Happy Birthday, Darcey!

{Darcey's birthday, 2004}

Happy birthday to one of the best people on the planet - my darling friend Darcey. Her creativity, intelligence and compassion seriously makes this world a better place. Happy birthday, lovely lady!

Have a Fabulous Saturday!

{Me & Darcey at the Renegade Craft Fair :: August 1, 2010}

Happy Saturday, everyone! Hope you all have something fabulous planned. As for me, I have a play date with my lovely friend Darcey. First, we're going to catch a matinee of Easy A and then we're off to partake in some much-needed retail therapy. Have a great day!

Best. Day. Ever.

I suppose it's consider "in bad form" to be a braggart, but after the day I've had I simply can't resist - sorry. Oh, and I totally understand if you want to stop reading right now, but if you're intrigued, please continue on.

It all started bright and early this morning, when Darcey (aka Gal Friday) and I hit the road for San Francisco to take our first letterpress class. The class was taught by the ever-so-talented Jordan Ferney (of Oh Happy Day!), and was held in the studio she shares with her artist husband, Paul Ferney. Jordan was super sweet and did a great job giving us a truncated history of the letterpress as well as showing us her first letterpress attempt (which really wasn't that embarrassing). Then, she gave us all a play-by-play of how to use a letterpress before setting us off to give it a whirl. I love, love, loved the class - and now I have 250 Bows and Sparrows business cards that I designed and printed myself. Yay!

Jordan was gracious enough to permit me to snap away during class - and, being the shutterbug that I am, that's just what I did. Here are just some of the many photos I took:

{Jordan's letterpress, a Vandercook 4}

{Darcey takes the helm}

{My turn to give it a whirl - by the way, I totally made that apron from pillowcases about 10 years ago.}

{Jordan's corner of the studio}

{Close up of Jordan's inspiration board}

Ok, so you probably think that the letterpress class was all I had to brag about, but wait, there's more! Darcey and I also got to see our friend Brian, who joined us for some coffee at Ritual and a little shopping in the Mission - where I scored these awesome arrow earrings! Yup, still bragging.

At any rate, we said our goodbyes to Brian and headed off to 4th Street in Berkeley to meet my lovely friend Jasmine (see below).

{Jasmine and me, pre churros}

See, here we are together, right before we ate some delicious churros. I have pictures of us eating the churros, but found them to be a little too suggestive - if you catch my drift.

Think I'm done bragging? Not even close! Next, I get a phone call from a little lady by the name of Vanya, who happens to be one of my favorite people, ever. At any rate, she is on 4th Street coming to find us, and she does. Thus rounding out the: Best. Day. Ever.

{Jasmine, Vanya and me - I seriously love these ladies}

This Gal Has Gumption

Did I mention that I have some truly talented friends? I do. It's not a lie...and no, they do not pay me to say such things. Today, I'm going to wax poetic about my dear friend Darcey B. Self. Not only is she just about the sweetest person I know (and I'm not exaggerating), she also has some serious design skills (still not exaggerating). She's worked for the likes of Amtrak, Mercedes-Benz, Sutter Health, Arden Fair, Girl Scouts and more (you can see her work here). She's also designed a few things for Bows & Sparrows readers (like this card), and has let us take a peak inside her home (see her lovely abode here).

Darcey's latest offering to B&S readers is a series of desktop wallpapers that read "what color is love?". Each wallpaper features a heart of a different color and its corresponding PANTONE number. Now all you have to do is pick a color: red, pink, black, blue or green. Feeling like those colors are too limiting? Download a blank heart here and you can select any color of your liking. Enjoy!

Q: What Do You Call A Smart Dinosaur?

A: A Thesaurus!

My friend Darcey is uber-talented. I mean, the girl has skills. She's also just about the sweetest, most genuine person that I have ever met - one of the reasons we've been friends for more than 15 years. That said, I wasn't at all surprised when she offered to design a downloadable card exclusively for Bows & Sparrows readers. I was, however, extremely flattered by her offer. Then, she gave me the files and man, were the cards adorable! So, here are two downloadble versions (blue & yellow) of her Thesaurus cards. I hope you love them as much as I do! Oh, and for a peak into Darcey's home, visit this old blog post.

Darcey & Dan's Curtis Park Home

My friend Darcey and her husband Dan recently moved into a fabulous home in the Curtis Park area of Sacramento. After two months of begging for an invite, Darcey finally decided to host a brunch for all her girlfriends. Little did she know that I was going to turn a harmless Sunday brunch into a blogging affair! Anyway, here's a little bit about Darcey's decorating style and where she gets her inspiration from. Special thanks to Veronica for taking the photos.

{The lovely hostess, Darcey}

{D is for Darcey}

{Did I mention the house has a pool? Guess where I'll be this summer!}

{I heart this House Industries print}

{Ladies who brunch}

My style could be described as...eclectic. I like to mix new IKEA stuff with Danish Modern pieces and I'm a big fan of flea markets and yard sales. My Mom and I, that's our hobby. Weekends, summer break we are always on the look out for a good yard sale or flea market.

Where do you look for inspiration? Well, Bows & Sparrows always inspires me [Thanks, Darcey!], magazines (R.I.P Domino and Blueprint) and my uber-stylish friends.

What my friends say...Yesterday was the official unveiling with the "Ladies Who Brunch" and there were a lot of ohhhs and ahhhs and a few girlish screams when it came to the gigantic walk-in closet.

My biggest indulgence thus far has been...my first official "grown up" couch. Just waiting for them to deliver it.

My biggest challenge was...filling the space. We moved from a much smaller house so I was breaking out stuff from the garage that hadn't seen the light of day in years. Somehow it managed to work.

Where I go to find the good is...the Alameda Point Flea Market (it takes hours to get through it but it is soooo worth it) and the Sacramento Antique Faire.

More photos on the Bows & Sparrows Facebook page.