patience made | camera crazy!

i thought i'd put together a little collection of the camera pieces in my shop!

creator | upper tiny

i think i've always been into unique presentations of artwork. i see so much artwork that when i find a painting on something other than canvas i am tickled pink. i love it when meghann rader painted landscapes on wood here, and i also love these little trunk paintings by jenn smith from upper tiny on etsy. i love jenn's use of shape, line and of course the colour pink.

according to jenn "if this shop had arms it would hug you awkwardly."

see more upper tiny

art | dale chihuly

this is a post that is going to be chock full of dale chihuly artworks. 

so, my husband and i pulled into seattle in mid afternoon on a sunday. i spent a few minutes in the hotel  researching the local public galleries. and guess what? they were all closed during our visit! (whatever happened to sunday being the day where everything was closed? but that's a post for another day) and why are they all closed on mondays? can't they take turns so that i can go to at least one?

but alas! the chihuly gardens and glass was open till eight pm! all was not lost. after some serious time spent getting lost near the seattle center, we finally found our destination. and in front of the gallery were messages written in chalk. they said things like "artists against chihuly" and "do not go in here!" that was slightly unsettling but my thoughts process went something like "well...why not? where are these artists who don't want me going in here? can somebody give me a pamphlet on the subject? no? okay, well, maybe if you were here right now/didn't close all major public galleries during my visit..." i mean, i probably care about artists more than anyone - but even i need more than a mysterious chalk message. 

so we went in. and let me say (though it will be a grand understatement)...it was transcendental. i have never enjoyed a gallery quite so much as this one. chihuly knows how to put on a show that's for sure! the ambience of the rooms was dark, with a distinct lighting focus on the beautiful glass. they played music lightly from above and the didactics did not use "art speak" so i felt encouraged to read each and every one. 

below are my pictures of the exhibits and i highly recommend you check out this museum if you are ever in seattle! (plus there is a connected restaurant called "collections cafe" which features all of chihuly's crazy collections! see my instagram for photos)

musings | on hotels

this is a post about hotels - specifically hotels with a lack of personality. and let me tell you - there are sooo many.

my husband likes to stay in hotels that he's heard of. i call them "cookie cutters," he calls them "holiday inn," "marriot" and "best western." their names don't matter much to me because they all look the same. they are boring, beige and inevitably have an ice machine in the hallway (what do people do with all the ice??). and above all, the artwork hanging on the walls is one big blur of blah.

i like hotels with personality. sometimes this means they are smaller, don't have parking, and are lacking in the ice machine department. but that's okay, because i appreciate when they they woo me with their charm. when they take the time to add colour, unique decor and beautiful artwork (insert brilliant idea here: if hotels supported local artists by putting their paintings in each suite...imagine how special all the artists would feel! and it would be a grand improvement on the prints of flowers in vases and farm houses in fields). below are a few photos of what i'm talking about. the first depict hotel max in seattle - tiny, but with huge POPS of personality.

and as i write this from the moda hotel in vancouver...i want you to know that i am in the heart of the city (steps from yaletown and a short walk to granville island). there is a king size bed, beautiful artwork, a rainfall style shower and so much more. parking included, it cost us ninety-seven dollars.

i'm just saying...it can be done.

hotel max

moda

snail mail | stationery haul

as i was writing the title, it occured to me that "haul videos" are a thing now aren't they? i never really got the point of them (as an adult that is, as a teen i would have done them allll the time i bet!) but now i think it could be kind of fun with all of the goodies i bought! but since i'm in a miniature hotel room with my husband right now, i'll maybe do a video when i get home if you are interested.

below are ridiculous images of all of the stationery goodies i purchased on my trip to the states thus far. most of these were from delightful shops in portland. places i visted include:

sfmoma gift shop | san francisco, ca
oblation papers & press | portland, or
crafty wonderland | portland, or
paper source | portland, or
ecru paper | portland, or
troolie | portland, or

favourite goodies: 

one | miniature aerograms with classic airmail details in pink, white and blue.

two | macaron envelope seals (to match this paper)

three | swedish whitelines notebooks - white lines on grey paper!

four | charcoal grey book cloth

five | zine embossing powders in neon pink and green

six | crafty postcard from contemporary museum of craft

seven | vintage typography notecards

eight | pack of letterpress "thank-you" cut offs

nine | mini letterpress cards: lol, rofl, sweet, awesomesness etc.

patience made | new sticker packaging!

sometimes, you just need to look at your shop and say "what's not working here." you have to be very honest! i looked at my envelope seals and thought..."these are definitely not working!" i mean, they were, they are really pretty and they totally stick to stuff. but the presentation and packaging was dull and sloppy. plus, the small sets only had four, and what can you do with four?

so i'm making all the sticker packs into groups of six and presenting them in a wider format. i'm also attaching a little isavirtue tag that says "these stick to stuff"...just in case anyone gets confused.

shop isavirtue seals & stickers

creator | mr yen papercuts

i'm incredibly embarrassed to admit that i have known about mr yen for a while but never really delved into his site or social media feeds. in the past we have both been strongly supported by the wonderful donaville at discover paper. i only wish i'd checked out his work sooner! as a lover of paper and silhouettes, i was really in for a treat. mr yen (not his real name :) creates the most extravagant and beautiful paper cuts. there is no doubt about his talent. some of the funnest photos are the ones where he shows his work "in progress" - found on various blogs. also, his work inspired me to try a little something for a friend...i hope it works out!

mr yen papercuts

art | will cotton

you may have seen will cotton's work already. it's widely circulated for his luscious paintings of katy perry surrounded by fancy cakes and cotton candy. this is a common theme in his work and i've included some of my favourites below. i love the first image because of the sheer abundance of goodies! i don't know whether i like it because it's a commentary on the ubiquity of baked goods and consumption, or because it looks so delicious. maybe it just reminds me of a similar theme in the work of lee price. and i love me some lee price!

i also enjoy the last image because of the look on the woman's face. again, the context of the work is up for debate. is she uncomfortable? is is rife with suggestive undertones stating that women are a treat to be gobbled up? or perhaps she's just concentrating hard on balancing...

will cotton

musings | travel

so this week i'm away on vacation. it seems strange to refer to it as a vacation (in my mind vacation is a word for time off in the summer, or visiting mexico in the winter). but we've booked the time off and technically we are traveling somewhere warmer!

we've left moody victoria and are traveling down the west coast of the united states. we're taking the coast on the way down, and then once we hit san francisco we'll turn around and drive back up through portland, and seattle. let me just say...i can't wait to go to portland. they say portland and san francisco are the u.s. victorias!

but here's the thing - i'm not sure that i like to travel. i like the idea of it. it's inspiring and eye-opening and often makes you appreciate home even more. but traveling is also challenging, and frustrating and lonely. there are so many places i want to go - italy, france, greece, england...

but since i'm such an organized control freak, i don't think i have what takes to let loose while visiting a new place. i can't imagine not speaking the language, or having to eat strange foods or being sick so far away from home and canadian healthcare. plus my husband is not always...comfortable in new places. and so i think i would feel a lot of pressure to take care of two people.

hopefully once day i'll be able to take the plunge and visit the louvre in paris, the uffizi in florance or the national gallery in london...

snail mail | macarons and more

so basically, i saw this macaron wrapping paper and immediately thought of my friend magdalyn...who loves paris. the gift i sent her was actually super tiny, but i really wanted to use this wrapping paper! poor mags is going to open this gift to find something the size of her thumb. but it's pretty right??

i've also sent out:

one | an "i miss your face card" to an old friend

two | some advice on marriage to a friend getting married

three | a birthday card to my boss