California Love: Summer 2016 in LA

It breaks my heart to think about the impending end of summer. I'm not ready to give up long hours of daylight yet... er, ever! The island girl in me prepares to grieve.

Still, there's plenty of summer-ey things to go gaga over. Here's a list of what makes my summer of 2016 so far:

#1. Art Prints by Wilder California from www.urbanoutfitters.com they're all so so Cali-inspired!

#2. Reggae version cover of The Black Keys' "Tighten Up" by Taggy Matcher & Birdy Nixon.

#3. Smorgasburg LA has got the foodie in us (my husband and I) oh so satisfied. It's like a food festival but every Sunday. Thanks to the people behind this for bringing it all the way from Brooklyn.

#4. Santa Monica Pier Twilight Concert Series make us fall in love with the West side just a little bit more each year. This time around they've really up their game on the line-up, the poster and venue design plus other fun stuff at the venue such as free candy and fresh flower bars, like whoa!

 

#5. LA Food Fest 2016 warmed our souls to the max. This marks our second food fest and most definitely not our last.

#6. Oh Happy Day's instagram feed. All those colors I can just soak up into!

#7.  Melbourne artist Casey Freeman's beautiful works with ink.

#8. Cafe 86's Ube Latte. Ube is a tasty purple root vegetable that commonly grows in the Philippines so having anything Ube brings me back home. Though "latte" is very foreign back in the tropics, it's so darn inventive of the people behind Cafe 86 to come up with such a thing as Ube Latte. It's sooo good though! You're going to want one every day even when it's long past summer.

What made your summer?

Love & Letters,

Personalized Note Cards

Hello friends!

All over Los Angeles, the wind and sun are not showing any signs of slowing down in lieu of fall. "What fall?" asks the locals. And here I thought I bought my bike way too late for summer, but nope! Having all this heat deceives me into thinking we're still in June but my massive wall calendar tells me otherwise. SEPTEMBER! Time to think about presents, cookies, Christmas trees, and personalized note cards! I always enjoy designing our own note cards (you can view our 2009 and 2010 cards here) and this time around, I am opening up my doors and graphic designing skills to anyone who wants their own special note cards, too!

A couple of months after New Year 2011, good friend, Lynn Kwan approached me for a surprise she wanted to give to her Beatles fanatic boyfriend, Chad Porter for V-day. She let me have the creative freedom which for me is the only way an artist should be able to work (ideally)! I ran the whole nine yards hyper ecstatic and it was incredibly rewarding to have very satisfied customers at the end of the line.

Meet Lynn Kwan and Chad Porter.

I'm a major Beatles fan myself (and saw my favorite Beatle, Paul McCartney at Coachella '09!) so it was a bit challenging where or how to start; which song to pick, which album, which image, etc. Finally, Lynn suggested I use the 'All You Need Is Love' song which is appropriate for Valentine's.

The animated version of the fab four from the famous "Yellow Submarine" film was too irresistible for me not to use, and how fun would it be to make Lynn and Chad like Heinz Edelmann's characters?

Lynn's Valentine's card for Chad has definitely up my inclination in designing personalized note cards especially after she posted this testimonial on my Etsy shop.

I am now excitedly working on wedding invitations for a wonderful pen pal in France! Stay tuned for that! And if you want your very own personalized note cards, email me at letterparade@gmail.com and quit sending massed produced cards that are no more special than the paper and envelope they come with!

Happy writing!

Cindy Gonzales-Kujat

Framed & Lovely

Hello friends!

My blog entry "Free Stuff Monday" last month had subscriber Marinette suggesting that I should post the free stuff here instead of posting on my face book page where I've shared ten stationery designs that are free to be downloaded and printed for personal correspondence. Though I only have 32 followers here and 272 (and counting!) on face book, I know it's wrong and unfair to neglect sharing with my faithful subscribers here. So, to Marinette and you my faithful reader, I am making up for it starting with these three new stationery designs I call 'Framed & Lovely.'

Design No.1 - "Black Flowers"
I was looking into my old designs and dug up one of the Paris-inspired note cards I did way back at the urging of my mother-in-law, Donna. The pink frame accent struck a creative chord that lead to the creation of all three in this series. I may want to create more in the same style, or create a completely different design. 

Design No. 2 - "Sea Creatures"
So far, all the ten stationery designs I've shared through my face book page had nothing on summer, and it's terrible because it's my favorite season! So, here's to summer and the countless fun memories I've had at the beach growing up as an island girl.

Design No. 3 - "Tribal"
This one uses elements that I've previously used on an earlier stationery design. I love these characters so you'll definitely be seeing more of them here!

I am seriously considering getting these printed and sell as notepads on my shop only if they're worth putting on the shelf. What do you think?

29 Ways to Stay Creative

"Being Creative" and "Staying Creative" are two very different things. The former at times I can force myself to be, but staying creative would be ideal and whenever I'm stuck in a rut I always beat myself up. When I found this list I am reminded that I am reminded by my younger days when just being spontaneous and having fun actually helps me become more creative for longer periods of time.

A few weeks after I found this list, a video by Japanese motion graphics agency Tofu Design was passed around by design blogs, and just like the list, the video was well done and not one less inspiring. 

Renegade Craft Fair 2011

Dear friends,

We had a blast today at the Renegade Craft Fair by Chinatown, well, my husband would beg to differ but I’m glad he came along! I can fairly say I took more time (than last year’s) to see a good amount of merch up-close and though I did spend for a few paper goods, a terrarium and two Uppercase magazines, I’m proud to say I didn’t go too crazy with my debit card.

I’d have to say, because of the 405 freeway closure (carmageddon!) it is noticeably less crowded. I spoke to some vendors and they confirmed that compare to last year, it’s been slow! I wonder what the people behind RCF will do next year when the City of Los Angeles will close the 405 once again! I sure do hope it won’t fall on the same weekend, but I don’t think that’ll stop me from going! After all, we made it there today!

So here are some photos from the fair:

Dan sampling the preserves.

 

You can view the entire album here.

I couldn't resist trying the FREE photo booth provided by Magbooth. What a fun way to cap a wonderful craft-ful day! 

Thanks to the people behind Renegade Craft Fair! See you all next year!

A Confession

Dear friends,

I have a confession to make.......................

I'm.......

a..........

SNACKER!!!!

A certified, chronic, obsessive, interminable, eternal snacker. The idea of skipping proper meal for bars (yes, BARS) of chocolate or a bag of chips to me is nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, I could live solely on snacks and won't have a problem with it. Heck, that is my idea of diet!

It doesn't help that I was born out of snacker parents, one was into sweets and the other into the salty stuff. So much so that the one into sweets now has diabetes and the other into salty snacks lost a kidney (around the time I was born) due to so much salt consumption! I know, those two facts should serve as my double, persistently-waved red flags. I would, in more than one occasion joke that I should be fine since I'm a good mix of both. For now, it's too early to tell how this would all boil down to.

Substituting chocolates with fruits and chips with peanuts just don't cut it! And the loves of my life indulge me, so you see, I really am in no position to complain (not that I would care to anyway!).

My Mah sends me and my husband boxful of treats several times a year, while my mother-in-law whips up yummy bars and cookies on special occasions. Whenever she travels to France (the other love of her life) and other parts of Europe, she always brings us (or mostly me, my husband doesn't want to have anything  to do with the chocolates save for a couple of bites) these chocolates that make you feel like a billionaire with every bite!

I've always loved European chocolates, they put all other chocolates to shame! Here's what my mother-in-law, Donna recently brought back.

I also have a soft spot for nice boxes and packaging, so this one is definitely a keeper long after the chocolates are gone, and they are long gone!

Here are other chocolates and other snacks with cool packaging (waiting to be sampled and blogged about some time in the future):

Ardeche - Chocolate covered chestnut

Askinosie



Mast Brothers

Olive & Sinclair

Taza Chocolate

Moonstruck

The Frenchy Bee

Is a wonderful source of French products from cooking and baking ingredients, cakes, candies, beauty supplies, etc. Here are some of the snacks they carry that I've got my eyes on:

Microwaveable Fondue Dark Chocolate with 70% REAL Cocoa.

La Mere Poulard Galettes au Caramel au Beurre Salé - Salted Butter Caramel Galettes in Collector's Tin

 

La Mere Poulard Palets de Bretagne - Collector Tin

This is supposedly more crumbly rather than crisp and more buttery, too, than the Galettes above.

Both have irresistibly awesome tin packaging though! 

Le Petit Saunier French Salted Butter Caramels - Caramel au BeurreSalé

The packaging reminds me of a beauty soap bar you can find at luxury hotels!

Paris Caramels - 9% Charentes-Poitou Pure French Butter - Vanilla French Caramels 

Also available in Fig & Walnut, Hazelnut, Chocolate and the packaging just as elegant.

Amazon also carries a good selection of imported goods.

French Dark Chocolate Truffles.
There are lots of it but this is probably the only one that comes in a wooden box. Now, how chic is that?

 

Chocolat Bonnat Trinite 75% Dark Chocolate Bar.

There are nine classifications available on Amazon, this one is trinite just one of the nine places they sourced the cocoa from. Makes you want to sample all to find out which has the best!

30 pcs. 100% Natural Basswood Chocolate.

It comes in a thick wooden crate and is handmade by Pascal Caffet, World Chamion French Chocolatier. It doesn't get any richer than this!

Primo Pan Noccioli Hazelnut Cookies with Chocolate from Italy.

Beats any premium biscotti out there just by the packaging alone!

 

Bellagio Cocoa (French Vanilla, Chocolate Truffle, Caramel Praline) Gift Set                                    This is perhaps the most classy hot chocolate packaging I've ever seen. I wonder how each tastes like!

 

 
French Broad is another online source for premium chocolates and they offer a service they call "chocolate subscription," how awesome is that? I've yet to try their services but I can surely vouch for Foodzie, a San Francisco based company that hand-packs handpicked artisan products in single-serving sizes cleverly called, The Tasting Box. My first subscription came in the mail yesterday and I am hooked! Can't wait for next month's harvest!

Foodzie July Tasting Box
I am in love with their Black Truffle + Aged White Cheddar gourmet popcorn by 479° Popcorn and Botanical Bakery's Fennel Pollen shortbread cookies.

And in the subject of snacks, See's Candies is having a National Lollipop Day Sweepstakes until July 23, 2011. You could win a trip for two to San Francisco for the VIP See's Factory tour or $50 worth gift cards! 

My go-to chocolates for my pen-pals are the minis from Ghirardelli. They are small enough like tea-bags to fit in letters and have very exciting seasonal flavors, too like Eggnog for Christmas.

So, what kind of a snacker are you?