I'm still in denial that Christmas is a mere five days away. Just gonna keep my head down and lay low...maybe even close my eyes for a bit, because if I don't see it, it won't see me. And I won't even address my six week absence from blog land because, again, I'm in denial.

Although the winter months aren't traditionally known as peak wedding season, many stationers are facing busy production schedules and a barrage of deadlines as they ramp up for their spring 2011 weddings. I have some fun projects to keep me busy over the holidays and I can't wait to share them. Also reserving some time to train my new intern and am over-the-moon excited to have some help!

Will try to check in before the end of the year. In the meantime, Happy Holidays to all!

Smaller than a breadbox

Sometimes I fall victim to clever marketing. It doesn't matter what the product is really...if it's strikes a certain this-is-a-cool-product-that-might-change-your-life chord with me, I'll buy it. Even if I don't need it. And a few days ago, the chord was struck and I purchased this:

It's marketed as the anti-bottle because it's not only reusable, it's foldable. When the "bottle" is not in use, you can roll it up all neat and tidy. I liked that it came with a color-coordinated caribiner and think it would be cool to use while traveling. I imagine it would be easy to slip into the seat pocket in front of you on planes and wouldn't be as awkward and bulky as traditional plastic water bottles. The biggest question I have is how easy it will be to keep clean. I'll have to take it for a test spin and see how it performs.

Don't know why I'm so obsessed with water bottles, but since this is an "anti-bottle" it doesn't really count, right? I'm just hoping that it will play nicely with my Nalgene, CamelBak and Sigg bottles already sitting on the shelf!

If you get sucked in by the marketing, too, you can purchase it locally on Oahu at Red Pineapple for $10.

Photo editing on the fly

Downloaded the free version of the TiltShift Generator for my iPhone recently and finally had a chance to try it out while waiting for my latte order to be filled. On a side note, is it bad that I can no longer JUST STAND or JUST SIT for more than a minute without whipping out my phone to occupy me?

Anyway, here's the original photo that I took:


Then I performed a bit of TiltShift magic:


In all of thirty seconds, I had applied a radial blur with the edible book acting as my focal point, added a vignette effect, and increased the saturation. Fun stuff!

Brushing off the cobwebs

This feels like my first day back at school after a looooong summer break. Oh, how I miss the days of stocking up on school supplies. New crayons were my favorite...especially the big "64" box with the sharpener in the back. Think my clients would mind if I signed their contracts in burnt sienna?

But first things first, since I've been fielding amusing questions here and there from some curious "regulars":

- I haven't disappeared into a black hole (well, almost)
- I haven't gone out business (still chugging along quite nicely *knock on wood*)
- I haven't given up on writing (lack of time, not inspiration, was the culprit here)

My unscheduled hiatus was simply the byproduct of an overwhelming amount of work. Something had to give and, again, it was this blog. Oh, and my feeble attempt to maintain my Facebook page. Thankfully, the whole Facebook fiasco was almost over before it began -- a quick death so there wasn't much pain involved. For those that are interested, my page is still up, along with a handful of (old) posts and photos. Maybe one day I'll pump some new life into it. Maybe not.

But now that I'm committed to carving out some time for myself each day, I'm anxious to return to the things that I love. Truthfully, I've been T E R R I B L E at maintaining balance in my life but I realize that stressing out about this or that 24 hours a day is really a disservice to myself, my family, my friends, and my clients.

So, I'm back. And it feels great.

I gave in

I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't even look at a new phone until my current phone went belly up. My Palm Treo had everything that I needed: QWERTY keyboard, internet access, camera, video capabilities...oh, and it made phone calls, too. My Treo was hearty, reliable, and forgiving (I dropped it so many times that I lost count).

But then everyone around me got new phones. My hubby's phone is this super powerful "being" that I'm embarrassed to say is far too complicated for me to operate...as in, it takes me a few minutes to even figure out how to dial a number. Lots of my vendor friends seem to favor the Blackberry and when I see them zipping through emails, little wisps of smoke dance in the air. My clients are overwhelmingly in the iPhone camp and they're happy to whip out their phones when showing me inspirational pics during our consultations.

Needless to say, what's a girl to do when she's hit with a bad case of phone envy?

Goodbye old faithful Treo. Hello sexy iPhone.

I didn't think I could LOVE a phone, but I do. I really do. Love my nice big display, love the apps (oh, the apps!), love the sound quality when I'm streaming my music from Pandora. Total phone infatuation. So, of course I want to protect my new investment and am thinking of designing this custom case:

Thank you, Apple, from the bottom of my heart.

My spring break

As if it wasn't obvious enough, I'm on a brief blogging hiatus. March "madness" has attacked with a vengeance in more ways than one and I've been forced to put a few things on the backburner for awhile. Am making a mental list of all the fun things I want to share when I'm back from my break, so I WILL be back (hopefully sooner than later!).

Just venting...forgive me

I think I've said it before, but I have a love/hate relationship with the US Postal Service. There are times when things go like clockwork. Package Mailed --> Package Received, end of story. Then there are other times when "glitches" occur and I realize that I have absolutely no control over what happens during the time between Package Mailed and Package Received...and THIS drives me crazy.

True story:

I mailed two boxes on Saturday morning. Box #1 was bound for San Diego and reached its destination yesterday - hooray! Box #2 was bound for a neighbor island and is currently MIA. The precious cargo encased in box two is for a wedding taking place tonight. Yes, tonight. Online tracking turned up nothing, as did two frantic phone calls to my local post office and the receiving post office. No one seems to know where the box is and time is not on my side.

Start vent: I'd guess that there's a 30% chance that the box will actually show up in time for the wedding. On the flip side, that means there's a 70% chance that the box will arrive late (or never) and the work I put into creating the stationery pieces will have gone to waste. Then there's the cost associated with the materials and postage. The box was insured, but I'd have to wait at least 21 days before I can file a claim if the box is truly missing. And the dollar amount is really not the issue, anyway. I try so hard to stay on top of things and when something like THIS happens that's outside my control, it's so frustrating. And annoying...because I now have to prevent this unfortunate mishap from ruining my morning. But the thing that really gets to me, is that this will impact the wedding coordinator who must now figure out how to remedy the "Case of the Missing Stationery Items" while taking care of a few hundred other details for the bride/groom. I like making people's jobs easier, not harder, and this one is tough for me to swallow. End vent.

So, why am I documenting such a stressful situation on my blog? Because it's real...and when you work in a studio by yourself, there's no one to vent to. And when you call your husband on the phone to complain about the situation without fully explaining all the details, sometimes you end up snapping at him when he's just trying to help and offer solutions. (Sorry, honey)

*Breathe in, breathe out*

Lovely inspiration

My inspiration this month is l-o-v-e. It will probably be THE thing that keeps me going during this extremely busy month.

Must love life...sometimes routine, sometimes full of surprises.

Must love work...sometimes stressful, sometimes joyful.

Must love the creative process...sometimes easy, sometimes agonizing.

Must love husband...sometimes, no, always with a full heart.

Hello, week...I'm ready for you.

Out of the office

In the last 48 hours, I've met with 6 brides, 2 grooms and 2 wedding vendors. It feels like I've been out of the office more than I've been in. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but when your office is in your home it can be a little strange.

I remember when I had a regular office job and wanted to be anywhere but stuck behind a desk.

Sometimes dreams come true.

& then...

So, uh, this post is going to be boring. I'm so sorry. I don't even know why I'm writing it, but sometimes I just feel the need to document things...even if it's just for my own sake.

I have a favorite symbol, and that symbol is this: &

I'm not sure how many other people have favorite symbols that reside on their keyboards, but I really like the ampersand. More than the pretty asterisk sitting beside it, and waaaaay more than the tilde that lives at the end of the block. The ampersand is fancy, yet concise. Useful, yet whimsical. Efficient in so many ways and the one symbol that can be dressed up or dressed down depending on the level of formality that's called for.

Back in '08, I spotted this gigantic red ampersand at the Olympia Sculpture Park in Seattle. My heart skipped a beat. So big. So red. So magnificent.


And when I spotted this ampersand last night via www.welovetypography.com, my heart again skipped a beat...because I was laughing so hard when I read the caption: Spampersand.


By the way, if you ever look up the definition of "ampersand" on Wikipedia, it's identified as a logogram which is defined as a grapheme that represents a word or morpheme. Huh? I told you this post was going to bore you...

Hello 2010

Hello 2010,

I can't believe you're here already. It feels like you arrived earlier than usual...like months ahead of schedule? No? It's just me, then.

We're only four days in and you've already made your presence known. No signs of holiday decorations in sight, no holiday leftovers in the fridge, no memory of any holiday madness or overeating whatsoever.

After much thought, I've decided to skip the resolutions this year and opt for my husband's suggestion of 2010 THEMES. Nothing new or shocking, just the tried and true: live healthy, be kind to the soul, nurture relationships with loved ones...if something clashes with any of our themes, then it's not a good fit and we'll just pass on it. It seems to make perfect sense, although I suspect that "themes" will be just as challenging to maintain as "resolutions."

A toast to the NEW YEAR and the many wonderful surprises that it holds!

Christmas cheer

I'm officially on vacation in just a few hours. It's been such a busy year that I'm not sure if I even remember what "vacation mode" feels like...what should I do? Or more importantly, what should I NOT do? When you live/work in the same space, it can be difficult to draw the line between the two. I'm sure that a "KEEP OUT" sign on my office door would help, although I'm hoping it won't come to that. I've got lots of festive, holiday tasks to keep me busy.

I also plan on working on my resolutions for 2010. Granted, I've never made and kept any resolution thus far, but that won't stop me from trying. The one resolution that I'd love to keep is to STAY CONNECTED with my loved ones. Seems simple when I read the words in black and white, but with a crazy workload and the regular stresses of life weighing me down, it's been a real challenge for me. I'm already trying to kickstart that resolution by contacting old friends that I haven't seen in ages, so that's gotta be worth at least 10 bonus points? Let's hope I can keep it up.

So, as Christmas approaches I'd like to wish everyone a happy and restful holiday with an extra dose of good cheer!

Just another Thursday

Finally replaced my card reader only to find out that my photo woes weren't caused by a faulty card reader. I think the problem was actually stemming from my computer itself...maybe the USB port? Maybe pirates? Who knows. Hopefully my techie husband can diagnose it for me.

In the meantime, I managed to copy over a couple of photos that I took last Friday...my "this is what's on my work table today" photos. I was going to take new photos this morning, but interestingly enough, my work table looks exactly the same as it did a week ago. I swear I've been busier than ever...guess I just didn't have much assembly work to finish up.

So without further ado, this is what's STILL on my work table today:

The last of my 2010 desk calendars anxiously awaiting a new home...

And this "e"...

It was supposed to be the start of a new sign for my Emi Ink booth for the wedding expos. I covered the top surface in paper flowers and Swarovski crystals and intended to move onto the interior and exterior edges next. Turned out to be too much work for the limited time that I had so I pitched the idea. I still love my "e" though and recently dusted it off when I showed it to one of my customers.

Photo-less

Why, oh why, do bad things happen to good card readers??

I've been dealing with a finicky card reader for a couple of weeks now and need to find a replacement asap so I can download all the photos I've taken. I even took some pics this morning in hopes that I could miraculously post some on my blog. No such luck.

I came up with a silly idea of posting random "this is what's on my work table today" photos. Thought it might be fun...or weird. Now I'll never know because I probably won't be in the mood to post these photos on Monday. Mondays are like that for me. It's the day that I reset my brain and focus on all the deadlines for the coming week, update my production schedule and catch up on any lingering emails from the previous week. Fridays, on the other hand, usually consist of an odd mix of work + cleaning up + play + creative endeavors (aka playing, but for business purposes).

Oh well. Photos have an unbelievable shelf life (unlike the milk in my fridge) so maybe I'll post them on Monday.

hello December

:: hello Christmas trees freshly unpacked from the Matson containers.

:: hello shopping mall Santas (you're finally growing on me).

:: hello Salvation Army bell ringers.

:: hello hot chocolate and marshmallow samples at Williams-Sonoma.

:: hello wrapping paper and your coordinating ribbon and tags.

:: hello low-fat eggnog (we cleared out a space in our refrigerator door just for you).

:: hello free-shipping deals.

:: hello holiday movie marathon

:: hello vacation and precious time with family and friends (oh, how I've missed you).

Halloween is over already?

I wish I could say that I've been hibernating this past month. Far from it. The challenge of moving (packing + unpacking + cleaning + home renovation projects) has left me with only fleeting moments of downtime. Even as I type this, I'm surrounded by only half an office: half of my things have been moved to my new studio space, half of my things remain in the old space. Add to this my ramped up workload for all the spring weddings just around the corner, and it's no wonder that my blog has been collecting dust.

A friend of mine commented that I should have been blogging about all the trials and tribulations that I experienced throughout the home buying process and our big move, but do I really want to relive the hundreds of trips to Home Depot? Or my surprising obsession with perfectly positioned canned goods with all labels facing front? Let me just say that we're making progress and I'm thrilled not to be brushing my teeth in the kitchen anymore.

This week I'm racing to finish a whole bunch of projects for a lovely couple on Kauai getting married next Saturday. It's been a whirwind of designing and proofing with a flurry of email exchanges everyday...I'm just as excited to see the finished products as they are!

Hello, October

September was over in the blink of an eye. I swear I just flipped my calendar from August to September and now I'm looking down the barrel of October.

*deep breath*

Am busy finishing up a slew of items for two clients getting married on October 10th. Also hoping to get caught up with emails and proposals in the coming week. And before you know it, it'll be time to prep for the next Wedding Expo!

I do have some interesting projects that I'd love to share...as soon as I find the time to take some photos. Round place cards, ceremony programs that blend form and function, sign-in sheets with bursts of COLOR.

All in due time.

I'll breathe when I have time...

I've been busy. That's the short answer to why I haven't found the time to update my blog in a MONTH. Actually, busy is an understatement. It's been a crazy + chaotic + stressful + barely-have-time-to-breathe kind of month.

• Celebrated hubby's birthday (several times)
• Designed damask-inspired pieces for a photo shoot at the lovely Bayer Estate
• Created a sample invitation set to present to the deserving winners of Hawaii Bride and Groom's Wedding of a Lifetime contest (and just did the video shoot this morning)
• Experienced a disappointing snafu with USPS while sending a rush shipment to a client in New York
• Diagnosed and performed a temporary fix for my online client gallery
• Had consultations with lots of 2010 spring/summer brides (I love that you're all planning ahead!)
• Survived a tidal wave of rush orders for 08/08/09 weddings (guest book pages, place cards, menus, etc.)
• And on a personal note, hubby and I began navigating our way through the home buying process (home renovation will be new hobby)

The rest of the month will be even busier. *sigh*

The write stuff

I have a client who's ordering custom guest book pages from me and she emailed this morning asking what pens I'd recommend using. Hmm, can you pick out my top two faves in the photo above?

I typically use matte cardstock vs. metallic cardstock on guest book pages for one reason - less possibility for smearing. And as a passionate advocate for "smear prevention," I typically favor fine tip ball point pens (I like the Pentel RSVP brand) or my new favorite, the fine tip Sharpie pen. This is different from the traditional Sharpie markers because it's supposed to be more pen-like and not bleed through paper. Works for me!

For ultimate cool factor, though, I always have my pink Retro Tornado pen on the ready. I guess it's only natural that my passion for paper would eventually lead to a passion for pens. *sigh*

Avalanche of paper

Who else but a good friend would help you sort out paper for five hours on a beautiful Saturday afternoon? Lucky me, I had two good friends who were up for the challenge and pitched in with this enormous task, spurred on by the promise of a free lunch. The nice photo above with the organized stacks of paper? That's a teeny, tiny drop in the bucket compared to the mountains of cardstock that I had amassed in the last four years. Next step is to package everything up...one of my friends has already secured some "pre-sales" of miscellaneous scrap packs on reserve for her crafty coworkers.

The biggest, most heartfelt thank you goes out to my girlfriends who realized firsthand my true obsession with paper. I owe you another lunch...and my first born child.