Little souvenirs.

On our way home from Tahoe last weekend, we stopped by the lake to take some photos. (Insert gratuitous scenery shots here)

There were tons of cute little pinecones on the ground and I collected a few to take home. I took some quick shots of them that afternoon but was tired from the long drive and decided to spend some time to take more photos later. Here are a couple of those first shots.

Yesterday, I decided to give it a go again. The light was better the first time around, but I was really surprised when I saw this:

I thought I had three different cones, but I really only had two! That second one had opened up in the past two days and now looked just like the first and third one. Funny! I thought someone was playing a joke on me for a minute and switched it. Here are a couple more shots from my weekend.

So pretty! I had a great time up in the mountains, but now I have a cold so I'm spending my leap day on the couch under a blanket. How are you spending this bonus day?

Weekend away.

I'm heading out today for a weekend trip to Lake Tahoe! I plan on spending lots of time drinking coffee with my feet up, reading books, and spending time with my 3 year old niece. We'll also do some hiking and take the gondola up to the top of the mountain, and maybe I'll come home with a few kitschy souvenirs like these vintage ones on Etsy.

Photo postcard from the 50's from thevintagemode.

Felt pennant from Nachokitty.

Travel booklet from prettypink06.

Ski Tahoe pin from thetailorsstories.

Ponderosa Ranch plate from LHMercantile 

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Have a great weekend!

Blue valentine.

There are TONS of cute Valentine's Day gifts and projects going around on the internet this year and I'm really enjoying seeing alternative colors used besides the traditional red and pink. So, if you're feeling blue this V Day, here are some of my Etsy picks. If you ask me, any of these items would make great little valentine gifts.

Sweet little chickadee, from SeaPinks.

If you couldn't tell, I love lamps. Especially this pretty aqua number from MelloMermaid.

Blue floral scarf from trashyvintage.

Show of your V Day bouquet in this cute vase from LittleDogVintage.

Simple screen printed card from sassandperil.

These polka dot heart cookies look delicious! From katiessomethingsweet.

Give you valentine one of screen printed letters in their initials from EdiesLab.

Cool chevron earrings with a hint of aqua, from prairieoats.

Happy Valentine's Day, friends! ♥

Do you Instagram?

I set up an Instagram account on my iphone a few months ago, and have really gotten into posting design and screen printing process pics, and photos of interesting things and places I come across. It's so much fun! I love the immediacy of it. Just snap a photo, add a filter (or not), and post! You can automatically post your photos to Facebook and Twitter, or just keep them private for yourself or your Instagram followers.

I love that the filters can dress up your photos a little bit, so if they were taken under poor light conditions or are a little out of focus, they can still look cool and artistic! I find myself looking at things differently, now and wondering "would that make a good instagram photo?"

And, yeah, that's me running outside right after it's rained to take pictures of my succulents. If you'd like to see more, follow me! @vitaminimodern

Charley Harper for Ford Times.

Like so many other design-ey folks on the web, I am a huge Charley Harper fan. This is for many reasons: First of all, I love that he was a screen printer. His slick style of combining simple geometric shapes to create abstracted versions things we are all familiar with really lends itself to the mass/void technique in which screen print designs are based. Second, I love the era of his artwork. Third, he was really clever! His work had a sense of humor. Almost all of his art prints came with a little descriptive poem that he wrote describing the scene or the subjects of the prints. Fourth, he used great colors. I can probably come up with the 5th, 6th, and 7th reasons, but you get the idea. So far, I have one of Charley's serigraphs (fancy name for screen print). Beetle Battle, dated 1971. I snagged it on a whim with a "Make an Offer" auction on Ebay a few years ago. Needless to say, it's the pride and joy of my little art collection.

Not the greatest photo. I snapped this one when I first took it out of the box. I was so excited!

You can see it in the background of this product shot.

A few years ago, when I was first reading up on Charley and his work and learned that one of his first long-standing illustration jobs was for Ford Times. Ford Times was a free monthly publication that Ford printed as a promotional piece. It's main objective was to get Americans out onto the road exploring our great country, in Ford cars, of course!

Ford Times had running articles on American landmarks, restaurants to try when you're traveling, and articles on the newest innovations in the auto world. I started buying vintage Ford Times issues here and there about 3 years ago, and have amassed a decent little collection. Harper illustrated the two issue covers from 1954 shown here. I love that squirrel.

He started out illustrating recipes and miscellaneous articles, then moved on to the features that he became known for. Like the his "Feeding Station Birds" about American birds and "Horseless Carriage Adventures" about landmarks you can explore with your car. Below is a portion of his birds feature. You can see the instructions on the left side of the page for ordering the prints of the birds. Only $4.50 each! 

 

These little publications are great pieces of history. I enjoy reading through them and getting an idea of the times and how things have changed. I was looking through a few of my newly-acquired issues and came across this column that made me laugh:

I should read up on these helpful tips! You can read more about Charley Harper and his work for Ford Times in the "Ford Times Retrospective" on the Charley Harper Prints website.