video | things art world people say

this is good, but if you want a hilarious look at the stereotypes and idiosyncrasies of the art world - watch untitled.

Sh*t Art World People Say from Creative Time on Vimeo.

what i made | envelope seals

the other day someone ordered just one set of envelope seals/stickers from my shoppe. i thought that was so funny because to me they are just a by product of the rest of my stationery. but hey - if they excite you, have at it!

musings | patience is a virtue

patience really is a virtue! okay, maybe that sounds like a given to you. but in the back of my mind i've always thought, "yes, my last name is patience, but the whole 'isavirtue' thing is just a play on words." and then last night jon and i had a threesome in bed with siri. have you met siri yet? we asked her about the meanings of our names, and i learned that my name, kaitlyn, was basically invented only a couple years before i was born. no surprise there! but when i asked her about the meaning of my surname - this is the article she found.


"this unusual surname is an interesting example of that sizeable group of early european surnames that were gradually created from the habitual use of nicknames. these nicknames were given with reference to a variety of characteristics, such as physical attributes or peculiarities, mental and moral characteristics, or to habits of dress and occupation. in this instance, the derivation is from the middle english and old french "patience", via the latin "patientia", from "pati" - to endure."

so as it turns out, patience really is a virtue and my ancestors apparently had a lot of it. i'm pretty delighted by this, and the next time i'm standing in a never ending queue, or waiting for my husband to pick me up, i'm planning to call upon these long enduring great grandparents of mine and ask for them to imbue me with just a little "patience." 

snail mail | post exhibition

a local gallery (artists collective to be more exact i think) had a show this weekend called "post." anyone and everyone was invited to submit/mail an arty postcard. i didn't get around to creating mine but i really enjoyed seeing all of the submissions! i've included images of my favourites below. i'm particularly drawn to "i facebooked your mom. she says hi." but i also loved the alice in wonderland overlay cards by laurie white. actually, she was overseeing the space while i was there i said "how great are these alice in wonderland postcards?" and she blushed and said "those are actually mine - i made them."

how can you not love situations like that? or any of these:

sunday seller | sad shop

so i recently posted about my preference for writing paper over cards. i made mention of that fact that i think cards with paragraphs of text are doing all the talking for us. i guess that's why i'm attracted to these straightforward cards by sad shop on etsy. they have a great font, are simple, 'to the point' - and the inside is empty for your own additional words! they also work for everyday or special occasions. in fact, i'm thinking that "i like you and cake" is the perfect card for the first year of what i like to call "oopsie we got married the day after my husband's birthday so now i have to come up with two special gifts two days apart every year for the rest of my life." anniversary + birthday = perfect.

shop sad shop

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exhibition opening | sara mcintosh-robichaud

i'm very excited about the new exhibition in lowercase gallery! i worked with sara mcintosh-robichaud a couple of years ago in victoria where we hung her art for a masters in fine arts show. her work was some of the strongest in that show and so it doesn't surprise me that sara is really making a name for herself both across canada and in california. there's definitely some pieces that are on my "future to buy" list. so check it out and enjoy before it's gone!

and don't forget to copy the link and share this exhibition with your facebook and twitter friends (there is also social media links below)

learn more about lowercase gallery

visit lowercase gallery

feature art | fede saenz

pre p.s. ha! i thought it was friday! but i already wrote this post so i'm uploading it anyways...


do you wanna know a secret?* i 'secretly' love how this artist - federico saenz-recio is trained in graphic design, but his art resembles that of a child. i promise that's not an insult! i'll be the first to tell you that it takes a great deal of skill to put together shapes, colours and patterns on a page without it looking pointless, hideous or annoying. and personally, i could never manage to capture the lack of self control it takes to create artwork like this. press on fede, press on.

* shoot, now i have that beatles song in my head!

join me | on the facebook

musings | marriage rings

ever since i was little, i've had a love/hate relationship with rings - and still do to this day! most of the time, i lose them and end up feeling awful. why do i lose them? well you see, i love to wear rings, but i find they aggravate my fingers. i don't feel "free" when i'm wearing rings. so i take them off - sometimes just for awhile, other times i slip them in my bag in order to be rid of them completely. who knows where they end up after that!

if you don't believe me - let me first tell you about "safety village." which in retrospect, didn't end up being all that safe since i almost had to have my finger cut off! perhaps that is a bit of an exaggeration - but that doesn't make the experience any less frightening. i was about seven years old and my class went on a field trip to safety village - a miniature town in which we could drive miniature automobiles and learn road safety rules. while we watched a video indoors, i began to play with the little band around my ring finger (who gave a seven year old a ring??). i unconsciously tested the ring on other fingers until suddenly - it was stuck! i looked down and saw that i had somehow squeezed that little piece of metal around my middle finger! now, if you wear rings, then you know that most middle fingers are at least two sizes bigger than a ring finger, if not three. i told a teacher, who took me to the bathroom to try and soap the ring off. no luck. another teacher suggested we stick my finger in a pile of snow outside. excellent idea, but the ring remained. so they took me to the hospital!

there was no amputation, in fact the removal of the ring was painless but the memory is somehow ingrained in my mind forever. the memory says "rings are not for you - give it up!"

but i'm a fighter! and when my future husband presented me with this chunk of metal two years ago, i knew it would be a constant battle. are you shaking your head at my candidness? well, no need to worry because jon does not read my blog. but seriously, this is not what one would refer to as a "slim band." and when the time came to pick the wedding rings, it seemed like a fun idea to have two (one on either side). of course being overweight makes wearing all three incredibly difficult, and even on the best of mornings, my fingers are too swollen to put them all on. so i slide them on my pinky or grab just two. 

don't misunderstand me - i love my rings! they are beautiful and unique and someday they will fit me. i'll even admit that since i don't find it natural to wear rings, i kind of like the awareness that they are on my finger. a constant reminder of my husband and our love for one another. 

and aside from that one time i left them at the tanning salon - i never let them out of my sight. 

snail mail | mail art contest sneak peek!

i can't tell you what a delight it has been to open my mailbox and find all of your wonderful, colourful surprises! the first round of voting for the mail art contest will be open here on the blog, with images of all the entries, on march fifth.

here's some collage images of what i've received so far:

snail mail | vancouver & ontario

i found this adorable chocolate bar when jon and i were up island last weekend. it fits perfectly into my first square envelope template so i'm sending it to my lovely aunt keke.* i got a little crazy with the magazine cutouts this week - can you tell?

this is a piece of mail for an old schoolmate who lives in vancouver. i thought it was so fun to cut the map into an address label because it includes both victoria, where i live, and vancouver. i wrote my letter to her on the pages of jane austen's "persuasion" (i'm working on a gift for a friend and it involves cutting all the pages out of a beautiful book!**)

stay tuned for later today! i'll be posting sneak peeks of the entries for the mail art contest! they look fab!

* we call my other aunt fluffy - i'm not entirely sure how these nicknames came about but suffice to say they are not given names!

** i guess with my last post about my new e-reader i'm not showing a whole lot of respect for books right now am i?

sunday sins | second helpings

boy am i glad those two weeks are over! i think i might need more time to fully wean myself off the concept of "dessert" however. as soon as i finish a meal - i crave something sweet! it's the strangest thing because no matter how full i was, i still wanted chocolate or sweets. i did really well in the past six days though. i bought fibre granola bars with a bit of chocolate in them and ate one of those after dinner. at least then i wasn't going to the store to buy a pack of dibs or a tub of chocolate swirl ice cream...

mmmm chocolate swirl ice cream...

title/artist unknown

see that little boy?* (girl??) that's what i'm like. if there is food still to be had - i'll have it! it doesn't matter that i already had one bowl of cereal, or one egg sandwich. i'll get right up and make another! in order to train for the next two weeks, in which i will not enjoy second helpings, i've been cutting whatever i cook in half as soon as it's done. i put half in a tupperware container for my lunch at work the following day. once it's in the container, i feel naughty going back for more. i know that seems like a no brainer for most of you but i don't come from a leftover household, and though my husband and i valiantly save leftovers, we rarely (remember to) eat them.

i think i just need to let my stomach catch up to my brain. because chances are i'm full, or at the very least - satisfied.

* i love how the mothers face just says "now billy, do you really need that grape?"

feature art | jane mount

this past christmas, my husband gave me an e-reader. yesterday a friend asked me if i had even wanted one. well yes, i did. but i also want an ipad even though i already have an i phone and a mac book. i like the simplicity of it, the size, and how it's unobtrusive and less obvious.

but that doesn't detract from the fact that i'm heartbroken over losing my relationship with printed books. beautiful paper pages, lovely cover wraps with gold embossed titles beneath, broken in spines and falling into sleep while struggling to dog ear the current page. and in addition, i'll no longer have beautiful bookshelves like the ones below...

ideal bookshelves, by jane mount (she'll create them on commission if you like, illustrated with all of you favourites).

pen a letter | cards vs. writing paper

is it just me - or does something seem off about the image below?

did you figure it out yet? the theme of this grouping - a section from an "etsy finds" email is "pen a letter." except - i don't see any letters do you? i count six greeting cards - but no letters. hmmm...what a strange conundrum...

don't get me wrong - i love a good card as much as the next person. they are pretty, simple, often humorous and easy to find. but that doesn't make it any less of a "greeting card epidemic." this hallmark world we live in - while equally amusing and endearing - has given rise to an age in which we let the cards do the talking for us. i'm guessing that more than fifty percent of the time, people spend an inordinate amount of time picking out a card - and then simply pen their name to it before sealing the envelope. admittedly i've been given some pretty perfect cards over the years - but i have to wonder if perhaps all that time in the card aisle could be put to better use - by sitting down and choosing your own words.

i have a habit of skipping right to the inside of greeting cards. my husband is constantly chastising me for this - "read the front first kaitlyn!" but you see - some stranger wrote those words, and i'm more interested in what the giver has written to me personally.

i guess that's why i'm so attached to writing paper. some cute, but simple writing paper encourages the writer to put into words the feelings and thoughts their are in their heart and mind.

what i made | pink things

first, let me thank-you for your out-pouring of support after my post yesterday. you mentioned words like "bravery" but to be honest, part of me wishes i could take the post back, or simple delete it. but what's done is done - so here's hoping for a bit of change!

below are some of the pink things i have made recently. you know, when i was younger i used to hate pink simply because everyone said it looked so good on me. i fought pink so hard for so many years. but now i've just given in to the wonder that it is!

p.s. if you're quick, there's still time to pop something in the mail for this contest. oh, and oops! i forgot to take the sale in my shoppe down...run while you can!

musings | weight

i've never written this post, and i had never really planned to. but generally when something is on your mind twenty-four/seven - it's hard not to let it affect all aspects of your life - including blogging. there will be no accompanying photograph for this post - i apologize.

perhaps you've noticed that there are almost no photos of me on this blog? there used to be - back when i was okay with my weight - or at least had it under control. i think the last pictures of my body that i posted were from my wedding - but the combination of my voluminous dress and amazing photographers made for some very fetching* images. i hate all pictures of myself now.

i've struggled with my weight for a very long time. i remember when i was a teenager, my mother suggested i get a gym pass. in retrospect, i think she just wanted me to be active - but i took it to mean she thought i was over weight. i don't think she ever said one bad thing about my body (she's just incredibly athletic), but it's amazing the things a young girl can invent in her own mind. especially when it comes to how she looks.

in my undergrad university years too - i remember some days i would go to the gym in the evening - and then go again at eleven pm (because it was on campus, and it was open late). i would come home, jump on the scale and be so disappointed to see that i still weighed 140 lbs. can you imagine?? i would kill now to weight 140 lbs. i would fall to my knees and thank the weight gods for letting me remain so slim. but i didn't know...

in my graduate years, i joined weight watchers. i did really well. then i stopped trying and ended up back where i was in the beginning - isn't that the stereotype of dieting anyhow? i should have known. who am i kidding? i did know - but it didn't change anything.

i didn't have the body i wanted for our wedding - it rendered a slight disappointment in the back of my mind, but i put it out of my head because i knew it wasn't something i should focus on. what i mean is, i wasn't strong enough to do anything about it months before the big day - so i ignored the problem instead.

a few days before the wedding, i went with my mother to my final dress fitting. i felt sick and nauseated. i was convinced that my dress wouldn't fit. and i didn't know what would be worse - to have such an expensive garment not fit me, or to have my mother witness that it didn't. it fit, but i was so dizzy from the stress of it all that i almost fainted and had to sit down for awhile.

i have a closet full of the most gorgeous, unique dresses. approximately fifty in total - and only about ten of them fit me. this is perhaps the saddest part of it all!

i now weigh more than i ever have in my life. i'm nearing a very frightening number and i can't stop thinking about it. i can't afford to do any sort of regimented pay by the week/month/year program. nor can i afford a gym membership. so if i want to do something about this, it's going to take some good old fashioned hard work, healthy eating, and exercise.

i'm so frightened to post this. best case scenario it will mean i have to be stronger than i have ever been and actually make a change. worst case scenario - i fail and you'll all know about it.

i'm not going to write about this again in such detail. but every week i'm going to post a number at the bottom of my blog posts. here's hoping it descends.

*misleading

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isavirtue | one day sale

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snail mail | to my valentine

pre p.s. one and a half more days to create something for the mail art contest :)

as it is snail mail monday - and i usually post envelopes that i've made or received - i am going to do my valentines post today. now, i'm not going to be mailing this - but i created it in a mail art/letter writing workshop so i say it counts. as you can see, i had access to a typewriter and a sewing machine (fun!). this is the valentine i am going to give to my husband. we have gone up island for a mini break* and i posted this in advance. which means i can't snap a picture of the note inside but basically it's a blank piece of writing paper - with the words: "happy valentines snoof" in the center and more threads sewn across the page in various directions. i left the strings on both the envelope and the writing paper - just cause i thought it was cuter! it's like...love is messy you know?

so that's my personal valentine to jon. this is my public one:

dear jon,

you give me so much love. you express this love in so many ways and i am continually surprised by just how much you have to give. i don't know if you will bring me flowers this valentines, and i'm almost certain you forgot to make a dinner reservation. please let me apologize in advance for how upset this will make me. i want you to know that it's temporary and i haven't forgotten all the little things. i haven't forgotten your death squeezes (you call them hugs). i haven't forgotten how you always ask if i have my mittens, or if i want to feed the ducks with you. i'll soon remember how you'll get me a glass of water, even when we are both sitting on the couch. and i'm sure i'll soon think of the times when i am sick and you dress me in your pajamas and build me a blanket nest on the couch. i know you support me, and love me, and would do anything for me. just let me have a hissy fit and then i'll remember and i'll let you death squeeze me till i can't breathe...

xoxo

kaitlyn

p.p.s. for one day only (since it's valentines and i'm feeling all lovey dovey), you can take 25% (!) off orders in my stationery shoppe on the 14th. just use the coupon code "BEMINE"

* sort of - we have to drop some art off at a gallery so technically i'm working...