december love it...nikki mcclure!

the day has come....nikki mcclure is our "love it" featured artist for december!!!!! how happy does this make me? let's just say there is a silly jig happening somewhere north of charlottesville.

quick recount, it went down like this: speaking to jessica, i said: "you know, the best christmas present i could wish for is for nikki to be our december feature" (insert sigh here)..... a few days later, literally, jessica writes me an email, and i quote: "are you still at home? if so, can you check the blog, started a post, see if you think it's good." so....i checked it asap and lo and behold, there it was, this interview and these pics!!!!!!! she was being very sneaky as we often are this time of year. i will not go on and on, suffice to say nikki's amazing inspirations and creations hang in almost every room in my home. not to mention that we also carry every possible nikki-related product that we can in o'suz . come see it all in person -- the calendar, journals, posters, and books make great gifts!!! and thank you, nikki, for taking the time to answer our questions!

the 2010 revive calendar!

a new collection of 15 different postcards.

our most favorite baby book ever -- the perfect gift for new parents.

for journaling notes about future projects.

what was your first job and how did you end up creating paper cuts?

My first job was at Taco Mamas in Kirkland. I was filling in for my older sister while she was in Germany. I was only 14. I learned how to cut tomatoes and make tortilla chips. It was so satisfying slicing a stack of round tortillas into sixths. Cleaning the grill was my least favorite part.

It's interesting to note that cutting was my favorite part. At first, I thought that this question should have been two as they seemed so unrelated.

Next came college. Library. Recycling center. Bird field work. Wetland education. Environmental education. Drawing cattails and ducks. Full-time art. Papercuts came from wanting black and white images that were easy to reproduce (pre-scanning days). I had been making linocuts and scratchboard illustrations but wasn't satisfied with either. "Try cutting it out of paper," my friend Tae Won Yu suggested. I did. And it was great!

what is your favorite piece/group/series in your work?

The last one that I made. The next one too, hopefully. I have many others. Pieces of some. The solutions to problems that are noticed only by me.

who or what inspires you?

My family and the work they do. Moss and micro ecosystems that go unobserved. Cooking. Gardening and making an edible yard. Farmers. Teachers. Parents. Persimmons. Crows' disregard for relentless rain. Nut trees. Seasons. Slippers and tea. Sharing. Mushrooms.

what three websites do you visit daily?

I sometimes read the New York Times and visit Olyblog, my local news ranting site. I am startled by the amount of time that I do spend at this machine.

making grape juice!

describe your ideal sunday.

Yesterday was Sunday. We slept in a bit, playing foxes with Finn in bed. Jay T. made blueberry pancakes (as he does every morning) and they were especially good. He made a fire. The house got cozy. I read some of Arthur Ransome's "Pigeon Post" to Finn and then we started cleaning up, taking care of messes made. It wasn't until 1 that we finally got out of pajamas and out into the world. We went to the Market and sat cuddled up eating tamales. It was windy and cold and sometimes rainy. We got a box of apples, chantrelles, salmon and traded for some greens. Back home we built a little fort in the back corner of our yard, combing the alley for wind blown fir branches to weave thru the fence and make a wind break. I spent an hour kneeling on the wet earth weaving branches, in and out, in and out. Finn found long boards and made a roof. Jay T. chopped wood and pruned fruit trees. I made some hot cocoa. A warm tummy really does the trick. We did more weaving and some baseball playing. "We want a catcher, not Margaret Thatcher!" is our favorite chant. Back inside. Dry pants put on and then off to friend's for dinner. I made brussel sprouts and kale salad. Everyone ate up the b. sprouts and were surprised that they could be so good. Then home. No bath for Finn as he chopped his finger Friday with his hatchet and he is still ignoring the gruesome wound. More "Pigeon Post" instead. Then finally a long, very hot bath reading "Crow Planet" and then sleep and strange delightful dreams.

what do you see outside your studio windows?

Two birch trees that I planted 10 years ago. Chickadees and juncos and finches and an occasional nuthatch and siskin feed from the birdfeeders that hang from the birch branches. My garden that grows kale and mint is full of maple leaves 2 feet thick. The kale stands tall above (lacinato). My studio shadows the garden so I really only can grow kale and mint. Sometimes peas and stray sunflowers. I see Finn's dirt pile and garden and toppled over Tonka trucks. I can look thru my house and see someone at my front door, but there is no one there right now, so I can't really see that.

november love it...pearl & marmalade!

hey there, peeps. remember a few weeks ago when i said to stay tuned for the october love it post? well somehow october turned into november, and here we are, november 1. we hope the juiciness of this post makes up for our tardiness!

pearl & marmalade is an amazing design studio out of chicago, comprised of dani and lee, two of the wittiest and nicest ladies around. we found them online a couple of years ago, and we've been obsessed ever since. their cards are offbeat and super, super sweet. i mean, who doesn't want to receive a note in the mail that reads: "like a shepherd and its rawhide chew i am rather fond of you." here are just a few of our favorite cards, and let me tell you, it was hard to narrow it down. enjoy, and thanks so much to dani and lee for answering our questions and giving us a peek into the world of pearl & marmalade!

well hello, little hedgie dirigible!

this is quite possibly the best "sorry" card ever made in the history of paper goods.
click on the image to read the text.

an ever-popular engagement/wedding card for the jane austen lovers out there.

and finally, one of aaron's personal favorites. i've actually never seen her look at this
card without cracking up.

what were your first jobs and how did you end up working in stationery and design?

Dani: In middle school I would babysit my cousins. Most of my hard earned money was spent on clothing and accessories from the local mall.

Lee: My first job was picking berries at a local fruit farm the summer I turned 13. I ate a lot of strawberries & spent most of my earnings on a very chic pair of hot pink Reebok high-tops!

We never formally studied graphic design (Lee went to school for writing & Dani's studies concentrated on textiles & fiber arts). But in Chicago we stumbled upon jobs at the same company creating & typesetting wedding invitations and became fast friends! From the beginning we were both at wit's end with the mainstream design-work, and bored with a greeting card market saturated with mean cards, hip catch-phrases & lazy typesetting. We took some spare change & a month of morning coffee money (we started P&M with about hundred dollars each), bought a ream of card stock and got to work. The early days were challenging- learning the ins and out of the mysterious world of business management, pricing & printers was a labyrinth (we are sometimes still in it!). We worked full time which demanded our weekends and nights belong entirely to P&M. But looking back it was the best motivator. Since we didn't have financial support from loans or investors our only option was to turn our ideas and that initial spare change into something more, or simply fail. The past 4 years has been a magnificent adventure. Getting to know other card-makers, being a part of the finest stationery shops (one such favorite called O'Suzannah comes to mind), and connecting with admirers of our cards is such an honor.

this is a recent letterpress print. i have it hanging in my
house, and it makes me smile everyday. yes, those
are raindrop hearts.

what are your favorite pieces/groups/series in your work?

Dani: I'm most proud of our limited edition letterpress prints. As a card designer I fear that my cards will eventually get discarded. The hope with the prints is that they will be framed, put on display and cherished for a long time. Our first print Amidst Routes was designed by Lee. It features botanical imagery, lace details and diamond shapes. It has a sophisticated color palette of warm grey and mustard yellow. I immediately fell in love with the design when Lee showed it to me. It reminds me of an old botanical print, but with a modern edge. It's just gorgeous! I'm a proud owner of the print, and it's on prominent display in my living room. We also offer two prints named Numbers, Numbers, one version in blue and grey and the other in pink and grey. I designed these prints with a baby nursery in mind. I think of these prints as my way of introducing children to design at an early age.

caught in the tentacles of love!

Lee: Of our letterpress cards I have a perma-crush on the Octo Love card that Dani designed this year- it's my favorite for a valentine/love card! And I have a fondness for our roots & vegetables cards 'cause each was designed with a special someone in mind (Mushroomy Compliments was for my husband, Fiercely Rooted for my childhood best friend, & Turnip Times was for Dani).

an o'suz favorite...there are no words to describe how much i love this card.

who or what inspires you?

There are piles of visual things that inspire us (antique valentines & wallpaper, 60's & 70's children's books, vernacular photography, vintage Vera scarves, old-time illustrations, strong fonts). But, plenty of our inspiration is also born in our fascination & longing for the curious manners of "olden days". We're all for a bit of sass and sarcasm here and there, but with our greeting cards we focus on an attempt to be a part of a community of folks wanting to send and receive sentiments of a kinder, more heartfelt & quirkier nature.

pearl & marmalade inspiration wall

what three websites do you visit daily?

Dani:
style me pretty
oh so beautiful paper
oh joy

Lee:
creature comforts
uppercase gallery
tastespotting



describe your ideal sunday.

Dani: My ideal Sunday is waking up late, treating myself to a homemade latte (I'm an espressoholic) and reading fashion magazines. If the weather is nice I love taking walks with my husband through our neighborhood and admiring the beautiful architecture. We live in the Chicago neighborhood of Wicker Park, which is known for its beautiful Victorian era homes. If the weather is crummy my husband and I love curling up on our sofa with our three cats and watching movies.

Lee: Mine would involve getting up early, taking the pooch for an extra long stroll & a few thrift stores. I also try to catch up on my letter writing & the week's news. On Sundays my husband usually makes fresh sorbets in the summer, or really simple delightful soups in the winter (in my book, this is ideal!).

pearl & marmalade cards EVERYWHERE!!!

studio vignette...hmm, owls and mushrooms, two of our favorite things.

Our studio space is tucked away in the Logan Square 'hood of Chicago. Our walkway & backyard is plumed with wild grasses, Queen Anne's Lace, giant hosta leaves and a gang of surly "garden cats" that shyly spy on. It's a perfect fit for us- quiet, a little dusty and off the beaten path. And as we grow, it's been large enough to comfortably fit all our production & stock, but small enough to remind us to keep things in tune to our initial mission of independent, honest and personal designs.

september love it...polli!

we discovered australian jewelry designers polli about two years ago, and we continue to be charmed by their amazingly intricate necklaces and earrings. the body of each piece is laser cut in stainless steel, which means it's strong, lightweight, and also stays nice and shiny no matter how much you wear it! (fyi, the hooks and chains are sterling silver.) we were first drawn to the line by their iconic elm necklace, pictured below, and in the past few seasons, they've introduced some more playful designs, like the cute little hoot owl. (you know how we feel about owls!) we love polli products, and not surprisingly, tess and maja are super awesome ladies -- they've increased our australian vocabulary significantly and also send painfully yummy chocolate candies in their shipments.

one of our best sellers, the succulents; new terrace earrings with two different houses, one of which is modeled on the house in which polli was born (see if you can find the tiny dog, alfie); new feather earrings (all en route as we speak!)

this was my first piece of polli, the canopy necklace, which you must come visit in order to see all the detail. after i'd had it for a few weeks i realized there were tiny birds! and what i thought was a curly-tailed monkey! i was later informed by tess that my 'monkey' was actually an australian possum, which as far as i'm concerned, makes this even more awesome. that's one of our favorite things about the designs, that they are so firmly rooted in the visual world around them, and that tess and maja are able to incorporate these tiny details of their environment into the works. speaking of the environment, polli was recently awarded the low CO2 rating by the carbon reduction institute, and they are working hard to be no CO2 by 2010. yay! maja and tess, who will be a new mama very, very soon, agreed to answer our usual questions. enjoy, and see you soon!

interior of polli studio

what were your first jobs and how did you end up working in jewelry design?

Maja and I both worked at Dinosaur Designs at various stages through school and university. It was an inspiring experience as we were exposed to many different facets of a design company who manufactured locally and exported worldwide. We met at university in 1999 studying Industrial Design. After graduating we started working for competing design consultancies and were faced with strict confidentiality on our work. Product design is a slow process with some products taking years in R&D. We yearned to design together again and to design something with a fast turnaround that we would use ourselves. So we started Polli, initially as a hobby, by designing and die cutting polypropylene baskets and bags. We soon recognised regular off cuts from this process and use these plastic discs to make simple jewellery. The jewellery took off and the bags discontinued. Soon we started to work with other materials like stainless steel and aluminium and Polli has grown from a weekend markets stall to an international business with distribution through Australasia, North America, the UK and Scandinavia.

what are your favorite pieces/groups/series in your work?

Everything new is exciting but we’re both big fans of the original mobiles made from Stainless Steel – they’re like a giant necklace hanging in your room and cast beautiful shadows when lit. We’re also thrilled with our new hand stitched collection of jewellery which allow us to add colour and texture to our classic stainless steel jewellery. Being able to experiment with different colour-ways is something that we don’t often get to do and it’s been surprisingly challenging.

polli mood boards

who or what inspires you?

Life, Travel and Nature are our main inspirations. We’ve been fortunate enough to travel to interesting places and to get to travel regularly with our work. The new woven range has drawn inspiration from a tapestry carpet with spans three generations from Maja’s family. This carpet was designed, the wool hand dyed and hand stitched in Denmark by Maja’s grandfather. The final stitch was done in Australia by Maja and her mum, Pia, and the piece hangs proudly in Maja’s Sydney apartment.

maja's three-generation family carpet

what three websites do you visit daily?

Design Sponge, The Sydney Morning Herald, Triple J Radio

describe your ideal sunday.

Tess - Sleeping in, waking to warm Sydney weather, walking my two dogs by the water, enjoying a home cooked meal with friends.

Maja – Start with a good espresso coffee, followed by a bike ride in the sunshine, a long lunch with friends and finish it off with an early night.

what do you see outside your studio windows?

Our studio is part of a converted ginger beer factory (this is a kind of natural soda, I actually think it’s an Australian thing, it was originally made in ceramic bottles). It uses a lot of recycled timber and each studio faces an internal courtyard. The doors / windows are so grand they’re as wide as a our studio and nearly two stories high so you can literarily open the front of the studio! At the rear of the studio we look onto leafy gum trees.

thank you, tess and maja!

july love it...amy noel!

this month we're excited to feature one of our local artists, amy noel, who makes the hands-down cutest cashmere critters you've ever seen. it's always a pleasure when amy visits the store (usually with her equally adorable younger daughter in tow) with a new bag of animals for the shop. she has made bunnies, elephants, pigs, owls, chickens, mice, and other forms of fauna, all from reclaimed cashmere. they're even stuffed with cashmere scraps! whenever someone comes in in search of a one of a kind (literally) baby gift that will be both functional and a keepsake, i always show them amy's work. who wouldn't want a locally and lovingly made little creature, perfect for little ones of all ages. i love telling our customers that amy's older daughter often contributes to the "art direction" by telling her mama where to put certain parts or her signature stitched heart. of course, the appeal of amy's work extends beyond wee ones, and many a critter have been purchased for a slightly older demographic. here's o'suz regular nicole's masked buddy in her home, photographed by good pal melissa (check out her blog!):


when we were thinking about how to best feature amy, we knew the best way to convey the appeal of her work was to show it with its ideal audience, and who better to complement critter cuteness than red fisher himself. i spent a day with red while suzannah rocked it out in the shop, and it was good times all around when i handed over the bag of goodies:

pulling them out, one by one...

decisions, decisions.

calling attention to monsieur elephant.

maybe this one?

hmmm, this rooster is rather nice.

red and rooster have some face time.

how are you today, rooster-roo?

yup, he's the one. for sure.

many of amy's creations are visible in these photos, but you really have to feel these little softies to understand how amazing they are. so come check out the menagerie in person at the shop! amy was kind enough to answer our usual questions, so please scroll down for her responses. thank you, amy!

what was your first job and how did you end up making your adorable creatures?

At eleven, I took on the hardest job that I can think of...babysitting. I took on not only one, but three children under the age of five, and was attempting with the best of intentions to replace their mother for four to six hours every day in the summer. Wow, have the times changed. I am a mother of two now and can only hope that I am doing the best that I can. In a way, I feel honored, for my babysitting went on for years and sometimes over weekends as I got older..these parents trusted that I was a good replacement for them while they were away and I did the best that i could. I feel now that this was a good basis for owning my own business and raising two children without the stress of a 9-5 job.

As far as how these creatures came to life, I feel this could be a long and drinking wine kind of story, so I will keep it "simple." I was a traveler before I gave birth to my first daughter five years ago, and I found metal objects on the XX tracks and began making mobiles, rather large and clumsy, but with a raw beauty nonetheless. Then the leather came to me free to recycle from a local boot/saddle maker, from which I began and continue to create books, bags,and baby moccasins...If I want to make it, I will give it a whirl. This giving of leather reminded me of my childhood and all the "hand me downs" I had received and altered to fit my tastes at the time, thus pushing me toward this desire to create things that had little or no waste to them and a bit more function than metal trash mobiles (my heart still loves thee). Granted, one cannot realistically keep every thread that comes from something before, but I can try to impact this world without crushing her with my feet. So, these creatures, with the help of the babe inside, gave thought to all the cashmere sweaters I had found at a frequented thrift store...reinvented and stuffed with the leftover cashmere and just a bit of thread...no choking hazard and pretty edible if so inclined.

what is your favorite piece/group/series in your work?

So far, I have a hard time with a favorite choice of the animals I have made... maybe the green rooster, the pink bunny, the black owls, I can't make choices like that.. [ed. note: you can see a black owl in one of the above photos.]

who or what inspires you?

They are inspired by children. My children, five years and six months, the man and father of my children, who I am crazy about..they are my greatest inspiration. Not only to be a better woman and mother, but also to love and follow the beautiful things I see and find in life. For children see the world with this indescribable beauty and honesty that for us over time becomes a bit jaded if we let it, and they do not discriminate unless taught or told to be so. I find myself learning more acceptance daily just by watching my babes see people and things uninterrupted by the daily obstacles. I also find myself inspired by life itself, but music, dancing, and timeless textures are my other inspirations.

this is a new lavender rabbit. (or a jumbo mouse if you prefer)

closer examination reveals extreme cuteness.

what three websites do you visit daily?

The three websites I frequent often, besides google for my need for information DAILY, are etsy and an informative blog on nature's child (written by a friend and mother ). Being a new cyber space gal, I am still finding my way around...or stumbling, but it's fun no less.

describe your ideal sunday.

The day of sun is my most cherished day, an end and a beginning in one day. To start fresh again and remember the week previous. My ideal sunday is spent with my family, for it is hard to get us all together in one moment. So, as we get to know each other, these times are often spent at sugar hollow (a close and beautiful river hike waterfall berry picking paradise) in the summer or lying blissfully around the woodstove in the winter. The day of sun is really set aside for recuperation in my house, even if that means exerting tons of energy and having fun.

critters inspire hugs all around.

what do you see outside your studio windows?

Outside my studio windows, which is my sunroom, are these two giant quince bushes that bloom twice in the year..once in Janurary (even through ice storms) to remind me that spring is on its way, and then again in early May. And then there is my garden of strawberry, tomato, yellow squash, melon, basil, thyme, mint, and rosemary plants and the occasional cardinal or finch roosting in the rose of sharon. This rain that we have been getting has cast an almost luminescent green quality to my country living. In reading this, it almost sounds a bit surreal, but I feel that my life is just a bit enchanted. I don't have much for possessions, but I sure love making something out of nothing. Enjoy this life for all that it is. Thanks for viewing.

life is pretty sweet.