happy holidays

we were lucky to have a beautiful white christmas and to be able to spend the holidays with both sides of our families. hope that everyone had a wonderful christmas as well!

nib necklaces

i have finished my christmas shopping and all my presents are wrapped and under the tree, yay! i didn't need to get anyone jewelry, but if i did i'd buy some of erica weiner's fountain pen nib necklaces--how fun are they??? i've been looking for a calligraphy class to take, but i'd probably save a lot of money if i just bought one of her necklaces and practiced with that...or at least i'd look that much cuter in class, ha.

seen on the daily candy girls' gift guide

ducks in a row

if you thought notcot (one of my most favorite blogs in the world) was only for seeing the de-packaging (i love/hoard great packaging) of eye-catching fun product, you were wrong. just like last year, she has fun contest after fun contest during the holiday season!

i've already registered for the ninja of the month club and baggu giveaway and it's only the beginning of december. even if i don't win, it's been really great reading the designers' stories behind all their work. and that new baggu duck bag is freakin' cute and looks super useful. so...maybe santa could wrap 8 presents for me, one in each color bag! or maybe he could wrap 7 bags inside 1 bag! ok, even no present in 1 bag would be greatly appreciated. thanks santa! (or lady luck of the draw :)

robin's egg blue

oh, i was also busy last month buying this lovely gift for myself. the second i saw it in the san francisco store window i fell in love, and now [after a kate spade sale] it's finally mine...yippee!

(and yes, it matches my kitchenaid stand mixer)

HELLO.

image from {this is glamorous}

it's been a busy time since i last wrote...we had 2 BIG weddings (congrats dana + mike! yay steph + court!), i dislocated my kneecap (my hyper-mobility means no surgery needed, but no driving or snowboarding for awhile either...boo), finished steph + court's thank you cards, then designed notecards [and screenprinted onesies with dana] for finch's holiday time boutique (come stop by this weekend!). and in between all that, chris and i have been slooooooowly trying to purge our house. PHEW.

you may think that i have been too busy to share my (obviously amazing) stories with the world but i have been tweeting away, so if you miss me lots you can always see what i'm up to. in the likely event that you don't want to go to twitter (it's ok, most people don't) i promise to post again really soon.

xoxo.

thumbprints

look at this insanely cute thumbprint set i found on patina's website! the squirrel has a mustache and the guy in the high-waisted green pants has no arms or torso! haha, it's so funny.

mike + dana

a year ago i was looking at [pretty and sparkling!] diamonds with mike, then lara and i threw these cute kids an outdoor shower this summer...i can't believe that in less than 5 days mike and dana will be saying their i do's!

here's to 2 of my most favorite friends in the world...i love you and will see you at the wedding, YAY :)

big hug!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

flat cat

i handmade this flat cat for a united way silent auction at work. i used the same chambray fabric as the sandbox theater benefit pup, then gave the kitty an orange wool kerchief and aqua embroidery. (because blue and orange combinations are so nice ;)

prize ribbons

i LOOOOOVE ribbons and bows of all types, but lately i've been especially loving the ruffles and streaming tails of prize ribbons. it's just great that a little bit of ribbon can signify such a large amount of importance. these pictures are so fun, i kinda want one...

pic 1: small stump pic 2: small stump pic 3: full house pic 4: decor8

shakeit, shakeit, shakeit

trend central had this great article on the comeback of polaroid and after the fun time i had in the lomography store, i completely hope that there is a resurgence of film. there is that wonderful element of the unknown...you could have an amazing picture, or an unfocused, off-centered, cropped picture that you still cherish.

i downloaded the lite version of shakeit to my [new] iphone [which i LOVE] and it lets you shake your phone to speed up "processing" and gives your photos tinted edges and white borders. (these are from my sleepover weekend with dana...we assembled 315 bundles of utensils, then stood around and admired her lovely rehearsal dinner dress)

we're back + i heart lomo

our trip to new york was FANTASTIC so once we get all our pictures sorted out i will definitely pick my top ones to post for you! you wonder why we have SO MANY pictures to sort out? let me explain...

while in NYC, we randomly stumbled upon the lomography gallery store (the only one in the US!) and after browsing for ages, i bought myself a mini diana...it was just released weeks before, in red & aqua packaging, and was SO freakin' cute! as we walked central park, chris pointed out that counting our iphones, we now had 6 cameras between us. SIX! so that's why we have so many pictures to sort through :)

nyc, how i love thee

we are headed to NYC this week with our new camera, so i'm hoping to have amazing pictures to post when we return. it will be an even better trip than last time because not only are we visiting both meredith and giulietta (YAY!) but we're going to the us open and the brooklyn flea too, fun!

have a great long weekend!

loop by the yard

how fun is this??? reversible solid/pattern TYVEK! i don't even know what i would need to make out of this, but after reading about loop on ohdeedoh and the mio website i feel like i SHOULD want to make tons of stuff...then take advantage of the pre-paid envelope to send back my scraps to be recycled! maybe i will just have to start making waterproof stuffed friends...

anna ruby king

i found a blog today called tizzalicious crafts and cuteness and i could just browse forever--she has such fun posts! (and a cute etsy store too) one of the posts featured designer anna ruby king and she has some of the CUTEST stationery and drawings. what a great illustration style, it's so precise and clean. she uses recycled materials and i love how her work is done on a variety of papers and often combined with fabric.

sandbox theatre benefit party

sandbox theatre is hosting their 3rd annual benefit party thursday from 6:30pm-9:00pm, so if you're free tomorrow night you should definitely stop by! there will be food & drinks, mini performances, and a fantastic silent auction that includes donated items from amazing local artists like sarah wray and chris hajny. (this lovely chambray pup was handmade by yours truly ;)

missy + peter

it has been a wedding preparation filled summer and the first big project was designing missy and peter's wedding invitations! i have known mis for nearly SIX YEARS and was beyond honored when she asked me to design her invitations. she had always said she wanted me to do them, but when it was time to design, mock-up, then actually assemble them--it made me so proud to take her lovely ideas and create the final designed product.

like the original plan, they ended up being cream, shades of pink and gray, printed on stardream shimmer cardstock. inside the outer-most envelope was a cream folder wrapped in a silver band. once the folder was opened, the invitation was found on the right side, and a pocket containing the RSVP card, map/directions card, and accommodations card was found on the left side. i think they turned out beautifully and am so glad to hear that mis and many of her guests think so too!

cheers to you classy lady...a little over a month til the big day!!! xoxo!

luft balloons

i have been on a long hiatus for the summer as it has been filled with wedding invitations and projects galore! i will be posting lots of fun pictures for you to see soon, promise. in the meantime, i found this great design website yatzer (via a stylesight email) that you should definitely peruse. i looked through an article on the lorraine mondial air balloon rally that took place in france and the pictures are just simply amazing, i LOVE them.

tokidoki

i was fortunate enough to attend a designer speaker series featuring simone legno creator of the super fun brand tokidoki. it was neat to hear how he names all his characters and creates little stories and worlds for them to interact in. when asked where he does his work, he told us he usually draws at home and not at the office as "it gets too busy with emails, conference calls, sample reviews etc!" which got HUGE laughs from all of us. (sort of sad we knew exactly what he meant) he really loves what he does and i loved the whole presentation--PLUS he autographed my tokidoki purse too, yay!

yellow owl workshop

i saw this FANTASTIC set of stamps on angry chicken and love that they come in this wooden box showing how the stamps would look layered to make a little scene...cute!!! i found so many great items on their website and the nice thing is everything is really affordable. they keep a fun blog too.

no one should have to live life without a tiny bathtub

a surprise un-birthday present from my dear friend kara who is so thoughtful and cute! she knew i had mini tub envy, so had been scouring flea markets and thrift stores for me...and then delivered this ribbon-adorned, mini-carded, scalloped-edged loveliness! (blog title is quoted from her cute little card)

yay friend, you're the best!!! (wrong answer)

becca's knitted bike tube

my cute friend becca and i bartered this trade awhile back, but as bikes are currently ruling the summer, i wanted to FINALLY post pictures. she commissioned me to knit her a bike tube for her matte black bike that she built, and i traded her for a 2709 designs bandana (this design is 1 of 2--the other 1 belonging to miss becca jane :) screenprinted with cute bunnies. after i finished knitting, i hand-sewed velcro to the bottom so that it was removable and washable. i added the little white bunny button as a surprise since i know how much she loves little bunnies!

(the fun jumper i'm wearing is a from their voltage line and bought at design collective. bonnie is an amazing seamstress so i love owning something she sewed up, hidden pocket and all!)