Birth Day.

Now that Grady is sleeping from 7pmish to 7amish, I finally feel like a normal, productive human who can accomplish more than just changing diapers and washing loads of spit-up off of my shirt everyday. I’ve been meaning to share his birth announcement with you for months…so here it is!

I worked with local Salt Lake City designer Elpitha Tsoutsounakis who has a letterpress studio here called Print In Cursive.  Because of the cost I wasn’t able to do these in letterpress but Elpitha helped me to create something amazing anyway.  I gave her swatches of the Sister Parish fabric that I used in Grady’s nursery and let her run with it. My favorite part is how she took the Wilco quote we loved and incorporated it into the flow of the design.  For more on Elpitha check out her website and read the post about her on Design Sponge.

Lists.

I have lost so many brain cells since giving birth and as the hubs is fond of saying, “coffee makes parenting possible”. How true that is but so is having a handy dandy list to get you going in the right direction once you have that coffee coursing through your system.

This clever Feelgood List™ from Up Up Creative is exactly what I need.  It’s hard to stay motivated to do things for yourself when you are so sleep deprived. Having my own feelgood list sure would help, because some days I can’t even remember that I need to shower! Create your own list and see more printed matter from Up Up Creative here.

Simplicity.

Sometimes the simplest materials, paper and ink, make the most beautiful things.  Custom letterpress calling cards from Winged Wheel stationary in Tokyo. To place your order click here.

(via Design Sponge)

Thankful.

I’m thankful for a free hour (fingers crossed) while the baby sleeps! Say thanks with these gorgeous letterpress cards from Smock Letterpress.

What a sweet Valentine’s gift this recipe box from Sugar Paper would make! I would definitely include the perfect Valentine chocolate caramel tart recipe from Lottie + Doof in this box.

(via Truly Smitten)

Bill Burns from the Minneapolis based design collective redblackbrown just sent me a link to their latest project, a 2010 screen printed desk calendar. The theme of this years calendar was inspired by fortune cookies! It’s such a great concept because really who can resist the mystery and hope of a fortune cookie? I will only post a couple of close-up pictures in case you prefer that your months fortune to be a surprise. Get one for yourself here for $20 bones.

Every December I say to myself: “Self, this will be the year that we send out Christmas cards to all of our friends and family”.  Well here we are again in December and I think it’s time I admit to myself that it’s not likely to happen again this year. It’s definitely not for lack of wishing the best Holiday Season and New Year to everyone in my life and it’s definitely not for a lack of adorable holiday cards for sale this time of year.  Please don’t let my lack of motivation hold you back though, especially when there are these cheerful folk-inspired cards from frillow, Dutch Door Press out in the world.  They say it’s better to give than to receive, but I LOVE receiving Christmas cards and they will be displayed prominently in our home if you choose to send me one.

When my youngest sister Quinn graduated from High School I gave her a journal.  On a bunch of the pages I wrote what I hoped at the time would be sage words of wisdom from her elder sister on the ways to navigate the college years.  I asked her once if she remembered what I wrote to her and all she remembered was that I told her to date boys who play guitar.  Such great advice apparently that she is now married to a boy she met in college who is an awesome human being and also happens to be a Dr. and who thankfully has never played guitar!

Everything worked out for the best regardless of my unmemorable gift, but had I been more thoughtful I would have given her something she would remember forever like a one-of-a-kind artist book by Camden Richards (love her name).  Camden is a graphic artist who started Liminal Press & Bindery as a way to commemorate those magical moments in peoples lives.  She can take a personal story — for example, the experience of pregnancy and birth, a couples love story, a grandparents life story or even gather sisterly wisdom and advice — and weave these stories into a gorgeous book.  Her books can be commissioned using a variety of methods such as bookbinding, papermaking, printmaking, illustration, design, painting, letterpress printing, and collage.  Take a look at Camden’s gallery of a few of the books she has created for friends and family. Next time I need a truly unique gift for a special person or moment in someone’s life or even my life I will look to Liminal Press to commemorate the occasion.

What’s not to love about Australian designer Naomi Murrell’s “A Little Love” collection? Naomi’s collection consists of textiles, wood and perspex jewelry, letterpress notecards and screenprints, all with her whimsical designs.  You can find most of her designs on her Etsy shoppe, as well as keep up to date on her happenings through her adorable blog.

This just might be the coolest birth announcement ever. Created by the design duo Tosh and Victoria Brown then letterpressed by The Mandate Press right here in Salt Lake City. Seen on Black*Eiffel blog.

It must be the back-to-school feel of September that gets me into an organizational mood. Last week I cleaned out all of my closets, organized our basement and started a journal of my pregnancy! In keeping with my new state of being I thought these planners would be the perfect giveaway to inspire you to get organized too!

Sarah Pinto, a busy Mom of two active boys was having trouble finding a stylish and cute planner to help keep all of her ducks in a row so, she decided to create her own! Her line of planners and notebooks are all made in San Francisco from recycled paper and soy-based ink so you can feel “green” about this choice too.

In order to enter the giveaway: visit Sarah Pinto and leave a comment below telling me which of the five unique cover designs is your favorite. I will randomly draw a winner and make the announcement this Friday!

P.S. Check out Sarah’s cause here.

Here are a few of my favorite things from Udessi an online gallery specializing in contemporary Australian art and crafts.

The Red Thread “SushiBird Tile”, Flying Star Toys “Biscuit Bunnies, The Red Thread greeting cards

Heather Keiko “Round Felt Necklace”, Feed the Dog “Sheep in the City 6″ cushion, Gretchen Mist “Pale Ocean” print

Spice up your kitchen with any one of these limited edition letterpress prints from the newly launched Etsy site for Louella Press.  The ladies behind Louella really succeed with the simplicity and crispness that only letterpress designs have with these fun prints.  Buy one for $25 or collect them all! Don’t forget to take a look at Louella’s adorable cards too!

Spotted on Bloesem this morning, these charming paper lanterns from Dutch artist Jurianne Matter. They come seven to a package. You can email Jurianne directly to order or through the Dutch website Bijzonder.

This past birthday was a little disappointing. It wasn’t that I didn’t have plenty of birthday wishes, because I did, more than usual actually, but it was that they mostly came in the form of text messages and Facebook posts.   Call me old fashioned but there is just something special about receiving a birthday card in the mail.   So if I know your address and your birth date I pledge to send you a real birthday message in card form from hear on out. These pretty cards from Cartolina should make this goal pretty easy. You can find her lovely recycled paper cards and notebooks here.