Cutting, gluing, creating

It's been a long while since I've done anything really creative. I'm starting to realize that making something, even if it's small, helps fuel more creativity.

I haven't written many letters recently. I haven't made any paper crafts.

The longer it's been, the harder it is to get back to it. I feel like this lack of creative space, both physical and mental, makes it hard for me to even write.

To help alleviate the distinct need for creating things in my life, I needed to start somewhere. The easiest and most useful task as to start going through the few magazines I still have. Ripping out pages with images I like will hopefully help with the creative rut.

Next step, start adding them into a notebook. I'm creating a Christmas notebook to help me get into the Christmas spirit.

What do you do when you feel you've been stripped of your creativity?

Friday Inspiration - Winter

This is the time I still love winter and snow. Especially since there's hardly any snow in Toronto right now...


I've been collecting some wintery photos in Pinterest, check out the board by clicking the picture above

Do you have any love for winter or do you prefer some other season?

The tree is here!

If you've followed my blog for a while now (or if you know me in real life) you know that I really, really like Christmas. Every year I put the tree up the first weekend of December and try to add a few other decorative touches for my home.

This year it so happened that our move was scheduled on December 1st. Then we had to wait of our furniture and other things to arrive, so I only got the tree up two days ago.

I love the fireplace. It was just calling for a couple of stockings. I have a few more ideas how to decorate the fireplace (hopefully) without going overboard with it.

I will take more photos, but there are still some boxes around. I do have a few other decorative things to put up as well. I'll share some more photos once I have a better handle of the place.

Do you have decorations up yet? Will you decorate your home?

New apartment

My new place has old school radiators and wide windowsills. If they were a bit wider, I don't know if I'd even need chairs.

The floors are old, solid wood and not even close to being flat. You can tell they've been here for a long time.


I finally got the fireplace I've wanted for years. It's fake, but I don't really care.


And the light... I love the light in here.

I'll share more photos once the boxes are gone and things find their places.

Sleepless

How are you today?

I am, as the header states, having trouble sleeping. It's my own fault really. Combine a love for zombie TV shows (OK, the Walking Dead*) with an overactive imagination and you get a lot of very vivid zombie apocalypse -type scenarios going on at 5am. The good news is that they aren't really nightmares, but scenarios that I, immediately after waking, must put together a plan for. This, in turn, usually wakes me up fully.

Things are starting to fall into their places over here. We got all of out stuff on Thursday, so I spent a good portion of yesterday just unpacking. The kitchen is almost done and a few pieces of clothing have already found their places. Most of the furniture is already at their designated spots. I can't wait to get more of the boxes done, get my studio set up and, of course, put up the Christmas tree.

This is Gossamer headed over to the solarium. That's where my studio will be set up. Eventually.

I'm also missing the cable for my camera. So, even though I do have some new photos to share with you, I can't get them out of the camera yet. So, unfortunately, all I have for now are some less than stellar photos taken with my phone.

Got any helpful tips for problems with sleep?

*) Frankly, I am shocked half of the characters are still alive. I believe seeing, and usually loudly pointing out, the flaws in their survival strategies has equipped me with the necessary skills to survive a zombie apocalypse should one start at any point.

- Incoming Transmission -

*Static noise*


Can you read me?


I'm reporting to you from across the Ontario border. I have arrived a few days ago. The first few days were spent gathering supplies and scoping out the surroundings. I am now securely located in my new base and the communications seem to be working.

I have survived the trek without much physical damage. Besides a few minor mishaps I am unscathed. Emotional damage still undetermined.

The locals seem extremely friendly, yet wary. No zombie sightings as of yet.

If you haven't heard my previous transmissions, due to poor connections or potential zombie attacks, I have now relocated to Toronto, Ontario. Expect reports coming more frequently as long as the communications stay active.

I will report back soon! Please leave a note that you've received this incoming message in the comments section!

Talk to you soon!
Katri

P.S. I saw a comforting sign just a few blocks from my new base. I feel a little more safe now!

I've missed you!

I'm coming back soon! I Promise!

There are so many things going on right now and the last few months have been insane! I have a lot of stuff to tell you guys and I'm so happy to see at least some of you still come by here. 

I am currently packing up all of my earthly possessions into various sized cardboard boxes. 

I haven't had time to do crafts like I used to and I am way behind in all my snailmail correspondence. I will write to you all soon!

I wanted to just come by to share how much I've missed writing this blog. I've missed the comments and interactions with all of you! I get so inspired when I write!

I'll be back soon! A few more weeks I hope!

Photos are from my recent visit to Toronto. More about that trip soon as well.

Weeks, months

The few weeks turned into a few more. I didn't forget, but I didn't want to rush either.

It's been a good few months.



I've been working hard and can see the hard work starting to pay off. That's always rewarding, but there's still plenty more to do.

I just feel it's time to start planning my return here. I won't get into the same pace of new posts, at least not yet, but I have missed writing.

Unplanned, but somehow appropriate, the day I felt ready to continue is September 1st.

Happy September! How have you been?

Have a break, have a ... Wait! What?

Hello, hello!

How are you doing?

I have to tell you guys something. To be honest, I am surprising myself, but I need to take a little break from the blog. I never really thought about doing that. In fact, I have a long list of topics to share with you guys. Yet, I just realized yesterday that taking a short break is the right thing to do.

Don't you just hate it when a blog you've been reading does that? Yeah, me too. But, sometimes this is absolutely necessary.

I am, finally, starting a new job tomorrow. I did mention it before, but it's now time. It's also prime wedding season, so I have a lot of custom work to finish. And, I also realize that even though I have a ton of ideas I want to share with you guys, I don't actually have the time to make (plan, photograph, edit and write) them. This is especially true for the DIY and recipe posts. 

So, all this is to say that I'm taking a short break from the blog. I'm thinking a few weeks to get my schedule back on track again. You can still find me over at various social media outlets:

Instragram @brinnertime 

Facebook

Twitter @brinnertime

And of course, don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin' and you'll know exactly when I'll be back again. Please feel free to contact me by e-mail (brinner.shop@hotmail.ca) if you have any questions or comments during my absence.

See you guys soon!

Vegas Vacation

I spent a long weekend in Vegas and came back home late on Monday. I really love Vegas. It's such and weird and surreal place, but I always have a great time. I mean, I did get married there, so I do have a special place in my heart for it.

I don't really gamble much (penny slots, anyone?), but I always enjoy wandering around, snapping photos. And eating. Oh, the food...


I'd happily go back right away.

I have plenty more photos and stories to share with you.

Mail on Tuesday

Hello, hello!

I know I missed the mail on Monday post, but in my defense I was on a plane for most of the day! I took a little vacation, of which I have a ton of photos of. I'll share some with you soon, but I will need some time to go through them all. I only got home late last night, so I need a little time to adjust back to regular life.

Vacation was awesome though!

While I figure out the photos, I'll share my incoming mail. I actually have some outgoing as well, but those will need to wait as well...

Incoming

I got two letters in the mail while I was away. The first one is from Laura (of LEP). I really like the creative use of washi tape. I think I'll need to try this out too...


The other one is from Susanne. I always love her penmanship (I don't know if any other term would do it justice). Thank you ladies!

So, what have you guys been up to?

Sunday reads

Happy Sunday! Here's a few more links from last week, I wanted to share with you guys.

Best of Tina Fey GIFs - There ain't no party like a Liz Lemon party, 'cuz Liz Lemon party is MANDATORY.

Social Media genius at Oreo - This is how a great social media presence is created and maintained. Tips on what you can learn from them.

Stars and the actors who played them - Interesting comparisons between stats and the actors who played them on screen.

Stars and the actors who played them - Part 2

Outfits inspired by Disney characters - Several outfits comprised of regular clothes and accessories inspired by Disney. Some are more costume-y, but a lot could be worn on a regular day.

Please feel free to share any interesting links in the comments!

Friday Inspiration - Tattoos

I'm sure I've mentioned before my love for tattoos. I have a couple myself and big plans for more. This Friday I wanted to share a few amazing ones I've seen recently.

Source: closetonthego.com via Closet on the go on Pinterest

Source: fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net via Ton Araujo on Pinterest

Source: pinupgirlstattoos.com via Katri on Pinterest

Source: hideousstrength.tumblr.com via Ton Araujo on Pinterest

Source: stayg0ldkid.tumblr.com via Ton Araujo on Pinterest

Source: igotinked.com via IGotInked.com on Pinterest

Source: tattoostage.com via Tattoo Stage on Pinterest

This is one of my favorite topics and I could go on forever... I have so many plans... As you can see from the examples above, I love intricate details and play on light and shadows. I do love color as well. My first one is black and grey and the rest are in color. For some reason I expected to only get black and grey, but I think I'll stick with color.

Care to venture a guess as to why I am thinking of tattoos today?

Traveling mail art kit

I've been supposed to write this post a long while. Since my last trip to New York City in... well... February... Fair enough, it took me a while. Anyhow...

Travel kit for mail art or other snailmail-y activities.

I, of course, carry all my pens and such in this fantastically adult-like panda pencil case.I got it from my sister years ago and still carry it around with me everywhere. It has suffered a tad over the years, but honestly, who hasn't?

The whole idea is to carry enough supplies to be covered if you get a sudden spurt of creativity, but also not to carry too many things. I take pride in my mad packing skillz (It's the one thing I will openly brag about), but even though I might be able to fit a whole lot more, I try to always apply the 'less is more' approach. I mean, I am the one that needs to carry all this around, right?

Clockwise from the top left corner: glue roller, paper clips, small scissors, pencil, pen, washi tape, glue stick and markers.

Please remember that if you're flying, pack the scissors to your suitcase!

Additionally, I also usually bring a small notepad, a few envelopes, a few notecards, return address labels and regular address labels. I always try to use whatever I find along the way on my trip, but these things are often handy. Unfortunately I've found that many hotels don't offer stationery in their rooms any more. 

What is in your travel kit? Or do you carry one at all? I'd love to hear what you guys bring with you, if anything!

Mail on Monday

How was your weekend? Mine was filled with glitter! I worked on the custom wedding invites and then on Sunday enjoyed a lovely late lunch. After lunch I got some wonderful news from a dear friend. All in all, this was an awesome weekend! Today is still a day off, but I have a huge to-do list for the day. I'll go to work to relax tomorrow. (I'm kidding, looks like it's full-on mayhem over there. This is the busiest time of the year.)

On the mail-front, I might have gotten a little carried away again... I'll let you be the judge of that.

Outgoing

 

A little black and white number to get us started. I do often use my own products. You can see the envelopes available HERE


The second one is a beige and tan piece of mail with some dashes of gold. I really like those starburst stickers. I just found some in another color, so I'm fairly sure you'll see more of these in the near future.


And finally a pink and black polkadot envelope. I just feel like polkadots make everything better. Wouldn't you agree? I carried on a photo theme, since that's what the topic of the stamp is. (Also, I just really, really like this camera tape)

Incoming

There's only one incoming this week, but what an awesome piece of mail it is! Just look at it! Love it! It's from Susanne who's in the UK right now. Thank you!

So, what do you have planned for the upcoming week?

Link Love on Sunday

I actually quite liked last weeks Link Love for your Sunday post. Did you enjoy it?

Since then, I've found some other quite interesting things to share with you. Please enjoy a few more below:

Sometimes Sweet - I found this blog a little while ago and enjoy myself tremendously every time I drop by. Danielle posts often and has an interesting writing style, so I'm always entertained. Even though I don't have kids and very rarely read so-called "mommy blogs", since I rarely find myself relating to things they talk about (well, quite obviously),  I just love hers. And I do have a weakness to girls with tattoos!

How to make friends when you're old - Who couldn't use a few more friends? Interesting read.

Treasure hunting with Freckled Nest - As you know I love rummaging through thrift stores, so I was excited to come by this post by the Freckled Nest. I like hearing what are other people looking for.


Craft Fail - I promise this site will make you feel much better when your creations won't look as good as the ones you saw on Pinterest.

So, what do you guys think; do you like these link-sharing posts? Is there something you'd like to share? Please leave links you love in the comments!

Friday Inspiration - Eating well

As the weather gets warmer (eventually) I think most people start thinking about eating lighter. Now, for me, eating lighter started well before the weather warmed up, but I am continuously looking for new things to cook that are good for you too.

You might have noticed the new badge on the left sidebar tracking my weight loss to date, but more on that another time. Let's just concentrate on tastiness for now.

I've been slowly gathering some interesting looking recipes on my "Tastyness" Pinboard. I've tried a few and others I'm very excited to test out.

Source: mynewroots.org via Katri on Pinterest

This looks absolutely incredible! I haven't tried it yet, but will for sure.

Source: mynewroots.org via Katri on Pinterest

This one I did try already. I like it, but I also feel it needs a bit of tweaking. Once I get it just right, I'll share my version with you guys.

Source: skinnytaste.com via Katri on Pinterest

I haven't tried this exact one, but I pinned it for new ideas for my quinoa salad.

Source: slenderkitchen.com via Katri on Pinterest

I'm continuously looking for some new breakfast recipes. I'm not one for toast or anything like that.

Do you have some awesome, healthy recipes you'd like to share? Do you have a go-to good-for-you yummyness? Please share your favorites in the comments!

It's so sparkly outside!

No, I mean literally... The patio is encrusted in glitter. See:


It's everywhere.

This is what's been going on:


I'm working on custom wedding invitations that require me to chop up a ton of glitter paper. So, I'm working on it outside. Well, was until it got so windy that I can't take paper outside. Until the next less blustery day, I'll need to come up with another solution to keep the glitter out of my home...

Mail Monday

Hello, hello! Did you have a good weekend?

Mine was quite lovely for the most part. On Saturday we attended a birthday party for a young man turning 1. It was nice to see the family, since they live a bit further from us and we haven't had a chance to see them very often.  Then later we attended another birthday party, this time for a young man turning 32. It wasn't quite the same kind of a party, but both were fun.

The reason why I said 'for the most part' was because, unfortunately, as we intended to continue the second birthday celebration with some cheesecake at the birthday celebrators home, we arrive to find his front door unlocked. Turns out someone had broken into his place while he was gone. Luckily, whoever did this was long gone and the only thing they managed to steal was a laptop! This naturally does not make things ok, but at least nothing was really broken and no major damage done, except, of course, to everyone's sense of security.

Well, all we can hope is that whoever did this gets caught.

After an eventful Saturday, Sunday was much calmer. I took full advantage of a free afternoon and caught up on my correspondence.

Outgoing

 

The first outgoing mail is a gold, black and white ensemble. It's mainly decorated with washi- and other decorative tapes, including the first time I'm using the flying pigs tape I got from my sister a little while back. She also sent me the awesome retro camera one. To add to the goldiness of it all are some starburst stickers. And I finally got a sheet of the Chinatown gates stamps, I talked about a little while back! How awesome are they!?

After gold comes silver. Well, silver and pink. This is going to my grandma, so I felt you can't go wrong with a whole lot of pink. And some extra flowers, just for good measure. She'll like this. She's not too old school when it comes to decorating her mail either. She goes a little nuts with stickers, so maybe it's a genetic flaw quirk...

Talking of which... It's been like... what? a few weeks since the last time I went overboard with some airmail love?! Turns out there are, in fact, a few people still who haven't received one of these from me. This is my first letter to Jenni, so I figured I might as well show her what she got herself into when she agreed to see if we'll hit it off postally....

And finally something a little different. I played around with some paints a little while ago and tried out a few different approaches with it. I actually quite like this one, but turns out it's hard to take photos of. The envelope has interesting textures and two different pink paints. One of them with glitter. On top of the paint, I've added some other embellishments. I really like the feel of it, I think I'll need to explore this method a little further.

Incoming

The first flowery envelope is from Jenni. I love the spring feel of the envelope and really like how it was sewed together. (Wait. Sewn together? Sewed? "Sewn" sounds better, no?)

The second incoming letter, which, by the way, arrived the same day as the first one, is from Susanne. It's funny how it goes, you don't get any mail for a while and then things arrive at the same time. Not that I'm complaining! I think that's just one of the natural laws of mail delivery.

Thank you ladies!

Link Love for your Sunday

Needless to say, I spend a lot of time online. Besides my blog and my two online shops, I also read a ton of blogs, articles and tutorials. Somehow this week I've bumped into some really interesting things that I thought you guys might enjoy. I also saw some positivity inducing posts and videos that are added in the mix. Pick and choose the ones that you feel would hit home!

Gender and its Implications within Modern American Tattoo Culture - An excellent and informative paper about tattoos on women. I love tattoos and I love history and I love interesting research papers... So, I pretty much love everything about this. If the topic interests you, I urge you to read on. I might put in my two cents on the topic later.

Five Rules for life - A surefire dose of positivity your day. Just read a few posts and you start feeling the positive effects. "The premise is simple - people from all walks share what they believe are the most important rules to follow for a happy, successful, and fulfilling life."

Seeing Eye People - Another one from Improv Everywhere. If you're not familiar with the group, please take the time to go through some of their older events. You can't help but to smile!

Kicking people to the curb with Amy Poehler - She's awesome to begin with and this quote from her just adds to the general awesomeness.

If you've read or seen something you'd like to share, please leave a link in the comments!

Have a lovely Sunday!

Friday Inspiration - windows

I have a weakness for architectural details, such as windows, doors and fire escapes. I also go weak in the knees for beautiful, simplistic graphic design. You can only imagine how my heart fluttered when I found Windows of New York.

Source: windowsofnewyork.com via Katri on Pinterest

Source: windowsofnewyork.com via Katri on Pinterest

Source: windowsofnewyork.com via Katri on Pinterest

Source: windowsofnewyork.com via Katri on Pinterest

Pure love for your Friday! I hope you have an awesome weekend!

Check-up time

I took the cats to the vet yesterday, it was time to get their yearly check-up dome and vaccines up to date. Let me tell you, they were not happy.

Source: snapwidget.com via Katri on Pinterest

George, obviously the clever one of the two, hid from the vet in this ingenious spot. Certainly if he can't see the vet, the vet can't see him, which then leads him to escape getting his shots and whatever other unpleasant things the vet would have in store for him...


Everything went well, with only a fair amount of hissing (from the cats, I was good), and we got back home in a reasonable time. Obviously I did have to deal with some hurt feelings and accusatory looks...

I am trying to be funny, but in all honesty, the vet is amazing! If you live in Montreal and are looking for a vet for your cat, you need to go to Clinique Vétérinaire Féline. They specialize and only treat cats and the entire staff is phenomenal. They are so nice and they all absolutely love cats. You know you're pet is in good hands there. I just can't express how amazing these ladies are! If you are looking for a vet, give them a call and ask for Dr. Farley. I'm not sure if Dr. Trudel is still there, but she's lovely as well. You can't go wrong here.

Tell them George and Gossamer sent you!

One last letter

I completely forgot this tropical little guy from yesterday's mail post! I don't quite know how that happened, but I just noticed that there it was, at the very top of my 'May 2013' photo folder.

I've started organizing my photos in monthly folders. I have so many photos that I had to come up with a better way to organize. So far this monthly thing seems to be working. The only exception to this rule is if I'm traveling. Then I usually create another folder under the monthly one and label it with the name and time of the trip.

I realize I need to do a major overhaul with all the photo folders... I have a ton of photos and not all of them are needed. This might sound a bit odd, but keep in mind that I've ran the shop for over 3 years now... There's about a million and a half product photos, some of items I don't carry any longer. I think it's time to let some of those go.

How do you keep your photos organized? I would appreciate any tips!