breathing space

The upcoming holidays have me feeling a bit crazed; it's a busy - but good -
time of year for a stationery designer. Taking a moment to enjoy these stunning
varnish-on-canvas paintings by Dale Frank is just what I needed today. Enjoy!

It's on

Tomorrow we're having a SALE in the etsy shop in honor of
Small Business Saturday! To get the discount code, sign
up for the email list on the website, or like our facebook page.

Happy shopping!

Wishing you and your families a happy and homey Thanksgiving!

A Cozy Dinner

Last night, we made Tyler Florence's french onion soup recipe.
It was amazing! Sometimes, the best thing about french onion
soup is the cheese; surprisingly that wasn't the case here as the
crusty bubbly cheese was (almost) overshadowed by the rich,
creamy (but no cream!), incredibly warm and delicious soup.
Maybe it had to do with caramelizing the onions, low and slow,
for 30+ minutes, or the cup of tasty Pinot Noir added to the broth.

While we followed the recipe, a good thing about french onion
soup is that it can be easily transformed into a vegetarian of vegan
meal by switching up a few ingredients - veggie broth instead of
beef, soy cheese instead of Gruyere. Plus it's one of those recipes
that does not have a ton of hands-on time - you can leave it alone,
hanging out on the stove while you relax or tend to other things.
It was the perfect winter Sunday night dinner! Yum!

Photo via Gourmet.com

Coolest Couple Ever

What are you doing this weekend? If you live in NYC, you should
head to IFC Center to check out the new Eames documentary,
opening tomorrow. For a sneak peek, watch the trailer.

A full list of theaters and cities right here.

Tuesday Inspiration

Colorful, mod prints by the talented Linda Ketelhut.

Her work reminds me a bit of some of my fave artists/designers, Rex Ray and Orla Keily.

P.S. You can check out a design*sponge sneak peek of Linda's Austin, TX home right here.

Vintage Travel Posters

Wishing you could escape the office this Friday
for some exotic locale? Here's some colorful
vintage travel posters to fuel your fire...

Hand-Painted Perfection

OBSESSED with this hand-painted sign. I spotted it right here.

Recent Collage Fun

We had a wonderful weekend away visiting the amazing Storm King
Art Center, Woodstock and the Catskills. I'll be sharing some photos
soon! In the meantime, here's a look at some recent collage work.

Sometimes I make collages for no particular purpose; it serves to warm
up the creative muscles for actual projects (and often sparks a new idea,
or two, or three!) and it's just fun to cut up paper and get out the old
glue stick. While I'm always on the lookout for random bits of paper
ephemera for my collage cache, I usually have a stack of magazines
ready to go in the recycling bin at any given moment, and they serve
the purpose quite well.

Double-Birthday & DeKooning

My mom and I are going to see the DeKooning exhibit at MoMA on Friday
as part of our double-birthday outing (her birthday was on Tuesday, mine
is tomorrow!), and I couldn't resist a little sneak-peek on the exhibition site.

The colors and compositions are stunning; I can't wait to see all the work
in person. And I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday than art +
lunch with my mom. My hubbie and I will be driving upstate on Saturday
morning for a short birthday-slash-anniversary getaway - it's a very
celebratory time of year over here!

Super Awesome

As you may have already figured out, I have a penchant for stripes,
rainbows, patterns and colorful, happy modernism -- so it's no wonder
that I am totally gaga for these super simple abstract polaroids
(the one immediately below, at right, is aptly named "Super Awesome)
by Grant Hamilton. LOVE.