So I know this is a small one, but you can’t be without too many gift tags/enclosures. I printed these recently and just love how they turned out. All totally different yet so suitable for many occasions!

These Aspen trees tags measure 2×3.5″ and come paired with butter yellow mini-lopes in a pack of 10.

You may recognize these Lace tags/place cards/enclosures, as it’s the same pattern from the Lola Suite. Printed in Pool and paired with brown mini-lopes, they measure 2×3.5″ and come  in a pack of 10.

If you are throwing a party, these escort cards will be sure to impress your guests. Printed in red and paired with grey mini-lopes, they measure 2×3.5″ and come in a set of 10.

The REQUIREMENTS:

To enter, comment on this post by midnight July 3rd and you’ll get ONE SET OF EACH! That’s it and good luck:)
(one entry per person, winner will be randomly drawn and notified after the giveaway closes).

UPDATED: CONGRATS CHRISTA, I hope you have a fabulous day!

UPDATE : I WON I WON!!!!!! PICS SOON :)

So I don’t generally do this unless I REALLY want it, but here’s to blog promotion at it’s best.

If you want one of these or would like to check out some lovely acrylic jewelery then look into Plastique for some great finds (more suiting to type nerds like me but there’s a little something mod for everyone). Or you can enter a giveaway for the Helvetica necklace or Kern rings over at The Daily Estian. Here’s to hoping I win so I can have an awesome helvetica tan on my neck as this will be worn every stinking day of the summer if I actually manage to win!

I saw this in my RSS reader and couldn’t resist a 5 minute distraction. Can you spell your name?

So it’s inevitable that poor eyesight and genetics play a dominant role in both our families resulting in the need for lenses among many family members. I’m just a little surprised that I haven’t thought about my own children’s vision until recently, when in contrast I had eye surgery the first time at 18 months and the second time at 3 years to help correct my own crossed eyes.

Needless to say, with diabetes playing into the mix as well, it will become a reality probably sooner than later that Dave (the 4 year old who almost knocked out his teeth on Monday) will have to get lenses for vision. He complains sometimes that he can’t see very well, and occasionally when I’m pointing a very large moose out on our drive home, he will miss it by a mile. We’re told that his blood sugar readings can affect his vision too – in that if he’s high – there will be spots and blurry vision however it is only temporarily.

Which got me thinking: I had UGLY glasses as a child. I don’t know if it was a combination of 80’s large frames and my petite heart shaped face, or my parents not wanting the boys to chase after me EVER (which worked until I was a freshman in college and I then took matters into my own hands, THANK YOU DKNY)! Needless to say, do any of you know of good looking little boy frames? I just can’t stand to take away from these lady killer eyes.

I’ve found some awesome frames from Lafont Eyewear but alas they are definitely a girls frame.

I love the simple design and the flexibility of it all but was sad to discover there aren’t any boy alternatives! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

So I’ve been MIA these last two days…and now I’m just catching up. Monday was filled with meetings and proofs for clients followed by a family emergency Monday night. The 4 year old knocked his teeth loose so between the doctor and the dentist on Tuesday I’m just barely getting around to catching up on the blog. Below is the final invitation from the rehearsal dinner invites blogged about here initially. You can click on the photo to be directed to more in the suite!

For more information about custom designs then click on. I’ll be back with regular posts for the rest of the week tomorrow.

Here’s to hoping you all have an enchanted weekend full of sunshine! If you missed the previous posts then click here: Proofs | Shop.

Check back Monday for giveaway winner and something special!

To get your own set of custom business cards or calling cards click here for more details.

This is a return client, who not only has provided great inspiration, but also offered the opportunity for much artistic license on my end with the design process. Both times she has been fabulous to work with, and I’ve gotten to produce two very different pieces. The first, seen here (invitation) and here (rehearsal dinner) were favorites immediately. Said client now has a son getting hitched and came back for another round of letterpress goods for the rehearsal dinner.

Her starting inspiration was from an editorial in the Winter MS Weddings 2009 featuring a country wedding. The elements she wanted to explore was a monogram, something classic however not too formal, crysanthemums, reds/greys and something significantly different from the previous work I’ve done for her.

I was pretty excited by her initial ideas, foremost that she wanted to use a red/charcoal combination for coloring which was right in line with the more patriotic colors in the Fall 2009 Pantone lineup. The three ideas I explored all tied into some element of the inspiration photos or the crysanthemums.

Left: A large initial/monogram blind debossed (indicated in the proofs in light grey) with simple center-set typography. The idea behind this proof mimicked the larger-than-life monogram on the table cloth above. The client ordered table cards, escort cards and place cards as well so the larger monogram could be easily carried across all pieces and even into the linens if the client ended up going this route.

Middle: This proof reflected a more formalized picnic theme; the dotted striping reflective of old-school gingham or stitching with the crysanthemum as the central element. Similar to antique tablecloths, this proof tried to best reflect the feel of the event being put on. The inclusion of the “W” above was also there to establish the monogram element, however after seeing it in that particular typeface all parties agreed that it looked too much like a Weezer picnic.

Right: The last proof was quite simple and minimalist. I drew from the stitching on the napkins in one of the photos to create the pattern along the left margin and set the type in Bembo to give it a more traditional feel without the traditional center-set layout.

Photos of the finished piece to come next week! To see the proofs large and in their full glory, click on the above image and you’ll be re-directed to the flickr feed.

I can’t believe it has taken me so long to blog / list these. A companion to the Mod Mimosa recipe cards, these are printed in cyan ink with a blind deboss and available immediately in the Shop.

I just couldn’t resist. Below is a small clip of a custom project for a client for a father’s day gift. It’s one of those classic “quote book” sayings from her one and only. I’ll post the final printed piece next week so check back to see how it turns out!

I didn’t get the watch due to my inability to type the right credit card number. By the time the page refreshed (which was seconds), the watch was sold out. Now I just don’t know what to do with my self!

UPDATE: I GOT ONE!!! Thanks Helly Hansen in Bozeman, MT for making my day!

So I turned the big 27 last Tuesday and have been collecting some cash gifts as a result. Thanks family :) While pondering what I could spend this cash on (seeing that I haven’t bought an article of clothing/accessories for myself since 2007), I think I’ve found the perfect purchase.

I admit, buying things for myself is a hard thing to do these days. When it comes down to it I’ve kind of become a comparison shopper. My thought process usually goes as follows, “$100 shoes vs. $100 vial of insulin” or “clothes for me vs. clothes for 4 year old who’s finally growing now that his body is on insulin therapy.” Or maybe “new car/$400 monthly payment or $400 worth of prescriptions/month for healthy child”.

Not that I’m complaining – I find that even with the difficulties that we face as a family with newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetes there are blessings that come with it too. One being that it’s good to have things to pay for to help your children live vs. having other things that aren’t considered a necessary “living” expense. The others just don’t seem that important any more.

However since it’s time to treat myself I’ve looked long and hard for something I really need (with a little bit of want in there too). A watch has been one of those need/but can’t find the right one sort of issues. But alas! My problems are solved. Presenting the limited edition 4×4 Nixon Rubber Player watch. I know it’s a men’s watch but I like large wrist accessories. AND that yellow is really the perfect color for a purchase like this. I can already imagine this watch saying things to me like: “I’m happy” and “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” or  “You need something to get you places on time now that you have 3 kids.”

And lastly the most important thing this watch says is, “Life goes on, you’ve made it this far how about adding another 27 years of bliss to the mix!”

It goes on sale st 10 am PST so wish me luck in snagging one, I’ll be aggressively stalking their website minutes before launch. If I come away empty handed I think I might just cry.

This is fabtabular! Every time I see something amazing like this it reiterates in my mind the importance of keeping an active sketchbook. I need to learn how to chalk animate and do stop-motion now. Off to find this song somewhere!

Found on Swiss Miss.