stationery show 2008 -- part one

i'm going to have to break up my stationery show posts into several parts. there are just a ton of photos and info to give. let's start here...

the stationery show this year was great. i was really impressed with much of the work and the attitudes of the exhibitors. everyone was happy to be there, and clearly excited by the turnout and response. and i was happy for them.

let's start at some local favorites.... one of the must-see booths at this show is the mixed co. booth. it contains the work of Allymoon, Good on Paper, Laurel Denise, Linea Carta, Mateo Ilasco, and Nantaka Joy (happy birthday joy!). these ladies were all the biggest sweethearts in the world, and excited to be together. their work speaks for itself -- joy's pieces are always the ultimate in taste, meg mateo ilasco's type treatments are fun in simplicity, and good on paper's lisa jackson has sweet and lovely accessories. so much fun.

nantaka joy's beautiful journals.

mateo ilasco's happy notecards.

good on paper's sweet notecards and adorable baby t-shirts.

allymoon's notebooks.

another joint venture was between the great lakes goods and pearl & marmalade. fun stuff, whimsical and humorous.

pearl & marmalade's gnome card was my fave on her side of the booth.

TGL's mushrooms on both wood and paper.

i love the idea of joining forces in a booth. maybe myself and some of my fellow stationers can do it in a couple of years....

ok, i digress. onto single booths in the next chapter of the reviews...

intern needed

image by andy singleton, via don't panic.

so, i'm quite overwhelmed by the amount of work i have in front of me. not that i'm complaining at all... but i need help. i'm finishing up my home studio and as soon as that is done, i'll need an INTERN!!!

yes, you lucky kids, i'm looking to hire an intern. unfortunately, i am not in a position to pay my intern (i am a one-woman company after all), but i would be more than happy to give college credit and recommendations for jobs... and happy company all day long.

my intern would only be necessary a few days a week, and would be responsible for the following:

1. filing and billing.
2. research for projects -- images, inspiration, colors, etc.
3. email checking and responding
4. general organization.

i would hope that this could be mutually beneficial for myself and my future intern. i would like her/him to learn about design, stationery, printing process, etc. i'm not going to ask for actual designing, but definitely all other aspects that go into the job.

the internship would begin in mid-to-late june. if you're interested, or know someone who is interested, please feel free to email me at internship@nic-events.net. please include a link to your work (preferred), or a small pdf.

thanks guys!

ICFF and Stationery Show recovery!

phew... i'm exhausted! i attended both shows this weekend and man, am i pooped. but they were great! i'm going to cover the highlights over the next 2 days. tune in later for my updates. =D

for the love of the ampersand

poster by conor and david, via the ampersand.

the HOWblog has reported on something that i have a great respect for -- designer stephen gose's love of the ampersand! and now he has a whole blog devoted to it. i love it!!! because a good ampersand is hard to come by. =)

busy show weekend!

view into the national stationery show, via their website.

yay! the weekend dave and i wait for all year (ok, we're not that into it, but we do love it)... this weekend is both the ICFF and National Stationery Show!

dave in a wegner chair at 2007's ICFF.

the icff is always a lot of fun. furniture, fixtures, rugs, wallpaper, accessories... le sigh. it's a dangerous show to go to if, like us, you are obsessed with these things. we always want what we can't afford! this year we'll be joined by my best friend, loren, who is an interior designer. fun day!

sunday is my annual pilgrimage to the national stationery show. i hope to cover everyone and maybe get some pictures this year... but we'll see about that. hopefully i'll be joined by my hubby and my good friends jon and whitney from brown sugar design studio.

to everyone i see at nss -- they sent me a free badge but mixed up my info with the info for icff. so it has my name, nicole block, but then it says "david block designs"... cracks me up. so, if i can't get it changed for the event, you'll have to look for that badge to find me. =)

stationery & skirts for spring

above is the finished invite for the spring stationery & skirts event! i'll be updating my website info for it in the next few days.

click on the image for a larger view.

thanks guys! hope to see you there!

momma's day giveaways

one of my favorite blogs, designmom, has been doing a week's worth of mother's day giveaways. she has some pretty amazing stuff on there. i especially like today's giveaway of custom stationery by papered together.

you lucky moms you!

elephant love

this print would let me continue my newfound obsession with elephants. from the orangewillow etsy store.

my wedding answers

me on my wedding day.

congrats to shauna, the winner of the wedding giveaway! and to all the runners-up, who got free wedding websites. =)

i thought that i would answer the questions for the contest myself. my wedding was just over 2 years ago, and i have certainly learned a lot about marriage since. but i had a great wedding experience, and my thoughts might be helpful to someone else.

dave and i on the terrace of bridgewaters, after the ceremony.

- What was the most useful piece of wedding planning advice you have received?
i remember being told by my mom that i should do what made dave and i happy, but at the same time not forget those who would be attending the wedding. simply put, put yourselves first, but don't leave those who love you out of your thought process. this made a lot of sense in our world -- we didn't want an over-the-top, "goomba" wedding as i called it, because it just wasn't us (even though that's what my italian family was used to). so we booked our location in manhattan, which suited us to a tee, but made sure that there was plenty of food for my trepidatious family. we made sure it was accessible by elevator and didn't have any stairs to be concerned with, for the older members of both families that had issues walking. and unlike a lot of couples who get married in manhattan, we made sure that parking was paid for and taken care of -- a lot of our guests would not have been used to paying for parking. all of this made our VIP guests happy, without interfering in our final goal.

me with my bridesmaids and maid of honor, before the wedding.

- What has been your biggest “lesson learned” so far during your wedding planning process?
not to sweat the small stuff, even if the "small stuff" is what i do best. i was never, ever a difficult bride. still, every bride goes through a fair amount of stress during planning, even if she doesn't let it show. as much as i care about details, i knew that if something didn't get done "exactly" the way i had envisioned it, it wouldn't matter. in the end, i was getting married, and that's all that mattered.

my favorite story to tell is about the day of the wedding. i walked into my venue with my parents and bridesmaids. as i'm walking to the bridal suite, i stop and take notice of the ceremony setup -- the candles, which were supposed to be arranged to form a faux alter where we were getting married, were lined up down the aisle instead. i said, "huh... the candles are arranged differently." my maid-of-honor jumped right in and asked if i wanted her to talk to someone about it. i just shrugged and said, "no. i'm sure there's a reason." of course, in the end, i was right -- the space was too tight for the original arrangement. either way though, it didn't matter. it was going to be beautiful, and i was getting married!!! nothing would have made me blink that day.

a passionate kiss from my hubby, after hearing "you may now kiss your bride."

- If you could do it over, what would you do differently?
i'm not sure i would have done anything differently. if i had a bigger budget at the time, we would have booked on a saturday night instead of the friday evening that we had. people were a little tired from work and there wasn't *as much* energy as there would have been otherwise. but in the end, who cares? it was a great night, we had an amazing time, and we have an amazing marriage. just thinking about it makes me grin from ear to ear.

dave and i joking as he's signing our marriage license.

all photos above copyright Mo Daoud Photography. all rights reserved.

the wedding memory giveaway

rhonda at our wedding plus emailed me this week, reminding me of her great contest giveaway! sandisk has created new USB flash drives called cruzer gators, which would be a great gift for your bridal party. and they're giving away 10 of these to the contest winner for their bridal party members. additionally, if you win, you get a free one-year's subscription to our wedding plus premium wedding websites, worth $72. here's what you need to do (from the wedding plus blog):

How You Enter: Leave a comment on this post answering one of the following questions:

- What was the most useful piece of wedding planning advice you have received?
- What has been your biggest “lesson learned” so far during your wedding planning process?
- If you could do it over, what would you do differently?

How You Win: I’m going to ask some other wedding bloggers to rank their top-5 entries, based on the usefulness of your comment to someone planning their wedding. I will tally the results and pick the most popular comment. This is obviously subjective based on each judge’s opinion and my selection will be final. If I can’t get any help in the judging I will select the comment I feel was most useful, based solely on my own judgment.

hurry kids! this contest ends tomorrow evening!!

blurbs

well, i was informed of this today on the HOW forums, and i just had to share...

blurb books is a website of build-it-yourself books. i know what you're thinking, there's a ton of those sites out there. but blurb is different. first, you get to design your own cover (even hardcover with a wrap). next, the quality is supposed to be amazingly good -- bookstore quality. finally, you can do such great things with it -- wedding albums, portfolios, even books from your blog!


i think i might have to use them for all of the above! =)

photos courtesy of blurb books.

sorry!!

i know i haven't been blogging as much as i should. i'm swamped with work!! i swear that's the reason. anyway, i plan to have something on here for later today. so keep your eyes peeled!

stationery and skirts -- part deux

i am happy to announce the second stationery and skirts event, hosted by yvonne chu of kimera, and myself, nicole block of NicEvents. you can check out the details of the original one on my website or on my blog.

this one should be lots of fun! it's going to be warm, everyone will be happy... ok, i'm going on a bit funny here. but it should be a great time!

joining us this time around as our featured vendor will be julia newman, photographer extraordinare. she will be with us on saturday the 31st of may. julia is also a local brooklyn vendor, with a great style and an amazing personality. you can tune in for her most recent work and news on her blog.

we are in the beginning stages of planning this one, so stay tuned for more updates.

a little hut making big waves

within a week, designer patricia zapata of a little hut has made two big announcements, which i am so happy to share here.

first, patricia has signed a deal for her first craft book, slated to come out in 2009. if you haven't seen her work, you should -- and then you'll know why she is authoring this book.

according to her blog, "The book will contain paper craft projects for the home and will reflect my typical clean lined and quiet style. I certainly hope that the book lives up to everyone’s expectations but more than anything, I hope to live up to my own worst critic - me."

and as if this wasn't enough, patricia also announced yesterday that she wrote an article for craft magazine, to be in the upcoming issue. it's an article on a diorama project, and seems like it is so much fun! the photo of said diorama is at the top of this post... how beautiful is it?! i'm not a crafty person, and i'm so jealous of patricia's skills.

for more news and project info, check out patricia's two blogs, a little hut blog and crafty synergy. and as always, you can see her beautiful work at a little hut's main site.

re-branding: julia newman

brooklyn-based photographer, julia newman, and i became friends through mutual clients (and two of my closest buds). julia and i both worked on carrie & ken's hudson valley wedding. she and i soon realized that we have very similar ideas on aesthetics, personality, and business in this crazy wedding world!

so when julia decided to re-work her branding, it seemed like a natural choice to team up for it. the fabulous photog wanted something that truly reflected her work: high-end, classic, with a touch of funk and friendly feel. with all of our inspiration, we got to work and came up with a logo we were both happy with.

there's still work to be done... and julia is working on launching her new storefront in williamsburg soon. in the meantime, check out julia's new blog for news and updates. and look for carrie & ken's beautiful wedding in the knot weddings ny/nj/ct magazine (i think the fall 2008 issue), which features julia newman's photography, my event design, and kimera's dresses!

thailand in review -- part two!

image courtesy of travel blog.

to continue my talk about thailand, here's a bit more about the trip.

some things i loved/noticed/did:
1. lui, our guide/driver for a few outings in chiang mai.
2. the kind thai people that are so easy to meet everywhere.
3. praying in wats and offerings with incense and flowers.

4. fruit and flower market in chiang mai.

image courtesy of big map.

5. fun overnight train trip from bangkok to chiang mai.

me on the overnight train to chiang mai, with my singha!

6. an obsession with elephants is common there. and it helps to flame my own!
7. blessings from a monk is a special experience.
8. crossing the street in chiang mai is a funny and rushed experience.
9. thai band-aids rock my world! they stay on through everything.
10. for some reason, 7-elevens are everywhere. they're like starbucks there (though there are starbucks as well).

photo courtesy of thai websites.

11. the ronald mcdonald was "wai"ing outside the mcdonald's. (see photo at top of post)
12. a baby, about a year old, that offered a wai to me when saying hi. he must have just learned to do it. =)
13. a white western child seen praying in a wat after his parents had already left. with a monk in the background. i had the most amazing photo of this. sigh...

some things I didn't love/noticed/did:
1. squat toilets. while i've been through my fair share of experiencing these things in various places, they are inescapable in thailand. and if you're lucky enough to get a regular toilet, you can't put toilet paper in it. yuck, yuck, yuck.
2. unattractive, clearly use-only housing. it ruins the vista quite a bit to see unattractive buildings and housing everywhere. there isn't that feel for a history in a lot of the architecture.
3. the first part of my elephant trek was hard on me -- hiking up a very steep hill/mtn. to one of the tribes. i had a migraine that morning, and it was 95 degrees out. not good for me... if you have physical troubles of any sort, this is something to keep in mind.
4. everything is geared towards tourists. i feel like this lends to an aspect of inauthenticity, and almost a lack of pride in their daily life and ways (though i know that's not true, but that's how it came across). it was increasingly hard to find things that are untouched by expats and tourists, or something that's not striving to be western. we did find those outlets, and they were wonderful to experience, but i'm sad it wasn't more accessible.
5. it was hot. did i say that? =)

a couple of travel notes:
1. if you have to travel to the east, fly cathay pacific! they rock my world! the seats are comfy, they attendants are kind, the food is plentiful and very good for airplane food, and the entertainment options (movies, tv, etc.) are various and excellent. i caught up on a lot of my award-winning films on the flight!
2. ladies, this one's for you: whether it be on vacation or this summer, we all know that sandals means blisters. well, my mother-in-law told me before i left that she heard a rumor about deodorant on the feet, and that it might be a good way to keep the blisters away. even though it seemed like it might be a great joke, i figured i'd give it a shot. i mean, what the hell -- the worst that could happen is that my feet smell good! but let me tell you, it really really works!! i only got one blister, and that was on a day when i forgot to put it on! so ladies, go for it. trust me, you won't regret it.
3. take tums with you to thailand, if you have a sensitive tummy. =)

thailand in review -- part one

photo in the courtyard of wat pho. photo by nicole block, all rights reserved.

hey everyone! i know i've been back for a few days now without posting about the trip. so i'm here to make up for it.

thing is, my nikon d40 camera was lost/stolen in bangkok, in the last few days of our trip. so, not only did i lose my wonderful camera, i lost all the photos on it. all 1000. trip and otherwise... sniff, sniff... thankfully, we still had another small digital with us, which we had used a bit before we lost the nikon. and we used it daily after we lost the nikon. so we still have pics, just not as good and not as complete. here's a pic of me with it in chiang mai...


moving on... here's part one of the trip info:

thailand is a great place to visit. there's a ton to do, and also ample opportunity to just sit back and relax. we do love a good, involved travel, so it was great for that. while not a re-visit place in my books, it was an interesting trip and well worth it.

travel in thailand is cheap, even if plane tickets cost a lot. we did a ton of stuff and ate like pigs for 2 weeks on the budget of a couple of days in europe. the accommodations are plentiful and inexpensive. our favorite place was the "middle-grade" guest house in bangkok, bann sukhumvit, which ran us a whopping $45 a night with full breakfast included. we also stayed at a friendly and informative guest house in chiang mai for $22 a night and a least-favorite resort on the beach in krabi for $75 a night. if anyone wants references for the accommodations, let me know.

bangkok -- fun, but large and crowded, city. I really enjoyed it to be honest, but the general thought process of most there seems to be that it's too crowded and polluted. guess being a NY'er, i didn't mind! lots of beautiful wats (temples) that are well-kept and worth visiting. plus you get to see monks, who i love! we loved chinatown there for some authentic daily-life sightseeing, and the food vendors on the streets are amazing (even if some do steal cameras). we also loved the canal trip on the other side of the river and going to the movies there! the most fun we had at night was at an ex-pat irish pub (it was the night i lost my camera, and i wanted to stay away from all things thai) called the dubliner. awesome, awesome place. great live music and good beer. though the burgers were weird and seasoned... but what can you expect from a burger in thailand? =D

photos above, from top: scary guys on the first level of wat arun, young monks walking around wat pho, and ladies doing business in chinatown, bangkok. all photos by nicole block, all rights reserved.

chiang mai -- country/city. quieter than bangkok, though plenty touristy. good place to do adventurous stuff from, so we went on an elephant trek, which is what all tourists do when they go to chiang mai. LOL... still, quite worth it, and so much fun. i now have a new love for elephants! two girls actually fell off their elephant in front of us, which i felt awful about, but they were unhurt and in good humor about it. we also saw a couple of elephants randomly being led into the city over the river, right in front of us on our walk back to the guest house. very odd!! once you go a little further into the city, you get away from some tourists and more into daily thai life, which is more interesting. there are very kind people in this town.
krabi -- beautiful, beautiful, beyond beautiful place on the coast. we stayed on ao nang beach, which is quite quite touristy but an easy jump-off for outings to the surrounds islands in the province. we took a kayaking trip through a mangrove forest off the coast (amazing trip, very peaceful and fun), and a full-day snorkeling and beach trip through the phi phi islands (where they filmed the beach). we also celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary in krabi on the 7th, with a seafood dinner in a restaurant right on the sand. some things that were interesting/fun: great, and i mean great, street food stalls, including an amazing bbq chicken/corn lunch and a yummy thai "pancake" with banana and condensed milk; these odd lanterns, made out of rice paper, that one lights and makes a wish on, and then sends up into the air. the lanterns take off on their own and wind up looking like constellations in the sky. seemingly traditional there.

canoe trip through the mangrove forest in krabi at top; on our snorkeling trip through ko phi phi. both photos by nicole block, all rights reserved.

lanterns being lit on a holiday in chiang mai, like the ones we saw daily in krabi (top photo courtesy of the travel blog, bottom from travel happy.)

adrienne & andrew

here it is! the premiere of new work for the new wedding season. today's premiere features adrienne and andrew's invitation suite.

these lovely people are getting married at a working farm in rochester, ny. the farm is known for it's fruit and fruit-picking seasons, and they use a lot of french antique tablecloths in their barn-like setting. the couple desired to have the invitations in bright-summer red and orange, and to include the seasonal fruits. after taking a look at the pictures of the location, as well as getting to know the couple and their intended event, we finally decided on a vintage-french-plate feel with a rustic edge. i mixed a western-style font with classic serif and script typefaces to achieve the final effect.

i hope you enjoy this suite! adrienne and andrew are incredibly kind people and a great couple to work with, and this job was a dream to work on.

happy dating-versary to us!

today is tax day, yes... but it's also dave & my dating-versary! as of today we've been together for 8 years. and last week was our 2nd wedding anniversary. we've got a lot of celebrating to do!

yes, some people forgo their old anniversaries once the wedding anniversaries come along. but why? things deserve to be marked. and tonight's anniversary will be marked by homemade lamb ragu. yum!

i love you a lot baby. happy 8 years...

the two of us in thailand

and happy birthday lauren!!!

back in action

hello everyone!! i'm back! did'ya miss me? =D

i have a lot to talk about and almost no time. i'll be putting together a big post about thailand and our travels in a bit. in the meantime, i just wanted to say that i am back and raring to go!

i hope to hear from you guys all soon.

love,
nic