Check it out!

Abbey Hendrickson's originals and prints are for sale at The Shiny Squirrel!


The Visual Studies Workshop silent auction is March 7 from 6-9 pm. The work above is by the talented Kris Merola.

I'm having a show with Nancy Topolski next week at Studio 354 {in the Hungerford Building}. Opening reception is March 7 from 6-9 pm. It's the same night as the VSW auction, so if you're close to Rochester stop in to say hello!

It's begun...


It's definitely wedding season, or at least wedding invitation season. I'm working on quite a few weddings right now and seem to get daily inquiries! This is really exciting and gives me a chance to work on several different projects at once, which is generally the way I work.

It's also exciting because I have teamed up with designer Tara Hogan for a few of these weddings {you may remember our calendar collaboration}. Over the weekend I printed the above design {created by Tara} and mixed the exact shade of Raspberry Pudding ink the bride requested {from a Behr paint chip}. I love how they turned out!

Whatever

I love this print of a collage by Dollface Design. I think it would be great to reflect on this during those days where I don't feel like making decisions! You can learn more about Layla on her blog and Flickr.

I hate dishes, but I love lace


Two exciting things happened this weekend. The first, our electrician finished wiring our kitchen for the dishwasher (a Christmas present from my parents) and the counter that Jim helped us install is awesome! I love the new set-up of the kitchen. The space is much brighter and I have so much more room to work now. You can really see the difference in the pictures above.

And my second piece of fun news is that I have a new card design in the shop. I love lace and blind embossing, so this card is the perfect fit for me. I'm also working on incorporating this pattern into a wedding invitation, which I think will be quite beautiful!
Yesterday marked our one-year anniversary of losing Tipper. I can't believe how quickly this year has passed and how much we still miss him. But, if this hadn't happened our ladies would never have been brought together, and they love each other more than any two dogs I've ever met. And every so often I'm lucky enough to have a vivid dream about my boy.

how to do nothing...


I've been reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and I love it! She's a beautiful writer and I feel like I couldn't be reading this at a better time in my life. For starters, I've barely read any book in the last three years just for fun. I used to be a voracious reader, but the intense reading load in grad school just took all of the joy out reading. Every time I pick this book up I don't want to put it down!

In the first section of the book she travels to Italy in pursuit of pleasure. I was particularly excited about this because Jake and I are going to Italy this summer with another couple and I'm looking forward to relaxing. But as I read further into this section I came across the following excerpt, written by the author when she was trying to "learn" how to relax and take pleasure in doing nothing:

"...many Americans feel more happy and fullfilled in their offices than they do in their own homes. Of course, we all inevitably work too hard, then we get burned out and have to spend the whole weekend in our pajamas, eating cereal straight out of the box, and staring at the TV in a mild coma (which is the opposite of working, yes, but not exactly the same thing as pleasure). Americans don't really know how to do nothing. This is the cause of that great sad American stereotype - the overstressed executive who goes on vacation, but who cannot relax."

This really hit a nerve for me. From the time I wake up until I go to bed I feel like I'm constantly working. The only time I even watch tv is if I'm folding cards at the same time! The fist thing I do when I wake up on Saturday is check my email and I can't even seems to make time to go to a yoga class once a week. How is this possible? How am I going to be able to go to Italy for two weeks without my cell phone or computer? I'm taking this excerpt as a sign that I need to prioritize a little bit of time for myself every day to do something (or nothing) without feeling guilty. With that in mind, I'm going to make a real lunch (no Cheetos) and read some more of this book!

Thank you


I made my 300th sale on Etsy today! This is a personal milestone for Pistachio Press and I'm super excited. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and the press!

For your Valentine...


I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this...chocolate type! Two of my favorite things wrapped up into one! Typolade is a German-based company, which means that I have no idea how to order these lovelies.

Equally tasty and awesome, chocolate bubble-wrap from DeLessio Bakery. I think Jake would also love this, although it might not give him that satisfying pop that real bubble-wrap does!


{both chocolates were found via sub-studio design}

Whew!

Well, after many long hours I finally finished binding a set of beautiful save-the-date booklets. I printed and bound 80 booklets (12-pages each) for an upcoming wedding and I couldn't be happier with how they turned out! And this whole experience has reinforced my love for my guillotine paper cutter, which was one of my best studio investments ever!


The pages were printed on pearl white Lettra and the cover was printed on light blue Magnani Pescia (a gorgeous Italian paper).

Pistachio Press BABY



I am so excited to announce the launch of Pistachio Press Baby! I've been working with Canadian designer Sam Posnick on a set of super cute onesies and caps. This set features a dreamy squirrel on the onesie and two acorns on the brim of a cap. Both are printed with water-based inks on organic cotton. Check them out in the shop!

shop update {valentines}



I just updated my shop with a few Valentines. They made their debut at second storie {which was really wonderful} and I'm happy to finally have them available in my shop. I've been pretty busy printing weddings, but I promise that more updates are coming soon!