Colorado Ground

Christmas was spent in Colorado with the ever so amazing in-laws (yes, they really are great). My mom and dad in-law moved from Denver to Castle Rock over the summer and traded their city skyline for a great view of the foothills and Rockies. I managed to get a nasty cold the day after we arrived (isn't that always the way when you take time off?) but snuck in a trek around the property before that happened. 

Holiday Party

This here is a real live postage stamp dispenser!

No holiday season is complete without a holiday party. New Years is yet to come, but this season's party of choice for me was the Correspondence Co-op Holiday she-bang. Some of my favorite people were there and, to make things even better, there was also, food, postcard stamping, and a raffle!

My gift to the crew was typewriter wine. I'm not a wine drinker myself but how could I resist...this wine was made for the Co-op.

These photos do not do justice to the table that was positively overflowing with delicious treats!

Of course there were gifts as well, like a 'make your own stamp' and lickable artists stamps. Is is just me or does everyone think of the wall paper scene in Willy Wonka when they hear the word lickable?

We were making postcards to petition Obama to save USPS.

That awesome stamp dispenser was one of the raffle prizes. Alas, I didn't win anything despite the giant train of tickets I bought. It was still a grand night, though.

Holiday Fair Craziness

Where have I been, you ask? I bet you thought I deserted the blogosphere--NEVER! First there was Thanksgiving, which quickly flows into the December holidays and, in between those, the holiday craft fairs. This was the first holiday season where I did more than just 1 small fair and so I put a lot of extra time and effort into my made things and display.

I flexed my design muscles a little and designed a few new cards on the computer and made polymer plates for the first time in over a year. They came out pretty well, if I do say so myself. 

The first fair was Bazaar Bizarre, where I perfected my display, which was greatly enhanced by some nifty wooden card holders my partner made.

Next was the San Francisco Center for the Book's Annual Holiday Fair; my best fair of the year. After that was Renegade, which was super fun, but, unfortunately, I seem to have lost all the images I took there. 

I learned a lot from all these craft fairs and came up with about a million new ideas for projects and products. I can't wait to put them into action but for now I'm kicking back in Colorado and enjoying a little family and football.

Aquarium!

Yesterday my Thanksgiving break began and I celebrated in style by meeting a friend at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It's amazing how otherworldly an aquarium can be.

 Outside the first floor they had sea otter viewing. There were otters by that rock!

 Leafy sea dragons

 Baby sea horses

 Hammerhead shark

Business Cards

Last week I designed and printed my first ever custom business card job. I usually only make things for myself, so it was a bit challenging and nerve racking, but also oh-so-fun! 

The cards were for friend and photographer, Josh Smith.

Polymer plate, all locked up and ready to go

All packaged and ready to go

Shades of Green and Brown

View all the way to the East Bay

Growing up in Connecticut, I went on a lot of walks through the woods. With it's crisp fresh air and wide array of colors, no time was better for these walks than autumn. 

The Bay Area has had plenty of crisp, cool days lately so, on Sunday I gathered 2 of my favorite people and went for a hike. We headed off to Mt. Tamalpais. Everything was green and brown instead of the New England color palette but it was beautiful and fairytale-esque none-the-less. Here's a sampling of what we saw.