post No.668 more love from Two Guitars

It’s Friday! Today, I’m loving this shipment of artsy love cards we just got in from Two Guitars.  Perfectly alternative and just in time for Valentine’s day.  I’m headed to NYC right now for the Gift Show and will be tweeting pics next week of my daily finds – so stay tuned.

xo

*A

post No.667 Valentines 2012

Okay, so I’m kind of “in-love” with our Valentine’s selection this year.  Excuse the pun, but seriously, I have no idea which one to get Joshua. We have so many good ones in right now I’m thinking he’s gonna have to get a few.  We did a little photo shoot of a couple for you to see, but you really have to come in and see the whole collection for yourself. We have an entire ‘love wall’ for goodness sakes!

{photos by Mo}

1. night owl + hello lucky  2. eggpress 3. carolyn suzuki 4. ghost academy + eggpress 5. b-designs 6. pixel press + snow and graham

post No.665 Shanna Murray at Urbanic

Thanks for all of the sweet comments you sent to us along with your address’s. Glad to see that you love our little 2012 print! Today I’m excited to let you know that we now have the Shanna Murray decals in at Urbanic. They are these rad little decals you can put on your wall, a window, a chalkboard, a mirror -wherever you want to add a little beauty. They’re not permanent and easily come off so that makes it easy to have fun with them. I have one above our mantel and enjoy it everyday.

post No.664 Our 2012 prints. Want one?

For our New Year’s card this year I wanted to send friends of Urbanic a little card that was more of an art print. The vision I had was to send something that was desk or bulletin-board worthy with an optimistic message about 2012. We printed these beauties up in gold foil on thick white paper and I have to say, I’m totally in love with the way they turned out! I actually think they are bringing me more happiness then every recipient combined. Since it’s really hard to keep up with everyone’s changing address these days I printed some extras to hand to regulars at the shop AND I also printed extras for you! If you want one, just leave a comment on this post letting us know and then send your address here.

xo

*A

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{photos by Maureen Price}

Post No.663 Pink Perfection

I’ve got pink on my mind these days. I’m guessing it has something to do with the fact that we are gussying up the shop for Valentine’s day or maybe because I’m starting to crave the soft pastel colors of spring. Either way, I’m feeling it, so here’s a little dose for your viewing pleasure.

happy weekend friends!

xo

*A

 

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{rose macaroon ingredients here  + golden layout here}

post No.662 Mae Mae Stamps at Urbanic

We now have these seriously awesome initial and address stamps in the shop from Mae Mae.  Admittedly, I’m a little obsessed. I’ve been stamping everything I can find with mine!

xo

*A

post No.661 planning planning planning

In this first week of the new year I’m very busy planning the events, promotions, monthly buying and all things shop related for 2012. I LOVE planning so this is one of my favorite parts of the business. Personally I need to see my months and year at a glance in order to keep goals realistic and in order. I previously used a basic and un-attractive office supply calendar until we started carrying these Lauryl Denise planning calendars at the shop. This is definitely the most functional, cute and enjoyable tool I’ve found to get the job done.

post No.660 Happy New Year 2012

{calligraphy by Arno Kath}

post No.659 Year’s End Events {pt.2}

Our last party of 2011 was our annual Cocoa & Cupcakes party. Every year our pals over at Snow and Graham fly in from Chicago to get festive with us. Ebony (the owner and director of S&G in the striped dress below) was super pregs and still came out to host the party with all of her creative charm and flair. She hosted a gift topper project social and also decked the place out in S&G paper splendor. It was so fun that all of our guests got to leave with pretty little gift decorations.  Stacia from Frosted Cupcakery brought over the BEST in holiday bite sized sweets. The ‘hi-tops’ in this first picture below are a salted caramel (left) and red velvet (right). These things are mind-blowing good. Mind Blowing. (!) People were huddled around the Frosted cupcakes all night long, and I’m really proud of myself for thinking to hide a few for myself to enjoy once the night was over.  Vosges Haut-Chocolat (pronounced, vohj o- sho-colah) was our hot cocoa sponsor this year and I can honestly say, that I will never ever turn back. I can’t. This stuff is so good that I ended up getting a bunch of it to gift to our loved ones this year. A true indulgence you must experience if you haven’t yet already. Finally, I’m super lucky to have Bonnie Tsang as a good friend.  She is talented beyond measure and I really admire her artistic eye when it comes to capturing moments behind a lens. She took these shots of the party and hosted the event with me throughout the night.  To all of you who came, thanks for coming and celebrating the holidays with us.  Happy New Year everyone!

xo

*A

{photos by Bonnie Tsang}

post No.658 Year’s End Events {pt.1}

It’s hard to believe that this is the last day of the year! In reflecting on 2011 I’m excited about how many neat things have happened here at the shop in the past year.  For my last blog posts before the new year begins, I wanted to highlight some events we recently had at Urbanic.

First up – our Wrap Class. We hosted a small workshop at Urbanic in November that taught the basics of wrapping a perfect gift.  Our own Kay Lee taught the skills to wrap a gift seamlessly and then we had stylist Summer Watkins teach creative embellishing techniques. It was a fun filled creative night (oh, and in addition to serving hot cocoa, I picked up a few new tricks as well!).  A special thanks to Annie Fedrigo for taking these lovely photos.

post No.657 Holiday Giveaway Winners …

I have absolutely adopted some of your holiday traditions and loved reading about ornaments that are special to you.  This year Joshua and I went out and picked two ornaments for our sons that reminded us of them and have started to build them their own collection. It felt so good to write the year 2011 on the bottom of the ornaments knowing that there would be a time in the future that they would cherish these and remember receiving them as little ones.  Thanks to all of you who shared on our Giveaway Post.  The Random number generator has selected the 4 winners…

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prize No.1 goes to – Jessica Lynn who loves the ornament her grandma made her out of yarn.

prize No.2 goes to - Maple who cherishes her ornament she made out of dough in the 1st grade.

prize No.3 goes to - Sarah who filled a glass ornament with strips of her letterpress wedding invitations.

prize No.4 goes to – Maria Anne whose favorite holiday tradition is a cup of cocoa and a Christmas movie.

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Congrats ladies, please contact us with your address so we can send you your prize!

post No.656 We’re hiring for 2012

We’re certain that 2012 will be full of many wonderful things.

… Is one of them you?

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- send us your resume  here -

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post No.655 Merry Christmas!

This holiday season at the shop has been an absolute whirlwind. I was just thinking about the wrap class we had this year and how it feels like it was decades ago. Many of you often ask what it’s like to own a business, and I will tell you it is a lot (like really a lot) of hard work – especially this time of year.  We’ve all been covered in glitter around the shop wrapping gifts for people and working like busy elves to help people find the perfect gift and keep the store stocked and looking good. Joshua and I put our whole hearts into our work at Urbanic and inspite of the heavy workload, we absolutely love what we do. There are many reasons why, but the one I am feeling the most this morning, is the people we are surrounded by.  Our staff is priceless. They are like family to us and we share a special bond with them that is like no other. Our customers are AMAZING. Yes, ‘all caps’ amazing. Day in and out I’m impressed by how interesting and cool the people are who shop at Urbanic. Our neighborhood does rule (so a little to be expected) but getting to know and interact with such wonderful folks on a daily basis has been an absolute reward. I love the relationships I’ve made over these last 5 years of being in business, and it’s YOU people that make doing all of this such a delight for us. Those of you who read and interact with me here on the blog bring me everyday happiness. Although I haven’t got a chance to meet many of you personally I feel like I’ve built some really fun relationships and looking forward to a new year full of goodness and meeting more of you here on Parcel Post.  Anyway, all this to say, us Woollens wish you a very Merry Christmas (or whichever holiday you celebrate). I’m SO ready for my annual Christmas collapse onto the sofa and to spend some quality time with my boys. The picture below was from our little train ride excursion to a tree farm where we (victoriously) chopped down our tree.

xoxo

*A

{photo by our dear friends The Why We Love}

post No.654 J.A ornaments (pt.2)

It’s been nuts in the shop these days (in a good way!). I have been LOVING reading about your favorite holiday traditions and special ornaments on the Giveaway Post. These are the other 2 Jonathan Adler ornaments I mentioned in Post No.646. Every Christmas I grab one from the shop for our family and this year the little penguin won my heart. Hope you are all enjoying the season so far.

xo

*A

post No.653 Gift Guide for Gents

post No.652 Gift Guide for Littles

post No.651 Gift Guide for Ladies

post No.650 It’s Holiday Giveaway Time!

It’s that time of year again for our annual Holiday Giveaway!   TO WIN:  all you need to do is leave a comment to this post describing a special ornament or holiday tradition.  There will be 4 winners randomly selected and announced here on parcel post December 30th so check back to see if you’ve won! Each winner will receive one of the prizes below.

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: and the prizes are :

Prize No.1  French Pear candle from Linnea’s Lights

Prize No.2  A 2012 Accordion Calendar from Snow & Graham

Prize No.3  A bar of chocolate from Mast Brothers

Prize No.4  An emporium soap bar from Mor.

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hooray for holiday giveaways!

good luck,

*A

{stagg  from here}