Swirlies...

I did these folder covers for my mother-in-law as a favor, but I can't help but think they would be so pretty as personal stationery. Those swirly circles are so fun to do!

Toddlers and Lawns...

I had a very full week last week- Nick was out of town and I took care of our friends' little girl Allie- an almost two year old- for four days. Trying to get all my work done while entertaining a little one was certainly a challenge! And I can't believe how much gear is "necessary" for such a tiny little person. Oh and also, since some of you were wanting to see pictures, our lawn caved in about two feet. Randomly. (Please ignore the dead sweet peas in the corner.) It was very dramatic.

Finally!

The first hints of the monsoon season are finally rolling in this week. My favorite type of weather!

MS Weddings

I was excited to see some work I had done for Martha Stewart Weddings in the summer issue, page 56. It is actually a downloadable template for a fan- the verse is on the back. It is always such a pleasure working with the ladies on the MS Weddings staff....they are always so sweet and gracious! I think this is by far the most gorgeous wedding publication out there...I used to subscribe to it in high school just for all the amazing ideas and inspiration. I'll be posting some other fun tidbits from this issue soon!

letterboxing

Have you ever heard about letterboxing? I hadn't until I read this post on the blog wide open spaces. It sounds like such a fun diversion on a roadtrip, etc. Here's a little description of it, taken from letterboxing.org:

"Letterboxing is an intriguing mix of treasure hunting, art, navigation, and exploring interesting, scenic, and sometimes remote places. It takes the ancient custom of placing a rock on a cairn upon reaching the summit of a mountain to an artform. It started when a gentleman simply left his calling card in a bottle by a remote pool on the moors of Dartmoor, in England.

Here's the basic idea: Someone hides a waterproof box somewhere (in a beautiful, interesting, or remote location) containing at least a logbook and a carved rubber stamp, and perhaps other goodies. The hider then usually writes directions to the box (called "clues" or "the map"), which can be straightforward, cryptic, or any degree in between. Often the clues involve map coordinates or compass bearings from landmarks, but they don't have to. Selecting a location and writing the clues is one aspect of the art.

Once the clues are written, hunters in possession of the clues attempt to find the box. In addition to the clue and any maps or tools needed to solve it, the hunter should carry at least a pencil, his personal rubber stamp, an inkpad, and his personal logbook. When the hunter successfully deciphers the clue and finds the box, he stamps the logbook in the box with his personal stamp, and stamps his personal logbook with the box's stamp. The box's logbook keeps a record of all its visitors, and the hunters keep a record of all the boxes they have found, in their personal logbooks."

Photo uploaded from here.

Congrats Bree and Dave!

I recently did these "seating cards" on the back of hundreds of vintage postcards for the lovely wedding of Bree and Dave. It was so fun to look through all of the gorgeous postcards while I penned each name. This looked like it was an amazing event, judging from these lovely photos. Take a peek!

This cake bar is glorious! I love the idea of doing this instead of a traditional wedding cake.
All photography by Next Exit Photography.

Escape

Nick and I had the pleasure of going down to San Carlos a couple of weekends ago with our six good friends. We left on the last day of Nick's job; the small private school that he helped start over five years ago is sadly having to close its doors. We are both really devastated by this development. A weekend in San Carlos was a welcome distraction from this new reality. We snorkeled, kayaked, swam, lazed about on the beach, played cards, drank fruity drinks, and had an all around amazing time with our friends. We truly came home refreshed and ready to face the world. (And I had to face an unbearably sunburned back! Yikes!)

Anyway, while on the beach, I read Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table, which just was published this March. Her prose is brilliant, as anyone who has perused her blog knows, and each and every one of her recipes sounds absolutely delicious and inspired. It was the perfect escape- both the book and the weekend itself.

Paper Cranes

Just wanted to post these pictures of some place cards I did recently- thay had a cut out of a paper crane that popped up....I thought they were really interesting. Different from most other place cards I've seen. I worked with the lovely girls at Louella Press on these wedding materials. Photos taken by Marie Labbancz , from the Louella Court blog.

M and P

I recently scribed the envelopes for invitations being sent out by Madeline and Pedro, and wanted to post a few pictures here. I think their suite turned out lovely; the invitation calligraphy was done by Bernard Maisner, which didn't hurt in the glamour department. I think that not having exactly matching scripts ended up looking really fresh. I loved it.

Every detail was crisp and exquisite, down to the white, beveled edges of the pieces.

And last but not least, here is Sebastian, trying his hardest to sabotage my little photo shoot. At least he looks great with the colors of the suite.

Babies and Cake.

My good friend Marianne came over for lunch today with her baby Nathaniel, and we had this raspberry buttermilk cake for dessert. Yum. It was a wonderfully sweet time, and I highly recommend the recipe. I pretty much highly recommend every recipe on the Smitten Kitchen site- by far my favorite cooking blog (after Molly, of course.) Thanks for a wonderful time, Marianne and Nate!
(Photo by Deb of Smitten Kitchen)

impending summer.

I made this blackberry tart a couple of weekends ago based off of Jamie Oliver's recipe, lifted from this great cookbook. Makes me feel almost ready for summer. Almost. You just sort of brace yourself for a summer in Tucson.

"living" gifts...

I love and really prefer giving "living" gifts so very much, do you? There is something so beautiful about giving someone (and receiving) something that is alive and can't be wrapped up or stuffed in a gift bag. Here are some Mother's Day herbs we gave to my lovely mother-in-law a couple Sundays ago.

Speaking of living gifts, I'll just take this opportunity to post this sickeningly adorable picture of Belle and Sebastian- the living gifts I received from Nick as a wedding present three years ago. It makes me laugh every time I see it.

fabulous feathers...

I just love these screen printed feather cards that my wonderful pal Shanna Murray listed in her shop today, don't you? They're so fabulous!

xo

Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful mother!

King and Queen of Hearts

These amazing stamps are being released today...Steve, who works at my favorite post office ever, gave me a heads up a couple of weeks ago, saying "There are some new stamps coming out that I think will be just your cup of tea." He was so very right! Can't wait to scoop them up.

Alethia Academy Adventure

Nick and I just took 7 twelve and thirteen year olds on a trip to California; the one picture of the nine of us all together was on the wrong setting and turned out like this. I actually kind of like it, don't you ? It was a long five days, but very sweet.

Little Dorrit

We have really enjoyed watching Masterpiece Theatre's Little Dorrit the last four weeks (on PBS Sunday nights). You can view the past four installments here, and the final one airs this Sunday night, April 26th. Has anyone else been caught up in this great production? I think it is so very well done.

Sunday Finds.

Nick and I have a book problem. I know I've written about that before. Sadly, we're not taking many steps for the treatment of this disease, and yesterday we popped into the Friends of the Library Sale, just to see if there were any treasures lurking about on the shelves. I found this amazingly charming book about a boa constrictor that lives in a French village with Madame Louise Bodot, as well as a volume of German verse. Such great finds, both of them! As it was half-off day, I paid 75 cents for the two of them. At least our addiction isn't breaking the bank, right? Speaking of which, does everybody know about Paperback Swap? We discovered this a couple months ago and have already used it countless times to hunt down books we were interested in owning.

Sweet Peas and Roses...

Just some more loveliness from our garden, for your viewing pleasure!

Letterpressed Materials- Gray and Cream

Andria Ledon of Lilikoi Press asked me to do the lettering for her wedding invitations and materials, and I think they turned out beautifully, don't you?

All photos from the lovely blog 100 Layer Cake.