i was so pleased, totally surprised and completely flattered by the email i received from an old high school friend (and former mhs soccer teammate), asking if i would help create a tattoo out of a poem she’d written to honor her parents, her heritage, and love. ‘of course,’ i exclaimed! this is really special – she wants two acrostic poems woven into the shape of a heart, with each half of the heart for each foot, the point meeting down by her toes. the poem is written in portuguese, and it reads:

meu

amor

eternal

pessoa

amada

incondicionalmente

and it means, “mae” (mother) – my eternal love/”pai” (father) – loved unconditionally

i’m so honored to be a part of this – thank you jess, and i can’t wait to see the permanent version!

as promised, all the way from thailand, here are photos of my amazing friend adam’s newly tatted forearm. i have to say, it looks gorgeous. and i’m so honored to have been a part of the process.

the stars must be aligned.. just two weeks after i designed and got my very own, very first tattoo (post to come), i received a very cool email from a very cool lady down in dallas, texas, asking if i’ve ever considered designing one for someone else. ‘why, of course!’ i exclaimed, and there began our adventure in finding something that utilized my script, her three children’s names (madelyn, mitchell and merritt – adorable), and a feeling of ‘whimsy’. after a few back-and-forths, here’s the final design. just like my dear friend adam’s tattoo (which was inked this morning over in thailand!), i can’t wait to see the design in its permanent home, on her forearm. thank you valerie, for allowing me to be a part of this amazing process!

he’s getting it done tonight, across the world. and i couldn’t be prouder, happier, more honored to be a part of this moment. hopefully i’ll have a photo of it on his arm soon.

two new stamp commissions from my etsy shop – the first is a small, cute little stamp that a couple will be using on their wedding invitation envelopes, and the second is a christmas gift. in my opinion, they’re both quite lovely.

happy holidays everyone! may your days, nights, afternoons and everything in between be filled with laughter, smiles, full bellies and warm hearts. love.

i know i haven’t updated in quite a while, but i have a pretty big-deal post for today.  for the past month and a half (and really, the last year), i’ve been working on an installation piece for an exhibition opening at the sullivan galleries in chicago this friday.  the piece, ‘all those other words’, is a 17 page story written non-chronologically that i laser cut into birch plywood and set behind stained wooden doors.  i cannot say how proud i am with how the piece turned out, how happy i am that it looks so beautiful and reads so well, how utterly relieved i am that it’s finally up and i don’t have to worry about little tiny screws or super glue or nail guns anymore.  enjoy the photos – hopefully i’ll post more after the opening!

the books:

during installation:

all up on the wall:

i had the most lovely request while i was home in massachusetts two weeks ago: to design a stamp as a gift to a very special sister.  i more than happily spent one of the rainier days inside with my puppy, drawing up different variations for chris and robin wright’s columbus, ohio address, and the result was met with smiles on the faces of the sisters; the sender and receiver both.

it was such a pleasure to create this next stamp for tina wiley who lives out in seattle, washington.  i love using a combination of typefaces and stylized lettering that’s both beautiful and (quite importantly) legible for projects like this.  happy letter-sending to you tina!

my parents came to visit chicago last week, bringing with them my favorite red barn coffee roasters coffee, a six-pack of sam adams, extra yoga mats so they could take my class, and just so so so much fun.  and while they were here, my mum commissioned me to make a stamp for our home back in massachusetts.

i had such a wonderful time with them, and i can’t wait to see this new little stamp in it’s rightful place on the kitchen counter in milford, massachusetts when i go back to visit in august.