For the grooviest of patios...

How amazing are these chairs? Designed by Italian fashion house Marni for the Milan Furniture Fair, the pieces are handmade by Colombian craftsmen using salvaged materials.

Back from the road!

Wow, it's been quite a whirlwind - there was just enough time to recover from the Stationery Show and then we hit the road - Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley, Moab, Arches, Telluride (our favorite spot - a cool town in a stunning setting!), Aspen, winding up the trip with a weekend visiting our good friends in Denver. It was a welcome change from our city grind to be in such raw, beautiful environments and just be outside all day - picnic lunches, hiking, rafting, biking, and more hiking!

Here's a few pics from our trip...

(almost) showtime!

The National Stationery Show, that is! I've been furiously busy the past ... oh, forever it seems like! ... designing, producing, and prepping our new product lines to get them ready for their big debut at the show. And of course, designing the booth, which is super fun but a bit nuts - lots of visits to the hardware store and art supply store!

I'm debuting several new items at the show - new letterpress cards, a pocket journal set, coasters, some notecard sets AND a new watercolor calendar in both wall and desk versions. Whew! Producing journals and coasters was a new (slightly nerve-wracking) experience for me, and I'm just thrilled with how everything came out.

After the show dust settles, I'll be working on some updates to our website.

If you'd like a heads-up when these items land in the shop, sign up for our email list on the site.

*Thanks to Carina at Crow & Canary for the pic of our promo postcard, top.

DIY Ombre Mother's Day card

What you'll need:

1. watercolor paper, thick cardstock, or white mat board trimmed to 5x7

2. washi tape, artist's tape or masking tape

3. watercolor or gouache paint + brush

Lay your trimmed paper or cardstock on a cutting board or work surface. I like
to use a cutting board because the grid helps me keep things pretty aligned by just
eyeballing without having to measure!

Use tape to spell out "MOM". I used washi tape because it's very low-tack and
repositionable, but white artist's tape or low-tack masking tape will work just fine.
I laid pieces of tape on the cutting board and sliced them in half to make thinner
letters that fit the space. You can move the pieces around and make adjustments
as needed.







Once your letters are complete, squeeze a small dollop of color onto a palette or
paper plate (I'm using a pretty violet shade here). I start on the lighter side and
build color as I go, so I like to make a little puddle of water and slowly add more
of the watercolor pigment to it as I add brushstrokes to the paper.














Play around and have fun with the paint! There's no set rules here.
You could even do watercolor stripes or zig zags and get a super cute result.

Let the paint dry, and carefully peel off the tape, one piece at a time.
Ta da! You're done. I paired mine with a charcoal envelope.

Love in the Afternoon

Sometimes when I'm working late, I like to bring my laptop into the living room
and turn on the tv (and, ok, maybe pour myself a little glass of Rioja too!) so that
I can at least pretend that I'm relaxing... Since it's less then two weeks until the
National Stationery Show,  I've been working late a lot! Saturday night, I planned
on popping in a Downton Abbey dvd, but happened to catch Love in the Afternoon
just as it was starting.

What a gem! A charming and funny romance with the always-luminous
Audrey Hepburn - although you have to get over the grandpa-ish age difference
between her and leading man Gary Cooper, who, while past his prime, was
still amazing in the role. The great acting by both parties makes you
really believe they are falling in love and forget the chasm of years that
separates them. The film takes place in fabulous fifties Paris;
what could be better?

(Spoiler alert below...!)




At the end of the film, there's a voice-over telling us that the two are married
(after running away together)... I learned afterwards that this was added only
after the film was put on the Catholic Legion of Decency's "Condemned List".
I guess the idea of a young woman and older man having an unmarried affair
was just too scandalous at the time! After the voice-over was added the legion
changed the film's status to merely "Morally Objectionable".

Pinning!

A board for the boho bride-to-be; you can check it out right here.

DVF love

Currently loving all of these Diane von Furstenberg spring accessories,
especially the fun patterned i-phone case!

These pop-y yet beachy items are especially appropriate for me today
since we're heading to the Miami area for a (very) short getaway
tomorrow, yippee.

Namaste

Yesterday, I attended the Yoga Journal NYC Conference - what a blast! I'm all
stretched out, a little sore, and feeling focused and present to start the week.
At least, as focused as possible when juggling multiple projects, tax deadlines, etc...

Being there reminded me that the key word is "practice": even 10 or 15 minutes
per day of yoga can give you great physical and mental health benefits. Take the
time to stop, focus on your breath, stretch, check in with you body and step away
from the daily narrative we're constantly creating in our head; it's so worth it.

Of course, I proudly wore the conference t-shirt, that I designed! Fun to see other
people wearing it too. You can see my collection of yoga-related goods in the shop.

Westward Bound

We're planning a big summer trip westward, flying into Arizona and winding
our way through Utah and Colorado. I can't wait. It will be a very refreshing
change of pace after the craziness leading up to the Stationery Show in May,
plus the big open skies and starry nights will be a nice contrast to our usual big-
city scenery. First stop on our trip, the Grand Canyon!

Okay, so this poster is actually for the Disneyland version of the Grand Canyon -
a bizarro idea from Disney & co., if you ask me - but I love the mid-century
mod style and lavendar + muted mint color palette.

I'm pinning! Slowly but surely starting to build some fun inspiration boards. Join me on Pinterest :)

SALE - this week only!

We're doing a little house-cleaning! Everything in the etsy shop is on sale through Friday.
It's a great time to stock up on letterpress birthday cards, thank you notes, art prints & more.
Get 20% off your order - Simply click "Apply shop coupon code" before checkout
and enter "SpringClean" in the coupon code field. Happy Shopping!

Trendy Awards Finalist

Guess what? Our "Bonjour Bébé" card is a Trendy Awards finalist, one of 10 finalists in the greeting card category! So excited to get this wonderful news.

The Trendys are sponsored by Stationery Trends magazine, and the finalists are determined by votes from retailers and designers alike. One of the best things about the Trendys is that all finalist products are displayed in a small exhibition as you enter the National Stationery Show at the Javitz Center - so for a little guy like me, it's huge exposure!

The second round of voting begins soon; you can learn more right here.