catching up on coorespondences

i have a weakness. it's pretty and small and collectible and very useful. it's stationary.
what is it about a set of cards that makes me swoon?
today, i sat down and wrote a lot of notes. it felt good. i know it won't be instantaneously that my friends receive my note, but when it arrives at their door i hope they'll feel a little rush of surprise and excitement. i also hope that they will smile to themselves when they open the envelope and see the little piece of art i sent to them with my handwriting and special note inside. snail mail, you are worth the wait.

***
***
stationary shown above:
photo 1. polaroid notes, by jen altman
photo 2. floral heart card, by rifle paper co.
photo 3. le foret, by lisa congdon

other stationary i love:
1. reprodepot folk and flora notecard book
2. index card postcards by ilfant press
3. flower silhouettes by annacote
4. the card society by mav
5. the ocean set notecards by me

remnants of the holidays

 

is it weird that i'm posting holiday pictures in january? hmm, i seem to have had this problem before, where i get a back log of film and time rearranges itself. oh well, i can't not share this pretty eucalyptus wreath and fun packaging. the first present photo is my wrapping. i bought 3 yards of blue-gray kraft paper and red tissue paper, then i used my stamp set to stamp out names and added some cute letterpress cards i got at the urban craft fair. wrapping is so fun!

i don't mind taking a moment to look back. it feels nice.

oh, and by the way, i did end up succeeding in my goal to  buy all of my gifts from a local business and/or handmade! i am very pleased with how it made me think about my shopping decisions and i am happy with who i gave my money to. success!

holiday goals

how was your weekend? i had a great time; a mixture of fun shopping and socializing with quite reflection and down time. jon and i took lots of walks in the winter cold. it feels good to walk where you need to go and let the movement warm you up, against the icy air. i went to a friend's craft sale and smelled all of her amazing soaps and i went to the urban craft uprising, packed with people buying and selling and loving handmade goodies. i've crossed quite a few people off my gift list. my goal is to be organized and calm--and to not stress out.

my other goal is to buy all my gifts either handmade or from local businesses. so far, i'm doing an excellent job. i've gotten a lot of handmade items from cyber monday and the craft fairs this weekend. tomorrow i'm going to gather my book gifts at work and next weekend, i'm going to wander around ballard to browse all the unique stores. finally, i'm looking forward to finding a few fair-trade treasures here.

today, i'm dreaming of all the candy i could make for little holiday packages. peppermint bark and toffee and salted caramels and chocolate truffles rolled in hazelnuts. i wont get to them all, but i can still dream.

monday, november 30

 i think i need to let go of my 200 speed film for a faster speed...things are dark!

good morning! i had a wonderful long weekend, with thursday and friday off for the holidays. i visited with old friends back in town and i walked a lot and had a lot of family time. the only thing i didn't get around to was clean my room...oh well.

yesterday we spent a lot of time at home, making soup and cookies and drinking tea. this winter hasn't been so bad when it comes to being upset by the cold and dark.

i got some pretty new stamps and papers at the cutest little art shop, called a muse. and i tried out a new photo lab, from which i am excited to see the results.

i'm also ecxited about the opening of the abigail*ryan shop.
and i'm excited for this week of design*sponge gift guides.

hope you have a good monday...

black and white yashica: 3

 

the end of black and white week! and we are ending with my favorite--the top photo.

this weekend i am going to:

sleep in

hang pictures on my wall

walk a lot

have a second dinner club with friends

take pictures

show you my new camera

add more items to my shop

think about gifts for the holidays.

 ***

and, to leave you with lots of prettiness, some gifts i've already started thinking about:

sandra's cupcakes for the friend with a sweet tooth

typography notecards for the font loving friends

cut and paste poster for crafty folks. (shop here)

a beautiful recipe card as a small classy gift

a hostess gift

and an awesome polaroid drawing for me!