artists' flea market, part the second.

aitor and i spent another day in katharine mulherin's lovely gallery space today hocking our wares and meeting new folks. it was less bitter cold than last week, and there was certainly more bustle about.



it's been a pretty sweet four-week experiment (with its terminus next sunday). i really get excited about art and craft interminglings. katharine also has big things planned for next weekend's wrap-up. as i said last time, these events are small but very worth checking out. there is a feeling of undiscoveredness all around, be it rifling through people's old stuff or encountering new artists. i also really like the revelatory nature of displaying one's art alongside one's cast-offs. it really reveals a lot about the artists in a way that never occurred to me at other flea markets. maybe the gallery just inspires such contemplation. but speaking of discovering things,...





today i was extra excited to encounter the personage and work of one sarah mcneil, a recent toronto transplant from australia. her work certainly spans the art/craft gap with an aesthetic and sense of humour that both appeal to me greatly.

i purchased one of her zines and read it to myself on the short streetcar ride home. it was the perfect length to take me stop-to-stop which reminded of how the time it takes to get from the land of point to the pointless forest is directly proportional to the time it takes to sing a song (big props if you get that allusion - it also means we shared a part of our childhoods).





just look at that table of contents. how could i not be smitten? after my chance encounter with mia nolting in portland and with ray fenwick's hall of best knowledge on my bedside table, i am beginning to feel surrounded by a comforting swirl of lists and charts and text as art. and i will tell you something: it feels good.

issues of security in america's new dawn.

envelopes are still trickling in from collection phase one. it's nice. the pace is easier to keep up with and the security envelope project has gone back to being a loving process to me (i react poorly to being beholden).

above is the new pattern i found in a contribution from frank in indiana. i have seen this pattern before but never in red. i love it!

in a recent letter, my friend melissa brought up the idea that i should bring this project to the states, what with the connotations of security there these days. of course, i had considered these themes before but they were not central in my artistic motivations for this project. regardless of that, she's right; security seems to be on everyone's minds these days in one way or another (american or not). i like the notion that these scraps of paper could keep us all safe. i think it's working for me. there is a security in being focused on a project or goal. well, it's one of the best kinds of security i have come upon in my creative life, at any rate.

happenings far away (that i have a light involvement in).

trampoline hall pie by margaux williamson

A few things have been piling up in my inbox and mind - things to which i have vague allegiances or have subtle involvements in, but all things happening outside of toronto that i will not be able to attend.

firstly, i am busily hammering out buttons for the vancouver installment (premiere?) of the trampoline hall lectures. misha is flying out there to do a one-night-only presentation of the show, curated by veda hillie, as part of the push festival. my old frined johnny b will be manning the merch table, with buttons made especially for the event and trampoline hall's ubiquitous comic book zine. go say hi! the information is kind of hidden on the push website, so i recommend checking out the facebook event for details.

little mountain crest by ehren salazar

on february 13, avncouver's little mountain studios will be putting on their first off-site event with a night of the hidden agenda variety show at the waterfront theatre. my involvement in the birth of hidden agenda is so convoluted that i won't even go into it. but i can say that i have looked over the line-up and it seems pretty awesome. in my opinion, you should never miss a chance to see ehren salazar do anything. the creaking planks (who i just saw perform on my last visit to vancouver) are also a sight to behold. and the waterfront is such a lovely venue. it's one of my favorites in vancouver.

berner/wiseman poster by tyler brett

and finally, coming up in march, is an amazing little show in bruno, saskatchewan, that i am allowed to claim some kind of involvement in. i didn't really do anything to make this show happen, but did serve as the connective tissue between bob and the good folks at all citizens. aside from looking like it will be an amazing show, this event also gets to serve the added purpose of fulfilling mr. wiseman's lifelong dream of performing in bruno. although i do not know mr. berner (or i don't think i do), i have long been a fan of his music and have even read his book on accordion playing which is very funny and will make you a genius.

city of craft snowstorm t-shirt party.

i already used the best camus humour i could muster on the city of craft blog so i am not exactly sure what existentialist sales pitch is left for me and these shirts. i was hoping to convince the world that our new merch could protect a body from frostbite and hypothermia...or feelings of disillusionment. what do i need to say to convince you of that? or will these pictures work?

with the snow mageddoning down again today, i decided it was high time to drag my life partner out into the fray to take some pictures of these brand spanking new tees, fresh off shannon gerard's able squeegee. the image comes to us courtesy of caitlyn murphy, up-and-coming illustrator to the stars, who orginally made the design for our 2008 city of craft show programs. we decided it was lovely enough to merit a slightly less ephemeral incarnation...so now you can wear it on your chest! you will also be able to wear it under your arm, but i don't have pictures of the new tote bags yet. they look pretty swank, though (hemp and cotton blends have really grown up).



these will be making their real world debuts at the love and rummage trunk show in a week and a bit, so you can ogle and molest them there. there is some chatter that city of craft may also be launching a humble etsy shop, too. well, i made one. now we just need to sort out the logistics of filling it with goodies. out of curiosity, would anyone here be interested in such a thing?



thanks to caitlyn, shan and aitor for being so helpful with this project. hopefully this will keep all of toronto stylish and crafty at the same time. unless life is meaningless, that is.

your heart may be cold, but your neck will be warm.

i have just finished and photographed a veritable heap of crocheted neck warmers. if you are the type of person who likes to peruse woolens on the internet, you can ogle here.



these tracheal cozies will be available at the upcoming love and rummage trunk show, next saturday's artists' flea market (just confirmed) and then at the good catch general store in toronto. if you live out of town, and one of these guys catches your fancy, feel free to get in touch. i can provide you with things like measurements, fibre contents (they are all natural) and shipping quotes.



what better way to say i love you in the middle of winter that by warming a throat? it sure beats candy hearts and stuffed bears with glossy hearts sewn to their hands.

also, i know that katharine is still looking for a few vendors for next sunday's flea market. perhaps you are interested?

parting the curtains and singing of love.

above are some very special one-off versions of the love porn buttons by emma segal that i made for the very special folks at worn fashion journal.

these bad boys (and girls) will be slipping their way into the swag bags being handed out to the first twenty five attendees of worn's heartbreak karaoke fundraiser being held at the cameron house on valentine's day proper.

i don't know that i will be in attendance, as valentine's day is my birthday and i prefer to hide under a rock and avoid the panic and forced whimsy of a day i have complicated feelings about.

i will be turning 75 this year, so condolences and funeral wreaths are being accepted as of now.

artists' flea market.

for me and the reverend, today's major activity was the artists' flea market at katherine mulherin contemporary art projects. i am not going to lie to you, potential participants, it was a rather slow day. but i didn't feel the day was wasted, by any means. i completed 25 neck warmers while there (i love to crochet and hate to sew buttons) and made some good connection with people who don't normally interact with the craft scene.



also, katherine has an incredible curatorial ability (obviously) and access to artists that most events of this format will not have. she plans to continue these events every satuday and sunday through february 8th, with a different line-up every time.



will i do it again? i am not sure. but i will definitely make a point of attending as much of the rest of the series as i can, and encourage you to do the same. there are some astronomical art deals to be had, and it's all being sold alongside the artists' used gloves. it's a nice situation all around. and katherine has mulled cider on hand, to boot.

weekend roundup (around the house and journeys beyond).

first of all, i would like to introduce my second button board (made by the impeccable tara broderick). i also finally bit the bullet and put them on the wall. i had been waiting to get my office together (the last frontier of organization at the homestead) but decided these needed to be on a wall now. the one i already had was taking up valuable kitchen chair space, and the living room wall is a less invasive use of common space that the kitchen table.



i am still using the boards to sort the security envelope buttons (the collection of which has bloated to a hefty 309). they look so pretty on display and magically tend to harmonize with our blue walls. also, we love kentucky.

after home puttering, i went on a little walk today out into the world and visited the artists' flea market being hosted by board of directors at katherine mulherin's 1086 queen west gallery. aitor and i will be there tomorrow from 10:00am - 6:00pm, trying to see what the art community thinks of our stuff. in the spirit of a flea market, we are also going to bring a small sampling of thrifty goodies set aside for the love and rummage trunk show the weekend after next.

it's funny that so many people have rummage on their minds. or maybe it's not funny and recession just has everyone in a panic. either way, you should be able to find lots of thrifty gift options for your sweeties this valentine's day. oh, and i should also direct your attention to make something - the blog of my trunk show co-conspirator, karyn. aside from being a great place to learn things, get inspired and spy on karyn, it will also be host to a series of interviews with trunk show vendors in the coming weeks. we have a bunch of new vendors this time around and, as always, toronto craft folks are up to some exciting new things. i'm looking forward to hiding from the cold, sipping tea and getting to know my fellow vendors through cyber-stalking. that way i can be extra creepy when i meet everyone in person next weekend.

experiments in terraria.

the moss plate was threatening to dry out. i knew this would happen. so yesterday, aitor and i had a brief outing on the hunt for the last couple of materials we needed to make a terrarium or two (namely charcoal and sphagnum moss).

i have been dreaming up terraria for while - actually, ever since aitor went on a plant splitting spree and gave me a small butterwort. he still has two thriving in his big wardian case while mine was pluckily struggling on our bathroom windowsill. so i started looking around for appropriate containers. that's when i found the one above, which was a serious thrift score. of course, you can't just plop a lone carnivorous plant into a big jar like that all alone. so a hatched a plan to collect some mosses out west (which also acted as a bid to bring a small part of the farm home with me). well, that plan snowballed, as plans are often wont to do, and i ended up with quite a bit of mossy materials.





in the end, the butterwort didn't end up figuring into the big glass jar at all. it's very easy to overcrowd these things and my maximalism really comes out in these situations. this little guy might be a lot to take in for the tastes of others, but i just see a million things to stare at. those stringy red things dance around when misted, which i can never get over.

with the remaining smaller bits and the butterwort, i put together these three smaller containers.



i imagine they are intended for some kind of wild alcoholic beverage (if you know, please fill me in) but they make perfect tiny terraria. i had orginally intended to give these ones to friends, but i think i need to hang onto them for at least a little while. after all, this is all experimental for me so i would it would serve me to observe the trials and successes of these little ecosystems.

after just one night, i can already see condensation on the glasses, the moss has perked up and the lichen have reverted to the softer forms that they had when i met them in british columbia; they had taken on a much more rigid demeanour when just lying around in the open of our dry apartment. the butterwort even ate some bugs that crawled out of the moss! let's hope it starts to look more like its happier brethren soon.



also, if anyone in the city has another large glass-topped jar or container that they feel like getting rid of, i would give it a good home. i have one big chunk of moss left with a couple of ferns growing in it and am trying desperately to keep it happy and healthy. my recent thrift store outings have yielded nothing of use. such is the plight of the impoverished artist who takes on opulent victorian hobbies.

although there is more extensive information on building your own terrarium elsewhere on the web, i will quickly run down what i did to make these:

a) washed and sterilized the glass containers.

b) filled the bottom with loose river rocks.

c) mixed in charcoal (i found it keeps the dust down if you rinse it first and lay it into the glass wet).

d) soaked the dried sphagnum moss and applied a healthy layer over the rocks.

e) placed moss samples in with gentle downward squeezes.

f) laid lichen-encrusted twigs and little pine/alder/cedar cones on top.

g) watered.

h) replaced lid.

i) marveled.

of cats and yarn.

...if you make it into yarn, will your cat be convinced?

in the case of my cat, the results are misleading. she has always had a disconcerting penchant for plastic bags and generally (with a few wild exceptions) stays away from my exposed yarn stash.

so why am i making yarn from plastic bags? well, my friend angelune is planning an earth day project to be displayed in the window of the knit cafe this spring and it involves both hyperbolic crochet and trashy materials...just my style. although i find it to be a very unpleasant material to crochet with, this is a pretty interesting 'fibre' to work. the end product certainly has a unique tenacity about it. if you are interested in trying it out yourself, angelune forwarded us this tutorial to use as a yarn-making guide. helle jorgensen's entire blog is worth poking around on, too. she has really taken work with crochet and plastic bags to a few new levels.

it's not like i'm done, or anything.

just because the security envelope project is currently experiencing its first public outing, does not mean the project has reached an end point. far from it. in fact, i am still receiving contributions from a few stragglers (no derision intended, the time off has been much appreciated).

above are some highlights from joanne, who is my first south african contributor. as hoped, south africa offered me all sorts of new and exotic patterns. those thirteen above are all new for sure. the two at the far right are very exciting, indeed, as the gray one features a very very subtle grid pattern (which is hard to see in photographs) and the blue one has a very large repeat on it.

oh, and here is a picture joanne sent earlier to entice my senses:



yes, yes. there is still much security to explore. and i am steadily scanning patterns in preparation for collection phase two (the quickening). in phase two i will be rewarding folks for finding new patterns only. this will both make the project more like a treasure hunt and hopefully keep me from going broke and having to live in a hole (from which blogging would become impaired).

gifts from afar.

hey, look what i got from my friend missy and raoul at racho cocoa in athens, georgia. actually, that is just a sampling on the generous care package missy put together for me. there are postcards, missy's note pads, foreign candies, never-ending eight-hour shift zines (who wrote that?), a wooden tofu baby pendant, a triangular pouch and (our shared loved) a squished penny! the cup of tea was not in the package, but i'm sure if missy could find a way it would have been. there was also a vintage shirt (now in the wash) and a pile of security envelopes.

this package was waiting for me when i got back from vancouver and so was another surprise package from our little leah in berlin.





apparently the flea markets there are pretty amazing. i wish i could teleport to germany and spend a week wandering around with leah. she also included some brilliantly creepy glass jars with the names of chemical compounds taped to them (just our style around here) and a metal pin of a local folk hero. leah will have to explain the latter further, as history confuses me. i really love the washe bag, by the way and am just thinking about how to properly display/use it.

even though i currently feel overwhelmed with stuff, i was so nice to come home to care package from some far reaches and favorite people. thank you guys. what's in toronto that you babes want? all dressed chips? kit kat bars? codeine?

actually, i can't remember what chocolate bars are specific to canada. coffee crisp? who knows? but i remember those ones with puffed rice in them being strictly american.

it's alive! (or the security envelope project has its coming out party).

well, world. it has finally happened. the security envelope project i have be obsessing over has come into being with its first gallery showing. the piece pictured above is a 17 x 17 (289) button grid installed with nails and magnets at the ontario crafts council as part of the group show, diwhy?











the show opens today and runs through march 1st at the crafts council gallery (990 queen street west). aitor and i went today to drop off a spinning rack of button sets - yes you can buy the sets of three themselves for $6 at the gallery for the duration of the run. this gave us a great chance to poke around. i'm really into the whole thing. i was especially excited to get to put the first few stitches in miriam grenville's lovely diy wall paper.



you should go see it all.

putting 289 buttons on 289 nails (or how to drive yourself crazy in four easy hours).

today i installed my piece (affectionately titled 'the security envelope project') at the ontario crafts council for the diwhy? exhibition that opens tomorrow. as a result, i will show you how i did it in case you ever get the urge to display 289 1" buttons on a wall somewhere. oh yes, i should apologize for the photos in advance. the lighting was not great and my photography skills have some holes in them so they are petty grainy.

step #1 - do math
i did this in my head and thus couldn't take pictures. in this case, the buttons'centres will be spaced 1.5 inches apart (leaving .5 inches between each button) and will be arranged in a grid of 17 squared (the highest square number i could muster out of my current collection).

step #2 - make a centre dot on the wall.

step #3 - apply a horizontal piece of masking tape over this dot, extending the width of your intended display. this part can be eyeballed. the level will come in later.

step #4 - measure out a leveled series of dots (at your predetermined intervals and quantity).

step #5 - place a new piece of masking tape vertically using the centre dot as a guide.

sep #6 - repeat step #4 on the vertical axis.

step #7 - start applying lines of tape (eyeballing their levelness), using this centre axis as a guide. part way through, your grid should look like the one above. when you are finished this step, it should look like this:



step #8 - draw levelled lines through your central axis of dots. this should be done with some amount of care.





...see how my eyeball lines and leveled lines vary considerably? i even had to add tape in a few places so as not to draw on the wall (which i was trying to avoid).

step # 9 - nails!



i used 2 inch common nails with a nice flat head. although i started by placing two in the middle, i quickly realized that right-handed people should start in the upper right corner. i would imagine that the reverse is true for lefties but have yet to test this theory.

step #10 - keep it up! don't loose focus and just go for a coffee/tea.



step # 11 - finish nailing and feel a warm sense of accomplishment. after all, this is the most stressful part of the process. if you mess up, you risk making the holes loose and having your nails fall out. i am very proud to report that i hammered in 289 nails without bending one, loosening a hole (well, that's debatable), or hitting a finger. my dad would have been so proud.



step #12 - remove tape. i find that this process is greatly aided by having shannon gerard idling in the vicinity. if you are lucky enough to find yourself in this situation, you will see how much faster she is than you at picking masking tape off a wall.



this is also a good time to start marvelling at the shadows that a big grid of nails casts.

step #13 - apply a single magnet to the end of each nail. i chose the rare earth magnets at a diameter of 1/16 of an inch. these magically fit the nail heads perfectly with no math or effort on my part. when applying magnets to the nail heads, you will also notice that shannon is faster than you.



step #14 - apply your 1" buttons to the magnets. i found that you have a better chance of getting them close to centered if you open the pinbacks. i did not take any pictures of this step because i could not bear the resulting images given the low light. but fear not, i will be back tomorrow and will take some pictures when the sun is shining.

step #15 - be proud of your accomplishment. you actually did something today!

reflections:
- gallery walls are full of patched holes. you should have spackle and paint on hand to deal with the chips and cracks your nails will create.
- tape is hard to peel off walls. i actually may have to think of a better system for future installations, but this was a first stab and worked out exceptionally well.
- accept the irregularities of doing it by hand. it is nearly impossible (for me) to make this grid all sit on the exact same plane. also, there are so many layers of variable (measuring, nailing precision, magnetism, button/pinback cooperation...) that inconsistencies are bound to present themselves. i have decided that these elements make the piece more organic. besides, a show about the diy movement can't possibly want to install the craziness like an automaton, right? like what is this...readymade?

thanks for reading (if you did). is anyone else actually going to try to do this somewhere? let me know, if you are. i am thinking of selling do-it-yourself kits in my etsy shop (of various grid dimensions) but i am holding off until i have perfected the instructions. please let me know what you think of that idea, too.

and go to the show! it opens tomorrow with a reception on february 5th.

moss plate.

above is a collection of moss, ferns, cones and lichens that i brought back from the farm where my dad lived. aitor and i unpacked it all when i got home. he fed all the bugs that crawled out to his carnivorous plants (thus, facilitating the circle of life) and we arranged the moss onto our bigger serving plate. i wish we could just keep it like this. aitor and i both decided that we like it quite well. unfortunately, toronto apartments with hot water heat are far too dry in the winter time for moss so these samples are soon to be arranged under glass. but for now, we have this beautiful focal point in our living space. there are these long spikey red things that even dance when you mist them with water (which we do constantly to keep them happy). some of the lichens also unfurl (or maybe they furl) when misted. i'm pretty excited about this project and the fascination/calm it is already bringing us.

what your country looks like from above.

i deeply regret not pulling my camera out during our ascent from vancouver today. the ominous fog that has been sitting over the city for this whole visit looked absolutely incredible from above. it swirls around and makes the downtown look like the emerald city poking through the mist. oh yes, vancouver, the sun is shining so bright and clear just a mile or two above you.

here is some more:

portland morning run-arounds.

after an early rise (for me, anyway) so that we could get to powell's right when it opened, we met with the book buys and then staggered around, overwhelmed. i actually bought nothing which was surprisingly easy when i thought of all the dribs and drabs of my father's that i already had to find ways to bring back to toronto with me.

after powell's, we went down to the little alberta street arts district to check in on some stores i had sold to there. i was sad to see imp going out of business (sadly, this is becoming a more common sight on my trips south of the border). i wish the owner, chris, all the best and hope the closing doesn't signal some greater worries. that store, and this whole neighbourhood, were places that my father and i stumbled into when we drove from vancouver to los angeles in the spring of 2006. you know, bittersweet stuff.

i did discover a newer space that had open on the strip, together gallery (pictured above). i was drawn in by the window display by ryan bubnis, which inhabited an aesthetic that made me feel i was at home looking at it.





the window is part of their current group show, waiting for the miracle, which is pretty spectacular. oh yes, there was also a terrarium in the window. feelings of home, again...



the woman behind the counter, i came to learn, was an artist named mia nolting. we got to chatting and after she handed me a survey to fill out i had a similar home-like inkling. some later internet stalking has confirmed my feelings. she's incredibly talented and seems to enjoy illustration, typography, lists, surveys and cussing...clearly there is some kindred spirit going on there.



i ended up going home with the book pictured above (by nigel peake) and a multiple choice diary that mia gave me. i love them both a lot. but am i supposed to fill in the diary and send it back to her? is this more of the same personal information hoarding that the surveys feed into? and what glorious/nefarious purpose will all this information feed into, i wonder?



i also got to visit office, one of my favorite portland shops to drool in. they always have great shows in their corner gallery and the shop has the magical feeling of being totally empty and totally full at the same time. you know...when the stuff for sale is arranged so carefully that it insinuates lots of space then when you look closer every single thing is deliberate and well chosen.



john and i then booted it out of the city and made our way home. of course, we had to make a stop in olympia on the way home to stock up dumpster values - the best store in town (and not just because they are my olympia retailer). i love that place.

and i am very thankful to john for redefining whirlwind with me and for treating me to a trip into the world and away from my worries (as much as possible, anyway). i didn't even have to drive once for the whole two days! and he went into a yarn shop with me. now that's a gift.

small steps south.

my mother's partner, john, has graciously offered to take me on an overnight trip to portland, oregon. this is both for me to decompress a bit and also so that we can sell some of my father's old books to powell's - the biggest craziest bookstore in the world (that i know of).

the image above is from our drive-by of seattle. we did manage to pop into the city just long enough to check in with the good folks at red light (the capitol hill location). i am happy to say they are now stocked up again with sweetie pie goodness, should you seattlelites find yourself wanting.

tonight we sleep in a weird little motel in a barren portland neighbourhood i can't understand. but we are near downtown. i already know how much i would like to stay in this city longer. but any time here is much appreciated.

lichentropy.

...the collection grows.

today is my last day on the island. i am both very happy to be moving on (given the central purpose of my visit) and sad to leave. i managed to steal a few moments between loading things into the truck to take more pictures of the amazing lichen here. it has been something soothing to focus on with all the life crap to deal with. little fungus/algae collaborations are both simple and complex at the same time - and certainly beautiful. all the pictures below are from one tree. the collection above was collected from branches found on the ground. i am excited to move these little collections (and the other detritus i am bringing home with me) into my life in torotno.











with all this stuff coming back into my toronto life with me, it's probably getting to be high time for a rummage sale.

lichenthropy.

above are some lichen-encrusted branches i collected on the one little nature walk i managed to have while here. these puppies are being carefully packed up and brought back with me for a very special purpose. it seems totally ridiculous that i am getting up to such superfluous antics while desperately trying to figure out what i am going to do with all the little bits and bobs that my father left behind but it's so much easier to deal with a thing when one has a predetermined purpose for it. and this purpose will make me feel good.



i also managed a very perfunctory visit to talisman books today. the proprietress was kind enough to come by and buy some of my dad's paperbacks and also offer us some boxes. as i was picking them up i was reminded of the amazing craft wares they sell. it's possibly my favorite craft outlet on the island because they stuff they sell is expected west coast fare while still avoiding schmaltz. there was some really beautiful turned birch bowls and platters and some truly stunning ceramics. i don't have artists names, because i was there on very important other business but if you are on pender island, you will find the store. it's at the driftwood centre. you'll end up there on way or another.

speaking of ceramics, today i happened upon toronto ceramicist krystal speck's ruminations on ecology and ceramics. it's an interesting discussion that seems very near to its beginning. i, for one, am looking forward to seeing where the train of thought leads and respect her ability to publicly question her artistic practices. i could also stand to assess the impact of the things i make. but i will swallow that pill at another time. i certainly have permission to focus on other things at the moment.

tree house and other concerns.

i lived in that tree house for a brief time once. you know, this is a very special part of the world. i am glad i have been watching so much twin peaks, so i could get properly excited about it out here. below are some pictures i took around the property.

apple tree and pine cones.

how can this apple tree be producing fruit in january? such is life in the pacific northwest. i don't have much time for dillydallying on this visit but i manage to sneak a few minutes for poking around in the woods here and there.

it's rainy today, too, and i'm not used to it anymore so that's a bit of a drag.



but i did pick up some of my favorite pine cones while chasing my aunt's crazy dogs around. there are big plans for these little guys. but more on that later...

dead people's stuff.

i knew i was coming out west to go through my father's possessions but was not prepared for the generations upon generations of stuff that he was apparently housing without my knowledge.

above is just a small example - a pile of hankies with at least three distinct monograms on them. my aunt washed them and i pressed them and sorted them into two piles - usable and destroyed. i think i am going to try to find crafty or arty uses for the destroyed ones and use the usable ones to save the planet during runny nose season.

this is the process i have been going through over and over again with a billion tiny little things. i have a strong feeling that i will return to toronto with piles of small objects that i will then have to make sense of and sort into my small apartment life. and the decisions will be much harder than that of the hankies because i can't turn my great uncle's military medals into crafts.

those of you who are friends should brace yourself for calls from me demanding help. for starters, does anyone have a velvet display case?

getting on a ferry and going to pender island.

turning japanese.

...i know, i know. it's a rude song. i am just running out of clever entry titles.

pictured above is a new batch of buttons made from the impressive collection of chiogami papers at the paper place in toronto. because i always feel less proprietorial about buttons made from such found materials (except, oddly, the security envelopes which are an exceptionally ubiquitous material), i am usually happy to share my sources. you should totally buy papers from the paper place. i'm sure i have said that enough here. but they truly are outstanding at what they do and are staffed by some of the most knowledgeable and pleasant people going. their new online shop has also opened their stuff up to a far wider audience than before. trust me, the quality is great. okay, i am starting to feel like a shill so i will move on.

this little batch here was mostly made to restock shana logic after the holidays. shana's shop was one of my first online retailers and we have watched one another's business grow together over the years. well, things seem to be absolutely exploding over at shana logic, and it's well deserved. she was hyping handmade before many others and (to play on the saying) probably help to build the bandwagon. shana's interesting eye for techy, kawaii, asian-inspired, cute and useful handmade items really sets her apart aesthetically. she also carries a bunch of my other button sets including both of missy kulik's artist sets, my new toofs set, japanese lacquer paper, and all other manner of smudge, dot, and patterns.

if you are looking for any of these things in a bricks and mortar shop near you, why not call you local retailer? get out of the house. you can't stay in all winter.

it's real (or d.i.y. and praise for tara bursey)

okay, world, it has come time to announce the big thing that i have been collecting all these envelopes for (or, maybe, the first big thing of many big things).

the calls have been made, the contracts have been signed and i can now tell you all that i will be participating in my first group show, being held at the ontario crafts council.

entitled diwhy (visual pun), the show is a coproduction between the occ and the toronto craft alert. it also marks the council's first nod towards indie craft and the diy movement, which i find very exciting. i am sure this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

my contribution will be a grid of 289 individual 1" buttons displaying unique patterns (many sent in by you blog readers) installed directly into the wall with 289 nails and 289 magnets. it will be pretty.

but let's get down to the more important business of heaping praise on megasweetie, tara bursey. why? well, aside from being an incredible artist in her own right, tara has stepped up to help me install the entire thing (no small feat) while i am out on the west coast tending to some tender family affairs. miss bursey has done much to bolster my faith in humanity in what has been an otherwise shaky moment in my life. above and beyond. really. because she is a constant font of creative output, tara also currently has a call out for the punk project. if you are punky and live in/around toronto, tara wants to talk to you. and you should talk to her. she's an absolute treat. i would personally take just about an excuse to have a chat with tara. i could go on...



diwhy runs from january 20th through march 1st at the occ gallery in the heart of the queen west gallery district (990 queen west) with the opening reception on thursday, february 5th. you should come. i happen to know one other favorite person who happens to be in the show, too. it's all quite exciting. if i weren't running away to vancouver on wednesday to deal with other things i would be even more excited.

free range.

it's coming later than expected but the sweetie pie press' newest commissioned artist set has been uncaged and released (i told you my new announcement had to do with birds).

this newest set, cheekily entitled duck duck goose, came into the sweetie pie collection from the clever hand of providence, rhode island, illustrator/artist/screen printer, alec thibodeau. aside from being an exceptionally skilled draftsman, alec is also a great collaborator (creating art with/for deb dormody, tiny showcase, if'n books + marks and more), and the brains behind noney - the people's currency. not a lot of people can say they print their own money...or maybe those who do don't volunteer the information.



for this set, mr. thibodeau dove deep into his naturalist concerns to pen five placid ducks and one surly goose to really hammer home the realities of a childhood game. these little friends make great decoys and are far better than wearing as actual duck or goose on one's bag or lapel. they may not attract other ducks, but they will almost certainly attract the admiration of your peers. and that's why we acquire things, right?



available at both the blue house and my etsy shop.

tiny scraps of security.

the above little tiny scraps came to me from our friend melissa in brooklyn. loyal blog readers among you may remember that she is a bona fide friend who came to us first as one of aitor's unflattering portrait subjects.

i figured out where these tiny paper pieces were from even before aitor read the explanatory part of melissa's letter out - these tiny scraps were removed from some cancelled stamps melissa had acquired for presumably decorative purposes. she says that some of the patterns must date back to the 1960's at least.

the only thing is that these scraps are so small that some of them will only yield one button. up until now i have been able to keep two full collection of every pattern - one for my own sorting/archival purposes and one for another purpose that i am about ready to reveal. but at this point, the two collections will diverge. any pattern that only yeilds enough material for one button will have to end up in the master collection which is a shame because these patterns are pretty cool and worth allowing out into the world.

i would also like to relay a story that melissa sent me in a previous letter:

so, i saw a security envelope at the church ave train station. i picked it up for you (but it was lame - a company's name) and inside was a check someone had dropped! i mailed it off, but never would have picked it up if not for you, ms. becky johnson!

see, the sweetie pie press makes better citizens. i knew it.

cooped up.

i've hardly left the house for days, i have been so busy.

among other things, i made this small (poorly photographed) custom order for isabel gertler. isabel is opening a show at the struts gallery in sackville, new brunswick, next weekend which is where these buttons will be handed out. although i couldn't find a lot online, her exhibit was described to me as a collection of embroidered hankies displayed on a line. art meets craft? sounds like my scene.

i very much enjoyed making these guys. simple design on a button always makes me happy. and birds. what's up with birds? it feels like a lot of bird buttons pass through my hands. they figured into the order for the toronto outdoor art exhibition, the design for theatre revolve, and of course some designs of my own. i even have a special ornithological announcement to make tomorrow (but i will leave that until later).

in this world of craft and design, people tend to tire of trends quickly, but birds seem to go beyond trend. images of birds (and other animals) were painted on cave walls. birds figure quite prominently into textile and wallpaper designs from many cultures and eras. so what gives? are we jealous or just beguiled?

regardless, i wish isabel a great opening. here's hoping your clothes line is not appropriated by starlings.