What makes me happy

My new employee, Gigi, makes me happy.
 
For the past few days she has been organizing my space out in the workshop. Last night before she headed home, she left me a little surprise that I discovered this morning.

It actually stopped me in my tracks and I laughed out loud because she gets it. She just took some of the milk glass vases, a few wooden boxes, and just odds and ends sitting around in all areas of the shop and created this adorable little display. Goodness do I wish I had a brick-and-mortar shop so she could design the window displays!!



Once she helps me catch up on all my pre-packaging in anticipation of the holiday rush, I'm going to have her take all the different items in my shop and decorate packages and make little displays to photograph for the shop. It's been on my list of things to do for a loooong time, but there's never enough hours in the day. I am ecstatic just thinking about all the fun things she'll come up with.

In other news, those of you out there who were crossing your fingers that I made the final cut in the magazine I was working with, thank you! I just now filled out the final form from the fact checker. The issue will be on newstands November 19. I'll tell you more about it once the time gets closer, so you can get a copy if you don't already subscribe to it. :D!!

18 months

Whoops. Another week went by without a post. Man, where does the time go?

Well, here's one place it goes. This little man recently turned 18 months old, and even though he spends most of the morning with the babysitter, he runs me ragged all afternoon. And I do mean runs. At his 18-month checkup his doctor watched him walk and said, "WOW! That's a really advanced walk for an 18-month old!" And through clenched teeth I replied, "That's because he walks about 10 miles a day!" He actually wore through the bottom of his last pair of shoes before he outgrew them. This kid is constantly in motion.

And when he's not in motion, he's busy planning his next (mis)adventure...

I hope you all have a happy weekend. The husband has returned from the Land of Oz so hopefully I can get caught up on all of my orders and also fit in some printing this weekend (Christmas cards!).

Got cheese?

My copy of the Spring 2012 issue of Culture: The Word on Cheese magazine arrived last week, and I haven't been that excited to get a magazine in a really long time.



Aside from being a really awesome magazine, this issue just happened to feature my Farmyard Animals letterpress cards.

Yes! My first magazine feature! Woohoo! I've been waiting for the issue to come out since they first contacted me a few months ago.

They put together a fun collection of cheese-themed notecards, and I'm so happy they included my cards. I wish they had featured the cow instead of the sheep. The cow is my favorite. :)







Aside from having great taste in letterpress stationery, the magazine really is pretty awesome. If you know anyone who loves anything to do with making or eating cheese, I think a subscription to the magazine would make a pretty great gift.

Shop swap: Faye and Co.

I recently participated in a Shop Swap that was organized by Danni over at Oh, Hello Friend. I was paired with Diane from Faye and Co. The idea was to send each other goodies from our own shops. Diane's favorite colors are black and white with a bit of red, so I sent her an assortment of my packaging goodies in those colors.

In exchange, I received this lovely package from Diane. That little Faye and Co. pencil is the cutest little thing! I loved everything in my package--2 notebooks, 3 cards, an assortment of stickers, a little rubber stamp (that fits right on the tip of your pencil, clever!), paper lips and a moustache on sticks, and a lovely zipper bag lined in the prettiest fabric. What an awesome collection of goodies!

I of course loved how everything was packaged in layers with kraft paper and twine. A woman after my own heart! :)



Isn't that tiny pencil adorable? And the letterpress printed tag rocks, of course. :)



Although everything is lovely, this is probably my favorite thing of the package: A small green notebook with my name hand drawn by Diane. I love it!!



I love the phrase on Diane's card: Goods as Unique as You Are. If you need some unique goods (these would make awesome gifts!), please visit Diane at her online shop.

Holiday 2012 recap: Garden Tool Co.

Today's Christmas gift recap is actually a gift I gave, not one that I received. Is it obnoxious to say that a gift I gave someone was totally awesome? Maybe. But in this day and age, when I come across a product available online that is of spectacular quality and is accompanied by OUTSTANDING customer service, I think I should toot its horn.

My mom spends countless hours outside every year tending to her garden (and to mine, when I'm lucky!) and she is always in need of high-quality gardening tools. This year I came across the Garden Tool Co. and had no problem picking out several of their tools for my mom for Christmas this year.

To start, I got her a DeWit 3-prong hand fork, a Sneeboer hand hoe and fork, and a Burgon and Ball shrub rake and I was absolutely blown away by their quality. The hand hoe and fork is particularly wicked looking, but will probably be invaluable as my mom works to break up the concrete-like dirt clods that she comes across on her property!

You can probably tell from the pictures that these are not your average garden tools that are designed to last one year (if even that long) and then get replaced the following year. These suckers are made to last.

And if that wasn't great enough, the customer service provided by this company was amazing. About an hour after I placed my order online, I received a personal email from Blake, the owner of the company, thanking me for my purchase and letting me know how much he appreciated my business. About 30 minutes later I received another email letting me know my items had been shipped.

The "About Us" section of their website says it all: "We have to earn your trust through the quality of the products we offer and the uncommon customer service you deserve.”

I can't wait for the next opportunity to buy more of their tools, and no doubt will be placing an order for myself in just another month or two as I get ready for this year's garden. If any of you are in need of some superior gardening tools for yourself or as a gift, please, please, please consider getting them from this company. You won't be disappointed!

Holiday 2012 recap: Blackbird Naturals

It seems almost silly to me to just now be talking about some cool things I got for Christmas this year, but I have been slightly overwhelmed with orders from my Etsy packaging shop for weeks now. All I can say is that ridiculous things happen when two different women in Denmark with very popular blogs get some of your products and then blog about them! But I digress...

I got several really awesome things for Christmas. I'll just tell you about a few of them that are particularly relevant to the general themes that appear on this here blog, because I figure that you might be particularly interested in hearing about them.

First up is this AWESOME package of vegetable seeds that I got from my friend, Kelly. It is made by Blackbird Naturals and I was giddy when I first unwrapped it, and then I almost passed out when I opened the box! If you've poked around my Etsy packaging shop, Paper and Present at all, you've probably figured out that I looooove pretty packaging. And if you've poked around this blog at all, you've probably figured out that I loooooove gardening. So this present was a definite home run with me.

It came in this really neat wood, slide-top box, which had me at hello!



And if that wasn't awesome enough, this is what I saw when I opened the box:



Beautiful, right?! Those little metal slide-top tins make my heart go pitter-patter every time I look at them. I'll never look at a plain paper envelope of seeds the same way again. I just love a company that goes the extra step to present their goods this way!

Included in my collection are 8 varieties of heirloom, organic, open pollinated vegetable seeds: arugula, chantenay carrot, chioggia beet, cherry tomato, English breakfast radish, lemon cucumber, orach spinach, and Siberian kale.



If you are a gardener yourself, you might be very interested in the seeds available at Blackbird Naturals. And if you aren't a gardener but know someone who is, their seed collections make spectacular gifts. Trust me! :D

One

I can hardly believe that Lachlan turned one year old yesterday. It really does seem like he just joined the family yesterday, although I'm sure that Sadie would say that it feels like he's been here for an eternity...

Here are a few photos I took of him while enjoying some sunshine yesterday. He definitely shares his dad's love of the great outdoors!

Three birdhouses for Charlie

I live just outside the small town of Palisade, and every year in December they have an Olde Fashioned Christmas festival. They have gingerbread house competitions and other fun stuff, and they always have an outdoor market in the streets downtown. They set up wood burning stoves in the middle of the street and vendors offer free cups of hot chocolate and apple cider, and people are encouraged to dress in period costume from the late 1800s.

I have often considered hawking my wares there. Afterall, what better fit for a celebration of an 1800s Christmas than cards printed on an 1800s printing press, right? But the last three years that we've been here for it, it is has been cold. And miserable. And snowing. So I decided to pass on it this year.

But then Saturday rolled around and the sun was out and it was a glorious day. Figures...

So while the husband was busy entertaining Lachlan, I went down to the market to see if there were any last-minute gifts I couldn't live without. I stopped at the booth run by the local alpaca farmers and bought a few things. And I couldn't resist the raspberry blueberry bread sold by a nearby bakery.

And as I was on my way to buy a wreath from the Boy Scouts, I stopped in my tracks when I saw the most awesome collection of wood birdhouses.

A sign posted on the display said that all the money was going to support a local kid named Charlie who has been selected to travel to Greece and Italy this coming summer as part of the People to People Ambassador program. I overhead the vendor explaining to another woman that he was Charlie's dad, and that he is a "collector" of "stuff" and that he has always built these birdhouses as a hobby. And when people started showing an interest in them, he decided to build some to help raise money for his son's upcoming trip.

I remember my days in 4-H and showing horses as a youth when we were always trying to raise money to go on a trip somewhere. So I'm a real sucker for that kind of thing. Plus these houses were so cool and EXACTLY the kind of rustic and unique birdhouses I've been searching for to add some character to our property.

As I was making my selection, the man came over and told me that it was getting late in the day so everything was 20% off. So I picked out three of the houses and then gave him $20 more than the original price of them. I thought he was going to start crying. I told him I remember being in his kid's position and how hard my parents worked to help me raise money for various things I was involved in. And these days there are so many kids NOT doing good things, that when I come across one who is, well, I want to make sure that I help support them any way I can.

So now Charlie is that much closer to a summer abroad, and I have three of the coolest birdhouses this side of the Mississippi. I'm not sure who got the better deal.

A few days away...

Last Thursday the husband and I packed up the kid and the dog and drove about 5 hours west to the most awesome teeny tiny town ever. Boulder, Utah. You may have heard about it before if you read this post from two years ago. Otherwise I'm willing to bet you've never heard of it before. But put it on your map, because it has one of THE BEST restaurants this side of the Mississippi.

The thought of that long of a drive with a 10-month-old didn't totally appeal to me, but I had a (rather significant) birthday this past Saturday and the restaurant is soooo good, and I figured that I've been working hard enough lately that I deserved a break, so I figured we could manage. :)

We stayed at the Boulder Mountain Lodge again, and we ate every single meal at Hell's Backbone Grill. I ate the pork tenderloin chop twice. I screwed up on the third night and had their chicken. I'm still dreaming about that pork chop... There's a reason it's been written up in the New York Times, is loved by Sunset magazine, has appeared numerous times in Bon Appetit and is Zagat rated. It. Is. Amazing.

We did a tiny bit of hiking, but mostly we just hung out with Lachlan and enjoyed a few sunsets.

And today? Well, today it's back to business as usual!

Moms are awesome

I guess I sounded pretty frazzled when I was talking to my mom last week. Between having a kid who doesn't like to sleep and all the projects I'm working on, I haven't been getting very much sleep lately. And I guess it was starting to show!

So she sent me this beautiful flower arrangement on Monday. She also sent a giraffe and some balloons and a little baggie of candy for Lachlan. (I, of course, inhaled the candy. Almond Joy, my favorite!)

This was just the little ray of sunshine I needed to pep me up and keep me going. I love all the flowers in the arrangement, especially these purple ones. But I can't for the life of me think of what they're called. Does anyone know?

Thanks, mom. You're the BEST! :D

Husband's handwork: The pergola

Last year we started working on our backyard, a project that includes lots of drought-resistant flowers, a small lawn and a large patio.

I did as much work as I could before Lachlan arrived, and then everything pretty much fell by the wayside until this summer. While I've been busy with Lachlan, the husband has been hard at work outside, wrapping up many of our undone projects.

The most significant project he recently finished is the pergola.



The patio area gets very intense sun from about 10 am until 1 pm every day, so I wanted a small shaded area for those rare days when I might want to sit out there with a cup of coffee or to eat lunch while Lachlan plays on the lawn. I had in my mind that I wanted a structure made out of metal that would rust to match the rusty metal roof and pipe fence, and I wanted grapes to grow up the four posts and over the top to provide shade.



With those instructions in mind, the husband set out to create a one-of-a-kind pergola. Each of the four posts is a different length, which helped to create the odd angles of the top of the structure, which adds a lot of visual interest. One thing about the husband is that he doesn't like for things to be symmetrical!



I think the odd angles also work well with the odd angles of the roof of the house, a result of several different additions by previous owners.




We planted the grapes at the end of last year, and they are growing like crazy now that they have something to grow on. The area around the patio is covered in the same rust-colored trail mix used in the other parts of the back yard, and the base of the grapes is surrounded by river rock, which will tie in well to the river rock that we plan to use in the side yard of the house (to the right of the patio in the photo above), which is destined to become a play area for Lachlan once he gets a little older.



We've already enjoyed several dinners on our patio this year, and I think we'll start spending even more time out here now that the area is so pretty!

Outstanding in the Field: The Dinner

I got sidetracked with some printing projects the last few days, but I wanted to make sure that I told you about the Outstanding in the Field dinner we went to the other week.



The infamous Outstanding in the Field bus.

The weather was stormy and we had a few sprinkles, so rather than the tables being set up in the field, they were set up inside the "shed" where the farm stores their balers and tractors. Let me say that those are the luckiest tractors in the world. The shed was GORGEOUS! Beautifully constructed with attention to every detail, large windows, and not a spider web or speck of dust in the joint!



The tables were set up in two rows, and each table sat 8 people. Dinners are served family style, so each table of 8 was served one dish with eight portions, and we helped ourselves. Each course was paired with a wine from a local biodynamic vineyard. The servers did an amazing job of describing each wine and each course, including the source of the local produce and meat.



I'm at my parents' house in NM now and I forgot to bring the menu with me. But I can tell you that everything was amazing. Out-of-this-world kind of amazing! After each course they also introduced the farmer or rancher who was responsible for the items of that course. The guy from the farm that supplied the green beans practically got a standing ovation. It wasn't just the husband and I; we overheard a lot of other people there who were in AWE over how good the green beans were. I had no idea that a vegetable could be that good. They were cooked to perfection (if even cooked at all?) and tossed in creme fraiche and something else (none of us could quite put our finger on it, but we guessed lemon and dill might be in there) and then topped with fried shallots. Definitely not your grandma's green bean casserole!

The highlight of the night was that both the farmer, Clara, and Jim, the founder of Outstanding in the Field, sat at our table. That's them on the left of the photo. I was like a star-struck royal watcher sitting at the table with Will and Kate!



What I would have given to pick Clara's brain all night. I did happen to get some info from her about her carrots, which I'll share with you in another post.

Before the dessert course, there was a break in the clouds so we moved the tables out into the field.



We had just enough time to eat dessert and enjoy a last glass of wine as we watched the clouds of the next storm rolling down the hillside in the distance, heading straight for us.



After dessert we got to meet the chef and his team who put together such an amazing dinner. More on them--and their amazing creations--in a later post.



We wrapped things up and were back in the car on the way home just as the rain hit. A perfect end to a perfect night!

When I'm back at home with the menu handy I'll tell you a bit more about each course and what I loved about it, as well as my thoughts on seeing GOAT on the menu!

Outstanding in the Field: The Farm, Part II

I almost cried when I saw the farm that hosted the Outstanding in the Field event we went to. Divide Creek Farm is outside of the small town of Silt, up in the mountains. When we turned off the road onto the farm property, I never would have guessed that there was a farm on the other side of all of those trees. We drove through the woods and over a small, red covered bridge, past a tee pee set up in the woods, and around the corner to one of the most immaculately kept properties I've ever seen.

Clara, the farmer, has three (maybe four?) greenhouses that are on rails. There are 3 sections of land for each greenhouse, and she rolls them back and forth over crops throughout the year, depending on what needs protection.

She had lots of squash inside and outside of the greenhouses. I am kicking myself for not asking her how she controls squash bugs. I am losing the battle with mine this year.



She grows lots of onions, including walla walla onions. I haven't tried that variety before, so they are on the list for next year. Cucumbers grow on trellises in the greenhouse behind the onions.



She grows artichokes! I have wanted to try growing them but didn't think they'd do very well here because our growing season is a little on the short side. I guess I was wrong! (Or I guess maybe I need a mobile greenhouse!)



The tomatoes grow on a single string that is tightly strung between the ground and the ceiling of the greenhouse, and I imagine that Clara must spend the better part of her day pruning these things to keep them looking this good. I tried growing my tomatoes on a trellis like that one year and just couldn't keep up with the pruning necessary to make it work. This year I haven't pruned my tomatoes at all and they are out of control.



When one crop is done she rips it out and prepares the soil for the next crop. I think she said that she'll be starting carrots in this area in August and will be harvesting them throughout the winter.



This really made me jealous. She uses an airstream trailer that has been turned into a mobile cooler to take her produce to the farmers' market. Talk about green with envy!! A bunch of beautiful strawberries grow in rows behind the trailer.



You can find out more about Clara on the farm's website, and she also has a blog.

And yes, I spent yesterday morning weeding my garden and trying to make my tiny patch of dirt look half as good as Clara's! :)

Outstanding in the Field: The Farm, Part I

Last night the husband and I went to an Outstanding in the Field event in Silt, CO, about 1.5 hours from where we live. If you ever get a chance to go to one of these, do it. Don't let the (cough) price scare you off. The experience is TOTALLY worth it if you can afford it.

The dinner was held at Divide Creek Farm. Have you ever been to a place that is so perfect and so amazing that when you get home you want to bulldoze everything you have and start over from scratch? This farm is that kind of place.

The farmer is Clara Coleman. I heard last night that her father had a farm in Maine, but it wasn't until I looked on her farm's website this morning that I realized that her father is the Eliot Coleman. I have his book!!

Every square inch of the farm is beautiful--from the rolling greenhouses, to the trellised tomatoes and cucumbers, to the numerous barns and sheds. Everything is beautifully constructed, with amazing attention to the tiniest detail. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves.

The absolutely stunning office, with an indoor, 2-story rock climbing wall for Clara's sons.



Clara's chicken house puts mine to shame!









(Yes, that's an outdoor sauna, shower and hot tub!)