45wall design

And the Winners Are...

2012-01-27T13:55:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Terri, Liz, and Joycie! And thanks to everyone for entering and for your lovely compliments and encouragement!

Terri, can you email me or leave a comment on how to reach you?

Shop Update...And a Giveaway!!!

2012-01-23T15:25:00.000-08:00

The shop is open...and with new goods! To celebrate, I'm doing a bit of a giveaway. Keep reading to see what you could win.

First up, the new goods:

The Watercolor Invite

Mini Cards. This is a set of 5 mini cards, blind letterpress printed and hand dip dyed. The cards read: "Always", "Love Love", "Me & You", "I Adore You" and "You Are My Favorite".

Lovely Love Cards. These are inkjet printed, 4 bar folded cards. Available as a set of 3 or sold individually: "Fond of You" / "Greatest Thing" / "Sexy and Cute"

And I'm so excited to start selling prints! The Lovely Love prints are available in large (11.75"x15.75") and small (8"x10), and are sold individually or as sets.

::Fond of You print (large)
::Fond of You print (small)

::Greatest Thing print (large)
::Greatest Thing print (small)

::Sexy and Cute print (large)
::Sexy and Cute print (small)

Now for the giveaway! The goods you could win:

To enter, simply leave a comment (and make sure there is a way for me to contact you if you win). I'll be drawing 3 names: the first name drawn gets #1, the second name #2, and third name #3.

The giveaway closes at midnight (PST) on Thursday, January 26. Check back on Friday to see who won!

Shop Update.

2012-01-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

Just a heads up: the 45wall shop will be reopening next Monday (January 23) with new goodies. And make sure you check in here because I'm planning a giveaway!

For the Grandparents...

2012-01-11T14:35:00.000-08:00

My Little Corner.

2012-01-09T14:35:00.000-08:00

Herman calls it my little mid-century modern corner. I call it my happy place. Perfect for curling up with a cozy blanket, a good book (or two), something yummy to drink, and a warm kitty.

The Eames molded plywood lounge chair (which I've lusted after for years) was a 10th anniversary gift from my amazing husband. The little dipped side table is from West Elm (70% off!).

And speaking of Ray and Charles Eames...did you know there's a recent documentary out about them? I feel inspired just watching the trailer and am so looking forward to getting my hands on the DVD. LOVE them. Has anyone seen it?

2011 Holiday Card.

2012-01-05T14:05:00.000-08:00

Last year, we kept our holiday card pretty simple: find a cute photo of the kid, add some type, send it out.

This year, especially in light of Herman surviving a ruptured brain aneurysm, we wanted to go big with our holiday card. We wanted to send each of our friends and family a little something to say "Thank you", "Merry Christmas", and "Look! We survived and are doing great!" We wanted it to feel like opening a gift:

Each set included a letterpress printed "Merry Merry" card, a family photo, a thank you message (with a blind print and heart cut out on the bottom), and an infographic year in review card (I was so inspired by this amazing card by Amanda Jane Jones):

Christmas in the Northeast.

2012-01-02T15:26:00.000-08:00

2011-12-19T14:13:00.000-08:00

I hope you all have a beautiful holiday!!! I'll be back blogging after the new year and the shop will re-open later in January. With lots of new goodies!

Working, Working.

2011-12-13T13:48:00.000-08:00

I've been frantically working the past couple of weeks to get everything finished before Christmas, including our Christmas cards. Which, surprisingly, I started early this year (yay!). However, and not surprising, I might have bit off a tiny bit more than I can chew. Stay tuned. Hopefully they'll be done by the end of the week.

Ellie Fun Day!

2011-12-05T13:54:00.001-08:00

Ellie Fun Day (founded/created by my incredibly talented friend Sarah and her husband Elton) designs baby blankets that change the lives of marginalized women in India. Their vision is to design beautiful baby blankets made by Untouchable-caste women, in hopes of providing a fair wage and dignified living for many who are susceptible to human trafficking. Please read more about them and their mission on their website and follow along on their blog (they just returned from a trip to India). They also are raising funds on Indiegogo. Go check in out!

And this week, they are hosting a really amazing giveaway!

FOR BABY

#1 One Ellie Fun Day blanket of your choice (Ellie or Sharkie) Retail $95

#2 Chewbeads: some might argue this is for mommy as well! Retail $29.50

FOR MOMMY

#3 Deep Steep Organic Bubble Bath in Lavendar Retail $10.95

#4 EOS Organic Lip Balm in Sweet Mint Retail $3.29

#5 Emerson Made Silver Dollar Indian Tunic Retail $168.00

Please go to their website to see how to enter!!!

Advent Calendar!

2011-12-01T14:16:00.000-08:00

Since Emilia is at an age where she's starting to really get into the whole holiday thing (and because she's already asked me "When is Christmas Mommy?" way too many times), I've been on the hunt for a great advent calendar idea.

Enter Amanda Jane Jones (via the always brilliant Jordan Ferney) and her gorgeous typeface based advent calendar download (free!!! And there's one for boxes too).

I had so much fun picking out little goodies for Emilia. Fun candies, little toys (that kid loves anything little), stickers, notepads (the dollar section at Target was great for this, as was Diddams). I also included a number of little activity cards of things that she and I could do together, or that the 3 of us can do as a family.

I love it. She loves it. And she's already checked with me twice today to see if just maybe she can open them all at once. Um...nope.

It's a tiny penguin!!!

Outtakes and Extras.

2011-11-29T14:39:00.000-08:00

Family Photos!!!

2011-11-28T13:40:00.000-08:00

This weekend we took to the city with our friends Wendy and Irving and Oscar and traded taking family photos for each other!!! We couldn't have asked for a better day...beautiful weather, great company, fun adventures, and great food. Thanks Wendy and Irving and Oscar! You guys did a great job!

Now if Herman and I can just agree on which one to use for our holiday card...

Adana 8x5!!!

2011-11-21T14:27:00.000-08:00

Well, it only took 8 months, but I've finally got my fully refurbished Adana 8x5 last week! The next step is to mount it to a board, and I'm also in the process of ordering a base and designing some new plates. Realistically, I don't think I can get new goods in the shop before Christmas, but I plan on having a big shop update after the new year.

It's so pretty!

The other press is an Adana 5x3. It's a great little machine that I'll still use (it's perfect for hand setting metal type), but I'll be able to do more (and better) designs with the new one.

Thank You! And A Few Resources.

2011-11-11T14:06:00.000-08:00

Thank you so much for the response (and all the really lovely compliments) about Emilia's coffee shop. I am completely overwhelmed! You all made my day.

I also wanted to answer a few questions, and give a few resources.

1. Melissa asked about tape (see resources below) and if the entire espresso machine is made of cardboard. Yup. I taped cardboard into the general shape of an espresso machine and then stuffed it with craft paper so that it wouldn't collapse (Emilia is 3 after all and prone to aggressive shot pulling). I made the button by putting a backing of cardboard about an inch behind the top face and making a spring from folding card stock back and forth and gluing it both to the button and the backing of cardboard. The knob is a wooden knob from Michaels that I screwed into the back. Does that make any sense? I hope so!

2. Sarah asked about sharing construction tips. I'd love to! I can't give a play by play, because I really just sort of make it up as I go along, but I'd love to answer any questions you might have about construction and how to make it durable (hint: doubling up on cardboard and tons of paper tape!), so let me know if you have specific questions.

And a handy resource list:

1. Fisher Price cash register bought on Etsy.
2. The wooden food is a mix of Plan Toys and Melissa and Doug pieces.
3. The little coffee maker (which is a GREAT stand alone piece) is Educo's Rise N Shine Coffee Maker.
4. The cups and pitcher that we use for "foaming" milk and pulling shots is part of the Plan Toys tea set.
5. The to go coffee cups and lids are from Garnish.
6. The blue polka dot muffin holders are from Shop Sweet Lulu.
7. I made all the felt food from the 8.5"x11" pieces of felt from Michaels and embroidery floss. And I guess I wasn't too clear. I did sew everything...I just didn't follow any sewing rules (since I don't know any). That's what I meant by faking it. The only patterns I used were cutting apart coffee cups and muffin holders; the rest I just sort of made up as I went along.
8. When constructing with cardboard, it's all about the paper tape. I get mine from Uline, but I'm sure you can find it other places as well.
9. Emilia's darling little apron was custom made by the amazing Claire from Small Batch Production.

It's funny. When I embarked on this crazy project, I asked my husband if I should build it entirely of cardboard or try to get scrap wood and base pieces from IKEA. He challenged me to try and do it without spending a lot of money. We had all the cardboard boxes, I already had loads of paper tape for shipping goods to clients, and Emilia already had the wooden food and different pieces. The only things I purchased were felt, embroidery floss, the cash register and her apron. All told, I barely spent $50 on the entire thing.

It did take me about 6-8 weeks to finish the entire project (usually in evenings after I finished working). I actually finished it in February, but with everything going on, hadn't had a chance to really talk about it until now.

Let me know if you have any questions and if any of you decide to tackle this and make your kid a coffee shop...you HAVE to let me know how it turns out!

Millz Coffee!

2011-11-07T15:30:00.000-08:00

We, uh...drink a lot of coffee around here. Peets is around the corner. Philz is around the corner. We cold brew coffee at home. So I guess Emilia's love of coffee and coffee shops comes naturally.

And I promise...it all started innocently enough. Last Christmas, my brother gave Emilia a little wooden coffee maker. It was, without a doubt, her favorite gift. After seeing how much she loved it, I (jokingly, of course) said to my husband, "Maybe I'll build her a coffee shop to go with it." We laughed, because, come on. Do you know how much time that would take?

As it turns out, quite a lot of time. Because I did go ahead and make her a coffee shop. We named it "Millz Coffee" in honor of our beloved Philz (and, well, because Mills is her nickname). And I must confess that I did spend WAY too much time designing a logo for her.

(One note about the photos. We live in a town house. Said town house does not get a lot of natural light. And the coffee shop is in the deepest darkest corner of the house. I did the best I could given the circumstances).

I don't know how to sew, so I faked it with the felt food. Muffins, a sad cupcake, a sad chocolate chip cookie, french macarons, an almond croissant, and 2 chocolate glazed donuts. I think "sewing" all those took longer than the actual building process.

One of my crazier ideas (which I started at 11.00 pm when Emilia was in bed and my husband was out of town) was to make a somewhat working espresso machine. But the cash register I bought. Because making a working cash register? That would be insane.

There was some extra space (and we had a perfectly proportioned box), so I also built a little set of shelves with a mini-fridge in the bottom. And no coffee shop is complete without their own beans.

Salted caramel hot chocolate anyone?

The proud owner will now give a demonstration on making the perfect latte:

Julie's Baby Shower!

2011-10-19T15:40:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we were in the Seattle area for Julie's baby shower. The fabulous (and seriously talented) Jess Apostle and I planned for months and everything went off without a hitch (all photos by Jess).

Since the party was at Julie's house, we tucked her in her room for a few hours so that we could surprise her once everything was set up (her eyes were closed and she had me in a death grip):

She was really surprised.

The main table with delicious food (all courtesy of Jess) and decor (fringey streamers tutorial from the amazing Jordan Ferney).

We also fulfilled a long time dream of Julie's...a candy bar (and cupcakes, of course).

The beautiful mommy to be:

We love you Julie! And thanks for being an amazing party planning partner Jess!

New Invite!

2011-10-03T14:58:00.001-07:00

My good friend (and one of my favorite people in the world) Julie is having a baby girl! So of course she needed a very pink invite for the shower we're planning for her (the gorgeous vintage stamps are from Verde Studio)...

The Beatles Party!!!

2011-07-13T14:37:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was our big Beatles party to celebrate Emilia's third birthday and Herman's recovery. We're so incredibly thankful for our amazing little girl and so thankful for all of our friends/family who sustained us during a really rough time. It was great to get everyone together to celebrate.

The details:

We made a mini Abbey Road zebra crossing:

The spread:

Which included fish and chips and other British sweets...

By far our favorite British dessert is Eton Mess. But making Eton Mess for 40 people sounded a bit daunting, so I went to the interwebs to see if I could find an Eton Mess cupcake recipe. I found this one (cupcake #2), but modified it a little bit by baking strawberries in the cupcake and then using this frosting. We then placed fresh strawberries on top and covered it in broken meringue cookies. It was amazing.

I cut out letters to make a few lyric banners and my oh so talented and helpful friend Sarah sewed them together for me. I'm indebted to her on this because they made such a huge impact and I never would have gotten them done without her. Thank you Sarah!!!

Everyone went home with a custom CD of Emilia's favorite Beatles songs (her favorite 22 to be exact. I couldn't narrow them down any more than that) and a succulent plant with a letterpress "We *heart* you" tag (I'll write more about the favors in another post). We also had "I *heart*" John, Paul, George or Ringo pins for everyone to choose from.

Upon arriving, all the kids were given "backstage passes" and cardboard guitars to decorate:

Emilia was absolutely beside herself with joy; she especially loved this oversized poster:

My little John Lennon wannabe:

We also printed out different album covers to put around the half wall:

Patiently waiting for her friends to arrive.

At the end of the party, Emilia sat down on the steps and gave an impromptu concert.

A Beatles Party.

2011-07-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

My (newly minted) three year old LOVES the Beatles. Especially John. She knows most of their songs by heart and can even tell me (with about 75% accuracy) who's singing which song. There are very few things in life that make her as happy as listening to or watching her beloved Beatles.

So, naturally, we're throwing her a Beatles birthday party on Saturday.

She's going dressed as John.

Pictures to come...

Life...

2011-06-16T15:56:00.000-07:00

A little over a month ago, my husband was at the gym when an aneurysm in his brain ruptured (we had no clue he even had one). We're so thankful because not only did he survive, but even after surgery and 10 days in the hospital he is recovering amazingly well.

I've kept our friends and family updated...posted on our family blog...I put my etsy shop on vacation...but just realized that I should probably post something here about it too.

Things are slowly getting back to normal so I hope to have the shop back open (at least with the invites) by the beginning of July. I'm also getting a new letterpress (hopefully soon) and plan on restocking the shop with some old designs and new ones. Unfortunately, for the next couple of weeks at least, I'm unable to take on any invite jobs. But feel free to contact me if you need something for July or later.

Travel Cards!

2011-04-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we leave for Paris and London for 2 weeks. It'll be our first family vacation since bringing Emilia home...and Herman and my first time vacationing with a kid. We're incredibly lucky because she travels incredibly well (hello 12 hour trip from China!) and she's old enough to be really excited about the trip.

Mills LOVES the M. Sasek books "This is Paris" and "This is London", so I decided to use those illustrations to make some little travel cards for her to carry around with her. I figured she'd enjoy taking them out and comparing them to the real thing.

The cute little gray bag was made for Emilia by my super talented friend Wendy.
The cute little cafe apron was made by the lovely Claire from Small Batch Production.

Small Changes...Big Differences.

2011-02-23T15:11:00.001-08:00

Lately, I've been craving light (as evidenced by the many light filled houses I've pinned on Pinterest). Don't get me wrong, I love our town house and our dark wood floors, but natural light is almost non-existent in our place. Since I work from home, I've started to look for ways to bring more light in. The obvious place to start was with the floor to ceiling windows in our living room.

For the past three years, we've had brown and tan panel curtains up in the living room. They started to feel way too fussy and heavy, so I went back to IKEA and picked up one of their white roller blinds, took out the panel curtains, and hung the roller blind below the top window.

The difference it makes is amazing (even if there's still not enough light to get a really good photo of it) and it gave me such a sense of relief that I almost felt like crying. Seriously. Mills loves it because she can sit on the little window ledge. And Dexter loves it because it's actually open most of the time (that's his new favorite place to nap).

Up and Running!

2011-02-15T14:39:00.000-08:00

My computer is back and (so far) great working order...so all the invite sets are back in the shop!

:: The Vintage Circus Invite
:: The Rustic Elegant Invite
:: The Rustic Invite
:: The Retro Circles Invite
:: The Flowers Invite
:: The Fancy Pants Invite

Computer Woes.

2011-02-11T13:28:00.000-08:00

My trusty Mac Pro is currently in the hands of the lovely people of Apple...so I've had to deactivate the listings for my invitation sets in my etsy shop. I'm really hoping to have everything up and running in the next week or so.

If you are interested in an invite, please contact me directly and we can at least get the ball rolling over email: traci (at) 45walldesign.com

Valentine's Freebies!

2011-02-09T14:05:00.000-08:00

I had great plans to get a few sets of cards in the shop before Valentine's Day...but it sort of snuck up on me (it's next week!). Instead, I've made this little pdf for you (click on the hearts in the sidebar to download) of hang tags, mini cards and stickers...enjoy!

Invitation Sets.

2011-01-26T13:13:00.001-08:00

Invitation sets that are available in the shop:

The Vintage Circus Invite.

The Rustic Elegant Invite

The Rustic Invite

The Retro Circles Invite (which can be turned into an invite poster if you so desire!)

The Flowers Invite

The Fancy Pants Invite

You can order samples in the shop, or if you want to work over email, we can do that too (traci at 45walldesign dot com). I have matching address labels and thank you cards for each set, and can create any other print collateral you might need for your event (wedding programs, table numbers, food labels, etc).

Happy Friday!

2011-01-14T13:32:00.000-08:00

Rubber Soul has been our album of choice around here lately. It's perfect. Especially this song:

Have a great weekend everyone!

It's a New Clock!

2011-01-11T14:27:00.000-08:00

...and it makes me very happy.

To Paint or Not to Paint?

2011-01-03T14:14:00.000-08:00

We got Mills this little vintage booster seat for Christmas...which she LOVES. She likes to pack it around with her, sit and watch Totoro in it, and is excited that it looks sort of like the rocking chair in her room.

They've become really popular over the past year or so, and finding one in good condition isn't the easiest thing. I jumped on getting this one, even though yellow wouldn't have been my first choice. There are a couple of scuffs that I'd like to buff out and in the process I wondered if I should just spray paint it white. I feel a bit torn because, you know, vintage and all.

Thoughts?

Happy Friday!

2010-12-31T15:42:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-16T14:29:00.001-08:00

Holiday Cards!

2010-12-14T13:55:00.001-08:00

I decided to try something new this year. I thought that maybe I'd get our Christmas cards out...BEFORE Christmas. I know, right? Revolutionary.

New Packs!

2010-12-06T15:24:00.000-08:00

All international hello and thank you cards are now available in sets of 5!

1. bonjour pack
2. merci beaucoup pack
3. hola pack
4. muchas gracias pack
5. ciao pack
6. grazie mille pack

And the Winners Are...

2010-12-03T14:13:00.000-08:00

Millie was more than happy to assist in the highly technical process of pulling 3 names out of a bowl...

And the winners are (in order that she handed them to me):

1. Melissa
2. Essie
3. Emily (Jones)

Thank you all so so much for all of your support and encouragement and for entering the giveaway! I really do wish I could give something to every one of you. But! I love doing this and will definitely be having more giveaways in the future...so check back often!

I've already gotten in touch with Melissa (who chose the Italian Pack). Essie, can you email me ( traci [at] 45walldesign.com ) and let me know if you want the French or Spanish pack...and Em, I'll send you the remaining one! If I don't hear from Essie by end of day Monday, Emily will move up to spot two and Essie to spot 3. Congrats ladies!

Announcing....

2010-11-30T13:24:00.000-08:00

The 45wall shop is open!!!

To celebrate...how about a giveaway? The prizes:

1. The French Pack (letterpress cards)

2. The Italian Pack (letterpress cards)

3. The Spanish Pack (letterpress cards)

To enter, simply leave a comment (if you don't have a blogger acct, make sure there is some way I can identify you) and on Friday afternoon I'll draw three names. The first person picked will get their pick of prizes, the second person gets to pick between the remaining two, and the third person gets the last pack!

And yes you can enter if you don't live in the US!

Good luck!

The Art of Failing Well.

2010-11-11T14:32:00.001-08:00

I'm a perfectionist. I never learned the art of failing well. So much so that when I was at school, one of my favorite professors pulled me aside after class one day to talk to me about it. That talk (about graphic design not being rocket science...of not making everything I create be so "precious"...about learning to let go and let the process happen) might have been one of the greatest lessons I learned as a designer. And has definitely spilled over into other areas of my life as well.

Yet, here I am. I've spent the last two weeks wrestling every day with my tiny little letterpress, trying to get it to do things that it just can't do. I've been frustrated. I've been ready to throw in the towel.

Then yesterday something clicked. I learned a bit more about how to get good prints off of my particular press. I've learned that not every letterpress item needs to have a deep impression to be beautiful. I've learned to accept it's limitations and go with it. I've learned that it's okay that the first 50 (or 100) prints I made weren't perfect.

I'm enjoying the process now.

And yes, that's a brayer and my ink laid out on a piece of glass. Why? Because one of the rollers is ruined and I can't get it replaced right now. So I'm improvising. Yup. Enjoying the process.

Plates!

2010-10-11T16:19:00.000-07:00

I got the plates for my letterpress in the mail today!!!

New Studio Space.

2010-10-04T14:48:00.000-07:00

When we moved into our place 2 1/2 years ago, Herman and I agreed that we'd share the office space. Well...after 2 1/2 years of him only using his space a handful of times...I asked him if I could move him out. Especially with the new venture into letterpress printing, I really needed the space.

This past weekend I was finally able to get everything cleaned and set up how I want it. I bought this table from IKEA as a work table (LOVE it) and I love how clean and organized it all is. And I love that it's open and that Millie can come and play in here without risking life and limb. I joke. Sort of.

I feel more productive already.

Cards!

2010-09-28T16:58:00.001-07:00

My little letterpress and I are finally getting acquainted. He's tiny...and I'm trying to learn to get him to do what I want him to...but I do love him.

I still need to get my workspace set up and invest in all those little things that my press needs (a base...plates...etc), but I am having fun with those 24 cases of type and doing some blind printing.

A good friend recently helped me with a huge favor, so I made her these little hello cards. They're simple, but make me oh so happy.

Real Hot Chocolate.

2010-09-08T14:23:00.001-07:00

I've been craving some GOOD real hot chocolate...specifically, GOOD real spicy hot chocolate. There are a number of places around here that are great, but it would mean contending with the Stanford crowd and parking...and honestly, I'm just not feeling it.

Then I remembered that back in 07, when we were in Paris, we bought a few bags of the hot chocolate mix from Cacao et Chocolat (one of our favorite hot chocolate places), including one bag of their cayenne pepper mix. And? It's still good!

It's incredibly decadent and so not an every day thing, but today, with the 60 degree cloudy weather? It's perfect.

Letterpress!

2010-08-16T14:17:00.001-07:00

Herman and I've talked many times about what my dream studio space would look like. I'd have a small dark room so that I could develop my own film and photos...I'd have an area dedicated to screenprinting...and I'd have a letterpress.

Well, this past week one of those dreams came true!

I got an amazing deal on this Adana 5x3 tabletop press...

...and twenty four cases of metal type!

I've spent the last week re-organizing my work space (um...kicking Herman out of our home office) and hope to have everything up and running soon. Stay tuned!

Renegade!

2010-08-02T16:16:00.001-07:00

The Renegade Craft Fair happened in San Francisco this weekend! Here are a few of the goodies that made their way home with me:

This bear (bear-bear?) shirt from the wildly talented folks at Bird Mafia. Yes...it's pink. Or as a friend said..."it's really more salmon". She was trying to make me feel a bit better about actually purchasing something pink. But I really just couldn't resist that bear.

For Millie, I picked up this little shirt from Gnome Enterprises. Of course, like all things sized for a 2 year old, it's way too big on her...but looks adorable with some leggings. She loves the bunnies...

I got this gorgeous little ceramic jar from Paulova...

I'd heard amazing things around the bloggy/design world about Uppercase magazine, but had never actually seen an issue...I picked up one, and it was love at first sight. I'm definitely going to have to move things around a bit to make room for a subscription.

These lovely little earrings are from Molly M Designs (who herself is a lovely person!)...

This amazing poster from the always hilarious Old Tom Foolery...

I walked into the Strawberry Luna booth and immediately fell in love...with everything. Which made it a tad bit hard to make a choice about what to get. After much deliberation, I decided on this gorgeous Bishop Allen print. And I'm very very happy.

I'd seen these wonderful little pet PSA's from Ink and Sword floating around the interwebs and just had to take a few home...

A Wedding Invite!

2010-07-19T14:42:00.001-07:00

A couple of months ago, I started to work with Jervis and Jen on their wedding invite suite. I love designing for the people I know best...especially when they trust me and let me have fun with it. I gave them 5 different options and they ended up choosing the more rustic design...which happened to be my favorite and the one I thought would go best with their outdoor Texas wedding.

Jen's parents own a print shop, so I didn't need to produce everything...but it also meant that I didn't get to see a lot of the finished product before it went out.

We got our invite in the mail on Friday (albeit a bit beat up) and I'm so happy with how it turned out! And so happy that Jen decided to go bold...Let me tell you, that magenta envelope makes a serious statement when you open your mailbox!

I took a few elements from Wendy and Irving's vintage circus invite (the labels, etc):

We decided to do a belly band to hold everything together and Jen loved the idea of it being magenta with a silver "double happiness" stamp:

We also went with an RSVP postcard instead of the traditional card/envelope combo:

The whole invite suite (invite, RSVP postcard, info card, additional lunch invite):

Our Outdoor Space...

2010-06-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

We moved into our town house 2 1/2 years ago and for 2 1/2 years, this is what our patio looked like:

Um...not too pretty. Or exciting. Or inviting.

Since Millie loves being outside and it's not always easy to pack up in the car and head to the park, we decided to invest in making our patio a nicer place to hang out.

First, we had to clean up the space.

Millie helped. A little. Mainly by getting wet and dirty.

Then our new furniture was delivered yesterday!

It fits perfectly in the space and I absolutely love it.

Millie quickly claimed the green chair on the left as her chair...and then figured out exactly what the sofa is for.

Yeah. This is where we'll be this summer.

Jervis and Jen.

2010-06-29T15:16:00.000-07:00

Herman's brother Jervis and his fiance Jen are getting married in September, so they asked Herman (who is an AMAZING photographer) to take their engagement photos for them.

He did such a great job!

The Rustic Elegant Baby Shower.

2010-06-21T15:21:00.001-07:00

Jaejean's baby shower was on Saturday and it all came together so well!

The setting (Bates gorgeous apartment)...

The table...

The beverages...

The cake pops...

The details...

The favors...

And the beautiful mom to be...

Thanks to Bates and Elizabeth and Lucretia for your amazing work and food! And JJ...we love you and cannot wait to meet this baby girl!

The Lion and Bear Masks...

2010-06-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

The inspiration:

I completely forgot to take photos during the making process. Woops.

Basically I drew the bear and lion in Illustrator, printed them on regular copy paper to get them the right size, then once I had them at the right size, printed them on a thicker paper stock and used that as a template to cut the shapes. I used a wool blend felt and put a thin piece of batting in between the front and backs to give it a bit more weight.

I love the lion one...but it took FOREVER to make. Oh well.

Did I mention that this was the first time I'd "sewed" (sewn? See! That's how green I am!) something? That's why you're not getting super detailed images. But, I did have a good time making them and am even thinking about making a few more animals for her. Because...come on. Look at her. Is there anything cuter?

Two!

2010-06-14T15:21:00.001-07:00

Emilia turned two yesterday!

A month ago, Herman and I really thought we were just going to do something small and quiet for her first birthday with us...then a couple of weeks ago we decided to just go for it and throw her a 2nd birthday party.

This is the invite I made...because at that point I didn't know what I was going to do for her party!

Then one afternoon, I read "The Large and Growly Bear" to Emilia. And. She. LOVED. It. We knew she loved bears and lions, but this was on another level entirely. It took me forever to read her the story because she insisted on kissing each and every picture of the "bear-bear". Yup. That's my kid. Such a little lover.

So after that, it was easy. I wanted to throw her a "bear-bear" party (it was initially going to be a bear-bear and lion party...but I had to toss out the lions. More on that later).

I sent our adult guests home with Schleich bears (love their animals!) with "thank you" tags around their necks and little bags of orange, brown, and yellow m&m's.

I made cupcake toppers from the images in the book...

And each kid was sent home with a bear-bear mask. Remember how I said I was going to do bears AND lions? Well, once I designed each mask and started to assemble them, I realized that the lions took at least twice as long to make as the bears, so I had to drop them (sadly. Emilia does have a lion mask...I'll show that sometime). If I hadn't, I'd still be making lions and probably would have missed the party. Which would have been sad.

Here's our own little 2 year old bear-bear (the cutest you've ever seen, right?). I also made her a "2" shirt to wear at the party.

Happy birthday baby girl! We love you so!

Mail I Love...

2010-06-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love getting type catalogs in the mail and the most recent one from House Industries is by far my favorite. It's devoted entirely to the typeface "Eames Modern" (which I am now coveting) which was inspired by the great Ray and Charles Eames. The spreads are gorgeous. This totally made my day.

Also in my mailbox? The new RISD alumni magazine! It's been recently redesigned and restructured and I love it!

Another Invite...

2010-05-27T15:29:00.000-07:00

My good friend Jaejean is having a baby!!! So we're throwing her a rustic elegant mid-day baby shower.

Photos of the shower to follow. It's going to be beautiful.

Lost!

2010-05-25T15:30:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, my good friend Susan and I threw a bit of a Lost finale party for a few of our friends (and yes, I know it seems like all I do is help throw parties. And that's not going to change anytime soon...I have a little one turning 2 soon and 2 more pregnant friends!). Susan and I were both laughing that we might have overestimated our ability to pull this off at the scale we wanted...but it was a ton of fun and everything turned out great!

I started last week by making Emilia and I some t-shirts (using the freezer paper method again). Hers says "Mama is my constant" and mine says "Desmond is my constant", both in reference to possibly my favorite episode ever. I had seen a "Desmond is my constant" t-shirt somewhere else but wasn't crazy about the design, so in the end I just did my own. Emilia's shirt idea actually came courtesy of my husband, who lovingly indulges all of my hobbies and obsessions.

With my party planning/Lost obsessed buddy...

We asked our friends to dress up as their favorite characters (and awarded a prize for the best costume). My good friend Bates brought her 3 month old son as "John Locke" which was genius and ridiculously cute.

Everyone in character:

Richard Alpert (me), Benjamin Linus (Susan), Shannon (Elizabeth), Hurley (Lucretia...and she totally won the prize), Kate (Bates) with Baby John Locke (Shepherd), Desmond Hume (Allison), and Charlie (Wendy)

I found a place on line to download a bunch of Dharma food labels. Like chocolates...

And beer and ranch dressing...

Dharma water bottles...and Oceanic Airlines ones that I threw together...

We had character cupcakes...you'll notice that the deceased characters are standing on red sprinkles. Just the tip of the iceberg of Susan's genius.

This being a great example of that. She made marshmallows into a pile of C4. See? I told you.

She also made graham cracker fish biscuits (and painstakingly carved "Dharma" into them)...

We even sent everyone home with their own Dharma Polar Bear!

And Emilia got to drive around in her Dharma van. Which, you know if I had extra time I totally would have painted blue and white...maybe another time.

Susan and I celebrating a successful party and a great finale. Thanks for all your help Susan...should we do it again sometime?

Lastly, I had Emilia practice her "shocking finale" face. I think she got it about right.

A Quick Look...

2010-05-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

...at one of the many things occupying my time (Um...the kid and the t-shirt). Emilia is ready for Sunday!

Back! And Another Baby Shower!

2010-05-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been a ridiculously long hiatus...but I'm back! Hopefully! Emilia is settling in quite nicely and will be turning 2 next month...and I've been back to work during my down time. Including...another baby shower!

The invite:

Our good friends Jon and Allison are having a baby AND moving back to Seattle. We're going to miss them something crazy so we threw them a going away party/baby shower on Saturday.

There was good food...

Ridiculously cute kids...

And even some amazing pups!

Congrats Jon and Allison! We're going to miss you!

Look Who's Home!!!

2010-01-15T22:05:00.001-08:00

Emilia!

We were in China over Christmas and New Years and have now been home for a week. We're all still adjusting and getting to know each other, but Emilia is one teeny tiny beautiful little person with a giant and lively personality and we're falling more in love with her each day.

I'm still trying to figure out my work schedule (going from zero to 18 month old over night is crazy!), but please feel free to email (my email address is on the sidebar) me if you're interested in having any of the work you've seen here personalized...or if you need anything else done.

One Last Invite...

2009-12-17T13:13:00.000-08:00

...for the time being.

My dear friend Bates is having her baby boy in late February, so a couple of us are throwing her an elegant, evening baby shower in January.

I know I keep using the tear off post card format...but that's because it's just working so darn well. So until I come up with something else, this is what I'm sticking with!

Paperless Wallpaper.

2009-12-15T14:20:00.001-08:00

We were matched with our baby girl in mid-September and when it came to putting a room together for her, I knew I wanted to do something fun and special. And in my mind "fun" and "special" meant wallpapering one wall. Well...we ran into a couple of issues when it came to finding the exact wallpaper we wanted (too expensive, too cutesy, not available, etc), so at the urging of my dear husband...I designed my own pattern and set about making my own paperless wallpaper (as seen in this book)...

Step one: Choose the perfect color scheme (I like Behr paint from Home Depot).

For all of the walls (except the focal wall), I used "Fresh Day" in semi-gloss, and for the focal wall I used "Vintage Linen" in flat. The other colors, in the order below: "Retro Avocado", "Solar Fusion", "Spring Stream", "Dragon Fly", and "California Dreaming". Not pictured but used, is the brown: Ralph Lauren's "Crosby". These colors make me ridiculously happy.

Step 2: Create stencils:

I made two of each thing I needed: the tree shapes, the trunks, the bird (right and left facing) and the squirrel (right and left facing). I used .005mm Mylar sheets, cut down to 8.5" x 11". I traced the shapes onto the mylar, applied some adhesive, then cut them out with an exacto knife.

Step 3: tape off the wall.

I used a laser level that sticks on the wall to get the straight lines. And...I admit that I completely lucked out on the spacing. The shapes I created were just the right size that I was able to get a full 12 rows up without cutting the tops or bottoms off of the design. Total fluke. I didn't do any maths or anything.

Step 4...should read: "Apply stencil to wall and using a stencil brush, quickly and efficiently stencil shapes onto the wall for a perfect crisp image."

Ha.

Step 4 instead is...throw all of your preconceived ideas of how you're going to do this and how long it's going to take out the window.

That's right. I forgot one crucial thing in my planning...our walls are really textured. And stencils don't work on really textured walls. I found this out when I did the first set of tree shapes and the paint...bled...everywhere. Not neat and tidy and crisp at all. And being the insane perfectionist that I tend to be, I knew I couldn't continue with it unless I committed myself to making it the best I possibly could.

This is where you all are going to think me a bit crazy.

So...Step 4: Commit to painting each tree shape, each trunk, each squirrel and bird...by hand. Yup. I did. I still used my stencil, but only as an outline. I outlined the shapes in pencil on the wall, then proceeded to paint by hand, which leads to...

Step 5: Choose your tools.

These are the 5 tools I used to paint the entire wall. A number 3 round brush, a number 4 round brush, a number 8 round brush, a flat brush...and a pencil.

The final result:

So. How long did it take me all told? Well...I worked a solid 7 days...10 to 12 hours a day. But you know what? I really do think it was worth it. I enjoyed doing it. And I'm really happy that I committed to doing it as best as I could.

Of course, this does mean that we can never move. And that Emilia will have to live with us the rest of her life.

Totally worth it.

Baby Yuan Celebration!

2009-11-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

Saturday was the celebration/baby shower for Sumiko's second little girl...due in January. I wish I had more photos, but I was having some trouble with the lighting. My husband (who is an amazing photographer) I am not!

The decor and the food spread all worked beautifully together and so accurately captured the heart and spirit of our dear Sumiko...

Beth hosted and provided gorgeous vintage linens - cloth napkins and table clothes! She also was able to bring out her fine china to complete the look, and provided loads of yummy finger foods!

Rita did yet another amazing job of cooking up a storm...she even made homemade strawberry jam as favors!

A huge thanks to Beth, Rita, Sherise, and Wendy for making this celebration possible! It was a success!

(We're so glad Wendy was able to make it! One day before her own little man made his appearance! Congrats Chung family!!!)

Woodland Critters!

2009-11-16T22:16:00.000-08:00

A group of my closest girl friends got together to throw a baby shower for me...Wendy created these adorable invites:

And Saturday was the shower! It was so amazing and so completely perfect. More details here. More photos here.

Another Baby Shower!

2009-11-06T14:56:00.000-08:00

In my group of friends here, there are 4 babies arriving within a 4 month time period...which means loads of baby showers and more fun to be had designing invites. This one is for Sumiko, to celebrate her second baby girl.

Shower photos to follow soon!

Big News Around Here...

2009-10-14T17:38:00.001-07:00

Early in 2008, my husband and I began the long process to adopt a baby girl from China. It's been a very long, very painful (at times) process, but about 4 weeks ago, we were matched with the most gorgeous 15 month old baby girl, Jiang Qin Qin. We're going to name her Emilia.

We're really hoping that everything from here on out (still have loads of paperwork and different approvals to go through) goes very smoothly and quickly and that we're able to travel by January.

Which means I have a TON of stuff to do in the next few months.

Let the wild rumpus start!

Business Cards!

2009-09-24T14:49:00.001-07:00

I'm currently working on getting my main portfolio site redesigned (simple, easy to navigate) and sort of coming up with a whole new business plan and direction for freelance, custom stationary/invites, etc. And one part of that plan was to FINALLY design and get business cards printed...which I did! So good for me!

I feel all official and businessy now that I have actual cards.

Vintage Circus Party!

2009-09-21T16:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the Amazing Expanding Chung Family blow out celebration...and I do believe it was a huge success!

The proud parents to be:

We had giant balloons...

Tons of amazing food provided by the lovely and talented Rita...and an amazing candy bar set up by Susan. Who, by the way, made home made marshmallows...AND home made s'mores. Yup.

A photo booth with props...

Activities for the kiddies (face painting, balloon animals), and for the adults...

And attention paid down to the last detail thanks to our kick ass decor team (yes...we had teams)...

Congratulations Wendy and Irving! It was a blast celebrating with you and we can't wait to meet baby Chung! We love you guys!

See all the photo booth pictures here...and hopefully I'll have the rest of the party photos up there in the next couple of days.

New(ish) Toys.

2009-09-14T16:31:00.000-07:00

:: I've been looking for the perfect old typewriter for some time, and finally found it in this beautiful little turquoise and red one from the 1950's. It's so sweet and in great condition...I just need to get a new ribbon for it and it'll be ready to go!

:: The globe is actually something from my childhood that I thought I had lost. I took it with me when I moved out of my parents house and went to college. Then it made the trek to California with me. I do believe I "lost" it sometime around 2001, when we got married. I was very excited to find it recently on the top shelf in my in-laws living room! It's now back home with me where it belongs.

More Artwork...

2009-09-02T14:07:00.000-07:00

Um...remember this? Well...we ended up going with super secret option number four! The incredible band poster work of Jason Munn. Ta da!

He has such an amazing selection of posters for our favorite bands to choose from that we sort of had a hard time narrowing it down. In the end we went with (from right-left) the Decemberists, Grizzly Bear, and Okkervil River.

Happy!

But still, I couldn't resist the work of Blanca Gomez, so we are also the proud owners of one Monsieur with a big red balloon print:

Vintage Circus Party!

2009-09-01T16:36:00.001-07:00

My friend Wendy is having a baby in November, so a bunch of us are getting together to throw her and her husband an amazing vintage circus themed shower/party/extravaganza. Invites went out this weekend. Photos of the party to follow!

My Friendly Neighborhood Philz

2009-07-31T16:32:00.001-07:00

For the most part, I really really love working from home. But sometimes, I do feel the need to get out and clear my head a bit...and luckily, I've found the perfect place to do just that. Philz! They've opened one about a half mile from our house and I absolutely love it. I love walking in and telling the staff that I'm looking for a fantastic iced coffee...and they immediately whip up something super yummy and super refreshing. And while the cafe itself is tiny (and sort of hot inside) they've got an amazing shaded patio area that I could spend hours at. And probably will. I'm going to be getting a new laptop soon, so I can definitely see lots of Philz afternoons in my future.

Yum!

Toyota IQ Font.

2009-07-28T16:34:00.000-07:00

Herman showed me this video last week and it made me ridiculously happy. Two of my favorite things coming together: cars and fonts. It's so creative, and impressively executed!

iQ font - When driving becomes writing / Full making of from wireless on Vimeo.

Download the font here!

Renegade!

2009-07-22T16:23:00.001-07:00

This past weekend the Renegade Craft Fair came through San Francisco, and I went with two of my good (and very talented) friends, Wendy and Susan (and her beautiful daughter). I was so excited the night before we went that I had trouble sleeping. Which then prompted my dear husband to say, "It's sort of like Christmas morning for you, huh?". Yes. Yes, indeed.

One of the things I love about going, besides all the inspiring goodies to look at...collecting postcards and business cards from everyone:

A few of the fun things I came home with:

Flying Bulldog t-shirt from Mis Nopales Art (which I've been longing to have for some time now)

A beautiful necklace from Freshie and Zero (because I made a promise to myself to only buy handmade jewelry from here on out)

Adorable bookplates from the wonderful Black Apple. I also bought a set of three little notebooks...but forgot to photograph them. Woops.)

I'm already excited to go again next year. Thanks for a great day ladies!

Flea Market Finds (Beijing Style)...

2009-07-16T15:34:00.000-07:00

On the morning of our second day in Beijing, we went to the Panjiayuan Flea Market, which seems to be one of the best places to shop if you're looking for something to bring home from China. We only spent a couple of hours there, but I could've probably spent an entire afternoon there digging for treasures.

There were a number of shops with these little (and big) boxes. I picked up the one I liked best:

There was a guy who had the best selection of metal wind up toys. I had a hard time picking my favorites - and ones small enough to pack - and ended up coming home with this little robot man (who, unfortunately doesn't actually work...boo) and this motorcycle guy (who does work) and also a little frog that he gave me for free. Which, I hate frogs, but this one is pretty funny to watch.

One thing I was really hoping to find was some original propaganda posters (we spent a good amount of time in my history of Graphic Design class studying these posters) from the Cultural Revolution. Unfortunately, I didn't find any originals (I did see some new ones. Totally not the same), but I did find some old ad posters. Jen (my brother in law's girlfriend) and I both bought this beautiful cigarette ad from the 1930's. I'm pretty sure it's original, and if it is, it's all the more impressive that it actually survived the Cultural Revolution.

On our last morning in Beijing, we took our friends to the Silk Market which is basically a 6 story building stuffed full of all of the knock off crap that you hear about getting in China. I lasted all of 10 minutes in there before having a bit of a panic attack, so Herman ushered me out and over to a nearby Starbucks where I caught my breath and found this adorable tiny little Starbucks mug. Yup, that's a quarter next to it. I love it!

Freezer Paper Tees!

2009-06-26T17:03:00.001-07:00

About 6 months or so ago, Sumiko introduced me to printing on t-shirts with freezer paper. Basically, it's an easy way to create a stencil to then print on fabric (this is a great tutorial if you are interested).

Since I've been wanting to experiment with different ways of printing on fabric, I recently thought I'd try the freezer paper method again to see how realistic it is to make more detailed stencils.

I quickly found that it can be done, but it's terribly time consuming to trace and then cut out each letter (with an x-acto knife). I definitely think freezer paper stencils work best for more simple designs.

However, I did have a lot of fun making these t-shirts for our super good friends, Noa and Julie (to celebrate their 8th anniversary).

Happy Friday!

2009-06-19T16:35:00.000-07:00

Yummy!

More Flea Market Finds.

2009-06-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the Alameda Flea Market! It was a gorgeous day (and very crowded) and my friends and I all walked out with some pretty great finds:

1. A cute little divided Pyrex dish (for all that, um, cooking I do)
2. Three more books to add to my collection!
3. Vinyl! Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (yay!), Let it Be, Live at San Quentin

Camera Strap.

2009-06-03T14:57:00.001-07:00

I love my new camera (that Herman got me for my birthday), but the thing I was NOT loving was the giant neck strap that it came with. That neck strap would look big on an SLR, let alone this little guy. And since I'm sort of a klutz, and I tend to drop things...I figured that I was going to need something to secure the camera to me.

I found Lilybug on Etsy and was immediately smitten with her hand made wrist straps. I emailed her to see if she had any other fabric choices (she did!) and I chose this cute little Japanese apple fabric.

I love it, it stays securely where it should, and it came with a secret added feature: husband repellent! Herman says he just can't be seen carrying around a camera with such a girly wrist strap. ha!

I also want to thank you all for letting me know your thoughts on our big kitchen wall art decision. It's so much fun! While choice number one is clearly the favorite (and with good reason!), we're leaning more towards choice number 2 and I'm totally fine with that (although I did purchase this little guy to go with on our living room wall...I think he'll fit in quite nicely there). One we make a final decision and get the prints framed and hung, I'll definitely come back with photos.

We Can't Decide...Can You?

2009-05-28T16:09:00.001-07:00

We've lived in our town house for over a year and so far, haven't done anything with this wall in the kitchen:

So we've been thinking, thinking, thinking and have narrowed in down to three (um...pretty great) options. We can't decide, so I'm calling on all of you to weigh in. Seriously. Even if you weigh in anonymously, I'm really interested in all of your opinions. Because that's the way we roll around here.

Alright, option number 1:
This set of four prints by the immensely talented Blanca Gomez. They are 8.5"x11" and I'd probably hang them in a row.

Option number two:
We already have the polar bear print by Jay Ryan, and could add to the collection with one or both of these. They are 20"x26".

Option number 3:
We could purchase these old movie posters which were designed by my all time favorite graphic designer, Saul Bass. It'd be one of the only ways to have some of his work displayed in our house. They'd be the standard poster size, 24"x36".

So there you have it. Thoughts?

Wedding Invites

2009-05-21T15:53:00.000-07:00

Custom wedding invites for our friends Bryan and Jen.

Friday in the City

2009-05-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

I spent Friday afternoon in the City with my new friends Jess and Jenn (of Vista Bella Photography!). We started with coffee/tea/hot chocolate at Tartine Bakery in the Mission, then hit some of my favorite shops on 16th Street (Jess found a great shirt at Sunhee Moon) before heading over to the Haight for a bit more shopping (Doe!).

I found some super cute things at Doe: this little doe pin and this magnetic Decole Red Riding Hood hook (I'd recently seen it on someone's blog and was super excited to actually find it!). Then we hit another great store (which I'm totally blanking on the name) where I found replacement juice glasses for ones I'd found years ago and broke (I seriously never dreamed that I'd ever see those again). Lastly we went into a little vintage store where I found these owl salt and pepper shakers...which make me ridiculously happy. Yup.

Thanks for spending the afternoon with me Jess and Jenn!

New Art!

2009-05-13T16:13:00.001-07:00

This past week, I finally got to Ikea to get frames for the new prints I have (Thanks Soom!).

The Home Sweet Home print is from Jenn Ski, and the Cat Bird print is Matte Stephens.

Love!

In other staying busy news, I'm currently printing the wedding invites I designed for our friends Bryan and Jen. I'll post photos when they're all done!

Movie Love.

2009-05-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

While I was at RISD, Herman and I were lucky enough to catch a screening of the documentary "Helvetica" followed by a Q&A with the director, Gary Hustwit. It's an incredible film, full of the fun, geeky things that we graphic designers love, great interviews with some of the top graphic designers (a couple who I was lucky enough to see/listen to at RISD), a beautiful homage to one of the most ubiquitous typefaces, and in general a great description of what graphic designers do. Seriously, if you haven't seen it, you should definitely check it out.

And just this weekend I read about his new film, "Objectified", a documentary about industrial design and our relationship with manufactured objects. This is now on my must see list (see both trailers below).

Helvetica:

Objectified:

Um. Finally.

2009-05-05T15:09:00.000-07:00

This is such old news that it's almost embarrassing.

Back in January, when Target announced that they would be releasing a line of Orla Kiely goods, I, along with the rest of the design blogosphere people, was incredibly excited. But when they actually released the line, I was in Australia...so I had my friend Wendy on the lookout for the one thing that I really wanted: a set of the pear canisters.

Unfortunately, at least here in CA, her stuff went really fast and reduced me and my friends to a bit of a crazed state where we visited every Target within reasonable driving distance (multiple times a week) trying to get our hands on something Orla Kiely. Some stores had stuff. Others didn't. It was crazy (And I have to say a huge thanks to both Wendy and Susan who at different times managed to grab me some really great stuff...just not the ellusive pear canisters).

Since I couldn't find the canisters, I decided to just order them online, knowing it would take a bit longer, but at least I'd get them. Um. That was on February 15th. Yeah.

Last week I called them and was told that, hey, look at that! They're shipping tomorrow. Tomorrow came and I still didn't get a shipping notice from them.

So then (yes, this story has an ending) yesterday, I needed to run to Target and since I didn't want to drive all the way to Cupertino or San Mateo to hit the good Targets, I ran to the one close to our house. The dreaded dark cave Target that lives in some other dimension and rarely has a good selection of anything. And guess what they had. Yup, and entire display of Orla goods...including numerous sets of the canisters! Even stranger was the fact that other Targets had been clearancing this stuff for the past few weeks.

So finally! I am a proud and happy owner of a set of Orla Kiely pear canisters.

Now I just have to figure out what I want to actually do with them.

It's A Polar Bear!

2009-04-21T16:45:00.001-07:00

I first fell in love with the screen printing work of Jay Ryan about 3 or 4 years ago. This print is one of the first that I bought for our new place, and to be completely honest, I'd sort of love to have an entire wall in my house dedicated solely to his work.

Excessive? Perhaps.

Awhile back, I saw this series for the blue planet live tour, and immediately feel in love with the polar bear print. Apparently a bunch of other people did as well because his run of 300 ran out pretty fast.

But that's where the wonder of ebay comes in, where I managed to snag a mint condition print for the same price that they were being sold on Jay Ryan's website. Score!

The print makes me exceedingly happy, and I'm working on talking Herman into at least getting the whale and the penquin ones to round out the collection. Stay tuned.

Happy Friday!

2009-04-17T15:40:00.001-07:00

Paulette Macarons

2009-04-13T16:34:00.000-07:00

This might just be my undoing...there is now a Paulette Macarons in San Francisco.

The colors...the packaging...the salted caramel macaron.

le sigh.

Flea Market Finds!

2009-04-08T15:29:00.001-07:00

On Sunday I (finally) made it up to the Alameda Flea Market with my super fun treasure hunting buddy (thanks Wendy!). It was a perfect day and I found a few things that I'm really excited about:

1. These old Junior Edition novels. I'd found the first 6 at a local used book store (for 50 cents a piece!) and loved them and their pretty colors and beautiful illustrations. I'd seen them at various places online, always for about $10 - 15 each, so considered it good luck and a good deal to find 3 for 15. Hopefully I can find more. So pretty!

2. A copy of the Little Prince! I think it might even be a first edition of the English Translation? I'm not sure, but the copyright is 1943...

3. Some old wood type to add to my growing collection. I picked up the A and the 3 on Sunday.

4. The Beatles "Yellow Submarine" Album (so happy!). Yes, I have an old record player...and yes, I use it. Love!

A Small Taste of Paris

2009-04-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

One of our most favorite desserts while we were in Paris was the "Ispahan" from the amazing Pierre Hermé. It's a giant French macaron that combines the flavors of rose and raspberry and lychee to delicious perfection (seriously. It's amazing).

Herman was in Las Vegas yesterday for work and found the Jean Phillipe Patisserie in the Bellagio, and they happen to have a similar version of the famous Ispahan (minus the lychee, but still incredibly yummy) which he brought home for me.

I love how my husband continues to feed my ridiculous obsession with the French macaron. What a guy.

Oh, and Wendy...this is definitely going on your Paris list! You cannot miss this one!

New Tools!

2009-03-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

My new heavy duty corner rounder and heavy duty guillotine.

After doing this completely by hand (hello carpal tunnel!), my new toys are making my life much, much easier.

My Favorite Things.

2009-03-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

One of my most favorite things: sitting down to work with a really great cup of tea. Especially if that tea is Chinese Eight Treasure Tea. Yum.

MT Masking Tape.

2009-03-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about the design blog community is how an item or idea or a new talent will find its way onto a blog, then another blog writes about it, and another and another until it's made the rounds on all the big blogs and you're bound to run into it sooner or later.

Last month the "it" item seemed to be MT Masking Tape, which is completely understandable because, come on...it's masking tape and it's in a wide variety of gorgeous colors. I first saw it here, then here, then here. It was also common knowledge that DWR was selling it and I admit I looked (and drooled over) it a number of times and when I had about decided to take the plunge and buy some...they were no longer carrying it. Of course.

Then I had the brilliant idea of looking for it on ebay...and I found someone selling a set of 20 colors for less then what DWR was selling it...and so, I got it! It came in the mail today and I'm completely smitten with how charming and beautiful it is (yes. masking tape). Originally I'd thought I might use it for packaging, but now I'm thinking I might have to just keep it all to myself. Maybe.

(oh, and because I love you all so much, I'll let you in on a little secret. The person I bought it from also has an etsy store chock full of beautiful masking tape and other little lovlies. Check it out!)

Baby Shower Invite.

2009-03-16T16:18:00.001-07:00

After sending out our new years updates, one of my friends hired me to do a couple of event invitations for her. I wasn't necessarily planning on doing custom invite work, but after working on these two jobs with Laura (who's an absolute dream client!), I realized that it's quite a lot of fun and that I might have to do more of it in the future!

Baby shower invite.

Happy Friday!

2009-03-13T13:57:00.001-07:00

It's been a busy week. Regular posting will continue soon (really!). Until then, enjoy some more yummy Friday kitty goodness.

Happy Friday!

2009-03-06T18:12:00.001-08:00

Before/After

2009-03-03T18:05:00.001-08:00

Herman likes to say that I have internal feng shui, which basically means that I have issues with space. My physical place in a space (I HATE being in the center of a room) as well as the use of space. I just can't seem to concentrate or be productive if the space I'm in feels uncomfortable to me. Which is a problem when said space is my home office/studio and I'm a full time work from home freelancer.

When we moved in a little over a year ago, we split the office space in half and tried to set it up to the best of both of our needs. Then it became clear that my needs were going to be a bit more than Hermans, so we expanded my space a bit. It was fine for awhile, but about 2 months ago I started getting agitated and feeling like we just weren't using the space correctly.

So last week I measured everything, made little cut outs, and played around with it all until I figured out what I was going to do. And just to up the geek quotient, I was so excited about making the changes that I didn't fall asleep until 3.00 in the morning because I was laying in bed visualing how it'd turn out.

I spent the whole of last Thursday moving everything out and then back in again and am super happy with the results.

Before (and to get another view, look here):

After!

Much, much better. My printer is within easy reach, and I have an entire desk for a workspace (although it will soon be half filled with a giant guillotine and corner rounder)...which Dexter also believes is his personal lounge area. I'm not entirely happy with the magazines and mail basket under the desk, but it's fine for now.

It really is a huge relief. And that night? I still couldn't sleep because I was thinking about how happy I was to have it resolved. Yeah. I know right?

Ahhh...Australia.

2009-02-12T15:25:00.000-08:00

3 good things on our trip:

1. Koala cuddles (and yes! They are as soft as they look!) and Kangaroo pettings.
2. Sydney (I would've loved to spend more time there)
3. Snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef.

On Holiday...

2009-01-26T16:19:00.001-08:00

I will be in Hong Kong, Taipei and Australia for the next two weeks. I'll try to post photos when I can.

Happy Inauguration Day!

2009-01-20T15:39:00.000-08:00

Over the course of the election and beyond, I've come across some really great art work inspired by (now) President Obama (I love saying that!). Unfortunately, most of it was out of our price range, or sold out before I even had a chance to think about buying it. Enter "Design for Obama", where you can not only find tons of great posters (and some that are, well...not so great), but they are all free for you to download and print. Yup. Not too shabby. These are just a few of my favorites.

Saturday Afternoon.

2009-01-19T17:22:00.000-08:00

I spent Saturday afternoon hanging out with the beautiful and very talented Wendy and her adorable puppy Charlie. After some chatting and catching up, we went fabric shopping (step one of me getting over my fear of sewing...and of fabric shops), and stopped at an unexpected garage sale in her neighborhood. I found an old Kodak instant camera, and some amazing old books. The first two are from 1903 and 1905, and the Painters Encyclopedia has some amazingly beautiful writing in it (which I can't read very well). I also found some great old childrens books to add to our ever growing collection. Thanks for a fun day Wendy!

Finally...

2009-01-12T16:02:00.000-08:00

...I got our holiday cards designed, printed, cut, stamped, addressed, and in the mail. And it's only January 12th!

See how I try to be optimistic about this?

I normally don't make any new year resolutions, but maybe I should have made one: to get the holiday cards out BEFORE the holidays this year. We'll see.

Linda and Harriett

2009-01-07T14:26:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite times of the year is when all of the new and beautifully done calendars are released. I always have a hard time choosing just one and wonder if it's obsessive to have a different one up in every room of my house (probably). Last year I went with the beautiful letterpressed calendar from Linda and Harriett (seen here) which I adored. There must be something about their work that speaks to me because after looking at over 40 different choices, I went with their 2009 calendar. And I couldn't be happier (plus, they have amazing customer service. Quick and very personable).

Happy January 1st!

2009-01-01T00:28:00.000-08:00

Visual Advice

2008-10-10T15:40:00.001-07:00

I don't know anything about this project by Montreal based designer Julien De Repentigny except that it's breathtaking, beautiful, inspiring, and clever.

And that I sort of want to wear that "do not disturb" sign around my neck.