Thanks Indie Fixx!

A big thank you to Jen at Indie Fixx for inviting me to participate in her Indie Artist Fixx interview series! I was truly honored to be asked. You can read the interview here.

Celebrity Death Match

Boy, things have gotten pretty heated politically in the last few days! I was thinking about MTV's Celebrity Death Match...what would happen if they paird up Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Keith Olbermann. Might not be a completely fair fight, but it would probably be fun to watch.

Thinking about 2009

It's that time of the year again...calendar printing time! Tara and I are working on our second calendar. She sent me the designs a little while ago and the plates and paper have arrived. This means I'll be a printing fool for the next few weeks since we're trying to launch these by the week of October 20th {remember last year?} We're currently taking pre-orders, which will include free shipping and a complimentary note card.

Happy Birthday

My very sweet Cassie turned three today (at least this is the day we picked to celebrate as her birthday since she was a rescue). In honor of this we cuddled for quite some time this morning before I had to leave for school. I should have brought her with me, my students would have been in love!

call for entries

image}MJM, calligraphy} betsy dunlap

call for entries} featuring the best indie arts and crafts in the north east and beyond. second storie is looking for talented vendors to be a part of this truly unique holiday festival. Application deadline is October 27. This is our third event and I'm sure it's going to be amazing. I can't wait to see who applies!

energized

I attended an amazing event last week with my mom, sister, friends, and 300 fellow community members. We peacefully gathered to take a group picture, sing, and say together, Sarah Palin doesn't speak for me. I truly felt united among so many wonderful women, from such varied backgrounds.

remembering

I said weeks ago that I would post some more pictures from Italy. Well, that time has finally come! Here are a few of my favorites, more on my flickr.

A very lonely little canoe in Portofino. I just love that it's pink!

One of the most gorgeous views we saw on our hike through Cinque Terre.

We came across this netting, woven through the trees, on one of the trails between towns. It was such a great reward to find this after a particularly tough part of the hike.

Finally, my dream house. Teal shutters and curved walls make my heart melt! This gem was in the heart of the old city in Trier, Germany. One of my favorite things about my own house is a curved wall in out living room.

September cheer

So many things are weighing on my mind, so in an effort to push them aside I thought I'd post some beautiful things that would be sure to cheer me up (and maybe you as well).

This is one of the most beautiful bracelets I've ever wanted, and I don't even wear bracelets! I'm in love with pearls and the raw nature of this piece. Visit Gretchen Walker's shop to see more great finds.

Rachel Austin's work always cheers me up! The texture and colors just make me happy. I'm hopeful that I'll someday be able to hang one of these in my house.

“No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots."
—Barbara Ehrenreich



They certainly hit the nail on the head with this one. Let's put this sexist thing to rest and start talking about issues and asking real questions. I, for one, am disturbed that we don't even have a dialog anymore about the economy, homelessness, the war, health insurance, etc. I'm tired of hearing about lipstick and I don't care how many kids she has.




I had really debated with myself about posting about politics on my blog, but this is a major part of my life, as it should be. Part of my training as an artist has been to engage others in critical thought and dialog. As a member of the indie-blogging community I haven't seen much of this discussion happening, and I'm tired of side-stepping the elephant in the room (who may or may not be wearing lipstick). Sarah Palin does not speak for me.

taking some time

Lately I've been good at doing things that are unrelated to work (like making carrots at the market, above). I joined a gym this week with my sister. I hate the gym, but as more time passes in my life I have begun to realize that I never make time for my health (you all know about my Mountain Dew obsession). So, I got up today and headed over to take one of the 95 classes they offer each week, only to realize that I was looking at the wrong schedule and was 15 minutes late. This meant that I had to actually "work out" on real equipment with no peppy instructor - but I did it. But next time I will make sure I am on time for the class. Then I spent a few hours with a friend who just had a baby (and Marni took some beautiful pictures of her). We had a bit of girl time and her mom made us the most amazing eggplant paninis. I'm quite grateful to have such a flexible schedule, one where I can visit with friends on a Friday afternoon.

This evening we went to Marni and Nate's opening of their collaboration titled Witness. The piece above is from their series and is one of my favorite groupings. You should check it out if you're in the Rochester area. Then Korean for dinner and dancing at Taylors. I have to say, Taylors exceeded my expectations of both skeeziness and fun. We watched a true dance battle between two mirror-hogging men in their late 50's - it was incredible - and got to dance to some of my favorite songs.

Hoping to post some home improvements in the next few weeks. Jake and I decided to try to spend one weekend each month at home, working on things we never have time for, and enjoying a few lazy days. It's something I think might add some balance to our over-committed lives. I'm also hoping I can spend a few hours alone this weekend, to have some time to think about new projects and maybe make some headway on my website updates or neglected artwork.

Carrot Campaign '08

I'll be spending most of this evening (from 4-8 pm) making carrots at the South Wedge Farmers Market as part of a fund raiser second storie is helping to organize. Carrots will be constructed out of salvaged cloth and yarn and available for sale with the profits going directly to the South Wedge Farmer's Market. We'll be making a ton, so we'll need help! Stop by our tent and we'll get you to work - we'll have a bushel of carrots to be stuffed, yarn to tie and buttons to be attached.

Hooray!

Pistachio Press is featured in this month's issue of Lucky Magazine!!! I've known about this for a little while, but didn't want to chance jinxing it. The I Love You card is listed in the Bonus New York section of the magazine. Apparently the bonus section is regional, so I had to go to several different stores to find the New York issue (Boston and Philly were in the first few stores I tried). I am super excited - thanks Lucky!

I'm overwhelmed by the conventions and all I can think of is this clip from French Kiss. I think it sums up everything pretty well. Also, I love Kevin Kline movies - the distraction would be good :)

we have returned

We're back from vacation and trying to get back into the swing of things! The trip was great. We went to France, Italy, and Germany. The photo above was the view out of our bedroom window in Italy. Santa Margherita was an ideal beach location, small town, perfect location, and beautiful beaches. I had a fruit tart for breakfast every day and tried to have at least one gelato each day, if not two!

The World Rally Championships in Germany were one of the highlights of the whole trip - really, even I liked it. Jake was ecstatic the whole time we were at the races, running around like a six-year-old taking pictures of all of the cars. Our hotel and the final race were in Trier, about a block from an old castle. And I didn't even panic too much when Jake drove on the Autobahn.

The last day of traveling was grueling - up at 7:30am, bus to the airport, long trans-atlantic flight where we watched about three movies and played Mystery Rummy for eight hours. Once we got to NYC we had an eight-hour layover in JFK (not our choice, but Delta changed the itinerary and never told us). So we checked our bags and headed into the city for vegetarian heaven at Red Bamboo. Finally got home and to be around 1:30am! Of course my internal clock was off (and continues to be) so I got up by 7 and we ran errands for much of the morning. I was actually in the studio printing by 2pm, feeling like a crazy woman. When you run your own business you really can't leave for three weeks and not expect things to be chaotic when you return.

So far this week I've printed a 2-color invitation for one couple and a 3-color accordion invitation with two 2-color inserts for another couple. Crazy as it may be, it feels great to be back home!

More photos of the trip to follow!

Collaboration

Shanna and I have been working on a letterpress card collaboration this summer and I am pleased to let you know that it's up in our shops! These cards were a collaboration in the truest sense. We sat side-by-side on out laptops during the design process and printed them together on the trusty Vandercook. It was nice for both of us to try something different in terms of design. Enjoy!

It finally happened...

We had a bit of sun today! Every time I try to take new photos of recent Pistachio Press projects the clouds come out. Lucky for me, the sun finally peeked out for a few minutes and I got some decent shots.

I've printed this design several times, and I love that the formality can change so much just by changing the color palette!

I'm really happy with how this set turned out. The invitations are three-color and I think the thank you notes are super sweet. I am enamored with cotton paper, such great blind embossing results!

This is one of my favorite designs. The bride sent me photos of the lace on her veil and I drew the pattern in Illustrator. I love how it turned out, especially how the paper is raised in the white parts of the flowers.

After taking these shots I realized that I have several new designs that aren't on my website yet! I never seem to have enough time in the day, but a semi-major website revision is in the works. Marni is going to let me use her fancy light-box set up, so I'm hoping to get some amazing shots of the collection.

Also in the works is the official launch of the card collaboration with Shanna, scheduled to be unveiled on Monday, August 4. We've had a few loose ends to tie up, and I can wait for these to hit our Etsy shops!

tired of the rain

The weather may not be the best this week, but maybe it's good for me. No temptation to garden while I feverishly print and package several invitation packages! I'm trying to finish all of the jobs I have in progress before we leave for Italy {two weeks!} so that I can actually relax and not panic about anything while we're away. I thought this would be easy, but things have a way of creeping up.

I thought I would be able to post pictures of some of my recent printing, but we haven't had any sun! Oh well, soon enough you'll be able to see the new work. Shanna and I are also planning to launch our card collaboration soon. We'll have five brand new designs, for sale individually or as a group.

New work

I'm finally getting around to posting some new work in the shop. I printed this piece for Renegade and never had time to include it in the shop. I'm hoping to post more later this week, too.

I'm also finishing up a new custom wedding design. The bride's bouquet will include lilies and orchids and was the inspiration for the design. Can't wait to post pictures of the printed pieces!

Camping 2008

Camping this year turned out to be a success. We didn't have quite as many people stop by as last year, but it was still a lot of fun. Unfortunately, my sister Lindsay couldn't make it since she's in Budapest for a few weeks - what a hardship for her! - so we're going to try to organize a second trip in September.

Cassie and Pancake in the car on the drive down.

Uncle Joe building a giant tee pee for the big bonfire.
He doesn't mess around!

Bonfire pit with the tents in the background.

The fire burned for quite a while and it was slightly difficult to make s'mores that night!

Pancake loves camping and made herself at home.

Cassie was ready to go home by the last night in camp,
probably just tired of sleeping on the ground!

What is art?

Marni just sent this to me. I had forgotten how funny it is, although it really does seem longer than 7 minutes.

{Origamic architecture structure by Ingrid Siliakus}

The first day of the Pop-up Book class went really well. We went over three structures and my class jumped into making their books with both feet. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, when we get to talk about their concepts for the full-length book, not just the mock-ups.

There are ups and downs to owning your own business. My major bright spot this week is that I'm working on a few new custom invite designs. This is a sneak peek of one of them, based on the lace from the bride's veil. I'm super excited with how it's turning out. The downer is that I have to raise my prices a bit to keep up with rising prices elsewhere. I knew this was coming, but I hate having to actually implement the change. But, it's officially a reality...I signed in to order more paper tonight and the prices has increased a full 25% in the last week! This seems crazy to me, especially since there was already an increase within the last year and there was no warning. Very sad, indeed.

In one week...

{I love Robert Sabuda's pop-ups!}

I'll be teaching Intro to Pop-up Books at VSW from June 30-July 4. I'm putting together my lesson plans and I'm getting really excited about the class. I've had students make some incredible pop-up books, so I can't wait to see what this class makes. If pop-ups aren't your thing, check out some of the other amazing classes being offered. I would love to take Glass Photographs: The Art of Wet-Plate Collodion by Jenn Libby. Get Out There: Post-MFA Survival Training by Myra Greene looks like it will be a great class for those wishing to hone their professional development skills.

So far, so good

I've been doing good on the life front this past week. Friday night we went to the drive in for a double feature in honor of Kris's birthday. I hadn't been to a drive in is many years, and this was a lot of fun. We saw the Incredible Hulk (Edward Norton is my pretend-boyfriend) and Baby Mama (love Amy Poehler). Saturday we went to the public market and then I took a very nice two-hour nap. Then on Sunday we went to Keuka Lake to visit Jake's family. Last year the dogs were afraid of the water, but this year they just jumped right in. It was awesome. I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow, although this time I might have to bring my computer :)

Another year down!

Yesterday was our three-year anniversary, but it feels like so much longer. I guess it really has been longer, eleven years! I spent part of the day printing and the the rest of the night half-asleep on the couch watching For Keeps while waiting for Jake's flight to get in. His first flight from Long Island was canceled and the second was delayed. He didn't get home until 1:30 this morning. But, I did surprise him with a Play Station 3, which he has been wanting for quite some time. It wasn't really even for our anniversary, since we always take a trip instead of presents. It was for all of his help the past few weeks. Nothing says "I love you! Thanks for putting up with my shit" like a PS3.

He was speechless at first...but now I feel like I might have created a monster. He's obsessed with linking it to the internet. Who knew it would be this complicated?!

And just for kicks, here's a recent picture of us at a Clue-themed housewarming party. I was Mrs. Peacock and Jake was Prof. Plum. We were some of the only people who actually dressed up, but it was fun to wear one of my vintage hats from Susan's old collection and Jake found that amazing jacket at the first thrift store he went to!

I'm feeling much better today about life in general. I've finally realized that I can't print every day of the week. The day after a big printing day I tend to make excuses to stay home and work on new designs or catch up on email. I'm going to work this into my schedule now...only two or three non-consecutive days of printing each week. I think I'll actually be more productive this way. I'm actually glad that all of the events in the past few weeks took place. I have always felt that things happen for a reason and I try to find the lessons in difficult situations. I have learned so much and I'm actually feeling a bit rejuvenated. I'm looking forward to new adventures.

I used to have a life

On the return trip from Renegade Brooklyn I realized that I used to have a life outside of work. When I started Pistachio Press my main goal was to have a self-sustaining career that I loved with more flexibility than other jobs...this is the reason most small businesses begin, right? Well, in the last few months I've worked 60-80 hours/week, said no when friends ask me to hang out, stopped going for walks with my dogs, started living on Mountain Dew, answer work email at midnight, ignore my husband, and let my house get to an almost irreparable state of disorganization. This was never my ultimate goal.

My very high expectations led me to work my butt off preparing for Renegade {as did my sister and husband}, only to have a severe thunderstorm overhead for much of the first day followed by a three-hour traffic jam during which I was sitting in my underwear, wrapped in a sheet because I could no longer wear my dripping jeans. To say I was disheartened would be an understatement. But, the next day turned out to be nice and I met with some of my favorite vendors {more to follow on this subject}. My spirits were especially lifted when Julie from Etui came back smiling even though her tent blew away during the storm {see missing tent in first photo}. And it was awesome sharing a beautiful tent with Shanna and working on our card collaboration during the last few weeks.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that although it was a bit rough, I learned a few valuable lessons. I now know where my priorities are and I'm going to try very very hard to work a 40-hour week. Organization will be the key. I'm also going to try to build in some time for myself. My masseuse gave me the suggestion to take a 15 minute break to stretch or sit quietly a few times each day {after I stopped crying during the intake before I even got the massage}. I also know why second storie is so awesome...we always hold our events inside, we try to greet each vendor to make everyone feel welcome, and we would definitely warn our vendors if a giant thunderstorm was going to sit on top of the event. I'm also going to try to start writing my blog again...but this time it's for me. I like reading what I've done in the past year {like my very first listing on Etsy} and I really hope that weekly writing on the blog will help give me a bit of focus and time for reflection. And maybe the next time someone asks how I'm doing I can honestly answer "Great! I just got back from the park and now I'm going to make dinner with my amazing husband."

Hope to see you here!

Exploding

I'm still here, but I think I might explode! Shanna and I just designed five collaborative cards. We spent many hours yesterday on the letterpress and I spent a fair percentage of that time swearing at the plates as I was trying to register one specifically stubborn design. But...they're looking amazing! Will try to post pictures when they're finished.

{recent invite printed by me and designed by Tara}

We officially have a week before we leave for Renegade. I'm super stoked, but I'm totally clueless about quantities. I obviously can't bring everything, but I want to make sure I have enough of each design. I also have to print three weddings before I leave and just got three new wedding orders today! Is your head exploding yet?

During an organizing frenzy this afternoon, Lindsay and I heard a big clunk in the living room. We came out and found that Cassie had decided to start lifting weights. This totally made my day.

More, more, more

I just got back from the Stationery Show, which was awesome. It was great to see so many talented designers and printers in one room, one very gigantic room! I spent three whole days walking the show and trying to take in everything. Design Sponge has some great coverage of the show, including some of my favorites and a few I don't even remember seeing!


I also made a brief trip down to ICFF, where I was blown away by metalsmith Miranda Meilleur, who is one of the sweetest people I may have ever met. Her work has a perfect balance of delicate etching and raw material (steel and silver). It looks like she is expanding her line to include jewelery, which may have devastating consequences for my savings account!


Alas, my multi-day stationery extravaganza means that I now have a flooded inbox, a very full printing schedule, and an incredibly messy house. I tend to make lots of piles, which means than almost any available flat surface in our house (even the stove) is covered in cards, envelopes, junk mail, and folded laundry that I can't seem to find time to put away. I had better get moving!

How can it be May?

I can't believe it's been a whole month since I last posted! Really! An entire month! That should give you some indication about what kind of month I've had. I felt like I might be sent to the bad-blogger corner if I didn't post something today, so here I am with a brief recap of my month.

Today marked the first day of the South Wedge Farmers Market, which was very sweet and made me feel like summer is on it's way. We have a weekly second storie booth at the market and Karen was out first vendor. Her knits are so adorable and were the perfect cozy treat for a cool spring day.

I learned about Stuff White People Like this month. Let's just say, its very apparent how white I am. And what a yuppie :) I particularly like: Arrested Development, Recycling, Expensive Sandwiches, 80's Night, and Breakfast Places.

I've printed four or five sets of wedding stationery and still have tons more to print! It's been great to work with some many clients and print so many varied projects. It's one thing to see the design on the computer screen, but it's always so different to see them printed on the letterpress.

And finally, I found out that Shanna and I got into the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn. Now I really have to kick it into gear and print until my arm falls off. I'm super excited!!!