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....

"Money Cometh to Tommy Wilson..."

I'm not even sure what to write about this. We saw this truck on base the other day, and were so startled by it that we actually drove around the block and came back for another look (and a sneaky photo). If nothing else, Tommy Wilson certainly has... well... the courage of his convictions.

But maybe I should just let the truck speak for itself. It does seem to have a lot to say...

Monkey essentials

This monkey has an umbrella. I find that more amusing than I probably should...

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Mmmm, pretty...

Ok: I seriously don't post about every Etsy treasury that someone puts me in (I'm always very happy about it, but you'd definitely get bored) – it's just that I'm completely taken with this one. It's so pretty. Those prints look like lollies all together like that, and I want to buy them all.

My brother kinda looks like Matt Damon...

... I mean doesn't he, a bit? Or is it just me?



No, I know it's not just me because people have said so before. But I was struck by it when this copy of GQ turned up yesterday.

Disclaimer: my brother was mildly cross with me for taking this photo back in Australia (I'm a sneaky candid photo-taker) and would probably be even more cross with me for posting it online. Well, sorry.

...

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!

Big Zoo Fun

At last, Berry's old enough to "get" zoos. I wasted a couple of perfectly good entry fees to Point Defiance Zoo in Washington when she was a bit younger – at the reindeer enclosure she was fascinated by the grass; at the wolf den she tried to make friends with an entire school group; and at the polar bear underwater world she was transfixed... by the bubbles. Wasted, I tell you!


Well, not anymore. On the 4th of July holiday Stu and Rikki took us to the fabulous Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, and it was a hit. At the elephant enclosure, Berry made elephant noises. At the lion enclosure, she did her version of a roar. She loved the monkeys. She peered through the fence at the giraffes. She made quacking-duck sounds at the flamingos. It was all very satisfying.


It had been raining so we almost had the zoo to ourselves, which was an extra treat. (Here's Stu showing Berry some wildlife).

Two new (to me) fascinating zoo facts: a giraffe's tongue is 20 inches long (twenty) – and there are bears in Louisiana! Anyone who knows me is aware that I'm quite concerned about bears and the possibility of ever meeting one in the wild. Four whole years I lived in Louisiana and no one ever mentioned the state had a bear population! I know the chances of bumping into one in the Quarter are zip, but still...




PS: why am I just now posting pictures from 4th of July? I've been sick, I tell you! Woefully sick...

Sooooo quiet

I've been very quiet. I blame the house and I blame Berry.

The house is taking a lot of time to get organised. We're painting first and I've figured out that 90% of painting is actually taping. Especially if the builders have gone nuts with crown molding and fancy baseboards and lots of angles. Ohhh the angles. Pretty to look at, hell to tape.

Here's Nathan, cutting in some of the corners...


So there's that... But now (thanks to Nathan's dad, who shall be sainted at a later date) the entire downstairs living area is painted and it's beeeyoootiful. So fabulous. Painting over the grey with Travertine has completely transformed it, and we're feeling luckier by the minute.

Or we would be, if we weren't so sick. That's where blaming Berry comes in. Two half-days in daycare and she brings home an array of viruses a medical textbook would be proud of. Honestly, it's like she went around collecting them. So she's been really sick and miserable for a week now, and we've been falling like dominoes ever since.

There should be a rule against having to take care of a sick toddler when you're sick yourself. I mean really. It feels impossible and very unfair, and makes me seriously consider things like how one might go about getting a nanny. And a maid. Or a sidekick of any kind, really.

Speaking of sidekicks, here is Berry helping her Grandpa put the very glamorous Ikea table back together... See? It really is child's play.

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!