valentines day cranes + endymion

happy valentines day! although I am not one to get super excited about this hallmark filled holiday, it does get me thinking about love. and today I love paper cranes {tons of them!} and the movie bright star. (a movie based on the life of poet john keats) so to celebrate these two I post the image of my graph paper crane and john keats' poem endymion {first stanza}. enjoy!

The First Stanza Of "Endymion"

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing

A flowery band to bind us to the earth,

Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth

Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,

Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways::

Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,

Some shape of beauty moves away the pall

From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,

Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon

For simple sheep; and such are daffodils

With the green world they live in; and clear rills

That for themselves a cooling covert make

'Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,

Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:

And such too is the grandeur of the dooms

We have imagined for the mighty dead;

All lovely tales that we have heard or read:

An endless fountain of immortal drink,

Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.

"proficiency in knowledge of linen"

today I have been reading a lecture by W.H. Webb regarding linen. He was the president of the Irish Linen Merchants' Association and deemed it imperative that the people selling linen had a deep understanding of this beautiful product. it's only 28 pages long [hehe]. the salespeople even had questionnaires at the end in which they could be granted the diploma of "proficiency in knowledge of linen," if passed. awesome. I printed it out and will continue to swoon over it for the next couple of days. this quote did make me smile: "Germany, France and Czecho-Slovakia are producers of flax [linen comes from flax] but chiefly for home consumption. Holland also produces flax, and Dutch flax-seed has been famous for years." (Webb, pg 8) leuk!

and some pictures of the linen I hope to incorporate into my booth at GRunveiled. oh what fun it is to stitch with some gorgeous yards of linen.

going to the meet 'n' greet last night was very exciting! it was great to see joy'l and aletha and see where my booth is going to be -- right on the top of the stairs. come check it out! even if you're not a bride, you can still come! there will be treats for you too! :)

ready, set, bodice. yup, made a bodice from this. confused? I was too! but I finished it. now for next week: arms, skirt and jean pants. woah!

I sure do love winter. a picture from the blizzard last week.

snow day {inspiration}

snow day = blog day. yes! I love perusing other blogs and getting inspired. I just have to share some of the products I stumbled upon...

first, printed hankies from thornback & peel. dark turquoise ships wrapped up in a sweet little box.

second, world's greatest mugs made my MINE found on the feltandwireshop. these just crack me up. imagine the early mornings racing for the coffee only to get the second greatest mug while your honey-pie stands there with a sly little smile silently holding the world's greatest mug. no words necessary. awesome.

third, sweet little shittodo notepad. love the clean design of it as well. Made by Matterial Matter found here.

Fourth, everyday I'm hustlin poster by Paper Jam Press. love this. find it also on the feltandwireshop.

if only I lived near soho. purlsoho is hiring. {sigh}

GRunveiled + Drafting.

It's funny how as soon as I posted about the beauty of winter's slower paced reflection, my life starts to speed on again. ha, someday my life will slow down...but probably not. I guess my 80 year old soul will have to try and keep up with my 25 year old body, once again. {oh, but all I want to do is sew + dip that beautiful nib into that smooth calligraphy ink!} But the things keeping me busy are pretty awesome - I'm really excited about them!

I started a Pattern Drafting class at Kendall College of Art and Design (a seriously cool gift I got for Christmas). This week we drafted our bodice - fun, but very difficult! For someone who still uses her fingers to do simple math, drafting makes my head hurt! But after three hours of 1/4ing, 1/2ing, and 1/3ing my measurements I have a bodice draft that should fit me to a tee (that is if I did all the math correctly!) luckily I have some delightful people in my class to help me along. thanks!

With the help of my dear friend Suzy @ suzannewilliamsdesign, I redesigned my logo. I wanted to keep it simple while incorporating my calligraphy. so here it is:

Another huge highlight for the week was getting into the GRunveiled show. I am thrilled about this! It's a really cool bridal show held at St. Cecilia's downtown Grand Rapids on February 24. I went last year to check it out and loved the vendors that were there -- unique and local, with lots of great design! I can't wait!! If you're interested, check out the website for more information.

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the last bits of January!

2011.

the new year has begun. I am very excited to see what 2011 will bring.

I took the past couple weeks off. a break. a holiday. much needed.

I hope you have had the chance to rest as well.

but...now, lots to catch up on. :)

Did you know there are more type designer's per capita in Holland (the Netherlands), than anywhere else in the world? yup. another reason to love the dutch. :)

over break I met with Earl Kallemeyn, a letterpress printer from Brooklyn who had informed me of this statistic. It was such a treat to meet up with him! he is a highly talented printer who combines paper, type, design and color in such beautiful and simple ways. what's really neat is that he is family as well (my mother's cousin) and has the same ties to the Netherlands as I do. seeing his work and conversing

with him was such an inspiration and affirmation that simple type designs combined with quality paper is perfectly enough to have exceptionally beautiful designs. He gave me a bunch of his samples that I can't stop dragging my finger across the indentation of the press. Thanks again for meeting with me Earl! Check out his website at iletterpress.com.

here are the promised pictures from the Artist Market. Many thanks to Laura (lpoortenga@gmail.com) and my mom for taking some great pictures for me. I really appreciate it!

setting up the booth.

2011 calendars

bags: grey, white and curry camera

jan hagel cookies homemade by the wonderful debi visser, mom, and wilma bauman, grandmother. free for the taking!

oh, how I love calligraphy gift tags.

'don't forget to write those you love' cards.

get me to the kitchen, eileen!

'in case you forgot your camera' bag

the bird loved the jan hagel.

holiday photo shoot.

holiday product photo shoot. really, it's here already? oye.

this fall has been a blink, literally.

although my mind is still gnawing on the fact that I have been busy with holiday treats, I am pretty excited about this years product.

here are some {not all!} of the products that will be around this holiday season.

let me know what you think!

{felted circle cards}

{hair pins}

or attach to a shirt for a super fast, super cute accessory

{striped everyday bag}

perfect for makeup, pencils, jewelry...

{apron!}

thanks studio @ the hoxie building for a great space to shoot.