Back in February West Elm posted an interview with Justina Blakeney. She mentioned that she was obsessed with a book called A House and Garden Book: Decorating with Plants by Marybeth Little Weston from 1978. Naturally I wanted to check it out, since I have a thing for houseplants. It’s no longer in print, but lucky [...]
I received a copy of Little Big Books for Christmas from my parents, and I have to share its awesomeness with you. It contains loads of children’s book illustrations in a wide range of styles. I’m pretty sure that almost every designer/illustrator has “write and illustrate a children’s book” on their bucket list, and I’m no exception. [...]
A while back I got this copperplate calligraphy instruction book by Eleanor Winters. After flipping through it, I realized I would need one of those funky-looking oblique pens to achieve the super skinny and big fat lines characteristic of copperplate. I just got the pen, and it’s so strange! Using it is like learning to [...]
Remember last year when I was designing my dad’s latest book for my Twelve by 2012 list? Well, Help! My Daughter’s Getting Married! by John Nichols has been published and is now for sale here at barnesandnoble.com and here at amazon.com! My dad was very involved in the wedding planning process when Daniel and I got married, [...]
This time last year author Charlotte Rivers asked me to submit some of my work for her latest book, I Heart Stationery. I sent her some photos, answered a few questions, and then forgot all about it. A few weeks ago I noticed that the book was available for pre-order on Amazon. My copy just [...]
I’m not a minimalist (nor do I intend to become a minimalist), but I really enjoyed Francine Jay’s The Joy of Less. This is the perfect book if you need motivation for spring cleaning and de-cluttering, or if you’re just looking to curb your shopping habit. The pages are filled with useful advice about everything from [...]
We’ve had a gloomy rainy day—the best sort of day for sketching new ideas and soaking up inspiration. This afternoon I savored a cup of hot tea and pored over Pattern by Orla Kiely. Oh yeah, and I painted my nails. I’m in love with white nail polish. It reminds me of coating my nails with [...]
What do you do with your vacation photos? Mine from the past 5 years are stored on CDs, DVDs, and external hard drives—I haven’t printed a single one. How lame is that? I need to showcase them, so I’m going to design a coffee table book for each vacation. I’m picturing crisp white pages and [...]