It's not even April...

...and I've already got my Mother's Day cards ready to print! I badly wanted to be considered for Poppytalk's Mother's Day Market so I busted 'em out in less than 24 hours. Feeling pretty smug right now.

What do you think?? Which one is your favorite? I love animals. I need to make more animal stationery.

Up next is Secretary's Day, coming in April! We secretaries need appreciation too. I already have the illustration for that one inked, it just needs some color & prep for print! It should be available within the next week also.

Oh, and because I said I'd share some exciting news this week, I will share some exciting news: My husband Jamie got into grad school for mathematics! Which means we will be moving somewhere new & interesting in July! This has been a goal of his for years, so it's great that it's finally coming true. ♥

Well, now it's time for some letter-writing & mail art. I think I earned it.

♥ Ciara Kay

Miscellany

Random post ahoy!

Look what I bought at Michaels on Monday! ♥ I went in for that one purple pen and left with all of this (and a few things for Scoutaroo). I could not resist those stamps... or those postage stamp stickers! Or really any of it, which is why I spent $40 instead of $15.

Stamps, ink, a purple pen, notepads, stickers, STAMP STICKERS, ribbon

Look what I got in the mail yesterday! I hosted a stuffed collaged envelope swap over on swap-bot.com and I got this special treat from Texas. I love the black labels!

Goodies galore! Including David Bowie articles... ♥

 Look what I made while I was supposed to be doing other things! A 4-month planner! (I ran out of pages okay?)

I used an old journal (removed juicy journal secrets first! I'm carrying this around with me, after all).

Added tabs & hand-drawn calendars.

Weekly planning pages are a must! I like to map out every detail of my days and looking at the entire month gets overwhelming...

So that's what I've been up to. I have some exciting news that I'll be sharing later this week!

♥ Ciara Kay

Letter-writing Soundtrack

Lately I've been all about Mist Giant. The vocals are enough like another instrument not to be distracting, but their sound is interesting & haunting... I love it!

I've also been enjoying Grizzly Bear. What a bunch of weirdos.

And CocoRosie's "old" album (better than their latest, interested in their upcoming) The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn always make for a nice backdrop of sound.

The Devendra Banhart station on Pandora has unearthed a few new-to-me gems as well! I need to pick up a few of that guy's albums... After I stop spending all my money on craft supplies.

What do you like to listen to while you write letters? Opera? Folk? Metal? Silence? 

I've been slowly catching up on letters! It feels nice. :)

♥ Ciara Kay

A Tribute to Flannery O'Connor

To-day is Flannery O'Connor's birthday. Because she is a person of interest to me, and my husband's favorite author, I decided the stationery world needed a set designed around one of my favorite characters of hers, which would be Hazel Motes from "Wise Blood."

I don't expect this to be a big seller, but I'm proud to display it nonetheless! A bit dark & macabre, but  I know there are snail mailers out there who can at least appreciate the thought. I will be listing the set sometime this week! Too bad I don't have fake barbed wire to wrap it in, haha.

Also, in case you missed it, my David Bowie stationery is now for sale in the shop!

And another thing, you get this fancy $5 off coupon if you buy two stationery sets (or at least $24 worth of anything from the shop) from Jamie's birthday (yesterday) to my birthday (April 6)! Yay! It's everybody's birthday!

Ziggy knows the secret.

♥ Ciara Kay

Coffeemancy

I don't usually post on Sundays, but it's Jamie's 26th birthday and I got him this awesome Coffee Siphon from Ka Pai Coffee Co. This thing is incredible. Jamie is now at least a Level 7 Coffeemancer specializing in Brewingmancy, according to our friend Kiernan. I'm inclined to agree. Jamie loves coffee and now he loves making it as much as he loves drinking it, haha.

Step One: Grind the coffee beans...

With this awesome hand grinder!

Step Two: Add boiled water to the lower pot.

Step Three: Add alcohol & light the burner!

Step Four: Put the grinds in the upper chamber...

...and place over the boiling water.

Fascinating!

Magic!

The water rises to the upper chamber.

Step Five: Stir & let brew 1 minute.

Step Six: Remove heat & watch your coffee drain into the lower pot. 

Step Seven: Coffee!

Delicious!

Yummy coffee in the morning... ♥

While we weren't tinkering with science & coffee, we have had a very enjoyable morning! We went to brunch and got mimosas, a breakfast burrito and lemon poppyseed pancakes, and now Jamie is catching up on weird old movies and I am puttering around my workspace. I might catch up on a few letters, I might doodle, we will see!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Palm Sunday!

♥ Ciara Kay

Mail Call!

It's about time we had a mail post around here!!

Here are a few letters I sent out a couple weeks ago... I am so behind on my correspondence it's not even funny.

Ziggy Zine order outgoing!

Replying to new LetterMo friends, still!!

Fun story on how Satu decided to start writing to me... She saw my illustrations on LEP, read my blog, and one day decided to send some happy mail to a random address on Sendsomething.net and my name came up! I'm excited to have a new friend from Finland. ♥

Another new LetterMo friend!

Some happy mail to a great friend, the Snail Mailer ♥

Keep writing letters!

♥ Ciara Kay

Red Light, Green Light

Once again, I feel like my goals with Scoutaroo are being put off by things outside of my control. As soon as I feel like I'm on a roll I get a hip check from life that knocks me out of play. I feel like I will never have a routine, like I will never achieve "normal," and every time I take two steps forward I'm pushed one step back.

A few weeks ago, it was a death in the family. This week, an emergency hospital visit. What will tomorrow bring? I can only hope for peace, no more tragedies or near-misses. I feel selfish for wishing that everyone would just stop having problems so I can just be left alone do my thing, and I am. The reality is that sacrifice and loss come with relationships of any kind, and I would be in far worse shape outside of those relationships.

But still, I'm tired of playing red light, green light with my life. My reaction in the past to resistance is to just give up, which is easier and less painful in the short run than all this stopping & starting, but I'm just as tired of the long string of unfinished projects that my life has been. I want this to end well, to succeed or to go down in flames. I want it bad. I just don't seem to have the patience to see it through.

I wish I could make Scoutaroo my top priority, and I feel like I'm failing at everything because I can't do that right now. But the truth is that my only responsibility is to God, my husband, my family and my friends, the PEOPLE in my life. I have to take care of them first. Then I will have my glory day in the hot sun.

♥ Ciara Kay

Before & After (What a Difference Photography Makes)

I finally got a charger for my camera, and LOOK at the difference!! (I also got creative with the props, haha).

Before

After

Catscratch Stationery Set on Sale at Etsy!!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Before

After

Cafe Coffee Day Stationery Set on sale at Etsy!!

What do you think? Vast improvement, eh? Ok, now I know the sales will just start rolling in... (Hey, I can dream!)

In other news, I have a super cool new storage thingy! We are doing some rearranging in the office and I scored this great wooden shelving unit that they were getting rid of. One of my co-workers wanted it too but graciously let me have it for the time being (she still needs to figure out where to put it in her own craft room). It is SO GREAT to have all my stuff off the floor & somewhat organized!! Yay! (Also you can see some of my artwork on the wall for a few of my recent projects).

So, any exciting plans for St. Patrick's Day? I was born in Ireland so I have a soft spot for this holiday... Plus my husband makes some mean Corned Beef & homemade Irish Cream! Yum yum! We are having Jamie's family over for an Irish feast & to enjoy each other's company. This will be our first "party" in the new house! We are actually going to clean this weekend... ugh. I can't believe how far gone I am. I can tolerate mess like never before, haha.

♥ Ciara Kay

Like Some Cat from Japan

I was busy today. One viewing of Velvet Goldmine & 3 Bowie albums later, I made a whole new stationery design from start to finish. You know you are excited for some David Bowie stationery, yes you are!

So be looking for that new listing in a week or so!

What I should have been working on:

• Mothers Day Cards
• Birthday Cards
• Happy Engagement/Baby/Wedding/Retirement Cards
• You know, practical things...

But who wants THOSE when they can have BOWIE?? Am I right?

Oh. I just came up with a brilliant idea like just now. David Bowie Birthday Cards. Man, I am so clever. Now I just need a catchy phrase, like "Ziggy says have a rockin' birthday." Wow, that is lame. This is why I let Jamie write the jokes and I just draw the pictures... But now I don't have to come up with random generic birthday cards, I have them MADE! Oh boy! I really don't know if this is considered efficiency or laziness...

Ok, now I'm rambling. I apologize. I have just spent the last six hours in Bowie-land. It's disorienting.

♥ ziggyfan1984

10 Crafty Ways to Spruce Up your Mail

Things are moving kinda slow around here since I've started working at real jobs again! I have also felt a lack of inspiration in my own mail art... keeping up with the letters themselves is enough of a challenge after LetterMo! So I've complied a little list of  a few mail project picks from my Pinterest board "Snail Mail" to inspire all of us. Enjoy!

1 • Doily Envelopes

via

2 • Nesting Doll Envelopes

via

3 • Kraft Paper & White Ink

via

4 • Fancy Folding

via

5 • Let your cards hold your envelopes!

via

6 • Pocket Folder Envelope

via

7 • Make Letters into Books

via

8 • Make Books into Letters

via

9 • Put Google Maps to Work

via

10 • Think Outside the Mailbox

via

♥ Ciara Kay