Inspiration: origami paper crafts ...

I spent a good portion of yesterday evening folding colourful paper into origami hearts. I know it's a little late for Valentine's day, but I thought it would make for cute garland if I strung them, or perhaps incorporate them into wedding favours or decorations ... a little premature, but if I can get it done early I might as well!

{image courtesy of Paper Source}

Paper Source's How-to: recycled origami hearts offers some great ideas. Click here for their tutorial.

Some of my next origami projects ... These are all how-to videos, if you want to give them a try ...

Cherry Blossom Ku-Kusudama
Kusudama Flor
Flores de revista
Cherry Blossom Plate
Origami pouch {part 1} Origami pouch {part 2}

If you care to read the article I wrote for UPPERCASE magazine, Issue 8, you can find it here.

{vintage valentine via Primrose Design}

Happy St. Valentine's Day! More vintage valentines can be found here.

It was a crazy day for me, being Valentine's day and working in a flower shop ... I am lucky to have such a wonderful brother who popped in to provide some comic relief to my absolutely hectic day!!!

Here are two of my favourite photographs of Mike and me ...

{1983}

{1985}

On an end note, I received my copy of Uppercase in the mail today ... eeeeck, I am published!!! I am very honoured to have contributed to such a creatively collective magazine. If you get the chance, please check out this inspiring magazine!

In Uppercase Magazine Issue #8, I wrote an article on Heather Benning's Dollhouse ... Here is a preview of the article ...

{image courtesy of Uppercase}

What a wonderful start to the New Year!

We travelled as a family to Vancouver, it was an adventure to say the least! I will post some pictures from the exhibits at the Vancouver Art Gallery in an upcoming post ...

Here are some photographs we snapped along our journey through Vancouver, I believe we walked the entirety of downtown Vancouver ... even the scary parts!





Plus an article I wrote is being published in UPPERCASE magazine ... Issue #8! Available to read this February ... you can purchase the magazine and back issues, or get a subscription here.

These days inspiration for me has been flowers and gardening ... maybe it's the gloomy weather ... the rain is good for growth!

We have been planting our garden this last week, mostly in pots on the patio. This year we planted: rosemary, parsley, coriander, dill, oregano, and chives ... also, three varieties of tomatoes, kale, lettuce, rhubarb, beans, onions ...

For inspiration, I have just started reading Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway. I borrowed the book from my brother and I am excited to learn more about sustainable gardening practices, especially techniques when planting native species, grey water recycling and techniques to increase biodiversity in your own backyard. Reminds me of this project I worked on in school.

Edible landscapes are so practical and delicious, but I am a flower child at heart, so I have to have colourful and showy blooms in the garden, so I planted scads of zinnias this year as well.

I was really amazed at this flower I spotted at the farmer's market last week - the 'dinner plate' dahlia...I have never seen this variety before and I was impressed, the bloom is huge, literally the size of a dinner plate!!!

The rooftop of Chicago's City Hall was often brought up in lectures at University and it is true inspiration for sustainable building and gardening. It is a Greenroofs.com project. Have a peek at these amazing shots of the garden ...

What is truly amazing is how public gardens like this one can encourage social capita - community building. What is community and why do we need it? Broadly, the word "community" is derived from the Old French communité which is derived from the Latin communitas (cum, "with/together" + munus, "gift"), it is a broad term for fellowship or organized society. What is important is that it is a gift and that it is rewarding to give and receive. Here is a friendly poster - How to build community:

Flowers, flowers, everywhere - I have the most amazing boyfriend, he brought home a beautiful bouquet of lisianthus, peonies, sweet peas and leucadendron ... mmm, lovely fluffy flowers!

I came across these photographs by Amira Fritz, they are humorous. These pseudo-fashion photographs are in strange contexts, and made even odder with funeral-esque arrangements taking the place of the model's head.

Who doesn't love to look into a artist's studio - I love photographs of this subject in its own right. Photographer Rachel Whiting snaps this shot. I love the colourfulness, the collections in jars and the stacked shelving all the way up the wall.



I read an article in UPPERCASE about Three Potato Four, a family business started by a love of collectibles. Their online business sells unique collectibles from wedding wares to kids kitsch, from signs to paper and prints. The name derived from their family of three growing into a family of four. This business name reminded me of a haiku my friend wrote for me when I was pregnant:

seedling to soft kicks
inside-out, hugs and kisses
two cups become three

(image: Claire Coles Design)

Mike Press' blog Hand Made Theory is reflections and ideas about contemporary craft, physical making, and their relationship with culture, technology and design.

Susie Ghahremani's website boygirlparty.com has a plethora of her fun designs on paper products.

UPPERCASE are makers, curators and publishers of visual culture. I really love their notebooks that are handmade with an eclectic mix of vintage papers and repurposed books to inspire your collection of thoughts. One is pictured below.



A Resin Revival has cute necklaces... One is pictured below...