new cards

i've been busy working on some new card designs for the upcoming shows.... here's a sneak peak of the snowmen set:

* please give me credit for the designs if you repost them :) *

classes

for quite some time (years actually), i've been looking into taking some online graphic design courses. i've dabbled with photoshop & illustrator over the years and realized that i needed a foundation with these programs (plus others) in the world of digital art.

my college training was focused on traditional methods of work (meaning no computers allowed) and the head of the art department at the time did not embrace the idea of learning digital methods of creating art. this left me with a pretty big handicap when it came to working & manipulating my images on my (old) laptop...

letterpress printing has gone from traditional hand set lead type to photopolymer plates...and, with that, the possibilites for letterpress printing have expanded to a whole new exciting level! and because photopolymer plates are the direction i want to go with my printing...i've decided to do something about it and take some classes.

i won't plan to start until december, but i'm getting signed up pretty soon. with this new adventure, i'll also be purchasing a macbook pro (YES!!!) and adobe software (YEA for student discounts!!) i'm just waiting on some answers to a few last minute questions before i sign up...wish me luck :)

design sponge blue-ness

i heart design sponge. seriously. great ideas for decorating, projects (& instructions!) large & small, beautiful pictures, recipes, business advice, etc...its truly a site for inspiration. since the past three months had been so focused on the wedding, i sadly neglected one of my favorite places to visit. here are some things that caught my eye as i've been perusing past posts:

i adore this color blue! go here for a tutorial on painting furniture

blue frame from here

since we've been doing some reorganizing at home, i've been oogling bookshelves:

all bookshelf pics from here

amazing refurbished chairs from here

DIY wine tube rack from here - for all of those mailing tubes i've kept! i knew they would be useful someday (right, hubby?)

pics of some cute nurseries (don't get any ideas punky!) - i just liked some of the blue items & bright colors:

blue table!
blue stand!

blue crib! LOVE all of the color in this one!

(all nursery pics from here)

blue kitchen from here

loving this color combo from here

as you can tell, my obsession with blue has not wavered in the least :) so, what websites inspire you? i'm always searching for new ones!

sketchbook project!

look what i got in the mail!!!!!!! my sketchbook for the sketchbook project!


i'm so excited :) i can't wait to get started on it...i have to finish it by january 15th of 2011.

type is AWESOME!

*in a feeble attempt to be more consistent with blogging, i'm trying to post whatever catches my eye or inspires me immediately...otherwise the idea will fade away...*

i'm going to nerd out for a second here so bear with me...

so, here's something super cool: a typography book called HYPERACTIVITYPOGRAPHY FROM A TO Z

there is a chapter per letter with all sorts of fun info and activities...it reminds me of a coloring/activity book for grown ups. i would LOVE a copy but sadly the first addition is sold out :( click on the picture and go to their website - you can flip through the book there!

thanks to design crush for posting about this book!

business stickers

in an attempt to improve my product packaging, i decided to get some stickers printed. i am trying out vistaprint, which i heard about on etsy and jessica jones blog how about orange. i'm trying out a 1.5" round sticker to put on the bottom right corner of packaged (in plastic) books and on the back of my 5 pack notecard sets. i messed around in illustrator and here's what came out:


i blurred out my phone number because...well, i just don't really want to post my number on the interwebs. i was going for something simple and pleasant, and something that wouldn't detract from the bright paper on the book covers. so what do you think?

before & after - bedroom

i apologize for not getting the pics up over the weekend. the days just flew by! bfff is back *hooray!* and our puppy can't let him out of his sight. it's the cutest thing. it is SO good to have our little family back together. i was scrambling to get the room finished before bfff flew in - so things weren't quite as tidy as i had hoped & not all the pictures were hung. oh well.

i remembered to take the before pictures after some things were already moved around and i had taped the walls. oops. at least i remembered this time. the room is a long rectangle - big, but awkward. as you'll see, there are 2 closets, 2 doors & 1 window, making furniture placement rather difficult.

here's the before pics:

on the right wall you can see closet doors

taken from the closet doors in previous pic

and the after pics:

bfff has been wanting an office area for quite some time, so i made an attempt to set one up, along with all of his "me" wall stuff. the bed & office areas are currently separated by vito's gigantic kennel, but hopefully we won't need that soon & i'll be able to put a shelf there instead.

the white lights were inspired from a picture i saw on design sponge (here). they add a nice little soft glow & looked better than i hoped.

in addition to the paint, i got a chocolate duvet cover (matches the puppy), new aqua sheets, & a little pillow (that vito has already decided is his).

vito posing & smiling for me

bfff's reaction was classic! after we got home from the airport, i rushed upstairs to get vito, plugged in the icicle lights, and closed the doors. bfff eventually went into the bedroom and exclaimed "HOLY ****! this looks GREAT!" hahaha!! definitely the reaction i was going for. i got a little nervous the day he flew with thoughts of "what if he doesn't like it? i don't have time to paint over it!!" i'm so glad he likes it & has a space to work now.

my studio space & office (aka storage room for random stuff) is a mess right now and are next on my list to revamp!

bathroom remodel

bff & i have talked a lot about making a functional office, one that we would actually like working in. we are still flinging ideas around, especially since there hasn't been time to put our ideas into action. (after the art shows are done for the year!) we've also talked about glamming up the bedroom and bathroom.

so where do i go for ideas? design sponge, of course!! here's a super cool bathroom:

(thanks to design sponge for the picture)

of course i don't think it would fly with bff. can you tell i love blue? he's told me a million times "you can't make everything in the house blue!!" which i respond with "why not? there are lots of different shades..."

website updates

i finally got around to updating the Tama Press website. lots of new book pics were added and i took down the under construction signs for the contact & custom pages. some of the pictures were taken with a black background and the books were sold so i didn't have a chance to retake them.

here's the main updates i did:
added pics to the medium japanese stab bindings here
created a page for blanket stitch books
created a page for the new secret belgian binding books
created a custom order page
created a contact page (finally)

i'm working on products for the etsy site and for the two upcoming shows. i'll do my best to get some things up soon!

all of the pages are currently set up as a viewing gallery, so if there is something that you like (that isn't available on etsy), send me an e-mail and i'll be happy to make something for you. keep in mind that all of the books are unique, and the exact same book might not be available. but i'll try my hardest to match colors and paper as closely as possible.

so go check out the updated site and let me know what you think!

new book pictures

here's the promised pictures of the new belgian binding i've been working on. my first batch consisted of 10 books and as of last night, i have 2 left to bind.




i also am working on some simple packaging for my books. the small sleeve is a neutral color, since the books themselves are so bright and colorful. i ordered some japanese masking tape to add to the packaging and i'm really excited about it! if you haven't heard of japanese masking tape, take a look at this site. (it's mostly in japanese.) the tape is made by an 80+ year old japanese company that originally started producing fly paper. by popular customer demand, they created a ton of bright festive colored masking tape from japanese paper. it's a bit transparent and is apparently a favorite among artists. i'm looking forward to receiving my order soon! below is a pic of the current packaging idea. i am planning to put strips of colored tape behind the info sticker to make it pop!

sorry it's a little blurry - it was taken with my phone

thats all for now. if you have any comments or suggestions on the packaging, please feel free to tell me!

most amazing dresses EVER

i was browsing online the other day and came across a clothing designer named Chrissy Wai Ching, located in seattle. from what i read, she draws inspiration from a very diverse background that is reflected in her work. the colors are vivid, shapes flattering, and each custom made item is unique. she makes a number of wearable pieces, but my favorites are her dresses. INCREDIBLE doesn't even begin to describe how gorgeous these dresses are. go here and look at her line.

next time i go to seattle, i am definitely going to her studio.

website work

so during the past week or so, i've been working on the tama press website. i haven't actually changed anything on the site as of yet, but i am creating the new pieces and parts in photoshop and dreamweaver. i've been drawing things out by hand to get a better idea of what i want rather than trying to create them in the program itself. working (fumbling) with photoshop isn't too bad with my extremely basic knowledge of the program (and help book on standby). dreamweaver and i aren't on friendly terms right now. things basically go like this: i open the program, try to make something, get pissed off, and go do something else....in the span of 5 minutes. hence the reason i've sketching out the design format by hand...then all i have to do is replicate it, rather than design & execute at the same time.

this site is where i've gleaning some inspiration for my new site: hello lucky

3 column newness

i decided it was time to start blogging again. in order to revamp my blog, i attempted to create three columns (which seemed to work) and i also deleted past entries since they were ancient history.

i've been reading some super cool blogs - lately about design and interior decorating. my bff and i recently started the process of redecorating (it's his place and i wanted it to look like i actually lived there too). picked out some paint and began painting the first coat last night. and it looks great!

one blog in particular caught my eye - jessica jones blog: how about orange...
lots of great ideas and fun stuff to explore. she posted a link to a quiz about finding your decorating style here

enjoy!