A clever, creative family member made this onesie for the dad-to-be (and the brains behind our Holy Crap collection!). I kind of think Petal Press should produce this. We could offer just this one onesie for sale among the collection of letterpress cards… What do you think?
I’m obsessed with Ina Garten. I love her natural, from-the-source take on food, and every recipe I’ve ever tried of hers is absolutely delicious. Her cookbooks are full of gorgeous photos, too, which always inspires me to cook. Her winter squash soup recipe in my very favorite cookbook, Barefoot in Paris, is perfect for fall all the way through winter. Now that fall is in the air, I’m wanting warm winter vegetables, chai tea, and blankets. Coziness and comfort! I’ve made this soup for family gatherings, and it’s always good. It’s pretty rich, so it can be a full meal (with some baguette to dip in it). I’m going to make some this weekend to celebrate the new season. Enjoy!
How gorgeous are these blankets?! Discovered during our trip to Cali, I am now in love and want this bedding for my whole house. A throw for the living room sofa… Sheets, a duvet, and pillows for my bed… And now that I can feel fall in the air, all I want is to cuddle up with one of these and a warm cup of tea, next to my best girlfriends and puppy dog.
Annnnnnd, I suppose it’s time for me to break the news……. Dan and I are expecting a baby! He’ll arrive sometime around December 28th, so we are eagerly awaiting his arrival and are in the midst of preparing his nursery, along with everything else… Our dear cousins who live in California gave us the MOST BEAUTIFUL Coyuchi baby blanket that they secretly picked out while we were visiting a little town near Hog Island Oyster Company, where we day tripped for a picnic lunch on the bay. An amazing day, and now their beautiful blanket is hanging in our baby’s nursery! I visit it and admire it often. It’s the beautiful, soft, seafoam mist color featured on the right in this luscious photo. Cannot believe I’m going to wrap a tiny person in this soft thing. !! (Needless to say, this baby will be raised in the print shop. Petal Press will have an important (though teensy tiny) new addition for 2013!)
One of my very favorite companies is Heath Ceramics. On our trip to California (which was fantastic! We just returned…), we visited the Heath studio in Sausalito, where all of the ceramicists make their gorgeous goods. I love the eggshell finish of the glazes, the simple, clean, rounded lines, and the unglazed lip at the tops of most of their pieces. Earthy, utilitarian, and simply beautiful. I want to collect them all. Here are a few choice photos…
It’s August, which makes me think of one special word: vacation! Whether it’s a day off to relax at home or in your backyard, a trip to the beach, or a weekend getaway to a cabin in the mountains, leisure (preferably with a book… on a lounge chair… with pillows like these…) is at the top of my list for my upcoming trip to California. A glass of iced tea (or spa water!) and an afternoon read while cuddled in a cozy spot with a beautiful view? Craving that in a major way!
These pillows immediately made me think of cuddling up with a good book. I read that lots of pillows make a room feel automatically more luxurious, and pillows have always been one of my very favorite accents when coming up with my own decor. The luxury of a down-filled pillow in luscious fabric is unbeatable (except for letterpress on fine cotton paper, of course!), in my opinion. I am almost as much of a fabric collector (hoarder?)–most of which I use to make pillows for my house–as I am a paper collector. I find fine fabric to be almost as delicious as fine paper. Almost.
Refresh. This is my go-to, thanks to a friend/the chic shopowner of Betsey , our favorite (by far) clothing boutique here in Middleburg, Virginia. Cut cucumber slices, lemon slices, and let steep and chill for an hour. It’s so delicious and perfect for hot sunny days. The next version I want to try: basil and fresh lavender! I heard it’s delightful. All you do is take a rolling pin to the basil and lavender to extract the juices a bit… Then, put it in the pitcher of water and let steep/chill just like the cucumber/lemon spa water. It makes water-drinking tasty, interesting, and fun! Great for everyday or for parties. 
The heat of summer makes me think of lush wildflowers. I gathered some just the other day and arranged them in a mason jar with lots of greenery and herbs. Basil, rosemary, or mint (or a combination!) are such a fresh and aromatic addition to fresh flowers.
I love Saipua‘s loose, organic, lush aesthetic. In this arrangement, they’ve used a beautiful variety of summer flowers (yay for dahlias, yay for zinnias!) to create a wild mass that ends up looking like a masterpiece. Put a fresh-picked arrangement in a jar, and let the flowers do what they want. It will look natural, simple, and elegant. Add herbs or fruit for textural variety, especially if you don’t have as many blooms to choose from in your backyard (like me). Use it as a centerpiece for a picnic or a casual summer dinner with friends.
Welcome to our new weekly post called In Season! As the artist/designer for Petal Press, I want to share what inspires me on a weekly basis. I am constantly struck by colors, patterns, and beauty in my everyday life, from food to fashion, art to textiles, and the list goes on. I thought it would be fun to post one visual treat every Tuesday… always inspired by what’s freshest and most striking for me in a given week. I’m very seasonally oriented in my health, lifestyle, and color preferences (which change frequently), so with the theme of summer, let’s start the tradition of In Season! Stay tuned every Tuesday to see the latest In Season! This week…
Nothing says summer, heat, and health like the rich, bright hues and sweet, juicy bites of farm-fresh tomatoes. All sizes, shapes, and colors: yes, please! In one of my white, shallow soup bowls, I pile the tomatoes, sprinkle sea salt & pepper, and drizzle a little olive oil. Nothing more–to me, simple is always best when the flavors are this good. This is my favorite summer delight and one of my top five favorite meals in the whole wide world. (I ate this for lunch today.)
-annie
The stationery show wrapped up yesterday at Javits. What an incredible 3.5 days–filled to the brim with buyers, bloggers, press people, designers, letterpress printers, and creativity all around! It was exhausting and exhilirating to be surrounded by everyone/everything in the stationery world. We were sad to say good-bye to all of our new friends, but it’ll be amazing to keep in touch and have contacts all over the country. How inspiring to meet other business owners who are doing similar things but who have different ideas and experiences! We’re so inspired by who we met and wanted to share some of their designs and faces with you in this post!
To continue the pattern theme, we were excited by all the stripes we saw–all over the place–at the stationery show… Striped cards and clothing are both on trend in our book!
We love the bold stripes by Rondi at Sixpenny Press!
We love Meg of Moglea Studio‘s skinny patent belt with seersucker striped pencil skirt. Chic!
Beautifully striped birthday bubbles by Ursula of Pepper Press!
Who can guess whose phones these are? We love Kate Spade. Always. The inside of one of these cases says "Have Courage"... Love!
We love striped type by Donatella of Tella Press
Partners in stationery crime (and more stripes!)
More bold stripes on our baby boy card
Petal Press Birthday Party card… We would like to have this striped wallpaper in a real room…
Check back after Memorial Day for a sneak peek into some new ideas…
*annie
Reporting from NYC! It’s late and we’re tired, but we’ve been so inspired by patterns today at the stationery show… Here’s just a quick snippet of the fun ones we’ve seen. Enjoy!
Of course we love the patterns in our own cards… Here are a couple!
And our visitors were covered in stripes, polka dots, patterns of all kinds… even penguins!
A highlight of our day was meeting Nole of Oh So Beautiful Paper from DC, who was rockin’ the stripes in all directions!
We took lots more pictures that we want to share, but it’s off to bed for now… We can’t wait to post again with more updates from the National Stationery Show!
