From Another County

2010-05-16T00:47:00.001-04:00

Clover, thyme, sage, and a twisted twig.

2010-05-14T16:24:00.000-04:00

Today's drawing and salad ingredient.

2010-05-07T00:48:00.002-04:00

A white blossom from the black locust tree. The blooms are clustered in big, fragrant bunches, but I drew a single one in this sketch.

2010-05-02T20:47:00.002-04:00

Creeping Charlie, drawn while sitting along the Hudson River today.

2010-05-01T00:10:00.001-04:00

I drew this set of dried spice bush twigs this evening. I have postcards and stamps to post, but my sketchbook keeps calling me. I mean, who can resist drawing a twig?

2010-04-21T11:57:00.003-04:00

A dandelion drawn in a retro steno pad I found at Staples.

I sketched the flower while my kids played soccer with their friends in the park yesterday.

As soon as I pulled out my colored pencils, a group of girls surrounded me. Some kids said they couldn't draw, but I think having simple things on hand like a weed, a notepad, and pencils took the intimidation of drawing away. Soon all of us were sketching something and admiring each other's work.

2010-04-20T19:08:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite ways to unwind is to draw a flower or plant. I received a bouquet of Gerber daisies from a cast member after the show closed and last night I put on some good music, poured a glass of nice wine, and drew one of the flowers. It seemed like such a civilized way to spend a late night at home, after everyone else was asleep.

2010-04-20T00:35:00.002-04:00

Built sets, made costumes, rehearsed, rehearsed, rehearsed, sold tickets, printed posters, cued the actors, applauded and cheered, pulled the curtain, had a party. Another show is over.

I can't wait to see what I got in the mail while I spent every waking hour (and some sleeping hours) at the theater.

By one of my Favorite Artists

2010-04-07T12:05:00.000-04:00

I just love the look of this.

Postcard on wheels

2010-04-06T12:05:00.000-04:00

Old postal delivery vehicle, on display at the James A. Fareley post office in NYC.

Postcard received in the mail.

Lassie lives in Finland, Clarice lives in my Neighborhood

2010-04-06T00:05:00.001-04:00

This stamp and postcard arrived last week from Finland.

Clarice hasn't set up her farm stand in the neighborhood yet. She's a musician who lives in the neighborhood, and she has a farm upstate. Every once in awhile, on no schedule that I've figured out, she sets up a tv tray on the sidewalk and sells fresh produce from her farm. We have some bigger farmers' markets around here, but I like Clarice's stand best. When she brings jars of homemade pickles, I know I live in heaven.

If the portrait on the postcard included a cello, and if the woman were 30 years older and wore a colorful skirt, floppy sunhat and a fanny pack around her waist, I would swear it was a painting of Clarice from my neighborhood.

From China

2010-04-05T12:05:00.000-04:00

A postcard from China with charming stamps arrived the other day. The red pig diamond-shape stamp is my favorite.

The sender wrote on the card that Shanghai is the largest city in China. How embaressed I am that I didn't know that, and I would not have guessed it if someone asked me. Collecting postcards and stamps from around the world is bound to improve my education.

Plus, collecting mail is really fun.

Birthday on Paper

2010-04-05T00:05:00.000-04:00

I celebrated a birthday recently. A little girl who knows her mother well slipped this envelope under the door as a special-delivery birthday surprise. The stamp and postmark made me smile, but knowing my daughter made a card that so suited me really warmed my heart.

As a birthday gift to myself, I bought this little bookbinding kit:

I'm no Leonardo da Vinci, that's for sure, but he was an Aries just like me and was born this time of year. He liked to write and draw on loose leaf papers, not in bound notebooks. So I'm taking a cue from Leonardo and I'll write on the pages first and then bind into a notebook later, rather than making the notebook with blank pages.

2010-04-04T10:51:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter!

The Easter bunny brought colorful Gel Gems window clings to our home. They feel a bit gooey, but it's fun to make a design with them on the windows and perk up a room.

A gem of a deal! Get sorta free gel gems. (You do have to pay shipping & handling and are limited to one free item per order.) click here.

Life in the Big City

2010-04-03T23:34:00.000-04:00

Three postcards I recently sent:

A dear friend of mine when I was growing, sort of a second father to me, told me never to move to a big city.

"There's no lonelier place than in a crowd," he said to me.

This was a man who took vacation in the early spring and spent it at his cabin in the woods, hoping to hear the ice crack as it broke and melted on the lake. Have you heard that sound?

I still hear the sound in my ears, if I imagine myself in the places were I heard it, an eery sound that surrounds the area around the lake and echos beyond.

Sometimes when the cold crowd gets to me, when the city drowns me, I think of the ice cracking across the lake and an old man writing down the date in his weather log. "The ice went out early this year," he would write as a note to himself to read next year.

On the Dot Thanks

2010-04-03T19:59:00.000-04:00

Receiving the stamp surprise (see post below) gave me a reason to open a new package of stationary.

I wrote my thank you note for the stamps on this set of cards made by ecojot.

Super Cool Stamp Saturday

2010-04-03T18:55:00.001-04:00

I mentioned to a friend of mine that I'm disappointed I'll miss the upcoming stamp show in NYC. Next thing I knew, she sent me a bunch of stamps from Australia and a few from New Zealand. Thanks for the pile of postage, pal!

A Postcard and a Tree

2010-04-03T11:46:00.000-04:00

"It will never grow," my father said to my mother as she and my aunt dig up a clumb of sapling birch along a river. My mom and aunt put the saplings and some dirt into a bucket and stuck the bundle in the backseat of the car.

"It will never grow," my father said to my mother as she planted the little trees in the front yard of their new home.

The tree planting happened before I was born. As long as I can remember, I lived in the blue house with the big white birch tree in front.

I recently received this art gallery postcard with images of wood pieces:

Back at the Magnolia

2010-04-02T18:31:00.000-04:00

Some blooms are fading and dropping from the tree.

San Francisco Postcard

2010-04-01T17:42:00.001-04:00

A photo of the beautiful houses in San Fransisco arrived in my mailbox this week. If I were the art director of this postcard project, I would've moved the cool green pick-up truck a bit forward. Against that red brick wall, it would look even cooler than it already does.

Then again, the postcard isn't about the cool car and perhaps moving the car would distract from ths houses.

This morning on the subway, a woman walked up and down the aisle and explained to the crowd that she didn't have a home. She was homeless, she said, and was selling candy from a box to support herself. One of the people who gave money (she didn't want the candy) was dressed in a white sweater and black skirt. Her make-up was done to perfection and her bleach-blonde hair was pulled into a neat up-sweep style. The candy-seller took the dollar and said to the woman, "You are beautiful. You look just like Ivana Trump."

On the way home on the subway, I overheard a dark man with gray-hair wearing a white knit cap tell a group of young men, "Don't conform to the trash. You hear me? Don't conform to the trash." The boys nodded in agreement.

It was a long day for me, and it seemed like every friend and acquaintance I encountered today had negative comment to say. It's easy to slip into negative thinking and talking, and it's a fight somedays not to comform to it.

As I slipped into my apartment building, this old art-deco building that is my home, I recalled the two uplifting moments of the day - a homeless woman telling an elegant woman how pretty she was, and an old man giving advice to young guys who seemed to be actually paying attention.

Jefferson postcard

2010-04-01T10:36:00.000-04:00

I received this museum postcard from a fellow American.

My family took many road trips when I was a kid. My parents loved to stop at any museum or historic place we encountered on the road, and my father liked getting off the main highway to travel the back roads. My friends came back from winter vacation with stories of Disney World or beach resorts. I had stories from LBJ's ranch and could name every scenic overlook along the Mississippi River.

The sender of this postcard writes that she has taken many school groups to the museum and would like to visit on her own someday. I'm a homeschooling mom and I also organize plenty of group field trips to museums, but I have to admit the reason I do it is because I like writing the name tags. There is something about handing out "Hello. My name is ___________" name tags that pleases me.

From Belarus

2010-03-31T23:47:00.000-04:00

At a dinner party awhile ago, I sat next to an iconographer. He told me he paints religious icons in the Russian Orthodox style. Since that dinner, I run into him from time to time at various events. Whenever I see him, I say to myself, "There goes the icongrapher." It's not often you get to say that.

I received this icon postcard from Belarus. It's beautiful, isn't it?

Today I passed a tiny shop with a curious window display of figurines and candles. Turns out the store does business in books, firearms, and church supplies. They have an in-house psychic detective, too.

I peeked in the store, but it was dim and I didn't see a postcard display to lure me inside. I kept walking, though I wouldn't mind meeting the detective. I'd like to be able someday, when I see the detective in chance encounters, to say, "Well, there goes the psychic detective." But, I'll have to live my life without being able to say that.

Then again, what do I know? Maybe I will get to say it. I really can't predict, after all, whether I'll meet such a person or not in the future.

But, back to the mail. Here are the beautiful stamps on the back of this beautiful postcard.

Postcard

2010-03-30T23:25:00.000-04:00

This postcard arrived in my mailbox from Finland. I'm liking the local handicrafts I see in the picture. I'm not sure what all the pieces are used for, but they look good. The stamp looks good, too.

Postcard

2010-03-30T01:24:00.000-04:00

I always reserve the right to change my mind. Just yesterday I wrote on the blog that I'm not particulary fond of photographs of flowers. Today I received this postcard of a wildflower and I said to myself, "I am a fan of flower photographs after all!"

There is an abandoned, empty lot near my apartment. It's mainly bedrock outcropping, a big hunk of rock a few stories high on a lot between apartment buildings.

A few years ago a developer began the project of hammering away the rock, with the idea of building a new apartment building. I guess the guy ran out of money because one day the work and noise stopped. Year by year I have watched the weeds and wildflowers take over the lot.

The first plants that come into a distressed area are strong, and they help break up the soil so other plants can later take root. I like those pioneer plants and I admire their strength to heal a wounded piece of land.

I wonder if I had a wound, of the heart or body, who would be the first on the scene to help heal me and pave the way for growth and blooms. Someone with the strength of a wildflower, I suppose.

Oh, and before I forget, here are the stamps that came with this wildflower postcard.

Postcards

2010-03-29T01:00:00.001-04:00

As fond as I am of flowers and botanical drawings, I'm not real big on photographs of flowers. And, the calla lily is probably my least favorite flower. But this photo of a cally lily by Maplethorpe, now this I like. A lot. The curve of the petals, the embracing shape, the thing sticking up... it's all captured so well in this photograph and it was easy for me to buy this postcard when I saw it in a stationary store the other day. I sent it to Spain.

I bought this photograph of calla lilies by Man Ray at the same place I got the Maplethorpe postcard. I sent it to Russia. The recipient says she likes surreal art. Hope she finds this dreamy.

Postcard

2010-03-28T21:41:00.000-04:00

Have I mentioned my love for illuminated manuscripts? Oh, I love illuminated manuscripts. Imagine how wonderful it would be to own books illustrated so lavishly.

A couple of years ago my kids were studying the Middle Ages and we visited the collection of medieval art at various museums in the city. One small museum had an exhibit by a modern-day artist who works using the same techniques as a medieval illuminator. I asked if I could bring a group of kids to see the work, and the artist offered to host a workshop for the group. The kids learned how to make their own pigment from natural items and they practiced using a straw to blow small pieces of gold to their illuminated page. It was one of those magical and fun days that last and last because it lingers in memory.

I'm mailing this postcard to a woman in Germany who likes castles.

Postcard

2010-03-28T01:34:00.000-04:00

Are you thinking what I'm thinking when I look at this postcard? That's right...it reminds you of Jenny Linsky doesn't it.

If you don't know who Jenny Linsky is and if you do know any kids under the age of 10, check out the series of books about cats who live in Greenwich Village. Really great books, trust me.

This postcard is of a painting of the Village by Sloan, and I sent it to someone in Russia who says she likes animals. I'm not sure how she feels about hanging laundry on her postcards.

Postoffice

2010-03-26T10:30:00.000-04:00

I'm a volunteer with a local theater group, doing various behind-the-scene jobs. It gets a bit stressful at times - there is a lot of drama in drama, I've discovered.

Rehearsals are held near the big post office. Recently I've started walking though the lobby of the post office, on the way to and from the studio.

I don't wait in a long line for a window or machine, I don't search for proper forms to fill out, I don't deal with any postal clerks. I just walk through the lobby that spans an entire block and that's it.

Paper

2010-03-25T11:00:00.000-04:00

I went paper shopping last Saturday and I stopped by Print Icon on West 18th Street. I was searched for a few sheets of paper with very specific specs, and I found them easily in the shop. That was good. They don't have an interesting selection of printed stationary, notebooks, or accessories, so all I purchased were the few sheets of paper.

While I waited for the clerk, a woman rushed into the store and to the counter. "Do you sell towels?" she asked.

"Dowels?" the clerk asked her.

"Yes, towels."

"Dowels, like wooden dowels?" He looked at me, "Did she say dowels?"

"No," the woman and I said at the same time. "Towels."

"With a T," I added.

"Towels? Towels?" the clerk said. I'm sure he knows what towels are, but working with paper all the time, he might forget other vocabulary.

"Towels," the woman said again. "Maybe you have them downstairs."

The clerk looked completely baffled. "Do we have towels? Downstairs?"

"You don't," I told him. "You don't have any towels."

"We don't have any towels," the clerk told the woman standing next to me, and she ran out of the store.

Postcard

2010-03-24T19:38:00.001-04:00

This postcard arrived in my mailbox today. Isn't it beautiful?

And here are the stamps that came on the postcard from Russia.

Sketchbook

2010-03-24T16:24:00.001-04:00

The March winds are blowing, blowing strong today. I visited the magnolia tree, now in bloom, but the wind on the hill pushed me away from the tree. Instead, I found a spot out of the wind and settled next to some crocus that escaped the garden and grew in the lawn.

The kids tell me a hawk glided right next to me. "Mom I'm surprised you didn't feel it! It was right by your face!"

I was too busy counting petals to notice the hawk. Somehow my crocus has an extra petal in my drawing, but I figure that's for good luck.

Postcard Community - join in

2010-03-24T11:55:00.000-04:00

Passing this along: http://postcardsforsatori.blogspot.com/

All you have to do is send a postcard to the hospital, nothing else, and cheer up a youngster undergoing major surgery.

Postcard

2010-03-24T11:03:00.001-04:00

I have mixed feelings about art museums. On one hand, it's thrilling to be surrounded by the works of masters. On the other hand, I think art should be mixed up into our daily lives and something we surround ourselves with all the time. And, art is what we should create ourselves. We're all artists, not just the super-talented masters.

The American Folk Art Museum is one of my favorite museums to visit. I don't see many other visitors there, and perhaps that's because the MoMA is down the block. It's hard to compete with Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh, and, Monet. When I visit the MoMA, I feel like a star-struck fan spotting a celebrity, but I don't feel inspired. When I visit the Folk Art museum, I can't wait to get out of there and make something myself.

This postcard from the Folk Art Museum of an American flag on a fence gate is on it's way to Estonia.

Postcard

2010-03-24T00:33:00.000-04:00

My Grandma T had a flower garden behind her tiny house. Everytime we visited her, once a week I suppose, she took us on a tour of the garden in the postage-stamp size yard. Every bloom was a treasure to be admired, every change in the garden was a miracle.

Living in a tiny apartment in New York City, I don't have a backyard for a garden. I have to travel by foot, bus, or subway to spend time outdoors surrounded by flowers. But I make the trek, and I thank my grandma for giving me the habit of noticing what is happening around me, no matter how tiny and small. The habit has been a gift from her that lasts my lifetime.

I mailed this card today to someone in Texas who likes flower postcards.

Postcard

2010-03-23T01:19:00.000-04:00

Several years ago I went to see The Quilts of Gee's Bend exhibit at the Whitney Museum of American Art. When I walked into the first gallery and saw huge expanses of denim, mattress ticking, and remnants of cordoroy stitches roughly into quilts, I didn't know what to think.

As I walked through the galleries, I noticed more colors and some famliar patterns. Still, these weren't the quilts I expected to see. Yet, after spending time with them, I fell in love with them.

I could quickily see they were quilts made for warmth out of necessity. It took me awhile to see they were works of art made out of a creative spirit I craved.

I'm sending this postcard to Malaysia this week.

Post Office

2010-03-22T18:12:00.000-04:00

I visited the postal store in the big, big post office on 34th Street today, and I admit it wasn't that bad.

"I'd like to see your first-class stamps please. Whatever you have, I'd like to see," I said to the clerk after she finished her conversation with another clerk.

"We don't have all of them," she told me.

"Okay. Show me what you have."

"Which ones?"

"Whatever you have. Show me whatever you have."

"We don't have the Chinese New Year stamps."

"Okay, show me what you do have."

"We only have the stamps with the check mark."

"Check mark?"

"The poster. There are check marks on the poster. That's all we got."

"Poster? What poster?" I asked and looked around.

The clerk sighed, rolled her eyes, and pointed to the poster taped to the wall on the other side of the room.

"Great. Show me the check-marked stamps."

"Which ones? There are four check marks."

"Then show me those four."

"You want to see whatever we have?"

"Yes," I said, "I want to see whatever you have."

"All four?"

"Yes, all four."

She made a big effort out of pulling out four sheets of stamps from the cart next to her and put them on the counter in a display of fatigue.

I bought all of them and left. On my way out, I bought some forever stamps at the self-service machine.

I got a bunch of stamps today, and I am in the mood to mail a letter.

Postcards

2010-03-21T22:49:00.001-04:00

A few postcards I mailed this weekend.

I have a thing for illuminated manuscripts. I just love them.

I'm tempted to jump into this bed of plants, they look so wonderful. It would probably hurt to do that since some of these are cacti. And besides, that would be an insane thing to do. But I am crazy about these plants in the greenhouse at Wave Hill. I have had plans for ages to sketch in the greenhouse, but something else in the park distracts me every visit (usually the cute cafe seating that overlooks the Hudson).

This postcard was sent at the request of a collector of 9/11 commemerative postcards. This imagine isn't of 9/11, of course, but you can see the towers in the background. The scene is from the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. The one time I visited the park, I went to see migrating birds on a spring day. The weather was horrible, however, and all I saw was the inside of my umbrella flipped inside out from the strong winds.

Sketchbook

2010-03-21T20:01:00.000-04:00

I spent some time in a dull waiting room today. I was grateful for the plant nearby that kept me company.

Postcards Received

2010-03-20T23:39:00.000-04:00

Yes sir, I like this postcard of a library in Scotland.

I like the rack things on the desks. What do you suppose they are used for? To hold papers, it looks like, or maybe to hold open books while you're working at the desk. That would be so cool. I want one on my desk. This card from Scotland was sent to me by someone in California.

And this postcard sent to me by someone in Ohio who says she got the postcard at the Met, in my own city of NYC.

Funny how these postcards are traveling around the world...and they end up in my mailbox and then in my hands and then in my nifty postcard storage box.

Sketchbook

2010-03-20T21:38:00.000-04:00

Different day, different journal, same tree.

I was delighted today to see the changes since my last visit to the tree. Again, I didn't have a great amount of time, but enough to concentrate on one bud and notice the various shades of green...wish I could capture them all accurately. Pale green, yellow green, see-through-green, green green, bright green, dull green, gray green, brown green.

I think pink is about to dominate the scene. Just give her time.

Sketchbook

2010-03-17T23:08:00.000-04:00

A wonderfully warm day today. I want to draw my favorite magnolia tree in various stages of bloom, and today I started the series. I didn't get to work on it as long as I needed, but I'll be back. This unfinished drawing has to be finished because the next time I go, the buds will be different.

A view of the Hudson River through a magnolia tree with fuzzy gray buds tightly closed

Stamps

2010-03-16T18:15:00.000-04:00

The new stamps are here! The new stamps are here!

Rothko has always been a favorite of mine among the abstract expressionists, but I have to admit I like the Gottlieb in this group the best (second from right on the bottom).

I pre-ordered these stamps awhile ago on the postal service website and they arrived in my mailbox today. Hooray!

Post Office

2010-03-15T22:05:00.000-04:00

Since I was in the neighborhood and had a letter to mail, I took my envelope to the big post office by Penn Station.

It's a bit of a disappointment inside. The lobby isn't the majestic place you'd expect from the outside, at least not anymore.

There is a shop to buy stamps, but again, a disappointment. I expected to see the stamps on display, but you have to ask the clerk to see them. I didn't have time for that, but I will be back to make some purchases the next time I walk by the place.

While looking at some old mailboxes in the lobby, the guard said, "Hey, lady!" I wondered if I wandered into a restricted area. Turns out he noticed my interest in the artifacts and he wanted to give me a hand-out about the building. Nice guy.

The handout could be snazzed up a bit, in my opinion, but typewriter copy on green cardstock does have some charm, I suppose.

I mailed my letter and went on my way, on this chilly, wet day in March.

Storage

2010-03-15T01:06:00.000-04:00

Several years ago someone gave me this wooden box. I wanted it, but didn't quite know what to do with it. I've been storing stuff that doesn't have a home in it for years - extra phone cords, batteries, instructions to appliances - things to forget about until you need them and can't find them.

The box has been sitting on the shelf above my desk for years, essentially unused. I noticed it the other day and knew it would be a good storage space for my new postcard collection. Yippee!

The metal thingy inside slides like an old library card catalog. Remember the card catalogs? Weren't they great?

I don't know what this box was originally used for.
Here is the box with my first (and so far, only) postcard in my collection. Once I fill the box, I figure my obsession with receiving postcards will be over.

Model in photos: My nice cat Daisy. (I also have a naughty cat, and she was up to no good, I'm sure, while I took these photos.)

Drawing

2010-03-12T22:10:00.000-05:00

I couldn't resist drawing this peach tonight - the colors and texture are fun to try to capture. I didn't eat the fruit when finished drawing, but had some chocolate and almonds with a cup of coffee instead.

Stamp

2010-03-12T17:02:00.000-05:00

This is the postage stamp on the postcard I received today. Lovely!

Postcard Received

2010-03-12T16:44:00.000-05:00

I received my very first postcard today from Postcrossing! Whoohoo! Fun stuff.

The card is from Finland (just like my Grandma T). The bird is a grus grus, a thing so nice they named it twice (just like my city of New York, New York).

The grus grus is a type of crane and the postcrossing'er writes on the postcard that the birds stop over in her village as they travel to warmer places in the autumn.

Stash of Notebooks

2010-03-11T20:20:00.000-05:00

When I read description on the package of these four little notebooks, I swooned. The package says, "These handsome journals are perfect for bookworms, font fanatics, and anyone who loves the craft of typography." Love it.

I scanned these notebooks on my printer and then colored the background white. I didn't do a perfect job, and it might have been more fun sniffing White-Out, but messing around with the Paint program on my computer was fun, too. Good way to keep occupied while procrastinating working on my taxes.

The Typographica! Pocket Pads are made by Clarkson Potter.

Postcard Sent

2010-03-11T09:36:00.000-05:00

My Grandma H lived in a big brick house with green shutters, a wrap-around porch, and a mean cat named Growler. The house was originally wood, but my grandfather was a prosperous farmer and one year he traveled across the state with horses and a wagon to get bricks to cover the big farm house. The house is gone now, and a McDonald's is where my grandma's chicken house was, and an Applebee's Restaurant stands where her garden used to grow.

My other grandma, Grandma T, lived in a tiny little white wooden house that her husband built after earning money in Alaska. There were two tiny bedrooms and a teeny porch in the front where my uncles slept growing up, even in the winter. She had a glass mailbox next to her front door, and she put a bell around her cat's neck to protect the neighborhood birds. My grandma is gone and the glass mailbox is gone, but the house is still there.

The Dutch settled in Manhattan and this is a picture of a Dutch farmhouse that belonged to the Dyckman family. They owned a farm and orchard in upper Manhattan. The street in front of the house is Broadway. The house is a museum now and I bought this postcard there. I'm sending it to a Postcrossing person in the Netherlands.

Museum

2010-03-11T00:29:00.000-05:00

I visited the Cloisters museum today. It was a mellow day at the place, like most days are there.

Surrounded by wonderful medieval art, I found a place to sit next to a citrus plant indoors and I sketched it for awhile, but I got antsy to get outdoors. My favorite part of the museum is the garden. There wasn't much blooming yet....a few Lenten roses under bare quince trees were all that I noticed in the outdoor beds.

Stamps

2010-03-10T19:56:00.000-05:00

The postal service website is crazy. Sometimes I order stamps online rather than going to my local post office, The Worst Post Office Ever. (That's not the official name of the post office, just the neighborhood nickname). The website requires an account name and password. To buy stamps? I can never remember my account name and go through the process of registering every time I want to buy postage online. It's goofy.

But a couple of sheets of colorful Kelp Forest stamps arrived in my mailbox today so I'm happy. I'm expecting the new Abstract Expressionists stamps to arrive soon, and I bet those stamps will really put me in the mood to mail something.

2010-03-10T11:56:00.000-05:00

I went to the art store with my daughter to find a birthday present for her friend who is turning 10 years old. We were looking for a small watercolor kit for the birthday girl, but I got sidetracked in the stationary and paper supplies section and found this tin of stickers. The birthday girl won't want these old-fashioned looking stickers, but I sure do.

I used the stickers to prompt me into mailing the thank you note that originally sparked me to write this blog. I used a sticker to seal the envelope. Also this week, I mailed a thank you note to a friend who hosts a monthly book club. Normally I dash off an email after a book club meeting, but this month I dashed off a notecard and mailed it.

I bought the stickers at A.I. Friedman on 18th Street (where I thought the staff was pointedly unhelpful when I asked if they have a small watercolor kit that wasn't the shelf display) and the stickers are made by Cavallini & Co.

Library

2010-03-09T10:33:00.000-05:00

I took this photo at a local library, and the scene reminds me of the library I used when growing up. The wooden chairs on the wooden floor in the old brick house that served as my hometown library were cozy to me. The library eventually moved to a new building, and I moved to New York City.

This is the reading room of the New York Public Library where I get to spend my time as a grown up. Isn't it wonderful? I'm sending this postcard to a person in Germany who requested a library postcard.

Postcard Sent

2010-03-08T18:50:00.000-05:00

I sent this postcard to a Postcrossing person in Germany. She likes pictures of the ocean, but I don't have a beach or ocean postcard in my stash.

Instead, I picked out this drawing of the Boat Pond in Central Park. The Boat Pond is where people sail their model boats. It's a lovely place in the park, though it doesn't quite look like this drawing. Still, I really like the drawing.

I hope the recipient likes her card.

Postcard Sent

2010-03-08T17:51:00.000-05:00

I joined Postcrossing today and this is the first postcard I'm sending. It's a picture of my backyard or what often serves as my backyard. I spend a lot of time in Central Park - I was there today as a matter of fact! This postcard is going all the way to Poland. I wonder how long that will take?

One-Line A Day: A Five-Year Memory Book

2010-03-07T00:39:00.000-05:00

After hearing about five-year diaries a few years ago, I tried making my own. I didn't design it well and I made it too big. I ended up using the book as a planning calendar, but ditched it after a couple of weeks.

I didn't forget about the cool idea of keeping a five-year diary, and when I saw one today at the New York Public Library bookstore on 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, I wanted it. I love the retro-look light blue cover with orange ribbon bookmark, and of course I love the gold-edged pages that stick together a bit because the book is new. I snatched it up.
There is one page for each day of the year and a place to jot a few lines on that date over five-year's time. Cool, right? With the simple format, I'm hoping I'll keep up writing in the book.

I see on the publisher's website that a One Sketch a Day: A Visual Journal is about to be released on March 17, 2010. Great idea to sketch every day....another thing I'd like to keep consistent in my life.

Published by Chronicle Books and purchased at the New York Public Library shop.

Wool Felt Baskets

2010-03-07T00:13:00.000-05:00

I started working on some Easter surprises for the kids. I stitched these tiny baskets using wool felt. I almost (but not quite) love wool felt as much as I love paper.

Current Stash of Notebooks

2010-03-05T21:01:00.000-05:00

Topping the pile is a Paperchase small notebook with a plain brown cover purchased at Borders Books). I taped a lino print I made of a flower on the cover.

I keep a series of notebooks I call Paper Trails. I tape scraps like receipts, snippets from brochures, business cards, found pieces of paper in the books, and I write tidbits about my day or about my thoughts on the pages. I keep the format very (very) informal, and I think that's why my series of Paper Trails notebooks are so easy for me to keep up.

The pages of the little notebook are filled now to bulging, and I started another Paper Trails book.

Foreign Postal Stamp

2010-03-04T23:09:00.000-05:00

Tonight I asked the kids if they wanted to start collecting stamps. They said, "We already started a collection a long time ago," and they pulled out this envelope.

Needless to say, this stamp is from a few years ago.

Mail Received

2010-03-04T21:09:00.000-05:00

A business correspondence received with five different types of stamps. How did she know I would like all those stamps? Well, she didn't know, and she also had no idea that I get a kick out of people writing New York City instead of plain New York on the envelope. Simply pleasures like this keep me smiling throughout a run-of-the-mill day like today.

Mail Received

2010-03-04T20:49:00.000-05:00

Last month, out of the blue, I received this postcard with a thank you note.

Stationary

2010-03-01T11:31:00.000-05:00

This is stationary I'm using today to send a note and payment for tickets to an acquaintance, the ticket manager for our theater group. The paper belongs to my daughter, but she let me have a couple of envelopes and a sheet of paper I need for the correspondence.

I like mix-and-match stationary sets. The blue is the backside of the writing paper. No matter how you fold the paper and no matter how the recipient opens the envelope, the letter is full of color and whimsy.

The paper is made by mudpuppy and I bought it at a local art supply store, in the children's section.

I Begin a Blog

2010-03-01T11:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, a Sunday, I spent hours in front of the computer checking and writing emails. I think all of the emails were essential - most the correspondence regarded a community theater where I am production manager. There are always details to attend to and people to contact, though I wonder how shows were produced before email. I suspect shows were planned better or people were more flexible with inevitable changes, and they showed up when they said they would rather than waiting for email and voicemail reminders.

I wrote and received other emails while writing and receiving emails about the show, navigating a web of conversations that popped up and then away from the screen and mind.

At the end of the day, I suppose I got some work accomplished and passed on information to people who needed it, but I didn't have a sense that my time was well spent. I certainly didn't feel satisfied with how I spent my day. I noticed on my t0-do list that I need to send some thank-you notes, and I dreaded turning on the computer again to draft another email.

I decided to write the thank you notes instead, you know, by hand. I found my stash of stationary, much of it crinkled and in disarray, and that's all I did. It was the first step away from the computer and back to the pen and paper.