56 | THE PERFECT (THANK YOU) PRESENT

LOTUS&ASH was featured on the blog The Present Perfect today. As a paper lover, there is no better feeling than the confirmation that there are other paperphiles out there. Long live letter-writing! I designed two sets of stationery for the blog author - Jessica - and I believe that we might be paper personality soul mates, since I'm dying to make myself matching sets. Jessica needed stationery for shorter, but more formal thank you notes {on the right}, and a set for longer, but more casual correspondence {on the left}, which would include a sparrow motif.   I designed A2 notecards on thick #110 stock, and half-letter sheets on cotton #32 stock to add to her stationery closet.

My favorite part of the suite might be the flock of sparrows on the envelope flap!

Thank you to Jessica, and thank you to paper-lovers worldwide! Happy writing...

51 | L&A HOLIDAY & CHEER

*  *  *

The season is upon us, and the L&A holiday workshop is in full swing. Dean Martin is blaring, and the spice candles are burning, and there are ribbon cuttings all over the place.

December snuck up especially quickly this year - dreidels are already spinning, and the christmas countdown is well under way!  But despite the hustle and bustle, there has still been time for:

custom letterpress greetings...

personal illustrations with metallic touches...

brown paper packages tied up with string...

stationery gift sets...

in this year's L&A holiday gift wrapping.

HARK! There's more work to be done... including more greeting card and gift designing...

to my favorite holiday tunes.

So, before Christmas arrives in a blink of an eye, L&A wishes you a happy December, filled with present-wrapping, friends, plenty of merriment, and of course,

paper.

*for holiday paper inquiries, click here.

48 | BUILDING IKEA FURNITURE IS A LOT LIKE...

COOKING...

WHICH IS A LOT LIKE

MAKING A WEBSITE.

(And other lessons from the L&A San Francisco front line)

HOW?

• All the pieces come disassembled
• There are instructions, but they are confusing. Always confusing.
• You may think you're following the instructions, but then you attach the wrong side to the wrong wooden dowel, or you add in the tumeric too soon, or your website works in safari, but not IE...

moral of the story: you will mess up. So, you better get good at covering up your mistakes.

• BUT, going back and editing your mistakes can be long, tedious, and perhaps even impossible.
• In the end, when it all comes together, it will LOOK great (though it might not stand/taste/SEO so great). And it is definitely worth all the blood, sweat, and tears.

Indeed, L&A has been busy furnishing | coding | cooking with an 88% success rate! (The 12% is mostly the cooking... and a slightly off center ikea shelf).

LESSONS LEARNED:

• Ikea is great for things you don't have to build. (Plates, towels,  sheets... i.e. DRAGON, GZORMEG, and MIKANON)

BUT! when faced with things to build... recruit friends:

And offer them: Breakfast.

BECAUSE: Breakfast is the easiest meal to conquer (and offer to people as your "specialty").

Toast? Check.

Eggs? Check. Check.

Cereal? I'm a pro.

When in doubt, Avocado makes everything taste better -

And while you're waiting for your furniture to be built, and your kale to soak in avocado-y goodness, why not finish up a few of websites?

www.topshelfkombucha.com

www.stanford.edu/group/theta/philanthropy

www.linxdating.com

MAJOR LESSON:

Though I love ikea, cooking, and coding...

my heart still lies in paper.

| ZEN . designed 08.2010 |

44 | Palindromes are Good Luck

Today, I was told that palindromes were good luck. I'd like to think this is true since during my palindrome age, there have been some nice celebrations and surprises... like: getting a job! graduating! and defining love, friendship, and family in entirely different ways.

speaking of friendship, here is a recent set of stationery I designed for a guy, and his best mate:

| TOM & WILL correspondence letters . designed 06.2010 |

and what's an envelopes' best mate? a liner, of course.

| TOM . lined envelope stationery set . designed 06.2010 |

In between paper and design projects, L&A has had plenty of time for culinary exploits to prepare herself for apartment living in a month or so...

| wannabe ^ chef |

some keepers

| GLUTEN FREE RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE CITRUS CAKE |

take your favorite gluten free muffin recipe (i love this one!) replace any fruity ingredients with fresh raspberries, dark chocolate, and a cup of orange juice with some orange zest... and you have yourself a delicious any-time-of-day treat!

| FARMERS MARKET ARUGULA SALAD |

Arugula and Spinach make a great green couple - the butteriness of the spinach is the perfect complement to the spicy bite of the arugula. Paired with some avocado, roma tomatoes, and fresh squeezed lemon + 1/2 cup of olive oil.. and you have yourself an easy, and delicious summer salad!

and when you're done with this gluten-free, farmer's market fresh business... head to FREEBIRDS in Santa Barbara for some custom-made nachos.

{ and as everyone knows...LOTUS&ASH loves speaking the custom-made language. }

| FREEBIRDS NACHOS |