Taking a bit of a break to head home to Phoenix for a few days with loved ones.

Wishing you a blessed Christmas!

xo,

Kelli

God bless the Germans for their command of language. Want romance? See French. Spiciness? Spanish. The language of literature — Shakespeare’s English. Poetry? Persian. But German? Like their cars, their shoes and their way of life — it is efficient. I admire such precision (and often lament, “Why isn’t there a word for this?”)

I subscribe to AWAD. Have you heard of this? An ex-boyfriend was a word junkie. He regularly kicked my chagrined butt at Scrabble. To cheer me up after yet another defeat one sad evening, he quietly subscribed me to AWAD. I couldn’t have been given a more thoughtful gift.

My favorite email of the week arrives Sunday when the word dorks around the world come together for the week’s compendium email. Each week has a theme. The Sunday review includes the craziest and wittiest emails Anu Garg — the creator — has received. At times there is a challenge or prize associated, but the real reward is the quirky multilingual views and opinions people about have about language.

In other words — word nerd heaven.

I’ve shared these compendium email several times with other friends to note the strange and interesting comments only to receive “what a bunch of pretentious asshats!” as a response.

Needless to say, these pretentious wordie asshats are my people.

A few weeks ago, the theme of AWAD was German words. This was yet another reminder of the fluidity of language — how English has been modified with time by the influence of other cultures. The words included lebensraum and:

• Sitzfleisch noun: 1. The ability to sit through or tolerate something boring.2. The ability to endure or persist in a task.
• ersatz adjective:  Serving as a substitute, especially of inferior quality; artificial.  noun: A substitute or imitation.
• diktat  noun: 1. An order or decree imposed without popular consent. 2. A harsh settlement imposed upon a defeated party.
• schwarmerei noun:  1. Extravagant enthusiasm.2. Excessive sentimentality.

With quite a bit of characteristic schwarmerei tucked in my pocket this weekend, I continued packing for my move. This included a giant shoe box of letters I’d stashed in the back of the hall closet. Not necessarily forgotten, but certainly years since being opened, I decided it was time to do something with the countless sentiments mailed around the world when I was in the Peace Corps.

The tiny bits of ephemera I saved was unbelievable. I had handwritten love letters from my Peace Corps boyfriend, my notice of early termination and plane tickets receipt, emails printed out from the one house in my training community that had Internet access (still a miracle, now that I think about it) and more.  Even more, I found letter after letter from family, my closest girlfriends, ministers and others who wanted to know I was supported and loved.

(Also mailed to Cameroon: the People magazine spread on Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s wedding; the notice of Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid’s divorce; gobs of photos of baby Bennett who will soon be 11!; and the hilarious and wickedly entertaining tomes of my closest girlfriends’ college romances. I was laughing as hard as I was crying while organizing.)

With time, I’ll scan these and make them into a book to be saved forever. For now, they are behind plastic sleeves and still very much cherished.

The greatest gift is that of lebensraum: noun: Space required for living, growth, and development.

~K

How about a fabric correspondence envelope, with space for both your cards, stamps and your favorite pen? You could use this to clean up your stationery drawer, or throw it in your suitcase when you travel to keep postcards and an address book handy.

{Yes, I actually travel like this. And yes, if you are in my address book, you’ve more than likely received your fair dose of correspondence over the years.}

Let’s start with fabric selection. Pick two pieces of fabric that are decor weight to give this some heft.

Supplies:

- 2 pieces of decor weight fabric, interior 10 ” x 14 ”

- 2 pieces of decor weight fabric, exterior 10 ” x 7″

- 2 pieces of lightweight fusible interfacing,  one, 10″ x 14″; the other 10″ x 7″

- 1 fabulous button, with needle and thread to attach

- general sewing notions: scissors, machine, ruler, pencil, etc.

Directions:

All seams are 1/2 inch.

Cut your exterior and interior pieces, along with your interfacing. Iron the interfacing to the wrong side of your exterior pieces. Place the exteriors (with interfacing now attached) and interior right sides together. You’ll have two stacks. The 10″ side is the bottom. The 14″/7″ side is the height.

Now, we are going to cut the larger set of pieces  to make the point of the envelope. Pin the 10″ x 14″ exterior and interior piece together.  Use a ruler and a dull pencil and measure 7″ from the bottom of the sandwiched pieces. The wrong side of the either the exterior or the interior should be facing up. Draw a line across the 10″ width at the 7″ (from the bottom up) mark. Now, draw a line from top to bottom at the 5″ mark. You should have two lightly drawn lines across one piece of your fabric.

Starting at the left corner of the 7″ mark and the left-side of the fabric, gently draw a line to the top 5″ mark, creating one side of the envelope point. Repeat on the other side of the fabric, creating the other side. You’ve now drawn a perfect triangle. Trim your envelope pieces accordingly:

You started with rectangles.

Now you have four pieces, two with a triangle top.

Let’s sew these pieces together. As per most sewing patterns, the key is to always sew things right sides together and leave a hole so you can turn it right-side out when you are done. Starting with the smaller 10″ x & 7″ pieces, place right sides together and sew only the top edge closed. (see the above photo) Press with your iron, turn right-side out, repeat seam with a top stitch.

Now, leaving a 3″ hole along the bottom 10″ piece — we are going sew the envelope portion together. Place the 10″ x 14″ (pointy envelope) exterior piece and interior pieces right-sides together. Sew along the outer edge, leaving the 3″ hole along the bottom. Place the other two pieces (10″ x 7″) right-sides together and repeat, leaving the same hole. Clip the corners. Turn both sets right sides out. Using your iron, push out your seams as far as you can. Match up both sets of fabric along the bottom edge (both with 3″ holes). Carefully turn these in and pin. Pin around the entire outer edge of the envelope and top stitch, enclosing your 3″ turning holes. You should now have one giant envelope.

To create pockets for the pen and cards, measure in 2″ from the left-hand edge of your fabric. Run a seam from the bottom to the top of the pocket section (only 7″ tall, not the entire 14″ triangle point!). You’ve now got one large pocket — on the right — for cards and stamps, and one little pocket — on the left, for your pen.

Now, pick a coordinating button to sew on the front of the flap. This is simply for decoration, and to provide a bit of weight to keep the flap down. You won’t create a button hole, so your button doesn’t need to be practical. Go wild!

Add a personal label if you’d like, fill with stationery and a pen and enjoy!

Yay! Letters! Who doesn’t love letters (especially love letters)!

-k

The winner for the stationery is Becky Sue because she hit a cord with her pro-book stance:

“I don’t know if this is considered “old-fashioned” but it certainly seems the tide is turning with all these new e-book thingys like the Kindle and the Nook. Give me a good old-fashioned book any day…I love the feel of it in my hands, the feel of the pages, the smell. I have never listened to an audio book either, and I don’t really care to – even if it might save me some time.”

I am all for technology, but I can’t imagine the time I’ll take a Kindle over a great used book found on a dusty shelf at my local haunt. I like the sensory experience of books and I cannot believe this is now old-fashioned, but so be it!

Your comments about the letters you’ve written, saved and cherished over the years brought out the sentimentalist in me. I am so thankful so many others celebrate this simple joy. I’ve learned you received letters your grandparents had written each other when courting, you’ve written letters to your future children when pregnant, you penned letters to introduce yourself, and to end relationships too.

What used to be an art now seems to be contrite; I still find a good letter a great entertainment. Thank you for sharing your stories!

~K

If I had gobs of money to spend on new hobbies, I’d be taking letterpress classes. I love the design, look, feel and weight of letterpress stationery. It is simply perfect.

Alas, this is not in my immediate future. (Although a friend mentioned yesterday he knows someone who knows someone…) In the meantime, I enjoyed the current stationery sale at JoAnn’s and bought a few new supplies that fueled an afternoon of correspondence creation.

That Ginger Rogers really did get the short end of the stick. You know who else gets cheated? Every single female character on Mad Men. Have you watched this show? I am a bit obsessed. The fashion, set design, and feel of this show makes it visual art. The writing makes it brilliant. I simply love Mad Men, but I am struggling with the female leads. I don’t identify with any of them.

It makes me wonder what my grandmothers put up with and how they view the world today — one where in certain circles, not wearing panties gets you splashed on every magazine for the week. How the art of femininity has changed for the masses.

My love of a great handwritten note and Mad Men are linked in that  I’m enamored with all things old fashioned. Sure, text messages are efficient, but a well written letter? A letter you hold on to. Certainly jeans and soft cotton t-shirt work, but a tailored dress, flats and pretty jewelry? They make me feel like Christmas morning.

And so, another contest for a bundle of handmade stationery. Leave a comment describing one of two things: a letter you’ve received or need to write and why it is special, or, what old fashioned thing you consider the bee’s knees. I’ll select the most creative answer and post it Friday.

~K

Um, holy Moses. This 24-days of advent thing I’m attempting? Phew. You’d think I would have started this with a plan of action, but really I started on a whim and have been struggling to keep up. Not to mention next week I’ll be scheduling posts while I’m on the beach and exploring Mexico with my family. Feliz Navidad! So, thank you for hanging around for all this crazy creativity. The self-imposed challenge has me learning to work with new medium and rethinking patterns, etc. I really do appreciate your feedback.

Stationery is one of my favorite things to have on hand. My love of correspondence is well-known. Stamping cards for the holidays is an easy blend of several passions — art, the holidays and the craft of letter-writing. Plus, it is an inexpensive way to check in with so many people during this time of year. I regularly underestimate how many I will need, but this year capped my list at 150. Stamped, mailed, sent with love.

Next year I am going to save the trees and the energy by the mail trucks and email a photo collage. It simply makes more sense ecologically.

Are you making your holiday cards? Do you ever save cards? Reuse the envelopes for scratch paper? I have mine displayed on the mantle. My favorites include the family chronicle letters with lengthy updates on everyone’s activities.

~K

Sunday I was in charge of Children’s Moment at church. The timely lesson was about giving thanks. I whipped up some Thanksgiving cards and we talked about the importance of being grateful. The kids went into the congregation and found someone to give a card to and then we worked on cards for their families in Sunday School.

I am a bit like Johnny Appleseed, but with correspondence. Johnny Stampyseed? Kelli Appleletter? Hmm… I like to spread it and make others write letters too. (My brother told me the other day he’s saved all the letters I’ve sent him since he left for college and there are more than 100. I’m a little crazy, I know.) The kids agreed — getting personal mail rocks.  They now know the secret too — to get mail, you’ve got to send some stationery love too. They were as excited as a group of little ones gets about a thinly veiled manners lesson.

I whipped up some music mixes this weekend too. Looking at this photo I just realized the Four Seasons song is a Vivaldi and it is Violin not Violent. Ha! Violin autmun, not violent autumn.

I think these might be my two very favorite things to receive:  handwritten notes and mixes of la musica.

Hope your Thanksgiving week is off to a great start!

~K

I was the kid at summer camp who always came home with a stack of addresses and managed to write a dozen pen pal letters in the first week, chronicling life in suburban Arizona as though it was dramatically different from the other WASPY childhoods of my new friends.  No surprise my fondness for this form of communication carried forward into adulthood, although my Hello Kitty stickerbook has been updated a bit. I typically start the new year with a fresh address book, making edits to the year’s changes in addresses with a stack of Christmas card envelopes in hand, and adding birthdays for new babies, etc. I keep a running list of birthdays in some attempt to remember as many as possible.

I’ve got plenty of people who think I’m crazy for operating on a pencil/paper system these days, even though my Blackberry is permanently attached to my otherwise technologically savvy self. I like an agenda where I can doodle, make lists, paperclip notes and not worry if I spill my morning coffee. Ink runs, but it doesn’t spark.  Same goes for my address book. It’s a scratchy mess by the end of the year — it seems this is a time of life when most friends hop from rentals to mortgages — but it is my mess and it doesn’t ever need to be in binary code.

And so, every few months, I find stationery and stamps and create a stack of  notes to be posted. In part, I enjoy writing letters because it forces a thoughtful selection of word choice and flow. There are things I’ll discuss at length when writing with pen that I’d never consider sending via gmail. Plus, with email how often do you have a greeting, a point and a kind valediction?  And in part, I write letters selfishly because the sense of opening the mailbox to find something handwritten and personal is the bee’s knees.

I’m adding this to my “list of descriptive words I need to create,” along with the feeling of finding an unexpected love letter. My mom used to tuck notes of love in our lunches on occasion. My dad slipped a letter into my luggage once when I left for a long trip. My grandma regularly sends me letters of love. I’ve even found one or two romantic, sappy and completely exhilirating notes from ghosts of boyfriends past. It isn’t just the words, but the paper and the ability to tuck such sentiment away to be cherished again and again.

I’m in the mood to spend extra time writing letters and connecting with friends. A correspondence month admist an otherwise busy technological world is old fashioned or vintage, quaint or lame, thoughtful or a waste of time. Like everything else in life, it depends on your perspective. I’m venturing to bet on I’m not the only one who appreciates kindness signed, sealed and delivered.

~K

Roasted butternut squash topped with browned turkey, garlic and veggies with a side of quinoa.

Mmm.. say it with me — “keen wa!” I love this food.

And while I’m trying not to drink much, this decanter is so awesome for impressing a guest. Take a $5 bottle of red wine and decant for 30 minutes before. You wouldn’t believe how much this improves the taste.

Otherwise, I’m not doing much domestic this week. Work is kicking my butt. With hours upon hours at the capitol in a sea of gray cubicles, I am exceptionally happy this is no longer my work environment. I am also over the moon, after spending an hour on the freeway this afternoon, that I don’t have to participate in the concrete jungle regularly either. Both have given me a new dose of perspective and gratitude for my sweet little desk with the pretty window overhead and the fact it is a mile from my home.

Now where did I put the rest of that quinoa…

~K

Cigar Box turned Correspondence Kit for Colleen

With much thanks to Kinchie for nudging me along to get this done and helping with the details!

Tea Towel Headbands, which I put together with help of my mama. (God bless her patience. I hate turning tiny things like this.) I love the idea of having a little towel on your brow when you are working out, gardening or running down the field playing frisbee. You want to look cute, but you don’t want your hair in your eyes. And if it sucks up a little “glisten” along the way, even better.

These were paired with my 2008 Christmas music mix. If one doesn’t get you out on your bike, hopefully the other does.

And finally, Amy Butler wide leg jammie pants. I made these in fleece and added a t-shirt to make pajama sets for eight friends.

And to all a good night! The Christmas tree is down, the Valentine’s heart is going on the front door and I’m looking forward to a rockin’ 2009.

Cheers,

Kelli

Dear Fin,

Hello dahling! How are you? I am so, so happy this morning. I was able to sleep in and woke up to the sound of rain. In Arizona, this is one of the most precious sounds. I was thrilled! My dad arrived last night and even though our plans of taking a lovely desert hike were drenched, we decided to hit the gym for a bit before heading off to breakfast. We’ll see a movie today and maybe go bowling.

I LOVE Father/Daughter days. It has been forever since we’ve had one. But back to the details: I finished our project! I sewed these up as sample Christmas cards. I know how much you love, ahem, Christmas swag. But you’ll have to admit these are pretty cute thanks to my new Martha Stewart birdie stamps. And your cards came out super cute. I thought maybe you’d rock the Hanukkah cards with the star pattern, but you went an entirely different (and pretty) direction.

So, what will we do next? I think we need some fantastic new sew-along idea to balance out how much this book has bummed me out. It just didn’t live up to its potential. Am I the only one that feels this way? It doesn’t help that last year’s sew-along book and projects were simply SO rad! Ideas?

Okay, off to breakfast and movies and bowling. Got to run! Love you mucho and hope you and Bubba have a fabulous, 1980s-themed Thanksgiving!

xoxo,

Donk

Yesterday I received another pretty incredible stroke of kindness from the craft world. KatyRenee had a contest a while back on her blog and I won. I was able to select an image and she said she’d whip something up for me. Of course, I looked to my creative idol — Ms. Kahlo.

Why yes, I am in love. Thank you Katy!

To see why Frida inspires me, check out some of these images. I have tentative plans to spend some time in San Miguel de Allende with mi amigita Alma next Fall visiting Frida’s studio. Holy guacamole, that would be the trip of a lifetime. Frida’s story, and many others, do make me believe that many great artists often find inspiration from tragedy. Thankfully, I admire their work in my sphere of happiness (while wearing awesome accessories.)

Cheers,
Kelli

{NaNoBlogMo is officially kicking my butt. Who knew blogging everyday for a month would be tricky for a girl who never shuts up? Yeah. I’m surprised too.}

Timely and fantastic health care-package from Ms. Colleen.

~My meeting with the nutritionist was fantastic. She is accepting new clients and if you want her contact info, shoot me an email. Basically we just spent an hour talking about food and my eating habits. She recommended a series of books, including: Intuitive Eating, Appetites, Mindless Eating, Moving Away from Diets and What is Normal Eating. Again, I did not meet with her because I think I need to lose dramatic amounts of weight or have an eating disorder. I have a few silly habits I’m trying to change. I plan on reading a couple of these, meeting with her again, and going forward a healthier woman.

Shwag bag of Vancouver Olympic goodies from Rachael. LOVE these. I am such an Olympaholic. I miss the summer games already.

~ TDH is NOT the African house guest I am expecting this weekend. Holy moly, no. He is actually starting Stanford medical school this week and while I think he does look a bit like a bald Michael Phelps, he is not on the romance radar. I am rooting for him in this latest amazing academic adventure. The guests are coming from Malawi. I stayed with them on the tea estate; they have some business in Phoenix. I hope to return the hospitality favor, although I’m certain it can’t compare.

Wine cork trivet from Diane — love the reduce, reuse, repour factor.

~ I finished editing my novel this week, again. I’m sending it off after one final read to the man I hope will be my literary agent. If he doesn’t want to represent me, it is back to the drawing board. I am very excited to move on to a new cast of characters for novel dos. If you have any contacts in publishing, or know of an author who has successfully navigated these waters, I’d love the help. A mentor in publishing would be a wish come true. In the meantime, I think I am going to celebrate with a great bottle of Malbec this weekend.

~ My new job involves refugees. I am planning a series of posts discussing refugees in America. What is a refugee? What is an evacuee? Immigrant? Illegal immigrant? Where do refugees come from? Many public health + refugee living posts to come.

~ Podcasts I am currently loving:
The Splendid Table, This American Life, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, Joel Osteen, Speaking of Faith

~ Do you have your jars for the next Jars for Renewal project yet? I’m telling you — this one is finger licking good. Another cherished family recipe I can’t wait to share.

~Did you know Finny is having a big, milestone birthday this week? Go send her some love.

~Kelli

I can’t handle clutter. I don’t like knickknacks or collections or piles of anything — with new-to-me books being the sole exception. (Okay, and maybe piles of cash.) I’m in tidying-mode this week — trying to clear out my studio of craft supplies that could find a better home, my closet of clothing that doesn’t fit, my bookshelves of items that will be better suited at the Tempe Library. Even Esme is off to a new home; my friend Sam will hopefully be putting her to use soon with Phoenix Copper Bikes.

With this in mind, I tackled my paper supplies last night and reorganized my stationery. I jokingly refer to myself as the Correspondence Queen because chances are, if you get a new job, celebrate a birth, buy a new house or do something that just knocks my socks off, you will find a letter in your mailbox saying so within a few days. I love to write letters because I remain steadfast that going to the post and finding a handwritten note among the junk is joyous.

This file accordion provided the perfect way to clean up my rubber stamp box and give ready access to cards, envelopes, gift tags, stationery, scrapbooking paper, envelope templates, etc. I found some order in the previous correspondence chaos. I am thinking another accordion would work perfectly for sewing patterns.

Next up: fabric scraps. I want to make a scrap quilt for some friends who are getting married this Fall. I need to go through the stack and decide what will and won’t work. I am going to put together some kits of left over supplies for my friends who are elementary school teachers.
I must say, taking inventory makes it much easier to use what you have. I don’t need to buy patterns, craft books, yarn or fabric for a long time. Now if my friend JoAnn would just stop sending me coupons to tempt me otherwise.
Do you have a great organizational technique that makes your life easier? I’ll randomly select a commenter to receive a collection of homemade cards. How’s that for a theme?

~K

It seems the professional stars have aligned to collide this week; so many of my friends are having hard work-weeks. Yesterday I got home unexpectedly hours early from an afternoon meeting and by 4 pm I was in my pajamas, under the covers with a glass of Cabernet so big, I think it might be illegal. About 6:30, the fuzziness started wearing off and I decided it just might be a good idea to not become the crazy 20-something who comes home from work early to lounge around in jammies and drinks the afternoon away while talking to Rachael Ray on the tube.
I pulled myself together, washed out the glass and made some dinner. I also decided the evening wouldn’t be wasted; there isn’t enough time in my day to stress about my job. The only thing it does is make my hair fall out and make me eat my weight in frozen yogurt. Neither leave me feeling terribly attractive or too great about myself. A sense of accomplishment, however, is a sure fire self-esteem boost, and considering I’d had all that wine, it was impossible to drive to the Golden Spoon.

Instead, I wooed my Singer and a new Amy Butler pattern. Voila — a pink iPod case. I bought this Amy Butler fabric on eBay years ago and have been nursing the one yard through several projects. I think I’m going to make a couple more of these as gifts. And yes, the seams in those photos would be much straighter without the trip down Cabernet street. Stop judging.

With the same sense of using what I have in the craft studio, I pulled out some paper and ribbon to make some new cards. I am a bit of a correspondence junkie and it was so fun to use ribbon scraps to make these.

I’ve got a stack of June birthday cards ready for the mail and am working on July. Mozambique doesn’t have postal service in Beira, so it is wise to get these done now. (Ah, junk mail. I never thought I’d consider you a luxury.)
Also, I decorated some notebooks with leftover fabric scraps and stamps for friends who are also traveling this summer.

And maybe a fabulous giraffe journal for moi aussi.
For waking up with a mild hangover, I was pleasantly surprised to see my studio table covered with completed projects. Now, about that packing…

~K