cupcake party...

I'm wild about this new vermillion sumi ink I found at my favorite art store the other day....it is the cheeriest color, especially for cupcake party invitations, don't you think?

Book Club

My friends Marianne, Kara, Erin and I have embarked upon the journey of wading through the entire book list outlined in The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had. I typed up the book list here, if you would like to take a peek. I'm pretty enthused, but am imagining it will take about twenty years to get through the entire list, reading carefully and critically. First up- Don Quixote, which I somehow wriggled out of reading in both high school and college.

Tiepography. Awesome.

I loved this "tiepography" project featured in the inaugural issue of Uppercase magazine. Check out Ed Nacional's work.

Jen and Manny

I wanted to start a new little feature here where I spotlight some photos from clients' weddings.

First up, Jen and Manny, a charming couple who were married in May at the Union Church of Pocantico Hills and then celebrated at Blue Hill at Stone Farms. The entire day seemed so intimate and playful and just all around lovely. Congrats, Jen and Manny! Wishing you blessings in your new life together!

Jen incorporated vintage children's book illustrations into the invitation suite (last photo) and then used them as table "numbers" as well- what a playful addition!

Photography (except for last photo) by Erik Ekroth.

Wishing you a Cheery Day!

I have a really sweet husband who sends me goofy postcards in the mail when I need cheering up. I absolutely love this "waving mermaids" card. It made me laugh out loud. How could you possibly feel grumpy staring at this image?!

screenprint on wood

Whoa my goodness...this invite is really breathtaking. Found here.

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!