love this

I love this bag. Stripes + leather = perfect. Truth be told, what I really don't need is yet another bag. But maybe you do? If so, lucky you.

happy monday

Happy Monday, everyone. Over the weekend I went to the local Goodwill where I found these beautiful cups – just the lone green patterned one, but six of the cinnabar orange Japanese ones ... and all for five bucks! This find makes me happy, even though I really went to Goodwill to look for a platter to serve the dark chocolate tart I donated to Liam's school auction. More on that tart another time – dark chocolate, a spelt-farro flour shortbread crust (inspired by Alice Medrich), so incredibly good.

This morning I did something VERY out of character. I went to a 5:45 am Jazzercise class. Now, if you're anything like me, you wouldn't have known Jazzercise was still around ... You would have thought it was a thing of the eighties, right? Wrong. And, if you're anything like me, the thought of a 5:45 am exercise class would make you cringe. And the Jazzercise itself would seem slightly embarrassing because you might not be the most coordinated person in the world and you have happily waved a firm goodbye to the eighties. And you hate to work out in public, but really not many people are there at that horrific hour, quite understandably so. Anyway, I went because a friend of mine (HI, AMY!) substitute teaches the class and she's only doing two more sessions, so I figured what the hell? I stayed up way too late last night, woke up at 5:40, threw on some clothes and went to Jazzercise. And you know what's great about doing this? When I got home at 7:00, Liam and Ben were still sleeping, but I'd already worked out for an hour. So I get to feel pretty damn good about myself today.

One other thing that makes today pretty wonderful? My new cards and print got a shout-out from the always-lovely Grace at Design Sponge.

june mailbox monthly

Going out in tomorrow's mail – Mailbox Monthly for June ... I'm loving the textures in these cards and print. They are in the online shops now, if you like them too. I'm wishing for sunnier days here, even though once they arrive the studio becomes almost unbearably hot. I'm still trying to catch up work here – a big order for Heath Ceramics and a new one for PlayMountain in Tokyo! (PlayMountain is at Heath LA this summer, more here.)



And a really fun identity project in the works – small run, lush cotton paper, inkless impression, water color. I am trying to clear up some time to work on the drawings for this.

P.S. I just got the John Prine tribute album, Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows. I've been listening to John Prine for a long time and, for some reason – it just stuck, I guess – we've sung his song 'Paradise' to Liam almost every single night since he was a baby. My favorite one on this new album is Mexican Home performed by Josh Ritter. (I've been listening to the song 'Lark' off Josh Ritter's new album a lot.) I also love the Old Crow version of Angel from Montgomery. You can listen to the entire album via the album website or via NPR right here.

house color

new-and-improved color

It's been raining pretty incessantly here the past few weeks, but there's been a slight break in the weather and so (almost all) our house was painted today! This is the first time we have ever paid someone to come paint the house – so I've been astonished by how quickly it gets done ... in just a few days as opposed to a whole summer (or two). You might remember that I had a hard time making up my mind about paint color, but I'm very happy to report that I love this one. I think it's perfect – and that's a big deal since I've been known to actually repaint the entire inside of a house all by myself because the first choice was not the best one.

Just so it's clear how much better this color is – above is how it is right now and below is how it was before.

white white white!

I think this new color brings out the lines of the house so beautifully – and goes well with the brick as well. I'm excited to (eventually) think of permanent plants to go alongside the house. I think peonies, hydrangea and lilac are particularly lovely.


Ben pulled out several large hot pink camellia bushes (which I've never been very fond of) from the side of the house. This brought a lot more light into this end of the house and accentuated the lines as well. The glass block window in the middle is the bathroom – the one that we are about to remodel to be fully accessible for Liam!! As in this week, Ben will be starting the demolition. We are almost ALWAYS busy around here!

P.S. I'd like to replace our house numbers with something a little cleaner and simpler. I found these ones, but thought I'd see if anyone knew of anything else.

what i've been working on

Business cards and gift certificates for a brand new restaurant, Luc, right here in Corvallis. It looks very promising and I'm looking forward to eating there soon. The design is by Geologie; the paper is cream colored 100% cotton Holyoke that takes a beautiful impression. Inks were custom – a pale green and a dark mahogany brown.



And the new line of blank calling cards/gift tags. I love these. I'll have them in the online shops just as soon as I can, plus a longer post about them. I'm trying to set aside uncut sheets of them so that text can be added for affordable, custom cards with a fairly quick turnaround. All as soon as I have time, I promise.


Oh my, it's already June today! I've been going at full speed around here – the raffle for Liam is all wrapped up, the to-do list is slowly shrinking, but I'm forced to admit that I did not get the May Mailbox Monthly out in, well, May – but today I will. A sneak peak is above. There has been very little sun here, so I'm dreaming of rainbows and the colors of summer.