Grey Moggie Press

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!!

birthday blues

when you get to be wise and old and thirty (haha) you begin to realize that the people who know you, even if it feels like it’s only been a short while, REALLY know you. so for your 30th, you receive gifts that are so perfectly suited for you that you think you picked them out yourself. Like a Pantone luggage tag. Or a whimsical unicorn card that says “unbelievable.” Or a polaroid camera. And they’re all blue!

I love my friends.

Thirty things to do while I'm Thirty

Birthday weekend (yes, it was a whole weekend) was amazing! It started off with a sweet lunch and cake and flowers with my office on Friday. Then Eric created the most beautiful spread of wine, cheese, and desserts for a party on Saturday night. I chose a dense, flourless chocolate cake with peanut butter icing; he baked it perfectly. You’d think a cake like that would be the centerpiece, but there was a whole display of bread and butter radishes. Three different varieties. With bread. And butter. And four different kinds of salt. I could eat radishes all day and all night, they make me so happy!

Sunday was for coffee, farmers market, dumplings and bubble tea for lunch, and then a drive to an adorable old schoolhouse where we spent the night. When I say “old” I mean 150 years old. That’s way old! Eric cooked up what we had found at the farmers market that morning while I cozied up in front of the fireplace with a glass of champagne and The New Yorker. Is there a better way to spend a rainy birthday? No, no there's not. 

We spent Monday exploring Charlottesville, VA. Two coffee shops, two vintage stores, one yarn store, three used book stores, and a delicious sushi dinner later, and I can confidently say that this was one of the best weekends and best birthdays ever. 

What a perfect way to kick off a year in which I want to accomplish so so so much!

Thirty Things to do While I’m Thirty

1:: Take one photo every day 2::Crochet pretty cowls 3::Alpahbet swap 4::Eat breakfast with Eric on weekdays 5::sew pretty headbands 6:: read 50 books more 7::Cherry Blossom 10-miler 8::Put stuff in my etsy shop 9::Sell at at least one craft fair 10::Photo shoot at Palace of Wonders 11::New Yorker covers project 12::Sew a skirt 13::NYC inspiration trip 14::Paint recipe art 15::(Re-)Learn calligraphy 16::Become more comfortable with Illustrator 17::Make at least one batch of macarons 18::Attend some combination of 5 yoga and/or dance classes 19::Send a letter or card once a week 20::Find vintage typewriter, suitcases, record player, polaroid, and/or sewing machine 21::Print & frame 4 photos each month 22::Make 6 mix CDs 23::Blog at least 10 times per month 24::Learn 5 new bookbinding methods 25::Seriously consider a new tattoo 26::Read and use The Printmaker’s Bible 27::Learn how to roast a chicken the way Eric does it 28::Collect printing blocks and type 29::Make notecards to keep on hand 30::Send holiday cards

thirty's on it's way

On Sunday I’ll turn 30. I’m really looking forward to it. My twenties were great and I’m satisfied with where they’ll be leaving me.

I am not without plans for the year. When a few of my friends turned 30 earlier this year, I made them each a 30 Things to Do While I’m 30 book. Last week I put one together for myself. I still have a few spaces left to reach 30 and I’m taking these last few days to make sure I’m not forgetting something.  I’ll share the list once it’s final…probably on Sunday.

Weekend weekend weekend weekend

If you’re in DC tonight, please stop by and say hello:

DC Rollergirls Craft Fair & Holiday Bash

December 12, 8pm-11pm

McFaddens (2401 Pennsylvania Ave., NW)

I’m putting finishing touches on stuff for the craft fair tonight. I spent the day printing on Wednesday and came up with these prints. I love what they mean to me. I’m always trying to create something new to show my love to friends and family or make my little world more beautiful. Eric does the same with food. So I thought up these coordinating prints. I can’t wait to frame them!

I’ve also been working on some new birthday cards. Mostly, I’ve just loved printing with my two wood type alphabets lately and wanted to make beautiful words with them.

new letterpress cards

I’m doing my first craft fair this weekend in DC. If you’re in the area, please stop by the DC Rollergirls Holiday Bash at McFadden’s on Saturday night and say hello. In preparation I’ve been printing lots of new cards. Here’s a peek at what I’ll have on my table. I love the way mixing these two wood types looks on the beautiful Arturo paper. I've put a few of each of these cards in the shop if you want to grab one before the craft show!

birthday brunch and other goodness

I hope you all had a nice weekend. We got to celebrate Eric’s birthday. So fun! Eric spent all day on Saturday building a bench - for real. He's never done anything like that before, and it was perfect! I stayed up super late on Saturday night (Sunday morning, actually) baking his requested brownie cake with mocha ganache. And got up way early on Sunday to prepare our home for almost 20 guests. Four of whom were held up by Eric's fabulous bench. That’s the biggest party we’ve hosted in our home in a long time. And it was so great to be able to do that again. We served biscuits and gravy and apple muffins, all from scratch, with the aforementioned time-intensive cake for dessert (also from scratch).  Friends and neighbors and classmates joined us.

Today, Eric took the day off to come to my swearing in ceremony. We got dressed up, went to the courthouse, and followed up the ceremony with a stop at one of our favorite coffee shops before a long walk home. I started packaging things for this weekend’s craft fair and then we went out for mussels (for the second day in a row). Now I’m back at craft fair prep, probably until the wee hours of the morning.

that was a real weekend

Wow. I am feeling so rested and ready for this week. We biked around our new neighborhood on Saturday looking for good food options. We’ve found lots of fun restaurants in the two weeks we’ve been here, and South Mountain Creamery still delivers our milk, but a lot of the local farmers markets are closing for the winter. We wanted to find a place to get yummy local meat and bread and were so happy to find P & C market a short bike ride away. And for Italian meats, cheeses, olive oil and pasta, we’re now going to head to A. Litteri.

We got our kitchen up and running this weekend. There were lots of warm delicious smells wafting around the new house. Eric cooked a pork shoulder in the crockpot on Thursday and a saag paneer (with fresh cheese) on Sunday while I worked on some handmade gifts. I am a lucky woman! We also got the washer and dryer up and running: Eric is a lucky man. He has piles and piles of clean socks now :)

Did you have a relaxing weekend?

Flowers on your birthday

You know how I feel about orange and blue, but lately I've been loving a blue-green combination. Actually that color duo may have been the reason the cupcake scrapshop kit made me so unbelievably happy! This new card is one way I've manged to get these two hues together lately.

These A2-size cards have stamped flowers falling along the bottom of the front. And there's a happy birthday message stamped and embossed onto a green background - also accented with the stamped flowers.  The inside is blank for a personal bithday greeting.

Soon to be available in the Etsy shop!

More cupcakes!

Cupcakes are everywhere! And now I've got some cupcake cards to show off.

These 4 bar white cards have a cut out sliver and pink cupcake on the front - topped off with a bright red cherry! The front of the card is stamped with the greeting "Eat Sweets" and the inside of the card reads "happy birthday" in red ink.

Available soon in the Etsy shop.

Poppy Birthday Cards

Who knew orange could be so pretty? I love being pleasantly surprised!

A friend asked me to design birthday cards she could send to her clients on their birthdays. I used her company's colors (orange and gray) to create the cards. The result was so pretty that I think similar cards will become part of my regular Etsy offerings.

They're 3.5" x 5" poppy colored cards with a strip of green and blue patterned paper down the side.  The front features a stamped gift image and the simple greeting "happy birthday." I think I'll leave the inside blank, though for my friend's clients the inside of the cards will feature a message on a cement colored text block. Enjoy!

Birthday cards with dragonflies

I designed these with upcoming birthdays in mind.

This is a soft white 3.5 x 4.75 card with rounded corners and cutout polka dots. Behind the cutouts I placed some pretty patterned paper and then stamped a dragonfly on the front. The inside says "happy birthday" and is off-white.

Now available in the Etsy shop!

Happy Birthday - Blue and Green Polka Dots

These greetings are sure to make someone's special day bubbly! These soft white foldover cards are adorned with a unique design of cutout polka dot stickers in three different shades of blue on a green strip. 

A special sparkly happy birthday greeting on the front. Inside is blank.

Each card comes with a soft white A6 envelope and is individually wrapped in a plastic sleeve

These cards are available in my Etsy Shop.