ciao eataly!

I finally made it to Eataly, and I didn't even need a passport! I'd heard all the hype about Mario Batali and Lydia Banstianich's Italian wonderland, and its all true.

I cut right to the chase and fueled up on pasta pomodoro before checking out everything else....

Industrial-size cans of olive oil....

Barilla as far as the eye can see...

These beer bottles looked so familiar and then I remembered it was the beer I had in Roma...

And Then there was the coffee...

I ordered a bicerin at the lavazza bar....

If you like strong coffee and chocolate (like me) make sure to have it!

stenciling with lotta jansdotter

This weekend I took a stenciling class with artist/designer Lotta Jansdotter. I've always loved her Scandinavian patterns and she has a new crafting book out called Handmade Living.

The first step in class was to pick out what to stencil on. I chose these polka-dot napkins:

All we needed were stencils, tape, and fabric paint

Lotta showed how to stencil step-by-step

Don't use too much paint!

so easy!

Here's my design:

ta da:

grand canyon in 10 frames

I've always wanted to make a panoramic photo collage, and I thought the grand canyon would be the best place to try it!

logo design

This is a logo I just designed for the launch of a new physical therapy practice. The client wanted an elegant, classic design. It also needed to be friendly and welcoming to patients seeking care. The client knew she wanted to use teal blue, a calming color that also references the richness of the Renaissance.

The result is a graphic logotype combining both typography and image, using serif and sans serif fonts. The stylized human figure shows the "rebirth" of movement one would experience in the physical therapy process. We're all excited with the final result!

Stay tuned to see the full stationary set.

from the southwest

I really loved these paintings at the El Tovar Lodge in the Grand Canyon: