Holiday Sale

This coming weekend, The Studio is going to be part of a wonderful Holiday sale at Clay Space in Brooklyn, NY.
If you're out and about come visit!
You'll see great ideas for your holiday gifts!

Clay Space holiday sale

Clay Space is located @1205 Manhattan ave  Greenpoint, suite 2-4-1

Obsessions

Because I have absolutely no time to write elaborate things, I thought I would just share my new obsessions with you guys:

- My Pictorial Webster's - a Visual Dictionary of curiosities by John Carrera - That I wish I could just stare at all day and night (Pictures by Vicky - her blog is great by the way)
- And 1800's to early 1900's type. I just ordered a copy of Type: A Visual History of Typefaces & Graphic Styles and I can't wait to receive it already! I collected a few pictures online to show you why I'm having an anxiety attack! (Here are some more great pictures and description)

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
xoxo

Picture of Pictorial Webster's by Vicky

Type: A Visual History of Typefaces & Graphic Styles

T&T - year 2

I know the subject today is not so design related, much less The Studio's business, but I really felt like sharing this very special day that was my 2nd anniversary!

Last Friday my husband and I took the whole day off to celebrate OUR day, and it was great. So here are some pictures of what we did together. Things we rarely do these days because we are so busy. 

Next week I hope to have pictures of my newest projects to share with all of you, and hopefully get some feedback on them!

Have a great rest of the week and weekend!

xoxo

The beautiful autumn bouquet my hubby gave me

Message in a bottle in a shape of a heart. My gift!

I can never not cry when I read his cards!

On our way to lunch!

The place for lunch! If you are ever around Brooklyn Heights you have to try out this restaurant. Not only the food is superb, but the view is gorgeous.

The view

Us!

The beautiful centerpiece

DESSERT!!! We were fighting for the last bite. Pistachio ice cream with dark chocolate cookies! To die for!

Us and the view

Posing for the photographer on Love Lane!

On the way home

        :)

        

Mi amor

Dinner at Jack and the Horse tavern

The car

In line to see Too much light makes the baby go blind! Hysterical!

Our ticket!

The theater and the end!

{ The Saga of the first month }

 

A cup of coffee to wake myself up in the morning, and a cup of tea to make me go to sleep!

As I mentioned on my last post, literally a month ago, I took on the adventure of going back to school. I thought: You know, I'll do school work Monday through Thursday, make nice soaps on the weekends, update my blog and my Etsy shop on Sundays along with my usual "cleaning day" and life would be busy but great!

Wrong! I was totally wrong.

School is great and yes, I'm learning a lot of good new things...but let me tell you I was not expecting to have "brain pain" like I do every night!!! It literally hurts when you have to think so much and so deeply into details of every single thought you have.

So yes, I haven't had a life, and not even 5 minutes to write a quick blog post, nor read one from any of my favorite blogs list, which is kinda sad. But I hope it's all for a good cause, and that in the end it'll be very rewarding.

A couple of great things that did happen last week in school: 1) I found THE MOST  beautiful typography book of all times, and it's called "Phillips Old Fashioned Type Book". I took a few shots with my camera to show you guys some of the old type that back then was drawn by hand. It's 250 pages of pure art. I could just stare at these pages for hours looking at the details. Just beautiful...

    

2) I got to go to the Cooper-Hewitt to see the "Why Design?" Exhibit.

"Inaugurated in 2000, the Triennial program seeks out and presents the most innovative designs at the center of contemporary culture. In this fourth exhibition in the series, the National Design Triennial will explore the work of designers addressing human and environmental problems across many fields of the design practice, from architecture and products to fashion, graphics, new media, and landscapes." 

If any of you that is reading this post right now live in New York, you HAVE to go see this Exhibit. It is probably the most intelligent show I've seen in a long time. The level of thinking that goes behind the development of each item or material is absolutely incredible.

I couldn't resist to buy these beautiful Japanese masking tapes at the museum store. They will look beautiful on my holiday cards!

 

I can't decide which one I like the best!

 

This is a special collection that Cynthia Rowley designed for Band-Aid that was also being sold at the museum. One dollar from the sale of each tin will go to Design Ignites Change, an organization that engages high school and college students in design and architecture projects that address social issues in their own communities.

 

It is a beautiful collectible item!   

So stay posted because I really hope to have a little more time to share what I'm learning with you all, since I haven't been making much progress on my business side!


Have a great weekend everybody!
xoxo

Yes, I do!

Gift basket for my friend's wedding

Here you can see their names on the products

An improvised basket that turned out pretty nice!

Since I started selling at Etsy, and by that I mean really selling, and not just having my shop name registered, I've been asked by a lot of people if I make gift baskets. YES, I DO!!!

I love making those. I can custom make them, and print names on the packaging as well, which makes it feel even more special.

The picture you see above is the first basket I put together for my friend's wedding (see pictures of the wedding bellow!). I was in Brazil and because of that I didn't have all the resources I have here. I bought the heart shaped tray/basket at a local market and just finished it with some of my mom's supplies. The lotion's packaging had to be improvised because I couldn't print on fabric there since I didn't bring what I needed with me (you can see the final lotion's packaging at Etsy). But overall, this is one idea for a basket. I'll be working on some new ones for a couple of orders that I already have (from friends) and I'll post new pictures as soon as I have them.

I just started school yesterday and I'll be overwhelmed with the projects I already have and The Studio, but I'll make sure to share it all with you.

The Wedding ceremony

by Marina Lomar (the website is in Portuguese, but you can see her beautiful pictures)

Love!

Enjoying the party!

Dessert table

Very special friends

Bride . Me . Groom

Have a great week!

xoxo

Lattes and cupcakes

So this past week and this coming Wednesday I'll be subbing my good friend at Arlo's coffee shop.
(I work at Arlo & Esme on the weekends as a bartender until The Studio can be my bread & butter -don't ask me how I do it all because I don't even know.)

It's so much fun to be able to 1. have as many lattes and cappuccinos as I want 2. work in such a pleasant atmosphere with cool people 3. try to design on the foam (which I never get right).

I was looking online on how to do all the crazy designs you'll see in some of these pictures (that are not taken nor made by me - I really just grabbed them online and made it look prettier), and I found out there are even competitions on it! It's called Latte Art. Some of the videos will blow your mind. It looks so easy, but trust me, it is not.

Anyway, as I had my free time while sipping on some delicious Kobricks coffee I read about this wonderful designer Jessica (through my friend Rachel's twitter) that runs Volume 25. Guys you have to check out her stuff. She is incredible. She's already designing cards for the holiday and I want all of them!

Last week she gave out these graphics so kids can cut out and build their own cupcakes.
I don't have kids so I downloaded them for myself!!!! I love them! You too can do the same. They are the most adorable thing I've ever seen. I put some of the pictures here, but you can download the full thing at her website.

I hope you love it as much as I do!
Have a good week everyone (and check out our store, I'll be adding new products today! Oh and if you're around downtown Manhattan stop by for a coffee on Wednesday - 42 East 1st street between 1st and 2nd avenues).

Arlo & Esme

xoxo