Don’t Tell Santa Holiday Photo Cards

October 28, 2010 // kristen // 0 replies

2011 Calendar Designs, Part 2

October 28, 2010 // kristen // 5 replies

If you’re looking for even more awesome calendars, check out part one of my 2011 calendar roundup. Now, without further ado, here’s part two!

Illustrator and pattern designer extraordinaire, Jessica Swift, has calendars featuring her awesome pattern work in three sizes: large and small wall calendars, and a cute desk calendar. I have to say that one of my favorite months is February. Gorgeous colors!

Desk size:

Small wall calendar:

Large wall calendar:

Typophiles will love this 2011 calendar by Heather Lins. Each month is interpreted typographically, like a type specimen book, and printed onto wood veneer. Typography AND wood veneer? Swoon! – via Felt & Wire Shop

Oddball Press’ 2011 Avalanche letterpress calendar is the latest addition to the Oddball Press Natural Disaster Calendar Series. You could look at this for hours and still find new details. Is that the devil chasing a butler on the ski lift wires? So much fun … for a disaster, at least!

Blackbird Letterpress pays homage to the mighty pelican in this amazing 2011 letterpress calendar. 10% of the proceeds from this limited edition calendar will go to help the Gulf Coast as it continues to clean up after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Pistachio Press has created two lovely letterpress calendars for 2011, including the Mid-Century Modern 2011 Letterpress Wall Calendar (great patterns!):

And this Fabulous 2011 Wall Calendar, a collaboration between Pistachio Press and Jim DeLucia:

Anna Cote’s 2011 Somewhe-re Desk Calendar is a collection of natures scenes from places she’s been. Each illustration in the calendar has been created from layers of digitally altered photos and her own drawings.

Bold, graphic images and large grid calendar squares are two of the highlights from Jonathan Adler’s 2011 Grid Calendar:

images from their respective owners

Printables from Emmy Lu Design Studio

October 27, 2010 // kristen // 1 replies

Emmy Lu Design Studio has just undergone a major transformation and re-launched with a whole new look and a whole bunch of new printable paper goodies. All designs in the new printables line are handcrafted (via pen or paintbrush) and are happy, cheerful, and created to bring some sunshine to your day. Once you purchase your paper goodies, you can download them and print them as many times as you’d like, which makes them an excellent choice for holiday gift giving, too!

The new Emmy Lu line includes beautifully designed printable calendars (Modern Whimsy is shown above), note cards, recipe cards, and gift tags. I’m loving all of the handmade touches in these printable lovelies, including watercolor paintings and hand-drawn illustrations. Here’s one more peek at what you can find at the new Emmy Lu, and you can head over to emmylu.com to check out the entire collection.

images from Emmy Lu Design Studio

Winter Wonderland Book Review

October 27, 2010 // kristen // 4 replies

I recently received a review copy of Winter Wonderland: Charming Winter Paper Sculptures for Parties, Holidays, and Home Decor by illustrator and paper engineer, Mary Beth Cryan, and I knew that it was going to be a fun book as soon as I spotted the little paper squirrel peeking out at me from the box.

Winter Wonderland isn’t just a book, it’s also a paper craft kit that includes pre-punched project sheets for creating the 12 fun paper sculptures that you can find in the book. These pre-punched sheets make the sculptures easy to assemble, and detailed instructions (visual diagram style) can be found for each.

The kit also includes ribbon by which you can hang any of the projects … on your Christmas tree, or as a garland that you can used to deck the walls. And if one pair of paper ice skates or one cute paper birdhouse isn’t enough, then you can find templates for all of the projects in the back of the book. Photocopy the templates onto cardstock, and you can make the paper sculptures as many times as you’d like.

While many of the sculptures are a little advanced for very young children to create by themselves, they can easily be made with a little help from an adult. I also like that the book is spiral bound, so you won’t have to hold the book open while you’re trying to put together the sculptures. This really is a fun little book for both kids and adults, and I think it would make a great holiday gift for paper crafters, too.

Winter Wonderland is available at Barnes & Noble, and Mary Beth Cryan will be promoting the book in B&N stores throughout November, so she may be coming to a store near you!

Here’s a peek at some of the projects that you’ll find in Winter Wonderland:

photos by Kristen Magee

2011 Calendar Designs, Part 1

October 26, 2010 // kristen // 2 replies

It’s finally that time of the year, time to share bunches of wonderful new 2011 calendar designs, and boy, there are so, so many beautiful calendars this year. I probably say that every year, but it’s true! Calendar design has been raised to an artform over the past few years, and I look forward with increased anticipation every year.

Ilee always creates something spectacular, and their 2011 letterpress and silkscreen calendar is filled with wonderful imagery, including a festive rabbit to ring in the new year (2011 is the year of the rabbit) and an October moon that glows in the dark. Awesome!

Already receiving plenty of buzz (and deservedly so) is this beautiful, modern, metallic gold foil and warm grey letterpress calendar by Seesaw Letterpress. I love that each page is perforated, so you can tear off the calendar part and frame the illustrations.

INK + WIT’s 2011 letterpress Totem Animals at Play calendar features a menagerie of amazing patterns and animal illustrations.

I have a huge owl obsession, so naturally I’m loving the 2011 Owl Lover calendar. This calendar is exciting because 1) it’s free!, and 2) it features downloadable owl illustrations from 30 talented illustrators. Choose your 12 favorite owlies, as well as the month that you’d like each owl to represent, print, and you have your own custom 2011 owl calendar!

Satsuma Press always creates such a beautiful calendar. The 2011 letterpress calendar is filled with soft and lovely illustrations to carry you through the year.

Inspired by the colors and shapes found in nature, Laura Macchia has created a vibrant, illustrated 2011 calendar, which features a different illustration each month.

And this is just the beginning. Look for plenty of other calendar roundups in the coming weeks, and I’ll be starting A Letterpress Christmas 2010 soon, too!

images from their respective owners