Calligraphy with Maybelle

Woohoo- I loved last night's calligraphy class with Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls! I've been wanting to learn calligraphy for as long as I can remember! I've loved Maybelle's work since I saw it in Martha Stewart Weddings 10 years ago. Maybelle has taught a few workshops in San Francisco, but I was super thrilled that last night's class was at Twin Soul Art Studio in downtown Los Gatos, which is just a short drive away! 

In a previous life, I did a lot of envelope addressing for my invitation clients (you can check out my handwriting here). I've always loved mail, handwriting, and vintage stamps, so calligraphy was always a natural next step. I have to admit I have never liked my cursive handwriting, so I was a bit reluctant to try calligraphy. I included "Take a calligraphy class" on my Life List (#8!!) as well as this year's Goals and Ideas list! Maybelle is one of my very favorite calligraphers so I feel super lucky that she's out-and-about teaching workshops! Using nibs under Maybelle's guidance was really fun and my handwriting wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! She even made us a personalized ink and pen holder! We got lots of practice paper, extra ink, and a sweet practice notebook. Here are a few photos from last night's class. 

Baby Advent Calendar :: Safari West

Yesterday's Baby Advent Calendar adventure was the big one: Safari West in Sonoma County! We had such a great time riding on the bumpy Jeep and trying to stay warm! It was great to see all the animals on the preserve and we both learned a lot about so many different animals! We hit the tour jackpot and saw so many amazing animals up close! A baby dama gazelle was born yesterday morning and we got to see the baby walking around and nursing. There were giraffes, Watusi Cattle, cheetahs, Cape Buffalo, rhinocerous, Red River Hog, wildebeast and a few kinds of antelope ("Daddy, I saw a baby cantaloupe!!") But none got closer than those curious ostriches. They followed us around all afternoon and loved pecking at the truck. Here are a few photos from our adventure. 

Fire Station Birthday Party

While we were visiting Athens, GA, our sweet pal celebrated his 5th birthday! In honor of the occasion, his super rad mom arranged to have the birthday party at Fire Station #1. It was probably the best $10 she's ever spent because her son had an amazing time! We got the full tour of the station and a truck. The firefighter host even put on all of his gear piece-by-piece for all of the kids. After the tour, we ate cake and opened presents (the Super Hero Car was a big hit- see below!) in their kitchen. Double Dutch Press printed blank notebooks for one of the party favors using one of the birthday boy's fire truck drawings and how cute are the matchstick pretzels?!!


Baby Advent Calendar :: Dioramas

Day 3 of our Baby Advent Calendar was to finish the dioramas that I started in January (check out the Instragram I posted from step 1)! I used old wooden wine & whiskey boxes, painted them grey, added fabric*, and screwed them into the wall. Toss in some animals and trees and we're good to go! I'm sure there will be add-ons as time goes... I'd love to make little ladders & hooks from the bottom, but this is a good start and our son loves them!

*I glued fabric to cardboard (Elmer's) and then screwed the boxes to the wall. When I placed the fabric in the boxes you couldn't see the screws :)