Happy News!

Oh my, do I have wonderful news to share!

On December 30th, Mindy got engaged!  Hearty congratulations, Mindy and Chris.  Wishing you a lifetime of happiness, joyous goodness, and sparkly bits.

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All You Need Is Love letterpress print by Durnall Designs via Etsy

Happy Holidays!

Lots of ways to say it but one message stays the same -- we wish you a most wonderful holiday season. See you back here in the new year!

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images clockwise from top left 
1. Merry and Bright cards from Paper Source 
2. Hi Christmas screen print from Keep Calm Gallery 
3. Warmest Wishes cards from Paper Source 
4. Peace screen print from Keep Calm Gallery 
5. Color Wheel cards from Paper Source 
6. Warm and Cozy cards from Paper Source 
7. Christmas Subway Art from eighteen25, first spotted here on Pinterest
8. DIY Dreidel card from Paper Source

G is for Great-Looking Gifts

I recently posted about using colored masking tape to make your wrapped presents distinctive and good-looking. Here's another wrapping idea that I found on Martha Stewart's website:

Gosh, I think this is great. I'm a big fan of monograms but I've never thought to use them on presents.  I like this example particularly because of the big, bold size of the letters. Plus, the website recommends recycling holiday cards from previous years and cutting out the monogramed letters from them. Genius and gorgeous.  A wonderful combination.

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image via marthastewart.com

Watercolor Greetings

Watercolor has such a nice, dreamy quality and I love the idea of depicting the holidays in such a pretty medium. Just take a look at some of my favorite greeting cards in watercolor.

This one below is my favorite. I love the typeface and pretty pinks.

They are all a bit different yet dreamy and cozy at the same time. Perfect for the season!

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image credits

1. Painted Ornament from Tiny Prints 

2. Happy Holidays Skater from Modern Paper Goods
3. Happy Holidays from 22and33 shop on Etsy
4. Festive Greetings from Social Proper

A Great Gift

We've all been told to never judge a book by it's cover. But what if the cover looked like this?

So stunningly beautiful, Anthropologie's Embroidered Penguin Classics would make great holiday gifts. They are a perfect way to introduce great stories to a new audience or they would make a truly special gift for someone who has long been a fan. (My personal favorite of those shown below? Definitely The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Loved it as a kid.)

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all images via anthropologie.com

Tape it up!

We have posted about unique picture frame ideas (here, here, and here) and thought these frames that I spotted in J.Crew's holiday catalog are another fun example. 

What a charming idea! Simply use different pieces of Japanese washi tape to frame a favorite image. There are so many cute patterns of washi tape that you can use to create all kinds of frames. And since they are temporary, you don't have to commit to any one style.

I love this idea for a wall in a child's bedroom, but I also think that you could frame holiday cards with festive tape patterns (like these, for instance) in your kitchen or entryway. It would definitely make for an eye-catching and clever gallery wall!

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all images via J.Crew

Dale Chihuly

Are you familiar with the work of Dale Chihuly? My aunt is a huge fan of his and she introduced me to his stunning glassworks.

A few years ago, I went to the New York Botanical Gardens to see his stunning work against the garden's gorgeous backdrop.  Here are some images of the exhibit from his website:

Certainly the photos above are beautiful, but when I was there, I took some photos really close-up. I like the abstract quality that close-up photos give you. And when the subject matter is as lovely as Dale Chihuly's art, then the close-ups would be wonderful little gems framed in your home.

I'm going to add some of these to my gallery wall one day. Have you ever framed your own close-up artwork after a day out with your camera? If so, please share!

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featured works from top to bottom via Dale Chihuly's website are:
The Sun
Persian Chandelier
Rose Crystal Tower
Reichenbach Mirrored Balls and Blue Herons


bottom four photos by The Pink Chalkboard are close-ups of:
The Sun
Persian Chandelier

Rose Crystal Tower

name unknown

Poppy and Sweet

I adore this print ad from Gap Kids. It feels so bright, happy, and fun. Exactly how I want to feel during the holidays! 

Spotted on the back of December's Real Simple magazine, I think the color palette of juicy pinks with touches of sparkly and shiny gold is a great alternative for the holidays. And the theme of I Want Candy is so festive and sweet too.

And can we just talk about all of this ruffle-goodness for a second?! Love it!

The print ad above is part of Gap Kids' I Want Candy holiday campaign that kicked off with this adorable music video.



So creative, spunky, and a great modern take on the holidays.

Definitely my favorite ad campaign of the season!

Pretty Picture Frames

I get emails a few times a week from Better Homes and Gardens.  There are so many good ideas on their website! Recently, I saw this:

What are those cute frames? Placemats!

Isn't that a clever idea? Just tape or glue a photo inside and you have a super unique frame (and a lightweight one, too -- tape alone would hold most placemats up.

Here are some pretty placemat options that I think would work well as a frame.

Chilewich "Dahlia" Pressed Vinyl Round Placemat

Dark Brown Round Rattan Placemat

Marseille Quilted Round Placemats

Chilewich Carbon Round Basketweave Round Placemat

BHG.com even suggests doing this same frame idea with vinyl records. Wouldn't that be so chic and cool?

Flywheel Press

When I was looking at images for Jillian's baby announcement, I stumbled upon this sweet greeting card from Flywheel Press and was immediately smitten.  

Oh my goodness, those little feet made my heart go pitter patter! And the "est. 2010" was just the perfect touch.

I was disappointed after finding out that they had sold out of their 2011 cards and I couldn't use this image for my post. But the very sweet Amber (owner/designer/letterpresser extraordinaire) added a 2011 card to the press for me when she was printing her 2012 cards. Isn't that so thoughtful? 

So, I wanted to take a moment to thank Amber for going out of her way for me! And I also wanted to share lots of lettepressed goodness with you from Flywheel Press. Her design concepts are quite charming and the detail and quality of work is exquisite.

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images via Flywheel Press
1. Baby Feet
2. Grosgrain Pinwheel 
3. Fireworks Thank You
4. #happilyeverafter
5. Kissing Fish
6. Western Wisdom: ADIOS

Happiness

How can anyone resist the brightness and energy of this series?  Especially when you find out that it's called Happiness Series!

Seeing those vibrant colors and energetic brush strokes in my home every day would certainly make me happy.

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Happiness series
Series of 4 paintings
(Optimism, Happiness, Success, Flow)
image via heikesee shop on etsy.com

Ending with a rainbow...

I recently found this Oliver Yaphe print and couldn't help but smile.

It is so simple yet so cheery and I think it is the perfect way to end the week.

Happy Friday everyone! See you back here on Monday.

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Sunny Day Poster via Oliver Yaphe

Paula Scher: MAPS

In looking at these maps by Paula Scher, the first thing that crossed my mind was "oh my".  The typography, the colors, and the overall busy-ness give these maps such great spirit.

The full collection of 39 paintings, drawings, prints and environmental installations are gathered in the new book Paula Scher: MAPS.

Click here to see more of this amazing collection and here to purchase the book.

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top images via paulaschermaps.com
bottom image via pentagram.com

Twilight Invitations

Jillian and I are both huge Twilight fans, so imagine our excitement when we found out that the folks over at minted invited members of their design community to submit Twilight-themed invitations in their wedding invitation design challenge! The invitations turned out beautifully and it was fun to see so much variety and creativity among the entries.

In honor of the release of Breaking Dawn (part I), we thought it would be fun to pick out the invitation designs that we liked best and share them with you...

Jillian's Favorites

Mindy's Favorites

We love that all of the designs seem to perfectly capture the feeling of a moment from the story. You can see more Twilight-inspired wedding invitations right here.

Unfortunately voting for this challenge is closed (we would have loved to vote!) but winners will be posted soon. We can't wait to see if one of our favorites will win!

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all images via minted 
1. eternal love by Paper Dahlia
2. dark romance by Heather W.
3. for time and all eternity by j. bartyn design
4. Solstice by Alex Elko

Great Greens!

This is genius!

Found via Atypical Type A on Instructables website, check out this super smart approach to growing vegetables and herbs.

So clever and easily do-able by anyone.  Perfect for balconies, those with little outdoor space, or even a great indoor idea for the winter months.

For more information and a detailed tutorial click here.

Loving Paris

Meet my new favorite typeface, Paris. Designed by Moshik Nadav, I think it is spectacular! Take a look...

I love how this typeface is proper and a bit swirly and playful at the same time. It feels so much like how I imagine 1920's Paris would have been. Gorgeous.

And I couldn't resist sharing this ampersand. Isn't it pretty? It would look great with other great ampersands that I posted about here. 

So, do you have a favorite typeface? Please do share!

Letter Love

Joy of joys -- check out these ornaments!

Beautiful tye dye goodness from Anthropologie.  While using them as initials would make a lovely addition to any tree, I would use them in a different way.  I think they would be really special in a kids room.  Spell out a child's name and link them all together with a long piece of ribbon, evenly spacing each letter and then knotting them all in place.  A long name would look particularly nice hanging behind a crib or a bed.  A shorter name would look great hanging on the bedroom door, too.

Using them in a kid's room was the first thing to come to mind, but they can actually be reused in many ways throughout the year.  What if you have enough letters on hand to spell out different things?  Happy Birthday would be sweet. Or celebrate whenever you have a party. Or perhaps best of all, for those days when a hug and kiss just isn't enough, an I love you would most definitely do the trick.

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all images via anthropologie.com