ho:burger design

movin and groovin

2009-12-01T23:04:00.000-08:00

please check out my new company blog at: fish+cake design

this is where i will be updating from now on. thanks for reading and i hope you will continue to do so at my new site!

unexpected office video

2009-11-02T22:52:00.000-08:00

this video is hilarious. if only all offices were this much fun!

stuff i like

2009-11-02T22:18:00.000-08:00

i forgot where i came across these terrariums but i instantly fell in love.
i had to do a search to find it again so i could share it with you!

this gold one especially just kills me. awesome design and it always bring out a little giggle in me. it is just so silly yet if i had the means i would buy one in a second!

also a little silly but so whimsical and sweet is this bookshelf that i found on the same site.

(via swiss miss)

wild cupcakes

2009-10-12T19:31:00.001-07:00

i know everyone has posted about this kid already but for the few who have still not seen it... tada! SO DANG CUTE!! the perfect little max.

also found these cupcakes. if i had these i don't think i could bear to eat them!

Wild Things

2009-10-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

T-5 days until Where the Wild Things Are movie comes out and I cannot wait!

The Morgan Library Museum currently has an exhibit up with Maurice Sendak's original drawings and they are so amazing to see. He makes little notes to himself as he is writing out ideas so it is cool to see how the final product came to be and what the alternate versions were like (example a different idea for the cover).

I also stumbled across this website via twig & thistle where a variety of artists create works inspired by Sendak. there are so many great ones but these are two of my favorites.

all these images are getting me pumped even more for the movie!

diaper cake #2

2009-10-01T19:12:00.001-07:00

for our dear friend jessica we got back together to put combine our creative forces :)

since jessica is expecting a baby boy we thought this cake topper would make a good friend for him and keep him company while growing up.

we love the polka dot ribbon and festive feel of this cake!

awesomeness

2009-09-23T19:13:00.001-07:00

i've got to say that i am a huge fan of dallas clayton.

his first and only book an awesome book, which he produced and sold on his own, was a huge success and now he is touring the country reading to kids and giving away a book for every book sold.
the first time i read it online i had to go back and read it again..and then again... and then i had to purchase one for my niece when really i should have purchased one for myself too.

in my opinion it is up there with the lorax, the hungry caterpillar, the little prince, and where the wild things are.. some of my all time favorites!

i love the page "and not a million quiet dreams a million dreams that roar"
what a good reminder :)

please go read and dream a roaring dream!

sail away...

2009-08-26T15:05:00.001-07:00

found this image on an old post from a cup of jo

i had been thinking about getting a tattoo for awhile now but have never come across an image i would want on my body for the rest of my life. when i saw this i thought it would be quite nice, smaller and on my back...

i love to travel. i love water. i love the idea of sailing away on a little ship...

yea or nay?

gift box

2009-08-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

my friend melissa's beautiful wedding invitations! i feel so privileged to have received one because it really seemed like i was opening a present! i can see she put the utmost care into creating every single piece.

baby shower

2009-08-10T22:34:00.000-07:00

i joined a few talented friends early saturday morning to create a diaper cake for our dear pregnant friend carol :)

we chose a sage and chocolate brown color to match the item's on the registry and hyung created a cute little "peas in a pod" illustration as the focal piece.

we completed the look with cellophane wrapping and matching ribbon! it looked so professional and elegant in the end and we were very happy with how it turned out!

if anyone is in need of a diaper cake we are available for hire :P

brooklyn botanical gardens + union square

2009-08-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

swoon

2009-07-24T16:07:00.001-07:00

i am head over heels in love ... with a dress.

{via oncewed}

happy weekend! as i left work today i felt the greatest sense of J O Y. a whole week of anything i desire like waking up and walking down the street to my favorite bagel place (which i normally have to reserve for special saturday mornings) and ordering an egg, cheese, sausage, and tomato sandwich on a whole wheat everything toasted bagel. monday at 10.00am. at a decent hour when one should wake up. drool.

but along with the joy was that little twinge of worry. what will happen while i'm gone? who will unjam the printer? who will make emergency proposal covers? emergency ads!? will the corner sushi woman worry that i have deserted her for a fancier place?

ahhh well then life goes on and all i can think is this week is all mine. J O Y.

etsy mania

2009-07-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

while doing a little blog surfing i came across oh, hello friend and then across her etsy site. i fell in love immediately (this happens often on etsy...the artists selling on this site are just amazing)! i ended up purchasing two items!! ack there goes my resolution to stop shopping.

but for a handmade item...it doesn't seem so wrong :)

beautiful right!? the ring is actually a little locket (i got mine in yellow)! oh dear i cannot wait to get these in the mail..

logo mania

2009-07-20T20:34:00.000-07:00

it has been a busy summer so far and that has been a great experience! i am starting to realize how difficult it is to freelance and and how much i still have to learn. there have definitely been some mistakes along the way but each step is a process and i am learning!

here's one of the logos i have worked on recently:

washtenaw housing alliance is a non-profit organization in michigan that fights to end homelessness in washtenaw county. a great mission! check it out if you have time.

currently i am working on a logo for a church plant in minnesota. it is called New City Covenant Church and you can read about it on their website. that should keep me busy for the next week and then i have a whole week of july 27-31 as vacation! i thought about going somewhere beautiful and fantastic like oh happy day writer (her photos of brazil look amazing).

instead i will be here in little old new york. finally with some real time to myself i have made a huge TO DO list of things i want to accomplish! knowing me the list will be about 3 pages long and i might get through 5 items if i am really diligent :)

maybe ill post my list next time so that at least it is out there and anyone reading might encourage me to really get all those things done!

creatures in my head

2009-07-11T15:42:00.000-07:00

stumbled upon Meg Hunt's work while reading through How's 17 Rising Stars.
i fell in love with the creative monsters she creats with needle felting (apparently this is a technique where you poke at fluffy wool until it forms a shape!) and she also does some great illustrative patterns. c-c-check it out.

maybe ill come across this little guy in my dreams tonight...

roses + grilled cheese happiness

2009-07-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

happy somewhere-around-two-year anniversary love

a day off

2009-07-05T20:16:00.000-07:00

oatmeal + chocolate chip cookies : recipe from smittenktichen. i left out the pecans and made them too big so they turned out more square than round but still delicious! can't wait to try it out again to get the perfect chewy texture.

yellow chair view from the highline

wildflower in the city

purple windows

old school meets new

2009-06-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

love this little casset wallet by adam tolsma.

enter for your own chance to win at HOW design!

i might be on that site everyday for awhile hoping for one of these!

cold spring new york

2009-06-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

i am heading to cold spring, new york this saturday and i cannot wait!

there will be antique shopping (super excited for some yummy finds), hiking, and tasting of a delicious popsicle if i can find the popsicle lady!

from time out new york

from nytimes.com

will be back on monday with hopefully some great photos!

american museum of natural history

2009-06-20T09:39:00.000-07:00

i took a vacation day this friday to take some time for myself and it was wonderful! got to walk around the city on a nice day and finally check out this museum. it is now one of my favorite places in the city.

i paid extra to go to the special Frogs exhibit which was pretty neat...some of the frogs were a little too creepy for me but these are the ones i like!

clockwise from top left: dart poison frog; ??? sorry cannot remember; waxy monkey frog; chinese gliding frog

the hall of biodiversity and one display from the new york city mammals

the large mammal displays were just amazing! so realistic with the beautiful paintings that blend seamlessly. the artists did an amazing job and i think it would be so fun to do that kind of work!

from the hall of north american birds. looks almost like a painting!

then i went and enjoyed a shake shack shroom burger (portobello mushroom stuffed with cheese and then fried! yumyum. i was too hungry to snap a shot of it but here is what their regular burger looks like..

wash the dishes!

2009-06-06T07:34:00.000-07:00

i've had an etsy site for awhile now...mostly for purchases but one day i hope to start selling.

in the mean time i have posted a couple of things my mom has made! every time i go visit she gives me these wool dishwashing loofahs that she SWEARS is the best thing to wash your dishes with. it gets out all of that grease from your pots and pans w/o scratching it.

i just think they look cute so i decided maybe some other moms and dads and or anybody who does dishes might want to try this baby out.

voila! a couple are now on my etsy site. a few more designs to come.

buttons = happiness

2009-06-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

i think i must invest in a button maker.

for my friend's graduation i decided to surprise her with a little home made cheer.
these buttons were super easy to make once i finished the design, thanks to a coworker who owns a machine it took just a few steps to create one of these bad boys!

she just graduated from optometry school so it was fun to come up with some cheesy lines :)

lovely pocket book

2009-05-26T15:26:00.000-07:00

thank you lovely design for this great giveaway!
i am always reading her blog and love all the great products she sells on this site.

i can't wait to get my own pocket book in the mail with an "autograph" from her daughter!

i had a great time this weekend in iowa with my family. watching juha change into a person with personality and character is so exciting! here are a few pictures of the weekend.

we went to a hobby lobby and found these wooden letters on sale. so we took them home to paint and hang up...i think it looks lovely for something so cheap and simple!

my sister is an amazing cook. she made bibimbap (rice, sauted beef and carrots, lettuce, fried egg, cucumbers, and sweet/spicy red sauce to mix it all around) and odeng (fish cake) for lunch.

leaf studies

2009-05-21T20:49:00.000-07:00

i stumbled upon some old art work tonight. these are from a color theory class from my junior year of college. one of the toughest classes ever but also one of the most rewarding... Castagnacci you are one bad ass teacher.

re:creation

2009-05-18T20:34:00.000-07:00

Queenswest Church held an art exhibition at the Cee Flat in Brooklyn this past Saturday. I couldn't make it but I showed a couple of pieces. I heard it was a fun event and hope it will become an annual thing!

my submissions

boxed owl
20.5"(w) x 16.5"(h)
mixed media

flight
15"x22"
intaglio and bookbinding

Cape May Wedding

2009-05-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

My old old friend Grace Kim married David Hong this weekend. What a beautiful simple wedding that was fun and filled with such joy! Thank you for letting me celebrate this great day with you guys!

the town of cape may is adorable. houses like this throughout the neighborhood.

we came across a ton of antique stores. this one was called olde lights and had some beautiful lamps and chandeliers.

before the ceremony, a view of southern mansion.

walking around i noticed this bird cage.

the entrance just blew me away.

after the ceremony the jug band started playing. they were so talented!

polaroid stations provided a ton of fun for us.

downstairs area for dancing and speeches. loved the blue and yellow color walls.

missed a photo opportunity of the first dance but this is when they dance with the family.

lastly just wanted to post a quick wedding card i made with the happy tape i got in the mail on friday. indeed it is well named because i was so truly happy using it!

ranunculus munculus

2009-04-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

walking through the city today i found heaven.

a whole avenue devoted to flowers! the street was filled what whatever sort of flowers and plants you could imagine!

i had to buy some of my favorite. the fresh cut kind as well as some potted ones to test my green thumb. please hope i don't kill them like i have with most of my plants!

any one out there who know a lot about how to grow ranunculus?? any advice is welcome!

polarific

2008-12-22T20:18:00.000-08:00

thanks to a fellow blogger i discovered the wonder of poladroid! it makes my normal photos into a polaroid quality photo that i so dearly love!

Queenswest retreat

bug driving by (this is one of my favs)

kayla and ella

heather and phu's wedding (original photo from jimimages)

new light switch i just made! got the idea from timeout ny. i love how i have a bird theme going on on my walls :)

newness

2008-12-10T21:26:00.000-08:00

oh geesh i knew i would be bad at keeping up with this blog.
i haven't done anything creative in forever! but i'm trying...

in the mean time i am trying to explore my cooking abilities. i recently rekindled my love of baking and eating cookies. so of course the first batch came out in utter failure! i found the recipe online. they were organic peanut butter healthy cookies...no butter and sugar! i think this was the reason why they did not taste good...but it could also have been because i strayed from the recipe. anyway these were so awful they did not deserve a photoshoot!

on the other hand....these plain old chocolate chip cookies they were so soft and chewy and delicious! hyung, melissa and i made these from an recipe found online. these of course are full of fat and probably why they turned out so yummy.

this was also a pleasant cooking surprise! bowtie pasta, sweet italian sausage, tomatoes, parsley, cream, garlic, green onions, and some other spices. amazingly simple and yummy!! i will definitely be making this again.

as for art...i have been getting inspired by etsy lately. i ended up buying this cute little necklace while doing a search...the envelope opens up to an "i love you" note :)

i have a ton of little side jobs i need to focus on but lately i haven't been motivated. i'm hoping the little things around me will inspire and refocus me.

til next time! i hope i have something to show besides food :)

2008-10-23T19:53:00.000-07:00

just got back from dallas celebrating the marriage of one of my closest friends... so happy for a new beginning and nostalgic for our youthful past.

anywho we will always be young at heart! being married makes no difference :)

here's a little coupon i designed for the girl's gift to them.

and here is another delicious food photo! one of my favorite fruits :)

wish list

2008-10-14T13:00:00.001-07:00

egg planters from jschatz.com

i love!

green delight

2008-10-12T15:34:00.001-07:00

my den of creativity...its bigger than it looks! :P
as you can see there are the essentials..coffee, ipod, and random things to distract myself when i need it!

and i have become addicted to the health food store down the street from my office. wasabi peas, brown rice with veggies and black sesame seeds, tofu with buckwheat soba noodles, and best of all...edamame!

animals

2008-10-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

making paintings for juha

hi there

2008-08-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

here i am to blog.

do ra do.... hmm it is harder than i thought.
well heres a reminder : cherish the small things