From the [Freezer] Fridays: Steve's

I love ice cream. Love it. Always have multiple pints in the freezer. Eat it on sweltering days & freezing cold nights all the same. I gave up alcohol for 9 months (really, closer to ten - am I right mamas?!) and found that challenging. Giving up ice cream for that amount of time would be nearly impossible for me. So, when I tried Steve's (that I originally bought for the pretty packaging) I wasn't expecting anything revolutionary. I'd tried it all; this was just simply changing up for the night. Ohhh how wrong I was. Instead, I had found it. The best ice cream in the whole wide world: Salty Caramel by Steve's. If you haven't tried it, find a place that sells it and tell me that's not the best thing you've ever had. (No don't, actually. I won't think of you in the same way.)

And! Fellow Brooklyners, they're opening a location on Atlantic Ave. Hooray!! (And uh oh.)

From {Vacation} Fridays

We took Griffin to PA last weekend to be baptized, along with his youngest cousin. This shot above shows my favorite part of the ceremony - when the priest raised Griffin up and said, "I present Griffin" with applause from the entire congregation. It was such a special moment.

So yes, his pants are unbuttoned. He's a hefty little fellow, and Mama was trying to give him some breathing room in his fancy seersucker slacks. I'd like to think he didn't cry because he was comfortable:)

I'll share a few more pics next week. Have a great weekend, everyone.

(Thanks for the great shot, C!)

From the Desk Fridays: TeuxDeux

Do you guys know of TeuxDeux? It's the prettiest, simplest online to do list. While you know I love my notepads & will always be a paper note-taker, TeuxDeux is amazing for staying organized - especially when you sit in front of a computer a lot like I do.

One thing I'll be adding to my teux deux list for the weekend is to get a pedicure - one of my favorite post-NSS treats:)

Have a great weekend!

[TeuxDeux was created by swissmiss and Fictive Kin]

From the Desk Fridays: Another NSS Peek

We're bringing back an oldie but a goodie, exclusively for this year's National Stationery Show. And I loooooove them. Above is a peek at two of the six we're debuting. Can you guess? Excited to show you more next week!

Have a great weekend!

From the Desk Fridays: 2012

I'm in the home stretch of the 2012 Calendar & once again it's a lot of "-ber"s & color decisions. I have about fifty Pantone chips floating around on my desk and two per month taped into my sketchbook. This is always the hardest (but most fun) part for me. Once I get a good color combo, I feel it & know it, and I can move on instantly. If not, I tape in, rip out, tape in, rip out. It's a process. Can't wait to show you more in a few weeks! Stay tuned.

From the {Studio} Fridays: Outlet

Our Outlet debut was a big success! We were able to sell (and sell out of) a lot of our designs and now have a few empty shelves in here. And that feels great! So a few thank yous are in order. First, thank you to you all who ordered. And thank you for your patience as we got orders out as fast as we could - even though it wasn't as fast as we would have liked. And finally, a big big thank you to Nicole, who was working around the clock getting things packaged up & shipped out. (Who's Nicole? More on her next week.)

 

We're hoping to open up the Outlet again in a couple months with more Craft Bin Bundles and something I think you'll love: wrapping paper! So stay tuned. In the meantime, I'd love to see what you guys are doing with all that paper from your Craft Bin Bundles. (Connie made some great gift tags!) Email me some pics at liz@lindaandharriett.com

Have a great weekend!

From the {Nursery} Fridays: October Baby!

So yesterday was my due date.  Come & gone.  Which means... we're having an October baby!  A little pumpkin!  :)  My mom was an October baby, so I kinda love that they will share that. 

It's pretty crazy knowing that within the next week, we'll have a baby!  Now that we're down to the final definite week, I get giddy & feel like pinching myself every time I think about it - seven days!  Or less!  Are you a boy or a girl, little one??  Oooooh, I can't wait!

But first, I realized that I haven't told you my plans for the blog while I have the baby.  Sorry about that!  Been a little distracted.  I am planning on taking October off - in both work & blog life.  I'll post updates and photos here & there, but not consistently.  Not to worry though.  I have someone filling in a couple times a week, who I know you'll just love.  I'll wait to introduce her until... it's time:)

Happy Weekend, everyone!

[Photo above of me holding the first gift we received for Baby Libre from our good friends: little hand-knitted shoes.  Love!]

From the {Website} Fridays: An Announcement

I recently posted this announcement on our homepage & thought I'd post it here, too, along with my thoughts about it.  Officially, Monthly Projects is taking a little break til January while I give all my attention to my biggest project yet:), our first baby - due next week!  I was hoping for a September project, but truth be told, my body tired a little quicker than I thought.  I'd love to release a little something special for the Holidays because the possibilities are endless & really, endlessly fun.  I have a few ideas brewing, but I'm not going to reveal or promise anything just yet.  So stay tuned! 

Have a great weekend - the first official one of Fall!

From the DeskTOP Fridays: Mobiles

I told myself I wasn't going to hang anything on the walls until Baby is born - mostly to see if it's a boy or girl, but also to give myself a little time to find out who this little person is. But a mobile isn't really going on the wall and with Baby being on his or her back so much, it might be nice to have something to look at.


I've always loved the work of Brooklyn artist Tamar Mogendorff & think this is finally the excuse I need to bring one of her amazing plush pieces into our home. I see her work in local shops & truly get weak in the knees over the the friendliness of it. They just make me smile. I bet Baby will agree. Now which one to choose...


See more of Tamar Mogendorff's work here.

[top image courtesy of Acorn; bottom images courtesy of Tamar Mogendorff]

From the {Nursery} Fridays: Drawers

Nesting is no joke, people. I recently told a friend that I feel like a cave woman. I just want to stay in, wash clothes, clean surfaces, and organize everything. Which makes me really fun to be around:) Last night's project was washing all the little clothes we've received. I lined the dresser drawers in some old L&H envelope liners because I couldn't stand the idea of all these newly washed tiny white pieces sitting in an old naked dresser drawer! (See?? Nesting! Or, crazy-head.)

Lucky for me, this same friend has decided to take Cave Woman out tomorrow for a surprise-to-me girlfriends day. I was told what time to be ready & to be hungry. :) I can't wait!

From the Desk Fridays: New Packaging

A little peek at our new note card packaging, debuting at West Elm next month!

Off to the beach for the last time before Baby arrives:) Be back on Tuesday.

Have a great holiday weekend!

From the {studio} Fridays: Fold, Tape, Box, Repeat

I'm sorry I've been such a slacker blogger this week. No, I wasn't ignoring you (on purpose) or having the baby (thank goodness!). Instead, I spent the week up to my ears & elbows in boxes. And tape, and paper, and labels. We called in reinforcements (thank you Katie & Mat & of course, John!) and packaged day & night to get this order done. And I am one exhausted Mama. But I'm also so excited because this is going to... West Elm! They bought our 2011 Calendar, as well as three exclusive note card designs for the holidays. Look for them in stores this October! I'll share some more sneak peeks of the new note cards (& the new packaging) over the next couple of weeks. But for now, I'm off to rest my back:(

Have a great weekend!

From the Desk Fridays: August's Monthly Project

August's Monthly Project is here! And I love it: A Vintage Flower To/From Stamp. I knew we were going to launch the 2011 Calendar & August's monthly project at the same time, so I wanted the project to be something that would complement the calendar's reusability feature. And I thought about my old friend, the rubber stamp, that has endless uses. I also thought about how many people give our calendars as gifts. So, I decided on a to/from stamp that you can use to create your own gift tags - and specifically, using paper you often throw in the recycling bin. Of course, you can do this without a stamp, but I think the stamp bumps up the special-ness of the tag just a bit:) I hope you agree.
Check out the stamp here, as well as the just-posted 2011 Calendar!

Have a great weekend, everyone.

From the Desk Fridays: 2011 Calendar

It's been a busy week over here in preparation for next week's Big Ship - when all of the 2011 calendars go out to our retailers. We will also be announcing its launch online, so stay tuned for that or sign up for our mailing list here, to find out when it goes up.

Have a great weekend!

From the Desk Fridays: The Three Crowns

We're headed upstate this weekend to my in-law's house to celebrate my mother in law's 70th birthday. (She & I share a birthday, and together, we're 100 this year!) We're having a big family-of-24 cookout on Saturday night, so I thought it would be fun (and a bit fancy) to make place "cards" for everyone, as well as something that my mother in law could keep as a momento of the gathering. Since she is Swedish, I decided to use a national emblem of Sweden - the Three Crowns. I screenprinted notebooks for the kids' place cards (below), muslin for the tops of the pickle jars for the adults, and white cotton napkins for everyone to use and for my mother in law to keep. I'm excited to see how they all look on the table!

I'll try to take some more photos of the weekend festivities to share on Tuesday, when I'm back.

Have a great weekend!

From the DeskTOP Fridays: Baby Shower at Terrain

For years, I've been wanting to see the nursery owned by Athropologie that's a short drive from where I grew up in PA. Tomorrow, I get to go! And it's for my baby shower:) So cool! Just look at this quick snapshot from their website (above). If that's a taste of what's to come, I love it already. Well, I loved it from owned by Anthropologie, really. I hope to have some pics to share on Monday. So stay tuned.

Have a great weekend! (We're nearly humidity free here. Hooray!)

From the Desk Fridays: Paper Quilting

I've always loved how patterns come together in quilts - the way they butt up against each other, stopping suddenly, yet create a flow to the entire piece. For years, we've been collecting our letterpress misprints in large bins to reuse for projects. Mostly, I use them for gift tags, quick cards and thank you notes for online orders. Lately, I've been pulling my favorite patterns & loosely scattering them about the work table to consider for paper quilts. I love the idea of framing several small paper quilts - maybe in antique frames - and then clustering them on a wall. I also love the idea of a huge one - like 3' x 3' - in a simple clean frame - to act as a real focal piece. Because these would take a good amount of time, I think I need to start before the baby comes! (Just add it to the list!) And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to make some for a monthly project.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

From the {Beach} Fridays: Maine: Belly Shadow

I catch my growing profile in window reflections (or knock into tables) and can hardly believe I'm this pregnant. And getting bigger by the day. Or big meal.

I caught myself yesterday on the beach & smiled. I know it's part of me, but seeing this new shape stare back at me makes me stop in my tracks every time. A belly shadow was a new one for me, so I thought I'd share.

We're headed south today to meet up with my family for our annual "Birthday Weekend" - which started with me & my dad (who's birthday is today) and now includes my nephew, who was born on my birthday three years ago, Saturday. It' one of my favorite weekends of the year, hands down, and I cannot wait.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

From the Desk/Couch Fridays: Hot Mama

This is how I ended every day this week - horizontal, legs up, next to a fan or a/c unit, pounding the ice water. I thought I was literally going to melt into the sidewalk on Wednesday when it reached a ridiculous 102! I've never been so hot in my life. Not okay for people who don't have a radiator strapped to their stomach. And too much for people who do. Thankfully, John installed some more a/c units last week to ease my discomfort. And, knock on wood, we haven't had any brown outages like some neighborhoods. (I saw on the news that people were sleeping in cars!)

But I'm headed to the beach this weekend - not only for a little relief - but also to welcome home my older sister from London, who's flying in with her four kids. I'm excited to see them -- especially while standing knee-deep in the ocean.

And stay tuned for a big announcement on Monday! Something's been brewing (besides me) over here at L&H and I can't wait to share it with you!

Have a great weekend. And stay cool.

From the DeskTOP Fridays: Mini Red White & Blue

Ugh. Sometimes I wish we knew what we were having so I could snatch up all these cutie pie clothes I'm seeing on sale - like these red, white & blue girl options from Olive Juice. Instead, I'm buying nada. Which is probably a good thing. ...Probably, or definitely:)

Happy red, white & blue, everyone!

Stay tuned for our next monthly project, to be announced on Tuesday!