not ants in the pants

not ants in the pants
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

for this weeks theme of "insect" at illustration friday, please click on image to see it larger.

flying fish

pin fish sketch
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

sometimes
i
am
a
flying
fish
usually
it
happens
in
my dreams
in the night
when all is still
i dive
and fly
above the clouds

check in

the check in time is 8:23am
in which i am checking in
head to toe
head okay,
neckstiff,
wrist a little sore right hand
chest clear
midsection sound
legs strong
ankles well
kishkas groovy
pancreas peaceful
arteries artful
mind sound

score 7 out of 10
grade b

mood indigo
emotion trickster

tastebuds saturated
tea buds yet to fill

Emily

Emily
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

to see more of Emily please click on this image and see her other shots at flickr...

x

tea and me

tea and me
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

happy birthday to me!
i think i will have a cup of tea.

for this weeks theme at illustration friday "tea"

song

song
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

an illustration for last weeks theme at illustration friday, which was song.

a few minor calamities has keept me a little behind in my blogging activities.

for today sing the song!

words

words
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

this little book is hand made by Ria at www.renmeleon.com. Thank you so much Ria. It is a little journal for my speaking stones, and each page has a letter to log the many speaking stone words. So nice, I love it. Thank you so!

sweetnellie surprise!

sweetnellie surprise!
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

Gorgeous Mail! Lucky me. A new friend to share the studio with. She arrived yesterday via post from Sweetnellie. Please check out her other lovelies at www.flickr.com/photos/30257398@N00/

Thanks so much Trish!
xo

now what to name this new friend hmmmh?

pillow kitties in a line

pillow kitties in a line
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

click on to see many more pillowy things.
i am stock piling pillows to have soft places to land.

dreaming awake

dreaming awake
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

chocolate

valentines was nice
i continue to eat chocolates.

simple

simple
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

for this weeks theme at www.illustrationfriday.com

love

pillow two hearts detail
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

lovely garden

pillow lovely garden
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

i am planting
seeds
to grow

a
lovely
garden

it starts first in a dark moist corner
of my mind

and the seeds
the gooduns
will become
big flowers
makin mama
proud
turning her face
up to the sun
and thanking the rain

on cloudy days
when vision is poor
an eye turned inward
to see
little sproutlings
being born
green and fresh and fragrant

the moss
and rock
helping
holding hands
in ancient patterns
that the world has spun
again again again

growin a garden
a lovely garden
half wild
half not

with everycolour
under the sun

in the greenhouse
under my skull
my fertile little noggin
i water rest watch listen

and hope
always hope

un alone
together
in time
and step

up to the very tops of trees
the hugest prize winningness flowers ever

smell 'em
take it
grow some
grow some more

gardens are good
in technicolour
in between dark rich
browns
and rusts
and green
green greens

and in silvery shadow
of greys
so quiet they whisper
so silent they sing

growing a lovely garden

growing
growing
growing

from seeds
tiniest thinist hardly visable

that is where the lovely garden begins

babble before sun rise

lets see what this insomnia brings. it isn't exactly insomnia although it is early. but rather odd napping. falling into slumber and inattentive movie watching. lets be truthful, i have a bug. its in my throat and ears and nose, i call it fred, although it is female and its real name is frederica.

apparently throat pain has to do with unexpressed words and feelings, perhaps this type type typing will ease the pain.

360 degree tour at 5:01 this morning. in darkness less the glow of esmerelda the computer
chilly a little in a grey tee shirt with a stain and monkey pants

behind me rubble and clutter and heaps and hopes
papers and pillows and things not put away and suitcases filled with flowers and fabrics and all sorts of trim
actually the trim is in a purse of straw

kermit, an iron, unstuffed pillows, a quiet fax machine, the door that is closed.

down the hall sleepers one , and two

outside the street lamp with an orange glow
across the street an old age home with one of the windows illuminated
perhaps i should go and cross the road fly up to the window with a gentle rap rap and ask if they wish to play
chinese checkers or if they have any coco or spare chocolate around or maybe a soothing herbal tea camomile?

my mind like a quiet and dark city street, slick and alert and dead in a way

up the wall white rectangles drawings of jays of odd things and onions in black and white

in the window a dream catcher and an old frame, no glass just a little sweet metal

a rack of scissors from sandy from christmas

ladybugs that relieve achy muscels
a tangerine box full of c.d.s


thoughts zig zag and rick rack

sleep is seeping in
and the throat eases a little as all the words spill out
good morning
good night

at the museum pillow

pillow at the museum
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

much pillow making
the world can be hard
pillows are soft
the back of this one is brown corduroy

me and rita, the sewing machine
have been getting on well,

much pillow making
more can be seen in the pillow set at flickr and some are also featured at www.kimssuitcase.etsy.com and ready to be purchased by pillow needing people

chairs

chairs
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

for this weeks theme at illustration friday,
please click on the image and go to largest size at flickr so you can see all the little chairs a little bigger

corner of my home

corner of my home
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

Welcome to this corner of my apartment. Ring the bells and speak to the gods...Click on the photo to read all about what is inside this little shrine of mine.

xo

Ines' surprise package

Ines' surprise package
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

Mail is good, but this mail was not only good but wonderful too. Too many surprises to fit in the frame, including balls of lovely yarn and star sequins. Thank you so much Ines! The box is also covered in great stamps of the landscape of Portugal, very nice!

I have been tagged!

keri tagged me see her in the links,

4 things, 4 things, 4 things
the number scares me a little it means death in Japanese a little unlucky like the number 13, to me it represents stability and for some reason that scares me too. It is my sisters favorite number and she likes the square as well. My favorite number is three...three saved my life, stopped me from dissapearing out of the blue, I use to chant three, three, threeeee all the way home!

this above has nothing to do with the tag, just a little preambles-do...
here we go, one, two, three, four!

4 jobs I have had.
-bookstore clerk, for ever and a day..Currently in a somewhat charming and utterly seedy second hand book, music and movie store

-special educational assistant, for children and young adults with special needs, one high light of this job was taking 4 autistic boys to the royal winter fair...We all liked the wonder dogs

-camp arts instructor at a arts day camp, the only job I ever got fired from (it was about me wanting the process to be important rather than the product...We made an awesome multi media mural, but no ashtray...ca va)

-bookworm, an actual bookworm in a costume for a spelling bee (the fairy princess costume didn't fit...The story of my life)
the girl that won the bee is one of my heros she was so passionate and intense and she could spell!


4 Movies I watch over and over
-Harold and Maude
-Housekeeping by Bill Forsyth if only I could get my hands on a copy
-Ghost World based on the Dan Clowes comic, if only Simon would please return it.
-Antonia's Line

4 Places I have lived
-Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, Toronto,
north, west, east
-Akita, Japan for 9 months
-Berlin, Germany for 3 months
-Cuckfield,England for 18 months
I was born there

4 TV Shows (over the course of my entire life)
-the Friendly Giant
-Batman (live action from the 1960's)
-H.R. Puffin Stuff
-coronation Street (currently since I was six)

4 Places I have vacationed
-Lodz, Poland
-Shodoshima, Japan
-New York City
-Montreal

4 of my favorite dishes
-Dim Sum
-Okonomiyaki
-Mummy's Roast Lamb
-Jay's first date Eggplant Parmesan

4 sites I visit daily
(please click on the links to take you there)
-Keri
-Tania
-Loose Tooth
(check out how Brandy spent her birthday!)
-Flikr, cause I am an image junkie!
many others, also etsy to go to a virtual
craft show each day...Is that four?

4 Places I would rather Be
that's hard as I am quite hobbit-ish in my stay at home
drinking tea way...But
-in the company of friends and a pot of tea
-having a swim
-lost
-somewhere I have never been!

I tag, Dave H, Rhya, Tania, and Cindy at Learning Daily
and Rhonda who keeps me on my toes...is that 4,
I failed math as well as spelling!

xoxo

zines and posies and all things rosie and not

flower book pages
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

I invite those of you in Toronto to come to the Cut n' Paste show at Sneaky Dee's this coming Saturday February the 4th. It is a zine show. I will be there with a suitcase full of flowers. For more information please go to
www.geocities.com/cutnpastezines

glamour kitty

glamour kitty with fans in colour
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

with her fans, the cause of all the kitty line ups last week, a chance for them to get an autograph from a real glamour puss!


for this weeks theme "glamour" at www.illustrationfriday.com

roses and daisies valentine dance party

roses and daisies valentine dance party
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

How could you go wrong by buying this sweet little romantic pillow.

It even has a delightful pocket for a love note.

Don't disapoint your lovely this valentines day.

Only one in stock. Completly original and oh so hand made!

now on sale at
www.kimssuitcase.etsy. com

because everyone needs a soft spot to call their own


xoxox

cats in a line

cats in a line
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

for this weeks theme at illustration friday
"Cats"

please click on them to see them clearer at flickr, then click to all sizes and choose large...

What do you think they are lining up for?

Fish cakes?
Viola lessons?
Knitwear?
Boots?
Catnip?
Movie?
Casting Call?
Dumplings?
Other?

please check one or add your own in the comments,
really i would love to know!

Dark dark spot

last night i had a dream
a bad dream

featuring the death of Margaret Atwood
newspapers turning into cast iron pans for cooking pancakes
and the end of the world

today i got a phone call
the kind of phone call i never wish to ever have again

my daughter was missing
no you say
yes says i

to put you out of concern and to make sure dear reader
you do not plunge head long into the green running river
i dreamt of last night

i can say she was found

safe
sound

she had taken it upon herself to leave the school yard at lunch time
to take a walk
with a following friend in tow

she was looking she said for a new house
having heard us mulling the idea in a fantastical not now kind of way

lucky for me
my sister was in the kitchen
and said

don't panic
....Yet'

i sat for five minutes
void, in shock
horrified
the worse living dream
real

the phone again rings
found,
brought back by Lula the crossing guard

and my heart ticks again
to the beat of never again never again never again

dark spot on this day
the darkest i have know

spilled milk, assorted rot, and the benefits and ills of glossy magazines

smells

in the store today
the ceiling had a gash

from a leak

and it was a nightmare
above the 'horror' books

horrible

sasha the bird didn't say much

i was cranky

sasha didn't like what i was having for lunch

my attention span isn't good enough to endure big books
but settles on gossip magazines
that tell me about super stars
and bad marriages
and i think now i know

tomorrow there is an election

on the radio a woman was asked the name of the leader of one of the parties
and passed on that question
but could tell you who angelina jolie was dating

i remember something noam chomsky said
about our involvment with things of little consequence
and the use of them to distract us from things that directly affect us
he said that if people knew as much about politics as sports and were as excited by it
we would be in a different world..

my attention is coming back
and i care
and will vote

glossy magazines are a trip
with out addiction
or weight gain
or rotting liver

but glossy
glossing over
distracting and away from

sometimes i need these baths
to relax
and play dumb.

but realzise
my real life happens
in the moments of cracker crumbs
in the bed
occasional athletes foot
imperfections

glorious nothing
and something
and in all the shades of every colour
that we can see and can't

to the surface i swim
and hug the droplets to myself
and let the cool air dry them

because it is good to be
feeling
smelling
touching
tasting
hearing
seeing

the cracks in the side walk
the flaws in myself

howdy

meow,

Bea's Scarf detail cat girl
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

house bound with a yuk of a bug-a-boo
achy, sleepy, yukky,

not really able to work...but...
i made a scarf for bea,
this is a detail
to see more click on the kitty in the cap and, it will magically take you to flickr where you can see the whole patch and the scarf!

E is for....emotions

E is for....emotions
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

My illustration Friday post. Two other versions at flickr, click on the picture and it will take you there.
As well you will see the picture more clearly. Other illustrations on the theme e is for...at www.illustrationfriday.com

Currently I am reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck and lets just say it has all of the "E"'s for emotion. What a tale. I am half way through. It is a wild ride!

Isadora and Xylophone

Isadora and Xylophone
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

please click on image to see her at flickr where there is a small folio of other images of Isadora in some quiet moments this rainy day in Toronto.

find out more about dear Isadora Pekala at
www.kimssuitcase.etsy.com

Harriet Spumoni

Harriet Spumoni 4
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

This is Harriet Spumoni. She is looking to relocate, and her wish is to share a home with someone nice.
Her interests include eating bon bons, listnening to 1930's Jazz music and astronomy.

She is avalible for adoption at my etsy store site which is:
www.kimssuitcase.etsy.com

pillow dance party

pillow dance party
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

sea

sea
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

for www.illustrationfriday.com
in time...under the lavender sea,
what could be in that suitcase?

Isabella Greenly

Isabella Greenly
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

May I introduce my new doll, Isabella Greenly.
She is looking for a home and for a fee can be adopted at www.kimssuitcase.etsy.com/


Isabella has been adopted. She will be flying to her new home in sunny Arizona.

Lavender and soft music

my room fills with lavender
soft music sent from a friend

my eyes focus on the line
straight

the stictches make
one then another

a long line

a parcel
of scent
time
place
a collection of bits and pieces
and the patience to put them together.

arm wrestling, sumo wrestling and the art of rock and roll

arm wrestle
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

well jay and i had a chat.
he told me many had died trying to climb Mt. Everest.

i decieded with much deliberation to take my head out of the vice of time that i had put it in.
regarding the big mother craft show, that i was cramming for. i decieded with a little saddness that i would wait. having the goal propelled me into making a production schedule and sourcing material and really pondering if it could be done.

it can be but i think now is not the time. i want to live a balanced life, you know one with a clean cat box and time to smell the daisies.

it is funny how sometimes things shift so your project takes up your life and everything else gets crammed up in a little crumbled corner. i remember projects from art school being like this and it was fun, too much caffeine a sense of importance as you single mindedly plodded along blazing with your creative vision.

lets just say i stumbled and fell a few times with this method, like icarus i got burned.

i will do the big craft show, yes but allow time for it to be...for now i will keep my production schedule (with slight modifications to include laundry and bathing) and see what i can do with the "faux show"
deadline.

ahh a sigh of relief as i not only choose to stay on the rails but choose not to disrail the whole family.

it's one thing swirving like a maniac when you are driving solo but another thing when you have another passenger car and a little cabose in tow.

peace
love
harmony
balance
and the occasional bag of chips!

Me and Rita

studio rita the sewing machine
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

Rita is the name I give her. An old girl with spin in her engine and a foot peddle that heats up.

In addition to Rita, and Esmerelda(my Mac) there is a new kid in town, Ivanhoe a 50 pound box of fiber fill.

I am about to step into the abyss. Sign up and apply for a big ol' craft show. The kind of show where participants once done don shirts that say " I survived the...craft fair" Why am doing this you may ask. Well I thought I should get a job. It is something that attracts and repels. It is my Everest or Mount Fuji, without the height, I am scared of heights. Never the less it seems a daunting climb.
The application isn't in the mail yet, there may be no room left or my stuff might well be not what they are looking for. Then again, they might cheer, take my money and then I am in.

In either case I have taken the plunge. I have a production schedule and a lot of stuffing. A sometimes cantankerous sewing machine, and a room of my own. I used to share with Jay, but he moved out( just of the studio not my life or apartment) and is content on his second hand laptop. The hearth that is Esmerelda, (the Mac) is open to all after hours however.

So here I am with a room and some hours, not as many as I like to make with a purpose and a deadline. Today was the first production day after a lovely 2 week vacation. And how did I do?

Hmmh how did I do? Well I made the number of things that I planned to make as well as picking up library books and perusing my new favorite thrift store. I got a lovely new hand knit toque in my favorite green, a book on small quilts, an apron to reuse for fabric, a craft magazine from 1981 and a nice walk in the middle of the afternoon.

I feed my family a delicious frozen entre that I took out of the oven. My bathroom is filthy, the cat box needs changing. I have a stack of dishes. A dead Christmas tree still in the living room, assorted debris scattered all throughout the house and the beds remained unmade.

I did finish 10 lavender sachets thought...

I drank hot chocolate, read more of East of Eden, watched coronation Street and had a bath

oh and blogged.

How did I do?

Wish me luck, it could get lonely on this mountain!
(no need to call the Health Department the hovel will be swilled and ready for livability soon..I hope)

Ivanhoe (the big box of fiber fill) is a tiny bit smaller and the lavender smell is wonderful and has taken the edge off my nervous first step of production.

Now if I could only find the other Sponge Bob slipper...

The nature of clutter and belly fat

Hello
yesterday I finally bought a digital camera, and the nice man in the shop was so helpful
and jazzed about taking photos, bless his photo taking soul
Bea helped asked questions and danced and even sang a tune

my belly has expanded to include the consumption of too many chocolates
what did I know as I popped tylenol and ate over the holidays semi ill and in a
haze of too muchness and love

here featured this photo, yes photo of my desk
a mess
things come together
things fall apart
things come together

tummies shrink back
messes clear
and then again the other

flowery lady

flowery lady
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

2 sisters

2 sisters
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

3 4 t

3 4 t
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

something

in the folds of the skin
the shine in the rain
and gentle snow

Happy New Year!

I was a child of the seventies
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

I was a child of the seventies.

flavor

flavor
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

for illustrationfriday.com
"flavor"
May your New Year be Happy and full of Flavor!

flowery chapeau

flowery chapeau
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

Hats off to you and more beautiful words that mean flower. Thank you so much.
-kwait-flower in Polish,
kwaity-flowers in Polish, says microcurry
-KKOT is flower in Korean, thanks jungmoon
_Fa -flower in Cantonese, tells through 4 eyes
-Flora is Spanish for flower, thank you Krista
(also the name of my Kitty)
and in Arabic it is zahara...

beautiful and thank you,
please let me know if you have a word for flower in your language...

flowers against the plaid sky

flowers against the plaid sky
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

I am collecting words for flower in different languages. So far my helpful flickr-friends have helped me with:
Blooma (that's Swedish says Annika)
Bloem (says Mirre, for the Dutch)
Flor (tells De Cor e Salteado for the Portugese)(with an accent over the "o' which I havn't got)
Blomst ( tells Torirot for the word in Norwegian)

wow, thank you
please add your language for flower in the comments.

dim sum holiday

dim sum holiday
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

for illustrationfriday.com
holiday+dim sum+ family = joy and happiness!
please click on picture to view it bigger, so you can smell the smell of tea and hargow

pillow juggling among green flowers

pillow juggling among green flowers
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

Karin's Pretties

the swap is in, are they not beautiful?
Yes they are lovely indeed!
thank you karin.

(and now i can hang the delicious ornament on my tree)

imagine

imagine
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

for illustrationfriday.com

"while at her school desk doris imagined foreign lands, world peace and the beauty of nature"

Thank you Mimi!

These are the wonderful atcs I was sent by Mimi Kirchner. She is a very talented doll maker and needlewoman. I am so inspired.
Thank you so much Mimi!

friday

the sky is closed today
as seagulls circle
and the kids lay in the snow

the other day
the subway sang
as a small man
blind played
the truest music

the roof of heaven opened
before the cluttering of the world began
and the voice and tiny instrument
mingled with the beat of my heart

today is friday
sleepy friday
working amongst books and paper
cash and customers
sasha to keep company with

and the sky is blue
as the clouds peel away
the kettle clicks to say it is ready

and thoughts of cups of tea brew
and possibility
and the breakfast of champions
and the breakfast of film makers
and movie stars

and the stew of grey that lives on the walk
where once in the nights sky it was fresh and snow

and i am achy with december
and happy with it too.

green gingham balance

pillow, green gingham balance
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

pillow bee party in the forest at night

pillow bee party in the forest at night
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

rattled unrattled and the smell of tree

everytime i walk into the living room
and smell our tree
i become unrattled
the pine smell
fills me with all things good and green

thank you tree
i know your life will end here

a sacrificial tree
adorned and truly loved

i will always remember you

sweety,
fondly,
full of pine.

Surprise!

Surprise!
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

for this weeks theme at illustrationfriday.com

knitted sock house

knitted sock house
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

colour in all the o's

colour in all the o's
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

This image is a coloured in version from the calendar my friend James Spyker and I collaborate on each year. The calendar is entitled "365 Reasons Not to Be Bored". James writes the words and I do the illustrations (which are in black and white). I coloured this in photoshop and I was happy with the lovely pallette it provided. A drawing coloured in this way used to take me much longer using gouche which I love and still mostly use.

blue tea

blue tea
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

for www.illustrationfriday.com


-when it rains blue blue tea what can be done but to recall fields of yellow and light.

flowers in our hair

flower hair clips
Originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

happy, happy little felt blooms,
now on sale at www.kimssuitcase.etsy.com