making me want to attempt the churros con chocolate recipe, but there's no way I'm attempting that kind of culinary feat right now (add it to the ever expanding kitchen experiments of the future list). Remedy is a sweet little publication. A year in the making, Remedy Quarterly started as an idea amongst friends. That home remedies, and by association home cooking and recipes, are as comforting to share and read about as they are to actually consume. My sudden interest in a dessert I've never had before is a testament to the truth of that statement.

ART CRUSH: CAROLINE GAEDECHENS.

Today I came home to a couple of prints I ordered by Carloline Gaedechens via Tiny Showcase. The Wolves & The Village. The text in The Wolves translates to "as soon as the wolves had eaten the siblings they became human." I love them. Check out her Etsy shop for more spooky, textured, mysterious, excellent work!

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A couple of other things:

A small selection of my cards are now available at The Drake General Store in Toronto, and The Hach in Vancouver!

And I just wanted to say thanks to anyone who's written about my stuff, stopped by this blog, or reached out in some way lately on the web or in person. I am so appreciative of your kindness, time, and (contagious) enthusiasm. Thanks!

STICKS AND STEAK.

Two random slices of life:

1. Steak and eggs at The Bellevue with Melodie. Scalloped potatoes with breakfast? Yes please.

2. Something I'm pretty stoked about? Learning to play drums for a new musical endeavor with some lady pals. We had our first practice on Saturday! Dennis gave me some air drumming lessons at home to prepare. Pretty cool.

LA BELLE PROVINCE.

Good times at Puces Pop this past weekend. Met lots of nice people and enjoyed a totally gluttonous amount of food stuff. The quality of vendors was top notch - I had to exercise some serious restraint in the purchasing department to keep my trip budget under control. Big ups to those that braved the crappy weather to come down to the event, and thanks so much to all the kind folks who stopped by my table to adopt a card/print/poster. I really enjoyed hearing people casually switch between French to English to French mid-conversation - bilingual envy.

As per usual I forgot my camera's memory card in my printer, so here are a few photos (taken at home) of the things I smuggled back. Plus a few cellphone style snack shots for good measure.

A sweet Bow-lo tie from Norwegian Wood. Great stuff.

A plant I can't kill (finally, almost everything green in my house is dying) by Shannon, and a couple wooden cards by The Misanthrope Specialty Co (bottom one's for Dennis so it's a secret).

Homemade sweets by Dinette Nationale. It's a miracle those caramels even made it home.

Screen printed fancy shrub poster by French Fourch. These guys had lots of great prints, books, shirts, etc.

Pork tacos by Grumman 78. Basil instead of cilantro = major score.
I second my friend Tim's observation - Toronto needs more portable tacos!

Cinnamon sugar donut by Jane Donut. Also enjoyed the salted caramel donut.
Also ate a boat load of cupcakes via my generous neighbour.

There is so much stuff I didn't get photos of. Like the venue. And my fellow vendors. And the amazing ghosty screen prints with glow in the dark ink by the lady who's name I'm totally forgetting. Her stuff was awesome and I regret not picking up a print.

Rob and I also enjoyed pickles and sandwiches at Schwartz's, a meat feast at Au Pied De Cochon (my birthday came early this year - thanks Rob!), a mandatory poutine session, and many delicious brews. Trips are all about the food, or maybe that's just the perspective of gluttons like us. So be it!

HEAD OUT ON THE HIGHWAY.

Artwork by PinPals

Puces POP
March 5 & 6 | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Free entry | L’Eglise St-Enfant Jesus | 5039, St-Dominique (at St-Joseph)

Hitting the road early tomorrow to enjoy a day in Montreal before the Puces Pop portion of our weekend adventure begins! Can't wait to take a break from the glitz and glamour that is office life, meet some new faces, and spend all my money on handmade goods and food. Bonsoir.

ODDS AND SODS.

1. New pink and orange pattern cards.
2. Ghetto "business" cards made out of paper scraps.
3. Eight bags filled with various DW odds and sods: prints, cards, envelopes, etc.
4. You know these cellophane bag thingys? So clingy, so annoying.
5. And the paint madness continued....

Spent more time this weekend preparing stuff for Puces Pop. Big ups to Dennis for tolerating the piles of paper, pens, bags, and various supplies all over the house! It's definitely been a bit of a DW warzone around here lately. This girl knows nothing of feng shui...

Also - thanks to Melodie for posting some photos from night one of Wavelength's Eleven Fest. Good times!

NOMOI KORU

I've never been much of a jewelry wearer. I somehow managed to avoid getting my ears pierced all these years, and rings just provide me with an endless target for fidgeting. But necklaces are another story, and one of my recent faves is definitely Finland's Nomoi Koru. Her stuff is bold, geometric, and not too delicate looking - all right up my alley. I bought the triangle guy above a while back, wore it all the time, and then decided to expand my collection with the stone fringe beauty in the middle. Then, because the Internet is amazing, I connected with Maarit (Nomoi Koru jewelry maker extraordinaire) via Etsy and we decided to do a surprise mail exchange. That is how I ended up with this new tote bag and lovely bracelet. I love them, Maarit! Check out her shop here.

FAMILY DAY FOR LIFE.

Some photos from the past few days: brand new hello cards with bright fluorescent envelopes, glove prints in new colours, packages ready for mailing, dry dirty paint hands, and my friend Lee's delicious homemade lime birthday cake.

Trying to maintain some sort of balance between jobs, hobbies, and everything else has felt tricky lately. But in lieu of ample down time, February has totally FLOWN by, so that's something. Dear spring: come on already, let's do this!

I spent a great deal of time this long weekend (much to the chagrin of my upper extremities) printing up stuff for DW's first ever road trip! I will be taking part in the March edition of Puces Pop next month, pimping out mini prints and awkward conversation for all! Check out the vendor list. I'm really looking forward to a weekend road trip adventure with my good pal Rob. If anyone has any recommendations for good places for us to eat and drink while in Montreal, I'd love to know your faves!

WAVELENGTH: FOR POSTERITY AND MORE.

Poster by Derek Ma

It's that time of the year: Wavelength Anniversary time! 5 nights, 5 venues, 22 bands. My band (as well as Dennis' band) help kick off night number 1 this Wednesday at The Boat - details here. Wavelength have some other programming in store too - studio sessions, a speaker series, and their first ever poster show!

Details from the site:

Wavelength: For Posterity
Poster artwork from the Wavelength music series 2000-2010
Music Gallery — Fellowship Room — 197 John St.
Open during concert hours — Feb. 17 to April 3

Wavelength has been an important point of interface between the indie and experimental/new music scenes since its early days, when Michael Snow first screened his 1986 film of the same name alongside a program of local improvisers — music then rarely heard in a club environment. Since 2003, Wavelength has presented one night of its annual, multi-night February anniversary Festivals at the Music Gallery, Toronto’s Centre for Creative Music.

Poster artwork has been a key element in the Wavelength identity, especially around the anniversaries. This exhibition displays some of the most memorable promotional posters of the series’ first decade. Contributing artists include: Seripop, The Complaint Department, Trip Print Press, Deadweight and Derek Ma.

LOVE IS A PAGE OF ALF HEADS.

You know how every kid seems to have that one character they learn how to draw really well? Mine was some unfamous hippo. Dennis' was Alf. This year I made a somewhat weird Valentine's request: that Dennis draw me some Alf heads. Mainly because every now and then he'll draw one and it never fails to crack me up. Despite the ridiculousness of the request, he totally delivered. I snuck this photo of him while he was hard at work - drawing a totally crazy number of heads, with the computer firmly locked to sports scores. It's impossible for me not to laugh when I think about him drawing this for me.

Happy Valentine's Day, guys.

LOVE CITY.

Here is my singular picture from Love & Rummage. You'd almost think I bring my camera around with me just because I like the extra weight. But check out that big smile on The Arthur - so good, right? Thankfully other people actually use their digital (and analog) image capturing devices, so there are more photos here: Karyn from The Workroom, City Of Craft Flickr Group, Celine Kim for Toronto Craft Alert.

The verdict? Sunday was a total hit. This local craft community has been so warm and welcoming - it's all very inspiring and encouraging for this gal. So thanks to everyone that crammed into The Workroom on Sunday. Thanks for picking stuff up from my trunk and having good senses of humour. And thanks to all the people involved for such quality curation, excellent hangs, and inspiring wares.

After the event I went to my friend Tim's annual Superbowl party, ate all of his food, made plenty of jokes at The Black Eyed Peas expense, and nearly fell asleep on his couch. A+ day.

Some artifacts I went home with:

Triangle pouch and notebook by Bookhou, stamp packages by Send More Mail, and a ceramic love medallion by Krystal Speck.

I also managed to pick up the Toronto print I'd been coveting by Fieldguided. Perhaps this will remind me to get to the Island more often? I also adopted one of their tote bags - bold, romantic Kate Bush lyrical references? Yes please.

NIGHTTIME IS THE RIGHT TIME.

Over The Moon card version 2.0. Now with the night sky! A last minute edition for tomorrow.
These guys are big - lots of room to declare all your deepest, most important thoughts and feelings.

FOLDED AND STAPLED.

New things printed and packaged for Sunday: hello postcards and some seriously sun kissed snowbirds.