congratulations Jenn & Brian!

My good friends, Jenn & Brian got engaged in Paris a few weeks ago. I received this delightful engagement announcement in the mail today. Crafted/designed by my pal, Jennifer Teixeira.

DIY Greek Yogurt!

I am extremely excited about this post. I just discovered there's no big secret to the deliciousness of Greek Yogurt; you can make yourself very easily! I already made 2 batches today. And it's delicious. : )

All you have to do is get some Plain yogurt - I used Stew Leonard's Plain which is a bargain at $3 for 5 small containers.

Line a sieve with a coffee filter and pour in the yogurt. Set in a bowl. Cover. And put it back in the fridge.

Every few hours you will see liquid accumulated on the bottom of the bowl. Go ahead an empty the milky water (I believe this is the whey). It will drain through the sieve verrrry slowly.

In about 12 hours, you will have amazing, thick, creamy, Dr Oz approved, Greek-style yogurt. ON THE CHEAP!

Add whatever toppings you like!
My personal favorite is fresh lemon + a drizzle of honey.

SOWN pillows

Came across these amazing one of a kind pillows from SOWN designs : by Rebecca Tegtmeyer. Artfully constructed remnants of vintage feed/flour/sugar/corn sacks. So so lovely.

je l'adore

From one of my MOST favorite specimens of typography (ever); an antique French printed road map. I melt every time I look at this thing of beauty. These scans are from a promotional insert within the map folder. I will include images of the map in a future posting. Slurp it up, typography lovers.

composting goodness

I've always been green concious, but it seems that becoming a new homeowner and new mom has made me green crazy. I would like leave this earth in pretty good shape for my daughter Silvia's grandchildren.

In an effort to do my part, I asked for a compost bin for my birthday this year. I requested it be made completely from found wood and materials in our yard/garage since the previous owners of our home left behind oodles of wood scraps, gardening supplies and tools.

So we started with 2 wooden shipping palettes (found in our garage) facing side-to-side. My husband then cut down some random pieces of wood to construct the front and back. He covered the top with some found chicken wire, and created a simple hinged door on the front. All in all it was pretty easy for a couple of carpenter newbees.

There's tons of composting information out there, which was very enlightening! One of the best sites I stumbled upon is compostinstructions.com. I seem to always go back there and get my questions answered.

I will let you know how my compost turns out this Spring!

DIY baseball cards; the old fashioned way

While going through some boxes the other night, my husband came across this baseball card he created when he was 12. Not only was I thoroughly impressed with his design skills; I was also quite charmed that he recorded his statistics on the reverse side.

urban garden bars

John & Kira's introduced their special edition Project Mintpatch "Urban Garden Bars" a couple of weeks ago at the Rittenhouse Square & Headhouse farmer's markets in Philadelphia. A small batch of 500 bars were sold for $7 each and 100% of profits were given back to the urban farmers. These "urban" mint farmers are inner city students/teens who cultivate mint in their schools and through community programs. For the full Project Mintpatch story, visit the J&K website.

Studio AG was responsible for naming the "Urban Garden Bars", logo design, and short-run packaging design. Labels were printed by moo.com.

basement treasures

I accidentally caused a smallish (harmless) flood in our basement last week. While mopping up, I noticed a handful of little packaging treasures on the shelf. Old items left behind by the different generations that have inhabited our house since it was built in 1940. Simple type + graphics + illustration. Pre-computer, pre-photoshop. Stuff like this makes me happy.

Toot-toot-tooting my own horn.

As I dip my toes into the deep sea of blogging, I might as well take this opportunity for some shameless self-promotion. : )

I'm extremely HAPPY to announce that my humble studio AG was awarded in the 365: AIGA Annual Design Exhibition 30. There were over 3800 entries, and 182 examples of design *excellence* were chosen.

This charming John & Kira's box system was created to reflect the extreme amount of tender care and absolute deliciousness that go into each and every handcrafted J&K chocolate. The letter pressed labels are printed with Mad Maude Press, and the boxes are being manufactured with Simkins Box Corp. in Philadelphia.