Grey Moggie Press

my husband is the coolest

I’m going back in time a bit with this one, but on Christmas Day Eric made me smile so much. First, he got me a gift certificate for Style School, an online crafting class I am so excited to start (January 10 – yay!). He also gave me a special little tea box. He made it himself with a cardboard box he found in our house, an old shirt of his, and many, many staples. He traced some printed letters from one of my favorite typefaces (awesome, right?). He made the “M” by joining 2 “A”s and the “I” by joining 2 “T”s. He knows how much handmade gifts mean to me and went out on a limb putting this present together for me. I loved it!

 

Inside he placed a selection of teas (from my own tea stash in the cupboard – haha) and a few band-aids. When I asked him why the band-aids, he explained that he used an awful lot of staples and he wasn’t sure if they might cause injury. He is a keeper. And so is my adorable tea box. Thanks, honey!

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!

holiday tunes

Is it officially cool to listen to holiday music now? Is it ever cool? When I was younger my mom and I used to groan and roll our eyes when my dad would pull out the holiday records (yes, records) on the day after Thanksgiving. The longer I’m away from home, however, the more I wish I could hear Frosty and Rudolph coming from those old speakers on Black Friday. Over the years, I’ve collected my own stash of holiday music and listen to it as soon as I feel the familiar holiday homesickness.

Now I’ve whittled my massive pile of holiday music into a top ten playlist to share with you in blogland. Do you know how hard that was? I hope you enjoy them! (click on song title to get to iTunes).

joseph, who understood | the new pornographers

we’re goin’ to the country! | sufjan stevens

just like christmas | low

it’s christmas so we’ll stop | frightened rabbit

christmastime | smashing pumpkins

christmas (baby please come home) | death cab for cutie

arms of mary/looking at a baby | the new pornographers

lo! how a rose e’er blooming | sufjan stevens

the cat carol | maryn cadell

song for a winter’s night | sarah mclachlan

new shop!

If you're in the DC area, you can catch me and my letterpress cards at the DC Rollergirls Holiday Bash & Craft Fair on December 12th (McFadden's | 2401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW| 8-11pm) Or you can get letterpress holiday cards and tags or a new 2010 mini calendar/planner in my new shop.  Enjoy!

letterpress update

I’m hoping to reopen my etsy shop soon and when I do, I want it to be full of pretty letterpress goodness. I spent Monday working on that goal and printed lots of holiday cards and gift tags and some custom stationery.  Here’s a sneak peek at what’s coming. 

 

friday favorites: the random edition

it's been a good week for us. a new kitten joined our family, i spent some time in the letterpress studio, and the rain finally stopped. here are some of my favorite things right now.

i can’t wait to turn this paper goodness into paper goodies. they will be gift tags soon.

letterpress. i  printed holiday cards and personalized stationery on a sunny day in the studio. it made my week.

my one canoe two calendar. my favorite months are december + june because i love those colors on the grey paper, september because bikes are awesome, and october because vintage chairs are spooky without being creepy.

handmade soap from union street soapworks. picked up at the clarendon farmers market on wednesday. toasted coconut + lavender oatmeal.

my kitty cats starting to get along. maybe.

happy weekend!

halloween anticipation

are you excited about halloween? i am! i am especially glad that holidays are not sneaking up on me this year. we already have christmas plans. we know where we’ll be for thanksgiving. and my halloween costume is almost ready. the photo below is a hint about the costume. can you guess who i'll be?

tonight i'm making favor bags with my friend, steph, for her upcoming halloween party. happy (belated) birthday, steph!

Happy Bastille Day!

I guess this means the bar exam is just two weeks away. Yikes!

Here's some strange logic. Since today is France's national holiday, and Mr. Moggie and I are headed to France in August, I'm sharing photos from the celebration of our own national holiday ten days ago.

We started with a lazy lunch at the bar at Liberty Tavern, sampling a couple of their delicious pizzas and a few of the cocktails on the menu. After a fancy cocktail or two, Mr. Moggie inevitably ordered The Blue Collar, which is a shot of Virginia Gentleman and a chaser of PBR. Pure class. I had Liberty's take on the Hemingway Daquiri.

Later that evening, we celebrated with friends in the District. Mr. Moggie dressed a rabbit for grilling, along with some squash blossoms. We finally made use of all the mint growing on our fire escape to make moijtos and juleps. Hip hooray for National Holidays!!

Holiday cards are up in the shop

What a day at the studio yesterday! It was a monster marathon session, and now I've got a pile of letterpressed goodies! Here's a little sneak peek. Find these cards in my etsy shop.

 

Woot!

I made it through November and I blogged every day! Yay me!! Now, I'm in full blown final exam hibernation mode. I will come out of hibernation to get a few hours of sleep each day, for well-balanced meals until my appetite devolves into just a desire to eat Doritos and drink Mountain Dew as quickly as possible, for a few hours at the studio tomorrow to finish up some custom orders, for a few minutes each day to update my December book, and to celebrate Mr. Moggie's birthday next Saturday.

Last week, when I was still allowed to procrastinate with fun, silly things, I took a trip to Paper Source with a sweet friend who was visiting. She wanted holiday card supplies; I wanted labels. I walked out with labels, and also a few pretty sheets of paper, some new rubber stamps, and some free note cards they were giving away with purchases. There were 10 note cards and I've used them all to catch up on my correspondence project.

One evening last week, when I was still recovering from the off-and-on cold and was too sick to do homework, but not tired enough for bed, I worked on this Curbly project. It was super easy, but a bit time consuming to cut out all of the teardrops. I think my cutouts could have been a little (or much) larger, therefore requiring fewer to fill up the page, and that would have saved some time. I'm going to pick up some frames when I'm on break in a few weeks and hang these colorful designs on the wall above Mr. Moggie's dresser. There used to be a constant pile of clothes on the dresser hiding the now-blank wall. I'm hoping to put something in place before the pile makes a comeback!

I've got big plans for the few weeks I have off between exams and the start of spring semester (my last!!!).  (1) I'd like to take a look at this book, Printing by Hand, read Outliers, Bridge of Sighs, and Shakespeare's Kitchen. Then, I'm hoping to learn a bit more about our soon-to-be First Lady.  (2) I want to come up with a plan for making the holidays handmade and festive (for next year). These paper ornaments and this leaf garland seem like good places to start. I'll also be working on some goods for a collaborative snark pack of greetings, some new gift tags for the shop, and some custom invitations. (3) And then, I want to peruse these fun etsy shops for rubber stamps, handmade maps, and paper goods. (4) I also want to spend a day wandering around Second Story Books , a few mornings at the farmers' market with Mr. Moggie, and a few hours skating in the sculpture garden.

Thanks for making it through NaBloPoMo with me.  Stay tuned in December for updates on the December book, and the inverse relationship between my stress level as compared to the likelihood I will shower every day. It won't be pretty but it will be fun!

Thanks

photo from farmsanctuary.org via CuteOverload

I'm thankful for some fun custom projects that will get me out of the library and into the studio for a few hours next week.

Still looking for ways to cook your heritage breed turkey? Check out Mr. Moggie's recipe!

Now: eat, drink, be merry and thankful, hug your family and your pets, and turn off the computer.

Friday Favorites: Sunday edition

I didn't get a chance to share my favorites from the week on Friday (because I forgot), but they're just as fun on a Sunday.

Looking for a craft fair in the DC/Baltimore area?  Washington City Paper has the scoop.

 
photo from Washington City Paper

I found all sorts of new favorite Etsy shops when I was trying to decide on a favorite holiday greeting. Hammerpress has these great letterpressed holiday cards.

photo from Hammerpress Etsy shop.

Find these letterpressed holiday lovelies at LookyLoo.

photo from LookyLoo Etsy shop.

In non-holiday Etsy favorites, these cards are reminiscent of some of my favorite cards of all time: Squibnocket cards. I'm not sure whatever happened to Squibnocket, but those cards used to make me laugh so hard. And they were super sweet, too. These Thomas Printers cards bring back the witty, sweet messages and beautiful letterpressing I loved about Squibnocket.

photo from kseniya's etsy shop.

And now I'm off to finish this weekend's homework goals. Wish me luck!