For the past few weeks we have been taking Susie to jumping class - think hurdles for dogs. Last Saturday was her final day and she was amazing! She even finished the hardest sequence - a triple jump - without Jake handling her at all.
I have the worst time choosing paint colors for our house! Every time I pick the color we repaint the room at least twice {dining room}, sometimes three times {bedroom, office}. I would like to paint our hallway gray after we strip the wallpaper. Jake loves rich, dark colors, but I'm afraid to go too dark. Hmmm...I have a feeling I should just let him pick, then maybe we'll only have to paint once!
My {semi-reasonable} list of goals for the new year.
A few weeks ago we decorated the house for Christmas. Every year we pick out a tree with our friends Sara and Ben. This year was no different!
After we got the tree home Marni and Lindsay came over to decorate and helped us by stringing popcorn for our doorways. It took me back to grade school and for few days the house smelled like popcorn and pine needles - it was great!
As promised, here are a few pictures of our table at the Bust Craftacular (my camera died within the first five minutes). I split the table with Amber Mahler of Mani Designs. Her work is absolutely gorgeous and her display was just perfect. She used an old letterpress type case to display her earrings, which fit quite well with my letterpress printed pieces. I wasn't in love with my display, but I did manage to fit everything into just two suitcases for the plane ride!
While we were in the city Jake and I stopped by Anthropologie and admired the paper chain garland and other great displays.
All around the city there were Obama window displays. This was one of the best, complete with stockings hung on the fire place for the whole Obama family. I regret that I didn't get any pictures of the multiple Obama food specials (like the "Obama Burger" or the "Obama lunch buffet").
In the spirit of the season Pistachio Press is offering a last-minute holiday special. This package includes:
Don't forget to check out hello handmade paperie's newest downloadable banner and ornaments. I haven't had too much time to decorate this season {more on this later}, so these will be perfect for any of you who are in the same boat!
And finally, make sure you check out new prints from FreshlyBlended Press! Nicole just completed a series of four beautiful letterpress and gocco land bird prints, available in her shop. They're even more wonderful in person!
Yesterday Pistachio Press hit a milestone - 800 sales in my Etsy shop! My very sincere thanks to everyone who has ordered a card or sent kind words in the last year and a half. Also, very many thanks and hugs to all of my friends and family who encouraged me and gave me advice when I most needed it. Your support has allowed me to live my dream of running a successful press, something I didn't think was possible just a few years ago.
If you're near Rochester and looking for something to do this weekend stop by my studio and say hi! It's time for the Anderson Alley Holiday Gala. I'm in studio #4-7.
A gorgeous collection. So pretty that I could see myself spending whatever it takes to make sure I have several new outfits for summer. I just love the color palette! Check out Morrison for more super beautiful pieces and a picture of the dog who started it all.
I couldn't have found these amazing pieces without the help of forty-sixth at grace. Nikole is the co-owner of the most lovely shop, herriott grace. Her father hand carves each wonderful spoon. These would make such an amazing gift and would surely make cooking even more pleasurable.
Thanksgiving itself was great. I hosted the meal for the first time ever. There were only five of us and since we are all vegetarian I got to eat everything! It was even more exciting because I finally got to cook a meal. I've been living off take-out for the past few months and didn't realize how much I missed cooking. Here was our delicious menu:
After many months and countless hours of work second storie was an amazing success this weekend. Our vendors were every bit as talented as I had expected and even more kind that I could have imagined. I was able to trade/buy many gifts, mostly for myself! On Sunday we hosted a delicious brunch with food carefully made by an incredible woman (it filled two six-foot tables). It seemed like all of our promotion paid off - we had a great crowd, many of them spent a few hours shopping and talking to vendors. My sister helped me at my table and by greeting people as they came in. And my husband was super-awesome! He greeted each person who came in, gave them an info booklet, told them about the free hot cider and provided the perfect cheerful introduction to the event. I only had time to take two photos, but check out Frenshlyblended's photos, they're great!
The Book Arts Fair this weekend was awesome. I bought a book from Sara Langworthy that I have wanted since the last conference, two years ago! It's beautiful and will fit in perfectly with my newly remodeled office. The image above is one of her books, but not the one I purchased. I am glad to be home, though. The fair was incredible, but looking at books for two days was a bit of a visual overload! I have a ton of ideas for new work, but no time to make it. I hope to have a bit more time over the winter to tuck in and make some new pieces.
And in honor of all of the wonderful books I saw this weekend, here's a tunnel book from the Pop-up class that I taught over the summer. The woman who made it meticulously painted and cut out each page and then hinged movable pieces to the pages.
Don't forget to sign up for the Holiday Ornament Swap, today is the last day! I received many beautiful ornaments last year and I'm looking forward to participating again.
I have been in love with Marcie Paper's work since I saw it in Abbey's apartment a few years ago. Thanks to Abbey's recent post I found out that Marcie has a piece for sale through 20x200! I can't wait to get my copy in the mail!
This weekend I will be going to the Pyramid Atlantic Book Arts Fair just outside of Washington DC. I'm really excited to buy some new books (I bought several last time) and go into DC to see a fascinating book exhibition. I hope I get some time in the next few weeks to work on the new press and clean up the yard before it snows. The time is really flying by!
On Halloween a sparkling Vandercook SP-15 was delivered to my studio! It's an awesome feeling to have a press pull up in a pickup truck and be loaded onto a freight elevator within 10 minutes of arrival. I call this good press karma, buying the right press from the right person makes the move much easier!
I'm also very excited today because I was able to vote for a candidate I believe in, for a person who will inspire America, and for a person I truly respect. Go vote!
This has been a long week - full of printing, burning screens, and cherry coke. The first snow flurries of the season arrived while I was teaching on Wednesday. I really do love this time of the year and it's been much cozier since I started wearing all of my favorite turtlenecks and fleeces.
Has it really been a week since I last posted?! I can't imaging the days passing any faster this time of the year. Last weekend was our "weekend at home" where Jake and I try to do fun things together or around the house for one weekend a month. We took a long walk with the girls through Letchworth Park. It was beautiful - the leaves were changing color and the air was crisp. We also indulged in three very different movies - a huge luxury of time! We saw Burn After Reading, American Teen, and Pineapple Express. I've never seen three movies in one weekend, but this was a much-needed break.
Calendar printing has been going quite well, until today! And today wasn't actually that bad, just a few snags. The first major snag was that one of the plates was wrong. I thought I would have to re-order it, but I was able to cut it apart and piece it into the correct position. It took a while, but not as long as it would have taken to reorder. The second snag was actually a terrified panic that I didn't have enough paper to finish the last page of the calendar. I finally found half a ream of paper hidden in my studio, just enough - hooray!
The rest of my day...a veggie coyote at Dog Town with Shanna, Parliment, sore right shoulder, new paper order, hot shower, print club board meeting, email, send proofs to client, amazing Obama pictures.
