post No.272 Christmas Eve Day

We have been very busy in the shop lately.  I haven’t had too much time to blog/twitter/ facebook or any of that.  I miss it and am really looking forward to the new year!  There will be lots in store, many changes and surprises.  I will be back on the east coast for a few weeks, with my family and taking some time off from everything.  Urbanic will still be open with regular hours, but my blogging will be a little lighter.   For now I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and very Happy Holidays.

xo *A

photo / styling  by Janise Valise

post No.271 Library Collections

(pic 1) I just ordered these library collection box sets from Jack and Lulu for Urbanic and am very excited for their arrival!  Each volume comes with a series of colored notesets inside to match it’s box.  Also loving the branding elements by Stitch Design co. (pic 2) designed for a vintage clothing shop they were building identity for..

post No.270 Monday’s Friday at the Shop

This post was scheduled to be published on Friday but it has been crazy holiday-busy in the shop, so I never had a chance to put it up. That being said, here is my “Friday at the shop” post all ready to go for Monday morning coffee!

+++12/19

I feel lucky on a regular basis to be involved in such a creative industry. I also feel lucky that the quality of my mail is usually pretty amazing (people know I appreciate the effort!)  I finally got a chance to plop down on my sofa and open up some holiday mail and thought it would be fun to highlight some of the treats in my mailbox this season!

from the top:  little cookie card from Dyna at Girl of All Work • stitched cloud from Jennifer at Tiny Pine • letterpressed calendar from Emily and Rachelle at Wiley Valentine • Star Garland from Gia Canali • packet of pretties by Vane from Brooklyn Bride • ornament stitch kit from the crew at Eggpress • and felt punched card from Carina at Crow and Canary

post No.269 Graham and Boddington

Above are some of my favorite holiday delights from around the shop. {top 2  by Snow and Graham and last 3 by Mr.Boddington.}

post No.268 Stamp Lineup

Loving these …

above: new return address rubber stamp designs from Paperwink and postal collage found here

post No.267 Night Owl Holiday

Getting ready for another week of Holiday hustle and bustle around here at Urbanic!  We have a lot of our final 2009 shipments arriving this week and I’m especially looking forward to more goodies from Night Owl!

P.S This  last picture is of the 2010 patterned desk calendar. Hope to have it in by Wednesday!

post No.266 Holiday Party 2009

Last Friday was our annual Holiday party at the shop!  It was full of festive cheer, fun giveaways, a tower of cupcakes and some hot buttered cider with rum!  (partay!)  This year we were super lucky to have some special guests, our sweet friends from Sugarcube Press.  They brought along their 180lb. table top letterpress to our back yard and people got to manually letterpress their own holiday ornaments. It was as much as a fun as it was an educational experience.  A big and special thanks to Kelsie and Elizabeth for helping to make the whole night so wonderful!

post No.265 Cute things on my desktop

I have been sick for the last 2 days with some kind of stomach bug.  I think I’m at the end of it now, and it feels so good to wake up without achy bones and a headache!  Anyway, I am feeling these winter whites and festive cheer this morning.  Presently, I don’t have much of a Christmas decoration collection, but it would be fun to build on what i have.  That being said, I really want the peacock snow globe from West Elm!   ( Joshua are you reading this?  free hint! ).

snow domes from West Elm • little trees from Scissor Variations (check out her rad shop here) • gift tags  from low fidelity • party cones by print your party

post No.264 cool and airy

It is a rainy morning today in Los Angeles.  I am gearing up to tackle a very busy week – so I am gravitating towards some white space!

paper garland by lobster and swan • message in a bottle notes – (they just arrived at Urbanic!!)  by o-check

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post No.263 Friday at the Shop!

We are crazy busy around here getting ready for our party tonight! Here are a few pictures I snapped around the shop this morning. I will try to update this later with a little bit more info, but for now, happy weekend and hope to see lots of you tonight!  *A

post No. 262 .. and the winners are

I loved reading your comments on the holiday giveaway! A special thanks to all of you who participated. The 5 lucky winners chosen by random.org are listed below! If you are a winner, please contact me with your mailing address.

*A

prize No. 1 goes to Rachel who is grateful for her husband & the chance to relax

prize No.2 goes to MB Soverino who is happy to have her cozy Boston apartment

prize No.3 goes to Kelsey who loves her down comforters

prize No.4 goes to Melissa Leigh-who is thankful for her partner.

prize No.5 goes to Ashleigh with the “ultra sophisticated” cheesy onion recipe

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photo found here

Post No.261 Cute Holiday Kits

I thought these little holiday kits filled with essentials were so original!

The top one is by by Simple Song with contents of some bakers twine, labels and tags. The second one is by Blue Pool Road with holiday cards, a thank you note, gift tags, and a pocket calendar!

* The prize winners of post No. 259 will be announced here at 1:00 PST- so check back here to see if you are a winner! *

post No.260 Holiday Party this Friday!

This Friday, is our annual Urbanic Holiday Party!  This will be an exciting event as our sweet friends from Sugarcube Press are bringing over their letterpress to our back yard so we can hand press our own ornaments!

Hope to see you there!!

*A

Post No.259 Fun with Paper

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!  Over the weekend I received a special package in the mail from my little sister.  Inside was an advent calendar that she hand-made with a piece of her artwork.  This has become a yearly tradition that many of the people in her life look forward to.  She has all of her friends and family email her either a quote, an activity, poetry, scripture, a memory, or something else special to open during the season. I look forward to it every year, because it is truly amazing! I will try to take some pictures of it to share with you all. Today, I am feeling inspired by the fun you can have with paper.  When we were kids, I remember that our family had a glass jar that we filled up with little ideas of neat things we could to do together. On special days we would pick out of the jar and the adventure would unfold.  A particular memory I’m having right now was our whole family sitting in the closet eating lunch together. We always were an odd bunch!

update: Below is the advent calendar Ana made before the doors and numbers were added!

 

vintage paper Christmas Tree garland by Allium •  paper scraps and idea jar by Brook Reynolds found here • number tags by May Third found here • advent calendar by Anastasia Tantaros

Post No.259 the Parcel Post Loves you Giveaway!

I have been really excited to post the annual Holiday giveaway this year.  It means so much to have you as daily readers – so it is time to give back!  I picked out some special things at the shop that are fitting for this time of year in hopes you would enjoy.

TO WIN: all you need to do is leave a comment to this post stating something you woke up feeling thankful for today -or- a favorite Thanksgiving dish you like to make or eat. * if you are really inspired you can enter twice with one of each.* The winners will be randomly selected and announced here on parcel post Wednesday December 2nd so check back here to see if you have won!

: and the prizes are :

Prize No.1 Hot Chocolate from MarieBelle New York

Prize No.2 a Holiday Correspondence set from Yellow Owl Workshop

Prize No.3 a Holiday Rubber Stamp set from Cavallini

Prize No.4  The Snow & Graham 2010 Desk Calendar

Prize No.5 a pack of striped paper straws that I wrote about here

good luck!

*A

post No.258 Little,Red and Organized

I organized a ton of paperwork around my desk last night and it feels so good to wake up and know what/where everything is!  This morning I was feeling pretty proud of myself for this great achievement and decided to post on these tidy little design treasures. Hope you have a good Monday friends!

subject notepads by Paper and Cup • recipe wedding escort cards by Chewing the Cud • christmas library card by Simple Song • tiny tags by Power and Light

Post No.257 Friday at the Shop

Today I’m admiring old-school looking type around the shop. Have a lovely weekend friends! *A

vintage luggage labels by Laughing Elephant • fine point pen by A.G Spalding • wrapping papers by Midori

Post No.256 Pretty and Grounded

Wedding season is approaching quickly, and I’m starting to get really inspired by all of the fresh new design for 2010! Below are some colors, textures and patterns I am loving.  They all somehow capture the feeling of happy springtime colors but are grounded by earthy neutrals.  My personal favorite are these hardback journal escort cards! The guests seating assignments were printed inside. So genius.
mini journals and note card flats by Sarah Drake • escort card books by Chewing the Cud • Save the Date by 9 Spot Monk