Quick Picks Thursday : 11.10.11

November 10, 2011 // kristen // 0 replies

Incredible Washi Tape Art Installation at MT Expo 2011
(wish I could’ve seen this in person!)

This Week’s Picks

♥ Ooh, an ampersand made of ampersands.

♥ Gorgeous book covers for Malcolm Gladwell : Collected.

♥ Hoot, hoot!

♥ Clever, clever Tattoo It Yourself notebooks by Andrew Kolb. – via Mitchell & Dent

♥ Hahaha – hilarious!

♥ This is some seriously awesome holiday gift packaging.

♥ Hello, aluminum wedding invitation.

♥ A paper pendant light made of fortune tellers – so cool! – via pin

♥ Plantini – this little metal planthouse kit makes me all swoon-y.

♥ Etchpop, custom laser engraved woodblocks for hand printing your own greeting cards, wedding invitations, and stationery.

image from Hello Sandwich

2012 Calendar Designs, Part 7

November 10, 2011 // kristen // 2 replies

Ready for some more awesome 2012 calendars? That’s good, because I have ten more super cool designs to share with you today. Get ready for some calendar eye candy!

This screen printed 2012 Monster Calendar by 55His and Chris Sandlin (SockMonkee) is rocking my world.

Albertine Press’ 2012 letterpress wall calendar will take you on a trip around the world, and you’ll have postcards to send to your friends and family when you’re done. Every month features an original sketch from a different city in the USA and around the world, and when you’re ready to flip the page, cut along the dotted line and you’ve got a ready-to-mail postcard.

Featured cities include Amsterdam, Philadelphia, Austin, Tokyo, London, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Brooklyn, San Francisco, Chicago, Paris and Rio. And Shelley from Albertine is featuring each city with photos of the inspiration that led her to design each month, so be sure to head over and check those out.

I’ve been a big fan of Anke Weckmann’s work for a while, and I’m so jazzed to see that she has a calendar for the coming year. Loving all of the wonderful, colorful illustrations.

The Little Things Studio 2012 wall calendar features eye-catching patterns and quotes that reflect the concept of time and what we do with the time we are given. What a lovely combination of visuals and food for thought.

Miles of Light’s soft and simple Feather Calendar exudes an understated calm. Just looking at this once a day would lower my stress levels, I think.

Ooh, Dutch Door Press’ 2012 letterpress calendar is a beauty. I love their choice of colors, and the folksy florals are so very pretty.

Cat Seto has two great calendar designs, including an eco-friendly Banner Garland Calendar strung with pom poms(!),

and a new 2012 Eco Desk Calendar that comes with a reusable wood block holder made of reclaimed lumber. Pretty neat!

Le Papier Studio’s 2012 wall calendar features bright and sunny illustrations of juicy, tasty fruits for each month of the year. Mini calendars are also available in sets of four – the perfect little stocking stuffers.

Parrott Design Studio’s 2012 calendar features three of their favorite things: letterpress, calligraphy, and dip-dyed paper. Each page has been dip-dyed by hand, letterpress printed, and each month was calligraphed by hand by Sarah Parrott. The result is absolutely beautiful.

I always look forward to seeing the wonderful calendar designs from SusyJack*, and this year’s collection includes a wall calendar, a writable grid calendar, and a desk calendar filled gorgeous, colorful illustrations.

images from their respective owners

2012 Calendar Designs, Part 6

November 09, 2011 // kristen // 5 replies

The fun, unique, and wonderful 2012 calendar designs keep coming in part six of my roundup, which includes lovely letterpress printed designs, calendars for the sci-fi nerd or mustache aficionado in your life, and a unique connect the dots calendar that the kiddos can help you with. Looking for more awesome 2012 calendars? Check out my previous calendar features, too!

Fourth Year Studio’s 2012 letterpress calendar was inspired by traditional and contemporary quilt patterns and features a different geometric pattern each month. Calendar pages are perforated so you can tear off the date portion and use the patterns as notecards, too.

INK + WIT’s lovely letterpress wall calendar, “Into the Calm”, exudes a cool serenity with soft colors, beautiful patterns, and calming quotes.

I’m really digging the wonderful colors and typography in Steel Petal Press’ 2012 letterpress wall art print calendar.

Two Pooch Paperie’s 2012 Mustache Calendar features twelve giggle-inducing illustrations of mustachiod men.

The limited edition Synchronized Swimmers calendar by MaeMae Paperie is so very clever … and educational, too!

Dan Usiskin combines a calendar with one of everyone’s favorite childhood activities in his Dot to Date (London Edition) calendar. Dot each day to the next however you like – use a pen, a pencil, a crayon, or needle and thread to reveal a different London landmark each month.

Night Owl Paper Goods has a parliament of hoot-iful wood veneer calendars for the coming year.

Sci-fi nerds will love Alex Griendling’s 2012 Time Travel calendar, which collects 155 instances of time travel from films, television shows, video games, and comics and puts them on a single timeline that plays out over the course of a year. Check out this Kickstarter project here.

Inklosures’ 2012 Petite Wall Calendar features twelve seasonal illustrations and makes a fantastic stocking stuffer or hostess gift.

Retro Menagerie’s illustrated wall calendar features a different, original illustration each month and includes plenty of space for taking note of special dates and events.

images from their respective owners

A Letterpress Christmas 2011 : Sweet Harvey

November 09, 2011 // kristen // 2 replies

Ooh, I’ve been waiting for this for weeks! I’m officially kicking off my sixth annual “A Letterpress Christmas” series today with Sweet Harvey’s wonderful 2011 holiday collection, which features whimsical, illustrated letterpress greetings, note cards, and mini cards in a swoon-worthy color palette of deep, plummy purple, rust red-orange, and chartreuse green.

Loving these clever “peace” connect the dots cards:

Happy Holidays Mini Cards/Place Cards:

images from Sweet Harvey

How to Make Paper Twine Gift Tags

November 08, 2011 // kristen // 3 replies

Today, I’m really excited to be able to share another craft project that incorporates some of the awesome supplies that Felt & Wire sent over from their supply shop. And if you missed it, check out these fun confetti envelope cards that I also made using Mohawk’s Urban Gray cards. Love that color!

If there’s one thing that I always find that I need more of during the holiday season, it’s gift tags. Well, gift tags and tape. These handmade tags feature tiny, stylized wreaths made using PaperPhine’s fantastic paper twine, and the white ink against the dark gray cardstock makes them look like little chalkboards, don’t you think?

Supplies Used

Scissors and/or Paper Cutter
Mohawk Loop Antique Vellum Urban Gray A2 Card
EK Success Dotted Circle Paper Punch
1/4” Hole Punch
PaperPhine Paper Twine
White Gel Pen
Glitter Glue (I used Christmas Red Stickles)
Fiskars Scalloped Edge Scissors (optional)
1/8” Hole Punch (optional)
Ribbon (optional)

Instructions

Cut your cardstock into gift tag-size pieces. I cut mine to 3.75” x 1.5”, which yields three tags from an A2 card with a little left over to make mini tags (that’s another project).

Slide your cardstock into the dotted circle paper punch and position accordingly. For this size tag, I slide the cardstock into the punch as far as I can and center it vertically.

Remove the cardstock from the punch and, using a pen or pencil, draw a dot in the center of the dotted circle to use as a guide. Using a 1/4” hole punch, create a hole in the middle of the dotted circle.

Cut approximately two feet of paper twine, and thread one end of the twine down through the first hole in the dotted circle until roughly 2” of twine are through the hole. Secure the twine with your index finger, and loop the long end of the twine through the hole in the center of the dotted circle. Thread the twine back up through the next hole in the dotted circle, and continue this process until you’ve threaded all of the holes in the dotted circle.

After you’re finished threading the holes in the circle, tie the two ends of twine into a knot on the back side of the tag and trim off any excess. Using a white gel pen, write your sentiment or message onto the tag.

Decorate your tag using glitter glue, or leave undecorated for a minimalist look. Optionally, use decorative edge scissors to create scalloped edge details. Attach to a gift using double-sided adhesive, or use a 1/8” hole punch and ribbon to make a gift tag that you can tie onto a gift.

photos by Kristen Magee