Stuff I Want to Learn (Part 3): Gocco Printing.

Hello my lovelies,

I apologize for my absence for the past few days. I wish I had some exciting story of adventures and travels, but in reality I just had a three day weekend that I spent with the hubby ('twas his birthday on Friday) enjoying the good weather, eating, catching up on Mad Men and attempting to get over a bad case of writer's block.

I've had the images for this post ready for quite some time and the words seemed to be as elusive to me as a gocco itself (unfortunately, they still kind of are). So, um, I want to buy a gocco, learn how to print gocco and make stuff as pretty as this. Inspiring, no?

(Click on the image below to go to my flickr favorites or scroll down to see some of my favorite favorites.)




from FUSShop.


from inkdesigner and 3P-3.


from inkdesigner.


from .bu and inkdesigner.


from imakethings.

If you didn't notice, I kind of really love all of inkdesigner's stuff. Be sure to check out inkdesigner's etsy shop.

Design Crush.

The screen printed vintage ceramics by Nina from the Netherlands, or ninainvorm as she goes by on her blog, have been all over the interweb lately. Proclamations of adoration are streaming from the likes of ish and chi and elephantine and decor8. And just like every girl wishes she could emulate Zooey Deschanel's style (and her quirky charm and heavy bangs. I'll admit, total girl crush), I wish I could pull off Nina's impeccable use of color and design.

A clean simple jug.


Custom made name plate.


A bird with a speech balloon lidded jar.


The bunting platter.
(All images via the ninainvorm etsy shop.)

If you think her ceramics are great, check out her house. I can only dream of being that fearless with pigments and prints (yep, still scared of them).

P.S. Hi Nina! Next time I'm in the Netherlands, I'll ring you up so we can go sift through all your local antique and thrift store goodness! I need the help of your eyes to unearth the hidden treasures.

It's My Bag, Baby.

Somehow I walked into J. Crew yesterday and left with this. I was probably sleep walking. Good thing I have impeccable taste in my sleep. Unfortunately, the model's body was not included.

Lexi Tote in Shadow. Image via J. Crew's September 2009 catalog.
(By the way, the pictures do it no justice. And in case you were curious, they use the same tannery as Hermès so the leather is like butter.)

I Love Lamp.

P.S. I need this lamp. Now. Actually, I need four.

Image of Ubuntu Restaurant via The Contemporist.

Deviating from the Norm...Not.

Sorry kiddos, but work is CRAZY right now. I'll be back tomorrow with something that I'm sincerely hoping will be worth the wait.

In the meantime, here are some images via my new favorite website:
We Love Typography. Don't worry...you don't have to pretend to be surprised.

Image via Share Some Candy: Ben Javens.


Image from MARIN DSGN.


Image via Nails Oeltjen.


Image from Seven Days.

Tape Happy.

Saw pics of these tape installations on one of my new favorite graphic design blogs, idsgn (a design blog). They made me smile. That is all.

Art by Aakash Nihalani.

Pocket Change.

Last night, I needed some escape (also known as shopping). So rather than filling up my shopping cart on Nordstrom or J. Crew with things I could theoretically afford I decided to go to bat with the big boys. I headed straight over to Net-a-Porter for some window shopping, sartorial dreaming and a little bit of hyperventilating. While I love beautiful clothes, I'm not quite sure I'm ready to wear $5,000 worth of fabric and leather on my body. For godsake, that's worth more than my engagement ring and wedding dress combined (remember, wife of an artist). So, just indulge me in my dream clothing today and I'll make a few posts later of what is actually in my price range (assuming I max out a few of my department store credit cards).

The Date Outfit: Loving the mix of feminine and masculine, soft and hard, delicate pastels and strong black. And while I said I could and would never wear a peep toe bootie, these are f-ing hot.

Haute Hippie - Jersey tutu dress ($445), Dacute - Military suede jacket ($720), Lanvin - Glass pearl necklace ($1,220), Christian Louboutin - Loubistuds studded leather clutch ($1,395) and Robot 120 ankle boots ($1,295). Total $5,075. (You know in movies when someone says something that catches someone else off guard while they are drinking a beverage and the spit out all their beverage. Yep...my MacBook hates me right now.)

The Brunch Outfit: the perfect combination of comfort and chicness. I wonder if I could live out of that bag since it does cost more than my rent.

Maje - Pagny striped cotton dress ($180), Otreta - Evil eye chiffon scarf ($205), Halston - Stud-embellished cuff ($995), Valentino - Petal leather hobo bag ($2,395), Chloé - Leather wedge boots ($995). Total $4,770. Now that's a steal! (Look...it's a print! Actually multiple prints although I'm not 100% convinced that stripes count as a print.)

Ah...Nuts.

Saturday's Street Food Festival couldn't have come soon enough. After three consecutive nights in Chris' studio until 2am or later followed by mornings starting before 7am, I was ready to get this bad boy over and done with. We woke up early on Saturday to install Chris' mural at both entrances of the festival. I walked around a bit to capture photos of the vendors prepping for the hordes of people that would soon arrive. After getting the murals installed, we left to drop off the U-Haul and returned about 30 minutes later. What a difference a half hour makes. Wow.

By 11:40, lines were already extremely long. Still, we were able to sample a few things: Jamie's Famous Hot Dog and the cheddar cheese nut brittle from Absinthe, La Paloma Cocktail from Cantina and the oysters and Lemongrass Satay from Poleng Lounge. Unfortunately, Chris took a bite of the satay not thinking...probably due to exhaustion. See, Chris is allergic to peanuts so before we left for the day we got to make a stop at the ambulance in front of the festival. Thankfully, a trip to the ER wasn't necessary, but man, what a way to end this day.

Wish I had more to say, but my brain still hasn't recovered. I do know enough to thank everyone who made this possible...Jim Treggiari, James Gregg, Brei Harris and the parents, Leo and Kathy.

The Final Countdown.

Happy Friday! If there's one thing this wife of an artist has learned, it's that she and four hours of sleep a night do not mix. And don't even try consecutive nights of little to no sleep. The results are the equivalent to those of spilling water on a mogwai (you like that Gremlins reference right there?).

But instead of digressing into some rant about hours spent at the husband's studio painstakingly painting letters on this and touching up his messes (his favorite saying is "you can always paint over it" except it should be "the wife can always paint over it"), I thought I'd get you pumped up for tomorrow's San Francisco Street Food Festival. So without further ado, here are some images of street food from around the world.

(Click on the image below to go to my flickr favorites to be able to see each individual image.)

And if you need to prepare your gastronomic plan of attack ahead of time, check out the Street Food Festival Cheat Sheet via Grub Street.

See you tomorrow!

Street. Food. Fun.

If you live in San Francisco and haven't heard about this weekend's Street Food Festival, you must be living under one very large rock.

The event benefits La Cocina.

If you happen to come out from under said rock on Saturday and the streets are empty, it's because the masses are over on Folsom Street enjoying delicious grub and thirst quenching cocktails. If you are looking for me, I'll be the one with ginormous bags under my eyes wheeling around an IV drip full of espresso. Why you ask? It's because the husband (aka Chris Treggiari) has created murals for both entrances of the festival and that means we get to spend multiple 7 hour evenings at the studio after ten hour days at the paying gigs. But if anyone needs any lettering done, I am now officially your girl. (P.S. HUGE thanks to James Gregg and Jim Treggiari for all of their help in the studio, too. I know Chris doesn't tell you two thanks enough so here's one from me.)

Here's a sneak peak...come Saturday to see the final murals in all their glory. Oh, and there's food or something, too. If you're into that sort of thing.

Stuff I Want to Learn (Part 2): Letterpress.

I've wanted to learn how to press me some letters for a long time now. It takes one of my favorite things in the world (yes, fonts), turns it into something incredibly process oriented (which I also oddly love) and creates something tactile and two dimensional and gorgeous. My fear is that I'll take a few classes via the San Francisco Center for the Book, but I'll never come close to even remotely creating the genius that effortlessly flows out of Studio on Fire. And then I'll be rendered creatively impotent and will never attempt to make another thing again.

In other (not overly dramatic) news, this work has officially blown my mind. Really.

All images courtesy of the Studio on Fire blog.