Mom & Dad to Be

With Mother's Day on Sunday, I thought it was an appropriate time to share the exciting news that I am pregnant! :) I'm just about five months along, and I have been busting at the seams (and recently, that's in the literal sense) to share this with you - especially when it's all that I think about. Lucky for you guys, we just skipped over the whole feeling-like-doggie-do-do part, and we're into the high times of pregnancy! Hooray, appetite for things other than bread!

John and I are excited beyond belief. And I'm so happy to finally share this news & look forward to continuing to share a little bit of the experience here with you guys.


Have a great weekend, and Happy Mother's Day, moms!

(Above: me & my mom, 1981)

L&H: A New Direction

As I've mentioned, there are changes going on over here at L&H - changes I've been thinking about for a while & am excited to finally announce them.

When I started L&H, it was with imported papers, rubber stamps and ink pads - most of which I still have:) I worked with clients one-on-one and made invitations by hand, stamping each piece. The result was beautiful and completely unique. But it wasn't easy. I didn't have many clients who were willing to pay for the work involved and the stamping took its toll. Wedding invitations had to be pretty close to perfect, and there is nothing perfect about a rubber stamp - except for its imperfectness:) So I decided I wanted to try out a line of note cards. With a small line of letterpressed note cards, I signed up for the National Stationery Show last minute. I had the sale of a lifetime that first year - to Paper Source. The then-owner walked in my booth and said she had to have them after seeing our moose note cards. I was beyond thrilled. I was giddy. And hooked.

We continued to release new note cards & products. We launched a custom album in 2008, which we sold that year to about 30 stores nationwide and one in Australia. What I thought would be an easy, streamlined process turned out to be more of a headache. Most of our retailers who ordered custom work were great. One in particular gave me heart palpitations – yelling, accusing, even threatening at one point. Can you imagine? I’m in client service, and I get it. But I wasn't happy about it. People think working with brides is a nightmare. In my experience, it was exactly the opposite. And I wished I had just kept working with them directly & exclusively.

On top of wholesaling our custom work, we were still working with clients one-on-one and offering a full retail line, which included new product lines too, and selling to over 100 stores nationwide. And I was the only designer. Three years later, I’ve got my two little hands in too many places without asking myself where I really want to be - for me and for L&H.

So, my friends, I’m pulling back on the reins. I took our albums out of stores at the beginning of the year and have pulled back on almost all custom work. And just this week, I took down our stationery line from our website and have stopped our formal pr efforts. It’s all a little sad, I must admit. But while I'm sad about ending some things, I'm even happier to be starting others. This is a transition. A big transition. And I’m excited about where this is going and most importantly, I'm excited about what it means for me – more control and more flexibility & freedom.

So what’s next for L&H, you ask? The only item we plan on wholesaling from now on is our annual calendar. It’s been my favorite project every year – and a favorite of yours, too, as it sold out last year by Thanksgiving! And then moving forward, I’m going to work on limited-edition projects - projects on paper and other materials - to be released on our website about every month (via newsletter and of course here on the blog). And I’m thrilled to announce here that our very first project is a letterpressed birthday calendar! (A peek at the cover, above.) I have been wanting to do one of these for years. John and I have 18 nieces and nephews, so it will personally make things a lot easier for us! We’ll debut the birthday calendar at the NSS next weekend and offer it to retailers exclusively at the show and then launch it on our website at the end of the month. I can't wait to show it to you.

Thank you so much for all your support over the years. I am really excited about this transition and am looking forward to sharing my progress & process with all of you here.

And as if this wasn't enough to digest, I have something else to announce tomorrow! So do stay tuned. I promise it's good!

Color, Texture & Pom Poms, Oh My!

Sidetracked this morning by the gorgeous colors of these embroidered bags with pom poms. We really need to bring back the pom pom. It's like an everlasting balloon. They're just so happy.

[images courtesy of PilLove]

New Look, New Beginnings

I'm changing things around a bit here at L&H and started freshening up the site a bit to reflect that. The blog header got a little update, too. I love both and am excited to be moving in a new direction.

I've got a few things on my plate this morning, so unfortunately, I'll have to wait to fill you in on the details of these changes later this week. Stay tuned!

Weekend in Photos: New Hampshire

We were up in New Hampshire this weekend (way up there) for a unique class I got John as a gift. Not wood working or screen printing, although he'd enjoy those too, but a one day rally racing experience at the Team O'Neil Rally School. (If you have a rally racing aficianado in your life, I'd highly recommend it. John was a pig in you-know-what.) So while he was driving with two feet and learning about the physics of spinning a car around a turn at 60mph, I took Kingsley on a nice little hike. It started out warm & dry, but by the end, we were trudging through snow! I was kicking myself for thinking my running shoes would cut it. Such a city girl! Kings had a blast & it was more than refreshing to get out & explore the woods a bit.

Hope you all had a great weekend. We've got some changes going on at L&H, but I'll wait to fill you in later this week.


[photos of the Bridal Veil Falls trail in NH]

From the Desk Fridays: New Product First Look

We're debuting a new product at the NSS in a couple weeks, and I'm so excited to share its very first peek! Can you guess what it is? Hint: there are multiple pieces involved, including these two above. And you will write on it, but never send it.

I'll give you the answer, along with another peek, on Monday.

Happy Weekend!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for...

I have definitely asked this question on here before, so I apologize for the redundancy, but it's too fun a game not to bring up more than once: What do you want to be when you grow up? Or get to 30? or 40? Or if you could change career paths tomorrow? Or what would you do if you had a year off? or if you had no expenses? It's one of my favorite things to ask people because you get some great answers & I think really get to the heart of what they love. And when you're doing what you love, you're not only doing yourself right, but you're really contributing to your community and your local & national economy in the best & most efficient way. Because different interests and ideas and passions is really what makes the world go round. Don't you think? I do:)

I'll step down from the Life Coach Stage, now. I got my Tasting Table email yesterday & was introduced to Milk Made, a NYC-based ice cream delivery service started by Diana Hardeman, that makes unique flavors from local ingredients. Hello, genius! And hello, my alternate career path! I die for ice cream. It's the one sweet I can never turn down, even on cold January nights. Bryers Vanilla Bean or Mint Chip are grocery store pick-up staples. In my home state of PA, it's Turkey Hill's Phillies Graham Slam. When I want to treat myself or dinner guests, it's Brooklyn Larder's Almond Gelato. But what makes Milk Made so super genius & special is 1) the never-duplicated, locally-sourced flavors, and 2) it's delivered to your door. April's flavors are Mint Chocolate Brownie and Honey Lavender Granola (and the granola is by Early Bird - the best granola out there!). I mean...

Fingers crossed they make their way to my Brooklyn nabe by summer! Look up their NYC delivery zones here for you or a friend. (What a great gift!) And check out Milk Made in action on their Red Velvet Madness here. Is it time for a snack break yet?

[images courtesy of Milk Made]