DIY Printed Masking Tape

Remember how I fawned over Anthropologie's printed masking tape? Last week, I came across this clever tutorial for a DIY version!



Haven't tried it yet because I'm too tape obsessed with my Japanese Masking tape, but it looks pretty simple. Would be a great way to personalize holiday gift wrapping this year!

[A l'ombre du marronnier on French Homemade via Poppytalk]

Country Road

I love these photos from Country Road. The settings, clothes, photography -- everything goes together so darn well.



Two boys and a girl -- you can probably guess why I was drawn to these two:



These last ones would be great ideas for party photo booth sets or yearly/monthly photos:



If I had had the foresight way back when it would have been really cool to use one little chair for yearly pictures of all three of them growing up. Ah well!

[Images from Country Road via Little & Brave; see the 10 years of Country Road Kids photo retrospective here]

Two and Two Threes

Can you figure out that riddle? Two years ago today, on my own birthday, our sweet girl was born. It was truly the best birthday present ever, and I don't think I'll ever get a surprise that amazing again in my lifetime.



This little nugget brings buckets full of joie de vivre into our home. She's always up to something, the first of the bunch to get that mischievous glint in her eye and then the first to laugh about what she's accomplished. And this is saying a lot for a girl with two older brothers. She's also the first to climb up onto the sofa with her entourage of stuffys, pat the spot next to her and say "Sit ear" ["sit here"]. When she gets a new dress, she immediately starts to take off the one she's wearing to put on the new one. Same goes for shoes. She blows kisses when we say goodnight, and follows it up with a wave and a "See ewel-ater" [which is toddler-ese for "see you later"].



Happy birthday, sweet girl.

More Good Cheer

Oh my goodness. It's all I can think to say. Minted announced the Sending Good Cheer Special Award winners last Friday, and Classic Merry won Customer Favorite:



and A New Stocking won Best Cross Category:



There are so many gorgeous designs from so many talented designers in Minted's 2011 Holiday Collection that I feel completely honored. It's exciting to see all of them hit the cyber shelves!

THE RESULTS ARE IN!

Minted just announced [and launched] their new 2011 holiday designs yesterday, and I could not have been more thrilled to see two of my designs place in the top ten [5th: Classic Merry and 7th: A New Stocking]. With such a stellar group of designers, it was truly an honor.



Congratulations to all the winners!

[You can find all b.wise papers for Minted designs right here]

Paper Motion

Like paper? Check out Paper Motion over on Bhldn. It's super fun.

Send Love, Send Cheer, Send b.wise!

Announcing NEW 2011 Holiday designs!! Be excited. I am.

I'm especially excited because you can now get Japanese Masking Tape with your cards! That's neat, right? I love this tape, and could pretty much use up my entire stock. It's the perfect sealing touch to your holiday card.

On top of that, color printing is now included with all card orders! Because really the backer is just as important. Mix and match styles, too.




And that's not all folks! For the next month, you can get 25 additional cards with your order of 75 or more.* Need 100 cards? Order only 75. And get 25 more FREE. It's just that simple. Now go grab your camera, get that perfect -- or better yet, perfectly imperfect -- photo and let's put together the best holiday card ever!

*THE DETAILS: place your holiday card order before October 19th, and receive an additional 25 cards on the house. **PLEASE NOTE: the additional 25 will not appear in your cart, but will automatically be added to each custom card order of 75 or more placed before Oct. 19th, 2011. Final quantity will be confirmed when your proof is sent. Offer applies only to custom holiday card orders of 75 or more and cannot be redeemed for cash value. Questions? Give me a shout!

T to the G to the I F

Hello, blogland! Has it really been a week since my last post?? It just doesn't seem possible. I'm afraid posting is going to get a wee bit sparse over the next couple months with holiday card season gearing up. I'm going to try and post at least once a week, even if it's just a snapshot of the whirlwind that is the studio this time of year. Or you may get lucky and it'll be completely random. You just never know!

Speaking of random, I came across the site of photographer Hallie Burton this week, and it is beautiful. You should definitely check out her portfolio over the weekend. I was totally inspired by this living room:



See those portraits by the fireplace? Yes. Please.

I'll be back next week, announcing new holiday designs and some other nifty things going on around here! Have a great weekend!

In the Stars

You know what company rocks my world? It won't be shocking, but I just have to put it out there because they just sent me the greatest little birthday card:



Can you guess the sender?



Anthropologie. They think of the bestest things. Even their tape makes me happy.



And makes me want to hop the counter and snatch the dispenser away from the ringer-upper. But we shouldn't snatch. Or steal. It's not nice. Even when you are obsessed with masking tape. That's printed. But I did tell the her how lucky she was to get to dispense all that tape. And she was all, yea, whatever.

Itching to know what's in there?



Matching turtle dishes. That I don't have a place for yet. But even if I did, I wouldn't be able to set them out without fearing their certain fatal fall down onto the hardwood floors. It's just the way things roll around here right now. But I loved them, and I've always heard that you should buy what you love even if you don't have a place for it right that second. So I did. And I will.

Alright, I'm out. Happy Friday to you!

Caliza

Our second stop at Alys Beach was dinner at Caliza, the poolside restaurant. Yes, I drool over the white delectableness that is Alys. I can't help it.



The one thing that I didn't really like were those metal pool rails. Why did they have to make them swirl around like that? It reminds me of those picture frames with the translucent colored stones on them that have wires that make a little swirl pattern around the stones. Do you know the ones? They were all over my dresser in middle school. Alongside my fabric-strip-decorated banana clips. So, if I could change one thing, it would be the pool railings. They should've consulted Jeff Lewis on those.

OK, back to the drooling...









See those little box house looking things in the back? Those are private cabanas. Some of them even have TVs in them. Do you think there are fist fights in the morning over who gets the best cabana?



I must go back. Soon. It's so yummy. So is the food. I had a Fried Green Tomato BLT that had fried oysters on it -- need I say more? And our waiter was so nice. And so were the restrooms. Who doesn't like nice restrooms, right?

I've got lots of pictures from this past weekend, too, just haven't had time to upload yet. Hope yours was a great one! Also, new holiday cards are popping up on the site [hence the reason I haven't had much time lately!]!

Laxing

Not laxing as in lacrosse playing, but laxing as in toddler-ese for "relaxing." Obviously. Here's to a most laxing long weekend!

Fonville Press

You had me at "Magazines." After I got back from San Francisco, we packed up the car and headed to the Gulf Coast to meet up with my family. Our house was down the road from Alys Beach, and one morning we took the kids over to Fonville Press. Aside from being a hip little cafe, it has by far one of the coolest playgrounds I've ever been to.





Being in Alys Beach makes me want to slather white concrete all over my house, trim everything in rich dark wood and hang up a red awning. I took extensive pictures of the patio at Fonville Press in the hopes of recreating it behind our house, knowing full well it would only be an ugly stepsister in comparison, but maybe a sister just the same?



[I was tempted to Photoshop out that overflowing trash can because it just seems wrong.]

Also in the name of said recreation, I nudged Reg over to the grounds keeper to find out what plants were there. The vine that grows up over the patio [see it growing up the white columns?] is a Chocolate Vine. Cool, right? Easy, no? If only we could recreate the grounds keeper too.





[My little peeps were hot. Oh so hot. Even though there were wicker-camouflaged fans. And the littlest one gets mighty miffed when she's hot.]



I highly recommend checking it out if you are in the area!