Back from Thanksgiving. It was a dream. I love spending time with my family. I'm so lucky we all like each other so much. I haven't uploaded any of the weekend photos yet, but they are coming. I'm still in the lazy hazy Thanksgiving mode. I'm having a hard time getting back to real life. Vacation is the greatest....especially when I get to talk to people other than my boss all day long!!  I probably talked too loud and too much. :) Anywho, these are some photos of Cree at school. I thought he looked very collegiate that day and thought the moment was photo worthy. On a side note...his books are huge right? He has one that's double the bright red one....not photographed because it is too heavy to carry around. Yuck.

The Handmade Detroit Craft Fair is next weekend! I hope anyone who is near by is planning on coming!

Happy day before Thanksgiving!!! Cree and I are going to Kansas City for the weekend, hence the adorable vintage KC postcard.  I love going home. Kansas City is my little secret. Very few know just how wonderful it is. :)  We leave tonight after work and then we'll finish the drive tomorrow morning just in time for Thanksgiving dinner. I love the holidays. My mama always makes sure they are relaxing. Lots of family time and lots of fun. I love my family.

I spent another Monday evening at Hollanders.  I got all of my prints cut. My books are all cut, half are sewn...I still have lots to get done, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I always pretend that I have to get everything done way before the due date, so I've got plenty of time.  I love staying busy with projects. 


Also, on a side note. The last time I did letterpress prints, I took someone's suggestion to try Reich letterpress paper instead of Crane for the price sake. Bad decision. Crane is just the best...even if it is more expensive. It takes the ink perfectly. It feels better...it even smelled better.  It felt like coming home when I switched back. :)

Aren't these fantastic? I was cleaning through my files the other day and found these. (I love organizing...I always find things I forgot about.) I bought the National Park stickers when I was in the 8th grade and the flour cards were a gift from Kenz.  She found them in the throw away bin of the Martha Stewart craft department.  I think I want to frame them. Cree and I bought a couple IKEA frames a couple weekends ago, and I've been looking for the perfect things to fill them. Score!

I spent Monday evening at Hollander's. Generally you aren't allowed to use their facilities if you haven't taken a class, but I explained that I worked in a conservation lab for four years...and that I've worked for a letterpress shop.  They graciously let me use the board shear. It was so nice!! Last craft fair, poor Cree sat and cut out just about 75% of my prints. I'm glad I worked it out so that doesn't have to happen again. Anyway, it was just me and Tom (above) in the lab. He brought in his ipod and we worked to Joni Mitchell and the Beatles and talked about how much we love letterpress. His specialty is woodblock prints. I bought some blocks for Cree and I, but we are too scared to start carving! We have ideas...I supposed we just need to go for it.  Anyway, I was glad he let me take some photos. I thought it was a great space.


PS. I've been listening to this album all morning. Those Lennons. 


PPS. Speaking of Lennon...Don't you love seeing the Beatles every time you open the internet? I hope Apple keeps that up for a little while longer. 

With the holidays approaching, Cree and I have decided that this year we are going to send out Christmas cards! This will be our first shot at a Christmas card as a married couple, so we'll see how it goes. We are keeping them pretty simple, but we have a little twist in the works. Above is the ribbon tag from the card. If any of you want an update, but we don't have your e-mail address, send it to me or leave it below. We are trying to get them out after Thanksgiving. Who knows if that will actually happen, but it is the goal. 


Speaking of Christmas cards...my mama is so cute. Sometimes she'd get to busy with the hustle and bustle of the holidays that our Christmas cards turned into Happy Valentines cards. In many ways, that seems like the smartest way to go. If you are sending out letters this year, put us on the list! We'd love to hear from you.


I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week. Life is getting too fast!!

Cree found this for us at the thrift store this weekend. It was the only thing we wanted to buy and there was a super long line...I'd say 50 ft or so. We were debating whether or not it was worth the wait. I'm so glad we did. I've been wanting a vintage penguin for a long time...ever since I read this book. I think it is so cute! Oh how I love books. Cree and I have a bookshelf wall piled high with books. We had a couple over to dinner once and they asked if we actually read the books we have or if we just like the way they look. Made me giggle a bit. Of course we read them! But we also like the way we look. It's my job to like books. Sometimes if we already have a copy of a book but find one with a great cover design, we'll just splurge and have two copies....sometimes three. Weird? I think not.


Also, just as a side note. Cree and i went to go see Waiting For Superman. It was fantastic. Wonderful. Delightful. Stupendous. The adjectives could go on and on. The best movie I've seen in a long while. I laughed, I cried, I wanted to talk about it for days after. I highly recommend it. Also, for every ticket you buy, you get to donate $15 to a school project of your choice. We still haven't decided where to give. There are so many wonderful projects. If anyone wants to see it...we'll go again.

I finished pressing my Michigan print this weekend. Four colors is so much work! I was tickled to finally see it all finished.  I still need to cut them before the craft fair, so they aren't completely finalized. It is so funny how cranking the wheel and spitting out prints for hours on end brings me so much joy. I really can't explain it. 

Any of you thinking you are on the verge of visiting us in Ann Arbor, you should read this article on Design Sponge. And just in case your curious, I work opposite the cute little coffee shop pictures.

New Music Monday! Not that I've ever done this or ever will again...BUT I just thought I'd share a little gem with you. My boss gave Cree and I tickets to Django Reinhardt anniversary concert by both the Hot Club of Detroit and the Hot Club of San Francisco. Their websites are ugly, but we won't hold it against them because they are SO amazing. First of all, both groups play gypsy jazz, which is my complete favorite. I've decided I even prefer it to big band....don't get me wrong, I still love big band. Anyway, the San Fran Hot Club played along with silent black and white films and then both groups did a little guitar dueling. It was the best jazz I've heard in a long time. Ann Arbor isn't exactly the best place to hear great jazz. I highly recommend seeing them if you have the chance. You won't regret it. Cross my heart.

This was my first cross country meet. We had two students running, so we thought it was the perfect run to attend. Little did we know that spectators have to run as well. We had to run from check point to check point for cheering purposes. It was a real hoot....I'm not really a runner. Cree got me a hot chocolate for being such a good sport. It was such a beautiful day. I love fall leaves on overcast days. The colors are so vibrant.

Remember When I told you about the ONCE festival? It happened last week and the program books have been getting rave reviews. It even got a shout out on Alex Ross's (writer for The New Yorker) blog The Rest Is Noise. He called it sumptuous. You can see a digital version of the guide here. I did the whole book/logo/identity while my boss was off in Italy, so it was a crazy week. I haven't had time to take photos of the book yet, but I plan to this weekend. For now, enjoy these little screen shot teasers of some book details and feel free to page through the digital version.


If you do end up paging through the digital version, please take not that the cover has been condensed. Each letter flap actually opens to reveal an awesome 1960's photograph. I'll try to have actual photos soon.

This week, I've been letterpressing like CRAZY. Busy, busy bee. I have some fun new projects that I'm working on and excited about. Lots of letterpress experimentation.  The print above is for a new books series I'm putting out called scraps books. They will be little booklets made of scrap from old maps, notebooks, textbooks, ledgers...you name it. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm so happy to be back in the letterpress swing again!

Thank you Brooke! She invited me to join Pintrest and I've been LOVING it. I think it is so fun and a great new way to find fantastic inspiration..and to meet new designers. I'm kind of addicted. You can see my profile here. 

And just because it is a beautiful morning...some fantastic numbers to start off the work day. I find vintage type so inspiring. 

Scenes from Cree's birthday. Lunch at a greasy spoon, free Ann Arbor birthday dinner, and color coordinated gifts (one of which was a vintage silver tie clip!!!!). Yes, I do know that the colorful box is technically for Christmas, but I love it so much, I use it year round. My friend Alpha gave it to me. She found it at yard sale and I adore it!

Also....this is the fantastic vintage Swingline stapler my mama found for Cree's birthday. Isn't the color fantastic? She said she debated long and hard whether she should keep it for herself...but of course being the woman she is, she gave it to Cree to enjoy. Mom, you are a doll.

Oh my goodness. I know I'm behind. Life has been so busy and I have been sick. I even took my first sick day ever. I didn't know what do to...do I call my boss? e-mail? I had no idea what protocol was. I feel much better now...I just have a nasty little cough that sometimes sounds like a dog bark. Lovely, I know.


Saturday I letter-pressed all day. I have some fun new projects that I've been working on for the Detroit Handmade Craft fair. I'll have to share some photos soon....until then, please enjoy my week old photos from Halloween. I had every intention of making my pumpkin look like a cute anime character, but I think it looks more creepy than cute. 

Just downloaded this "wallpaper" for my desktop background here. It looks so cute!