Autumn is my season, for sure!

This is the time of the year that I feel most at home in my being. There is a calmness that comes from the quiet and end of season, the natural world going into hibernation and the onset of hunkering.

Since I am not a fan of the chaos of summer and the stresses that it now brings each year, Autumn feels like the perfect rest after being out of touch with myself. It reminds me to take pleasure in the simple things in my life.

It is also when I get back to letter writing, which is one of the things that seems to disappear in the summer.  Lately I have been sending Bento Box Letters, and even though I knew they were going to be a lot of fun, it turns out that they are simply spectacular in their ability to slow me down and have some fun, while connecting to a loved one.

This is the example letter that I did, to show at least one possibility … and then I got a letter from my friend/pencil/pen buddy, Simone … and opening it was such a complete thrill!

 

The gift of slow production …

Pretty much everything I create is a slow process with many steps. Over the years, I have found that sometimes the simplest of things can bring great calmness and pleasure to my day. Recently I was making up some new card stands, which starts with a light sanding, then staining and top coat, before embellishing them with a unique design. I was having such a nice time staining 24 new stands, imagining that each one is created for one other person. I may never know this person, but it is the energy of connection through the work that I want to create.

The same thing happened when I was putting together some Bento Box Letter packs. Each one folded carefully, knowing that one person is going to open it up to create something special, and then send it off into the world. It’s what I love about how I have decided to structure my world, how I am making it sustainable on every level, and making energetic connections with each piece.

Well, thanks to my co-creator, Wendy Morisseau, our NEW Every Day a New Beginning Meditation Deck, is flying off the shelf, so to speak!

I think I would speak for both Wendy and myself, when I say there is a definite joy in seeing how much people are drawn to this new deck. They see the calm it is all about, and the sharing of good energy to start every single day.

We had to put in a second print order as soon as the first one arrived, which made us smile from ear to ear, and it made our printer chuckle! I’m thinking it won’t be long before a third order goes in!!

I notice that the garden, in its final moments of this year, is calling to me again. It seems to like to do this in the fall … to show me the rawness of things ending. I find them fascinating and inspiring. I also find it very calming. I’ve never been that good at endings, but I think that perhaps I am learning some grace around it through this season.

Thank you for stopping in to connect!

Be well in all that you do,

~sarah

It’s been a very busy and productive few months around here!

As I look back and see, I have not posted a blog since May … I know there is a really good reason! The first being, my eyesight was holding me back, and then when it got repaired, I was full steam ahead on the projects I dreamed of completing!

The projects have been moving along well, and in typical fashion, they sort of all came together at the same time.

Now freshly added to my little new shop … I thought it would be great to share the highlights!

I hope you will drop into to visit and take a look around!

I have ALWAYS wanted to do a calendar … and here it is!

Under the umbrella of “on a positive note” mandala decks and colour packs, comes the next thing … the 2022 Calendar!

If you are looking for an ordinary calendar with all the predictable dates on it … this is NOT for you. If, on the other hand, you are looking for 81 celebration days throughout the year, you’re in the right place!

Each day that I have chosen to highlight is there to lighten and enlighten, surprise and delight, and always give you a reason to celebrate!

You won’t want to miss World Introvert Day in January … World Typing Day. Celebrate the birth of the Peace Symbol and Pink Shirt Day in February. And of course, you won’t want to miss, National Speak in Full Sentences Day in May.

Yes, a year of quirky celebrations awaits you! Let’s Celebrate!

Introducing The Bento Box, an all-in-one letter/envelope that is ready to be customized!

I have wanted to do stationery for a very long time. I’ve made a few attempts, but nothing that really excited me. That changed when I created the Bento Box Letter … which is really a blank canvas for fun. The idea was spurred on by an amazing large-format letter that I received from my friend Simone … it blew me away. My first thought was to create a smaller version, using the idea of origami folds, no cuts.

The second thing that happened was laying out the boxes, which is along the lines of how I have been drawing in my journal for the past year. Organized, but still random. Or perhaps, organized chaos.

What I know for sure … they are really fun spaces to play in … and in the end, you have a letter to a friend that is really a piece of art!

Introducing Write Me, the other all-in-one letter/envelope that is ready to be customized!

The second all-in-one letter design is more traditional, based on the old Areogram letters from a bygone era. Write Me letters offer the creativity of colouring mandalas and making each letter a unique piece to send. It is sophisticated and sleek, at the same time!

You can embellish the mandala designs if you like, or leave them plain. The stock is heavier and takes pencil and water-based markers well.

All you have to do is write it, seal it (with the mandala stickers included) and put a stamp on it … ready to go!

A here you have “every day, a new beginning” … a collaboration between my friend Wendy Morisseau and me

Wendy’s images and my words … combined into a morning “sunrise” meditation deck. Since so many people were inspired by Wendy’s sunrise images, posted to Facebook, it wasn’t too much of a leap to  make it into a deck with some inspiring words. Seems the idea is a hit! This may be the first of many projects we complete together … we’ll see where it takes us!

There are 25 cards in each deck, each with a different sunrise and words to go with it!

YES .. IT’S TRUE … compendium 9 is complete … and at the printer as I write this. 

It’s been a very long time between issues, for a variety of reasons, but I am delighted to say that this one is complete, and I am happy with it! 

I feel as though I can get back on some sort of a regular schedule with these again, and I see how they are morphing and changing … and that certainly will continue. compendium is a living/breathing entity, that surprisingly enough, has a mind of its own at times. Or perhaps that just my ability to pay attention and “hear” what is to happen. 

c10 is already roaring around in my head … but first, to get c9 into the hands of the people who have been asking!

There are more new things in the revamped and expanded shop … but you’re just going to have to dash over there to take a look … which I really hope you will take the time to do. I love having visitors.

And now … back to the studio to create some more new pieces to intrigue and delight!

All the best of the season to you,
~sarah

Joy in a box

A small box arrived in the mail today, containing these two ink bottles. They have travelled all the way from the UK, to Toronto, to Vancouver Island. A long journey to bring joy to my writing experience.

I am not sure when inks for fountain pens started to really be a thing. When you could choose between dozens of really good brands, in hundreds of colours. When you would look forward to loading up multiple fountain pens with a selection of fabulous colours, each being its own luscious experience. It hasn’t always been like this.

Wonderpens.ca in Toronto, is my go to place for inks because they sell TESTER sizes, so you can try an ink out and see if it’s a keeper, or just a passerby. These two inks are certainly keepers in my world.

Ancient Copper and Damson join my other two favourites, Twilight and Dark Forest in my Diamine ink line up. And new to the team, Noodler’s Ink “54th Massachusetts”, which is a demin blue, very nice.

Such a simple, yet deep pleasure.

“I have reached an age where I no longer feel the need
to explain myself.”

This was a thought that came to me while getting in the car to go grocery shopping. It was spurred on by my last trip to the grocery store, where a man seemed offended that I was choosing to buy filtered water.

As he passed by me in the water aisle, he looked back and said, “I don’t understand why people buy water when we have the third best water quality in Canada.” And then he kept going.

He didn’t want me to tell him why I was buying the water. He wanted to scold me for doing it.

Surprisingly, I was not offended or upset by him, just confused. Why does he even care about my water purchasing choices? I don’t know and I don’t need to know. Same as he doesn’t need to know why I buy my water from the grocery store.