february 13 creative

calling cards: a great holiday gift idea!

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:59:00 +0000

What are calling cards, you ask? Think old school social networking. february 13 creative's huge selection of designs offers something for everyone. From moms to grandmas, wine enthusiasts to gardeners, dog lovers to job seekers, our contemporary calling cards are a clever and unexpected way to share your contact information and interests.

Easy to order online, each design can be personalized with your own details and many can also accommodate a photo or two. Packaged in a lovely chocolate brown box, the cards measure 3" x 2" and are sold in sets of 25 for $15.00. See our entire collection of calling cards, available exclusively at Cardstore.com. Order before December 31st and use our Friends and Family Discount (FRIEND15) at checkout to receive 15% off your order (excluding shipping and handling). If you’d like to receive your calling cards before Christmas Eve check here for shipping deadlines.

Happy holiday shopping!

….. pam, betsy and amy …..

our gifted winners are...

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:58:00 +0000

Congratulations to:

Karen Besterman-Dahan
Katy (aka: kitkat234)
and Jodi Brown!

We have a lovely set of gift tags for each of you, so please get in touch to let us know your mailing address. Email us at info[at]february13creative[dot]com.

Many, many thanks to everyone who entered... your comments and your support on facebook and twitter are greatly appreciated!

Happy holidays to all!

..... betsy, pam and amy .....

will it be you?

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:44:00 +0000

The final hours of our first-ever giveaway are quickly ticking away. Entries will be closed at midnight tonight (PST). Will you be one of our three much-envied winners? See below for details!

..... betsy, pam and amy .....

tag, you're it!

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:44:00 +0000

There are only two days left to enter our fabulous giveaway! Will you be tagged as one of our three lucky winners? Read below for details and good luck to all!

..... betsy, pam and amy .....

enter to win: festive gift tags

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:04:00 +0000

This charming little set of gift tags really does make giving better! Each set of twelve tags (two each of six exclusive february 13 creative designs) comes in a jewel case for convenient storage and includes plenty of colorful string for attaching the tags to your prezzies. Whether you're giving a bottle of wine, a kid's birthday gift, or a plate of holiday knishes, you're sure to find just the right design for the occasion.

We're giving away three sets (one set each to three different winners) via a random drawing and there are four ways to enter:

1. Comment on this post
and/or
2. Fan us on facebook
and/or
3. Follow us on twitter
and/or
4. mention february 13 creative and the giveaway in your own blog (send us the link via email – info[at]february13creative[dot]com, twitter, or comment on this post)

And yes, if you do all four, you will be entered in the drawing four times!

Winners will be drawn at midnight, December 10th and announced on this blog on December 11th. Be sure to check back to see if you’ve won. Good luck!

….. amy, betsy, pam …..

P.S. If you're interested in creating your own custom gift tags, check out our “how to” on Cardstyle this week!

noteworthy holiday gift idea

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:15:00 +0000

Our industrious friends over at Cardstore.com have a brand new product out just in time for holiday gift-giving and thank-you-note-writing: boxed notecards, including several february 13 creative favorites. Many designs can be personalized on the front with a name or brief message. Nicely priced at $21, each set of 12 cards and envelopes arrives in a stylish keepsake box. Plus, you can use our Friends and Family discount to save 15%! (Excludes shipping and handling; order before December 30th and enter the code FRIEND15 at checkout).

crafting: diy holiday photocards and ornaments

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:32:00 +0000

We’re on view from the bay again today! In this live tv segment Betsy shares instructions for fantastic holiday photocards that you can create yourself.

Check out the instructions for creating these mod CD ornaments, using old compact discs and tissue paper. It’s a highly addictive little project... many of our intrepid testers in the f13 craft lab found they couldn’t stop once they got started.And the best part is, you can put a photo on the back, pop it in a 5” square envelope, and mail it as a holiday greeting!

Amy discovered another ingenious use for old magazine pages, in this project inspired by all the fun jewelry and home decor pieces we’ve been seeing in craft and museum shops lately. Check out her instructions for these beautiful paper weave wreaths.

And last but certainly not least, Betsy will be touting our brand new collection of holiday photocard, invitation, greeting card, and thank-you note designs, available exclusively at Cardstore.com. Jump right to our Holiday Card Showcase to see our favorite new designs, all of which can be personalized online with your own photos and text.

Now is the time to get a jump on the season! Sending out cards early equals more relaxation and celebration. We hope that you enjoy the fun ideas and art that we’ve put together this season!

….. betsy, pam and amy…..

inspiration: color harmony

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Suther) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:54:00 +0000

I’ve always been fascinated by color combinations, and often, it is a special color harmony that calls my attention and draws me to an object. That was exactly why these beautiful bracelets caught my eye. They evoke an earthy, rich feeling, and yet feel calm and serene. So I just had to have them. They ended up inspiring the color combination that I used in my “Bottle and Rocks” art print (available in our Etsy shop.)

….. amy …..

celebrating : el dia de los muertos

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:51:00 +0000

Saludos de Tepoztlan, Mexico. My mom brought me to this beautiful town for a little culinary vacation at La Villa Bonita and we’ve been fortunate to be here during Day of the Dead, a major cultural celebration that takes place throughout Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America (as well as in many homes in the United States, of course). Beginning around October 31st, families prepare to welcome the spirits of deceased family members back into the home for a brief visit. Day of the Dead is actually celebrated over two days, the 1st and 2nd of November. Although it may sound sad or even macabre to non-Latin sensibilities, it’s a very joyous occasion here in Mexico and I’ve been so delighted to learn more about it and to take part in the celebrations with our hosts. Here are several photos and a bit more information about this wonderful tradition.

Marigolds play a huge role in the Dia del los Muertos celebrations. They decorate doorways, altars (ofrendas), and graves and—perhaps most important—they’re used to create a pathway leading into the home, so the deceased souls can easily find their way back inside to enjoy the elaborate offering of food and entertainment the family has prepared for them. With our La Villa Bonita host, Chef Ana Garcia, we visited the market in Cuernavaca to buy masses of marigolds to create the many beautiful decorations and pathway shown above, as well as food and other decorations for her home and the ofrenda.

We helped Ana prepare the ofrenda, dedicated to her grandmother and great grandmother. The altar typically includes a cooked whole chicken, salt and water, pan de muertos (sweet bread, often baked in the shape of skulls and other figures), incense, candles, more marigolds and a photo of the deceased. It may also include any number of other items, often things that the deceased greatly enjoyed during their time in this world. For example, tequila is popular in ofrendas; for the spirit of Ana’s grandmother, we left her favorite cocktail ingredients: vodka and tonic. I love to imagine her strolling in along our golden path of marigolds and kicking back with a tall, cool glass of vodka tonic, taking in the beautiful vistas of Tepoztlan.

On the evening of November 1st, many Mexican families open the doors of their homes to anyone and everyone, offering hot beverages and treats and an opportunity to view the altars they’ve created for their loved ones. Ana and her husband Robb took us to nearby Ocotepec, where this tradition is particularly lively. There were lines around the block for many homes! We also took a dark walk through the cemetery, where some families had begun to clean and decorate the graves of their family members in preparation for the big celebration the following day.

We returned to Ocotepec the next morning to find the cemetery transformed into an explosion of color and festive activity, including live music and picnics at many grave sites. Even the humblest graves were tidy and festooned with bright flowers. Those who have died during the past year receive the most elaborate decorations (see Roberto’s, below). It was an amazing and undeniably upbeat scene... a real eye-opener for this gringo (gringa?!)

There have been many other incredible experiences on this trip, including lots of great food, of course! I’ll share more in my next post.

Hasta pronto!

..... betsy .....

celebrating: spooky entomology

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:26:00 +0000

My husband and I have hosted a party every October 31st for 7 years now. I love decorating in general, but I love Halloween decorations so much that, despite our lack of storage, I end up adding new ones every year! I especially love creating mood through lighting. Here’s what I just finished putting together for this year’s party.

Black light is the only source of illumination on these apothecary jars, which I’ve placed in our guest bathroom. They’re filled with spider webbing, glow sticks, plastic centipedes and tarantulas. I also did a third jar that contains bats! This project is a cinch to put together and the effects are positively spooktacular, don’t you think?

Happy Crawl-o-ween!

..... pam .....

celebrating: the smell of pumpkin

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:12:00 +0000

OK, so it’s another Halloween, and for the first time ever I got a serious jump on the pumpkin carving. I figured since this is my absolute favorite part about Halloween (this and the Butterfingers I sneak from time to time) I may as well do it twice. So my girls and I eagerly got busy carving, and these are the results. I know these will probably rot before Halloween so we are enjoying lighting them in our living room each evening. Can’t wait for pumpkin carving round two!

….. amy …..

celebrating: henry's annual halloween costume challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:21:00 +0000

It's been quite a while since I've made a Halloween costume for my son Henry (now 16), but back in the day, he set some pretty crazy challenges in front of me. I have a post up at Designing Moms, sharing one of the earlier costumes I devised for him (before he really started giving me art direction.) In the process of writing that post, I pulled out photos of all his costumes over the years, and had fun reliving those insane experiments with spray paint, fake fur and glue guns. It always seemed a little sad to me that our creations only lived for one day, so indulge me while I present a “virtual” Halloween parade of some of my favorites! If you’re interested in tips on recreating any of these yourself, just leave a comment and I’ll do my best to help.

Bartholomew Collins, prisoner of the Terwilliker Institute.
If you’ve never seen “The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T,” go rent it NOW!

A prairie dog... “popping out of his mound.”

Meerkatus Giganticus

African Pygmy Hedgehog
Those are toothpicks. I’m still picking splinters out of my fingers...

I’m not quite sure what to say about this one except that the little guy has a retractable tongue that “ate” candy. Major credit is due to the wonderful artist, David Kirk (author of “Miss Spider’s Tea Party,” among others), who created the coin-collecting sculpture that this costume is (faithfully) based on. And, it must be noted that this was the year that Henry really took control of his own Halloween costumes. I was a mere technical adviser.

Our last hurrah, from 2005, a gigantic WORKING iPod.

And speaking of Halloween costumes, head on over to Cardstore.com’s Silliest Halloween Costume Contest to share photos of your silliest Halloween costume (of you, your pet, or your kids!).

What are you going to be this Halloween??

..... Betsy .....

paging dr. izzie stevens!

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:37:00 +0000

Hi there. I’m Pamela Nudel, one of the Three Musketeers here at f13 creative. I’ll share a little more about myself in a future post, but today I’m just excited to jump right into some exciting news: we’re celebrating the arrival of fabric samples from Robert Kaufman Fabrics. These represent the very first licensing deals for me and Amy!

Amy’s butterfly art and Pam’s feather heart art

Just this past May, february 13 creative debuted at SURTEX (the surface and textile show in NYC). We came home from the trade show with a lot of terrific leads, including Robert Kaufman Fabrics. The very nice people at Robert Kaufman didn’t waste any time getting down to business with us—not only did they license several of our Christmas patterns for bolt fabric, but two of our everyday patterns were selected for medical scrub uniform fabric! Yes, medical scrubs! Who knew that scrubs would be in our future?! At any rate, we are so excited and thrilled! The final fabrics turned out beautifully, as you can see above. They used a lovely lightweight seersucker fabric that complements the artwork so nicely.

So now we are waiting to see just how the scrub designers decide to stitch-up these adorable fabrics! I’ll be sure to remind you in a few months when the scrubs will be available to purchase. From what we’ve been told, the finished uniforms will be available to buy in January 2010 at whiteswanscrubs.com. In the meantime Betsy, Amy and I are smiling big, and busily designing more art for the fabric and scrub world!

….. pam …..

a fancy for flourishing fashions

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:36:00 +0000

A quick introduction might be in order here. My name is Amy, and I am part of the dynamic trio that makes up f13. While my background lies in graphic and web design, I am an artist and creator at heart. And, I have to be honest this writing thing is not really my forte. I am such a visual person, that I rely on my art as part of my expression, so you are going to have to bear with me as I work on my writing skills. I am a wife, and mother of twins (identical girls... "my mini-mes" as I like to say). My amazing kids and my always supportive husband inspire me daily. I am also thankful for and greatly inspired by my creative partners here at f13. I love to imagine all of the possibilities when it comes to art, and how we can use it to celebrate our personal style. Nature forms and vibrant color combinations have always drawn my attention. I think that's why I've been dreaming up these beautiful skirts based on a series of inspiring botanicals created by another great artist here at f13 - Pamela Nudel. Pam's art has a vibrant flair, and often incorporates rich textures. Her botanicals are warm and contemporary, and each of them would make a uniquely stunning skirt. Imagine them big and bold with rich textures! They would be oh so sumptuous!

These beautiful botanicals are already available as greeting cards at Cardstore.com.

And also as wall prints in our Etsy shop. Enjoy!

..... amy .....

celebrating : my new orange teapot

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:55:00 +0000

Our blog has been a little higgledy-piggledy over the past year, as we’ve tried to come up with some sort of topic that would inspire us to write regularly and that might hold some small bit of interest for readers in this content-saturated webosphere. Then one day recently, up bubbled an idea we think just might do the trick.

So today I’m inaugurating our very first soon-to-be-somewhat-regular feature: “celebrating.” As you might have noticed, we have this thing about celebrations. “Celebrate every day,” we say. Yes, it’s a little pollyanna. But it’s a great exercise in looking on the bright side, if nothing else! From the momentous to the miniscule, from the absurd to the awe-inspiring, reasons to celebrate every day abound and we’re gonna talk about what we’re celebrating at random given moments. We might be talking to ourselves for now, but hey—that still counts for something. We hope one of these days our comments section will overflow and you’ll let us know what reasons you’re finding to celebrate every now and then... if not every day!

At this very moment, for example, I am head over heels (or should I say “handle over spout”?) in love with my new orange teapot. I like to brew up a big pot of tasty herbal tea every morning and keep it at my desk. It helps me down those innumerable recommended daily ounces of H2O. This design is so perky and the color is so cheerful, I can’t keep my hands off it. It’s keeping me hydrated and happy and that’s a little something worth celebrating.

..... betsy .....

e is for elie and emma : interns extraordinaire

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:24:00 +0000

The summer flew by and I’m just now getting around to writing about some of our happiest news from the whirlwind that was junejulyaugust... We had our first summer interns! Elie and Emma came to us via a high school here in San Francisco and they worked with me at f13 world headquarters, providing expert help in so many ways—from production design on our cardstore.com collection, to data entry, to inspiration-scouting, to manufacturer research and more. Their skill and efficiency at this wide variety of tasks—on top of incredible creative talents, intelligence and professionalism— just blew us away.

They even contributed to our calling card collection with two of our favorite new designs, seen above (Elie’s is on the left, Emma’s on the right). Elie’s beautiful watercolor monogram design is now available for personalizing and ordering here. Emma’s cool constructivist design will be available in mid-October and also comes as a folded notecard. Order lots, order often and tell your friends... all proceeds go directly to the respective artist!

We were so fortunate to have their help and miss them dearly. A million thanks to Elie and Emma and best of luck in school this year!

(on a related note: our calling cards were featured recently on "View from the Bay"!)

send some love, send some hope, send a (free!) card

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

We’re delighted to let you know about a cool project—Hope is in the Cards—started by a fellow designer, Russ Haan. It’s a simple effort to spread some good vibes in these vibrationally-challenged times.. one person to another, via good old-fashioned snail mail. The idea is to get millions of individuals to send one greeting card each—to a friend, relation, or colleague—to express a simple positive message. Maybe it’s love. Could be encouragement. Perhaps it’s support, thanks, or admiration. The uplifting specifics are up to you!

Many greeting card companies and retailers are supporting Hope is in the Cards by giving away free stamps and/or cards to customers during Week of Hope, September 1-7. Our friends at Cardstore.com are giving away the cards AND the stamps. They have put together a collection of 50 designs in a special “Hope Collection” (including Amy's sweet-talkin' penguins, above, and a few other f13 beauties!).

You can see the Cardstore.com Hope Collection here.
Enter the code SENDHOPE at checkout. This will cover the entire cost of one card, including postage (anywhere in the world).

We hope this movement ignites a year-round passion for spontaneous expressions of love, support, thanks and encouragement. Imagine the power of that!

Happy sending!

[update : Apparently the response to this offer at Cardstore has been huge! Traffic may be a little slow on their site so be patient and remember, you have until 9/7 to create and send your free card.]

succulent inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:11:00 +0000

Inspiration this week was in the form of a little fieldtrip out to Flora Grubb Gardens, where we encountered more succulents than I ever imagined existed. The variety and charm of these plants just astounded me... and they represent only a portion of the many beautiful plants and gardening goodies offered by this wondrous San Francisco nursery.

Many of the close-ups are taken from the "vertical garden" you see behind us in the photo above. (And that's Elie, one of our fabulous summer interns, on the right!)

And, because no february 13 creative gathering is complete without great food, we followed Flora Grubb with succulence of a different variety: lunch at Schmidt's, a cool new German place in my neighborhood. Schmidt's is just one of many great new restaurants that seem to be springing up around here... including Stable, which we waddled down to for coffee and cookies at the end of the afternoon!)

surtex diary, the wrap up!

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Tuesday morning started off with a big f13 "pow!" as we discovered that we'd been mentioned on print & pattern... a design blog we regularly drool over. To be included with the many other fabulous artists covered there was a huge honor and a great beginning to our final day of the show. Many, many thanks to Bowie Style at print & pattern for the shout-out!

We met so many wonderful people on this trip, and reconnected with friends we usually only see once a year, at the show. Our neighbors were the incredibly talented and sweet folks from Caleb Gray Studio and Lucky Day Studio. We were fortunate to find ourselves inside their little vortex of good vibes and beautiful art!

Caleb and Conor from Caleb Gray Studio were directly across from us and kept us thoroughly entertained. We thought we were on top of things, coordinating our outfits with our booth and with one another... but these guys stole the show!

The lovely Julia of Lucky Day Studio, with Betsy standing in for Lucky Day's Donna. (Sadly, Donna was off on business when this shot was taken, but we wanted to show you their fantastic booth design. This was their Surtex debut as well. Congrats, girls!)

My only regret about this show (other than downing that triple latte on the last day... apologies if I scared off anyone with my insane energy!) was not taking enough photos with our visitors. We are really blessed to have so many great friends in this business. So for what it's worth, I wanted to give each of them a little shout-out here. I only wish we had the following of print & pattern so this could bring you all tons of traffic!
Three cheers to all the fine folks at Cardstore.com, who have been amazing friends and huge supporters of f13 from the get-go.
We were delighted to see so many of our fellow Cardstore.com licensors: Kate Spain, Rob&Bob, Erika Firm of Delphine, Amy Biggers of Snowpea Studio, Maria Carluccio, Anne Keenan Higgins (joined by my friends from Papyrus art directing days, Deanna and Alicia, what a treat!), Lilla & Susan from Lilla Rogers Studio, Salli & Nate from Studio SSS, John McDonald and Robin Zingone. We loved our visits with two of our current licensees and all-around beautiful people: Tom & Susan from Design Design and Alan & Lisa from Great Arrow Graphics. And last, but not least, it was great to connect with several fellow artists who have, over the years, graciously shared with us their advice, tips, and experiences about exhibiting at Surtex, making this debut much easier than it might have been: Cheryl Phelps, Jeanette Smith, Tara Reed. Ellen Crimi-Trent, Marian Nixon, and Vela Tuohy of Little Star Soup (We didn't actually get to see Vela this year because she was busy over in Brooklyn doing this... Congratulations, Vela and John!).

Wednesday, after packing up our boxes and making a few frantic visits around the Stationery Show to check in with folks we'd like to work with, we headed out into the city for a well-deserved afternoon of play, kicked off by a really decadent lunch at Balthazar with Katy, Matt, and Tiffany from Cardstore, and dear Erika of Delphine fame.

Squished but happy... and finally relaxed... in the car on the way downtown.

Matt and Erika

Pam and Katy

Betsy and Tiffany (note that I'm still wearing my show badge... nice touch, don't you think?! ha!)

After lunch we did a little shopping and gazing in Soho, including a stop at the new Kate's Paperie and a surprise find: the Dwell Studio sample sale!

And stumbled upon this random but gorgeous door that reminds me of Alexander Girard, among others.

A little treat for our tired tootsies... fab slippers from Pearl River Trading Company. I buy these in bulk whenever I'm in NYC... so chic and so affordable!

We were away from home for 7 long days and so I save the biggest thank-you for last: to our families, especially to our hard-working and ever-supportive husbands for holding down our respective forts. We adore you!

Amy shared this photo of the beautiful sign that Tavia and Jacey made for her home-coming. I'm sure you'll find their work in our portfolio one of these days!

Now we're back, and knee-deep in the follow-up. We feel really good about the connections we made and optimistic that we'll develop some great new partnerships as a result of exhibiting at Surtex. And we're already dreaming of next year!

surtex diary, part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Tue, 26 May 2009 20:26:00 +0000

On Saturday the 16th we popped into our booth for a quick touch-up and to see how the rest of the show was coming together. As expected: full of color and a humbling wealth of artwork. It was an honor to exhibit with all these talented people.

I still don't know if our decision to forego look boards and lots of product mockups was a wise one, but we definitely got a lot of attention for the novelty of our booth design! It's not every day at Surtex that you see 5-foot high candy sticks, life-size partying penguins and a ginormous piñata.

Sunday the 17th was the first day of the show. It was a little slow, but exciting enough for us newbies. And it gave us plenty of opportunity to document ourselves, partying with our penguins!

Our home away from home and our refuge from the craziness of the show was the chic and oh-so-comfortable apartment of my sister- and brother-in-law and my darling niece. We are so grateful to them for their hospitality and generosity. They've spoiled us for future trips... it will take an awful lot of royalties to pay for accommodations as luxurious as these, especially with their spectacular views of the Hudson.

A zillion thank yous to my dear family for taking such good care of us!

surtex diary, part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Mon, 25 May 2009 23:14:00 +0000

After all the years that I've dreamed and schemed about exhibiting at Surtex—and all the months that have gone into the actual planning and preparation—it's hard to believe that it's behind us now. It was a really successful and incredibly enjoyable experience all the way around. Here are some photos and thoughts about some of the best and most memorable moments.

The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Somewhere inside this imposing edifice lies 80 square feet that we can call our own for the next 5 days.

Amy and Pam, as we arrive at the Javits to set up our booth (Friday, May 15th.)

We were surprised to find the place pretty much empty on Friday, and a little incredulous that this dowdy, dirty, bland space could be turned into an inviting and colorful wonderland of artwork within 24 hours. But it happens... you'll see the "after" in tomorrow's post.

Booth 362, home to february 13 creative! What our $3900 paid for: corner 8'x10' with 2 hard walls, furniture, signage, carpeting, cleaning, and storage, for 3 days.

The boxes that I wept for (twice... once in despair—thinking they would never reach their destination intact—and once again in joy, when we found them in pristine condition, waiting patiently for us in our booth).

Unfurling our banners. Our motto for booth decoration (and for most of this show) was "easy, cheap and beautiful." Despite much advice to the contrary, we decided not to mess with elaborate product mockups or look boards. Instead, we designed nine banners (approx. 3'x8' each) to cover our booth walls and counter, and ordered them online at Empire Banners for a cost of $675 including shipping. We hung them with a nifty little system of wooden yardsticks (inserted into top and bottom pole pockets on each banner) and s-hooks. The entire booth went up and looked...

fabulous (pow!) in less than 45 minutes. (We hadn't put up the counter wrap when this photo was taken, but you'll see it later.) It was just as easy as we had imagined (honestly, how often does that happen?) and left us plenty of time on Friday afternoon to take a little field trip.

One of our favorite NYC destinations is the roof garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Starting in May each year (as if they were anticipating our arrival!) it becomes the "Roof Garden Cafe and Martini Bar." Combine gorgeous weather, panoramic views of Manhattan and Central Park, a fantastic contemporary art installation, specialty cocktails, and some really first rate people watching, and you have the girls of f13 in the palm of your hand. The installation this summer ("Maelstrom" by Roxy Paine) is phenomenal. I'm not sure these photos do it justice, but you can read more about it and watch a great video of the installation at the Met's website.

After exploring all 130 x 45 feet of this gleaming, tangled forest of stainless steel, we settled down for a lovely and refreshing beverage (featuring vodka, fresh lemon juice and thyme-infused simple syrup) and toasted our "easy, cheap, and beautiful" booth. Cin Cin!

old-school social networking

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:00:00 +0000

So, pretty much everyone we ran into at Surtex and the Stationery Show was twittering and facebooking all over the place. I know how important all this social networking is to building awareness of our company, but I can barely keep up with email (let alone this blog)! Plus, like many in this profession, I will probably always be more charmed by a good old-fashioned piece of paper more than by anything digital. That's why I was so excited when our friends at Cardstore asked us to help them launch a great new product: personal business cards. I like to refer to them as "calling cards" because that's even more quaint and old-fangled.

These are just a few of the designs in our new collection. You can see the whole kit-and-kaboodle here. In addition to cards for personal use, we have a great selection of "mommy cards" for modern moms who want a stylish, easy way to share contact info and set up playdates.

And, for those of you who parent children of the four-legged variety, we've even turned Amy's fabulous "Good Dog" series into calling cards that you can exchange with new friends at the dog park! We have 16 of the most popular breeds now and will be adding more soon. Leave a comment here if you don't see your pooch. Send us the breed name or, better yet, email us a photo of your baby and we'll use it as the basis for our next design! (send to: gooddog[at]february13creative[dot]com)

As with all our products at Cardstore, these designs can be easily customized with your own photos and information. And, Cardstore has just introduced a new, greener paper for most of their products, including our cards. It's 100% post-consumer waste, chlorine-free processed, Green Seal Certified and manufactured entirely with wind-generated electricity. Yay!
And last but not least, order between now and July 31st and receive 15% off your first order of our calling cards. Enter code personal 15 at checkout.
see the entire february 13 creative calling card collection here.

catching up!

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Fri, 22 May 2009 23:57:00 +0000

Hey hey! We're back from a great show in NYC!
Technical difficulties while we were away have left me playing catch-up on lots of fun news. First off... Congratulations to Roberta for her winning entry in our first-ever f13 blog contest. Her sweet name for our frog friend, Cedric, was inspired by our motto, "celebrate everyday": CED[Celebrate EveryDay]ric. How could we resist? Roberta, you can spread the celebration around when you receive your prize... our lovely little set of gift tags (2 each of 6 great designs) in a reusable case, plus a coupon offering for our new product on Cardstore.com... personal calling cards! More on those in the next post, tomorrow!

friday frog blog

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Sat, 02 May 2009 00:43:00 +0000

All our planning and preparation for Surtex has finally gained momentum and, two short weeks from today, we'll be in NYC, setting up our booth. I feel like I have my head above water again and am happy to be back here on our blog!

This week, we sent our our first postcard to prospective licensees (and lucky friends and family). My dear friend, Cindy, at WilsonWest says our frog needs a name (that's him, above... he's on the back of our postcard, in case you haven't seen it). Cindy suggested that I post a little contest here on our blog to Name the Frog. (What a great way to find out if anyone reads this thing!)

So, here's your chance to make february 13 creative history! You could be the lucky winner of our very first contest. Submit your name ideas via a comment no later than 5/13/09 (cuz it's the 13th, and it's also our last day before flying off to NYC). We'll choose our favorite name and announce the winner on Friday the 15th.

What's in it for you, you may wonder? Well, aside from the opportunity to be our first blog contest winner (I know... as if that weren't incentive enough), we'll send you a gorgeous set of february 13 creative gift tags... 12 of them (2 each of 6 different designs) in a nifty, reusable case! I don't have a photo to show you just yet but trust me, they're delightful!

OK, now I'm just going to sit back and watch those name ideas come rolling in! :)

Happy Friday to all!
[and happy Saturday, too! ... ran into some technical issues at blogger.com last night when trying to post]

3 birds in a virtual office

noreply@blogger.com (Betsy) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:12:00 +0000

Until we hit the big time and move into our studio on the Embarcadero (yes, we have super-sized dreams), Pam, Amy and I work from our own home studios. As you can imagine, this presents some challenges for sharing and keeping track of all the work we’re producing… especially now that we’re in overdrive, preparing for Surtex. We are so grateful for all the amazing free or very low-cost tools available on the web that make it feasible for us to work together... but separately!

Now, I have no idea if anyone reads this blog (Hey, Pam and Amy!… Mom?... Dad?), but in case this is useful someday to any other artists out there who are trying to work the way we are, I am excited to pass along two of the best things we’ve discovered and tailored specifically for our own purposes.

Most people know about Flickr, of course. It’s being put to all sorts of cool and creative uses that its founders probably never imagined. I don’t know if our use is particularly new or creative, but it sure is helpful to us. We use it as a virtual bulletin board to keep track of work in progress. Before it dawned on us that we could use Flickr this way, we were just firing off emails (with image attachments) to one another all day long. Although we could each keep track of these on our own computers, there wasn’t an easy way to reference stuff we’d already shared.

“It’s that bird I did a few weeks ago. You know, the one on the crazy tree... No, not the blue tree. Well, I’m not sure you’d even call it a tree, it’s more like a … I think I sent the email around February 9th, can you look it up that way?”

Yes, we wasted a fair bit of time this way.

We still send one another our files via email (because it’s useful to see the images in detail when they’re being shared for the first time). But now I upload them immediately to a private page on Flickr. Flickr’s batch upload tool makes this really fast and simple, and I can quickly assign tags so that we can narrow our searches to a specific artist or subject, as needed. Now, when we want to find that exact crazy bird that Amy’s talking about, or when we’re trying to figure out if we’re on track with the 24 new Christmas images that we need for Surtex, we can quickly and easily do a search in our Flickr photostream to get the answer.

Then we get to the point where we’re satisfied with an image and ready to call it “done.” We wanted a way to catalog all those completed images so, for example, when Groovy Bed Linens calls us to say, “We want to put that crazy bird on a duvet cover,” we can easily look up the image (even if we don’t know the exact file name), make sure that it hasn’t been licensed for bed linens already, get the file name so Amy can locate the high-resolution art on her computer. And then, after we have a signed licensing agreement with Groovy Bed Linens, we need a place to store the details of that agreement, to keep track of that particular license. And, of course, we needed to include thumbnails of every image, for easy visual reference. Tall order, right? Especially since we have no money to pay for fancy database software.

Well, for all this (and way more), we are so glad to have found blist.com.* With Blist, we’ve created an online catalog of all our completed images that allows us to easily filter and sort these assets to see, for example: which are licensed, which licenses are about to expire, which are by Pam, which contain the color blue, which were created in 2008, which are good for baby showers, which contain peacocks… and on and on. And, we can keep the whole thing private so it’s only accessible by us. It’s an incredibly powerful tool and, although it’s still in beta and a little buggy, I’m not sure there’s an option out there that could do all this for us, and be available to all three of us in our own studios, instantly updatable by any one of us, 24/7… for free.

For all the enthusiasm I’ve just unleashed, I do have to admit that I’m still a little old-school in my attitude about all these online services. Putting private and/or proprietary information on the internet, particularly with unproven companies, freaks me out just a touch. I try to be very careful about how and what I post online. I always keep our data private and never upload high resolution images, for example. With these precautions, a good read of the terms of service, and a little trust in the goodwill of the folks Flickr and Blist, I feel relatively confident about the way we're using the sites. (Then, I hear the news about Facebook trying to change its TOS and get all jittery again…. )

But, until we can afford to be in the same space together and have in-house software (and good, old-fashioned bulletin boards) for keeping track of all this stuff, I’ve decided to trust and step gingerly into this brave new world. In case anyone’s interested in more details about how we use these services, feel free to contact us! info[at]february13creative.com.

*Three cheers for our good friend, Katy, at Cardstore.com. She’s the one who introduced us to blist.com.