Occupy Shop!

My good friend Camille (who used to intern here and is on my speed-dial of go-to people when I'm in a bind) came in this week to print signs for Occupy Wall Street.

Protest event info can be found here. (brave the rain if you must!)

Cam's posters were inspired by: Marie Antoinette. Cake. Revolution. (she's too awesome)

And was listening to this song while printing: http://youtu.be/auzfTPp4moA (and she's also a badass)

(part 4): Vintage paper fair

For all you paper geeks out there, this antique fair cannot be missed. You need to make sure to eat before hand, stay hydrated and don't be in a rush. It takes time to dig through piles and piles of paper ephemera but trust me it's SO worth it. I hit a wall after 3 hours of sifting and was a walking zombie afterward-- definitely need to up my game still. Here are pics of some of my loot.

(part 3): LA bound!

I'm realizing that even when things are busy at work, it's really important to take mini-breaks to recharge your batteries. This sounds like a New Year's resolution doesn't it? I think I will add this to my list :)

 Some quick faves from the trip: shops at Silver Lake, home-style Korean food, Gjelina at Abbot Kinney, drinks at the Viceroy and Bruno Mars ;)

(part 2): Hannah's tea party

My good friend Hannah hosted a ladies tea party at her house this past weekend and I was completely impressed with her spread. Actually Hannah hosts the best parties and I make sure to not miss any of them. Look at all this goodness!

Max even dressed up for the occasion :)

First 2 weeks (part 1): Colophon Club meeting

To say the least it's been a busy January so far and we've only hit the half-way mark. I wonder if this is a preview of how 2012 will be? If so, I'm ready for more fun things so bring it on :)

In no particular order, here's my first post from our first Colophon Club meeting of the year. This club is a collection of printers, book collectors, artisans, people of the trade and friends of. We meet once a month at The Berkeley City Club to talk shop, have a few drinks and enjoy each other's company over dinner and a guest lecture. Fun times...

Play time!

My cousin Paula and my 2 nieces Izzy and Emma spent the day at the shop this week to play with the presses. So fun...I gave the girls a lesson in printing, color and composition, and the value of making things with your own hands. They came away with quite a stack of printed goods to show off to their dad! They were busy little bees :)

Here's Emma cranking on the Vandercook.

and Isabela on the feed...

They picked their own letters and plates from our collection at the shop.

And voila! Look at all their loot. Impressive, right?

OllyDog

Our friends at 35 Summers took this photo of the OllyDog booth a couple of weeks ago when they attended the Outdoor Retailer's trade show in Utah. They designed packaging for a new running leash where Max and I made a little cameo :) Here we are in life-size form! You'll see us soon at your local pet retailer and REI stores. Coolio.

From Max's Perspective...

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. April has been a very busy month and I've been tied up with printing, design work, wedding season, shop happenings, etc...

I've been meaning to share some fun photos that my friends Nat & Bill took from my cake party a few weeks ago. They are the awesome husband+wife team behind Photo lab Pet Photography and they do beautiful work. So naturally, a lot of their shots of the cake party were of Max! I thought it would be nice to share the event from his perspective. And why not? He's a huge part of Olive-Route--he meets and greets clients, guards the shop, gives good cuddles, and just an overall awesome companion :)


My friend Anna nicknamed him Mr. Mustache and it stuck! We now call him that along with the official title "Director of HR for Olive-Route Press."

Who wants cake?

Doing our best to battle the gloomy weather recently so we're arming ourselves with some of our favorite goodies to bring your way! Olive-Route and The Whole Cake will be joining forces on April 7th (2 weeks from today) to host a Cake Tasting Party! Take that rain.

Kelsey will be designing 5 cakes inspired by some of my wedding invites to showcase for the evening. I'll be throwing down some letterpress giveaways. We'll have cake bites and some bubbly to get us all hype. What else can I say?

Hope you can make it! Please rsvp here so we know you're down: kelsey@thewholecake.com

Richard at the Zoo!

Have I mentioned lately how lucky I am? Well, I'm quite blessed being nextdoor to St. Hieronymus Press and some of my favorite people who have helped build my career as a designer and letterpress printer. The apron strings haven't been cut off (and probably never will). So any opportunity I get to talk about them and boast about how wonderful they are, I will gladly take!

One of my great friends and mentors from nextdoor, Richard Seibert, will be having an art opening for his beautifully letterpressed series of art prints based on our other favorite topic besides printing: FOOD! You can check out the prints on his website letterspressed.com and can purchase directly from his site if you can't wait to get your hands on them.

Inspiration: Portland Livin'

Just got back from visiting my sister in Portland for Thanksgiving last week and didn't need to go very far for some design inspiration. Actually didn't even need to step foot outside! Besides the freezing temps we experienced, her house was just way too cozy and warm that I ended up spending most of the time indoors.

Thought it would be a great post to share some pics of how she decorated her home. I feel like it could easily fit into a cool design/shelter magazine--clean lines, pops of bold color, and just the right amount of knick-nacks to personalize a space.

Holiday Ornaments at Poketo!

Anjel and I met up with Ted and Angie of Poketo about a month ago when they were in town. We enjoyed a fantastic dinner at Kirala (their almond crusted shrimp tempura is to die for) to celebrate Angie's birthday and to catch up on each other's busy lives over the past year or so. Lots of talk about travel, inspiration, food, and all things that make life good :)

Ted mentioned that he enjoyed receiving my valentine's card this year-- a letterpressed heart on coaster board that I made into an ornament with a hand-written note on the back. The act (or art) of receiving (and giving) a special note and sending by normal post is still not lost among us. The fact that it's tangible, purposeful and thoughtful makes that piece of ephemera that much more meaningful--a true keepsake! So with this thought in mind, we all collaborated on a special item for the holidays, Letterpressed Ornament Cards. You can use them as holiday cards, gift tags, or to decorate your tree...

Patterns by Anjel (inspired by her travels), letterpressed by yours truly and can be purchased at Poketo. There's only a very limited run so get them while you can!

Inspiration: Cool Ranch, Dude!

This weekend we took a nice day hike behind our house along the foothills of Mt. Diablo in an area called Shell Ridge. This area is one of the reasons why I love where we live--vast areas of open space, trails leading to ridges and valleys with scenic views, lots of nature and wildlife to observe--literally just minutes walk from my front door. 

We hiked up over the ridge to the other side where I sometimes like to visit the pygmy goats at Borges Ranch. If ever you're in Walnut Creek, I would definitely recommend a visit to this place--it's open to the public and has a lot to offer: picnic grounds, a collection of antique equipment and tractors, super cute farm animals, and they even offer classes like clay-making and leather art...

Here are some pics I took from our hike, enjoy!

 

Off to Guerneville!

Headed to Dawn Ranch for a couple of days for birthday week! Woohoo! I'll be celebrating with my favorite peeps (and Max in tow of course!). Also sharing birthday-cheer with my good friend Connal. Virgos rock :) Literally. I mean, we'll be bringing our instruments up there and will have quite a jam session with our sweeties :) See you when I get back!

Party pics!

BIG thanks to my friend Diva of Linea Carta for thinking of bringing her camera to the anniversary party! You're a gem :) Check out my flickr for the rest of the fun pics...

Grinch is out. Holiday cheer is in!

The holidays are in full-effect! Here are some fun pics of shop happenings as of late. I have to admit that I'm loving the arctic (maybe not quite) temperatures we're experiencing this week. Very unusual for me since I'm such a warm-weather person. But I've caught the holiday bug and decided to de-grinch myself this season! I see snow in the mountains and foothills by my house and on my way to work everyday. Love it!

By far the best and most original holiday card I've received so far--from my quirky and creative friend Catherine. Cute picture of her 2 boys in the middle and a perfect greeting to match :)

Little visitors

I was paid a visit today by 3 adorable little people who were on a field trip with their teacher. They were nextdoor at St. Hieronymous Press when I met them. Then I mentioned that I, too have cool machines PLUS a cute pup they can play with :) That lured them in and having them for a bit was the perfect distraction...

I love this picture of Lukan eyeing my press, so precious!

Where in the World is Maxie San Mateo?

He's is Paris...He's in Amsterdam...Being very chic and stylish...

Where in the World is Maxie San Mateo?

In Ireland! In London! My jet-setting pooch is on a plane, a train, a ship with two friends who are travelling the world.

Random fun with Anjel: Where in the World is Maxie San Mateo?

Having fun with Max's cards :) I gave Anjel a bunch to take with her during her travels...

Here he is at Red Rock!
























For more pics of Maxie's whereabouts, visit their flickr here.