hobbies and interests

What is a hobby or interest you have that other people may find odd? I do pen paling, mail art, and postal swaps, so I send and receive a lot of snail mail. Sometimes, when I tell people that I send out approximately twenty pieces of mail each week, I get some weird looks and comments. A lot of younger people I’ve met don’t even know that there is an active pen paling scene. It’s wild because I cannot imagine my life without mail. I just love this hobby so much! How about you all? By the way, you can support me by leaving me a tip on PayPal or checking out my Etsy shop. I also accept crochet commissions. 

mail art from 2013

behold, summer

Howdy, folks! Summer is in full swing here in New Jersey. It's mostly been hot and sunny. Although, as I write this, it's cool and raining. I have been crocheting a lot, and also making some postcards, paintings, and other fun things. The other day, I used alcohol inks to color sea shells. I used Mod Podge and bits of tissue paper to decorate rocks on another day. I recently got LASIK eye surgery, and I'm still paying off the costs of the surgery. If you would like to support me, please check out my Etsy shop, GreenOwlCrochet. I also accept crochet commissions. Thank you!

decorated rocks

painted pineapple magnet

a painted sea shell

a postcard I made

rainy day in January

Howdy! It has been dark and rainy all day today. Boo hoo. I dislike rainy days. Do you? I worked on crocheting a hat for an order I received via my Etsy shop, Green Owl Crochet. I took a break to make some collages. I will share one of the collages below, along with a close-up picture of a cat bed I made and another collage I made last week. How do you like to spend rainy days? Ciao!

close-up of cat bed

Owl Doodle January 2020

Rainy Day Blues January 2020

birds, birds, birds!

     I've been living at my dad's house for the past four months to help him care for his parrots' babies. They are hyacinth macaw babies. We now have two! The oldest is Angelina, a girl. The younger baby is temporarily named Carolina. We may, however, change the name, especially since we don't yet know if it is a boy or a girl. 
     When the babies are first hatched, they need to be fed every hour, around the clock. I have a sleep disorder and am often awake at night, so it made sense for me to take over the nightly feedings. My dad does the daytime feedings. We also have a woman who comes in a few times a week to take over one of the feedings. It's exhausting! 
     Between feedings, I've been keeping myself occupied with my usual hobbies (crochet, reading, and mail art). I've also been writing a fair amount of poetry. Last week, I wrote thirteen poems in about three days. It was fun! I'm still doing my volunteer tutoring "job" through Project Literacy. So, yes... the exhaustion is real!
     In the past few months, I've crocheted a large heart, a small heart, a large rainbow, a rock cozy, a stuffed toy pumpkin, a hat, a mason jar cozy, and lots of cat beds. The cat beds are mostly for the local animal shelter, but I also mailed some to friends and acquaintances. I'm currently working on a cowl and a drawstring pouch. My friend Joshua commissioned the pouch from me. Yes, I accept crochet commissions! If you're interested, please email me at ericalaurend on gmail. Also, please check out my Etsy shop, Green Owl Crochet!

June update and culinary arts

     I haven't updated my blog in a while. I have been creating (mostly crocheting and making mail art), but I just haven't gotten around to posting my work to this blog. If you want more updates from me, please check out my Instagram. I'm EricaBerrie on there. A link to my Instagram is here.
     I made some crocheted pieces for a future yarn bomb. The yarn bomb is being organized by the artist Knitteapolis. She is going to yarn bomb at the Minnesota State Fair in Minneapolis. I mailed her some motifs as well as a large mesh rectangle. The rectangle is modeled here by my sister's dog, Harlow. I used Lion Brand's Shawl in a Bawl yarn.

     Here are some pictures of some of the mail art I've made recently.

     Besides crocheting and making mail art, I've been baking and cooking up a storm lately! Most of what I make is for my Dad and his employees. They love the baked goods I make for them! My mom and sister also like to eat what I make. Besides cookies and quick breads, I've also made a quiche and stuffed shells. Today, I'm going to make energy bites and hummus. I don't have a food processor, so I'm hoping I can make the energy bites in my blender. Pictured here is a yummy banana bread I made two weeks ago.

Autumn Goodness

I've been working on some crochet projects. I made a bunch of motifs for a yarn bomber in Arizona. I'm currently working on making five sweaters for an animal rescue in New York City. The sweaters are for some chickens they rescued recently. I've been making some mail art, though I really should make more. I'm going to try to set aside some energy to make mail art this week. I have some "add and pass" projects I need to work on, too. 

All Good Things

Hi all! I had a fairly busy May and June. I did some crocheting (I even got two orders! Yay!). My favorite is a collar I made for my sister's dog, Hudson. I also made about 25 postcards. I made the postcards at Panera (a cafe) and also at my desk in my bedroom. I usually only make postcards at Panera but for whatever reason I was inspired to make some in my home, too. I hope everyone is having a fabulous summer!

April 2016 happenings

I've been cranking out some postcards at the rate of about three a week. I also submitted a small mixed-media canvas to a mail art show in Japan. I've also been doing some crocheting. Recently, I've made two hats for people I know who are losing their hair from chemotherapy. One of the hats is for my friend Pepe's mom and the other is for the mom of a former classmate of mine. Please note that I'm hosting a mail art call for entry. Please send me a postcard with a word (in English only, please!) written on the front (and decorated however you'd like). On the back, include your return address, my address, and postage. I'll mail you a postcard in return! My *updated* address is: Erica D./13 Hewson Ave/Waldwick, NJ 07463/United States of America. I'm going to use these postcards to make poetry. Thank you!

November Excitement!

If you know anything about my life, the title of this post may seem like somewhat of a misnomer. However, despite the limitations imposed on me by my disabilities, I'm finding ways to have fun and to be connected with my community, friends, and the world in general. And I think this is exciting! 

Of course, I've been keeping up with crocheting and mail art. Recently, I made an autumn wreath, a cowl, an ear warmer, and a chicken sweater. The chicken sweater is for a chicken rescue in the UK, but the rest of the items I got paid for (yay!). Also, I've been writing letters, keeping my journal current, and writing a few poems. Outside of my usual home life, I've been going to support groups, doing volunteer ESL tutoring, going to church activities, taking a Spanish class, volunteering at an animal shelter, and doing yoga.

Enjoy the pictures of a recent piece of mail art, a jar cozy, and the autumn wreath!

June 2015 Update

I know, I know... I've been neglecting this blog. Nonetheless, I've been making mail art and crocheting a lot lately. I've mostly been making postcards while at the cafe in the bookstore or otherwise away from my studio area. As a result, I have limited materials. I'll include a picture of what my "art on-the-go" kit looks like. I have two pouches I carry around with me: one pouch has just papers (scrapbooking papers, random ephemera, etc) and the other pouch has some random supplies like a glue stick, some markers, etc. As for crocheting, I recently made two guerilla art pieces that incorporate crochet: a mason jar cozy and a rock cozy. I'll include pictures of both projects. Have a good summer, all! Cheers!

March = mail art galore!

I've been making quite a bit of mail art lately. I don't have a studio area in my Dad's house (which is where I'm living now). Despite this, I've been able to crank out some decent mail art. I've mostly been making postcards lately. I even made some postcards while at Panera (the cafe). I've also been crocheting. I have a couple of WIPs (works-in-progress) going, including a kelly green headband I'm making for St. Patrick's Day. I may also get a couple of orders soon, since a local librarian I know wants me to make something for a baby shower she is going to and someone I follow on Twitter wants a pair of earrings. Score! I love to be paid to crochet!

February Update!

I've been crocheting quite a bit. I made a cat bed (for our local animal shelter), three headbands, a cowl, and some hats (including a chemo cap for a friend's mother). I've also been writing at bit and making some mail art. I made five postcards (including a valentine for my pen pal Honi C.) and three envelopes. Yesterday, I wrote four poems in under ten minutes. The idea was to just play and experiment without worrying about the outcome. The poems are very silly and random! I'll be mailing them to some of my mail art pals. It was fun to write them! I should be this free more often.

On the bright side...

Shine brighter blue than sapphires,

bloodier than the red of rubies,

he wove a partial tapestry of full of despair,

at least it makes good fodder for movies.

Silliness

A parrot on my shoulder,

for me she lays eggs.

But who is behind that curtain?

I see a strong set of legs.

Of beaks and wishes

Her beak is huge and bicolored-

cream and black,

set a wish on a penny toss

and never get it back.

Friends, lovers, birds

I have no one for company,

save some birds and perhaps a muse.

Is life really composed this way?

Some say it's just a ruse...

December 2014 Update

     Hi all! I've been crocheting up a storm. Most recently, I've made a cactus stuffed toy and two beanie-style hats. The cactus was for an online friend of mine who was nice enough to pay for both the cactus and the shipping (all the way to Norway!). I'd made my friend's mom a shawl, too. The shawl took me a long time to make, but it's worth it because I really wanted to show my support of my friend and his mom while they go through a difficult time. 

     I've also been making a wee bit of mail art and I wrote a short story that may become part of a novel. 

     The other fun thing I did was follow a suggestion from the lovely Ms. Keri Smith. In one of her books, How to Be an Explorer of the World, she suggests an exercise where you blindfold a willing participant and have them touch objects. They then have to guess what the object is. So, I made a texture board and had my mom touch the various objects and guess what they are. I told her that if she got at least 5/7 correct, I'd give her a prize. She got 6/7 correct, so I bought her a box of chocolates. It was fun! 

     Please pardon the look of my blog while I fix it up a bit. 

     Happy holidays, everyone!