art | jenny brown

i always get sort of embarrassed when i realize that i've been in love for an artist for a long time - but have yet to blog about their work and share it with people! i think instagram is a great way to follow artists and jenny brown's is one of my favourites - her colourful, organic, sea-like creatures really brighten my feed. when i have a craft room in the future i'll no doubt decorate it with a jenny brown original or print - they are just so whimsical and inspiring! the colours! the textures! the composition! and above all...the exquisite details.  

pregnancy 1.2 | a limerick

an ode to pregnancy symptoms
by kaitlyn webb patience

last summer we discovered some very exciting news
had we been paying attention, we might have seen some clues
though we hadn't known
you had already grown
inside of me... and this was no comical ruse

it was hard to believe you were nestling in snug
most of the time i just felt i had a bug
always needing food
though not always in the mood
you were demanding, and i'd yet to even spy your mug

now that so many months have passed
and boy has it gone fast!
i can honestly say
with each passing day
that i love love love you, and even the weight i have amassed!

there's just a couple things i would like to discuss
nothing too serious, i don't mean to put up a fuss
i won't lie though, i am going crazy
and it's all cause of you little baby!
so here are the symptoms that always make me cuss

this tingle i'm feeling in my feet and my fingers
comes on quick and tends to linger
they've all gone numb
right down to my thumbs
you steal my blood and it's like a lightening zinger

during the day i can smell from here to bombay
perfumes, body odour and what everyone ate
but at night my senses are lopped
and my nose shuts up shop
suddenly i've become a mouth breather...yay!

many other symptoms abound in the night
every thirty minutes i'm up with a fright
leg cramps, heartburn
backache and urine
all are exhausting and feel not quite right

rolling out of bed in the morn, is a monumental task
it feels like i've swallowed a whiskey filled flask
edema in my feet
dizziness ain't so sweet
my swollen face looking like a halloween mask

as you grow and grow, you take up more room
looping your legs in my ribcage, just like a loom
my breath becomes short
or so my diaphragm reports
and your constant kicking is bruising my womb!

but perhaps the worst, is the urgent need to pee
i feel bad for people who are talking to me
i'm gone in a flash
to the washroom i dash
only to present a teaspoon of wee

but alas, when all is said and done
i can hardly wait to meet you my son
it's just a few weeks
for the comfort i seek
it will all be worth it, when out of the oven pops a bun.

art | brittany keats cerullo

amidst all the baby shower shenanigans this past saturday night, my culinary friend kristy from she eats gave me a belated christmas present - a box full of 100 patterned postcards. it's perfect to share here because the box is divided into ten different textile and pattern artists. i'm so in love with this gift because it combines my love of mail, paper, art and abstract painting. i hope to share more here - for this is the work of brittany keats cerullo:

pregnancy 1.1

jon and i are away at the cottage for a little "babymoon" as my best friend calls it. i'm assuming that's like a honeymoon, except you take it before the big event, not after.

death to stock

can we talk about "movement" today? i use the term movement because i think i'm officially past the "kicking" stage (well, mostly). doctors and midwives never really refer to it as kicking anyways. perhaps they have some concerns about pregnant ladies feeling sort of antagonized by the child inside them when one uses a term such as kicking. regardless, the descriptor lives on in the mouths of women, forums and friends.

whatever you call it - i don't think i'm loving it anymore. in fact i'm trying to pinpoint a time frame in which i actually did love the movement. there may have been sporadic moments here and there where i was amazed - still am really. there's no doubt that feeling a baby inside you is an experience to say the least.

and i waited anxiously for it! at the fifteen week mark i started to pause throughout my day and try to feel...something...anything. but alas it wasn't until about twenty weeks that i could feel it, and about twenty-six that i could see it. it took even longer for jon to feel it and see it.
but in so many ways - the anxious wait for "movement" reminds me of so many other things that young women wait/hope for (before realizing of course that said momentous occasion is not nearly as spectacular or enjoyable as we'd hoped).

all of the women on the what to expect baby forums talked about what an incredible experience it was to feel their baby move. many called it a blessing, others said it made them less anxious to know their fetus was happy and healthy. some say it feels like butterflies, still others describe it like popping popcorn. my friend asked me what it felt like and i said "it feels like there is a little human inside me, pushing out with all of his might." it's cool, but also super weird.

but here's my big secret that no one seems to want to talk about - baby kicks hurt! and you know what hurts more? movement! after about six or seven months there isn't enough room for him to actually kick or karate chop so it's relegated to more stretch like movements. which means this little sniff will take his foot (i'm assuming it's a foot?? that's another thing, i really have minimal clues as to what anatomy is where) and push...push...push...outwards. and just for fun he'll hold it there until i literally feel the need to take my hand and push it back in. oh and my favourite is when he takes all his limbs (here i'm certain  it's all unless he has four feet) and presses them all out at once. it makes me think of da vinci's vitruvian man. which, on the upside might mean my son has taken in interest in art! but on the downside it's so completely uncomfortable! when he does it for hours on end i have trouble thinking, talking to people and concentrating on any task at hand.

death to stock

to take the edge off i have four ways of combatting the pain (yes, pain! it hurts people!). sometimes i laugh. it is funny, and at times it is surprising. other times i channel the what to expect woman in my head and say aloud "what a blessing you are little one!" and when jon is around i place his hand in just the right spot and try to imagine it through his eyes. sometimes he laughs and is surprised too.

most of the time i just curl up on the couch and do nothing at all.

snail mail | valentines

i really didn't know what to create for my valentines this year. i wanted something simple but also a little bit different. i always love a good pun so when i saw this template by erin jang of the indigo bunting i was tickled. but to be honest i didn't want to waste that much colour ink printing them off! so i made my own version and embossed a pink deer and bee on the appropriate folds.

i was worried the tie would make them too thick to post but most of them seem to have arrived ok!

isavirtue | valentine love notes

stuck at last minute and not quite sure how to be romantic tomorrow? i've made some digital files of my "notes for lovers and friends"- find them here.

i'm a huge fan of leaving little notes for my husband. i like to be clever about where i tuck them - coffee cups, hanging from the shower nozzle, in his toiletry drawer, under his windshield wiper...though of course in his jacket pocket always works best!

isavirtue stationery

off on a tangent | darling mag and calligraphy courses

do you ever get lost in the internet? who am i kidding - of course you do! sometimes it's distracting, and sometimes it's frustrating. but when i have the time and don't have to feel guilty for shirking any of my responsibilities, getting lost in a tangent can be downright fun and inspiring. it's one of the reasons i love the blogging world. there is so much creativity, talent and opportunity to be discovered.

i have recently discovered the mac keyboard shortcut "command click." it's kind of my pet peeve when sites don't let links open in a new window - specifically when it's a 'link love' type of post or a list of items that can be found or purchased elsewhere. i just don't understand why anyone would want to send away visitors. and with so much happening in front of us while wandering online, it's not always easy to remember where you started. command click opens links in a new tab (which is a better than a separate window woohoo!) and i can travel there right away (without losing my original link list) or i can save it till i finish the article or post at hand.

i just love getting lost on a tangent of links lately so here are two of my most reason chain reactions:

tangent one:

visited and kathleen's instagram feed for my daily dose of newborn baby bliss photos

clicked on this photo because it wasn't a baby pic and that intrigued me

found a link to darling magazine on instagram

visited the darling magazine website

clicked into the confidant tab and read this article about mom/work at home balance which is going to be me for the next four-seven months.

clicked into the achiever tab and read this article about finding mentors in your chosen career

remembered this assistant curator job posting and was inspired to reconnect with the curator i met via email despite not being able to apply for the position (she struck me as someone who would make a wonderful mentor)

end tangent.


tangent two: 

google "learn calligraphy" and ended up here at shabby loves chic

i followed a number of those links and...

was reminded about this calligraphy course - which i had considered in the past and am considering again

discovered this lovely blog by new mama tristan b and added it to my bloglovin' list

read some of these interviews

...and also ended up wandering around the flourish forum for awhile

end tangent.

art | typography prints

i've been really into typographic prints lately. partly this comes from my love for bold fonts and my urge to learn modern calligraphy. but i've also been looking for some smaller 5x7 inspirational prints to combine with our chosen artwork for the nursery. the ones below are not what i have chosen but i like how they are not too corny, or cliche.

b is for bonnie

jenny highsmith

the digital studio

yellow heart art

anna tovar