TweeLass

Let’s get this out of the way: Sorry it’s been such a crazy long time since I posted. My mom passed away earlier this year so it’s been tough and blogging hasn’t exactly been high on my list of priorities. I’m also planning a wedding. But I’m back! And I have a fun tip to share that came out of the save-the-date design process. Using multiple vintage stamps on your envelopes is all the rage in the wedding/stationery community right now. I fell in love with the look, of course, and decided we simply must have some vintage stamps too! (Had to make it hard on myself somehow. Because of my card shop I had literally every other material I needed already in my living room—the right color envelopes, fab paper stock, the works.)

But even though I consider myself an interwebs search jedi, I wasn’t finding enough face value (or cheap enough), unused stamps, even on eBay. This how-to from 100 Layer Cake was helpful, but didn’t quite get me there. And then I stumbled on the vintage stamp secret! Search by sheet. There are zillions of stamps on eBay, but it’s significantly easier and faster to search by sheet. Stamps used to come in sheets of 50, 40, or sometimes 20. So if you’re buying nearly face-value, intact sheets, they’ll be unused and you’ll have lots to pick from. Jackpot.

Then you’ll see that many or most have “Scott Numbers” listed. For those of you who aren’t stamp geeks, that’s the catalog number. When you find a design you like (even if it’s not at a price you like), go to the main stamp sheet page here and then plug in its Scott number and search. Bingo. You’ll usually get lots of results with varying prices and are almost sure to find a deal. (For instance, here are a bunch of listings that vary widely in price for one of my fave stamps, botanical congress.) Just one warning: Once you figure out how to find them, it’s hard to stop. If you’re on a vintage stamp quest, I hope this helps!

Squirrels because my sister bought me these Ikea cookie cutters for Christmas in honor of Colin’s squirrel cobbler that I was too chicken to eat. Patterned because when you’ve got a box of 12 fabulous icing colors, who wants to make muddy brown cookies? Used the Kitchn’s best sugar cookie recipe and Alton Brown’s royal icing.

I have to say though, my first foray into schmancy decorated sugar cookies will likely be my last—at least for awhile. I liked them a lot, but if you’re going to do fancy piping there are muchos steps, and for a newbie like me they take muchos time: Making the dough. Chilling the dough overnight. Cutting out the cookies and baking them (no small task, I found, when you’re not exactly equipped with baking gear. No rolling pin, no pastry cloth, nor drying racks for me. Wine bottle, counter top, plate. That’s how I roll.) Making the frosting. Piping the frosting around the edges to outline. “Flooding” some watered-down frosting to coat the whole cookie while carefully spreading with a mini cheese fork (no toothpicks either, as it turns out). Waiting for that to dry. Then finally (the fun part!) piping on the designs. Yeesh.

They tasted pretty good, but let’s face it: these show ponies are really all about the decorations. Which is why I’m posting the cookie porn here. Enjoy!

It doesn’t take a lot of decorations in our tiny apartment to make it look like we’re crazy Christmas people. (This isn’t even all of them.) But we seem to accumulate some extra little something every year that we just have to put out, so I’ve decided to just embrace it. We’re festive! Sadly no big tree this year, which will set you back $70+ in Manhattan. This little guy is our $14.99 recession special. I also particularly like the goose bookend wearing his mitten/hat.  And last but not least, I made Colin a moustache ornament in honor of his famous Movember ’stash.

Map of the world made from a stamp from each country. Awesome!

Update: Added two more fab cards today (5.21), Howdy and Knock, Knock!

Taking a quick time-out from your regularly scheduled programming to pimp my shop, because I’m really excited about my new “Hello, Pattern” card line, which sets sail today with “Ahoy!” (Lame pun intended. Sorry.) More patterns and quirky greetings going up all week, and I’ll also be offering sets of 6 different “hello” styles. Fun!

Rubik’s cube + typeface + rubber stamps = a whole lot of awesome! Check it out at Creative Review (via notcot).

I’ve been promising freebies since March, so last night a took a few designs that I had floating around and made you some lovely printable bookmarks. Because your books deserve some bling! Instructions are included on the first page of the PDF, which you can download here. Quick disclaimer: These are for personal (fabulous blog reader) use only, thanks!

Sales, schmales. There’s nothing that makes you feel more official than a shiny new box o’ business cards. Arrived last night; embarassed to admit that I opened them like a kid at Christmas! (And yes, I definitely Photoshopped out my phone number in this pic. Not that I don’t want you to call me…)

The lovely Amy of little alouette and Kirtsy fame interviewed me for the Brief Introductions series on Scoutie Girl, and it’s up today. Aside from cringing at how long-winded I am (seriously, I was not so brief!) I’m pretty darned excited.

Thanks Amy and Scoutie Girl!

If you’re in New York and you want to score a TweeCard for your mamma, it’s not too late! Head to Williamsburg anytime between now and Saturday to 303GRAND’s Thanks, Mom popup shop. My “Dear Mom” card is for sale in three lovely colors (as seen in the photo thanks to my Perez Hilton-style photoshopping skillz). They also have other cool handmade gifts, so it’s definitely worth a stop! It’s at 303 Grand Street in Williamsburg, and they’re open from 3pm to 8pm during the week and noon to 8pm Saturday.