the suburban pen pal

June 3, 2010

Paper Swap 2010: What I Got

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Please excuse my recent absence. I’ve been working on a new project that I’m really excited about, but it’s taking forever and a day to complete. I’m really bad at keeping secrets so I better stop there!

I finally rounded up all of my pictures from what I got in this years Paper Swap. What a great haul! I was really impressed with the overall quality and creativity of the items that I received. Great job to everyone who participated! I also posted these on the Paper Swap 2010 flickr group. Enjoy!

Gocco*Boom

La Familia Green

Hello Precious/Hot Mess

Paper Pastries

The Sweetie Pie Press

The Great Lakes

Crow and Canary

Lark Press

Bottle Rocket Designs

May 14, 2010

Mapnotes

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I’m loving these luggage tag note cards. I just wish you could customize them in case you don’t live in one of these fantastic cities. (Like me! :) )



Available from Maptotes

May 6, 2010

NYC Paper Delights

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On a quick side note, I have to say you guys are knocking it out of the park on the paper swap. I’m extremely impressed. I just uploaded a few shots of some of the great stuff I’ve received to my flickr page and if you’re thinking about particapating next year, you should definitely check it out.

Anyway, this past weekend I finally returned to NYC and spent WAY too much on cute cards and stationery. I’m definitely not buying anything else til Renegade in July.

Greenwich Letterpress is my new fav store ever. Here’s a sampling of what I picked up:

I loove Austin Press! This is the first time that I’ve seen their stuff anywhere else but Anthropologie. What a treat!

Perhapys my favorite card ever from Dude and Chick.

Some of the loveliest things in the shop are made in house.

The Regional Assembly of Text. The bird card is of a similar design to this card: there is a wheel you can rotate to change the greeting to say “hello there”, “thinking of you often”, “miss you dearly”, or “wish you were here”.

After Greenwich Letterpress exceeded all of my expectations, I stumbled upon Jonthan Adler’s shop. I looove his designs and he makes gorgeous stationery:

Finally, after a somewhat disappointing trip to the New Museum, I found these shadow puppet cards that I have been drooling over FOREVER:

Technically, they aren’t cards because they don’t come with envelopes, but I don’t care. Besides, who doesn’t want a card that doubles as a toy? :) You can buy them online at Cog and Pearl.

All in all, it was a fabulous trip! I can’t wait to go back again.

April 8, 2010

T-Table

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Remember the Red String Secret letter set I blogged about from Wonderland Room? The designer is a Korean company called T-Table and they have an entire line of beautiful cards and mobiles.


I had a bit of a hard time tracking all of these down. Luckily, Australia is an awesome country and there’s an online shop called Pigeonhole that carries most of the line. The Merry-Go-Round card is from Upon a Fold, another amazing Australian shop I encourage you to check out. The prism card is from Lemon Tree77 and the Red String Letter Secret Letter set is from Wonderland Room.

The first five images are by DMotion. The rest of the images are by their respective owners.

March 26, 2010

A Very Crafty Saturday

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I took these weeks ago, but I’ve gotten so behind with everything that’s going on right now that I’m just glad I get to post these at all.

Saturday’s when both my sister and I can get together and craft are rare, so a few weeks ago we took the opportunity to embark on two projects that had been waiting in the wings.

My love for calligraphy is well documented, (here, here, and right here) but I can barely write in a straight line. So my trusty scribe took a shot at it:

It’s hard. (Or so I’m told).

But produces gorgeous results!

And that was only the beginning! Martha Project number two was printing cards using bits of lace. Neither of us had ever printed in any way shape or form so it was a learning process.

Inking the lace:

We used some very architectural lace. This one reminds me of cathedral windows:

The hardest part of this project was applying enough pressure (and paint) to the lace without moving it while it was on the paper. (I actually did help even though it looks like I just took pictures). :)

This lace was my favorite:

Not too bad for a first try! :)

Some excellent spring/Easter cards:

Check out the tutorial here. Thanks Martha!

March 24, 2010

Monthly Etsy Inspiration

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Color!

From the top:

Spring card by Essimar

Red/Blue Pencil note set by Zoe Tropa

Juicy note card by Juniperberry

Feminists series oversized post cards by Anagram Press

March 17, 2010

Dance Cards Part I

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Lately I’m feeling very inspired by vintage dance cards. Our good friends at Wikipedia tell me that dance cards were used by women starting in the 18th century to record the names of gentlemen she intended to dance with at a formal ball. An actual dance card is typically a booklet with a decorative cover, listing dance titles, composers, and the person with whom the woman intended to dance. Typically, it would have a cover indicating the sponsoring organization of the ball and a decorative cord by which it could be attached to a lady’s wrist or ball gown.

I’ve found a few from around the web for your viewing pleasure (image credits listed at the bottom of this post):


From the top:

19030s Australian dance card via A Stitch in Time..(This Vintage Life)

1941 Fan dance card via of Lulu’s Vintage

1934 University of South Carolina dance card via The South Caroliniana Archives

1930s School dance cards via Vintagephotosrus

1894 dance card via U.S. Naval Academy Band History

Victorian dance card 1881 Caledonian Club dance card copyright bt  Whimzy Treasures

1902 Icelandic dance card via  Borgarskjalasafn

All imaged by their respective owners.

March 16, 2010

I love presents!

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If I were to write a book about my life, I would call it: “I love presents!” because I do. :) Which is why I was so excited when I received this wonderful package from the lovely Carina of Crow & Canary last week. But I’ve been so busy that I didn’t have time to post about it til now. Check it out:

My sentiments exactly bookmark by Ghost Academy. Gnome card by Owen Says

Happy Birthday card by Egg Press, Beautiful Day card by Cartolina


2010 Calendar by Oddball Press

Check out Crow & Canary for more awesome designs.

Last image by Oddball Press

March 5, 2010

School Inspired

I’m feeling very inspired by school ever since I announced the paper swap. Here are a few things that I’m loving:

From the top:

Old School Tools print by Jesse Hora Dot Com

Library Birthday card by Papermash

Geometry Set Jotter notebook by Present and Correct

Primary School Thank You cards by Cutie Pie Company

Cafeteria Tray print by Mrs.Loaf

I Hate Cursive button by Zomb

February 24, 2010

Spring!

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Technically it’s not spring until March 21. But who cares! I love all these bright colors:

From the Top:

Thank you card by Juniper Berry

Hello card by Wendushka

Butterfly card by Something I Made

Girly Muscle Cars cards by Day Dreamers

All images by their respective owners.

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