smelling lillies of the valley instead

today
thrifty thursday
at the goodwill 50% off
thought my wallet was pick pocketed
instead it waits at home

perhaps a signal to end the constant stock piles
of things i might need

and smell the lillies of the valley instead

left behind
one long sleeve black t-shirt
one lovely cotton black turtle neck sweater
dogs in canada anual magazine 2006
book on quilting
book on creative machine embroidery
a new type nancy drew mystery
and a book about a motorcycle adventure


in the garden green
dandylion puff balls
sparce lillac in bloom
too talk grass that i like
leaves of green
green green

dog barks
iron reaches temperature

and that is that

number 3

number 3, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

june the 9th i will be teaching my creativecard making workshop (which focuses of collage and sewing on paper) at www.nathalie-roze.com in leslieville, it will be in the afternoon this time. the past workshops have been lots of fun, the scones and tea are always lovely and the introduction to the sewing machine seems to help people become less afraid of it. please tell your friends who might be interested.

thanks,
kim

the day i didn't have clean underpants

remember the june day in the picture
blue cotton boomers taken against the slide in the concrete playground
hair in bunches and bobbles
uncle bobby sweat shirt
brother and self in a tree at niagara falls

against the leaves of green white flowers
with yellow centers

today i explained to owen he was gonna loose his balls
so when the males in the park came up to him sniffing around
to see if he had balls he wouldn't
and because bob barker from the price is right keeps saying so

imagine being memorable for this historic quote
"remember get your pets spay and neutred"


tired today
looking for a place to dance
sick to death of sitting
when my whole body says 'hi remember me?"
and i am and i do and then i recall what music
makes me do sway and swoon and fall in love
and want to dance dance dance one more dance

i will arrange a time and place
and secretly tango
with a rose in my mouth
recalling the tango contest i won at 14
at a resort called delawana with a talk blonde girl with moxy

and recall too coming of age
getting a period
the mystery of big fat tampons with no aplicator
and being called pumpkin even though i wasn't that round

memories don't need to be made they seep in
brew like the best coffee
steep like the best tea

sitting the snapsizes sizzle one to the other
and in the shower i just notice that on the shower head
there is a setting for niagara which i have never used
but choosing chance and experience over the fear of deluge
i just might

broken pencil magazine review

broken pencil magazine review, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

in this spring's issue,
they say nice things about my book cosies.

thanks broken pencil!

non- reactive

necklace, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

do you like my new necklace?
it is made of a non-reactive metal called titanium, the same metal for plates in the head.

i like the idea of 'non-reactive'
because much of my meditation practice is teaching me this concept....and good golly it is a big one.

very light is this necklace and i feel it is quite beautiful.

the necklace is made by a young jeweller named Aurora Simmons
of Lorica Designs www.loricadesigns.ca

workshop

Just a note to let you know there is still space available in the workshop I am teaching on Saturday morning at Nathalie-Roze and Company, in Toronto's Leslieville. Come on down and then check out the tree festival in the same area!
The workshop is in creative card making featuring sewing on paper, and using bits and bobs, interesting ephemera and such.
For more information please check out the workshop page on Nathalie-Roze's website (I have a link to her site at the bottom of my blog)

burnt toast

burnt toast spring cover, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

Always a pleasure to illustrate anything for my favorite foodie magazine. Quirky and fun, informative too. Check out the site.
www.burnt-toast.ca

Here are my wee sacrificial lambs...
and there are a few more inside.

so much

buttons mostly fabric, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

i have been enjoying my button press
taking scraps of fabric
images
bits and bobs
and ordering them into neat little events
button moments

the trees and the grass are so out
the sky blue blue

nagging heart about trash the dog ate
learning to meditate and train a puppy
so much a like
occasionally creating great angst

button press is safe
mechanical
magical
using muscel

so much
with a net too big
the thoughts just fly through
but i though
it might be good
to sit
and type
words
and
see

what is what
for now

dictionary buttons

dictionary buttons, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

flimsy
bust
cat's-paw
fling
flicker
flight
bushy
busy
bus


i got my button maker.
i got it from www.babbleweb.ca
located in toronto, shopping local is good

button making is fun!

teeter

button teeter green, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

totter

five o'clock five minutes

five o'clock
five minutes
to tell you a story

this is the story of a moment from yesterday.
the cast:
me
dog
daughter
big tree
police cruiser
the setting:
park

action.
i look up into the big bare tree right into the vein branches and up into blue sky
i look down, into textured bark, marks and ripples and history
i hug tree, arms wrapped only half way round because tree is so old and wise and wide
i say"
I love you!
actually i shout
I love you


unbeknowst to me
a police crusier pulls up
it isn't enough that Bea is rolling her eyes, (just a little)
police officer says'
okay i've got to ask
i reply
just loving this tree
police officer,
a nature lover eh ( thinks nature nut...i am presumming)
just loving this tree
i repeat

x
five minutes are up

tea in a tree pouch

pouch tea in a tree, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

featuring zig-zag from my new old Kenmore/Janome circa 1970 and running sweet as a dream

now back to sewing cards and perhaps later a little spot of tea in a tree.

jean couple pouch

jean couple pouch, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

...saying sayonara to an old pair of blue jeans never felt so good

box of pencils

box of pencils, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

friday morning begins with a box of pencil crayons belonging to someone else once...
i think friedrich took a flight to holland from hamburg
and liked green and photo brown
occasion had it he played golf and the lottery
and did quite a few drawings
who is friedrich c. jenson?
and was this his box of pencil?
smelling of must
and mildew
and rescued
from the goodwill
i continue
maybe
veillicht
where friedrich left off

Bea's Pirate Adventure

Bea's Pirate Adventure, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

Bea did this. I particularly like the crocodile.

i sew love you

i sew love you, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

one of my new designs for a button.
soon a real live button press will be mine,

ideas swamp my mind
in a good way

happy sunday

wind, points, return,

wind blows on open field
leaves of brown clink to chain link fence

for today's magic trick
i return to a place i once was
this time as a healthy volunteer
and this time the option is mine to come or go.

no i wasn't in prison,
exactly...

i will learn to be mindful
i will learn to meditate
and my fear of inclosed spaces
will vanish in a puff of smoke
actually that is the worry,
the cable of the elevator breaking
into a puff of smoke

any way
i will learn to sit
and lean into points
and the next time i have to fill out a rather tideous application form
i will not eat a bag of hard candy

but put my fingers on the coffee table like the lady in the video
and contemplate...
contemporary building materials such as plywood..
no no
i will be mindful and conscious
and only have a couple of hard candies
that i taste and suck rather than crunch.

today it was windy
and cold
and owen's tail curled just right
and wearing the chocolate brown parka
zipped up to the top
felt snug
and i worry about being smug

and i worry sometimes
but not as often as i used to
cause leaning into points is prickly
but isn't half as bad as being scared of the big bad wolf of the self.

want a candy
chewy?
or hard?

do you feel like a train ride?

do you feel like a train ride?, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

click on this and see the other days of our lives in dawbis's paper quilt project.

You can't Judge a Dog by it's Cover

Owen and George, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.

today owen meet george.
115lbs of rottweiller male.
george is afraid of small dogs
and cats.

and takes his food delicately.

he approached owen carefully,
slight tail wag, small huff

owen responded in his puppy on a string dance
bobbing and swaying.

george got to run off leash,
owen whimpered...

before owen,
george scared me
i braced and held tight to child

thank you owen
thank you george

i know now, you can't judge a dog
by it's cover

Kitchen Folk going to the park to let off steam

Kitchen Folk going to the park to let off steam, originally uploaded by Kim's Suitcase.