A Paper Holiday: Best of the Press — by Guest Aunt "Papergirl" Lyndsey

Hello again friends! Today’s my last day posting here on Design Mom, so I thought I’d go out with a bang. I’m a major sucker for anything letterpress, so here’s a little roundup of some of the cards that have really caught my eye this holiday season.

The awesome holiday postcard, pictured at top, is a chic alternative to your typical folding card. Parrott Design Studio prints these using vintage wood type and hand-mixed ink onto the recycled chipboard card; the back is printed with an old-fashioned postcard graphic to add a little extra fun to your seasonal greeting.



I also love the luxe designs of Hammerpress. They’ve got plenty of multi-faceted holiday cards, saying everything from “Happy New Year!” to “Feliz Navidad” to “Merry Christmas.” This Hanukkah card is simple and pretty with its one-tone color, but still has a fun holiday design.

Egg Press has always been one of my favorite stationery companies — their cards are so colorful and fun. Love this offset printed Peace card with a letterpressed message inside.



Delphine Studio offers a bunch of great holiday cards, but this stunning polar bear card takes the cake. The detail is amazing – and best of all, you could send it any time throughout the winter, not just for a holiday.



I’m also a fan of this sweet and simple snowflake card from 12fifteen — gorgeous. I’d almost want to keep this one for myself and display it with my Christmas decorations!



To close, just wanted to leave you with this festive, cute owl greeting from Short Stack Press — I really do hope your holidays are a hoot!

I hope I’ve made your holiday card shopping a little easier this week!

Swing by The Stationery Place any time for extra inspiration and stationery ideas. Even in the midst of all the holiday craziness, don’t forget to focus on the true meaning of the season no matter what you’re celebrating — and be sure to send a stylish, well-designed card to let your loved ones know you’re thinking of them.

Here’s to a happy, healthy and chic Christmas and New Year! xoxo

Find more from Lyndsey at The Stationery Place.

A Paper Holiday: Eco-Friendly — By Guest Aunt "Papergirl" Lyndsey

Hello friends! I’m back and ready with a slew of new and different holiday cards to inspire your imagination. Today, let’s talk about being green.

Of course, when I say “green,” I don’t mean your holiday cards need to be printed in forest or lime green ink – I mean finding an eco-friendly card solution! We all know how important it is to protect our environment even in little ways, and a great way to contribute is by sending green holiday cards this year.

I adore the woodgrain cards and gift tags by Night Owl Paper Goods (pictured above). This is a real wooden card, made from eco-friendly sustainably harvested yellow birch — and each one comes with a 100% recycled kraft envelope. They’re easy to write on in either pen or pencil, and are so unique and classy.



Another option for a green holiday card is this beautiful letterpressed card from Smock Paper. Smock Paper is powered by wind energy and prints all their stationery on paper made from sustainable, renewable bamboo — they’re actually the first company in the US to do so! This innovative artisan paper is the result of tons of research and work, and it shows.

Fugu Fugu Press is a letterpress studio based in my hometown of Pasadena, Calif., and they have a delightful little holiday offering this year. Fugu Fugu’s cards are printed on recycled white paper using soy-based inks, like this cute reindeer-bear.



Bird Dog Press is another eco-friendly company — their cards are printed on tree-less and post-consumer paper — some of which is even plant-able, so cool! — with soy ink, and they utilize alternative energy. Love this kraft paper card with metallic ink.



Of course, the greenest way to send holiday cards is to skip sending paper altogether — I DO love getting snail mail, but if you’re in a pinch [or run out of time] you’re still sure to show some style by using Paperless Post. You personalize a digital card, and your recipient receives an email link to digitally open a swanky envelope and read the card. Even on a computer screen, the stationery looks luxe and beautiful. I think it’s a great, quick way to send a nice card.

See how easy it is to be eco-chic this holiday? Be back soon with some of my all-time favorite holiday cards… xoxo

Find more from Lyndsey at The Stationery Place.

A Paper Holiday: Photo Cards — by Guest Aunt "PaperGirl" Lyndsey

I love getting holiday cards. As a kid I’d pore relentlessly over the hundred Christmas cards my mom received each year, studying family photos, analyzing card layouts and even reading every word of those oft-criticized Christmas letters (some people hate them, but I love ‘em!). I think there’s something so fun about getting to catch up, via snail mail, with long-lost family and friends each holiday season.

However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten a little more picky in my holiday card taste. Sure, I still love receiving and reading cards — but it’s like a little Christmas bonus gift if the card is designed well and piques my creative interest. It really doesn’t take THAT much more effort or money to pick out a cute, well-made holiday card — but I think it definitely makes the recipient appreciate your coolness factor a little more!

I’m here this week to show you how easy it can be to find a great-looking, contemporary holiday card — one that will look way better than the ones you pick up from Costco :) We’ll start out trying to stick close to the norm — cards that make it easy to include family photos.

The card at the top of the post is from the HelloandCo — love the way the snowflake border blends into the photo! You’ll learn pretty quick with me that I’m a huge fan of the handmade, crafty movement — how about ordering cards off of etsy this year? Your cards are sure to be unique, plus, you’ll be supporting a DIYer!



-I also love this card from Hello!Lucky — they’ll print your photo directly onto the card for super-high quality.

-I’m kinda obsessed with letterpress (in fact, you’ll see many more letterpress cards pop up in my other posts this week), so here’s a great letterpressed card from Armato Design that allows you to easily attach your favorite photo.



-Tiny Prints is another good place to go if you can’t bear the thought of a holiday card without a printed photo.

-And just for good measure, one more printed photo card from the etsy world. I love the non-cheesy religious message of this card from Lille Barn Too.

Hope you’re feeling inspired already! I’ll be back soon with some more holiday card ideas. xoxo

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Note from Design Mom:
Lindsey will be Guest Posting here this week (our second Guest Aunt!) with some fantastic ideas for Holiday Cards. Turns out knowing and loving stationery and cards is her special expertise. You can find more yummy paper goods at Lindsey's blog, The Stationery Place. Lindsey, we're glad you're here!

Ask Design Mom Week — Christmas Card Sources

Question:
-Do you know where I can find Christmas cards that have a religious message but that are also arty and contemporary looking? I love the tasteful designs at Tiny Prints, Paper Source, etc. but haven’t been able to find any that are religious. Any suggestions? — Renee

-Do you have any good resources for great looking, unique holiday photo cards? The options at Walmart/Snapfish/etc just aren't cutting it. Thanks! — Megan



Answer:
The two questions above are just a sample of the dozens of emails I've been receiving along these lines. Apparently, everyone is looking for pretty holiday cards. And happily there are tons of great sources out there.

1) Have you visited Paper Culture yet? They offer a great contemporary selection. And get this, they will stuff, address and send your cards for the cost of postage. Nice.

2) How about Hello Lucky? Really fun designs and a really easy service to use.

3) Personally, I prefer sending a great looking folding card, and then slipping a loose photo inside. Yesterday, I received an unexpected care package from Cambria Cove (how did they know I was feeling so crummy?) and it included a box of these and these. Aren't they great?

4) Here's another one. If you are looking for a less-known, but still great source, try Legacy Digital Design. They offer designs available in Photoshop/PSE format for all those DIY types for a super low price of 1.99 per design. Just add your own text and photo(s) and you're done.

5) Cardstore also has an extensive collection. I really like this one. And as with most of these online card stores, you can personalize the offerings with whatever message you prefer (here's your chance to add that religious message, Renee).

And really, there are dozens more great options — I mean, I haven't even delved into etsy yet, for goodness sake. : )

Dear Readers, where are you finding/printing your Holiday Cards this year?

Potatoes and Printing — by Guest Aunt Kelly Wilkinson

Image courtesy of my talented pal Lisa Coris. This is the Healy Pass, just up the road from my in-laws.

I’m jumping the gun on St. Patrick’s Day here, but this is my first year as a new Irish citizen (courtesy of my husband), so next week has special significance.

While other people mark the day with plastic hats and green beer, I’ve recently learned that many gardeners mark the holiday by planting potatoes. That's because in Ireland, the soil is finally warm enough to sow seed potatoes — a fancy name for small potatoes with a sprouting eye.

Potatoes are dead easy to grow, and no other crop delivers the same sense of mystery and satisfaction. When you dig into the soil and unearth a crop of potatoes, I promise that you’ll feel like you're five years old again and just found the prize at the end of a treasure hunt.



My dad grew potatoes when I was little, and my sisters and I can still summon up all the sentimentality and smells of that experience. Hopefully we'll pass that onto the next generation: My niece helped me tend our potato patch last year, and this fall, she dug up her very first crop.

If gardening isn't for you, consider that potatoes aren’t just food — they make a great craft material, especially in the hands of someone as talented as Lotta Jansdotter, who shows us how to print with a sweet potato right here.



Thanks, Gabrielle, for having me as a Guest Aunt this week. And thanks to everyone who took the time to write — you’ve been wonderful and encouraging, and it's been great to be in your company!

Upcycled Photo Cube — by Guest Aunt Kelly Wilkinson

We have teetering piles of orphaned cds at home, which means we have an equal number of empty cd cases. Not very glamorous on their own, but with a no-sew makeover, the cases can be turned into chunky, modern photo displays that double as candleholders.



I printed images on vellum paper so the cube gives off a gauzy glow when lit from the inside. Some of my readers told me they made different versions as gifts, personalizing them with photos from friends and family members’ trips. Once the telltale edges of the cases are covered in ribbon, no one is the wiser that this wasn’t picked up in some in-the-know boutique. But I’m such a dork that I'll take any chance to blurt out, Isn’t this cool? I made it from CD cases!

You can follow along here.

Find more of Kelly at Make Grow Gather.

Fave Fabrics and Books — by Guest Aunt Kelly Wilkinson

Fabric stores are dangerous-magical places for me, along with libraries and bookstores. I could spent hours sort of sleepwalking through the stacks in a lovely daze. Sort of like what these designs do to me:

Top Fabric: Nani Iro Fredonner Linen in Rose





Row by row, from left to right:
Pine in Chocolate, Joel Dewberry
Sweet Jasmine in Natural, by Amy Butler
Pear Tree Border in Light Grey
Swirls and Spots in Earth
Brown Underwater Sisters, Heather Ross
Foliage, in Blue and Terracotta

As to what to do with these fabrics, I’ve made pillows, tea cozies, and baby blankets. Even more ideas abound in my current go-to sewing books: Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross, Midwest Modern by Amy Butler, Simple Sewing with a French Twist by Celine Dupuy, and Sew Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp.

As for where to buy fabric, nothing beats picking it up and feeling its heft and texture in person. But if you don’t have a great fabric store nearby, or you want more options, you can’t go wrong here:
Purl Soho
Reprotdepo Fabrics
Sew, Mama, Sew!
And for our Aussie friends, Duckcloth in Melbourne.

And then, of course, there is the revolutionary Spoonflower, where we can all pretend to be fabric designers. And it makes things like this possible, which is pretty much the sweetest gift I’ve ever seen.

Find more of Kelly at Make Grow Gather.

A Story Box — by Guest Aunt Kelly Wilkinson

The realization that I am the first Guest Aunt here is making me sit up straight and take this newly-created role very seriously. I want to do good by all of us aunts out here, who – like me – probably don’t have the vocabulary to express the love for our little nieces or nephews.

This also makes me think back to when I was on the precipice of aunthood, before my older sister had her daughter. My sister Robyn is one of the most adorable, loving, bright-spirited people you will ever meet in your whole life – and she lavishes all kinds of love and attention on everyone in her life. But she gets kind of squirmy when the spotlight turns on her. She was pretty feisty about not wanting a baby shower, but eventually, a few of her closest friends and I insisted that we at least take her out to dinner. And we wanted to find something we could make or do that would represent our love for Robyn, and all of our relationships with her.

Enter the Story Box.

All this takes is a sturdy wooden box (a cigar box is ideal) covered with some dreamy illustrations, and digging into your shared memories to come up with a few stories that reveal something about the mom-to-be. We all wrote two or three story prompts that Robyn (or her daughter, when she gets old enough) can pull out and use as a starting point for a story. A card inside the box reads “Tell Ada A Story About…” and the handwritten cards take it from there.

The cards we wrote for Robyn included trips that she and her husband took before having kids…famous (and infamous) stories about our parents…and sweet sentiments about what Robyn imagined her son or daughter would be like.

One of the things I love about this project is that it’s a collective expression, and it manages to capture a wide range of feeling and love and history without being too treacley. Perfect for someone like Robyn, who won’t let you linger too long on why she’s a kickass sister, mom and friend.

Find more of Kelly at Make Grow Gather.

Magnet Makeover — by Guest Aunt Kelly Wilkinson

Every time we move, our collection of beloved photos, notes and postcards on the refrigerator goes into a file folder to be transported to our next kitchen. And every time I open that folder and transfer the old mementos to the new fridge, that new kitchen finally feels like home.

But like most people, we’re always trying to cram the corner of just one more birth announcement under an already maxed-out magnet. So I decided to replenish the stash with a pack of magnets from the craft store; some smooth, tactile stones; and my newest craft crush: rub-on transfers from this company.


The transfers add a nice hit of design without actually needing to know how to draw or tinker around in a design programs, and I really like the contrast of a bright graphic against natural stone.

Simply rub a transfer onto a found pebble or stone, and glue to the magnet with a dab of epoxy glue, like J-B Weld. Now the magnets are almost as cherished as what they hold.

Find more of Kelly at Make Grow Gather.

Welcome to Kelly Wilkinson!

It's a great new week at Design Mom. I'm back from the wedding in Boulder (more on that later) and I've got an incredibly talented Guest Mom that I get to introduce today. Actually, I think she might be our first official Guest Aunt. Which is equally fun. But maybe more fun, because it's new and exciting. Her name is Kelly Wilkinson of the tremendous Make Grow Gather blog. And she is absolutely over-flowing with creativity, talent and style. Here is a little bio in her own words:

I grew up in a renovated barn in Virginia, the middle of three sisters. Now I’m married and living in San Francisco, but I’m always trying to bring some elements of our creative, rural upbringing to our apartment lifestyle. It turns out that San Francisco is a great place to straddle these worlds: I can walk out our door and catch a train downtown, but I can also grow vegetables in the backyard, and (very soon, fingers crossed) keep bees. I just joined the San Francisco Beekeepers’ Association – it turns out there are a lot of hives stashed up on rooftops around this city!

During the day, I work at the local NPR affiliate as a reporter. On most evenings and weekends I usually take over the the dining room table with some combination of a sewing machine, fabric, paper, found objects, glue, scissors, pins, yarn, etc. My goal for projects I create is to take simple, readily-available materials and use them in fresh ways to create modern DIY accessories. I’ll share some of those projects this week, along with some of my favorite places for inspiration.

Thanks so much for having me – I’m thrilled to be here!

Kelly, welcome to Design Mom. We're thrilled to have you. Yay! Thrilling all around.