baby | letter april 12.15

Jack,

As you learn to walk, you're taking a lot of tumbles and I'm recalling your very first falls when you were inside of me.

One night, while living in Victoria, I took the bus home after Anne-Marie's wedding bachelorette party (Do we still know Anne-Marie? I hope so because at the time this letter was written, we have been friends for 15 years already!). Needless to say I hadn't been drinking because I was pregnant. But when I got off the bus and crossed the street to our apartment building, I somehow managed to trip over the curb and go flying! I fell so hard I actually rolled into a somersault! I sat there for awhile after thinking about you. I knew you were too tiny to have been hurt (4 weeks only!) but I was still pretty shaken up.

Two months later we moved to Ontario. Your papa hadn't arrived yet so I was stocking our new apartment myself with some necessities. On the day I'm thinking of I was carrying a few bowls, a glass water pitcher and some towels. After gathering the items from the car, I tripped over the concrete parking barrier and nose dived towards the ground. Luckily I threw the glass and ceramic dishes and mostly landed on the towels. I was so scared for you then because you were now 15 weeks! I have a scar on both my knee and my elbow from that day (ask me to see them, I am sure they are still hanging around). But you Jack - were totally fine.

Love,
Mama

baby | letter march 05.15

My aunt told me about this idea, where you set up an email account for your child, and write them letters through-out the years. An inbox full of letters from your mother would be an excellent gift for a teenage boy right?

Dear Jack,

All my life I have waited to feel the way I imagined the next stage of life might feel. When I turned thirteen I waited to feel like a teenager. When hit my twenties, I waited to feel like a woman. When I married your father I waited to feel like a wife. But through all of those milestones, I just kept feeling like me.

But when you were born, the most amazing thing happened. I started to feel like a mother. Don't get me wrong, I didn't know exactly what to do all the time, and mostly I still feel like myself (with a son). But I find myself experiencing an endless series of moments which cement the new addition to my identity.

When I held newborn you in my arms, I bounced bounced bounced instinctively. When I push you in the stroller I rock you back and forth, back and forth, back and forth at a red light.

When your hands are dirty I hold your wrist and pry open your hands with a cloth to clean inside your palm. When you learned to walk I held your little hand and walked at your pace.

With every bounce, rock and wipe, I get the the strangest sense of deja vu. Perhaps because all of these actions are something I've seen endless times before - in real life, on television...but it wasn't until I did them myself that I felt like a mother.

Love,
Mama

mail | send a letter "i just know you can do it"

january 8 to 14 is international letter writing week - so today is the last day! but don't worry, there is one more writing prompt for you.

today, write a letter to someone who could use some encouragement. my brother just got a new job - and although i'm sure he's totally not nervous at all, i'm going to mail him a little note of encouragement that sums up today's theme: "i just know you can do it." follow me on instagram to see the mail before it's posted.

today is the last day to get my stationery at 25% off - just use the coupon code LETTERLOVER. happy international letter writing week!

mail | send a letter "via air mail par avion"

january 8 to 14 is international letter writing week! every day i'm posting prompts here (which really, could be used, any day, year round). today's prompt is "via air mail, par avion." it's a term used on air mail stickers that includes both french and english (that's not just a canadian thing is it?).

try writing to someone who lives very far away. i mean, you could technically write someone in your own country a letter and it might travel by air - but bonus points if your recipient is on another continent.

i actually have two friends that live in england. strangely enough they both have the same name (i always found that to be a funny coincidence!). i'll write to one of them today - my old roommate from university. follow me on instagram to see my mail pieces before i send them out!

and don't forget - all stationery is 25% off until january 14th with the coupon code LETTERLOVER.

mail | send a letter "hello (i just wanted to say hi)"

january 8 to 14 is international letter writing week. this means taking the time to write and post some happy mail!





today's theme is "hello, i just wanted to say hi." pick someone who might not expect a random hello from you in the mail. the goal is to have them feeling delighted and surprised!



i am going to write to an old university roommate who is just coming home from a long trip away. she's sort of a migrating bird right now and doesn't have a solid address so i'll send it to her father's house and hope that it makes its way to her. i imagine it will be a nice surprise to come home to. follow me on instagram to see my mail pieces.

everything in the stationery shop is 25% off until january 14 with the coupon code LETTERLOVER. enjoy!



mail | send "i appreciate you/that thing you did"

january 8 to 14 is international letter writing week. but wait! it gets better! today is international thank-you day! some of my favourite letters to write and mail are thank-you notes. because if there is anything better than receiving a letter, it's receiving one that sings your praises.



since moving back to ontario i have been in a constant state of appreciation. having a baby really brings out the generosity in others. this is perfect during a time when you are taking care of another human being and you have nothing left to give yourself. while i just finished a series of thank-you notes to those family members who gave jack a christmas gift, i am going to send one more to one of his new caretakers. follow me on instagram to see my mail.



here is a post i wrote on how to write a thank-you note. it really covers everything! and here is another article about thank-you notes to bring the point home. if you are looking for some nice stationery to keep on hand, everything in my shop is 25% off until the January 14 with the coupon code LETTERLOVER.



mail | send a letter "tmi too much information"

january 8 - 14 is international letter writing week. today's letter writing prompt is: "tmi too much information." write a letter to that person that you can tell anything too!

some of my favourite letters are rambling "stream of consciousness" diatribes from my closest friends. i'm going to write a letter to my best friend who just had a baby. i'll admit i'm hoping for a TMI letter in return about her entrance into motherhood!

find TMI and other acronym products in the shop for 25% off this week with the coupon code LETTERLOVER.

mail | send a letter "i kind of sort of miss you"

january 8 - 14 is international letter writing week. today's letter writing prompt is: "i kind of sort of miss you." write a letter to someone you miss or haven't seen in awhile!

i'll be following my own prompts and writing letters too. follow me on instagram to see photos of my mail pieces before i send them out.

and of course, everything in the stationery shop is on sale today. use the coupon code LETTERLOVER at check-out for 25% off!

how to | write a letter

happy international letter writing week! from january 8-14 every year, the world celebrates the joy of writing letters to penpals, friends, and loved ones. how great is that?

when i was younger, i attended a leadership conference and heard the amazing sunjay nath. sunjay is an inspirational speaker - and one of the best i have ever heard. from him i learned about the humour of linguistics, the nuances of peer pressure, and how to remember every single prime minister. but my favourite was when he compared one's life to a deck of cards. 

i found myself referring back to this theory while writing letters as a teenager. stuck for something to write i would think "okay, i already wrote about my hearts (my new boyfriend, my dramarama friends, my annoying parents), and about my spades (stressed out because of exams, had a cold recently), so i should talk about my diamonds and my clubs (how much mould i'm making at my fast food job, and the classes i'm enjoying at school).  when i didn't know where to begin a letter, i just follow the suits as inspiration! see below and above.

clubs | your job, career or work. your school, classes or education. your hobbies, events and extracurricular activities.

hearts | your spouse or partner. your parents, siblings or children. your extended family. your friends, acquaintances and co-workers.

diamonds | your money, your finances, your struggles, house buying, wedding planning, children related costs and gifts.

spades | you, your mental and physical health. how you are feeling.

happy writing!

fifty-two projects | project one

this is project one of fifty-two projects, for more completed projects, click here.

project one | gather up all of the letters one of your oldest friends has sent to you over the years. photocopy the letters. put the photocopies in an envelope, and then mail off the envelope to your friend.

alterations | none! i love this project!!

this one has been in the works since i first began the fifty-two projects. i had to get my mom, who lives in a different province, to search for these letters. then a couple months later when her and my dad came to visit, they brought boxes full of them to me!

her name is samantha. we met in kindergarden, and she moved away in grade three. we've kept in touch through all these years despite living provinces apart. i don't have too many letters from our younger years because we didn't send letters...we sent tapes!! we used to record ourselves talking and then we would mail that instead!

it's been a total blast going through these letters - and i've only had time to skim them. i can't wait to sit down and read them all. i think for the holidays i'm going to photocopy tons of them, bind it in some way and then send them off as part of her christmas gift. she's going to love it! i know i would love to see all of the ones i sent her :)

below are some of the letters.

2000, 2002

 2003, 2004

2005, 2009

 2010, 2011

some of my favourite finds:

this amazing cartoon sam drew for me!!

 a letter where she tells me she has decided to start dating a certain guy - and i was the only one who encouraged it apparently! she is now married to this man.

 pictures of her ultrasound last year

wow, how time flies...

mail art monday | old letters

my parents are in town visiting and they kindly hefted all my old childhood letters across the country. and when i say mine, i mean all the letters written to me by friends. about seventy percent of them are from one friend in particular - she moved away in grade three and we have written letters to each other since then. i was in her wedding last summer and she was my bridesmaid this past spring. ahhh, the power of snail mail huh?

i will be using most of these letters in an upcoming project from the fifty-two projects. the rest, i'll curl up and read. i can't wait to find out what we deemed important when we were ten...fifteen....twenty...twenty four...

below are some photographs of the most colourful ones in the bunch. clearly stickers were quite popular when i was younger! oh, and my favourite line from one of these letters?

"what's your email? we are getting the internet soon."

hah!

purchase your mail art challenge here

cy twombly

i just found out that cy twombly passed away yesterday. i also posted an artwork by twombly last night - unaware of his passing. i kind of feel horrible, and i kind of feel like it's kismet. i feel that in a way i was making fun of his work, but i wasn't really. in my e-course i use his artwork to show how art can be confusing and sometimes intimidating. and then i go on to show how you can come to appreciate it, and why twombly's work for example, is exquisite.

twombly, when i first saw your chalkboard pieces in my second year of university, i was at a loss for words. for various reasons. i slowly became enthralled by them, and the rest of your oeuvre. and i won't lie to you, when i saw your work at moma in 2007, i cried  little bit.
and now, your colours move me, your brushstrokes colour me happy and your gestural artwork leaves me breathless.

jewelry chooseday | platinat joies + handwriting

i have had a headache for the past two days and all i want to do today is sleep. but, alas, for various reasons this cannot happen. i must go to work. so this is what i call a quickie post* where i show you a piece of jewelry i like and then add something else in to fluff up the quickie.

this awesome little ring is from platinat joies (barcelona!) is so well designed. i just think it's perfect. i'm not really a huge stone or gem lover but don't you think this one has been done juuuust right?**

shop it here

and now, for some more fun - my handwriting! (i've always liked this game, it's equivalent to hearing a blogger speak or move). i've written*** the answers to some questions below. i think i'm supposed to tag people to do this as well but i'm too sleepy to think that seriously. you should do it though because i would love to see your handwriting!

* ha! you wish!
* like goldilocks said...
***i swear these two pieces of paper are the same colour in real life.