Have a sweet weekend!

Hi you guys! Just a little note to wish you a sweet weekend! Do you have any fun plans? Hope you might have a minute to join me in Make-It + Mail-It Challenge #2 — there’s some — yep, I gotta say it — super *sweet* entries already! The entries really made me smile BIG, and I bet that they’ll make the recipients smile even bigger! (Thanks so much for entering.)

My weekend actually started yesterday with an outing with Libby! We went to Paper Source (mmm, delicious papers are now mine!), Whole Foods HQ (where we saw a Vita-Mix demo and now we both want one), West Elm (where they still had a tea pot that I *had* to have), and a bicycle poster cabaret print show at the Gallery Black Lagoon (got a poster by one of my favorite artists, Bianca Gomez). Had a blast — can’t wait to share photos!

Now I’m off to meet a new stampy friend for cupcakes and coffee at Cupprimo. Yum.

Hugs to all, and Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!

Paper Source Grand Opening in Austin!

Did you have a good weekend? I sure did! The highlight? On Saturday, J took me to the grand opening celebration of Paper Source, Austin. YAY!

(If’ you’re in Austin, Paper Source is on Lamar directly across from the Whole Foods Headquarters – you can see it reflected there in the window.)

Every single time I’ve been at a Paper Source in the last 10 years or so I’ve asked when they were coming to Austin. And now, here they are!

What!?! You haven’t heard of Paper Source? You’re kidding, right?

Paper Source is a mecca of all sorts of paper goodness — stamps, inks, tools, bookbinding equipement, stickers, glues, labels, glitter, and of course — paper!

Oh, the paper.

And all sorts of keen gifts, too!

When I arrived there was a rubber stamping demo going on with one of my favorite Hero Arts Stamps: Designer Woodgrain. Talk about a surreal moment. Here I was at THE Paper Source, and they were demoing with a stamp that I helped design. Whoa. They were stamping it with silver pigment ink on two of my favorite colors: pool and chocolate. Be still my heart.

Then in another corner there was a workshop showing how to use their paper flower kits. I hung out and watched — it looked so easy!

So.

Now for the answer to the question you’ve been wondering, I bet.

(Top photo: Paper Source bag that I’ll be cutting up and using on a card — aren’t the colors awesome? red daisy and/plaid paper by October Afternoon. Camera paper by Studio Calico. Paper Source luxe white notecards and envelopes — these are so nice — when you stamp on them it almost looks like letterpress! Pool envelopes. And a Paper Source camera stamp that I couldn’t resist adding to my collection — yes I’m a camera addict – in more was than one.)

(Bottom Photo: Cavallini map wrapping paper in the background — this is going up on the wall in my office, so cool! It even has old tape marks. A roll of beautiful Japanese paper — the silver flowers are metallic and shine in the sun. And two flower kits — poppies and daisies. Can’t wait to make them! I’m going to put a red poppy in a box that I’m sending to my Gran — red is her favorite color, and it will survive the trip to Ohio just fine.)

Many thanks to J for taking me — love you, J!

And thanks to Paper Source for coming to Austin — you really make me smile BIG!

Bicycle! Bicycle!

I’m doing the happy dance over here and I just have to share — I finally got the Two Wheeler Shirtdress from Anthropologie! I’ve had my eye on it forever. It’s no longer available on their website, but was in my size at my local store. And! The shirt was missing a button so I got a discount — best of all, there’s an extra button that comes in a cute little drawstring bag with it — yay!

I’ve been having dreams about it. In my dream J and I are riding bikes to a picnic and I’m wearing this dress. It was so fun! Do you ever dream about clothes? Or picnics?  :)

In my dream I was wearing the Bloch jazz oxfords. But then one of the girls there suggested the Cylindrical Braid Belt and now I think I’ll have to wear the Dr. Scholl’s Be Nice sandals instead — the mustard color on the flower matches perfectly!

Happy Fourth of July everyone in the states!

<ding! ding!>

Sometimes…

I’m not normally a fan of “red tape”, ha! But sometimes, just sometimes…

Hee hee.

It can be especially good when you get to go for a little bike ride for the first time in over three months after you’ve had ankle surgery, and you are wearing a jersey that someone designed that even has your name on it in Kanji.

Add in the birds singing, the sun shining, trees budding and stamping a quick card to thank said friend, and that makes for one happy day.

(Supplies: Bicycle and thank you stamps by Hero Arts, the chop has my maiden name on it — a friend had it carved for me in Hong Kong, Fabriano notecards, Fuji Instax camera, Japanese masking tape.  And oh yes, I did wear a helmet while I rode.)

Wishing you a day full of sweet, simple joys,

Happy Birthday Chris!

Happy birthday little sister! Hope it’s a good one! Love ya LOTS!

For full supplies, a video and more info on the card, click here.

And now for a Tour update. Saturday on the first day of le Tour I was furiously stamping holiday cards while listening to the boardcast on Eurosport. Then Sunday I was working on cards for the blog while listening (and watching every now and then) on Sputnik. Right now I’m watching the third stage on Versus after Jason got it working — windows problem, ugh. Wonder who will win today? Can’t wait to find out!