Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year!


It's a brand new year filled with promise. May your 2012 be filled with peace and happiness (and sweetness, too). And you'll be happy to know that the BPS book is scheduled to kick into high gear this year, too — I'll keep you posted.


(adorable baby white tiger photo by sharon montrose available here)

Old and New


I'm smitten with this vintage postcard design for an iPhone 4 or 4S case — so pretty and practical. Available here from On Your Case on etsy.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Rue Magazine



I am beyond excited to tell you that I'm in the holiday issue of Rue Magazine! You'll find me in the Blogger Side by Side feature on page 28 with fellow blogger Katie Quinn Davies of What Katie Ate, accompanied by gorgeous illustrations by Katie Rodgers! Have a look here.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Yule Multi-Artist Exhibition


If you're in Ottawa on December 1, drop by and say hello to me at the Yule Multi-Artist Exhibition vernissage, 6 to 9 pm that evening at the Exposure Gallery, upstairs at Thyme and Again! Check out some great affordable art, sample delicious food and meet the artists, too! Details on the Facebook event page here.

Friday, November 11, 2011

And ...


... a moment of silence for Remembrance Day.


(poppy photo by irving penn via flickr)

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Of Books and Deadlines


That sound you hear is the sound of deadlines whooshing by — specifically, the deadline I'd originally set myself for getting the BPS book completed. In an ideal world I would have taken 6 months off, retired to a little cabin by the sea, and spent my days diligently putting together the perfect book. Living in the real world, I've had to try and fit in working on it around my regular paying work (with its own tight deadlines) plus all the other stuff that life brings every day. Which means that though I'd hoped to have it ready for September, the reality is that it's just not going to happen. But it will happen — I promise. Thanks so much for your patience — I really do appreciate it.

xo


(photo via dwellings)

Friday, August 5, 2011

The Lost Art of Postcard Writing


Tina of the always lovely English Muse blog has a great post about a Charles Simic essay in the New York Review of Books, in which he mourns the scarcity of holiday postcards. Highly recommended for BPS members, needless to say. Fun fact about the English Muse — I designed the banner for it!


(lovely photo by moline via the english muse — thanks to giulia for the referral)

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Snail Mail My Email


This is an intriguing idea — Snail Mail My Email is a month long, interactive art project transforming people's emails to handwritten letters that are physically mailed, completely free of charge. Find out more here.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Address Your Mail


Love this vintage British poster from 1957, demonstrating how to address your mail correctly. Designed by Leonard Beaumont.


(from the british postal museum & archive on flickr, via els 50)

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Globe and Mail Illustration


Hello all! I thought BPS members might be interested in an illustration I did for the Globe and Mail newspaper today, accompanying a Facts and Arguments piece by Paige Raymond Kovach about her great aunt's long tradition of letter writing to family members — and how it's created happy memories that continue to this day. Read the article here.


(illustration by me)

Monday, June 13, 2011

Brazil Postcard Exchange Update


A quick note for BPS members participating in the Brazil postcard exchange with Hane — she's had a bit of a setback as she didn't get the financial support she'd hoped for, but this month Hane's changing to a new (and better!) job and will be looking into starting the exchange at her new workplace once she's settled in. I'll update you again once I have more news, too.


(vintage brazil postcard via miludica on flickr)

Monday, May 30, 2011

For BPS Members Only


Just for BPS members — a little advance notice about a rather special giveaway on my automatism blog tomorrow! I'll be giving away a set of six collectable stamps produced by the Royal Mail, celebrating the work of the world renowned design house Morris & Co. For a chance to win one of five presentation packs, stop by automatism tomorrow and leave a comment. They're gorgeous — I know you'll love them!

xo


(photo by me)

Friday, May 27, 2011

BPS Badges




You might recall that my fab designer pal Clare designed some gorgeous BPS badges for members to display on their sites — and then I promptly forgot to upload jpg versions here so we could all actually use them. D'oh. Well, at long last here they are, over in the right sidebar — just drag and drop. The large ones are 250 x 250 and the small ones are 125 x 125 — please let me know if you need another size. So horribly sorry for this being so late!!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Postcards


I've been doing another batch of postcard scanning for the BPS book, and just had to share this lovely one by BPS member Mari, commemorating the project. So wonderful.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Surrealism in the Pre-School Years


Check out this fascinating article in Design Observer about the book Babylon: Surreal Babies, dedicated to a set of postcards from the collection of the British art dealer James Birch. The postcards feature babies in very odd and surreal photo collages, and are dated from between 1900 and 1920. Kinda freaky, actually.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Postcard for Japan


Love this charming postcard by Hsin Ping on etsy — and even nicer, all sales of it go towards Japan earthquake and tsunami relief. Get one here.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Something Pretty


Nothing new — just a pretty postcard photo to share. Hope you're having a good week.


(photo by Jon Day)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

automatism vintage


A quick note to let you know that I've added new titles — and updated many of the current ones with freshly shot photos — on automatism vintage, my vintage book shop on etsy. Hope you can pop by for a look — I know that postcard people are often bookish people!

:-)


(photo by me)

Monday, March 14, 2011

What's New


Sorry for the long pause between posts — it's been busy! But now that the final deadline for postcard mailing has come and gone, I can really get started on the BPS book. Presently it's a lot of organizing, but I'm looking forward to putting it all together and seeing it turn into a real live book.

And I'll try to post here a little more regularly, too!

xo


(lovely photo by Roland Bello)

Friday, February 25, 2011

Last Call


A few tardy packages of BPS postcards have trickled in through January and February — which is great, but waiting for them has meant that I've delayed getting started on the book. So, final cut off date for mailing your postcards in is March 5 — anything postmarked after that date will not be included in the BPS book. Sorry about that, but I do need to start this soon! Thanks for your understanding.


(photo via nice room)

Monday, February 21, 2011

Penny Dreadfuls


This post is a little late, but I just had to share a link to the cynically amusing slideshow recently posted on Design Observer. Penny dreadfuls (or vinegar valentines) were 19th century insult greetings sent out on Valentine's Day — though the slideshow includes some later examples of the genre, too. I shudder to think that anyone actually got one of these in the mail! Have a look at the slideshow here.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Postcup


I've just discovered that the charming Postcup by bailey doesn't bark is available through etsy! A black Pebeo porcelain pen and instructions are included with each cup, so you can write your own personal message — a sweet idea for Valentine's Day. Order it here.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

RHS Postcards


I've got a post up on my automatism blog today about a gorgeous new postcard set from the Royal Horticultural Societypop by to see more loveliness!


(shown here is 'Citrus aurantium' by Georgio Angiolini, painted c.1822-1830)

Monday, January 17, 2011

The Story So Far


A quick update — packages of postcards are still trickling in from members, so I haven't been able to get started as yet on the BPS book — I'm looking at settling down to it in early February now.


(photo via the Oct 2008 issue of LivingEtc)

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Happy New Year!


A very happy new year to you, lovely BPS members! Hope it's a good one. For me it'll be all about putting together the BPS book — looking forward to sharing the finished product with you a few months from now! In the meantime, I'll continue to post fun postcard and mail related things here on the blog — hope you'll pop by regularly to see what's new (or to just say hello).


(sweet little fawn photo by Sharon Montrose — prints available here)