Orange, pink

This email from my sister-in-law Shelley, in London, made my day:

"I accidentally bought orange flowers, when I knew I only had pink wrapping paper at home. For a few moments, I thought my present would clash... but then I went to my card drawer. I am chuffed, chuffed, chuffed."

(I should tell you the Vespa on the card is bright pink; for some reason it's looking decidedly un-pink on my screen...)

Bright idea

With Kickbaby collecting 'loot' before he even makes his debut, sending thank you notes has constantly been on my to-do list lately.

This weekend I had a happy wave of inspiration and finished a brand-new design – the Oh-So-Euro "Merci" notecards! I got very absorbed in making them and now I'm feeling quite excited about sending out fabulous new thank-yous.

They're in the Thank You section of my Etsy shop right now, and will also be available on the Pepperina Press web site soon.

Better!

Since we finally live in a sunny place again, I've taken advantage of some nice bright mornings to re-shoot my product photos.

It's much, much easier to get a good image when you're not relying on the non-existent winter light in Seattle (summer light might've been okay, but we're not there for that).

See? Sunshiney....

Trunkt!

Pepperina Press is on Trunkt! Here's my profile...

Trunkt is an art and design collective whose mission is "to champion independent designers and small retailers to mainstream shoppers and to keep mass-market merchandise and big-box retailers from overwhelming the globe".

Can't beat that!

Front page (yay)

Yes! Another front page and this time I didn't let it all dissolve in one sale. I noticed in time and listed extras of the Ciao Bella Vespa card (which I failed to do the first, second and third times I made it to the front page, because I was so green).

Emilini's treasury stayed up for quite a long time (maybe because it was a weekend? maybe because it was awesome? heh) so I got a nice little rush of sales. Very happy.

Bird-Heart-Bird

They're back!

I had to give my bird-heart-bird cards a little holiday (right when they were in a rush of selling, too!) because all my block-printing gear was packed up somewhere in the mountain of boxes that is our lives right now... But yesterday I found the box at last! I set everything up in my New Studio Mk I (it's in a transitional phase at the moment) and started printing. What a good feeling!

So here they are, out in the open again, happy silver birds. I've already sold four that were on "back order" and I've put more in my Etsy store.

It's good to be printing again!

I like Etsy Treasuries...

...and I get a kick out of finding out that someone's chosen to show my work in their treasury! A peace theme...


...a little bird theme...


...a fabulous mod theme...



Thanks to e&e bungalow, littletilegnome, starwillowstudio, starletta and TheHopeJar, who recently included my cards in their treasuries!

Registry: yay!

I've always wished someone would invent an Etsy gift registry, so when I saw someone mention that the official Etsy blog was publicising a new registry idea I clicked right over to see what it was about. My Happily Ever After card came up on the screen and I thought, Oh no this link's taken me to my own shop – but no! Etsy staff had chosen my card to go with the story! I was thrilled.

Also thrilling is the fact that you can now set up a gift registry for Etsy items at MyRegistry.com. Genius!

And do I have gifts? Sure I do. Here, have some Card Candy...

Urban Vintage

I kind of wanted to keep these... but since my business name isn't Leaves of Glass and since Kateri (whose business name is Leaves of Glass) had paid me to make them, I didn't.

I love custom design because I get inspired in completely unexpected directions. This project was so absorbing — coming up with a notecard design to reflect the "urban vintage" look of Leaves of Glass. (Kateri's jewellery is lovely, by the way — and when the earrings have names like "Invitation to the Dance", "Spring in my Step" and "I Call My Sugar Candy" — I want to run out and get my ears pierced.)

Everyone needs a Vespa

Jeweler Jennifer Cora chose my Ciao Bella Vintage Vespa card for her "Should I Buy A Vespa?" treasury – which is both a fantastic collection and an important question.

The answer is yes, of course. A resounding yes. We bought ours ... let's see ... three years ago, but it's pulling a little Rip Van Winkle in Princeton, Texas. Having a bit of a snooze while it gets restored. But it is going to be fab-u-lous.

Nathan's been obsessed with Vespas since our first trip to Italy (well, the trip when we first met...). There's definitely something about them that magically makes you a bit more hip and a lot more carefree than your everyday self. And turns you, necessarily, into a risk-taker, a devil-may-care type: "Nervous about cobblestones? Afraid of potholes, moi? Never! Ride on!"

Maybe I'm a bit obsessed with them too.

Brides everywhere...

I love weddings and I love being chosen for Etsy treasuries – so this was good: jewellery designer onesmallstar put my Bella Figura "Happily Ever After" card in her bright-and-shiny wedding-themed treasury!

Treasury Fun

Oh yay! My 'Ciao Bella' vintage vespa cards are featured in a gorgeous stationery-themed Etsy Treasury chosen by TheIvyLeaf (top row, center). What a nice note to end the week on...

Signed Sealed Delivered

I worked on images of vintage Australian one-penny stamps to create these notecards. The original stamp was a rose-red (although it was issued in various colors) but I've made it an earthy brown for these textured flatcards so that manly men can use them too. The printed side is for looking at, the other side is for writing on.

And you'll still need a stamp.