happy cool hooray!

i love when you're sorting through the mail - your bills, the multiple macy's ads, the oil change coupons, someone else's bills that came to the wrong address - and you spot something pretty and personal that you open and finish reading even before you make it back to your front door.

i used to send snail mail, just because, more often but sadly i've gotten so lazy in the age of text messages and emails. goal #13: send more snail mail. goal #12: don't be lazy.

here are some postcards for summer to get me started. it's funny, i don't have summer break and we don't have any big vacations planned, but i'm still so super stoked it's summer!

you can catch them over at the etsy shop.

it doesn't have to be this hard:

taking it back to the old school

after ordering my re-sealing kit from ebay weeks ago...

after searching store after store to find denatured alcohol for cleaning...

after spending hours at night to carefully replace the disintegrating foam in the body...

after finding out the battery chamber is busted and the camera will only function and focus manually by eyeing it...

after googling all that i could for a crash course in aperture, shutter speed and ISO...

after stopping by three rite-aids (resisting the call of three thrifty ice cream cones) and a costco to find a good and cheap place that can process film...

these photos from my first roll of film had me waving my hands in the air and shaking my deriere to some tag team music in full effect - whoomp there it is! (in my mind (mostly.)) i'm not sure how much more i can hang with the process before getting a DSLR, but here are a few photos shot on my nikon FM 35mm camera from the also much-anticipated rose bowl flea market this past sunday.

vintage houseware in pretty colors

loving sailboats for the summer [insert salt n pepa rap here]

also loving future sis-in-law connie and the radio flyer wagon we found for the upcoming wedding

ps - father's day cards are finally up on etsy!

goal #11: don't get featured on regretsy

did you know there is a site dedicated to all those weird things you stumble across amidst all the heart-worthy delights on etsy? i hate to be critical of someone else's work, but i'll admit there have been some postings that really make me scratch my head in wonder. so when i came across this site via remarks from sparks, i had myself a nice little chuckle.

it's refreshing to be reminded not to take all of life so seriously - especially the things i'm given by grace to just enjoy! so my new goal is to simply enjoy what i do, without feeling pressure to wow the world, without becoming puffed up with pride at my accomplishments, to just create something some lovely person might be inspired to pick up...without any regretsy. 

here's some postage to send you to the shop! (now i just have to figure out how to get this thing up there /`).

ps - father's day cards are done and needing to be photographed...hopefully will have them up by tomorrow!

bunting for baby elias

somehow joe's and my weekend schedule often ends up including a babysitting gig for the people we love. but no complaints from me - i think i may have more fun than the kids, especially when we get to bust out the crayolas for some arts and crafts time. i love watching them scribble scrabble their hearts away as they put their all into making something so sincere and sweet. here's the sign i made with the girlies we babysat this weekend to welcome home their new baby brother.

as cute as they are with all the ridiculous and funny things they say and do, i secretly think the cutest is joe, who goes all out playing games with them, telling them silly stories, and trying really hard to explain to them why they shouldn't eat too much candy. can't wait to have our own little bunch some day, lord-willing! :)

some scribble scrabble of my own for the new baby boy...

(card set available on etsy).

hot off the letterpress

there was a big hurrah last week with all the big season and series finales - [spoiler alert] nicole scherzinger was the best dancer, lee beat crystal, everybody died on lost,  jack bauer became the new dark knight on the run...and over in my little world, the final class of introductory letterpress at irvine fine arts center came to a significantly less-dramatic end.

i found out about this class randomly through a gal who bought some of our wedding decorations from the weddingbee classifieds and after being wait-listed once, finally got to take the class along with ampersandity-cathie.

i didn't quite know what to expect but found it to be such a delight to be removed from the fast-paced, "ctrl-P" world of instant gratification for a few hours a week to become acquainted with gutenburg and the old-school art of letterpress.


our first project was a simple one-graphic/one-line card using movable metal type.


and the finale was our own set of business cards which we designed through illustrator and got converted to a polymer plate to be run through the letterpress machine.

the best part is now we have access to the letterpress studio to continue working on our own projects. i'm already looking forward to season two! :)

best lunch ever! cards

what, it's thursday already?! it's been such a busy week that seems to have flown by without any notice, to which i have no complaints considering it leads into the long holiday weekend. woo hoo! this morning as i was leaving for work, joe called out to me not to forget to eat a real lunch. seems like a weird request at first, but it's because he knows too well on days i don't pack our lunches i will easily opt for my favorite kind of brown bag lunch...


the flavor of the moment at sprinkles happens to be salted caramel right now - so delicious (and dangerous)! goal #20: find a salted caramel cupcake recipe with slightly less sweet butteriness so yellow kitchenaid standing mixer will know it's loved for more than just its good looks.

but in the meantime, here are some yummy cards inspired by the cupcake with milk i wish i was eating right now.

have a sweet day!

lessons i learned from my mom

1.  never compromise, especially when looking for a parking spot. it's better to wait it out than walk from the other side of the lot.

2.  don't fear others' opinions when returning something you've changed your mind on. if you bring your husband, he will feel shame enough for both of you, as he tries to stand camouflaged by the nearest clothing rack.

3.  when all else fails, use sunblock, drink lots of water and/or get a bob haircut.

ok really though, from her surprise themed dinners for the family and the little notes she would slip into my lunch, to her berenstain bears book collection and cross-stitching artwork, my mom has taught and inspired me more than any blog or magazine ever could. she's shown me the joy in making others feel special and filling her home with love - all with the strength that comes from understanding God's true love and not having wasted energy from walking from that really really far parking spot.

home sweet home

one of my favorite parts of being married is turning our small one-bedroom apartment into a home sweet home. i wish i could say it's been a glamorous process of searching through trendy home decor stores and obscure antique shops, but actually much of my fun has come from treasures acquired through the ever-accessible craigslist or refurbished from the clearance shelves at tjmaxx.

nevertheless, at the end of the day, joe reminds me it's each other and not the stuff that makes it a joy to come home. and as much as i love the fake lavendar in the aged tin vase perched atop a shelf in our living room, i agree that our little nest would be nothing but twigs (and bugs) without joe in it.


some twigs: