Hearth Magazine

I first heard about Hearth Magazine from a friend of mine who sent me a message that read, "you should submit something to this. This looks great!" So I got in contact with Brenda Fisher, editor of this wonderful new publication and I am happy to report that my writing will be featured in Vol. 2 of the magazine. 

I received the first issue just the other week and it is great. The magazine has an approachable, family-feel to it while still mixing in great stories and fresh photography. There is something really welcoming about it and I'm excited not only to be a part of the next but also to watch it grow.

That said, you can help support that growth by heading over to Hearth's Kickstarter campaign. They are almost at there goal but there are less than 46 hours to help get it funded.

Click here to watch their video.
Shop for issues or subscriptions here.
Follow them on twitter @hearthmagazine


[Photos from Hearth Magazine]

Life, Lately

Last Friday was my birthday.
I am now twenty-seven and let me tell you honestly, it hit me harder than I thought it would. Harder than I could care to admit. There is a part of me that knows that this is ridiculous. Twenty-seven isn't old. Or even sort of old. And definitely not expired. But what I can't wrap my head around is how much more serious it sounds than twenty-six. I don't feel like I am in my mid-twenties anymore - twenty-seven sounds so much closer to thirty. And thirty. Thirty sounds really intense.

I know I sound insane. And my husband, who turned thirty-one this past Saturday, isn't really handing over any sympathy. I know numbers are irrelevant. I know that I am the one adding all the symbolism and pressure and weight to a day that really doesn't mean much. But it's one of those things I've been dealing with as of late. 

I can't help but take stock. 
I am sure of some pretty big things in this life - my husband, my son, my family - but around birthdays (or rather, this one in particular) I can't help but think that I should some of my other stuff sorted. There are things that I feel like I have been working on for years now, and somedays, I'm just not feeling like I am any closer to figuring these things out.

The big one is my professional life. I've probably driven my husband and close friends a bit crazy over the last while, jumping from one idea to the next. My problem is one of too many passions. I could do so many different things and I care deeply them. I know that I want writing to be a big part of my life. It always sort of has been. Before it was done in private and now it's way more about storytelling. I want to get better at writing - get more serious and more regimented about it and I've set a personal goal this year to do more of it and continue to work at my form and my voice. On the other hand, I am still such a visual person. My mind has always worked that way and that is one of the reasons I haven't been able to commit to a more traditional career path. I have been trying hard to figure out what I can do as a job that can marry all of these things. What can feel inspiring and challenging while feeding my need for expression and quite frankly, give me an income? 

That last bit is hard. It's hard to be trying to figure out your personal goals under a financial microscope but I don't have the luxury to ignore what we need as a family and what we want for our future. 
See? So much to load onto this birthday. 

So much to think about.




Images by the lovely Natasha Bardin, who stopped by Hamilton to say hello and managed to capture Felix and me exactly how I dream we are. I love these two images and stared at them for a half hour straight before emailing them to everyone I know. Natasha you are so good at seeing the perfect shot and as a mum with too many iPhone photos of her boy but not enough real pictures, thank you for this wonderful gift!

These Here Parts

There is baby stuff all over the apartment. 
We try to tidy it all up but you really can't beat it. First, there's so much of it even though we've tried to keep it paired down. And second, it's a matter of necessity - blankets double as wraps and drool catchers. Toys are clean and safe for their destinations (the mouth, always the mouth!) and keep that little hand from yanking your hair out. His hand, not yours. Seriously, Felix grabbed a big chunk last night and ended up with several sad looking strands in his tiny fist. Now I'm finally understanding that ponytail that so many moms sport round the clock - it's not only convenient (and a slight laziness), it's preventative! Keep the locks away from the baby so you can keep them at all. 

So even though this baby owns this house now - and owns us for that matter - I am still finding a way to carve out some simple pleasures. Namely (as I mentioned previously) reading. Glorious reading! I've missed it so much. I read all the time. I'm always looking at news and blogs on my phone but it had been a good while since I had finished an actual book. Now I'm on a kick and I'm so happy about it. Not sure how everyone else reads but I tend to go through waves and patterns. Usually I'll go through a period of a specific genre, typically non-fiction and then every few books, I'll pick up a novel or two. I think because I've been reading in shorter spurts (due to, ahem, some else's schedule), I've been big on the non-fiction. It's the kind of genre you can drop and pick up without worrying about forgetting about plot/character details. Recently there has been lots of Malcolm Gladwell because the man is such a brilliant story teller. Then there was The Natashas by Victor Malarek, which is slightly dated but so haunting that I couldn't put it down even though it's ruined a bit of humanity for me. And now I'm in the middle of the book featured above that was trapped under a coffee and look, a toy! It's Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá which is so enthralling that every other page has me raising an eyebrow. It's also pretty funny and I highly recommend it.

In the second picture is the softest, sweetest elephant that was a gift for our little man from one of my best friends, Amy McCulloch. Amy lives in London, England where she is Commissioning Editor at Harper Collins Voyager. She reads even more than I do and is the person who I credit with making fantasy fiction cool - to me at least. She sent us Game of Thrones way before it launched on television with a note that read, "This is going to be big, trust me!" But the biggest news is that Amy is herself a writer and has just landed a two-part deal for her own fantasy series, The Oathbreaker's Shadow (find a brief synopsis of the story here) which will be published by Random House in Spring 2013 but you can pre-order it here or here or here. I'm so proud of her - she's been working on this since we met years ago and I've seen firsthand how hard she's worked on it and how passionate she is about the story and about her writing process. She's the hardest working person I know, so incredibly smart and creative. I can't wait to turn every page.


Follow Amy McCulloch on twitter and check out her author facebook page.

*I hadn't intended to turn this whole post into an ode to books and writers but there you go. You write what you love. I snapped that shot of the elephant not realizing Amy's literary connection to this whole entry but it just so happens that it fit perfectly. I still can't figure out the perfect name for him. I suggested Dorian Gray to Chris one night as we were putting the baby down but he thinks that the reference is far too cryptic and depressing for a child's stuffed animal. I have to agree but now what to name that little fellow?

Written Work: Vive Magazine

I've been so caught up in babyland that I failed to mention my latest published work - a piece for the online fashion magazine Vive.

Check out the newest issue Vive Magazine to read my piece entitled "Pursuit of Perfection: Separate the good stress from the bad." Find it on pages 22-23!

I had such a blast putting this piece together (it includes some pointers on how to deal with mounting stresses, professional goals and those nagging voices in your head) because I know, firsthand, how difficult it can be to feel like you've got a handle on everything.

I am my own worst critic and can let my feelings of inadequacy rob me of precious sleep and leave me with nothing but anxiety. I've been struggling for the past two years to figure out where I want to go professionally and how to combine creativity with, ahem, a viable job. I've been taking classes, my end goal has changed a few times and I've come back to one of the things I thought I had stepped away from but can't escape: my need to write.

Oh and somewhere in there I got married and decided that a family was going to happen alongside everything else.

It's hard. We have a stricter budget now that I am on maternity leave so balancing that has been tricky. And while I've got all these ideas in my head for new things, my baby boy is such a huge priority right now. He deserves all of me. He's so small at just nine weeks (even though he is chunking up - almost thirteen pounds!). I am tying to keep a handle on this new motherhood thing and balance it with that person inside me that still wants creative challenges around. I don't think it's one or the other - being a mother has made me value time so much more so when I do manage to sit down to work (which doesn't happen as often as I like) I am at least, way more efficient about it since it is precious time away from my little man. 

I hope to keep the energy going because I do have some plans!

New articles I want to write, stories that need to get told, even some ideas for some original prints - all lingering in my head somewhere.

Cover Image Vive Magazine Vol. 4.2

Follow Vive on Twitter and on Tumblr.

Written Work: Kinfolk Magazine Vol.3

I finally received my copy of Kinfolk magazine Vol. 3 and just as suspected, it is superb.
Everything from the paper to the photography to the layout is so thoughtfully executed and I'm so thrilled to have contributed a written piece for this issue.

Find me on page 35 where I discuss how my husband and I revisit the places that became sacred to us during our courting period - when we were just getting to know each other and fall in love. Working on the piece made me realize how important the simple traditions are for us as a couple and for our future as a family. Soon there will be three of us and I can't wait to keep building on our special spots.


Buy your copy here.
iPad Version here.

The images above are mine but the beautiful photography for the piece was contributed by Celine Kim.
Congrats (and thanks!) to Nathan and Amanda Jane who always inspire with their work and really know how to put it all together.

Written Work: Uppercase Magazine and Lizz Aston

Not quite sure how it happened but I've forgotten to mention this exciting bit of news. The last little while has been rather busy/crazy/exhausting as my pathetic blogging habits demonstrate, I'm sure.


Uppercase Magazine, an independent publication for which I have great respect, published an article that I wrote about an amazing textile artist and crafter, Lizz Aston. The issue is out now and available either online or at fine retailers.


It was incredibly exciting to put the whole project together and rather surreal to see my name printed in an official capacity. Knowing that Uppercase considers themselves the magazine for "the creative and curious," I knew that I wanted to be a part of it, somehow. I met Aston through a silkscreening class she teaches at the Harbourfront Centre. The first night of class, she showed me her professional work and I was completely blown away! Sometime after the course finished, something clicked in my head and it dawned on me that her work would be a great fit for the magazine. I'll feature some detail shots of Aston's work tomorrow, so stay tuned.


I should also mention that I could not have put together such a cool feature without the awesome photography skills and professional knowledge of Natasha Bardin. We all had such a ball bringing the shoot together.




Lizz Aston, blog
Natasha Bardin Photography
Uppercase Magazine, blog

Open For Business

I'm live.
In the last few weeks I've spent a lot of time working on my professional website.
After much self-exploration (sorry if that sounds rather flaky) I've really zeroed in on what I want to devote my efforts to - and what I want my life to look like. After graduating from a very traditional institution and saying no to the traditional follow-up of grad school -  I was reluctant to get back to writing because when you've been writing long academic papers for years, you can get kind of "over" it.


I started taking printing classes like mad just because I liked it. Somewhere in there a few light bulbs went off and I got some ideas for things I would like to write. 
Things I'd like to read.


And that's what I've been doing lately.
I've been submitting ideas, writing articles and stories, editing said articles and stories, selecting images and finally taking photos of my printed work (because as much as I am a writer - I'm also incredibly visual and want to continue designing).


It's been really exciting to figure out exactly how I want my life to look and to just do it.
So come on by and get in touch if there's something you'd like discuss...
I'm open for business!

Texture Feast

Toronto woke up to a flurry of snow today.

I got up in the early morning to use the bathroom and caught a glimpse of the white stuff falling outside my window. It was pretty out there but the best feeling was knowing I could climb back into bed and go back to being cozy. I have such a love-hate relationship with winter in this city. I love the snowfall but I hate the slush. I can deal with winter until about February. Then it's minus thirty degrees celsius and I'm pretty much over it. The extreme cold depresses me. All I ever want to do is stay home and read or watch movies. There are seasons for every activity, I guess.

I'm going to do some typing today. Not here. I'm going to sit at my new typewriter and hammer out a letter and post it overseas by the end of the weekend. I may even get around to doing some printing. 

I've planned a cozy and thoughtful day. Here's to letter writing and not catching cabin fever!

I found the images above and thought they were so inspiring. I love the detail of the textures and the tones. They are available at Lost and Taken, a site that provides free high res textures by Caleb Kimbrough. Good resource for some creativity, eh?

I first saw them here.

Handmade Homemade

I love the idea of decorating your favourite recipes like this almost as much as I love the idea of homemade bread goods. I think I could live off bread and cheese for the rest of my life. 

With chocolate for dessert. 

I'd die from high cholesterol but what a way to go!

Recipe found here.

ABCs

Vintage book found here.