design lust: the new alexander wang flagship store

a good friend of mine was lucky enough to attend the opening of the new alexander wang flagship store here in NYC. designed by robin kramer and her team at kramer design group, the store is clean, luscious, luxurious, and welcoming, all at the same time.

all photos courtesy of alexander wang.

yes, that is a fur hammock you see! and according to an article in the wall street journal, alexander wang wants guests to be able to sit on it! (can i lay on it? just once?) mr. wang's goal was to have a space that welcomed customers to feel at home – a very nice home – from its leather couch to its fully-carpeted dressing rooms.

i once visited a friend's home in carrara, italy, the home of michelangelo's marble. his home was covered in marble, from the driveway to the bathrooms and everywhere in between. but there was also comfortable furniture, art covering the walls from artists of all different levels, and the familiar sounds of family. so the marble no longer felt cold or overly decadent, it just felt part of the space. that's how alexander wang's store feels to me. sure, it's opulent, but you can still touch.

hats off to alexander wang and the staff at kramer design group for their vision. now i'm off to pretend that my armchair is a fur-covered hammock. ahhhhh...

what's inspiring me tonight

hello all! it's me! in the wee hours of the morning! working! as usual!

i've had a bit of coffee...

i realized just a bit ago that i never post to my blog anymore. because i've run out of time my dears... out of time to research new posts. oh sure, the sporadic, "look what i just did!" post is up, but no more than that.

well, i'm going to try and remedy this situation. yep. since i'm up all night doing research often times anyway, i might as well post up my inspiration!

tonight's post comes from the invitation set i'm doing for my brother-in-law and his fiancée for their SECOND wedding in san francisco. yep, that's right, these lucky ducks get two. the first is in dallas in a few short weeks. but the second and much larger party is in SF, and that one of course needs invites as well.

the theme? central park meets SF meets street food. should be fun. =)

central park trees. by Roopa, via centralpark.com

central park cherry blossoms. by SES, via centralpark.com

love the light in this central park photo. © joel sternfeld, all rights reserved. via the punctum.

central park skyline. © marnie hall, all rights reserved. via biking-in-manhattan.

the painted ladies of san francisco. © JR Ona, all rights reserved. via city-data.com.

the view of the SF skyline from the golden gate bridge. via green car reports.

i just love the color palette of this painting of a SF tree. artwork © tim daniels, all rights reserved. via abbozzo gallery.

the couple is getting married at the westin st. francis. this photo via oyster.com.

lobby of the westin. i love "the clock", as it is apparently called! via buyoutsidethebox.com.

part of the ballroom space. © wendy maclaunn richardson, all rights reserved. via the westin st. francis.

this is part of off the grid in SF. via local savory.

sneak peek: rehearsal dinner invites...

because sometimes you get to draw and design something uber-fun.

happy 2nd birthday to our anna jae!

so yes, our little girl is already 2 years old. i can't believe it! of course, i'd already given her two time-outs at her new 2-minute level by 9am, but that's the joy of a two year old, right? right??? =)

anyway you look at it, i'm always immensely grateful to have her in our lives. she is funny, smart, loving, willful, creative, and just plain fun. she is my little buddy and i adore her for it.

so happy birthday to my fabulous little girl. i hope that you're as happy to be with us as we are to be with you.

my gift for our little girl. i do a new piece for her every year on her birthday. for more information on this, feel free to go to my nicillustration blog. 

new year -- how it looks to me

it's a new year! 2011! hooray, hoorah!

we've come a long way since the economic crisis first occurred. 2009 was rough. 2010 was a better year, but still unsteady. and now, 2011 looks positively shiny.

there are a lot of exciting things on the horizon for me here at the nic studio. i am starting out the new year working on a project for a major publishing house (to be discussed at a later date!), 2 new custom clients, a painting for my daughter's second birthday (a tradition i started last year), and an invitation set for my brother-in-law and his fiancée and their whirlwind wedding!

the biggest item on my horizon is the national stationery show, which i will be doing this may. i have SO MUCH to do for it, but that's ok. it's really exciting, and a big step for my little stationery company.

most of all, i'm excited to see my little girl grow another year older. her birthday is in january, and is always a great herald for the new year.

what does your new year look like? are you hoping to shake off the years past? just grow more? find love? new endeavors?

i hope your holidays were wonderful, and that your new year is as bright and shiny as you would like.

check me out! the nic studio on brooklyn bride

i have a new vendor listing on brooklyn bride! thanks to vané for the great posting. i'm proud to be listed alongside such great stationers!

sneak peek: christine & rich's save-the-dates

here's a sneak peek of the save-the-dates for christine & rich's wedding... can't give too much away, because they haven't even gone out yet! i'll show the full piece when they are happily out the door. =)

The Nic Studio in 1000 More Greetings book!

if you follow me on twitter, you know i was surprised a couple weeks ago when i found out that my work was featured in the new book, 1000 More Greetings (rockport publishing). i had submitted my work last year for the book, but we were never notified as to whether or not they were using it. so what a happy surprise to find my work in the book, along with so many of my wonderful collegues!

the above photos are of my pieces in the book. first is adrienne and andrew's invitation suite, and the second includes two images from betsy and jeb's suite, their RSVP and their pre-wedding softball game invitation.

also included in the book were several of my stationery buddies, including (but certainly not limited to) those pictured above. from top: wedding invitation from brown sugar design studio; first birthday invite from jane hancock papers; note cards from sycamore street press.

my dearnic etsy store is back up and running... with new stuff!

so i finally put my etsy store back up... after months and months of neglect, i've added some new (and some old) items back into the space. just in time for the holidays!

first up, my holiday cards. nothing new here, if you've followed my work. but some have been rather popular, and since i'm so busy getting my line ready for the national stationery show in may (eeek!), i opted to reuse the old ones for the time being. plenty of people still don't have the hot santa cards yet, after all!

but the new additions are what i'm most excited about... i've decided to start doing some new poster prints. the ones up on etsy are just the tip of the iceberg, but i think they're pretty great...

the kid prints are all pieces i did for special occasions in my own life. my daughter's first birthday invitation and art piece were the "winter girl" print, and the "little boy blue" and "mary, mary" prints were original pieces done as gifts for friends and their first babies.

the "brooklyn woman" piece is something that's part of my new collection. one of the things i love most about brooklyn are the people here. they all have attitude, they all have tons of personality, they often don't know how funny they are. i walk around my neighborhood from time to time snapping photos of people around me -- old men playing dominoes or mah johng, old ladies sitting alone in chairs outside of their buildings, kids playing hopscotch... it's an amazing environment rich with character, if most of us just take a moment to stop and look around.

if you'd like to order anything, please go to my dearnic etsy shop. thanks!

cross-post: wood inspiration

i'm currently working on a drawing for a ready-to-order set to add to the nic notes marriage line. it involves winter, and wood, and all those great outdoor things.

so i started thinking, how many illustrations out there really involve wood? how many will inspire me? well, i have my answer. check it out:

 my dishonest heart by audrey kawasaki.

 aesop's fable cover, illustration by milo winter.

 illustration by kristiana parn.

 winter woods abstract by joseph rossbach photography.

 we in winter woods, morton lloyd garchik.

 winter woods, illustration by vivien blackburn.

illustration from lokomotywa, by jan lenica

 the old woman in the wood, illustration by arthur rackham.

winter woods, illustration by karin neumann.

i'm a "leading moms in business" winner!

hooray! i ranked in the leading moms in business competition on startup nation. i'm so proud to be one of the top 200 women that competed. thanks so much for voting for me over and over again.

my little girl thanks you too. =)

our apartment is for sale! spread the word!

if you have been following me for a while, you will remember when we moved into our new apartment. we love this place -- it was the first place we owned, it is our daughter's first and only home, it is a great space. we love the building and we love this apartment.


but we have recently realized that we may be able to get a small house in brooklyn now. with interest rates as low as they are and prices down, we can move into a home that we can just grow with and stay in for a long time. i can have an office at home. everything that we eventually want.

so we're selling our place. it's bittersweet, but the right move for our little family.

if you or anyone you know is interested in buying a place in brooklyn, spread the word and let me know! it's a great space, and you can't beat the price for the space and layout.