Hey all! I updated ThePaperGnome calendar so that it goes from August 2012- July 2013, a perfect back-to-school gift for teachers or students! Click the image above or right here to see the listing.

I kind of fell into a black pit of blogging after the holiday. I wish I could say I spent that time away on a relaxing vacation or something like that, but really I’ve just been incredibly busy. I’m in the process of starting a new job, and I’m switching to third shift, so I’ve got some adjusting to do. I just wanted to stop by to say that blogging should resume at a normal pace at the beginning of next week.

Sorry about the lack of posting yesterday. I was all in a rush because I had a job interview for a graphic design position! I think it went well, but I won’t know if I got the job for up to 2 weeks, which is a bummer. I feel really good about it though and the man who interviewed seemed pretty impressed with my work. Wish me luck!

In the mean time, here’s a piece from my portfolio that I particularly love. It’s a picnic basket kit woven out of paper. I think that it’s super cute and the best part was it only cost $6 to make.

There will be no more posts this week because this lady is off to Tennessee for some camping under the stars and amazing music performances. Have a good one!

I was inspired to make these invitations when I lived in a tiny bland apartment. I found these tiny potted plant starters in the dollar section at Target and decided to start a little window garden. How much fun would it be to have a little party where guests would assemble these tiny plants to take home to liven up their apartments? It would also be fun to make terrariums as the take home gift.  Also, in case anyone is interested, the fonts used in this piece are Lobster and Quicksand (both free fonts!).

I don’t know why that song gets stuck in my head every time I work on these bachelorette party invitations. Which, by the way, seems like forever. I started these months ago but was told to put them off to work on other more time sensitive projects. But now it’s May and it’s time to send them out. I blurred out some information in the photos below to protect the identities of my friends.

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Allow me to introduce you to my campaign dresser. I’m in the middle of refinishing it. I spent 90% of this past weekend sanding this baby to this beautiful blonde wood. I spent the weekend before scrubbing all the hardware with brasso until it sparkled. Next weekend I’m going to use some wood filler on any imperfections then prime it with some Zinsser oil based primer and then I’ll be ready to paint it! I still haven’t decided what color, but I’m leaning towards navy or slate. I’m taking my time making up my mind and with all the steps really, because I want the finished product to be flawless. I didn’t spend nearly a year trying to find a campaign dresser just to rush the process.

Friday Fact No. 8: ThePaperGnome Prints are ON SALE NOW!!!  on Etsy. Feel free to Pin, Tweet, Facebook, what have you, and spread the word!

I just dropped a batch of graduation announcements in the mail for a certain Emily Bowie, and I think they turned out pretty cute. I am especially loving the Jessica Hische typography forever stamps (available at your post office now!)

They’re finally here, and I’m still unhappy with the photographs. Anyone have any tips for photographing documents? I just have a simple point and shoot camera, but I’m forever having difficulty with the lighting, which is always not enough, but if  I add a light source, the pictures yellow out too much. I also have trouble getting it to keep things like the text in focus because my camera wants to focus on the texture of the paper more than what’s on it.  Other than my technical difficulties/being an inept photographer, I was happy with the process of making these announcements.

ThePaperGnome has a new logo, and it’s made of paper! I like the direction it’s going in, but I want to make it again and try to get it a little cleaner, more uniform line weights and what not. What do you think?