My last ‘dream BIG’ release was here. They are now available in cheerful Holiday Splendor!

dream BIG holidays!

Upon close inspection, these are upgrades from the original collection. Still cute, but a lot more detailed (they were painted at a larger scale) and thus even more befitting their holiday card status. They will definitely make lovely keepsake cards for your loved ones long after the season has passed.

dream BIG Thanksgiving! Inspired by fall Aspens in the Sierra Nevada.

Hand-painted, archival printed on gorgeous, locally-handmade artisan papers!

I try to be a discerning consumer, especially these days- trying not to spend excessively and being smart about where from and what I buy. If you are like me, then you would appreciate a few things about the ‘dream BIG’ collection:

They are available only in 100% handmade artisan papers, made right here in the USA by small businesses. You have a choice of creamy white with natural deckled edges or creamy seeded papers. Envelopes are 100% post-consumer-waste recycled. The print is archival quality so you can frame them up and the colors will stay vivid for a long time. Each card is $6. I will ship them by standard first class so shipping is give or take a few cents to a dollar depending on how many you order.

dream BIG Christmas! Inspired by evergreens in the Sequioa National Forest, Califonia.

all artwork inspired by our travels and adventures in California

Send me an email if you are interested in pre-orders, there is a 10% discount and free shipping up to $5 for earlybirds!

dream BIG holiday duo

I fell in culinary love this past Saturday.

My new love: Donabe-cooked (Japanese clay pots) Shojin Buddhist vegan food, a traditional Japanese cuisine eaten by Buddhist monks. Naoko of Toiro Kitchen and her fabulous foodie blog hosted a donabe cooking class at her awesome hilltop home in Echo Park.  One of my most treasured kitchen items of all time (next to my wok)-my hand crafted Miso Shiru Nabe all the way from Japan, came from Naoko.

Food, almost spiritual.

I have made countless delicious curries and earthy soups in it and thought that it was time to venture into Naoko’s cooking class, specifically since we are weaning off a majority of our meat consumption (though not completely) and looking for deliciously interesting and somewhat familiar forays into vegetarian and vegan cooking.

I feel that this is such a fitting Inspired Monday post to the blog because it parallels so much of what I aim for daily with the studio-rustic but elegant simplicity,  a deep appreciation for nature, nostalgia, and traditional craft, and an enthusiasm for slowed down and joyful sustainable living.

Naoko and her donabes, Shojin dashi, and the delicious sesame paste

Abura age simmering, Kombucha pumpkin and stuffing the tofu pockets

There is indeed a magical quality about these donabe claypots, the nature of their material and craft allows the food to cook slowly, evenly and most efficiently! I am continually, unabashedly amazed by them.

Sous-chef Jason, ice cold Barley tea and the beautiful Bento boxes

After the cooking demonstration, we proceeded outside in true Southern Californian style, to enjoy the fruits of Naoko’s labor, sitting in the patio that Jason built. Leafy shadows and mini japanese paper lanterns hovering above.

Such simple and delicious festivity! Fine sake pairing topped it off..

Coming from a South East Asian country with rich and complex culinary traditions, I can honestly say I have never been easily moved by new cuisines. Naoko’s donabe shojin delights definitely opened up a wonderful new world. I will never forget the first taste of the vivid yellow Kombucha pumpkin soup, nor the first bite of those beans and tofu pockets.  Food so deceivingly simple bursting with freshness and delicate flavors.I am gushing yes, in true M.F.K Fisher fashion.

The incredible surprise dessert-a cold yam soy-based blancmange with black sugar and goji berries

Thank you Naoko and Jason, for such a wonderful introduction to Shojin cooking in those amazing donabes.

Follow up from the set of save the dates I created a few months back here, this is the actual (digital) invitation for green queen Janine and her beau, Ken.

Greys and Yellows, click to zoom in.

There was a change in wedding color schemes from bright and bold sunset shades to subtle and romantic soft grays and yellows.  I really love the new color palette which calls to mind the brightly hued yellows of Californian buttercups and poppies and the subtle gray-green shades of succulents that are common to the wild coastal landscapes of central California.

More to come-placecards and cake toppers, stay tuned!

I save all the packing papers and wraps that comes with the supplies I order and have quite a surplus of these brown paper lying around.  For today’s atelier feature, I would like to show you a package I just dropped off for an excited bride-to-be, and how thoughtful little gestures can still be sustainable.

For inner protection, I wrapped the items in an upcycled piece of clear plastic salvaged from a magazine delivery stiffened with a piece of corrugated cardboard cut out from a used shipping box.

A Package for You

I used the blank side of my one-sided hand-made seeded paper business card to include a personal hand-written note to the happy couple. That way they can keep my contact details with the note, or plant it in their garden.

There is nothing more wonderful to me than receiving in the mail a plain (upcycled) brown paper package, tied up with hemp string, with a pretty card slipped in. It is all the things that resonate to me-a mixture of rustic utilitarianism and nostalgia contrasted by refined stationery.