Grey Moggie Press

upcoming design project

I ordered this fabric on etsy last week and I can’t wait to use it to reupholster our dining room chairs (we bought them used after finding them on craigslist). On an upcoming sunny day we hope to sand the chairs and stain it the same dark wood color as our dining table – along with the bench that Eric built in December. I have so many projects started in my brain, but I think I’ll take baby steps to get there. Baby step number 1: Order beautiful fabric. Baby step number 2: Admire beautiful fabric.

Alphabet Swap::B (birds, bags, Bob, box, Belle & Sebastian, Brooklyn)

Alphabet swap continues! Last week I received a wonderful package filled with all things B from Kendra. First, there was a sweet little box covered in Belle & Sebastian lyrics (song: wrapped up in books). There are cute little birdies on the box and a sweet paper bag also adorned with an adorable bird.

Months ago, I sent Kendra a random package. I don’t remember exactly what was in it, but I included a page from a stash of old paper I had. It was the beginning of a story called The Joke on Bob. Kendra sent the start of the story back to me and included what she imagined would be the end of the story. The pages were bound with book twine.

Everything was bundled together in a Brooklyn Museum bag with a giant B on the front and a note on blue paper tied all the items together. Every time I get a new package from Kendra, I love this project even more.

Thank you!

A couple weeks ago during a crazy busy weekend, which is the only kind of weekend I know right now, Eric and I went to a friend’s birthday party. We showed up with a bottle of some crazy Irish moonshine Eric picked out for the birthday boy. But I got gifts, too! My friend, Kara, who was hosting the birthday party for her fiancé, gave me some belated birthday gifts. They are so wonderful I have to share them here!

blurry iPhone photo ;-)

I adore these cute little French produce bags. Eric keeps asking if he can use them when he goes to the farmers market, but I’m not quite ready to send them off in his bike bag – they’re just too sweet. And this little pouch! It’s perfect for my iPhone earbuds which otherwise get tangled when I carelessly throw them into my bag. Kara was worried I would be offended because the illustration on the pouch is a cat lady. No offense here: just calling a spade a spade :) Thanks, Kara!!

thirty: two months in

The monthly update on how the year of 30 is going. Spring is coming, maybe even here, so let’s just focus on the positive. #1 Take one photo every day: I’ve been really good about taking photos every day. Look around this post! #3 Alphabet swap: Both B packages have arrived safely and we’re working on C. #6 Read more: I just finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog and started The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . #7 Cherry Blossom 10-miler: Training has been so much easier and even enjoyable since the snow melted.

#11 New Yorker Covers project: I’ve made one mini-book out of a New Yorker cover so far with plans for more. #16 Become more comfortable with Illustrator: what they say is true – teaching someone else is the best way to learn.

#22 Make 6 mix CDs: which works out to 1 every 2 months; first one is done! #23 Blog at least 10 times per month: I think I’ve been keeping up with that one even though we were without internet at home for a bit. What I’m hoping to report next month: Letters and cards will be sent to loved ones + Photos will be printed and framed + The etsy shop will return.

Thursday Night Throwdown

judges from Thursday Night Throwdown

It’s clear I’m a fan of DC-area coffee shops. Now I’ve done something that might make me a coffee groupie. Or at least married to a coffee scene groupie.  I’ll admit to following a lot of area coffee shops on Twitter so I know more than usual about what DC baristas are doing...and when there are new coat hooks under the bar. Sometimes I pass along information about upcoming events to Eric.

Last week he reminded me about the Thursday Night Throwdown, a monthly latte art competition among local baristas. He wanted to go and he wanted to compete. The folks running the show were kind and let him in even though he’d never pulled an espresso shot or steamed milk before. Actually, they found someone to do those things for him and all he had to do was pour the milk to make the latte art. He poured the milk; you decide if what emerged is art.

 

bonus: Chinatown Coffee Company uses optima font on their menus and coasters. my favorite font!  

the human janome project

Bad picture. Good machine. (Eric, who works in a genetics lab, begged that i use the title of this blog post the first time I mentioned my sewing machine on the blog. You’re welcome, honey.) So I have a sewing machine. It arrived in my house about 2 months ago and for 2 months I have been completely intimidated by this wonderful machine. I signed up for Leigh Ann’s pin cushion swap to get over my fear. Last week, I spent a random day at home with no internet and no new dvds from netflix. So I broke out the sewing machine user’s manual. I used Leigh Ann’s tutorial (on my iPhone) and made a pincushion. Yay me! And thanks to my friend, Steph, who helped me wade through the manual.

adventures in music

I love those weekends when you don’t have to venture far to get into adventures. I went for a long run on Saturday morning and a long walk on Saturday afternoon, talked about a dream printshop with a fellow letterpresser over coffee, and hosted brunch at our house on Sunday morning. We also saw Freelance Whales, Bear in Heaven, and Cymbals Eat Guitars at Rock n Roll Hotel, just a few blocks from home. All three bands were fantastic and sort of new to me. In fact, I’d never heard Freelance Whales before I heard them live on Saturday night. I ended up buying the cd and a super crazy neat poster from a show they had last spring at Union Pool in Brooklyn. Check out their website to see the awesome cover art for the cd - I totally want to recreate it with some fabric scraps. Yay for music-loving friends, awesome music, and the coolest prints! 

a new mix cd: the melting snow edition

The internet has not been gracing our home lately so the blog has been neglected. In better news, I’ve had time to scheme up my next mix CD, which is good because I have plans to make 6 of them this year. It feels like spring here in DC, finally, and this little playlist celebrates the warmth and inspriation that comes with the season of April flowers and May flowers. And maybe it also includes some of the songs that got me through the eeeennndddlleeeess days of snow and cold and ice and puddles and grey skies.

(I can't remember where I found that background image I used on the front cover. If you know please pass it along so I can credit it. Thanks!) Also, the text on the front cover is from the lyrics of Everybody, Come Outside, the Pomegranates song on my mix.