aaaaaand i'm re-doing my office:

russell and hazel has the most beautiful office accessories and supplies. i'm all over it. you can even shop by color!










ahem:

checkin' it twice

'tis the season (apparently...according to every store front i pass). i thought i'd gather up some cute lists and booklets to use during this crazy shopping time, whether it's christmas, solstice, etc. if you're gonna fight crowds for good bargains, you may as well have cute paper to keep you company!

these are from a really cute site i love, knock knock:

these are from my expression:

these are from paper source:

and, i think i've settled on a color scheme for my christmas decorating and wrapping:

cute, huh?

friend thanksgiving

dave and i started a tradition with our friends called "friend thanksgiving." we try to get together each year for a dysfunction-free meal without our respective families. here's the invite i made up real quick for everyone:

and above are a few offerings from paper source. i think i'll end up using the gourds and thankful cards.

oh, and here is a thanksgiving video for your viewing enjoyment:

ok, so this isn't technically paper

but it's the technology that will help me create better beautiful papers, and i'm excited!
it arrived this morning:

and, of course, this (without which i would be lost):

little known fact about me and adobe: i hate photoshop. a lot. but, my friend rachel loves it and she is giving away beautiful desktop images. check it out. i'm using it and it's so nice to look at.

how about orange?

i am loving jessica jones' blog. she is a girl after my own heart. in fact, as i was about to post my tutorial on making a notebook, i read HER tutorial this morning. hers is better. go check it out here.

(i'll still post mine...after the awesomeness of hers is forgotten) ;-)

halloween paper crafts

i wish i was throwing a halloween party. i have a good friend who's birthday is on the 30th, so maybe we could throw him a halloween-inspired party?! hm...i better get on that. all of the following are made from paper!

pumpkin candy holders and lanterns:

kitty candy holder:

pumpkin bags:

buckets covered in candy wrappers:

invitations:

bat bags:

paper shadows:

"don't forget" finger invitation!

"mad scientist" invitation:

bat pinata:

pumpkins:

trick-or-treat bags:

food tags:

paper:

kitty invite:

gorgeous paper wreath:

via martha, of course (and her craft store).

notebooks!

ok, i own too many notebooks. there. i said it. none of the above are mine, though i want them very badly. this weekend i'm going to put together a tutorial based on a notebook a friend made for me. it's a cheap and easy way to make a plain old notebook your own. i'll share it with you next week.

for now, check out this flickr pool for inspiration: notebooks

aww...an award?!

one of my very best friends nominated me for this award. how cute. rachel is awesome.

here are my nominations. i know that maybe this is for girls, but i just want to nominate a boy because i would LOVE to see this icon on his blog:

1. brian, of weekend gamer. out of the bloggers that i personally know, brian gives the most thought and puts in the most work. most of the time, i can't believe these nerdy thoughts are in his head...but i love it. i don't even understand his posts 90% of the time, but i read anyway. he's been an amazing friend to dave and i, and that alone makes him worthy of this award.
2. jodi, who is sonotcool. i've been following her for a while and i just love reading about her life, the good and bad. i feel like she's the most real blogger out there. i'd like to have tea with her some day...seriously. she seems so awesome...not cool...just awesome. ;-)
3. kem, of less clutter and noise. i do not know kem, but i do know that her marketing hints have changed how i do my communications job at grace. she's amazing, and i can tell that she is a nice person. i love the mix of personal and professional on her blog. and her glasses.

week in the web

Free Paper! There is an advertising company proposing that ads be placed int he top margin of college-ruled paper. This paper is free for students because of the advertising. Interesting.

Funny Faces: Check out monoface. I found myself laughing a lot. Just mix up the facial features for a Conan O'Brien-esque result.

Inspire Yourself: Desktopography is full of beautiful photos for your...you guessed it... desktop. Really inspiring. Whenever I'm in a creative funk, I just hop onto flickr or look for sites like this to get my brain going again.

Have a great weekend!

beautiful web: sfgirlbybay

I recently did a search for "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters and stumbled across sfgirlbybay.com. After ordering my poster from her, I quickly became an avid reader of her blog. She is a lover of all things paper, which you can see by her list of stationery, printing, and ink on paper links. (self reminder: I really need to get my links up and running).

I'd recommend this blog whole-heartedly. She covers everything from furnishings to hand made crafts. Just a lovely site.

As I'm just starting out, her blog is definitely an inspiration to me.

Check it out. You'll love it.

Here I Go

Lately, I have been toying with the idea of a blog to help people navigate the world of paper and design (and, really, to get my ideas out of my head on on "paper"). After some practice posts on my own computer, I think I'm ready to go! In order to organize my own brain and have an intentional focus, I'm giving each day of the week a different subject:

Mondays: beautiful things (paper and design items for everyday or special use)
Tuesdays: reviews and tutorials (from products to vendors and step-by-step how to's)
Wednesdays: inspiration (mood boards, photographs, color schemes)
Thursdays: general thoughts, tips and advice
Fridays: beautiful web (the best things I find online each week)

This will be a loose framework, because I want the freedom to tell you about what's going on in the moment. We'll see how it works.

I truly hope that this blog becomes one of your favorite reads! If you have any ideas or suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Also, if you would like to be reviewed and added to my link list, send me an email and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!