Laura Levine

I love the stamps as background in this Laura Levine painting, Meadow Lark.

Steven Rood

One of the many little perks of working at an advertising agency - and a large one - was the access to resources. There were art director portfolios coming in and out all the time and stacks of art books a mile high in almost every office. In my little cube, I kept all of the back issues of Adweek, Advertising Age, Creativity and Communication Arts. CA was definitely an office favorite (so much so I had to lock them up at night) and quickly became mine as well. We now have to pay the $53 for the yearly subscription (bye bye, perk) but it's well worth it. This month is the Photography Annual and is filled with beautiful images. These are from Steven Rood and were an instant stop&stare for me. See more of Steven Rood's work here or other greats at CA here.

Dare I Say... I'm Lovin It

Who cares if I can't stand the food at the golden arches - I love this ad.

Blogger, don't fail me now.

I'm having issues uploading pics this morning and am prepping for a meeting. I hope to be up & running this afternoon. Until then...

Ironman In Training: Going Long

One of my favorite things of our Ironman training is how much distance I can cover on a bike. I know that this should be common sense - but I didn't really think about it until we found ourselves in the Hudson Valley, north of the city - in these gorgeous lush hills. In running, you can really only get so far - unless you're doing some serious mileage. I love that I can get on a bike, be gone for hours, and have traveled 50-some miles - all on the power of my two little feet (and a pretty cool bike). I never really considered myself a bike person. It just seemed like too much hassle - with the helmet, the shoes, the tire-pumping, the extra tubes you have to bring in case you blow a tire. Nah, I'll just stick with my running shoes & sticking my key in my sports bra, thanks. It didn't help that for the first solid five weeks of training, I fell at every stoplight. Darn those clip-in pedals! But lately, I'm finally feeling it. I don't tip over anymore (knock on wood) and all the other stuff just doesn't bother me as much. I think I may just be turning into a cyclist. Or am growing up.

Wedding Gift for Years to Come

My brother in law recently came up with the best wedding gift I've ever heard of - and not because he asked me to help with the design part. He is giving his friends five bottles of wine as their wedding gift with the intention that each bottle be opened on special anniversaries - first year, second year, fifth year, tenth year and first child. He has selected the wine based on these years and asked me to come up with the tags to go on them. I was really excited about this and really happy with what I came up with - a citron color zig zag on 2ply cotton paper and hand-stamped navy numbers - love the plus one tag (good one, John)! I didn't want it to be too girly or too complicated in design. And they needed to be small enough to fit in a wine fridge but big enough that he could write a personal message on the back. I think this is such a fantastic and thoughtful gift. I may just have to use it myself. Thanks, Joe!

Update: A little more info on the wines... He wanted to the wines to come from all different regions. He did champagne for year 1, then a Spanish wine for year 2, age-appropriate wines from Argentina and I think California for 5 & 10 and since his friend is Hungarian, he went with a popular Hungarian dessert wine for the "+1" (first child) bottle. Great gift.

Hand-Stamped Invitations

As you may know, I started L&H as a custom rubber-stamp invitation business a few years ago. I designed the rubber stamps based on what clients were looking for and hand stamped each piece. (Similar to what I do now for custom letterpress work.) It can be a really playful process, which makes for some really interesting and unique work. Lately, I've been asked to do some really neat projects - with quick turnarounds - and rubber stamps are great for this.

Above is an invitation I did for Chelsea's grandmother's 90th birthday party. She wanted to include this fantastic photo of her grandmother, so I first printed that on Italian deckled-edge paper. Then I hand-wrote the invitation text and scanned that in to print that on top. And finally, added the stamped blooms on the bottom right corner. It was so fun (& fitting I think) to use such authentic pieces like the old photo, the handwritten text and the rubber stamp for such a momentous occasion. Thank you, Chelsea!

[photo courtesy of frolic!]

Catherine Ledner

I bought Catherine Ledner's book Animal House as soon as it went on sale last year and then bought a couple more for friends because I loved it so much. Now, I'm seeing that prints of her work are available on her website. I'd love to have a whole bunch of these prints on my wall - or just one big massive one. Of course, then I'd need one big massive wall to put it on. I love when work makes you see something familiar in a new way. Like the juxtaposition of the wild animals and floral wallpaper. I mean, a pig on plush pink carpet? It's so fresh and fun. Images like these just make me smile.

[photos courtesy of catherinesanimals.com]

Mondays for Ironman

Now that we're in our "Build Phase" of our Ironman training, the volume of our exercise is increasing. Our weekends pretty much revolve around our long bike and run - which our friends and family love. And we're waking up even earlier to get more time in at the pool. We're not even into the "Peak Phase," and I already feel how much this training and this race is becoming a big part of our lives. I love it - and wouldn't change it - but I also feel like when I sit down to write my daily post, I feel the need to share it here - even though it's not really the right platform. But it's my blog and I'm going to do it anyway. So - from now on, every Monday (our rest days) will have some sort of Ironman-related content in some way. It's my goal to start taking a camera on our runs - you wouldn't believe how beautiful some parts of Brooklyn can be at 6am or 8pm. The light is just spectacular. So anyway - this is what I'd like to do. We'll see how it goes. I hope you enjoy it.

Above photo from Ironman South Africa - April, 2008.

More Zig Zag Love

Our Citron zig zag note card is now available online! Loving this color. And not even close to being over the zig zag.

Birthday Ride

Yesterday, John tells me I have "an appointment" at 9:30am. I thought I was getting an early-birthday gift of a pedicure - something I've been wanting to do for 2 months! (and really need) - but no, I find out just before "the appointment" that I am getting my bike fitted. (For those who may not know, bike fitting is essential if you're doing long rides, and the appointments take hours. I got John a bike fitting for Christmas - it was a big hit, apparently. It's all in the fit, as I'm learning.) So, we show up for this fitting with my bike, and John takes out a party horn and says Happy Early Birthday! I'm looking around without a clue as to what he's talking about. And there, sitting in the fitting room is a brand new Tour de France-looking bike. I was in complete shock. Still am. This bike is way too fancy for me. But the woman who fitted me said my old bike was "a tank", so I guess it was time. So today, on my first day of my 28th year, we're doing our long ride of the week - on my super duper non-tank bike! I've never been more excited about not getting a pedicure.

Swatches from Maine

A new thing of mine is taking pictures close up & filling the frame on my digital camera. I take way too many, but I love the color and textures I end up with. My hope is to make a little patchwork of all of them.

Happy Birthday Dad

I'm having some trouble posting images this morning, but I wanted to say a quick Happy Birthday to my dad, who used to ask me on big game days, "What's the word of the day?" and before I could even answer he'd say, "Shoot!" Now, I get the "You go girl." He's a constant source of encouragement and my biggest fan - and I love him more than words can say. Happy Birthday, Dad.

Kari Grosser

I always leave Maine with a heavy heart, wishing I could stay forever. And after visiting the very sweet and super-talented photographer, Kari Grosser in her sun-drenched home-studio, snacking on homemade scones (made by her husband Tom), my the heavy heart turned to heartbreak driving away yesterday. I was sad to say goodbye to the rocky coast of Maine, but happy to be home and feeling refreshed and recharged.

Above is just a little preview of what's to come from Kari's work over the weekend. We are so lucky to have found Kari and are thrilled she could fit us into her schedule. A weekend work trip never looked so good!

You must check out Kari's work and blog. She has some seriously cute furry friend pics - just a sampling below.


Many thanks to Kari, Tom & of course Kona for letting us into your home!

Strawberry Heaven

Strawberry pie, strawberry jam, strawberries & cream, strawberry pancakes. Mmm, the list goes on and on. We've heard the strawberries are peaking in Maine right now, and I can't wait to bring home a big crate full to make some yummy treats like this. Okay, so mine wouldn't look like this - but you get the idea. I want to make a pie. Happy (early) Weekend!

[photo courtesy of Smitten Kitchen]

Drawn from Maine

I cannot wait to see the upcoming exhibit Drawn from Maine at the Nancy Margolis Gallery here in NYC. The exhibit features "seven distinctly different voices from Maine whose works invite a lively conversation among each other." It opens tomorrow and runs through August 15. As you know by now, we're leaving tomorrow for Maine, so I can't attend the opening, but I'll definitely be checking this out upon our return.

Mara Sprafkin was kind enough to share a detail (above) of her piece in the exhibit 'Everything I've Had But Couldn't Keep'. (Ink on vinyl covered paper.) Congrats and thank you, Mara!

Time Out for Confession of the Day

I have to confess because it's just that good. I watched three hours of the Bachelorette last night. That's right. Two hours for the finale and another one for the After the Final Rose show. I'd like to say that my 9 mile run made me too tired to do anything else, but I'd be lying. To use the much overused expression from Jesse in last night's show, "I was into" it big time. And when the recorded time became live with 45 minutes to go, I grew seriously impatient during the commercial breaks. What is wrong with me? I'm officially a reality tv junkie. And I had to fess up. Anyone else want to join in and make me feel better about myself? Please?

More Looking Ahead to Maine

How great is this 1945 cover of Gourmet? Shh, I don't like lobster. But I love them on our Oversized Flats & Notepads:)

Work Trip to Maine

We're heading up to Maine this weekend to work with a photographer and to take a little time out for ourselves. A work trip to Maine? Does it get any better?! The answer is no - it doesn't. I've been like a giddy little kid ever since I booked the appointment. So I've got some serious Maine on my mind these days - and I'm sure I'll come back next week with even more - so bare with me as I channel it all on here.

[The Lobsterman by Andrew Wyeth above]

Happy Early Fourth

We're heading out early to beat the mass-exodus for the Fourth of July weekend. I can smell the salty air already! In honor of this Independence Day, I've rounded up some of my favorite red, white and blue things that surround me daily in the studio.

I wish you all some good firework-watching & sparkler-twirling-fun this weekend. Til Monday, then.

Bridal Designer: Jennifer Salzman

I just came across the bridal collection of former Prada & D&G executive turned bridal designer, Jennifer Salzman. Her debut collection is beautiful - and am seriously loving this one. I wish I was wedding dress shopping all over again because this one would be it.

Flower Pins

More flower pins over here. I am loving how these cards from our misprints box take on a whole new life as pins. I think variations of these green ones would make really cool wedding boutonnieres.

Piggy Escort Cards

Earlier this year, I did invitations for a great Brooklyn couple who just recently got married in his home state of Virginia. They were the first couple I worked with who felt really passionate about using recycled paper. (It was because of these two that L&H now offers recycled white and recycled pearl papers for all of our invitations - in addition to our 100% rag cotton papers.) Anyway - after the invitations were in the mail, they were looking for a way to do their escort cards and loved the little piggy note cards. I looked into our misprints box and found a whole bunch of them. Above, you see the finished product - misprinted letterpress piggies turned into escort cards. Love this. Thanks to E&B for being sharing these and for being so resourceful!