wishful wednesday : ball pit goodness

I love the idea of jumping into a ball pit, but I could do without the awkward struggle to get back up on my feet. My kids would thoroughly enjoy a good ball pit fight or simply scooping armfuls of plastic balls into the air.

While we no longer have a ball pit in the house, I still like the idea of those colorful balls up in the air and around my feet. How about a felted wool version? Without the mess!

{images via 1. sqrl&bee studio and 2. yummi designs}

wishful wednesday : cozy

A single delicate pink flower blossoms on this gray rainy day.

I’d like a cozy spot and a bit of quiet right by my window. I’d like a moment to watch the squirrel scurry across the back wall in the yard and appreciate the lonely pink flower of the climbing vine swaying in the wind.

{1. nordstrom: pleated throw   |  2. jenni bick bookbinding: leather journal  |  3. the home centric: vintage romance throw pillow  |  4. crate and barrel: pietre chair}

one moment

the moment I met you, I knew…

My heart was already yours. Happy Valentine’s Day, my love.

***

my heart on a string

My niece was working on her school project celebrating 100 school days. She wanted to string 100 felt flowers together creating a pretty garland. Now I want to put everything on a string or ribbon and hang it from the ceiling or across the walls throughout the house. With Valentine’s Day coming up, this looks like the perfect project. See the felt heart chain tutorial at Craft.

wishful wednesday : ethereal

I love the colors in this photo from Grainne Photography. There’s an ethereal quality about it that I wish I could create in my own photos.

I promised myself that I would take more pictures of the kids, my work, life around me in general to collect a pictorial record of our lives. I’m happy to report that I’ve been snapping away with the camera, but I am honestly unhappy with the end results. So away I went looking for some help and found 20 Easy Ways to Improve Your Photography from Mocking Bird. This should help.

Um. It says I need to start by turning my camera off Auto.

Okay…. now what?

#3: Read your manual. Oh great! Where is it?!

Maybe if I figure my camera out, I can learn to create something that captures not only what’s happening but also a feeling that goes along with the memory.

art project

Happy Birthday Jackson Pollock. Your work has inspired many engaging art projects.

wishful wednesday : 80s arcade days

Growing up, we were lucky enough to have 2 full size classic arcade games in our garage – Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. I spent countless hours running up ramps, dodging fireballs, and jumping over barrels. Sometimes I moved on to climbing up and sliding down vines in DK Jr., trying to save dad who was captured by Mario after he was defeated in Donkey Kong.

image via Gameroom Champ

image via The Pinball Company

I find myself thinking back to standing in front of a full size machine leaning into moves left and right on a joystick and pounding on that jump button. A game of Street Fighter was even more engaging.

My parents sold those machines when they sat there collecting dust as we got older. I find myself really wishing we still had those arcade machines.

But alas, I think I’ll just have to satisfy my retro game fix with the iPad arcade cabinet from thinkgeek.com with a red knob, plenty of buttons, one and two player mode. This mini version might just work. I wonder if it has a heavy base. I’d hate to see it flying left or right while trying to outrun a barrel.

image via Think Geek

* * *

when it rains, it makes a whole heaping mess of things

It’s been a bit quiet on the blog because I haven’t had a chance to sit and spend a whole lot of time writing. Checking-in in under 140 characters, on the other hand, is doable so you can always follow the madness, mayhem, and musings on Twitter.

Okay, back to my week.

‘When it rains, it pours’ only goes so far to say that a lot of things can go wrong at the same time. There should be a way to say that things not only went wrong, but that the pouring was a catalyst to the utter collapse of things. For instance, let’s say we get a little rain (and in So Cal, we grumble about a light shower), which makes the road slick, that leads to a 10 car pile up on the 405 N, which you just happen to be stuck on, thus makes you unable to get to something really important.

Point is, things sure collapsed this week.

It started off terrific enough. Orders were shipped, new orders came in, vendors and supplies ordered, printed jobs picked up. I was on a roll for the start of the year. Woohoo! But then the printer died, my supplies were back-ordered, kids got sick.

No problem. I can handle those little obstacles. That’s just a slow crawl on the freeway.

The big collision came at 2am when my wall shelving began to peel away from the anchors and the boxes of stock started to slide off. Wide eyed panic and gaping mouth set in as I rushed on top of a nearby stool and hopped onto my table to hold the rail and bottom corner of the falling shelf. Whew… I caught them just in the nick of time and commenced transferring each box with one hand while the other held up the offending shelf.

Now that the rails were weakened, my whole shelf system had to be removed. I decided to get standing shelves in its place which meant my production table, couch, boxes hiding under those areas, and supply bins had to relocate. I was left with a mess.

While the rain can bring its share of problems, there’s always an upside. The sky is always bluer after a nice downpour.

Remember the saga on the war with my office and reclaiming the walls? Well, this disaster forced me to overhaul my work space. There are a lot of boxes to sort through and supplies to purge yet, but the office has a nice makeover. Well, at least half of it.

Yeah. Cue the rainbows.

* * *

new design debut 2011

The past 6 months have been full of changes. We introduced a new look for the website, started this blog, and now I am happy to announce the debut of new products at the L.A. Mart and Dallas Market Center showrooms.

First up, I’d like to introduce the Noted Musings blank stationery set with matching color envelopes. The first series focuses on big bright flowers with clean lines and vibrant colors. These flat notes are great for jotting a quick hello, sending a thank you, or sharing your latest news.

In addition to blank stationery flats, I am now designing a new format with the Open Door Collection. These greeting cards feature clean illustrations, bright embellishments, and patterns that wrap around the back of the card.

The Little Windows Collection continues to be the signature line with a clean and refined look, white space, mini images, tiny details, and handmade adornments. The new Open Door Collection has been a chance to play with fun colors and busy patterns and larger graphics.

I’ve really enjoyed designing this new collection and I hope you enjoy it too!

* * *

monday mood : a plan

Hello folks. I hope your 2011 started out with much gusto. The beginning of the year always seems like a great time to set some goals for the next twelve months. Last year was lived with a frenzy. The amount of activities and entertaining that we hosted or took part in was overwhelming. Our schedule doesn’t look much slower in 2011, but I believe this year could be lived with less chaos and more calm. In order to create a sense of calm, my key words this year are focus, organize, efficiency applied to both myself and my space. Hm… F.O.E. I guess I’m setting myself up for quite a challenge this year.

Here’s my partial list for 2011:

1. create a weekly dinner menu – this eliminates the need to spend hours each week thinking about what to make for dinner, buying ingredients, and cooking on a daily basis
2. serve homemade or healthy after school snacks – good time to introduce something new or different without worrying about them not eating enough
3. schedule time to work – use time in the office more wisely. I don’t need to have 10 windows open
4. drink more water – to combat the effects from copious amounts of coffee
5. clean out the office closet – purge office supplies and tools that are never used. I really don’t need 10 different eyelet setters
6. work on a new design each week – these may or may not be used in the future, but it’s important to create on a continual basis
7. write more letters – there’s nothing like a handwritten note
8. clean out filing cabinet – shred old paperwork, box papers if needed, and recreate a better filing system
9. sleep earlier – if I use my time well during the day, I might get to sleep at a decent hour
10. and post on the blog at least once a week

What do you have planned for 2011?

1. modernemotive | 2. parents.com | 3. momagenda | 4. container store | 5. paper musings sketches | 6. sigg bottle | 7. paper musings notes 2011 | 8. see jane work | 9. serena and lily

click on images to learn more