This time last year, we were on our way to Jonathan’s hometown, Chicago. Our trip coincided with Renegade Handmade’s holiday sale at the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse – so of course, we took advantage of the coincidence and went to check it out. This year, the sale is December 5 & 6 – alas, we won’t be there, but if you are fortunate enough to live in the windy city go check it out (we will live vicariously through you)! Thankfully, each artist I’ve mentioned here also sells online (phew) so I’ve also included links to each artist’s etsy shop if, like us, you won’t be attending.

If we were there, we’d definitely be picking up a few of the following items from some of our favorite artists…

Jonathan and I are huge fans of the witty cards from Mincing Mockingbird, but I’m also smitten with the prints of these expressive little birds. I’d love to pick up these two little guys. (etsy shop)

Pearl and Marmalade is one of my favorite letterpress studios – their illustrations are gorgeous! I’ve recently depleted my supply of blank cards and I’d love to pick up some of these lovelies. (etsy shop)

1Canoe2 has some beautiful letterpress prints available (love the home sweet home print) but I’m especially smitten with the letterpress recipe card box. The recipe cards and tabs feature hand lettering and original illustrations; even the darling wooden box is handmade! (etsy shop)

Sigh. Wish we could see these lovelies (and so much more!) in person. If only Renegade would come to Seattle (or even Portland!). Until then, we will continue to lust after our favorite pieces online. Stay tuned early next week for some of Jonathan’s Renegade picks!

This packaging caught my eye on Lovely Package – who doesn’t love a pink and brown box – surely there must be beautiful things inside! A little clickity-clicking led me to the design firm responsible for this packaging, FBDI®. While looking through their portfolio, I found these images for the same client – the styling in these shots is inspiring! This stuff is eye candy in the truest sense of the word. Enjoy!

At the start of every new year I like to stock up on small notebooks for a variety of useful purposes, like keeping track of mileage, appointments, lists, and so on. I stumbled upon the lovely shop of Bailey Doesn’t Bark and fell in love with these Ruler Notebooks – I think these may be my pick for 2010. In addition to being adorable, they’re 100% recycled!

I love the idea of chalkboard paint. Doodling thoughts as they strike – brainstorming as a team – making checklists – an entire wall’s worth of chalkboard space would be great for these very uses. But, there’s a problem: chalk makes me squeamish. Seriously. It’s a texture thing. Even thinking about using chalk makes my skin crawl.

Having this affliction, I was incredibly excited to discover (via the How blog) that there is a delightfully non-icky alternative: IdeaPaint! Using IdeaPaint, you can turn any wall, door, desk, or other surface into a whiteboard surface. I LOVE this and will immediately commence convincing Jonathan that we need to paint one of the walls in our office with this stuff. Increased productivity, here I come!

{oh, and…the packaging is pretty cool too!}

If you are as infatuated with paper as we are, check out these Paper Packs from Three Potato Four. Each one is brimming with timeless ephemera. In their own words: “Each pack is uniquely different, but is filled with a combination of numbers, type, pattern, graphics and color through an assortment of maps, tickets, stamps, cards, labels, signs, stencils and and all things old school.”

Buy your own unique pack here in their shop. The creative possibilities are endless!

I’m in love with these whimsical silkscreen prints by Buenos Aires illustrator sollinero. Check out her etsy store here – it’s brimming with eye candy. (And yes, that is a frenchie in the illustrations!)

Jonathan can testify to the fact that I’m a bit of a grammar stickler. Okay, I’m a huge grammar fanatic. My eyes twitch and I’m sent into fits of rage when I see an improper use of their, they’re, or there. I’ve decided I need these stickers – while I can’t save the world from the improper use of an apostrophe, at least with these trusty sidekicks, I can do my part.

grammar nerd corrective label pack | available here

Yesterday we shared the save the dates and invitations from Missy and Garrett’s late summer wedding – now, here are some of the details from their wedding day. First of all, check out the amazing weather – sunny, warm, and gorgeous blue sky (which is nothing to sneeze at here in the Pacific Northwest).

The sunny details were put together by Missy’s amazing team of professionals: wedding coordination was by Keri Cooper from Bliss Events, styling and floral design were by Collected Design. We worked closely with Missy to create programs, menus, escort cards, table numbers, and signage for the event. One of my favorite details from the day is the garden cart where they displayed the escort cards in grass. Beautiful!

Thank you so much to Abbi from Simply Photography for sharing these beautiful images from the wedding day and thank you to Missy and Garrett for letting us be a part of your planning process!

One of our favorite couples we’ve had the privilege of working with this year are the lovely Missy and Garrett, who were married in September on a gorgeous Seattle day at the bride’s family’s home. I shared a sneak peak of their invitations last spring – here are more details from their colorful invitation suite.

Missy and Garrett chose offset printing for their invitations and save the date, which was a perfect option as it allowed us to use large areas of color and reversed text and images. We love their color choices (especially the pop of aqua in the envelopes, which brightens up the gray and yellow in the printed pieces).

Missy and Garrett’s wedding photographer, Abbi from Simply Photography, was kind enough to share some STUNNING details from their wedding day – stay tuned tomorrow for some of the details from their outdoor ceremony and reception!

{invitation photos by us, save the date and bride and groom photos by Simply Photography}

It’s that time of year  – time to think about new calendars / planners / organizational tools for 2010. More on planner / organizational possibilities later – right now I’m trying to narrow the field for a calendar choice. I’m especially drawn to the idea of a poster style calendar – easy to display and an affordable option for some new artwork in the home. This lovely letterpress calendar from Dutch Door Press is currently in the lead as one of my favorites.

If you’re still in the market for a 2010 calendar, check out some of these great roundups presented by various bloggers:

Paper Crave 2010 Calendar Roundup Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3
Decor8 2010 Wall Calendars, Desk Calendars, and Poster Calendars
Oh So Beautiful Paper 2010 Calendar Roundup Part 1 and Part 2