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.

Back to School!

J gets kids at school today. No more long summer evenings just working on the apartment & hanging out with friends (or reading Moby Dick which still isn't quite finished!). Now the evenings will be spent calling parents & grading papers but that gives me time to work on some of my own side projects!

Good luck J, & to all of the teachers & students this year!

Charley Harper Coloring Book

I've been a little MIA lately but I'm trying to remember to take time to enjoy the city in the summer rather than sit behind the computer for 15+ hours a day. We've been doing a lot things in the new apt as well, it's starting to come together. Slowly but surely.

Today we took a little office-adventure to Kate's Paperie and I found a Charley Harper coloring book. I just couldn't say no. Now the dilemna is do I color in it, keep it to look at, frame them... send it to one of my friends with a kids as a gift? Now I'm thinking I should have picked up a few...

just a peek!

Some "work in progress" shots of the new apartment.

J get's all of the credit for the painting of the grey shelves and 98% of the grunt-work on everything else...including shlepping heavy furniture on his shoulders from across the 'hood all by himself! Thanks J!

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'!

Marc Johns // illustrations

oh man. Illustrations of 3 of my favorite things! (I don't think I even need to say anything else.)

*rad illustrations by Marc Johns.

Antler Mag

Yes, I prefer to hold a magazine in my hand. Yes, I want to touch the pretty paper and cut things out of it. But I also understand why we shouldn't always have this luxury all the time (and the environment is a cause I can get behind!).

It's true that designers have a responsibility & when your options are: 1. an expensive, beautifully perfect bound book that can only reach a small audience because of the small run or geography or 2. NO wasted paper or ink or energy (on the press at least) making a beautiful book that reaches audiences immediately all over the world. WOW. It's kind of a no-brainer! Take a break this friday afternoon and enjoy Antler.

Lisa Hannigan

After the previous post I stumbled upon Lisa Hannigan's new video. *sigh

My heart breaks for a few reasons right now:

1. I wish I was in Austin for SXSW & Flatstock. This has been painful for me all week.
2. Lisa Hannigan is playing 2 show at SXSW, today. right now even...
*I saw her play once, in Dallas at the now extinct Gyspy Tea Room with Damien Rice. She sat on the floor crosslegged and swayed while she sang. It was really beautiful! This was probably 6 years ago and one of my favorite shows to date!
3. The pop up books in the video remind me of 2 MORE of my favorite things... Robert Sabuda's paper arts and Craig Thompson's graphic novels.

Harry Potter Type!

Harry Potter type spotted on the facade of a building in the West Village.

I will be the first to admit that I love Harry Potter. My sisters and I often say things to each other like, "Why don't you just 'Harry Potter' that sh**!" Meaning, "use your magic powers to [fill in any impossible, annoying or time consuming task here]."

*did you see these Harry Potter redesigns? via my design voice. Personally, I love them!

p.s. Have I ever mentioned that J teaches at Hogwarts? more on that later...

a little something.

A gift to someone important's family...something they called, "the best Christmas gift they could ever receive."





It was more about the contents of the little books I created than about the books themselves... But I felt the contents deserved a little something more than a nice envelope.

I made 10 total. I did use an inkjet printer for the inside, and ran the muslin "title" through the printer as well I sewed the bottom of the pages with a machine...so, they aren't entirely "handmade" (but I like to think that their pretty close).

Christmas Dinner // Island Fish Stew

About 3 days after I graduated from high school I traveled to Martha's Vineyard with 2 of my friends, we lived in an old lady's attic for $25/week...for the whole summer. It was HOT. We had no way to do laundry. The only laundromat was out of town & we didn't have a car...so we did laundry maybe 3 times in 3 months. We each worked 2+ jobs that summer. I did everything from working at the Black Dog General Store in Vineyard Haven to working in a fancy Brazilian restaurant right on the water, to babysitting & yard work. It was wonderful. We were always tired but the vineyard was something that certainly set the tone for the way I would plan all of my summers – go away for the whole summer & work your tail off while you do something totally new and different.

[maybe that was an unnecessary preface to this recipe. oh well, I like sharing stories.]

J & I spent Christmas in Boston's fabulous, Italian, North End. I literally felt like I woke up Christmas Eve in Italy...everyone was speaking Italian (even J with his theatric & throaty "Ciao Bella's!") and the area had a wonderful old-world charm. We went from tiny shop to tiny shop searching for all of the ingredients for our Christmas Dinner – Island Fish Stew in the Black Dog: Summer on the Vineyard cookbook.






*If you can't read the recipe fully & would like it, just leave a comment or shoot me an email, I would be happy to get it to you!

Head First...

Okay, Jonathan told me to do this months ago & I've been toying with the idea since then. In the past week or so I have had a growing sense of conviction...I feel like I have a responsibility to share.

As many of you know, we got married, had the big move from Texas to Brooklyn (the next day)...then I was jobless...and searching...and searching. Then the economy buried itself in a hole. Then I got a job (yay!).

Many people I know are recent graduates & are either yet to land that first "real" job or are in a transition phase – some by choice taking a leap of faith, other's because of company downsizing. Still others have made (or are about to make) a cross-country move to be with their partners, and a few are looking for a supplementary income of some kind. As I write this I can only think of 2 or 3 of my friends that are sitting nicely at their jobs with out fear and with out searching for something else. I know that this has a lot to do with the demographic I'm looking at but these people are living in all areas of the country with completely different professional backgrounds (ie: not all designers or creatives).

What I'm trying to say is – I'm going to do a series of posts sharing my knowledge about the job hunt, how to market yourself & what I've learned along the way. I may even invite a few friends to share their stories of how they got where they are. I'm far from being an expert but I think I've found a few things along the way that some other people could benefit from.

While most of my knowledge is in the design/creative realm, I have some information that will cross platforms. If any of you have something specific that you would like to see, if you have a piece of advice that you would like to share...a story or resources please feel free to e-mail me, I would love to hear about it & share in turn.

New York Public Library designers series

oh the inspiration!
incase you haven't heard...


via design*sponge

o, Fall!

this is for some boys I know that have a crush on Thoreau...

Halloween is tomorrow, I have no idea what I'm going to do! This is somewhat unlike me, I normally jump at any reason to be festive for any event!

The Daily Heller

Do you read this:

It's pretty great. Steven Heller covers a wide range of topics (design based, of course).

*thanks Abbey for keeping me in the know!

Portfolios... & a soapbox

Long have I searched for a good looking portfolio case that is:

1. logically portable
2. professional + stylish
3. well made + well designed
4. decently priced

Let's face it, if you are a designer/artist in the market for a new portfolio odds are you are looking for a new job – which also means you are or are about to be unemployed (read: broke). Maybe it's just me, but I find chain office supply stores to be good for things like staples and a ream of recycled copy paper...not the place to go for a design portfolio. Art supply stores (at least the ones I'm familiar with) are notorious for carrying HUGE, cumbersome portfolios and a small selection of black leather portfolios that have shoddy stitching and scuffed covers & with a price tag that makes me think it should have been hand-sewn in Italy.

Today while wandering home contemplating day planners (more on that later) I stopped in my local Barnes & Noble to browse the journal section. And this, friends, is what I found. Jonathan Adler designed a snazzy, professional looking, portable, very affordable, portfolio for B&N. (giddy, I am.) Only downside for this veggie-girl is the leather...but we can't always have our cake & eat it too. *note: this photo does not do justice to the real thing.

A supplemental note on portfolios: I also found these (wood grain // aluminum) awhile back from Veer. They are fun & functional (& non-leather) but a little more of a splurge item.

*top image via Barnes & Nobel, bottom images via Veer.

last minute details...

Some brides may (or may not yet) know that no matter how much planning you do ahead of time things some how slip off the radar & at the last minute, someone will get your back. BUT, that's why you have bridesmaids!
I was finishing Nicole & Josh's programs last week and asked if she ever ended up finding a guest book...she hadn't. While I would never claim to be a guest book extraordinare, I think it came out alright & the designer side of me was so pleased that I got to use some of the mountains of pretty paper I have laying around + match the book to the programs + play with some ribbon binding! Some of the other "maids" came to the rescue as well with the hand-crafted pens (pictured), a hand-sewn garter with a little something blue (sorry, no pics of it!) & it was a family affair putting together some georgous fall-inspired center peices!

The wedding was beautiful & came together perfectly. Even if the dress had to be re-fitted (again, last minute), they gave the groom the wrong tux, & the Unity Candle was lit...um...backwards for the ceremony...but, this couple is truly strong, they just laughed and rolled with the punches!

*Don't you love the orange calla lillies for a fall wedding! They looked amazing with the black ribbons and dresses!

please excuse the blurry photos on the guest book...I had to photograph it at the reception (with questionable lighting & after a glass of wine...) but the writing on the inside is the same Robert Frost poem from here.

A delightful tale...

I was out on my bike in search of a fabric store this afternoon. As I passed an old print shop that I had previously made a mental note of and filed under the category I-bet-that-place-is-AWESOME-on-the-inside...I noticed a table with some junk on it sitting outside the shop. A light bulb went off in my head and I turned around as quickly as I could.

Sure enough sitting in an already-scavenged box caked in old inks, grease & dust was my new treasure. The pressman said that the box was piled high this morning but some people came and bought up almost all of his old laser cut lead type and ornaments. I only had $1.00, the exact price of the 4 3/4" x 2 3/4" piece of wood-mounted history that I held in my giddy little fingers. It was fate.

I have this thing...well, a few things. I love old children's book illustrations, the really old ones that only have 1 maybe 2 colors printed with black. Usually lots of folk tales or nursery rhymes are all bundled into one big book & illustrated. &, I love letterpress, especially the vintage stuff. Don't get me wrong, the modern stuff is good too, but the old stuff is just more raw. So, please imagine the delight that was mine when I found this!

However, I'm having a hard time understanding, "Foller Master!" Unless it means "Follow the Leader" which is what the boys in the etching are doing...any ideas anyone? Please enlighten me.

*I thought I would show you my little bottle collection as well. I like to keep colored glass in the window, it's just so nice in the evening!

Inspiration for the Weekend // Handmade Nation

really rad.

You should check out the interview with Faythe Levine (DIY, craftster extraordinaire) in the NY Times as well, it's very cool and worth the read! The documentary, Handmade Nation, debuts in 2009. Ms. Levine also has a book out, co-written with Cortney Heimerl, Handmade Nation: the rise of D.I.Y., Art, Craft & Design.

must fight the urge to bust out the sewing machine right now and do other work...pooh! But maybe I'll go to the library this afternoon and see about that book...

ps: Ms. Levine's band, Wooden Robot, did the soundtrack for the movie, pretty. freakin. rad.