in the mail today

Unfortunately, I do not know who is the creator of these cute cards. I love these wintery illustrations and thought it was the perfect time to send a couple.  These are adorable postcards plus I love that the envelopes are printed to match.

i adore best made company

I was searching for some great guyish gifts and stumbled on the most amazing company and product line: Best Made Company. After wondering through their lovely website I am totally geeking out over all of their work. I never knew an axe could be such a beautiful, inspiring piece of functional art.

"We paint our axes as a measure of respect for this tool and all that it represents". See all here.

 

These caught my attention and well, I do love maps as art! I will have to forgive Best Made Company & artist Nick Zdon for not including a Chicago in it's remarkable & cherished locations, however, there are many to choose from plus a national park series. The sentiment is great "Wonderful Forever" for our amazing national parks and "Everything here is Wonderful" for 15 great cities.

Printed on topographic United States Geological Survey maps by designer and printmaker Nick Zdon.                             City Series / $140. National Park Series / $250

 

 

 

More cool stuff to adore at Best Made Company.

7" x 5" "What good..." enamel steel sign $28 // handyman in your pocket $12 // Musson's lumber & log pocket book $12 // the wonderful badge $7 // eucalyptus-cedar soap 3 pack $30 // campfire lapel pin $72 // be optimistic felt badge $5 // famous red notebook 3 pack & pencils $32 // playing cards $8

typography meets scrabble

I was just discussing Scrabble yesterday and well my lack of wordsmith talent when it comes to this game. I do love seeing a Scrabble aficionado in action though! When I saw this amazing scrabble typography edition I had to post it. I am in love with this dark walnut wood, magnetic interlocking board, fancy stacking case and all these fonts mixed together- it is scrabble art! I found a great article about this lovely set on the Fast Company website: The world's sweetest scrabble set is now a reality. This is a limited edition hand signed and numbered, cost $199 and you can buy it here.

color love today

Every year we each pick out a new ornament or decoration for the holidays. I'm usually about non-traditional or pure sparkle. Well the color of this one caught my eye and now it sits on my tree. Hand blown glass in this bright color palette.

it's time for ornaments!

I hope you all had a lovely turkey day. It was a fabulous long weekend and time to start thinking about Christmas. I do love all the ornaments, here are some great additions to any tree or gift.

Red, white & green rosettes from Pony Up Designs, $18 | Japanese Temari thread balls from Penny Fabric Art, $30 each | Santa Lucia Snowflake set from Anthropologie, $20 | Alphabranch monogram from Anthropologie, $8 | Bike chain stars from Uncommon Goods, $15 each | Porcelin wheel & cog from Uncommon Goods, $30 each | Pantone ornaments from Uncommon Goods, $15 each

in the mail today

OK, yes I've sent this card before and I will send it again. I love this simple "HI ya!", perfect for a simple note to a friend. This fun little snail mail treat is from our friends at a.favorite design.

in the mail today

Egg Press makes some great letterpress cards, I love this one because you make your own message; I chose a simple "hey! hey! HEY!" for my east coast pen pal. Plus the envelope is vellum so you can see the color & design the second you get your mail. I decorated mine with a little washi tape and voila a little snail mail gift!

quintessential love

I was taking a peek at the fantastic blog, The Design Files, and I saw these beautifully curated images. The article is great, the magazine is fantastic and the lovely collection photos are superb. I love everything in this magazine. Take a look at Quintessential Magazine, an Australian digital publication from the owner of Quintessential Duckeggblue & DuckeggBlue. In the words of Lucy of Design Files...it is SERIOUSLY stunning.

 "the appeal is in discovering covetable industrial & antique objects – many of which are one offs – and making the most of the original imperfections, the aged patinas and the off-beat and quirky."

- Leanne & Tracy of Quintessential Magazine

oh, how i do love a sharpie

My colorful Sharpie collection was dwindling in usable colors. So I made my way to Staples and I now realize that a new pack of Sharpies can make the day better. Next to my imac and my right arm, definitely my favorite tool!

color love today

Sweet Paul magazine always has the most amazing photographs. They are colorful, simple and draw you in to his colorful world. I am going through a blue phase, anything blue catches my attention. I love the blues mixed with this beautiful gold. Plus this soup looks and sounds delicious pumpkin soup with chanterelles. Thanks Sweet Paul & friends for some much colorful inspiration!

photo kindly used from sweetpaulmag-digital.com

the traveling notebooks!

This is such a fun & fantastic project, The traveling notebooks.  You sign up, receive one of 3 notebooks and one day a beautiful little, well-traveled package shows up in your mail box. I received the "snap" journal 2 weeks ago. It is a collection of photos and anything you'd like to write, doodle or add about the photo and you. There are some amazing snapshots and lovely people included in the journal. I just loved reading through every page and exploring every photo. Each journal is tracked via twitter at #travellingnotebooks & #snailmailisnotdead, or you can visit the blog here.

Here's what the Snap Journal looked like when I got it. The photos were great but reading about them was even better!

 It was hard to decide and I narrowed my photos to 3 of my favorite Chicago summer photos. 

I couldn't pick 1, so all 3 are now documented and traveling in the Snap journal.

Here it is, and it is now on it's way to @BeckyArblog in Leeds, England.

in the mail today

I am trying my best to send one card a week. It has been so fun searching for new cards, discovering old ones and laughing out loud at the unexpected cards you can find. Well this card from Red Camper made me laugh out loud while standing in the adorable Paper Doll store. Then I had to buy it for my gluten-free friend. How cute is Timmy?

holiday cards from some of my favorite letterpress companies

Well it's about time to start sending and receiving holiday cards. I like to think of holiday cards as a little snail mail gift to all the people I love. Here are some of my favorites:

 Holiday music card from Wildhorse Press | Happy holidays Chicago from Paper Parasol Press

Sending holiday cheer from The Permanent Collection

Peace & Joy Trees | Joy to you ornament | Flock Merry Christmas | from Egg Press

 Vowels & Consonants | Ribbon gift | Folk art snowflake | from Igloo Press

 Library Card | Knitting Holiday | Sending holiday love | from Greenwich Letterpress

Christmas typewriter | Bike & Tree | from Blackbird Letterpress

Xmas rock ticket | Hoppy Holidays bottlecaps | from a.favorite design

Be Merry | Merry, Merry red & green | from Wiley Valentine

happy socks

Well it's getting cold here in Chicago, and I find myself in love with eye-pleasing, bright, warm socks. I love fun socks and I see these peeking out with a pair of converse or hiding under your knee-high boots. Either way, aren't these fun? The name is fitting, check them out at happysocks.com.

Five color sock in black, blue, red & white | Stripe half sock in blue, white & red

Stripe half sock in brown, orange & pink | Faded diamonds in brown, purple, red & yellow

election day color love

Happy voting & happy election day! Ya gotta love the good ol' red, white & blue. I have an fondness for baker's twine and these images are beautiful, filled with vintage touches and a patriotic theme. I couldn't resist showing you these photos from Becky & Kurt's- Piggy & Dirt Shop. You can find baker's twine in every color and much, much more...plus Becky & Kurt would love to give you 10% off! Here's the coupon code from them just for you: MEMORYSTAR.

color your mood

I think the color your drawn to can tell a lot about your mood but color can affect your mood in so many ways which is just another reason to love these these pencils! I saw these featured in the New York Times Magazine, you can get your own set at Annie's Blue Ribbon General Store.

in the mail today

I think it's probably a good move to let mom know you're her biggest fan once in awhile. I love this card from Gilah Press, found at my favorite one of my favorite shops, Foursided.

are you ready for this election?

I couldn't help it. It's November first and even though we've been inundated with election hoopla constantly, I now feel like election time is here. I'm loving some of this fun & funny election paraphernalia, I can't think of a better occasion to get custom photographed marshmallows?!

I love this baby election getup! baby onesie & matching leg warmers from Chic Couture Boutique | Election gloat or mourning cards from Eye Dot | Awesome doggy bow ties from Chuckle Hounds | Political party candidates jumbo marshmallows from Fete Setter | Election campaign coasters from Ruff House Art | Hilarious political gold drink stirrers from Gnome Sweet Gnome Shop | Lefty election pencils from Word for Word Greetings