The Story

First came love (and hurt and heartache), then came poetry. Then came fancy-pants frames.

In a nutshell, that’s the story.

In more than a nutshell-

Poetry has always been a powerful, therapeutic tool for me to help support myself and others. 

For a long time, I mostly wrote for myself; as a release, and a way to make sense of difficult emotions. Then, throughout the years, I felt inspired in many situations to write a poem for different people around me; to say- help console someone grieving; express gratitude to someone dear; say a special goodbye to a boss who had made a lasting impact. Touching people with my words has always felt gratifying to me.

When I would gift these poems, I tried to present them creatively- pretty paper, embellishments, staging a candle and flowers around them, etc.

How it started:

At some point, I wanted to 'up' my presentation game. The idea of jazzing up a plain old frame then came to me, and I guess I had a little too much fun with it…because well, here we are. It naturally evolved from there, the idea of selling my work in a pretty package, so others could do the same. 

How it's going:

I’m happy to say that my frames (with or sans poetry) make for unique, meaningful gifts; beautiful home decor pieces, festive additions to yearly collections or all of the above! I've even branched out to doing Superhero, fan art and different patterned (camo, buffalo plaid, animal print, nature-inspired, etc.) designs. All frames and poems are sold separately, to make mix-and-match easier and because some prefer no poetry. Some are old-school and like using the frames for their original purpose- to put pictures or prints in them. My frames are versatile and offer many possibilities!

Inadvertent Mission

The Sparkling Mud was born out of the idea that we can all use support and encouragement at times. 

Having all this come together shined an unexpected light on what is often missing in our society: a safe space for feelings- ALL of them. When heavy, uncomfortable emotions are repeatedly dismissed with meaningless buzz words like 'stay strong', 'hang in there', 'let it go' and 'put on a brave face' messaging, it is SO validating, comforting and meaningful to instead simply witness someone's pain...and welcome it. It's no easy feat, however; which is why my pieces do the hard, or should I say vulnerable work, so you don't have to.

Poetry, Frames and Then Some...

Let's Get Personal

What makes a gift go from beautiful to BEST GIFT EVER is making it personal. If you are interested in a personalized poem for a special someone (example: humourous birthday or goodbye poems, a special 'thank you' poem or even a poem for yourself to help you heal from something), please contact me at: thesparklingmud@gmail.com. You can find examples of some of the dozens of personalized poems I've written on our Instagram account: @thesparklingmud.

B.U.L.L.Y. line

More inadvertent stuff- also in the works is my B.U.L.L.Y.- Because U Lack Love for Yourself line. It is a clothing line inspired by a poem I wrote, about projection. I quickly felt that what started as simply making a statement, has the potential to evolve into continuing the conversation about bullying, and all its layers. Currently available is our pink B.U.L.L.Y. t-shirt, inspired by Pink Shirt Day here in Canada. You can find the shirt here. And be on the lookout for our full B.U.L.L.Y. clothing line, expected to launch in the fall of 2023.