i'm married with 3 kids, i live in the burbs, and just a few weeks ago, we deposited our suv for a mini {no, not a mini cooper, a minivan!  don't judge.  i never thought i'd say this, but minivans are spacious and awesome}.  deep down though, i'd like to call myself a city girl.  i was born in chicago.  went to college in chicago.  got married in chicago.  bought our first home in chicago.  got my first post college job in chicago.  so even though i'm 20 some miles away from the big city, i'm a chicago girl at heart.

then the sketch is re-drawn to scale...

then i take the drawing... scan it at high resolution and upload it to illustrator.  that's where i "clean" up the artwork, convert it to vector line art, add font, and prepare the file to send out to the platemaker 

for this card, i chose to have a photopolymer plate made.  after a few days, the plate arrived and off to printing i go...

only after a few days of being listed in the shop, i received an email form a local store owner, kara.  she went on to say that she loved the chicago cards and wanted to know if i do retail.  what?  do i do retail?  i pretty much fell off my chair and died for a little bit!  i mean, me with my little printing venture and my sister's sketches that she doodles at her kitchen table!  are you kidding me?  after several email exchanges, there you go.  boxed sets of the "with love... from Chicago" cards have gone retail.  

where you ask?  magnificent milestones at 472 w. erie {in chicago of course!}... a local paper shop carrying everything paper with big name invitation brands like kate spade, martha stewart, and vera wang as well as little local folks with boxed sets of letterpress printed chicago cards =)

happy wednesday!  i've been busy taking care of the new peanut and printing that i am backed up with my blogging.  time to catch up.

i'm fond of animals, but not all fuzzy creatures.  we have a few open lots near our home and during this past winter season, a furry animal found refuge in our warm garage... a field mouse!!!  pregnant with my big belly, i was not about to print in my little garage shop with an unwanted visitor,  but i had some projects that could not wait until the little critter was caught!

enter my husband, my "unofficial assistant".  i set up the press and with my supervision, my husband helped me print and complete a project for Tails of Love Animal Rescue, a new york based non-profit organization.  zarina from Tails of Love contacted me to create note cards and thank you cards with their organization's logo.  here's what they are all about about {visit their facebook page to learn more and become a fan}:

We are a 501(c)3 animal rescue. We save lives. We are committed to creating a compassionate community where there are no more stray, abandoned, or neglected animals and where destroying animals is no longer used as a means of population control. No matter if the animals are unwanted, abused, neglected, or ill we are dedicated to ensuring their life forward is an amazing one. We rescue from high kill, overcrowded shelters. We vet, transport and foster pets until the perfect match is made between you and one of our adoptable pets !

a big thanks to zarina and Tails of Love Animal Rescue for letting me work with your great organization!

{and a big thank you to my husband for helping me out... he enjoyed printing and working with the heavy machinery!}

there must be a lot of baby making going on!  in the month of februray, 28 baby cards have sold in the etsy shop... 18 bun in the oven cards and a set of 10 pram cards.

if you read the blog, you know that our little bun came out teeny, tiny weighing in at 4 pounds and 3 ounces.  after only a month, our little peanut has gained a womping 2 pounds.  here she is sitting on my postal scale... her thighs are starting to form chubby rolls... mommy loves it!

hello blog friends!  i've been on a little sabbatical, i know.  i have good reason though... i gave birth to my third born!  she came out a tiny, but mighty little thang at a whopping 4 pounds and 3 oz!  {i normally don't get  very personal here in my little blog space, but i'm about to get a little personal}  i was discharged from the hospital in normal time, but my little peanut had to stay at the hospital longer than expected and not in the regular nursery, she was admitted to the NICU {neonatal intensive care unit}.  when i found out that i was going to be discharged but my baby was going to have to stay in the hospital a bit longer, i was hysterical a complete and utter mess.  how do you carry a baby in utero for 9 months, give birth to the baby, then just go home WITHOUT the baby??  that just isn't right.  needless to say, the fabulous NICU staff took fantastic care of our little peanut and before we knew it, our baby came home... hooray!  i was saddened though by our little peanut's baby neighbors in the NICU that couldn't go home with their families, especially the babies that had been there for months.. sigh.  thank goodness for modern medicine and excellent hospital care.  now the real work has begun!  i am home with 2 very active toddlers and a newborn.  holy cow.

prior to the baby being born, i consciously made the decision not to close the shop down and continue to take orders... this decision has somewhat kept me sane.  when the baby naps {which is a LOT}, i've started to get back into the swing of things... responding to etsy inquiries and emails, printing, etc... despite that i am really exhausted, it's nice to have a little "me" time when everyone is sound asleep.

have i told you that i LOVE working with brides and grooms to create invitations for their special day?! before the holidays, i was able to reconnect with an old college friend and collaborate with her and her hubby-to-be to bring to life what they envisioned for their wedding invitations.  they are getting hitched in warm st. thomas and wanted a boarding pass inspired wedding invite... here is the finished product.  thank you linda and red for letting me create the invites for your very special day!  {do you want letterpress printed invitations for your special event?  contact me!}