37 | Goodbye TwoThousandNine, Hello TwentyTen!

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : happy new year! : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

| L&A 2010 TUCK ANYWHERE CALENDARS |

wishing you the happiest & cheers-iest 2010...

may it bring splendid things for you,

the ones you love

&

LOTUS&ASH.

(crazy to think i'm graduating university this year!!)

before L&A welcomes in the new year, some recognition has to be given to the holiday paper season and the culinary event of the year : christmas brunch.

this year, the increasingly edible affair featured a prosciutto and caramelized onion frittata, rocket salad with honeycrisp apples, and a lemon vinaigrette... and...

mcdonald's french fries for my father & mcdonald's ketchup for my mother.

| BE MERRY BRUNCH . christmas 2009 |

and here are some more highlights from the L&A holiday season.

| STONE'S THROW . designed december 2009 |

| DADDY - DAUGHTER VICE VERSA NOTES in L&A linen box |

And, a special thanks to everyone who ordered L&A:HOLIDAY gifts... because of their orders, LOTUS&ASH is able to make a considerable donation to READING PARTNERS, so that in 2010,  every california kid has the opportunity to learn how to read and write.

and, last but not least, happy 2nd birthday to the L&A UPDATE blog.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

33 | ... & WE'RE BACK

dearest L&A newcomers and loyalists, I must apologize for the radio silence. But, have no fear, there has been no loss in paper and design explorations. Indeed, the silence was of the too-busy variety, so I am happy to (finally) report the new and exciting things that have been coming out of the L&A workshop...

: : : PAPER : : :

|| nana's surprise . designed october 2009 ||

|| envelope surprise (why not use that flap for something other than licking?!) a new L&A concept . designed september 2009 ||

: : : COLLEGE DESIGN : : :

|| sUpErfUndiNneR . designed september 2009 ||

: : : PHILANTHROPIC DESIGN : : :

Every Fall, L&A devotes its time and font-loving-skills to two philanthropic events:  Music for Matt, a benefit concert in New Orleans, and THETA BREAKERS, a Run/Walk through Stanford campus.

|| the second line MUSIC FOR MATT CHARITY CONCERT . designed september 2009 ||

|| THETA BREAKERS eflyer . designed october 2009 ||

+

Guess what!?

There's still time to sign up for Theta Breakers if you're in the Bay Area!

28 | SUMMERSNAPS {no. 1}

introducing ::: summer snaps

a quick update, featuring snapshots from the summer to keep you updated on the whereabouts, and do-abouts of LOTUS&ASH.

|| missing miss boyd. handmade graphic tank ||

|| clementine chalk ... how L&A earns her lunch every day ||

|| making mouths water at the clementine tables ||

summersnaps no. one

27 | A QUICK L&A BREAK : MALAYSIA

For the past two weeks, I've been traveling in Malaysia - gaining insight into a creative background I never knew I had by spending time with my grandmother (my Ah Mah), and soaking in the tastes, sights and designs of the multicultural country.  Of course, there were paper souvenirs, which are additions to the ever-growing LOTUS&ASH world paper collection.

|| hair clips at the pulau tikus market, penang ||

|| pattern buffet at the kura restaurant, kuala lumpur ||

|| grandmother knows best, circa 1977, penang ||

|| garden view, penang ||

|| learning the roti jalla pattern from ah-mah, penang ||

|| sacred saturation, hindu batu caves, kuala lumpur ||

As splendid as the vacation was, I'm glad to be back in California, and back at LOTUS&ASH.

26 | PICKING UP SPEED...

It's been far, far too long since the LOTUS & ASH blog was readily updated. Now that  the new website lotusandash(dot)com is about 88percent complete, the LOTUS&ASH blog is being brought back to life and has a new name - LOTUS&ASH : UPDATE. While mainting the main site about once a month - uploading new designs, and paper-y goodness, I'll be trying to update UPDATE more frequently. (this may get confusing...)

If there's one thing I've learned over the past 6 months is that I'm not as good at coding, as I am at designing ... it's been a long road, to "handcode" the new website, but I am so glad that I did it.

That being said, DO NOT TRY AND ATTEMPT to open lotusandash(dot)com in Internet Explorer (I fear what might happen...I haven't even tried it). I've designed it for Firefox compatibility (right now), and it works with some little quirks in Safari 4. (look at me with all the tech-compatibility jargon-blech!).

And, just in case Internet Explorer is all you have, here are some static pictures of the new lotusandash(dot)com for your viewing pleasure...

|| more summer updates to follow soon... ||