Goodnight Little Spoon: December 2010

Dec 28, 2010

Five Photos, Five Facts

♡ I was born with blue eyes, then after a few weeks one got a speck of brown in it which slowly got bigger and since I have had one brown eye and one blue eye. It is called heterochromia.

♡ When I was a kid our tiny Chihuahua named Claude was swooped up (and presumably devoured) by a hawk!

♡ My favourite band is called Why?.

♡ In high school I was the singer in an all girl punk band called Goat Bastard - it was named prior to my joining and I think it is the worst name for a band EVER.

♡ People who really inspire me include Tim Minchin, Stephen Fry, Bob Brown, Clare Bowditch, Richard Dawkins, Justin Heazlewood and Pip Lincolne.

Speaking of whom, this meme comes from Pip's blog, here. Feel free to join in.

Dec 27, 2010

Raynbeau

A month or two ago I participated in the Disposable Lens Project, wherein I was mailed a disposable camera, given a theme ("home") and I used up all of the film in about 24 hours and posted the camera back to Molly and Danni soon afterwards. The photos have since been developed and were put up on the Disposable Lens Project blog today. I was really worried about how they'd turn out, but I quite like the dark, blue haziness and the lack of focus. Here are a few of them;

To see the rest of the pictures and read what I wrote about them, go here. As more cameras are received back they'll post more from other participants.

* Raynbeau was the name of the house I grew up in and was what I named the camera.

Dec 26, 2010

10 Quick Mail Related Links

^ Martha Stewart has a cute tutorial on how to make 'Stamp Art'.

^ I have posted previously about Trevor Dickinson's 100 Newcastle Mailboxes project - he also has a 'Ten Lovely Letterboxes of Newcastle' T-Towel on his Etsy. While you're there, Trevor has recently released Part 2 of his letterboxes zine which, like its predecessor, is brilliant.

^ Foxglove Accessories make beautiful jewellery using vintage foreign stamps like the pretties above.

^ Upon A Fold sells craft cardboard stamp shaped postcards - I can definitely image decorating some of these pretties.

^ The Smithsonian National Postal Museum Flickr Set is full of lovely old black and white postal themed photos like the one above.

^ Posted is a "temporary exhibition space in a former post office in East London that will present a series of art exhibitions, performances, screenings and workshops celebrating the post and exploring and examining our postal history and heritage". Their current show is called 'Please Write' and Inca Starzinsky's beautiful par avion scarves (above) will be part of it.

^ DIY Maven has a great tutorial on how to turn junk mail into art.

^ Modcloth have some very cute postal themed purses at the moment - the Alpha Mail Tote, Through The Post Clutch and Keep You Posted Wallet.

^ Ardour Bookbinding has a beautiful collection of hand-folded envelopes made from full-colour enlargements of vintage correspondence for sale for $8 each. I think for that price I'd want to frame them - too pretty!

^ StampRugs.com leaves me pretty speechless. Aren't they beautiful?!

Freebie: Printable Vintage Girl Notecards & Decorative Labels

I made both of these downloadable stationery items a few months ago and have been meaning to post them for free download. You are very welcome to print these off and use them for personal use. The notecards work best printed 4 to an A4 sheet of thin cardboard - I cut them out and rounded the edges with a corner punch. I printed the decorative labels 6 to an A4 sheet of sticker paper and carefully cut around the edges.

Download links: (4 per page) 1 | 2 | 3.
Single Cards: 1 | 2 |3

Download: Single label | 6 labels per page

Hope you can make use of them! :)

Other downloadables can be found here.

Dec 23, 2010

This Charming Cat

Yesterday a new little friend entered my life, his name is Morrissey and he's five weeks old.

Morrissey enjoys scratching, crying, snoozing, galloping down the hallway, sitting in the fruit bowl, biting and being scratched under his chin. C thinks that considering the amount of whinging he's prone to, he's not unlike his namesake.

I am sure he'll make a few guest appearances on this blog in the future.

C and I had a hilarious time catifying Morrissey song titles this morning. Excuse the lameness, ha;
- You're The One For Me Catty
- Good Looking Cat About Town
- My Life Is A Succession of Cats Saying Meow
- Life Is A Catsty
- Driving Your Cat Home
- I'm Throwing My Arms Around Cats
- Pretty Cats Make Graves
- Cat Least Likely To
- I Want The Cat I Can't Have
- There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Cats
- The Cat With The Thorn In His Side
- Kitten In A Tutu
- Some Kittens Are Bigger Than Others

Dec 20, 2010

Hearts

My one-off Much Love Monday submission - tiny hearts fell out of an envelope from Adeline as I was re-reading her letter before penning her a note. I'm about to go pop it in the post box :)
Happy Monday folks, xo.

Dec 17, 2010

A Permanent Homage To Mail

Lately I've been considering getting a (very subtle and very small) mail themed tattoo. Here is some postal ink I've collected for inspiration (credit given where known);

^ NYCArthur

^ Bowena

^ Unknown

^ BME

^ Whitney Arlene

^ The Ephemeral Mailbox Museum

^ Kerry Ball

^ Type Four

^ Unknown

^ Tattoos, Surf & Ink

^ Unwholly

^ Twenty Twos Or Better

^ White Tailed Deer

^ Ricardo Cavolo

^ Al OGrady

^ Sarah Schor

^ Unknown

100 ideas by keri smith: 1. go for a walk. draw or list things you find on the the sidewalk.
2. write a letter to yourself in the future.
3. buy something inexpensive as a symbol for your need to create, (new pen, a tea cup, journal). use it everyday.
4. draw your dinner.
5. find a piece of poetry you respond to. rewrite it and glue it into your journal.
6. glue an envelope into your journal. For one week collect items you find on the street.
7. expose yourself to a new artist, (go to a gallery, or in a book.) write about what moves you about it.
8. find a photo of a person you do not know. write a brief bio about them.
9. spend a day drawing only red things.
10. draw your bike.
11. make a list of everything you buy in the next week.
12. make a map of everywhere you went in one day.
13. draw a map of the creases on your hand, (knuckles, palm)
14. trace your footsteps with chalk.
15. record an overheard conversation.
16. trace the path of the moon in relation to where you live.
17. go to a paint store. collect ‘chips’ of all your favorite colors.
18. draw your favorite tree.
19. take 15 minutes to eat an orange.
20. write a haiku.
21. hang upside down for five minutes.
22. hang found objects from tree branches.
23. make a puppet.
24. create an outdoor room from things you find in nature.
25. read a book in one day.
26. illustrate your grocery list.
27. read a story out loud to a friend.
28. write a letter to someone you admire.
29. study the face of someone you do not like.
30. make a meal based on a color theme. (i.e. all white).
31. create a museum of very small things.
32. list the smells in your neighbourhood.
33. list 100 uses for a tin can.
34. fill an entire page in your journal with small circles. colour them in.
35. give away something you love.
36. choose an object, draw the side you can’t see.
37. list all of the places you’ve ever lived.
38. describe your favourite room in detail.
39. write about your relationship with your washing machine.
40. draw all of the things in your purse/bag.
41. make a mini book based on the theme, “my grocery list”.
42. create a character based on someone you know. write a list of personality traits.
43. recall your favorite childhood game.
44. put postcards of art pieces/painting on the inside of your kitchen cupboard doors, so you can see them everyday (but not become deaf to them.)
45. draw the same object every day for a week.
46. write in your journal using a different medium (brush & ink, charcoal, old typewriter, crayons, fat markers.
47. draw the individual items of your favorite outfit.
48. make a useful item using only paper & tape.
49. research a celebration or ritual from another culture.
50. do a temporary art installation using a pad of post it notes & a pen.
51. draw a map of your favorite sitting spots in your town/city. (photocopy it and give it to someone you like.)
52. record all of the sounds you hear in the course of one hours.
53. using a grid, collect various textures from magazine and play them off of each other.
54. cut out all media for one day. write about the effects.
55. make pencil rubbings of six different surfaces.
56. draw your garbage.
57. do a morning collage.
58. list your ten most important things, (not including animals or people).
59. list ten things you would like to do every day.
60. glue a photo of yourself as a child into your journal.
61. trasform some garbage.
62. write an entry in your journal in really LARGE letters.
63. collect some ‘flat’ things in nature (leaves, flowers). glue or tape them into your journal.
64. physically alter a page. (i.e. cut a hole, pour tea on it, burn it, fold it, etc.)
65. find several color combinations you respond to in public. document them using swatches, write where you found them.
66. write a journal entry describing something “secret”. cut it up into several pieces and glue them back in scrambled.
67. record descriptions or definitions of subjects or words you are interested in, found in encyclopedias or dictionaries.
68. draw the outline of an object without looking at the page. (contour drawing).
69. what were you thinking just now? write it down.
70. do nothing.
71. write a list of ten things you could to do. Do the last thing on the list.
72. create an image using dots.
73. do 3 drawings at different speeds.
74. put a small object in your left pocket (or in a bag), put your left hand in the pocket. draw it by feel.
75. create a graph documenting or measuring something in your life.
76. draw the sun.
77. create instructions for a simple everyday task.
78. make prints using food. (fruit and vegetables cut in half, fish, etc.)
79. find a photo. alter it by drawing over it.
80. write a letter using an unconventional medium.
81. draw one object for twenty minutes.
82. combine two activities that have not been combined before.
83. write about your day in an encyclopedic fashion. (i.e. organize by subject.)
84. write a list of all the things you do to escape.
85. cut a random shape out of several layers of a magazine. make a collage out of the results.
86. write an entry in code.
87. make a painting using tools from the bathroom.
88. work with a medium that is subtractive.
89. write about or draw some of the doors in your life.
90. make a postcard that has some kind of activity on it.
91. divise a journal entry using “layers”.
92. divise an entry using “layers”.
93. write your own definition of one of the following concepts, sitting, waiting, sleeping (without using the actual word.)
94. list 10 of your habits.
95. illustrate the concept of “simplicity”.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.