Kingsley to L&H

Lucky girl gets an early Christmas present today... hanging out with Mom & Dad in the office:)

Christmas Cards: Kari Herer Photography

The Christmas cards are rolling in & this has to be one of my favorite - especially when it comes from a business, which generally don't catch my eye. Kari shot our wedding line this summer and was an absolute delight to work with!

With Love

Every Christmas, I get the most amazing decorations from my friend's mother, who is not only like a mother to me, but is a dear friend, a mentor, and an inspiration in so many ways. She is a natural caregiver and mother and an extremely talented woman in her own right - photographer, painter, florist, quilter, decorator (you'd die to see the way she works the insides of her walls). Much of my aesthetic, my appreciation for the whimsical, and my attention to simple pleasures was shaped by her around the time when my mom passed away. She doesn't know it, but she filled a void in my life in more ways than being a mother-figure, a hand-holder, and a listener. She really allowed my creative spirit to come to life by encouraging me and showing me what was possible. I know that sounds really cheesy, but I believe it one hundred percent. I owe much of my creative confidence to her!

So now you know how much this incredible person means to me:) Above are these beautiful branches she gave us this year. They have lights at the tips that cast an amazing glow over everything. Seeing them in the package, I was worried they might have that LED blue-ish light that is way too strong for my eyes. But no, it's so soft and so pleasant. And the best part is, unlike our Christmas tree, I'll be able to have these up long after the holidays.

Thanks, N! We love you.

Bon Iver

Went to see Bon Iver on Friday night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. They played some great ones, but The Outfield's Your Love was a definite highlight.

Thank You, Cookie!

Cookie Magazine's Nesting blog mentioned our vintage stationery yesterday. Thanks, Cookie!

L&H: Redesigned

I haven't posted much on our Redesigned Line lately - and I really should because I like it now more than ever, thanks to the great hands behind these little gems. Each one is assembled by hand from letterpress misprints. I so want to keep the citron & pink flower pin with that big shiny gold button and wear it with this strawberry skirt!

Gingerbread Houses

I looooove gingerbread houses, so I was like a little kid on Christmas when I found these from Katy Elliott from the Gingerbread Festival in Marblehead, MA. I gave a gingerbread house as a gift a couple years ago. And last year, I was asked to do an invitation for a gingerbread house party (love that). I pathetically attempted to get our nieces & nephews to make gingerbread houses from graham crackers last year, too. (Nothing beats the real thing.) See more from Katy's day at the festival here.

[photos courtesy of Katy Elliott]

Leo Lionni

My fourth grade play was Tico and the Golden Wings. At the time, I had little-to-no idea where the play came from. As in, I thought my music teacher had made it up. I was so happy to see Julia had featured it on her blog recently and reminded me of the very talented work of Leo Lionni. If & when I have children, I want them to be surrounded by images like these.

[images courtesy of Book By Its Cover]

20% off for Friends & Family

Only 17 days of shopping before Christmas is here. (Why does that feel like it's tomorrow??) Enter "friends" at checkout to receive 20% off through December 19. Happy holiday shopping from L&H!

Movin' on Up!

We're trekking up to the Upper East Side today & tomorrow for the Golden Tree Holiday Shopping Fair that benefits the New York Junior League causes. The New York Junior League generates funding for 29 community service programs addressing some of New York's needs - primarily dealing with children and womens' issues. The New York Junior League funds all programs through direct contributions from individual donors, corporations and foundations, as well as with proceeds from fundraising events and programs such as Golden Tree.

Have a great weekend! We'll be back Monday with a little holiday treat.

Thank You, d

A big BIG thank you to domino for featuring our personalized notepads in this month's issue! If you read this blog, you know how crazy I am for notepads. The personalization is an added bonus. And a great gift:)

Christopher Bettig

Christopher Bettig from The Moutain Label has some great prints right now. This one is my favorite - and would make an excellent gift. I am also pretty fond of his Richie Tenenbaum figure. That is a great movie.


[photos courtesy of the mountain label]

I'm Sorry, from the Dog

This is what happens when my little four-legged baby acts up... I write I'm Sorry notes. Today, I'm sending my second I'm Sorry note from Kingsley. The first was to our niece whose American Girl, Nicki, became One-Arm Nicki after a visit to Brooklyn and had to be sent away to the "hospital" for two weeks to get a new arm. This one is going to my one and a half year old nephew who Kingsley knocked over, stood on top of, and licked from head to toe over Thanksgiving. In her note, Kingsley apologizes for mistaking him for a bar of soap back in Brooklyn that she so loves and promises to try harder not to make that mistake again. I cringe every time she does something bad around people, but to do it to them is a whole other issue and definitely requires a sincere I'm Sorry note, from the dog.

IM in Training: FINISHERS!

I could not believe it the day after, and I still cannot believe it a week later. For the past seven months, John & I have been training six days a week for anywhere from one to five hours a day. It was easy at first and progressively got harder as the volume increased. We turned down dinners, concerts, weekends away, countless beers, our dog got pudgy, we woke up before the sun, we ate whatever we wanted and were cranky when we couldn't, we trained in the summer heat and the cold mornings of early fall. We did it to prove to ourselves that we could. And we did. We crossed the line when all bodily signs pointed towards stop/rest/quit/sit. John said it was the most humbling experience of his life. I could not agree more.

[photos by Lizzy]

Tired, Verrrry Tired

This is what I feel like this morning and what I feel like doing today. Tired, and sprawling out on the couch.

We did it! We crossed the finish line of our Ironman race yesterday! It was about 100 times more challenging than I thought it would be - but hands down the most physically & mentally challenged I have ever been in my life - and therefore, the most rewarding. And I was the happiest girl in the whole world to cross that line.

I'll be taking a couple days of rest now... from work, from blogging, from my black berry (maybe) - and resting my very tired bones.

See when I get off the couch.

IM in Training: Gear

This sport called triathlon is not for the gear-less. There is so much stuff you have to have (and remember to have) for this sport - and especially so for Ironman because the distance is so great. These are just a couple things we've had to pick up: water bottles and CO2 cartridges. We'll each have four water bottles on our bike (and drinking 10-15 by the end of the bike) and 3 CO2 cartridges on the bike in case of flat tires. And these are the most benign of it. Don't even get me started on salt tablets and body glide!

IM in Training: Arizona

A couple shots of sunny (and very hot!) Arizona. I'm so happy to finally be here that I think the butterflies have actually settled since touching down. We swam in the murky Tempe Town Lake this morning, officially registered, got our race bracelets and synced our race chips. Just a few steps closer to the finish line!

Harper's Bazaar

While we're in sunny AZ and prepping for our first dip in the lake out here, I thought I'd share this equally sunny page from the latest Harper's Bazaar. See the L&H stationery in there? It's our custom-designed conch shell pattern.

More from IM central soon...

Up Up & Away

I apologize in advance for all you paper-loving people out there... the rest of this week's blog and into next will be playing a very different tune as we prepare for the Ironman this Sunday. Eight months of training - and here we are, five days out. We leave for Arizona this morning and will be working from out there as much as possible while Jen holds down the fort back here in Brooklyn. I've had some serious butterflies fluttering around in my stomach for the past week as I started to set aside my clothes for the trip. I cannot believe it's finally here! Woa, deeeeeeep breath.

How great are these drawings above? They're from a poster that John's sister & her family sent us. So nice! Thanks, you guys!!!

More from sunny Arizona to come.

Garland AND Balloons

While I love garland, balloons are happiness. I'd almost prefer balloons to flowers for birthday wishes. They just make me smile. It's not very environmentally friendly of me - but once a year, I'd like to throw a party with a room full of balloons. This one would do:)

[Untitled (Arika) by Dorthe Alstrup]

Recent Work: Una Fiesta

I thought I'd start the week off with some recent work: our fiesta party flag-inspired birthday invitations. I love paper garland! It's a sign of good times in my book. I see the garland, and I just know I'm going to have a good time. Garland=Fun. So, given my apparently strong feeling on garland, I jumped at the chance to create something like it for this fun Mexican-themed birthday party. The letterpress bumps it up to another level I think. Still fun though, of course!

Artist Julie Goldstein

We went to a show for artist Julie Goldstein in DUMBO last night. Julie lives & works on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, which is a definite source of inspiration for her work - with her earlier Brooklyn days added to the mix. She has recently started a line of Perfect clothing (the t-shirts are hands down my favorite and most comfortable ones I own) and is now using a lot of textiles in her work. I love the layering of materials - from the lace & upholstry to her woodblock prints to the metal nail heads. The combination is just perfectly tactile - something I'd love to have hanging in my beach-side bungalow - or even here in Brooklyn to remind me of warmer sunny days on the beach. See more of Julie's work here and her Pine Surf Shop here.

Placecards & Photographer Jennifer Kloss

You might remember the invitations we did for a couple getting married in Sonoma, CA a few months back that used our existing letterpress Bloom flats and Zig Zag note cards. Well, I was so happy when I got an email from them with photos of the placecards I did for them, using the Zig Zag note cards again and hand-lettering them! These gorgeous photos above were taken by talented photographer Jennifer Kloss. I love how rich the colors are in her photos. I'm drawn to high contrast in photographs - so when I saw her portfolio, I was hooked immediately.

See more of Jennifer's work here.

L&H in NY Metro

Thank you Tina from NY Metro for including us in a five calendar round-up in today's paper!

So Very Grateful

Seeing our Calendar on design*sponge this morning makes my heart swell. Afterall, Grace is the queen of cool in the blogworld, design world, and to me. And is pretty much the reason I started this blog in the first place. A big big thank you from L&H to d*s!

Ribbons

Maybe it's the prep in me - the girl who (surprisingly) never rolled her eyes at wearing ribbons in her hair for lacrosse games - or maybe it's the gift wrap lover in me - the girl who splurges on wrap and twine - but I love ribbons. I'm a firm believer that a simple ribbon goes a long way - and that it's a detail that never goes unnoticed. Not to mention it's ease of reusability (I think I just made up a word) compared to folded and taped wrapping paper.


When deciding what ribbon to use for our calendar and gift tags, I knew Midori would be the place and that their double-faced satin ribbon had to be included. These ribbons feel amazing to the touch and have the richest colors. We use them for our die cut butterfly & pig tags and I make a point to tell retailers, press and clients about them when describing the items because I think it's such a necessary point.

So apparently, my paper snobbiness has carried over into ribbons. And to your benefit, I say! :)

L&H 2009 Calendar!

We are thrilled to announce the Linda & Harriett letterpress 2009 calendar! This is definitely one of my most favorite projects of the year. I have been making notes on each month's design and am so excited with the result of color, image & pattern! July is my favorite, I have to say. I want to take this mermaid-inspired pattern and use it for everything. Watch out - it might be the new pig. Or the new zig zag:) Since I cannot get enough of hand-lettering, I decided to do the whole thing by hand - which just tops it all off for me.

So - do you have a favorite month?