Paper Goods

One of my favorite daily clicks has been Color Me Katie, a blog by Katie Sokoler, freelance photographer and Brooklyn street artist, with the most fun, exuberant sense of color I have ever seen. Her site always brings a smile to my face with her cheery use of rainbow color that spans the spectrum of the Crayola crayon box.  She uses her awesome color sense to construct playful, vibrantly hued, public installation street art and homemade crafts, such as hand drawn bird and balloon window etchings and these joyful, hand-drawn edible marshmallow figurines.  With a small paintbrush, food coloring, and neon icing, Katie transformed each bland marshmallow into a unique personality, by hand-drawing a cartoonish mug and adding a rakish icing hairstyle, ranging from pompadours to mohawks.  As she recommends, how fun would it be to have a bowl of these at a party?  If you have young kids or nieces and nephews to dote over, I think this would be an awesome at-home project for a rainy day. Be sure to check out the rest of Katie’s blog, including a really cute series of public Pac-man pictures that will warm the heart of any old-school arcade lover.  I look forward to seeing some more of Katie’s work live, brightening up dreary street corners and walls!

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Okay, it’s February 11th–are you still looking for a Valentine’s Day gift?! I’ve got some quick ideas for you that any Valentine would love, no matter what your budget is! First up, l’Âge de Thé’s Love Blend loose leaf tea costs only $6 and would be a super sweet way to send your love to someone. It’s a black tea with strawberry, chocolate, and just a pinch of rose petals. And it tastes delicious!

Linda & Harriett put together a Limited Edition Goody Bag that contains a note pad, a box of note cards, a pencil, and a cute little reusable heart bag (tied with a handwritten gift tag!). Of course, the paper goods are the top-notch quality you would come to expect from L&H, and you can choose from a set of designs. The Goody Bag is $26 and would make a thoughtful Valentine, don’t you think?

Lastly, check out Elemis’ Exotic Frangipani Monoi Moisture Melt. The name is a mouthful, but it’s so worth it. At $48, it’s the most expensive on this list, but oh so luxurious. Monoi is made in Polynesia by soaking frangipangi flowers in coconut oil, and the result is a silky, moisturizing oil that is a treat for your skin. It would be perfect to use for a sensual massage and is nicely fragrant, so I’m sure your Valentine would loooove it. Have a happy Valentine’s Day!

As I’ve learned from being a new grad student, you can never be too organized or too prepared. That’s why I’m already looking ahead to 2010, and so is Linda & Harriett. Their 2010 Calendar is available now, and I love it! (I loved last year’s, too.) Whimsical, charming designs adorn every page, and it is just so bright and adorable. It is all hung together with a pretty plum ribbon.

This year, Linda & Harriett have added an extra twist to this calendar that will charm you. When the month ends, instead of tossing the old page out, flip it over. You’ll find a postcard ready to be sent to someone special! The lovely designs have double the use, and of course, the calendar is letterpressed and on quality paper. Pick one up for yourself or send as a gift on lindaandharriett.com–then get ready for the new year and write away.

Check out these beautiful watercolor prints from Etsy seller, Aliette, with their gorgeously muted rainbow hues and storybook-esque illustrations.  I’ve been visiting her page for a while, and I’ve been impressed by the new whimsical designs she comes up with every season for their fanciful, dreamlike quality.  Unsurprisingly, her designs also appealed to my Francophile self, as her profile indicates that she is a graphic designer from France.

When I finally do buy an apartment of my very own, I plan to decorate my walls with her framed prints. She sells her prints individually printed on high quality paper for a very reasonable price of $24, or in a set of 4 for $80.  What do you think of her delicately etched drawings?  They remind me of the kind of hidden and subtle beauty you might find in a cloudy day, with their multicolored and varied shades of gray and pebble interspersed with highlights of a  warm Fall color palette.

Visit her Etsy shop to see all of the prints she has for sale.

Recently, I had the occasion to send thank you cards to my some of my colleagues and supervisors for writing recommendations on my behalf. I wanted to be able to show some thought and appreciation that a plain card wouldn’t convey, so I turned to my go to paper goods and stationery brand–Linda & Harriett. I love L&H for its quality card stock and unique designs, sophisticated with just the right touch of whimsy. Here are the 3 different thank yous available, from left:

• Tulips: lavender tulips
• Stripes: citron & white stripes
• Mermaid: aqua & gray scales

All the cards feature gorgeous calligraphy by Brooklyn-based calligrapher Jenna Hein and are $4.50 each. Or, pick up all 3 for $12.15 for 3 perfect ways to express your thanks.

Get a taste of May flowers, without the showers with this series of exhuberantly colored  flower pop cards from children’s book creators Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart.  These cards are the perfect mix of cute, without being childish, and I love these bright surprise cheer of these pop-up floral bouquets.  I used to love pop-up books as a child (I have fond memories of Fairy Places ), and these cards took me back to memories of chilly air-conditioned summers in the public library, where I used to sit for hours reading. 

Each box comes with 8 pop up cards with 4 different colors, making them reasonably priced at $21.95 a box, and are perfect for some snail mail Springtime notes to send to a friend.

I’ve found that springtime and being in your mid 20′s has meant one thing: multiple bridal showers and the emergence of wedding season in full force.  As friends have found love, my friends and I have been subject to being more bridemaids and maids of honors than I can count, resulting in lots of trips of Bed, Bath, and Beyond, plentiful manual labor involving cutting the crusts off those pesky tea sandwiches, and the dreaded ‘what to do for the decorations?’ question.

It’s not easy finding practical and beautiful decorations for a bridal shower that won’t detract monetarily from the amount you’ll end up spending for the wedding gift, which is why I was excited to find these homemade pom poms from Martha Stewart.  My friend, Katherine, came up with the ingenious idea of using Martha’s pom poms for a bridal shower she was responsible for decorating, and the effect was chic and cheap.  The materials only include tissue paper and cloth-covered floral wire, both of which can be found easily and affordably at your local craft store.

You can make the pom poms in any color tissue paper you can find  and hang them up to add some color to the room.  Best of all, it’s incredibly simple to make so that even your significant others won’t mess it up–trust me, these pom poms will win against  the “I won’t help you, because I’ll mess it up” argument.   After the bridal shower is done, you and the guests can even take these pom poms home–after all, they’re just too pretty to throw away.

Read on here to see the exact directions for how to make these hanging pom poms, as well as a napkin ring version.

I’ve recently been re-arranging my office and thus, have been looking for ways to get better organized. The kind people behind Pulp Products sent me one of their new Designer Fabric Memo Boards to help me out! Considering the fact that my office can look more like a disaster area at times and my desk is always cluttered with notes, I was more than willing to try it needless to say.  

When I received the memo board in the mail, I was pleasantly surprised by how large it was.  (Doesn’t it bug you when you run out of room for things to put stuff?)  The board measures 22″ x 22″ and comes in an array of patterns (18 to be exact).  I chose the beautiful Branches in White Linen, which complements nicely with my pale sage green walls.  The entire wooden frame is wrapped in this fabric and the back is made of a bulletin board material.  I really appreciated this as I felt that this helps make this board more durable and substantial.  It also comes with beehive hangers on the back corners for easy hanging.  I ended up hanging this over my bookshelves and it is definitely being put to good use. Ultimately, it ended up being the perfect inspiration board and finally, I have a place to properly hang my 2009 calendar.  All in all, this board is so wonderful that I’m thinking about getting another one for the kitchen. 

Order yours at pulpproducts.com for $39.  (The board also comes in a magnet version, in case you prefer that over push pins, for $42.)