Stud

Father's Day is coming up, so there has been a lot of talk all over town about gifts for said occasion. I saw this charming post about how to create a hand-made, custom shirt for the man in your life here. 

I couldn't help but be inspired by it.

For the man in your life. So he knows he's good for hanging pictures, but imposible to find when you need him.


(t-shirt and greeting cards generously available here)

San Francisco

The husband and I (and the new pup) went up to San Francisco for the first time a few weekends ago.

I loved it. There was so much to do in the city and it was so dog friendly, especially compared to LA.

But really what I loved the most was the art EVERYWHERE. I've never been to a city before where everything seems like art, from street signs to buildings to parks. It felt like I was in one big art installation.

One thing I especially noticed was all of the awesome typography and sign design at every turn. Walking around the Farmer's Market, seeing all of the tempting wares was a highlight, but I was in heaven marveling at all of the different logos, designs, and signs.

A few of my favorites

Although I DID see this design faux pas at an otherwise delightful store:

We also got to take Penny to the beach for the first time! She loved being off leash and getting to play with other pups. She was not a big fan of the water, though. Observe:

"Huh? What the...? AHHH!"

Summary? Loved it. Want to go back soon.

Family.

Hand Lettering

This is my first attempt at hand lettering. Can I just say that I love this new trend in art and design?

There are a few areas of this design I'm not 100% happy with, but I ultimately decided to keep everything and have it remain pretty raw. I think it stays more true to the quote, which I love.

I'm thinking I will come back to this at a future date and do another pass. It will remain a work in progress as I learn and challenge myself.

Side note: I first read the above quote on James Hance's tumblr. If you do not know who this man is, you absolutely should. He is a ridiculously fantastic artist and is the one who originally inspired me to start putting some of my designs online. From what I gather from his wonderfully nerdy, nostalgic, geeky, awesome art, he's a big kid at heart, and I relate to that immensely (said the girl with the koopa troopa stuffed animal staring at her as she types).

Check out his work on his website (http://www.jameshance.com/) or his tumblr (http://jameshance.tumblr.com/). If nothing else than for the fact he's also hilarious.

Penny Puppy

This is Penny.

She's the newest addition to the Johnson family. We weren't planning to get a puppy, it just kind of happened.

We met her sister at the Burbank Farmer's Market, fell in love, tracked her down, and found she had already been adopted. But then we found out there were other puppies in the same litter, all females still available for adoption. We met another one of her sisters, but then she went to another family.

Finally, we met the last puppy in the litter (who they think may have been the runt). And thus, Penny entered our lives.

She loves being petted and her tire toy. She also snores. We have only heard her bark once, and that was at her bed while she was trying to get comfortable.

She is a chocolate lab mix and, we suspect, will be typical lab size. Which I guess means she won't be a lap dog for very long.