weekends in my office are my favorite. probably because there is no pressure of having to get orders ready to mail by 5:00. or maybe because i don’t really answer email or send proofs, but work on projects that i don’t get to during the week. usually i don’t even sit at my desk, i use my laptop on my worktable in the other room – far away from printers and databases.

this weekend i did have to do some work for two very important clients – my nieces. they needed their valentines. they both gave very specific art direction. however there was a problem – was weeks ago i ran out of envelopes for my tiny valentines. so they got something even better – handmade envelopes. i couldn’t give them just plain white envelopes so i printed a pattern on some paper and started folding and glueing.

and now they just have to had their name and some sticker hearts and they will have the perfect valentines to hand out.

i had a little trip planned to new york city with one of my sisters and mother. the night before we left my sister decided to surprise her kids and take them along. it’s about a 3 hour train trip so i put together a little travel kit to give them something to do (besides play with my phone or laptop). i didn’t have much time so i grabbed some pocket journals, mini pencils and extra stickers i had in a mistakes box. everything was put in a glassine bag for safe keeping and put the food bag (clementines, cheese, crackers and water).

even in the wind and cold we had a fun trip – especially the girls who brought their dolls to the american doll store (my mom might have enjoyed the store more than they did).

i just painted my bedroom walls white and the floor light grey. i plan on making a grey and white quilt, but if i had the patience to knit more than half a scarf this blanket i saw in martha stewart living would be perfect in grey & white.

image from martha stewart

this year i made a little advent calendar for my nieces and nephew. i should have made one for myself because i just realized how fast december has gone by.

if you are looking for christmas gifts or some gift wrapping extras from letter C design it’s not too late. most items ship the day after the order is placed (if possible the same day). the exception for this is address labels and other personalized items requiring a proof.

priority mail delivery (2-3 days) is always an option. on shoplettercdesign.com you can choose priority mail when checking out. if you prefer to shop on etsy you can let me know when ordering that you want priority mail and I will send you a link from paypal for the additional cost.

i am happy to send gifts directly to the recipients gift wrapped and with a note from you — just make a note that it is a gift and what you would like the note from you to say.

if you have questions feel free to email me at cindy {at} lettercdesign . com or send a text to 860 966 6831.

having a quiet day in the studio getting a lot done … working on orders and fun gifts for friends.

Last week was the official start of fall, but you can’t tell from the weather. It was warm and sunny this afternoon so I left my office early to take photos of some pillows. These pillows are a little collaboration between my mom and I. I designed the fabric and had it printed – my mom then sewed them up. I think that she made more test pillows with scrap fabric than final pillows with my fabric, but I love how they came out. There are only 5 pillows left after selling them at a fair this summer. I plan on listing the ones I still have in my etsy shop some time this week.

Since it was so nice out today I ended up working outside here for a little while (until the mosquitos came out).

stickers, treat bags, labels, tags … everything you need for your halloween party or to make favor bags for trick or treaters.

you can find all of the halloween goodies here or here.

for the past couple of years the cucumbers in my parents garden have been coming in like crazy … so i learned how to pickle. last year it was just bread & butter pickles, but this year i am expanding my pickle horizons. so far along with bread & butter pickles i have made dill pickles and jars and jars of relish.

to keep everything organized i have been using stickers. the mix&match and simply drawn stickers in my shop are the perfect fit for regular canning lids and the large stickers work great with the wide mouth jars.

thinking about the upcoming school year yet? you can start planning from this august until december 2012 with the new academic monthly planners in my etsy shop. these simple and sweet planners are cute enough to leave out on your desk and small enough to carry with you.

inspired by the tv show, dc cupcakes my niece wanted to make some cupcakes and top them with ganache. it is the first time i made it. turns out it is super easy to make and only uses two ingredients – chocolate and cream.

here’s how we made it:
• 6 ounces chocolate – chopped up (we used dark chocolate)
• 1 cup heavy cream

in a pan on the stove bring heavy cream to a boil. as soon as it starts to boil take the pan off the heat and stir the chocolate in. keep stirring until all of the chocolate is melted. now you have ganache. we let it sit for a bit to cool off until it was the perfect consistency for dipping the cupcakes.

once the ganache was ready to use, i was shown the proper way to frost cupcakes with the ganache. you simply dip the cupcakes in the frosting, twist a bit and the pull them out. the perfect frosted cupcakes. after letting the cupcakes sit for a bit the ganache firmed up and left a shiny coating.

my little niece stopped by and helped add blue chocolate buttons (and do a little taste testing). she gave the cupcakes the thumbs up.