I’m teaching another Business Card workshop at the AS220 Print Shop in Providence, RI on Thursday, November 3rd from 6–10 pm.  Students can either submit their own design ahead of time or they can pick from three templates; everyone leaves with 250 letterpress business cards printed in a dark blue ink.  For $80, that’s such a bargain!  Come on over and have some fun learning the letterpress process while printing your cards.  Sign up here.

{image above via my portfolio}

Sorry I was absent from here on Friday, I thought I’d be able to get a quick blog post in but had to leave early to attend the wedding festivities of my friends Colleen & Paul.  It was a long weekend but we had such a fun time!  The bride was absolutely stunning (making her own birdcage veil, I might add!) and the couple looked so happy and in love.

The reception site was fantastic; the bar area for the cocktail hour was very old school, full of leather seats, lots of dark wood detailing and bottles of vintage hard liquor.  Very masculine.  My husband got swept up in the atmosphere and had to have a scotch on the rocks (if there was ever a place to do so, it was there).  If you’re looking for a place with lots of character & charm from days gone past and you’re in the New England area, definitely check out the Squantum Association.

Lots of love and best wishes to Colleen & Paul!  What a wonderful wedding. xo

Wanted to share with anyone visiting or living near the Portsmouth, NH downtown area (which is fantastically cute with a plethora of shops and restaurants) that my letterpress paper goods are now being carried by Gus & Ruby Letterpress!  A little “big” step for me, and I am so pleased to work with Samantha & Whitney.  Stop in if you can; they have such a wonderful store and if I lived closer, I’d be in there once a month… or week.  Seriously, it’s gorgeous in there.

*If you’re interested in carrying my products at your retail location or website, please contact me for my wholesale information.

{image shown is via my iPhone, when I visited Gus & Ruby in August}

This weekend was a good mix of work and play.  I didn’t get as much work accomplished as I would’ve liked, but I certainly enjoyed myself (and isn’t that the point of life anyway?).  Started the weekend by visiting a friend in her hometown of Marblehead (the land of Katy Elliot!) and she showed me all the best places in town.  It was a perfect New England coastal weather: cloudy and cool.  Marblehead is so charming with the world’s most amazing houses and yards, I wish I could’ve stayed the whole weekend… but will be back.

Then we had SoWa on Sunday.  The weather was a bit more summery than fallish, but no rain to be had.  There were the nicest, friendliest people shopping as well as showing; I swear that each SoWa we do is getting better and better as we wind down to our last two (*which are October 9th & 16th).  Also ate the best food during the day from the food trucks, including a chickpea fritter sandwich from Clover that I am still dreaming about.  Such a nice weekend.

PS:  Yes, I do love Hipstamatic and I’m not ashamed to say it.

I’ve known for about a month or so that I’ve needed to have my holiday product ready to go for the beginning of fall, but somehow the month of September snuck by me.  All of the sudden, I’ve got to work my you-know-what off in the next two weeks to design, print, and package to prepare for the holiday season.  I’m also in a wedding next weekend for two of my favorite people, and have a bridal shower in three weeks for my cousin and dear friend, and am fitting in all the to-do’s for those events with all of my design work.  I’m finding at the end of this week that I need more hands, more time in the day, and more of my brain to accomplish it all.  Somehow in the nuttiness that is this type of work, the type where I’m working all hours of the day (and late into the night), I have so much creativity (more so than usual) and enjoy “riding the wave” while it lasts.

(Oh, and on a personal side note… I decided to train for a half marathon at the end of October, just because I apparently like having too many things to prepare for and accomplish.)

I have a few exciting things to share with you all next week, a project dear to my heart and some tiny but big news (for me, at least).  Can’t wait to tell you all… hope you have a restful weekend, lovely readers!
- Colleen

PS: Hot cocoa and soup-making season have begun at our house!  I’ve been having a cup of homemade cocoa as my treat at the end of a long day.

I’m already short on wall space, but if I had a plethora of walls to decorate, these prints would be on my must-buy list.  Bookmarking for the future…

{images shown belong to Panteek}

This weekend’s Hyde Park Open Studios was a nice diversion from all of the fairs I’ve been doing lately.  First and most importantly, I didn’t have to drag my tent along with me (or the tent leg weights, which are 50 lbs each, I’ll have you know)… hooray!  I did however, miss my comrade that I usually show with but I think it was good for me to do an event completely on my own.  The space was really cool, a huge warehouse; I showed in a tremendously long, tall, and green hallway.  My friend Calla showed her work in the print shop where she works out of (EES Arts) and it had such great windows with tons of natural light.

The open studios was a great mix of friendly artists, printers, and crafters, and honestly the people that came through the space couldn’t be nicer.  Even if people weren’t buying anything, so many people gave me lovely compliments and positive feedback on my work.  I mentally told myself to listen them and store the quotes somewhere in my brain, so that I can retrieve them on days when I’m feeling down about my work or that I haven’t “made it” yet.  Such a great Sunday sharing what I do with lots of wonderful people.

{for more of my fairs and events photos, check out my Flickr}

This Sunday I’ll be participating in Hyde Park Open Studios at 65 Sprague Street in Hyde Park, MA from 11 am to 5 pm.  Many thanks to my dear friend, Calla, for the invite!  If you’re in the Boston area and looking for something to do this autumn weekend, please stop by and check out some amazing prints from talented artists!

{image shown belongs to Rob Villegas}

Hooray!  I finally, finally got a chance (at long last) to sit down and make a few terrariums: one for myself and two for friends.  One of my dear friends (thanks, Lori!) gave me several sedums and a tiny fawn for my birthday, specifically because she knew I’ve been meaning to put a terrarium together.  On my to-do list now?  Finding the perfect tiny plastic figure to make a thank you terrarium for my friend!

{for more of my in the garden images, check out my Flickr}

Hip hip hooray!  This past Sunday’s SoWa Open Market was definitely not rainy and the sun shone on us all day.  It was muggy, hot and humid, but still no rain so we couldn’t complain.  There was so much foot traffic and I really got to see SoWa in action.  There were over 90 vendors exhibiting so the crowds came out; at times I didn’t know where to stand in my own booth!  It was great meeting people and hearing the nicest feedback on my work.  All in all, a positive day that boosted our spirits from our previous SoWa dates.

And, if you missed us this past weekend, don’t fret!  The Brocade Blackbird and I will be back at SoWa Open Market on September 25th, October 9th and 16th.  Hope to see you at one of our fall dates!

{for more of my fairs & events photos, check out my Flickr}