found

i have this habit of finding interesting websites when i am too tired to comprehend them.* i minimize them to my dock and leave them there until i'm rejuvenated, more clear headed - and can peruse them in further detail.

[i] love life is one example of a website that has been sitting in my dock for a couple days. i was attracted to it immediately but didn't have the time to process it's excellence. the cool thing is that [i] love life thinks i'm awesome too!

kal barteski is an artist, writer, graphic designer, poet and all around creative person. she creates the most amazing prints that exclaim over the joys of life, love and humankind. the whole website is lush with positive terms such as "make your life worth loving," "you are awesome" and "never underestimate." i think these would make awesome gifts and great daily affirmations for yourself. i'm feeling better already just reading them!

shop [i] love life | visit [i] love life

*please don't hold me responsible if you take on this habit and then your computer crashes. i've had that happen one too many times and yet i keep minimizing instead of saving information. bookmark people! bookmark!

a note about crafting

it's hard to believe it was only seven and a half months ago that i started creating stationery and crafting seriously. it occupies so much of my time that i often wonder what i did with my free time before.* i feel so lucky to have found something that i am passionate about. to me there is nothing better then walking into a stamp and paper shop, or wandering through the aisles of michael's craft store looking for inspiration. when i have a day off, i love nothing more than to curl up on the couch with some black and white paper, and a pair of scissors.

at times it feels dorky, but i get a real sense of satisfaction from creating something and sharing it with others (whether as gifts or sales through my etsy shop). here's a few of my favourites so far:

(can you tell i have a thing for the white on black pieces?)

*oh right, i've been in school for twenty years straight so i didn't have any free time.

i love letterpress

well, after yesterday (when we stamped and lettered all the escort "cards", finished the place cards, wrote up a final seating list and drew a floor plan), i am feeling better about everything that has to be done before we fly to ontario for the wedding next week.

on the other hand i'm feeling totally and completely anxious. i don't know why, i just woke up that way. maybe it's because i remembered i had a plan to make our thank-you cards in advance so that we could write them and mail them immediately. uh...oops, forgot that one. so for letterpress wednesday i'm going to share with you some simple, but beautiful cards i wish i could make.*

articulations events

creativity cards

invited ink

pineapple press

*no but really, i wish i could do letterpress about as much as i want to marry this fiance of mine (that's a lot!).

did you forget to enter the black and white giveaway? no worries! click here

pamplemousse 1983

maryam over at pamplemousse 1983 is featuring me in her sponsor spotlight today. i'm sending you her way until my next post because she has a lovely blog with lots of other cool sponsors being featured right now (not to mention some pretty pink colours and excellent pregnancy photos!)



but wait! did you enter the black and white giveaway yet? do that first.

okay - now you can go to pamplemousse!

a black and white giveaway!

the facts in black and white:

black and white go together like everything good.

enter to win these two prizes!*

"all you need is love print" from tucker reece + a surprise bag of goodies!

pen explosion: ink splatter stationery set with eight envelopes,

three note cards and ten sheets of writing paper from isavirtue

to enter, visit the isavirtue shop and the tucker reece shop and then leave a comment letting us know your favourite item! don't forget to join us on google friend connect, follow us on twitter, or "like" us on facebook to qualify!

for an extra entry, share it on facebook and tag us in the post (@isavirtue & @tuckerreece)

or on twitter (@isavirtue & @jennaferfer)

the info in black and white:

isavirtue's blog | shop | twitter | facebook

tucker reece's blog | shop | twitter | facebook

*contest closes april tenth and the winner will be announced the next day - have fun!

mail art monday

i received the best surprise in the mail! j was leaving the house and in the front hall he shouted "will you come to the door for a second?" but by the time i ran to the front door he had left! i was incredibly confused until i saw this package from my friend kristy waiting at the door. i spent a great deal of time unwrapping it so as not to damage the paper - which was a collage of old vintage art-vertisements.* i had to laugh when i opened the envelopes because it was full of the same images, which had been painstakingly cut from another piece of the same paper for me! inside was a fantastic book called "succulent wild woman" - i'm so excited to delve into it!

* i just made that word up but i like it.

a letter

dear mother nature,

i see you have already made the schedule for the month of april. i realize this request comes a little late, but if you could switch the shifts of rain and sun on the 15th and 16th of april it would coincide nicely with my wedding on the 16th. i understand that personal matters are less relevant in the workplace but any assistance at all in this matter will be greatly appreciated.

hopefully sunny yours,
kaitlyn

sunday seller / knot and bow

i have been admiring this etsy shop for awhile now. at thirteen hundred and forty six sales since they opened last april, they certainly don't need any help getting their feet off the ground! i absolutely adore the first line of knot and bow's profile description: "i'm a lover of brown paper packages tied up with string. this shop is a collection of a few of my favourite things." how can you not love someone who quotes from the sound of music?

although i am incredibly jealous of how well her shop has done in just a year, i have to applaud knot and bow's fresh atmosphere, crisp stationery and insatiably cute products! here are some of my favourite things from the shop:

via & see more

what i made

this week i've been delving into the wedding projects big time, but i found time to create some whimsical cupcake envelopes.

sweet thang cupcake envelopes

feature art friday | lee price

god, i am just so excited to share this. design crush shared it with me first, but i don't really care much about posting the same thing as others currently. p.s. have you not been to the design crush blog? you're missing out! but the real question is - can i use "p.s." in the middle of a sentence? anyways, i was totally blown away when i read about the artist lee price. i love what she does. i love the photo realism of her work (they are oil paintings), and i love how she makes the self portraits look vulnerable, powerful, beautiful and disgusting all at the same time. above all, i love how i connect with her in these images, for various reasons. commercial galleries don't float my boat but this is the kind of art that makes me want to open my own gallery, and say "hah! take that!" to public galleries.

see more