whew.

Whew! It has been an insane couple of weeks, with valentines, logos, wedding suites, tattoos, and some other custom projects devouring all my waking hours- not to mention my ever-present nemesis: my inbox. Looking forward to things slowing down a bit in the next week or so. Being able to eat a proper dinner, hopefully? Exercise? I need to regain some sort of balance here. But it is sure lucky that I love what I do, since I've been doing so much of it lately!
Here are some shots taken during the HH valentine process earlier this week.

Valentines and some news.

Hello there! I am so thrilled to post about Hello Handmade's third annual custom valentines! This year, our 5 x 7 Laurel Valentines feature an off-set printed, ribboned laurel illustration by Shanna on the front, with room for a custom monogram or initials, and then a custom message inside, a personalized inner envelope sealed with black wax, and then an eggplant-colored outer envelope, addressed in white, hand-mixed gouache, and finished off with three vintage stamps. The valentines will be available in three different styles of lettering, so be sure to check them all out.

This project is especially meaningful this year, as it is the last project for Shanna and I for our little Hello Handmade. We've each decided to each focus on our growing, individual businesses, as they demand our full attention these days. We've both got some exciting projects in the works to share with you soon! It has been such a pleasure sharing our collaborative projects with you over the past three years, and though it is sad to shutter our shop, it is the right decision. It is time.
The journey of creating and bringing Hello Handmade to life has been a wonderful experience, and the bonds of friendship Shanna and I have forged will always remain, something I am so grateful for. Here's to you, Shanna, and the magical beauty we've created together over the past three years! xox

(Photographs by Shanna)

Hello Handmade Sale!

Just wanted to let you know that we are having a little sale in the Hello Handmade Shop! Just enter HAPPYHOLIDAY10 when you purchase, for 15% off your entire order, now through December 17th. Cheers! Thanks for all your support!

Rue Magazine

There is a little article about Hello Handmade Paperie in the latest issue of the online magazine Rue, complete with a holiday download on page 60....just wanted to share it with you here! Thanks, Anne, for letting us be a part of the publication! What an honor.

Nature's Splendor

This calendar is the fruit of a week-long retreat, spent on one of the most beautiful estates I've ever seen. The process of creating it with Shanna was so perfect, with long strolls interspersing our hours of writing and drawing. I feel especially excited that each of the four seasonal panels feature a snippet of words from Mary Oliver, whose poems perfectly capture the spirit of each season depicted.
As this year we decided to pay special tribute to each season, we gave each one its own page. At 7x7, the calendar is designed to be trimmed down, once a season has past, into an original 5x7 little piece of art - something to last long after 2011. What makes it really special is that each page is an original hand lettered by me- no two are exactly the same. Really sets it apart, we think.
To see more photos and description, check it out in the Hello Handmade shop here!

Magic.

Hello, friends! I just returned from an amazing trip to Rochester, where my close friend Shanna Murray and I stayed in the guest cottage of an incredibly beautiful estate, just dreaming, reading, laughing, talking, and oh yes how could I almost forget: producing our 2011 calendar for Hello Handmade, to be launched this coming Monday! It was magic. Just pure magic. I cannot wait to share it with you.

I am coming away from this retreat totally re-inspired in my work, and just blown away by the beauty of living life. I feel like I have so much to share. For now I'll just leave you with these shots taken from far above the earth....it is one of my favorite places to be. I always request window seats. There is something about it that gives me an incomparable peace, and I wish I had my own private plane so I could experience it more often. It is the perfect time to pray, to dream of things to come, to philosophize. I especially liked the scene out the window of my flight to Denver (pictured above), because it looked almost like something out of an aquarium, with the whale of steel perpetually floating over the clouds.

I can't wait to tell you more.

Romantics Unite!

Every time I watch a Jane Austen movie, I am always fixated on the scenes where someone receives a letter- sealed with wax, elaborately folded, the recipient quickly unfurls the folds to read the gorgeous lettering within.

So this year for our Hello Handmade valentines, Shanna and I decided to take a cue from Austen's era and create these lovely Regency Valentines! Hand-painted and hand-lettered, folded in the regency style, and sealed with striped washi paper tape and wax, these personalized, customizable valentines are truly something spectacular, if I do say so myself. And 10% of each valentine sale is going to the American Red Cross relief for Haiti, which makes them even more special.
Just wanted to share some love with you today.... xo

shop talk

Hello there! Are you feeling festive?! Hello Handmade certainly is, and we've marked our 2010 Laureled Tea Towel down to $20 to prove it! We've also listed some bulk orders in quantities of 2,5, and 10 for those of you looking to stock up- these are at an even further discount with free shipping. Yay!

We are also having a giveaway over at Poppytalk. Just leave a little comment (on the Poppytalk post) with your favorite holiday tradition by 10 PM Pacific, and a winner will be selected and announced tomorrow.

Hope this makes you feel merry and bright!

Greetings from Hello Handmade!

Good morning! Shanna and I have been waiting for this season to roll around again for a whole year, and now it is finally time to reopen our Hello Handmade shop selling this winter's goodies! Listed starting today are the Tannenbaum Specimen Chart and the 2010 Laureled Tea Towel. At the end of November we will be listing some downloadable items, such as an advent calendar, ornament, and bunting.
It was such a wonderful experience getting to work together on these items this summer in Rochester. Creating beautiful designs with such an amazing, wonderful friend is such a giddy feeling. We are so proud of them and hope you will love them, too!

a sneaky peek...

Well, ladies and gents, here is a tiny little sneak peek of some of the items that Shanna and I will be selling through our Hello Handmade shop this upcoming season! We can't wait to unveil everything more fully.....just pulling together some loose ends at this point. Cheers!

opposite of the desert:

One thing I was pretty obsessed with while staying in Rochester was the lush greenery everywhere you looked; having lived in Tucson for most of my life, this was somewhat of a novelty, and I'm pretty sure I drove Shanna a bit nuts with all my many, repetitive declarations of, "Oh goodness its so green here! I forgot what green looked like! Wait, I have to take a photograph!"

One of my very favorite parts of the trip was the last day I was there, when Shanna took me to visit the "moon gate" that her sweetheart C had built last year. It was so breathtaking, and you can see some more photos of it here on her blog. It reminded me of something right out of The Lord of the Rings, don't you think- for those of you that love that trilogy? So whimsical and otherworldly. Anyway, I just wanted to share these refreshingly lush photos with you- like a gulp of a cool, minty drink, right?

quota reached.

Here is just a peek at the hundreds upon hundreds of towels that Shanna and I washed and ironed and cut and ironed again and hemmed while I was in Rochester. This is just a fraction of them. It was an overwhelming endeavor, but I can't wait to show you the end result! However, I just might boycott ironing from here on out, as I believe my personal lifetime ironing quota was reached and then more than surpassed during this project. I think Shanna would agree.
Photo of Shanna's attic taken by Shanna

No place like home...

I just returned from Rochester, New York, where I met Shanna Murray in person for the first time. We had an amazingly beautiful time together, as we worked like maniacally driven crazy people designing, printing and packaging some gorgeous items for the winter line of Hello Handmade. It was a jam packed couple weeks, but the end result was more than worth all the effort. I can't wait to show you everything a little later in the year! Shanna is a wonderfully kind friend and a beautiful person, and I'm so thankful for the time I was able to spend with her. It felt a little bit like a really long slumber party, as there were many times when it was late at night and we were up working hard and delirium got the better of us and we would melt into fits of giggles over really silly things. Those were sweet times.

All that being said, there is no place like home, and I'm so very, very glad to be back.

Personalized Valentines from Hello Handmade!

Oh, I'm just so excited to introduce this project! For Valentine's Day, Shanna and I are offering personalized valentines; Shanna illustrated and designed the letterpressed cards depicting a sweet pair of enamored foxes, and my part of the project is inscribing the love note on the back! We love this project and think it is so unique and different from anything out there. Check out our shop and the details here! Send one to your sweetie!

Holiday goodies

Shanna and I are launching our small holiday collection this morning! Take a peek!