summer's coming

Happy Memorial day, everyone! We hit the BBQ train a bit early this year, as the rest of the long weekend was reserved for plowing through some work. In true work-from-home style, I'm sneaking out for a little overnight getaway tomorrow with a couple of ladyfriends rather than braving the crowds over the holiday weekend. But before I head off on a mystical journey to the sacred sands of Joshua Tree, have a look at the shoot Scott did! It makes me think of summertime and sherbet and faded out tank tops. I've updated The Good Twin site so you all can see real live photos of actual cards, rather than just vector illustrations (that foil is just soooo shiny) and above you can see a nice GIF supercut. Here's to a fantastic start to summer - may there be creamsicles and cold beer in your near future.

change is good

Well dudes, I'm just going to jump right in. It's springtime, and change is a comin'. After almost six years working with my friend John as the sole employees/makers/manufacturers at Dude and Chick, I'm moving on. Not entirely, and not immediately - I'll still be managing inventory, filling orders, handling accounts, and emailing all the amazing customers we have at Dude and Chick, at least for now. John will take the reigns, creatively speaking, and I have no doubt that he's going to continue the stationery sweetness that we built together.

But I'm ready to move in a different direction. I've found myself itching to start something new, something that is completely my own from the ground up, something born and raised under the bright California sky. So, after many jam packed evenings and weekends of preparation, I'm sending my own little stationery line into the daylight!
The Good Twin will be shown at the National Stationery Show this May in the Crow and Canary booth 2824 (where Dude and Chick wares will also be on display). I'm hoping to expand my offerings pretty quickly, but for now, I've got 25 brand new designs, both two-color and foil stamped, featuring my illustrations and hand drawn type as well as a bit of my pattern work. All of the cards are letterpress printed, and I've done my research to source high quality recycled papers, envelopes, and packaging to keep your letter-writing friendly to the land. You can check out all the goods on my new website/shop, thanks to the always amazing Kate Miss. It's worth mentioning that she also made my logo, and has been indispensable in more ways than I can count throughout this whole process.
So! Hooray for change, and new things, and all the hard work that keeps us fresh and growing and learning constantly. I'd like to start sharing a bit more process and stationery bits on this blog, so you have that to look forward to. Thanks for hanging in with me, there are good things ahead.

lovin' spoonful

It's Valentine's Day, aka the holiday that I am contractually obligated to love as a person in the Greeting Card Industry. To be honest, I'm just not that into it, but maybe that's just because I don't have the same affinity for conversation hearts as I do for other crappy seasonal treats (see: candy corn, eggnog, Budweiser with the special patriotic flag label). At any rate, I made you guys a little valentine, because insanity is the spice of life...isn't that the saying?

new news

Dudes, my site is all new and shiny! You may have noticed a new header on my blog, but the fanciness does not end there. Thanks to Kate (a seriously amazing friend and all around fantastic person, not to mention a pretty darn talented designer), I now have an expanded portfolio site, complete with a print shop. Take a look! The above designs, as well as five others, are available as 8 by 10 and 16 by 20 inch prints.
Alright, end shameless self-promotion. Next week: back to our normally schedule programming. Coming soon: new designs from Dude and Chick!

pattern pals: halloweenie

I'm really feeling this spooky October theme. It helps that my evenings have been consumed with horror movies this month (why yes, my significant other DID purchase the Friday the 13th boxed set, thank you for asking). We're on day sixteen of our month of terror, which means we've begun to hit some real deep cuts - think 1970s italian psychedelic flicks. It's getting weird. In that spirit, I dove a little more into abstraction for this pattern, with a sort of occult-ish spiderweb theme. As usual, see above for the repeating square, application below. 

Sweet dreams! I'm off to finish CHUD (it's as insane as it sounds, trust me).

evil eye

October, huh? Fall really sneaks up on me around these parts - it's still pretty toasty in LA, although early mornings and late nights have that crisp feel to them again, that feeling that makes you pull the covers up to your ears. It's nice, but I have to admit I'm pretty jazzed to be heading out to Boulder this weekend to see my twin brother, and maybe some fall foliage while I'm at it.
In the meantime, in the spirit of the spookiest month, and while I'm in the thick of Scott's our thirty-one nights of horror (more on that later), here's an evil eye inspired pattern. I've been whipping out the old brush occasionally, so this one's got a bit more of a painterly feel. As usual, the repeat square is above, and an applied example is below!

endless summer

This summer has been mild by LA standards - sunny during the day, cool at night...I think we've used our trusty AC unit once. Until now. It is HOT. Not just wear a crop top hot. More like camp out by the swamp cooler until it's over hot. And so, in honor of this lovely heat wave, which is sure to overextend it's already very limited welcome, a pattern of succulents. I've been meaning to make this sketch into something for a while now, so at least something is checked off my growing list of to-dos.