Warmbelly Brews: Empire Saison

Warmbelly Brews brewed this beer at the beginning of the summer—possibly my favorite of their beers so far.

I drew the Empire State Building on this label while sitting in the King's County Courthouse looking out the picture window at the Manhattan skyline (and the Empire State Building) while I was serving jury duty. I also hand drew the letters while sitting many long hours there as well.

They have an ESB (currently sitting in my closet...) that will be ready for sampling this weekend. J wrote the ESB recipe himself with some inspiration from the West Coast beers we had on our trip so as he says, "it's gonna be a hoppy boy!" As soon as they taste it and name it I'll be whipping up some new labels!

Warmbelly Brews: Road Trip a Belgian-Style Triple

J and Jeff brewed their second batch of beer. (see the first one here) This is a Belgian-style Triple and it's quite delicious. The labels are entirely hand-lettered by yours truly.

Warmbelly Brews: Snow Day Stout

J & our friend Jeff have been doing some homebrewing the past few months. They started on the first snow day of the year (they're both teachers) with an eggnog milk stout. The first time I tried it it tasted like Robitussin (but I was very sick at the time...) I tried it again about 3 weeks ago and it was so yummy! Nutmeg-y and not too dark for a day in late April.


I designed some handlettered low-fi labels for their first batch that they dubbed "Snow Day Stout." Next up on their roster is a triple ale and then a big batch of a spring saison but they have to taste them before they name them so we'll see what the guys come up with! I'm really excited to be a small part of this fun collaboration!

Cheers!

Secrets Burst: A Reunion

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of working with my friend, Katie, on a poster for the final reading of the Secrets Burst writing group. This group of friends and colleagues has been writing and sharing their work together for a few years now and much of the group has or will be dispersing across the U.S. — hence their "final reading."

I was in Texas busy with my sister's wedding last week so I'm embarrassed to admit that I forgot to post this until now (as the reading was actually last week...) many, many apologies to Secrets Burst and anyone that would have liked to attend!

As always, thank you Katie and Secrets Burst for letting me be apart of the fun!
See the poster that I did last year here.

Kendra's Bridal Shower

I got to play hostess just before Christmas at my sister's bridal shower. Of course my main duty was to take care of the invites while the other hostesses did a great job with the food & decorations!


I screen printed (with my yudu, of course!) the doily/snowflake pattern onto grey stock and ran that through my printer for the black text.

I also made some simple recipe cards that people filled out and brought to the shower to help Kendra & Stephen start a good collection of recipes from their loved ones.

Now... to get cracking on those wedding invites!

Jessica & Windsor's Wedding Invites & Programs

Earlier this year I designed a wedding set for Jessica & Windsor. Jessica came to me with a pretty clear vision. Both of them are musicians but while she is über feminine, classic, all about flowers, organic lines etc... Windsor is modern, clean lines & all about symmetry.

Jessica presented me with the idea of a "city park" something that has a orderly feel but retains some of that organic whimsy and of course flowers. Jessica & Windsor also share a love for Italy and spent their honeymoon there. I developed the pattern based on cobblestone or brick-layed streets and paths in a city part or in an Italian palazzo. I still wanted to get something handmade in there so we wrapped the cards in hemp and use a wax seal to hold it all in place.

Jessica did a great job of finding the wax seal & embellishing the envelopes herself.

The photos below are of the programs that I designed at their wedding. Below photos by Lauren Walker.

Fingerprint: Call for Entries

Fingerprint is such an inspirational book. When I'm designing I'm constantly trying to get that little touch into my designs to keep them from looking too "computery" even if I don't have the luxury of screen printing the piece... or sewing it, stamping it, etc.

Entries are due October 15th and are FREE! You can download the entry form here or here.

via mint and HOW.

Canning: part 3

I finally had some friends over for a little canning party on Saturday. It was a lot of fun and we ended up meeting at the Greenmarket in Grand Army Plaza to pick up some fresh goods before hand. We made these spicy okra, these spiced pickles and another batch of more traditional pickles via a mix that Caitlin brought. We also ended up with too many okra for what our original mix made so we decided to make some okra with the spicy pickle mix. I'll let you know how everything turns out!

The zucchini pickles from 2 weeks ago are really amazing, by the way. They are very mustardy, which I love. We still have a big jar left but I can't wait to make more.

We had every intention of making jalapeño jelly as well but found fruit pectin to be a little difficult to find that afternoon. I got some and we're all set to try our hand a the jelly later this week. (I'll share the recipe then!)

Part 1 of (hopefully more than 1!)

I've been doing my research, scouring the farmer's markets and NYC Greenmarkets... I've been reading and collecting recipes and tips. This year will be my first adventure into canning. My Grandma Decker's basement always had a rack of shelves under the stairs (& I'm sure much more than that when she was raising her 13 kids on a North Dakota farm!) with homemade sweet pickles, jellies, jams, and other delightful preserves that she or my Grandpa had grown.

I'm thinking that I'll be doing some of these summer squash & zucchini pickles (I'm notorious for hating traditional pickles.) Some more traditional spiced kirby pickles for J. Possibly some peaches and this recipe for spicy okra. My Aunt Connie has a Jalapeño jelly recipe that I'm trying to track down at the moment as well.

I've never tried anything like this before and I found the How-to section of Fresh Preserving to be the most helpful resource so far.

If you have any recipes or advice please do share. I need as much help as I can get!

*typography adapted from a recent article on Home Canning that I worked on for my day job.

Hand lettering

I've had this funky colorful alphabet by Mike Perry in my inspiration folder for awhile now. He rarely disappoints.

yep.

*unknown source

Stationery for the new Mrs. Dutton

Jessica contacted me waaay back in January 2008 to do her wedding invites & programs after she saw what I did for our mutual friend, Lauren's invites back in 2007. (All of us go way back to the O.L. Slaton Junior High band... that's right, I was in band. I played the trumpet and we were awesome!) Jessica & Windsor's wedding was this past weekend & Lauren, the crafty, artist-supporting bridesmaid that she is had me design this stationery set for Jessica's wedding gift with her new name on it.


*Thanks Lauren for the fun opportunity & a thousand congrats to Jessica & Windsor. (I'll be featuring their invites very soon).

Fort Defiance

I work in Red Hook, Brooklyn. (though not for long! DUMBO here we come!) It's on the water & once upon a time Red Hook was a port run by the shipping industry. Those days are long gone and gave way to decay, feral dogs and a Meth clinic. Those days too are in the past. Red Hook is thriving and growing with hot spots like Saipua, Baked, The Good Fork and the largest IKEA in the world (not that that's a good thing, but it's here). The newest edition to Van Brunt Street is Fort Defiance, set to open this Saturday. St. John (owner, mixologist) asked me to do a large chalkboard sign in the cafe/bar. He wanted it to follow the identity that by boss, Steve, did for all of the print pieces for the cafe/bar.

It was really a great hands-on project for a few reasons: 

1. You can't get too perfect with a chalkboard (though I used pastels to grant myself some control). 

2. With the opening being so soon I couldn't play around too much with different methods etc. it was a "get in, get it finished!" project. I loved that because I know I have a tendency to want to explore all of my options for weeks before I settle on how/what I'm going to do for a project.

3. The imperfect typesetting was exactly the look we were going for, like an old historical document where the kerning and printing is just a little off.

*Thanks Steve for recommending me for the job & St. John for giving me the opportunity!

sneak-peek!

I've cryptically mentioned "projects in the works" & "new work to come..." in the past. Well, friends... I can't release some of them yet but here's a little teaser of of what's been going on in the studio of Paper City Design.



More photos with details to come (I promise).

something old, something new

(This has nothing to do with weddings.)

I saw the There Will be Brunch sign this weekend in D.C. and can't get over it. I know some boys that were (read: are) obsessed with There Will be Blood and the egg with a 'stache is just too perfect! – as is the hand drawn blackletter!

I spied the shoe shine sign on my way home from work yesterday in front of an old shoe shop in my 'hood. very iconic. It would look pretty rad hanging in a living room.

Iron & Wine

J got me Iron & Wine tickets for my birthday. The show was last night & it was so beautiful in a small theatre under the Williamsburg Bridge in Manhattan. He played this song last, (Trapeze Swinger) I had never heard it before but it made me weep.

They also gave us these beautiful letterpressed "commemorative tickets" so pretty!

Thanks J for an amazing night! xo!

wrestling + typography

pretty much the best thing I've seen all week.

*via seesaw designs.

a little hand lettering // French Milk

Such a lovely book cover! I've been inspired by the simplicity of the hand drawn lettering and figure over the photograph for weeks. Nothing about it looks over-thought. & that blue just whispers french to me... Does light blue make anyone else think of France? I have a light blue dress & when I wear it I walk around feeling french! Like I drink fresh milk for breakfast eat lavender short-bread biscuits... (I think I'm taking this too far...)

*via A Cup of Jo

**More exciting content coming to A Paper City soon... I have projects a-brewin'!

Two of Hearts

Amelia's Magazine has an open brief for illustrators to design a Two of Hearts card. This sounds like it's going to be a really fun collaboration for those who participate.

Since I missed this due to stresses at home maybe I should get my act together for this competition. Anyone out there want to join me for an e-critique? We can help motivate each other, share sketches... anyone? I know some of you are bona fide illustrators and designers, come on, what's more fun than designing a Two of Hearts! I've wanted a chance to design a playing card ever since my friend & former professor Dirk got to design one of these cards for gigposters.

email me if you want to get in on a little e-crit session or something of that nature...

Secrets Burst

A friend of mine is in a writing group called "Secrets Burst," last year she asked me to do a logo and poster for Secrets Burst's reading event at a local cafe. I had a ton of fun playing with type and making these funky letters for their wordmark. They are getting ready for their second annual reading and asked me to recreate the poster for their event.

If you are in the Lubbock, Texas area I highly recommend attending the reading. Secrets Burst is over flowing with deidication and talent & it's free to all, email me for location details.

*Thanks again to Katie & Secrets Burst, I wish I could be there!