Lauren and David

Congratulations to Lauren and David, who were married this past August at the Encantado Resort in Sante Fe, New Mexico. I loved all of the "southwestern" detailing, such as corn husks on the chairs, succulents on the cake, and a turquoise bracelet on the bride's wrist. And take a look at those monsoon-y looking clouds- what a breathtaking backdrop. May your new life together be blessed, Lauren and David!

Photography by Twin Lens, LLC.

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!

States United

I checked out the HBO series John Adams from the library to watch while I was working last week, and it was excellent. I would highly recommend it. It made me feel very patriotic, thus the link to this awesome letterpressed poster from the Etsy shop Beauchamping. Did anyone else watch and enjoy this series?

We will miss you, Bellie.

This is a picture of Belle as a kitten.

It has been pretty sad around our house lately, as last week we had to have our little Belle put to sleep. She was only three years old. It is amazing how much you can grow to love the pets that live with you....I feel like there is a giant "Belle-shaped" hole in my heart now. But we are so very thankful for the short time we had with her. She was the sweetest little cat on earth.

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.

Julene Harrison

Nick's birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and I commissioned Julene Harrison to create this amazing papercut piece for one of his gifts. Pretty amazing, don't you think? The lyric is really special to the two of us, and I can't stop looking at the framed end result. Check out more of Julene's amazing work here on her blog.

Oh my.

I was having a chat the other day with some girlfriends about what we would do differently with our weddings if we could go back in time and do it over again. I tried to describe an amazingly unfussy, homemade, low-key sort of event, but couldn't quite get my words to match the images in my head. Then I saw pictures of this wedding and my jaw dropped. This is the sort of party I would go back in time and create if I could (with the same husband, of course)!

Via Frolic.

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!