Pleasure to The Senses

 So much fun to visit with Suzie, Christina, Holly and Serge at one of our favorite vendors - twig & fig - last week in Berkeley, CA. We love the shop, so appreciate the studio tour and peek at all the rockin' new designs (love the white acrylic and croc wedding invite with a huge zipper). And, special thanks Suzie for answering all Chloe's questions about choosing the names/addresses!

Entrance to the studio

1 lb. jars of custom paint colors 

Serge showing Jackie (me) how the proofing process works

Loading it up - 1 piece at a time
metal, wood, leather - not just paper for this baby!

Some of the loot I bought at the shop

All the work made us hungry - lucky there is a cupcake shop next door
Love at First Bite

twig & fig is located on Vine Street in Berkeley, CA.

One of the recent invites we did with twig & fig - a lucky boy got a beautiful letterpressed invite with antique skier medallions and the accessories pieces were flat printed in bright green. I would love to do something using reclaimed barn wood... anyone looking?

The Write Stuff for a Party!

The last 2 weeks have been quite busy with spring stationery wardrobe updates, accessory orders, an open house at Orrganics, as well as an event over at Tobias Design LLC in Hopewell, NJ. Lisa Tobias hosted Orrganics for a morning of fun, food and drinks at her stunning kitchen showroom. Thanks to all who turned out, old friends and new - we had a great showing! Here are a few captured moments taken in between talking, shopping and eating. We donated a portion of the proceeds from the Orrganics open house to American Forests. Trees, a good thing.


Yes, that is bok choy in a vase.


Discussing Smart Jewelry, made from recycled glass bottles.


Above, ready to write paper and greeting cards from Smock.


The Golden Pheasant Inn is well represented and we are discussing new business cards for Barb and baby announcements for Britt!


Oooos and Ahhhs about Metalace Stainless Steel "jewelry for the home" above; a sell out.


Twig & Fig Mitzvah Designs - stunning.


Stationery from Jamie Ostrow. Beyond, an Oprah favorite in the pine needle and metal baskets from Model Metalworks. These baskets are made from fallen pine needles resting on the forest floor in Mexico. The gathering of these needles helps to reduce the threat of forest fires in the region as they do not naturally biodegrade. The baskets are beautifully crafted, and combined with the nickel trim, they have a sophisticated look; great for pool side entertaining and wedding gifts. Supporting local artisan communities - a good thing.


We did an "oh so cute" Graduation Party invitation for Karin's Zack ( I have one too) - I will post it after they go out in the mail.
Sneak preview: He is 18 now but about 3 in the photo.


Lavender is fabulous and I just love the porcelain astrology boxes.


If you want to see more, come visit. I always have food and we are conveniently located above a Starbucks!

One more thing, for those wondering if any men came by, the answer is yes. And, Michael, I can't wait to see the custom cuff links in aqua/turquoise we ordered for you. Gorgeous, made from recycled glass bottles and silver (Pantone color of the year).

Purple Reign

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The color purple. Red + Blue. Not to be confused with violet. Historically, it was the color of royalty because it was so expensive to obtain. Weight for weight the dye was as expensive as silver - kind of like how expensive pure saffron is today. The ancient Phoenicians created the Tyrian purple/ imperial purple color dye from mucous (never thought I'd be using that word here) secretions from the hypobranchial (or that one) glands of certain predatory sea snails gathered from the Mediterranean Sea. The Spiny Dye Murex. Why am I so focused on purple? Check out the invitation above created recently for a very special boy who requested purple during our very first meeting. He was quite sure of his choice and I think the collaboration was a royal success.




Twig & Fig letterpress invite. Bronze folder.
Ancient Phoenicians lived along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean; today's Syria and Lebanon.
Tyrian purple is probably closer to magenta than the purple shown here.

In Search of Color - It's a Wrap

So, I have a new favorite color for my nails this fall. It is yummy like dark cherries and it has a glimmer of gold in it. I just love it! But, I had a problem. It was sold out everywhere I went. I even tried to get the girls at Blue Mercury to sell me the tester. Of course they couldn't - but they did let me test it on ALL my nails - just in time for a Friday night dinner on the town. Then they let me "test" the top coat too. So nice.

So, what is this black amethyst infused with a bit of gold nail lacquer? Well, it is made by NARS and it is called Tokaïdo Express (named for a Japanese bullet train so I've heard). It came out a few months ago. However, it is new to me.

4 stores later, I am a happy girl with my own bottle. My manicurist says the brush is fabulous. The other great news is that it is toluene, formaldehyde and DBP free - bad things for you. And, with all the talk about health care lately, with this polish, I feel like I am doing my part -- however indulgent and ridiculous that might sound!

Of course, at Orrganics I have some yummy velvet "couture bracelets" from Twig & Fig to wrap your special invitation with - one of which reminds me of Tokaïdo Express. See above photo - they call this color wrap "bing cherry slushy". Yum, yum.