post No.33 Postage Gone Good?

You have no idea.

For the longest time I have had the biggest beef with the USPS because the postage options are always such an eye sore. I had to resort to getting my own postage made (glam shot below) to give people the option of beautifying the outside of their envelopes- instead of being forced into the monopoly of quilts, flags, hearts and desert rodents.

The bottom line is that mail is fun and postage should be too! There is way too much great graphic design in this world to have such an essential part of every day life lacking so greatly - right?

Anyway, maybe I am the last one to know about this but -could it be true? A glimmer or hope in the system…

These are awesome! ( and a very nice acknowledgement of mid-century talent).

Bravo post office.

post No.32 Hammperess Art Prints

I have been away for a few days in the pacific northwest visiting J’s family. It was so refreshing to be around nature. I realized how much I totally forget on an everyday basis- how great it is to be outside. We were staying on and island in the Puget Sound. Everything smelled good, it was quiet and we went to a small town “strawberry festival” (so cute- tractors, carnival rides, the whole bit ).

Anyway I got back it was exciting to see all the new that arrived at urbanic this week. My favorite by far are these art prints by hammerpress. Some things I get sick of, but these, I will never stop loving. They are ornately fancy with the spirit of nature. The numbers add a bit of modern….. perfect combo.

post No.31 Someone else’s mail

Everyday I receive tons of mail meant for people who occupied this residence years ago. Mostly it’s junk mail, but every now and then I get a cool magazine or someones birthday cash. (just kidding). Anyway, today I got an awesome postcard letting someone know that there was a new store opening up in Studio City called Henry Road. The postcard was enticing so I checked it out online and discovered an absolute wonderland of design!

How cool are these fabric patterns? I mean really. This was no ordinary junk mail.

Although it wasn’t meant for me- I am sold anyway, and I now have it on my to-do list to find this place next time I am in the valley.

Hooray for random discoveries.

post No.30 Camping circa 1960’s

Old School Stationery recently came out with this “camping circa 1960’s” letterpressed line of cards, journals and wall hangings. We ordered them for urbanic and I have to say ever since we got them in I have been feeling the urge to road trip and go camping ( which i never usually want to do ). I am not the best camper, but I am charmed by the idea of it. I love looking at pictures of my family when we were kids in the 70’s and treasure the photos of my sister and I with red bandannas and braids in our hair. I remember picking wild flowers, loving the campfires and eating carrot cake in the woods. Most classic are the pictures of my parents and all of their friends in bell bottoms with shrunken T-shirts, hanging out around our campsite with acoustic guitars - doing fun things like building us a swing in the trees out of logs and heavy twine.

I am captivated by these prints (and have never seen anything like them in stationery). The colors and composition are stunning. The subject of these “campers” are equally as refreshing as they are mysterious and I kind of feel like I am getting a glimpse into someone’s summer day in the 60’s .

Definitely worthy of being a wall hanging.

post No.29 7*4*08

Happy 4th of July !

* A.

Post No.28 Early morning red balloon

It is Thursday morning July 3rd. I was just sitting down to write a post - when my husband and baby came home and walked in with a watermelon and a red balloon.
I think if everything else went wrong today, I would still have a smile on my face.
It feels good to recognize how priceless the most important things in life are.

post No.27 Alee & Press

It came.

I got an email not too long ago from Alee and Press that we were the FIRST to be shipped their letterpress collection. I seriously almost tackled Sam our UPS guy when he walked in the door only to find out it was a false alarm- (wrong box). Someone actually told me that day they had never seen me so “deflated”. Anyway the big news is… that it arrived. As if this was not exciting enough to be the first to have this, take a look at how breath taking these designs are….

Completely original, cool and refined.

The blind letterpress of the woodgrain on these invitations are ridiculously amazing.

This is the type of thing that seriously makes me love what I do.

post No.26 Silhouettes and the Mister

Mr Boddington’s Studio rules!

I have always loved the silence and refinement of silhouettes and how they capture that old world charm. Put together with punchy, preppy colors and clever text - this line is is a gem…or as they would say “coture correspondence”.

post No.25 Red + Blue = cool

My friend Liz came in recently to get her wedding invitations done at Urbanic. She has a great eye for design so I knew she would come up with something unique. When she announced “robin’s egg blue and deep red” I was excited because I knew I was in for a treat.

I love it! It is such a refreshing and alternative color combo. It is cool, fun, contrasty and not at all to be confused with patriotism. ( NOT that that is a bad thing )

So I tuned in to the world around me (Etsy) and discovered the many possibilites of this color duet.

Journal: sarah minshall Sweater: devilmademedoit Napkin set: michelle brusegaard Necklace: rikrak

post No.24 Spell with pictures!

this is fun!

I just discovered you can do this on flickr!

post No.23 Summer Anyone?

So far, other than being hot, I don’t feel like I have really been experiencing the joys of summer (yet). Today however, I got a little bit of a jump start - as it arrived for me in a box !

These letterpressed journals, note sets and place cards by Carrot & Stick Press brought in the happiness of beach umbrellas, patio parties and croquet picnics.

How handy are these adorable birthday calendars and table number sets?

Now, I am off to find an infinity pool to swim in……