I’m In How Magazine!

I’m in How Magazine this month. Please stop by and read the interview.

Back when I was a full time graphic designer, I got a few pieces in How, but never an interview. And I never would have predicted all those years ago that I would one day be interviewed for candy. So cool! So weird! So awesome! So grateful for the opportunity. Thank you How!

Brioche! And My Recent Busy Days.

Forgive me in my delay (yet again) in updating. The Etsy feature has sent me so many new customers and orders, I don’t know which end is up anymore! Don’t get me wrong, I am ecstatic by the turnout. But holy CRAP have I ever been busy!

I’ve been making lollipops for days and days straight. It’s a good thing Em is in school three days a week so I can run out and make candy. But this is exactly where I want to be. I could not be happier with the way things are going right now.

Let’s see, what else is going on? Pastry school!

We’re learning all things bread at school, which has been awesome. Bread (and candy!) is ultimately why I decided to go back to school to refine my baking/confectionary skills. I love bread. It’s just so alive and amazing. Plus, the variety! It’s never-ending.

We went from studying the direct method of bread-making, to the sponge method. We’re now onto brioche and donuts. Oh yes, you read that right: donuts.

I don’t have recipes to share just yet, but I do have some pictures!

Sadly, I have none of the donuts as they are all in my Toby Joe’s tummy. (This fact is hilarious, as Toby Joe doesn’t like sweets. I found his weakness! Ha!)

I’ll have a Murray post up later today. He’s taking the morning off. (And his Mama is off making lollipops.)

Featured Seller On Etsy!

My friends! I am so happy to report that I’m the featured seller on Etsy! I know, right? AWESOME!

These Internet breakthroughs don’t happen to me very often, so when Adam contacted months ago asking if I’d be interested in the opportunity, I nearly peed my pants. I am just so freaking pleased to have been asked to do this! I don’t even care if anybody actually buys anything! ;]

So, please pop by and check out it!

Cool Stuff I Got From Etsy and Amazon.

I got some stuff recently from Etsy and Amazon that I want to share with you.

First: The mug.

Toby Joe likes his mugs large. He uses at least two teabags for every cup of tea and his shots of espresso are usually quadrupled. So, for christmas I got him a large coffee mug. It’s as beautiful as it looks.

The mug comes from Twisted River Clay. On top of it being a really great piece of pottery, Ron Sbardella is just a super nice person. Check out his work.

Second: The notecard.

A few weeks ago, a neighbor and friend dropped off an anti-fur pin for me. (It’s a long story that can be summed up by saying: I loathe fur. If you wear it, I judge you. Period.) Along with the pin, she included a really sweet greeting card. I was inspired, so I hit Etsy and found these made by Kseniya.

They’re embossed. The paper is really heavy. I look forward to sending out my first one.

Third: Nerdy (but pretty!) stuff.

Toby Joe recently told me about these laptop protectors someone was selling on Etsy. He wanted one that has an Apple die-cut. I searched, and discovered that there are actually many. I got him the Apple cutout made by Lana Kole. (I don’t have a picture of it, but it’s great.) I got myself a more girly one.

It’s awesome. It’s made by Groovy Lids. I should mention that the only problem I had with it was it was slightly too tall for my lap book so I had to cut it down to fit. But don’t let that scare you. I’m featuring it here because I’m really happy with it. (Better too tall than too short, right?)

Last: For the kid.

Last but not least, I got these Crayola markers for Emory.

There are 64 of them. They’re smaller in size and super easy for him to hold. And there are so many colors, I’ve found that all I want to do is color.

Do you have an Etsy shop? Any great finds on Etsy or elsewhere? Link to them or email me! I love finding great shit.

It Could Be Worse.

It could read “Buried Alive” or “Quadruple Amputee-ing Blizzard”.

You gotta love our media. Thank you, AccuWeather.

Joy O Designs

A friend of mine from way, way back when is a pretty amazing jewelry designer. Her creations have been worn by Eva Langoria, Anne Hathaway and Cameron Diaz. Impressive! Check it out.

Her name is Joy. She lives in San Francisco. I went to college with her and her husband.

(P.S. I’m hoping to link to more Web sites. It occurred to me recently that I don’t do this nearly as much as I should. Stay tuned for more in the future! Also, if you’re a designer and/or artist of any type, send me a link to your work! I’d love to see what you do.)

Mom It Down will return next week. I haven’t had time to bake! My apologies!

Graphic Designer Turned Mother.

Before I became a mother, I was a full time graphic designer. I love graphic design. I don’t get to do it much these days for obvious reasons, but someday I will return to it. There is nothing more exciting to me than identity design. Seriously. I could spend the rest of my working days here on Earth designing logos. I love them.

So you can probably imagine how I felt yesterday when I was handed the biggest design project of my solo career. The thing is, it’s a quick turnaround, which means much of my time over the next week or so will be devoted to it. (Thank goodness for family, Em and I are staying at my folk’s house and they’re helping take care of my little person while I complete this project.)

Anyway, if updating is sporadic or seemingly chaotic, that’s why. But I am out here! In fact, I’m going to be glued to the computer for the next week, so feel free to send me pictures of your cats or any dogs you find in strollers! (Thank you, Balebusta!)

This project could not have come at a better time for me. I may not have won the lottery last week (actually, I haven’t yet actually bought that ticket I talked about buying!) but I did land this project. That’s enough for me, Universe. For now.

This Is Not A Rope.

This morning I was searching online for fonts when I got aquatinted with this one:

In the browser it looks like this:

And I’m not sure whether this person is a sick, sick bastard or just has a wicked sense of humor, so I send some iChats to Toby Joe and I’m all, “OMG THIS GUY DESIGNED A FONT CALLED RAPE AND USED ROPE AS LETTERS!” And I realize midway through this iChat that the “a” is actually an “o” and the font is called ROPE. (Duh.)

Here are the two letters side-by-side:

The graphic designer in me thinks that he could have made this a leeeetle bit clearer. 

We Got a Little Teapot

We have a lot of kitchen appliances. Out of the appliances we own, the two that we’ve used the most over the years has been the KitchenAid mixer and the Cuisinart Electric Kettle. I use the KitchenAid at least three times a week. And Toby Joe makes tea almost every night. I often use our kettle for Em’s oatmeal as well. 

Sadly, our kettle died a few weeks ago, after years worth of daily use it just croaked. 

This is what we ended up with.

My question is simple: do you like our new kettle? How do you feel about its design? Because one of the adults living under this roof doesn’t like the looks of it and has therefore pushed it way, way back into a corner. The other adult person living here purchased it and is quite pleased with it.

How do you feel about our new kettle?

Don’t be shy. I sure ain’t been.

New Site Stuff

I’m sure that by now you’ve noticed some changes taking place around here. We’re currently in the process of optimizing this Web site, making changes to the layout, design, and overall identity, etc. 

Please let us know if there are any bugs. More changes are going to come over the weekend (including adding in some color), and if there’s anything strange going on, we’d like to make those edits at that time.

Thanks! I do hope this proves to be rejuvenating for everyone!