stop by

I've been curious about Root for a while, but never gone – and now we don't live in Portland anymore ... but we're heading up there on Sunday for this lovely event (with a stop beforehand at Little Red Bike for brunch goodness). Stop by if you're in the Portland area; I'll be there with stationery and other letterpress goodies, including some new stationery sets featuring Liam's drawings.

Root is right next door to Foster and Dobbs which has an excellent lunch menu. I don't even really love sandwiches, but this one – Salumi molé salami with sharp cheddar, red tomato chili jam, olive oil and greens – it gets me every time. I wonder how much I can really eat in one short day visit to Portland?

house colors

You might have caught this post – same title, but different content – a few hours ago, while I was still undecided about house colors, but we've since made up our mind. We live in a 1950s ranch and it sits on the corner, a little bit above street level, so it doesn't fade into the background. I am adamantly opposed to khaki-like colors – too conservative, too boring, plus I'd never wear or use these colors myself. And yet I don't want anything garrish either; I suppose that's no surprise either since that's not my style at all. I really thought I'd for sure want an ochre yellow house, but I'm wasn't convinced about it with the red brick.

The color we've chosen is called oyster bay which is far less minty than it may appear. I know each computer can display colors a little differently. This one is a really lovely color, though. I couldn't place why it was familiar at first, but then Ben reminded me that is is almost the exact color of the beautiful Volvo 122 wagon I used to have, pre-Liam. I loved that car (and I'm not really a car person). It's pretty, not at all garrish and decidedly not pastel either. It looks good in the sun, in the shade and against the red brick at the front of the house. We're pairing it with a cream and bright white. I think it brings out the simple lines of the house (which is currently plain white, all around, blah). When we find time to put in plants, I think there are so many that will look beautiful against this color – my favorites are peony, lilac, dahlias ... This color, for me, is a winner. I'd wear it, print with it, knit something with it, eat off of it and, clearly, put it on my house.

And I like the photo above, which shows the door to my studio. You can see the paper cutter – which was put to good use all morning – through the window.

P.S. If you go to Sherwin Williams, you can pick out colors and apply them easily. It's not the same as painting an actual swatch, but it'll give you a rough idea.

a new project

click + click again to view larger image

A new project is in the works and I'm really excited about it. Remember the calling card line I started last year sometime? Well, I really liked that but it never really took off the way I'd hoped. This happens – I'm not always sure why, but sometimes the things I'm most excited about aren't always the most 'succesful.'

The other day I got a wholesale order from Jennifer at Oblation in Portland. Long before I began printing, I would visit Oblation and it is one of the loveliest shops I know. Anyway, Jennifer asked if I could print some blank calling cards for the shop – and I thought it was a wonderful idea.

I decided to revise the calling card offerings – eliminating a few and adding some others. These are sweet little cards that can also be used as gift enclosures. I decided to streamline the color choices, offering each design in two colorways. They'll all have rounded corners because I think this adds the perfect finishing touch. Plus, I'll package them in glassine envelopes which I love.

I have a good deal of work to catch up on in the studio, but I hope to have these little pretties ready in two weeks or so. They'll be available wholesale to shops, but also in my online stores for $12 for a single design ten pack and $18 for a mixed set of sixteen (all eight designs, two of each).

We'll see how this goes, but I am also thinking I might be able to stock pre-printed sheets of each design and colorway so that people can customize them with their own text, also letterpress printed, but for a lower cost and faster turnaround. Thoughts?

Do you like these, too? I hope so.

sunflowers

New stationery in the shops today. These make me think of sunflowers and sunshine and summer ahead.

Shop here and here.

flowers + thank you notes

These pretty flowers came from my new friend – if you're reading this, you know who you are – this morning. It's nice to make another friend here. A note on that – it's harder than I thought when the luxury of free time is not as easy to come by.


Those thank you packages to those of you that donated to Liam before the giveaway began? I know it's taken longer than I wanted, but they're almost ready to go.

small things

Remember – look down when walking home from taking the kid to school. There are so many tiny, pretty things to be seen. (And slipped into a pocket, to be photographed later in the day.)