Happy Halloween

Clearly, my brother was in it for the candy. My little sister was the cutest little clown. I was Rainbow Brite. My mom made my costume, and I remember looooving it.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Documentary

If you have about 35 minutes this weekend, you should watch this documentary. And then, read this - but only after watching the whole thing. I'll share my viewing experience with you on Monday.

Happy Weekend.

Happy Halloween

Last Philly post, I swear...

I think this is the cutest costume I've seen this year - a little Philly Phanatic. I can't wait for the kids on our block to come around tonight. I love seeing all the different get-ups. We're attempting a costume of our own for our Trick or Drink evening. Hint #1: Think Olympics. Hint #2: John is very tall and thin, so he's got those long limbs that like him to undoubtedly (and perhaps annoyingly) the most famous person from this year's Olympics. Hint #3: I'll be his doting mother who favors upholstery to tweed. Should be fun.

Happy Halloween everyone!

World Champions

Philadelphia gets a championship!

Our Fall/Winter Catalog via Issuu!

Get your own - Open publication

So close... so sopping wet.

It started out like this - nice and dry. It ended up a soaking mess. And for the first time in World Series history, the game last night was suspended. We were lucky to be invited down to the big game and were excited to see my home city pull out its first championship in 30 years. We drove down last night, bought some overpriced Phillies hats, froze our little pinkies off and came home at the wee hours this morning... and we might just do it again.

Where Are You, d?

Why does my subscription always take so long to arrive. Seeing it on newstands is torture.

IM in Training: 28 days

It's been a while since I've done an IM in Training post... mostly because I've had such horrible knee issues that I didn't know if it would even happen. And then, well, I wouldn't really be IM in Training, I'd just be injured. But, I am happy to report that after seeing a great doctor for a couple of weeks, I now know that my knee pain is caused from a tight IT band. Ever seen these foam rollers in your gym? This is what they are for - rolling out knots and tight muscles. My sister tells me it's on par with labor pains. And it better be, because man, it kills. I had had tight IT bands during my marathon-training a couple of years ago and this foam roller was the single reason I was able to keep running. Now, I'm using it (along with extra help from the doc) to work on the IT band around the knees. It's not fun, but it got me on the bike this weekend for the first time in a long time. Huge step closer to that finish line. 28 days - I will do this.

J. Crew

They've done it again. I love this shot for November's J.Crew catalog cover.

More Vintage Wallpaper

Pardon the double-post of vintage wallpaper, but I mean - how amazing is this pattern? I've been dying to put these rolls to good use and for something other than our bathroom walls. I need to send out some L&H thank yous and am about to make myself some of these lined envelopes. We're going to be offering personalized stationery online soon (hooray!) - which is a big step for us and will make it so much easier for ordering - and I think I may need to include an option for vintage wallpaper liners. Do you agree?

Vintage Wallpaper Liners

A couple of years ago, my friend tipped me off to Secondhand Rose - an antique store here in NYC that has a ton of old wallpaper designs. It was a paper girl's heaven. I walked out with three rolls. And those things are not cheap! I used them a bit in my invitation work and lately have began wrapping unsightly boxes in them. But just recently, I used this pattern as an envelope liner and I'm in love with the results. It's such a nice pairing with the sans serif font and loose hand-lettering in all black.

Hatch Show Print

I'm really feeling large scale letterpress work these days, and there is no one better known for it than Hatch Show Print located in Nashville, TN. They have been around since the turn of the century and in addition to letterpress printing signs for grocery stores, laundries and movie theatres, they have produced posters for some of the most well-known country singers. From the 1920s to the 1950s, Hatch created posters for events that "created the excitement that sold the show, covering the sides of buildings and barns in cities and towns throughout the country. Whether circus, minstrel show, vaudeville act or carnival, if you wanted to fill seats, Hatch got the job done." Read more of the fascinating letterpress shop's history here.

Vandercook

We're getting closer and closer to having a big(ger) commercial space for L&H here in Brooklyn - which has gotten us thinking about what that means in terms of presses and other large equipment we haven't had the space for until now. This weekend John and I took a full day letterpress class using a Vandercook press - a beast of a press, measuring about 9 feet long and 3.5 feet wide. I have only ever been in the room when one of these is being used and never felt compelled to try it until a recent project had us working on such a large scale. And now all I can think about are the posters and large scale images I want to print. I think a poster would make a really fun Save the Date or invitation to a big party or ooh, even an election night bash!

Holiday Preview

Just a little Holiday preview for you. We'll be revealing the full collection at the end of the month along with our fully letterpressed 2009 calendar. Stay tuned. And have a great weekend.

Hennessy Artistry Finale

Wow. What a night. So, we arrive at Gotham Hall - the location for the Hennessy Artistry Finale - and are overwhelmed from the start by how many people are trying to get in to this event - some who are on the guest list, others hoping to get in or at least get a peek at the VIP guests. It was nuts. What was even crazier is seeing our invitation floating around outside like it's the ticket of admission. THAT was surreal. And probably the best part of the evening for me. Besides Leona Lewis singing Bleeding Love. Amazing.

ps - don't know who "Fish Eye" is but I love that that's someone's name and that I saw it on our invitation envelope at the bar. Again, surreal.

L&H Out on the Town

Tonight we have the huge privilege of attending the Hennessy Artistry party for which we did those black and gold invitations. Here's a little video preview of who will be performing. I really hope she sings this song. She has to, right?? Ne-Yo co-wrote it and will also be there as curator along with Fabolous. Not exactly the typical tracks played around here at L&H and certainly eons away from the kinds of events we attend, but I am beyond excited to put on some heels (thanks, Sister!) for what is bound to be an eventful evening.

Feeling Fall

We escaped very last minute this weekend up to Lake Placid, NY - where John grew up vacationing and where his parents now live. It was the perfect time for us to take a break from the city and I am so very grateful for the getaway. It was pretty perfect fall weather, too. The trees were peaking, the sun was unusually warm and the lake was perfectly chill for our furry baby to take lots of dips.

TasteBook

Ask me about the best restaurants in Brooklyn and I'll come up with a list that includes different cuisines and price ranges in no time. Recipes though, not so much. But when I find a good one (not too many ingredients and no strict measurements) I do hold on to it. I have a recipe binder that is full of folded sheets of paper with recipes I've been given or have printed out from Martha and Real Simple. I just don't take them out that often. The problem is probably not the folded up loose pieces of paper - but it probably doesn't help either. Welcome, TasteBook. I recently came across TasteBook - via BFF Bridal via Brooklyn Bride - and I must say, this idea is genius. Even for a recipe horder, non-cook like myself. BFF Bridal brilliantly suggests ditching the bring-a-recipe-to-the-shower idea and getting the most type A bridesmaid to collect & put together a book of recipes for the bride. You can personalize it with pictures and it can be added to later. Love this idea.

A St. Barth's Wedding

I can't think of a better way to get your guests excited about a February wedding in St. Barth's than in an invitation. And I looooved working on this one. I know the bride from high school and love her passion for color and pattern (she came to our meeting with an arm full of color swatches! - which I love, MM!) so it was a dream getting to work with her. The bride's favorite color is emerald and was proposed to with an emerald ring, so we used touches of this color throughout - the most showing up on the rsvp card in the form of a conch shell. The attire for the wedding is Shades of White, so we used three different shades of white 100% cotton paper. For the main invitation, we screen-printed the text on ivory-colored linen - pushing the feel of a breezy beachy wedding. The set was tied together with a cotton ribbon and hand-stamped hang tag. The bride was very into the idea of mixing & matching, which I personally love as well - so in addition the varying whites, we mixed up the fonts on each piece and used a circular shape with a zig zag backdrop for the Rehearsal Dinner invitation. This was by far one of my very favorite invitations and am lucky enough to have been gratiously invited!

Black & Gold Invitation

I don't want to give too much away from the work we did last week as the invitations are going out this week - but I had to at least post a little taste. This event, as you can probably tell, is sponsored by an alcohol brand and will be featuring special performances by some great hip hop artists. The colors they wanted to use were brand-specific and not a typical colorway for us - black and gold - but I was surprised at how much I loved the combo - especially in letterpress. We used Somerset Black Velvet paper - 100% cotton, super soft to the touch, and just beautifully rich - on both the back and the front. We then used two layers of matboard as the core and gilded the edges. The end result is a super thick invitation. Super thick as in - you could serve drinks on this thing. We made the envelopes specifically for this invitation, and they were probably my favorite part. It was definitely a different kind of job for L&H, but I am thrilled with the way they turned out and how quickly we were able to make it happen for them. I hope to be able to show you the entire piece next week, after the event, which we were gratiously invited to attend. ps - Fashion mayday! What does one wear to a hip hop party?

Ironman In Training: Half-Ironman, Check. Kinda.

John & I headed down the Garden State Parkway this weekend to compete in the Bassman Half-Ironman race in the Bass River State Forest - the last race before we do the big one in Arizona on November 23rd. I decided going into this one that I was not going to do the bike part because I've been taking a break from biking to rest my knees. Luckily, the race director was fine with that, and I was able to jump in with John when he got off the bike. He's a little speed racer on the bike though, so I was the third woman to start the run course. And because of that, everyone thought I was just super duper fast and gave me the "you go girl" or "great job, girl" - which made me feel like a complete fraud. To make up for it, I kept up with John's long legs the whole time and went faster than ever before on a long (13.3 mile) run. I still felt like a complete poser crossing the line when I hadn't done the bike part - but I was excited to know how good I could feel running a pace that I won't even come close to touching in November. All in all, a good day yesterday. And happy to have a full rest day today!

Good Advice

Running around today. Printing errors. Need more paper. Need 80 hands and a body split in two. I hope to be back later to post a little preview of what we've been working on. Until then, I'm rolling with the punches and trying to... just let it go.

Kotama Bouabane photo above "Just Let it Go"

Knitting Paper

John & I got an amazing invitation project (and largest to date) at the end of last week for a big event in the city and have been working on it like crazy. I can't wait to share it, but I need our client to see it first:)

In the meantime, here is a quick shot of another project we have been working on - a cozy winter wedding of cable knits! Love this. That's my handwriting up there - which looks a hundred times nicer in letterpress. Isn't that always the case with letterpress, though? I think so. More of this and other recent work coming next week.

Phans Rejoice!

Uploaded on their website at 3am this morning - a video announces the return of a band that four years ago said they were done. I was a big phan (hint hint) back in the day. Back in the day... cause I'm so old. Right. But it's funny that even thinking about seeing this band again makes me feel like I'm 15. They sure do put on quite a show. Click on the video still above to see the painting and band revealed.