Orange Piggies

So you may be asking yourself, what is up with all the pigs? or why pigs? or maybe, but I hope not, not another pig? The answer my friends is simply, why not. And cause I like them. And cause I thought you might too.

Well okay, the truth is, I was wondering if this addition was going to be overkill, but I love these little guys and I love orange. And everyone loves stuffed animal pigs (right?) and real pigs are okay - so here we are.

Enjoy!

Black Vodka. Who knew?

We're celebrating Halloween Bates College-style tonight with Trick or Drink - signature (or not so) drinks served at each of the five stops throughout Park Slope and Carroll Gardens. We're the first stop - and therefore worthwhile to try something new while we had wide-eyed attention - and have bravely decided to try black vodka. I'm not much of a hard alcohol drinker (except for C's margaritas... mmm!) but I've never even heard as much as a whisper of this so-called black vodka. Of course I found out about it from - who else - Martha.

I'll let you know how it goes....

Gold Paper Clips

Ah, my husband. He knows how to make me happy. I came home from dinner with a friend last night to find on my desk... gold paper clips. Oh how I love them - and him for knowing that silver will just not do for his paper clip snob of a wife. I especially love the jumbo size, but the smaller ones are handy in a pinch. And I'm loving the clear boxes that they come in. Good bye flimsy, ugly cardboard box! Hello sleek little goldies! Get your own combo pack at your local Staples.

Listening to Feist at Otto

We were at Otto last night with K & C. Otto is a Mario Batali restaurant, (my first time at a MB establishment - yummmm!) which is known to not only have fantastic pizza, but to also have loud music - both true. First came Radiohead - which was great. But when Feist came on - I was so excited, I couldn't help singing right along. Lizzy turned me on to them this summer, and I've been listening to them non-stop here in the studio. (When they came on, John said he felt like we were at work - what a Debbie-Downer!) When I find something I like, it's on repeat for a solid three months. What's wrong with that?!

And what I loved about Otto's music was that they didn't play just one song from an artist - it was several in a row, which I thought was unusual, but fantastic.

So while I usually leave the music tips up to my friends and lately Chelsea from {frolic}, I just had to post about this one after listening to them played loudly over a pizza dinner - and outside our studio walls.

All of 2008 is here!

It's been very cloudy here for the past couple days, so I was going to wait to reveal the new calendar images until I could take better shots, but I just can't. Here they are!


And just because, here's May through December - it's a big scroll, so enjoy!

Sweet Assignment

Part of my day yesterday was spent "researching" gingerbread houses. I'm doing an invitation for a gingerbread house making party. How fun is that?! I've only made one gingerbread house all by myself. And I completely cheated. I didn't buy the set, although if you've done that, I'd consider you a cheater too - but props for trying at all. I made my house out of graham crackers! So I suppose - no, I'm actually quite certain - that that doesn't constitute a gingerbread house at all!

You can see I had my work cut out for me. I found these images while I was poking around the internet trying to find out what shapes of candy and swirls of icing might work. I love the cutout shapes on the first one, the tall shape and shingles of the second and the seemingly professional look of the third. Notice the chocolate graham cracker door - genius.

Name for Number Four

My older sister is pregnant with her fourth child. I'm immensely in awe of her ability to handle three already - and because I think siblings are the most treasured gift on earth - I am thrilled for her, her husband and their soon to be four little ones.

They don't know what they are having yet and are very secretive about their choice of names. (Maybe it's because I reacted horrifically to a name they had picked out for their first, as if they could think it was anything BUT horrific after that. Ooops. Sorry guys.)

To make up for my 8yr old blunder, I thought I'd start a list of names - many of which have come to me from personalized note card orders.

I'm a big fan of these: Olivia, Ethan, Cameron (for a girl), Graham, Isabelle, Sabine, Grace, Dashiell, Dalia, Oliver, Eloise...

Feel free to post your favorites. But I understand if you want to keep them secret:)

Candy-Making Love

I just learned about this shop opening in NYC (they're already in Barcelona, Tokyo and Amsterdam) called Papabubble. They are candy geniuses! I love candy. (Scary that I think I've mentioned that a few times in my young blogging life!) But I do. And the whole candy-making process fascinates me - the thought process behind it - which I'm sure is more than what goes well with mint? but that's what my little brain likes to think it's like. And the actual process of making the candy is a mystery - is it heated? baked? or does it just harden? So when I saw the work these guys do, I had to share my sweet discovery. I love the whimsy of their creations - the toohbrushes?! and the laundry?! Love. Their website is also very cool - check it out here.

Getting There

Remember this post?


Well, I am happy to report that we have finally spruced the place up a bit over here at Linda & Harriett! We filled our Metro knock offs and have just laid down this nice new jute rug from West Elm, which I love! It's amazing how rugs can really cut down on noise. Not that we're rocking out to Bruce over here (everyday, anyway) but we can't be on the phone at the same time because there is so much echoing. John didn't believe me when I said a rug would help, and I have to admit, I'm usually not the expert of these kinds of things, nor do I claim to be now, but I do know that it's much quieter in here. And cozier.

Learning to Love You More

I heard about this website Learning to Love You More from Julia's blog. Artists Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher post "assignments." "Participants accept an assignment, complete it by following the simple but specific instructions, send in the required report (photograph, text, video, etc), and see their work posted on-line. Like a recipe, meditation practice, or familiar song, the prescriptive nature of these assignments is intended to guide people towards their own experience."

Posted above are a few of my favorites from assignment #63, Make an encouraging banner. First of all, I love the idea of this site. The interactive quality is super cool. But I was really drawn to these banners. I might just have to participate in this one.

April Showers

It's nowhere near threatening for rain today here in Brooklyn. In fact, the high today is supposed to be 78 degrees! I put on shorts this morning and then had to change - on principal. It is late October! After the many posts dedicated to my love of all things fall, you all know by now I'm in my favorite time of year - the cooler weather being up there on the list of reasons why fall rules. So the high today is making a real mess of everything for me.

So I'm posting April from our new calendar - showers - which are being called for tomorrow, followed by cooler temperatures. Hooray for the showers!

A Little Peek to 2008

We just got some test sheets in from our printer and could not be more excited about what we're seeing in our 2008 calendar! B & G up in Maine are genius. They're not cut to size or assembled yet, but I couldn't resist posting a few images. More to come next week.

Remembering

On the way home from taking K to the park this morning, I bought these flowers and some festive corn to hang on our door. What I didn't realize at the time that I was purchasing two things that very much remind me of my mom - and on her birthday.

My mom loved the fall - the colors, the falling leaves, the pumpkins, the corn stalks. I can't look at a pumpkin without thinking of her - and of the trips she took to the farm where she grew up in PA and where they still harvest pumpkins every year to fill up our van with pumpkins that would be sold at our church fair. I remember that van filled with what must have been a hundred pumpkins.

Maybe this is why I love the fall too - why I welcome the cooler weather, the darker mornings, the leaves falling from the trees, getting adjusted to close-toed shoes again - why fall doesn't mean the coming of dark winter days and the same boring winter coat, but is more comforting and welcoming than any other time of year. Because when fall is here, it's like she's all around me. And that just makes me really pretty happy.

The Boss

This guy can rock! We went to see Bruce last night at MSG with a couple of our friends and we were all amazed at the energy and life in his performance. I mean, how old do you think he is? We had to look it up (thanks to John's iphone, we now look up anything we don't know - kind of cool, but also takes the fun out of the guessing and wondering) and were impressed with the answer: 58! I can only hope for half his energy. He played new and old, and you better believe there was no shortage of fist-pumping - me, L and the white-haired guy in front of us, included.

Rockin out to Livin' in the Future as we speak.

Happy Holiday Packages

I have Christmas on my mind these days, and that means The List has started. The list of gifts to give, of course. John and I have 16 nieces and nephews between us, and by the time the 25th rolls around, we'll have 17! That's a lot of little people to think about! And many places to ship to, as close as Connecticut and as far as Utah and London. So when I saw these rolls of tape on Twig, my eyes lit up and I bookmarked the page! (I have a bookmark called Gift Ideas. You saw the part about 17 nieces and nephews, right?) I wrap everything in kraft paper or cardboard boxes - so this tape will be the perfect touch to our now-cheery holiday packages! Get your tape at Twig here.

It's Christmas! (here at Linda & Harriett)

I don't know what it is with me and the pigs these days - but as you can see, they're everywhere! And I love them.

And angels always remind me of my mom, so I have a special affection for our "peace" angels card.

You can see more of these holiday cards on our new What's New tab.

Spools

I have been taking pictures of my cards over the past week to replace the current ones. (I think I'm going to be one of those people who rearranges her furniture every month simply because she gets tired of it.) I found these spools at a garage sale in New Jersey this summer for $2 and decided to use them in some of my photos. (see our new hompage images here) I am in love with the colors in this one though. So calming. A nice way to start the day.

Luxe Paperie Love

I have loved Luxe Paperie for a long time - and then even more when I found out that we had lived on the same street in the west village - a beautiful tucked-away street which of course only offered me the teensiest of apartments - not exactly ideal for someone starting a business. But boy did I love that little place.

Mary-Kevin of Luxe Paperie has since moved to LA and has most recently added Linda & Harriett to her fantastic lineup of stationery. We could not be happier to join her list of top notch stationers.

Take a look at Linda & Harriett on Luxe Paperie here.

Philly Biz Ladies Night Wrap Up

I went to the biz ladies night meetup last night in Philly, the first one of the year. And wow, was it helpful. There were four speakers there talking about small business concerns, marketing/pr, wholesaling/retailing, and a personal success story. I only got to the first two "stations" because I had to rush out to catch the train back to nyc, but what I was able to hear was very good advice.

The best two tips I took away from the night were:

1. The Brooklyn Economic Development Center, which aims at stimulating growth in Brooklyn by offering all sorts of information, resources, and even seminars and training.

2. Sending out a simple email that includes four well-shot photographs of your product instead of sending a whole press packet via snail mail, that will most likely sit around or get tossed.

I wish I could have stayed longer to meet more people. I will definitely be attending the Brooklyn meetup in December!

For more information on the biz ladies night meetups, check out the events page on design*sponge here.

design*sponge biz ladies night tonight!

I'm thrilled to be attending tonight's biz ladies night meetup in Philadelphia tonight! I only started my blog about 6 months ago, around the time I officially debuted Linda & Harriett to the world, but I have quickly become fascinated and inspired by the daily postings on blogs, especially design*sponge. So when I heard that d*s was hosting this meetup in Philly for women who have started or want to start their own design-based businesses, I knew I'd have to attend - if not only for fear of not being able to attend the Brooklyn one when it gets scheduled for early December.

You can learn more about this meetup at Oh Joy!, the co-host of tonight's meetup.

Full report tomorrow.

Gray Day, Time to Organize

I cannot work when things are not organized. John was ready to kill me the other day when I stood in the middle of our studio moving desks, printers, even our little 200lb. Chandler & Price. I could not get comfortable with the way we had had our room set up. It makes me uneasy and I cannot concentrate.


Lucky for me, my L&H partner is verrrrry patient. And knows how to problem-solve. He went out and got these not so pretty, but very practical Metro shelving knock-offs from Lowe's to help keep our workspace tidy. No more piles, no more brown boxes. Hooray!

This is where I'll be most of the morning.

Inspiration

All of us are inspired by something. Whether you're knitting scarves, taking photos, arranging furniture or composing the perfect post. The way you do it is inspired by something else - consciously or unconsciously - what you are creating stems from something you've seen, heard or experienced in the past.



I recently picked up interior designer Tricia Guild's book Inspiration (thanks to the recommendation this podcast). It's like one big inspiration board compiled into one big beautiful book, chock full of amazing work.

It's gotten me thinking about my own inspiration - and the importance of keeping it top of mind and expanding it as much as possible.

Here's one I'd add to my book of inspiration, Silver Birches in Spring by Wolf Kahn:

Meet Hedgy

Our newest little guy is here! Meet Hedgy. Letterpressed in Pea Green - he looks great with Navy, Sky Blue and Chocolate. He's so cute. My new favorite. I keep saying that - but I really do mean it.

Marisa Haedike's characters, as I blogged about the other day, have the greatest names - like Pearl the spider, Bart the penguin, Knut the polar bear... I love them. I have only named one of my characters - Frank (the alligator) - after my dad:


I don't know why I thought it would be a good fit - but he's so much more Frank to me than Alligator. And I think I love him more because of it. (Frank the alligator, that is, not my dad. My dad is my favorite person in the world - but I don't love him more for his name.)

So Marisa's names have gotten me thinking about naming characters b/c I believe, although I don't know this for certain, that she has stories behind all her characters and paintings. And for the most part, I do too. Moose Peeking is definitely after my love for all things from Maine, and the only place I have ever seen one. Cows remind me of my childhood trips to my mom's farm in Pennsylvania. Roosters remind me of old hand-towels and china from childhood. Flamingos was a two-part inspiration: one for my friends Barbara and Bob, who have the quirkiest love for them, and two, when thinking for a design for our Cure Card, I wanted it be something elegant, strong and graceful. And now Hedgy - who comes from my friend Jess, who I've known most of my life as Bird. Maybe Hedgy should actually be called Bird? That would be confusing. But sweet, actually.

I wonder what would happen if I let you all influence my character choice - you guys pick the character/animal/thing - I design it, and then maybe you also name it? That would be kinda fun... thoughts?