modern thrifter

I love beautiful things and thoughtful design. Our family lives off a single income so that I can be at home with our kids, so patience and persistence have been the key to finding stylish things on a tight budget. I also design things with my husband. You can see our work at The Mahoney

Search

Twitter feed

Find me on...

Posts I like

More liked posts

Tag Results

15 posts tagged graphic design

Link
 View high resolution
[ WAY WASHINGTON ] We have an embarrassingly large stack of prints and posters sitting in our art shelves that have been waiting for frames, but this Way Washington print by Aaron Draplin has been at the top of the pile. We’ve been fans of Draplin’s work for a while, and Patrick picked up this print at a lecture he gave in Seattle last year. The frame and glass were thrifted for $14, then Patrick cut a custom matt with our new matt-cutter. The frame was kind of a pinkish gold color, but a few coats of Rustoleum took care of that.  I think this wall needs a little more art, so I’ll have to go through the pile and figure out which piece will be next. We also picked up some vintage maps at a book sale over the weekend for 5¢ each, and I’m trying to decide if/how I want to display them, too. Here’s one more look at the wall, and a little sneak peek of the black trim and curtains (that are hanging funny because they still need to be hemmed).   You can buy your own Way Washington print here. Have another state you love? Choose from Ohio, Texas, Minnesota, Arizona, Georgia, Colorado, South Carolina, Vermont, Kentucky, Utah, and even Canada.

[ WAY WASHINGTON ]

We have an embarrassingly large stack of prints and posters sitting in our art shelves that have been waiting for frames, but this Way Washington print by Aaron Draplin has been at the top of the pile. We’ve been fans of Draplin’s work for a while, and Patrick picked up this print at a lecture he gave in Seattle last year.

The frame and glass were thrifted for $14, then Patrick cut a custom matt with our new matt-cutter. The frame was kind of a pinkish gold color, but a few coats of Rustoleum took care of that. 

I think this wall needs a little more art, so I’ll have to go through the pile and figure out which piece will be next. We also picked up some vintage maps at a book sale over the weekend for 5¢ each, and I’m trying to decide if/how I want to display them, too.

Here’s one more look at the wall, and a little sneak peek of the black trim and curtains (that are hanging funny because they still need to be hemmed).

 

You can buy your own Way Washington print here. Have another state you love? Choose from Ohio, Texas, Minnesota, Arizona, Georgia, Colorado, South Carolina, Vermont, Kentucky, Utah, and even Canada.

Link
 View high resolution
[ SUMMER WORK ] Apparently, I’ve been on a bit of a blog break. It’s been somewhat unintentional, but I thought it would be fun to share some of the things that I’ve been working on while taking my break. I’ve gotten back into illustrating over the summer, and after many years of very sporadic drawing, it’s taken me a bit to find my style again. The little girl and puppy above is one of my favorites that I’ve done so far. Patrick and I are also taking part in the Cosmic Sans show put together by Constellation Co. on September 6th. We’ll be auctioning off our prints (along with designs from 24 other designers) to benefit Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. and 826 Seattle, a nonprofit writing and tutoring organization for kids. Here is my letter G (as in Gordo, the space monkey launched from Cape Canaveral in 1958): And Patrick’s letter A (Apollo): We’ve also been hard at work on a few logo and branding projects. My favorite is our hand-lettered logo for Ice Cream Social in Tacoma (the company website is still in the works): Besides designing and illustrating, we were finally able to sand and paint the window trim in the living room. We also hung curtains, but I still need to hem them, so no pictures for now. Soon, though, soon—or maybe not until the kids start school again and my house isn’t covered in legos from sun up to sun down.

[ SUMMER WORK ]

Apparently, I’ve been on a bit of a blog break. It’s been somewhat unintentional, but I thought it would be fun to share some of the things that I’ve been working on while taking my break.

I’ve gotten back into illustrating over the summer, and after many years of very sporadic drawing, it’s taken me a bit to find my style again. The little girl and puppy above is one of my favorites that I’ve done so far.

Patrick and I are also taking part in the Cosmic Sans show put together by Constellation Co. on September 6th. We’ll be auctioning off our prints (along with designs from 24 other designers) to benefit Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. and 826 Seattle, a nonprofit writing and tutoring organization for kids.

Here is my letter G (as in Gordo, the space monkey launched from Cape Canaveral in 1958):

And Patrick’s letter A (Apollo):

We’ve also been hard at work on a few logo and branding projects. My favorite is our hand-lettered logo for Ice Cream Social in Tacoma (the company website is still in the works):

Besides designing and illustrating, we were finally able to sand and paint the window trim in the living room. We also hung curtains, but I still need to hem them, so no pictures for now. Soon, though, soon—or maybe not until the kids start school again and my house isn’t covered in legos from sun up to sun down.

Link
 View high resolution
[ ARE WE THERE YET ] I found this Rand McNally travel activity book a few weeks ago while doing a quick scan of the kid’s book section at Goodwill. I pulled it off the shelf assuming it would be mostly used, torn, or at the very least, scribbled upon. To my delight, it is in near perfect condition. The middle even has an entire section of perforated stamp/stickers with beautiful one-color illustrations that have never been torn. The book was designed in 1971 by Bradford/Cout Design, which at one time was based in Illinois. There is virtually no information regarding this company, and as best as I can gather, they folded up shop in the early 2000s. This is the only other thing that I have been able to find online that was designed by them. Here is one of many game pages in the book: The secondary illustrations were done by Dorothy Milikan & Terry Rose, and while I prefer the more graphic illustrations done by Bradford/Cout, I think they managed to integrate the two styles quite well, as you can see in this diagram: Of all the pages in the book (this being just a small selection), this spread is my favorite: I love how good design is so timeless. I plan to keep this high on the shelf in order to keep excited little hands off of those stamps and games, but I do plan to make some color copies to use in the car for our next long road trip. 

[ ARE WE THERE YET ]

I found this Rand McNally travel activity book a few weeks ago while doing a quick scan of the kid’s book section at Goodwill. I pulled it off the shelf assuming it would be mostly used, torn, or at the very least, scribbled upon. To my delight, it is in near perfect condition. The middle even has an entire section of perforated stamp/stickers with beautiful one-color illustrations that have never been torn.

The book was designed in 1971 by Bradford/Cout Design, which at one time was based in Illinois. There is virtually no information regarding this company, and as best as I can gather, they folded up shop in the early 2000s. This is the only other thing that I have been able to find online that was designed by them.

Here is one of many game pages in the book:

The secondary illustrations were done by Dorothy Milikan & Terry Rose, and while I prefer the more graphic illustrations done by Bradford/Cout, I think they managed to integrate the two styles quite well, as you can see in this diagram:

Of all the pages in the book (this being just a small selection), this spread is my favorite:

I love how good design is so timeless. I plan to keep this high on the shelf in order to keep excited little hands off of those stamps and games, but I do plan to make some color copies to use in the car for our next long road trip. 

Link
 View high resolution
[ AURORA ANTIQUE PAVILION ] Wow, sorry about all of the cobwebs over here on the blog. I’ve been doing a bit of design work the past couple of weeks, so thrifting and blogging have taken a back seat for the time being. I’ll share the projects with you all when they’re done. I’m pretty excited about them and it’s been a refreshing change to get my hands back into drawing and designing. Just to clarify, those are Patrick’s hands in the picture, though, not mine.   In the middle of all of the busyness I did find time to take a quick peek inside the Aurora Antique Pavilion with Patrick. It’s been about ten years since the last time we’d been inside, and I sort of forgot about its existence until a friend mentioned it recently. Let me tell you, this is the type of place that you need the better part of an afternoon to explore. We only had an hour and we tried our best to scan it all, but I know we missed plenty. My overall (quick) impression is that this is the place to go if you are looking for Pyrex or other kitchenwares. The prices on most of the Pyrex pieces weren’t much more than Goodwill has been charging these days. Also, I saw a ton of Hall china, but it was priced pretty average.  I was tempted to buy this vintage poker chip set, but our game collection (ahem… it’s almost an entire closet filled with games) is overflowing, so I passed. Furniture was mostly pre-1950, but there were a few pieces of Mid-Mod scattered around. One area that is definitely worth a look is the furniture warehouse. This section felt like it was off-limits to the public, but apparently it is not. I guess it’s just “proceed at your own risk.” A lot of the furniture was already sold and awaiting pick-up, but there was still plenty for sale at pretty steep discounts.  So what did I buy? I’ve been working on upgrading my cheap pots and pans to a mixture of All-Clad and cast iron. It’s been an expensive and slow transition, but every time I swap out a teflon-lined piece of junk for a heavy, even-cooking beauty, I know it’s worth it. I found this vintage Le Creuset 22cm saucepan with a clever skillet lid, and I scooped it up. Well, actually I admired it for a while and walked away. It was Patrick who talked me into going back across the store and claiming it. I suppose his reasoning was two-fold: one, he loves me, two, he gets better food when I have tools for the kitchen that make me enjoy cooking even more. I wonder how many local folks have been to the Antiques Pavilion? Is it just me who forgot about this fabulous place so awkwardly situated above the Burlington Coat Factory? I can’t wait to get a free morning to go back and dig through it all again.

[ AURORA ANTIQUE PAVILION ]

Wow, sorry about all of the cobwebs over here on the blog. I’ve been doing a bit of design work the past couple of weeks, so thrifting and blogging have taken a back seat for the time being. I’ll share the projects with you all when they’re done. I’m pretty excited about them and it’s been a refreshing change to get my hands back into drawing and designing. Just to clarify, those are Patrick’s hands in the picture, though, not mine.  

In the middle of all of the busyness I did find time to take a quick peek inside the Aurora Antique Pavilion with Patrick. It’s been about ten years since the last time we’d been inside, and I sort of forgot about its existence until a friend mentioned it recently.

Let me tell you, this is the type of place that you need the better part of an afternoon to explore. We only had an hour and we tried our best to scan it all, but I know we missed plenty.

My overall (quick) impression is that this is the place to go if you are looking for Pyrex or other kitchenwares. The prices on most of the Pyrex pieces weren’t much more than Goodwill has been charging these days. Also, I saw a ton of Hall china, but it was priced pretty average. 

I was tempted to buy this vintage poker chip set, but our game collection (ahem… it’s almost an entire closet filled with games) is overflowing, so I passed.

Furniture was mostly pre-1950, but there were a few pieces of Mid-Mod scattered around. One area that is definitely worth a look is the furniture warehouse. This section felt like it was off-limits to the public, but apparently it is not. I guess it’s just “proceed at your own risk.” A lot of the furniture was already sold and awaiting pick-up, but there was still plenty for sale at pretty steep discounts. 

So what did I buy? I’ve been working on upgrading my cheap pots and pans to a mixture of All-Clad and cast iron. It’s been an expensive and slow transition, but every time I swap out a teflon-lined piece of junk for a heavy, even-cooking beauty, I know it’s worth it.

I found this vintage Le Creuset 22cm saucepan with a clever skillet lid, and I scooped it up. Well, actually I admired it for a while and walked away. It was Patrick who talked me into going back across the store and claiming it. I suppose his reasoning was two-fold: one, he loves me, two, he gets better food when I have tools for the kitchen that make me enjoy cooking even more.

I wonder how many local folks have been to the Antiques Pavilion? Is it just me who forgot about this fabulous place so awkwardly situated above the Burlington Coat Factory? I can’t wait to get a free morning to go back and dig through it all again.

Link
 View high resolution
[ BARTERING ] I mentioned in an earlier post that we recently spent a few days in Portland, relaxing after our very emotional Montana trip. We were able to stay in a guest cottage free of charge, thanks to a little deal we worked out with Katy over at The Non-Consumer Advocate. Jump on over to her site and take a look at the new blog header that Patrick designed as our part of the deal. What I loved most about this deal, besides getting the opportunity to meet a blog friend in person, was that Katy managed to figure out a way to trade services for every step in getting her new header up and running. Actually, I had no idea how many people were involved in the process. The great thing about bartering is that it doesn’t always have to be an even dollar-for-dollar trade. It’s more about what something is worth to you, how much you want it, or how much you are willing to help someone out. If you love to barter, I’d love to hear other creative bartering stories.

[ BARTERING ]

I mentioned in an earlier post that we recently spent a few days in Portland, relaxing after our very emotional Montana trip. We were able to stay in a guest cottage free of charge, thanks to a little deal we worked out with Katy over at The Non-Consumer Advocate. Jump on over to her site and take a look at the new blog header that Patrick designed as our part of the deal.

What I loved most about this deal, besides getting the opportunity to meet a blog friend in person, was that Katy managed to figure out a way to trade services for every step in getting her new header up and running. Actually, I had no idea how many people were involved in the process.

The great thing about bartering is that it doesn’t always have to be an even dollar-for-dollar trade. It’s more about what something is worth to you, how much you want it, or how much you are willing to help someone out. If you love to barter, I’d love to hear other creative bartering stories.

Link
 View high resolution
[ SMALL FINDS ] I’ve been feeling quite satisfied by our recent furniture acquisitions, so I’ve been spending more of my time at the thrift store pouring over some of the sections to which I don’t typically give as much attention. Though I usually do a general scan of all the shelves when at a thrift store, searching through the rows of books, stacks of dishes, and wedged together art can eat up more time than I have. This change-up in my routine has yielded some great new—though small—finds.  I love finding vintage children’s books, especially ones with great illustrations. I found all of these on one shelf during my last trip to Deseret Industries: The kids are really drawn to these stories and have been asking me to read them over and over and over. I really don’t mind, especially since most of them are ones that I remember fondly from my childhood. I had forgotten how great the Frances books are! We check out a ton of books from the library, so I’m surprised that it hadn’t occurred to me to look for them there. You can see some of my other favorite children’s books that I’ve collected here and here. In the housewares department, I found a new sugar bowl—I’ve been looking for one for quite a while. My previous one was top-heavy and the shape didn’t really go with the little creamer that I bought at Goodwill last year. Though I would have loved it if this Mikasa pattern would have been made in white, the black and white combination seems to be a new accidental theme in my kitchen. Lastly (though there were several nice, but un-blog-worthy finds), look at these Hanna Andersson swedish moccasins. They retail for $18–$22 but I picked these up at Deseret for 50¢ in almost new condition. They are too big for Tula right now (and sadly, too small for me), so I’ll tuck them away for a few years until she can fit into them. It’s always nice to have a little stash of clothes and shoes for those times when I realize that the kids have had a growth-spurt. Aren’t they a little “Wicked Witch of the East” looking? I adore them! It seems that this pattern is no longer available, and the ones that are on their site now are a little boring. I’m so glad to have run across them.

[ SMALL FINDS ]

I’ve been feeling quite satisfied by our recent furniture acquisitions, so I’ve been spending more of my time at the thrift store pouring over some of the sections to which I don’t typically give as much attention. Though I usually do a general scan of all the shelves when at a thrift store, searching through the rows of books, stacks of dishes, and wedged together art can eat up more time than I have. This change-up in my routine has yielded some great new—though small—finds. 

I love finding vintage children’s books, especially ones with great illustrations. I found all of these on one shelf during my last trip to Deseret Industries:

The kids are really drawn to these stories and have been asking me to read them over and over and over. I really don’t mind, especially since most of them are ones that I remember fondly from my childhood. I had forgotten how great the Frances books are! We check out a ton of books from the library, so I’m surprised that it hadn’t occurred to me to look for them there. You can see some of my other favorite children’s books that I’ve collected here and here.

In the housewares department, I found a new sugar bowl—I’ve been looking for one for quite a while. My previous one was top-heavy and the shape didn’t really go with the little creamer that I bought at Goodwill last year. Though I would have loved it if this Mikasa pattern would have been made in white, the black and white combination seems to be a new accidental theme in my kitchen.

Lastly (though there were several nice, but un-blog-worthy finds), look at these Hanna Andersson swedish moccasins. They retail for $18–$22 but I picked these up at Deseret for 50¢ in almost new condition. They are too big for Tula right now (and sadly, too small for me), so I’ll tuck them away for a few years until she can fit into them. It’s always nice to have a little stash of clothes and shoes for those times when I realize that the kids have had a growth-spurt.

Aren’t they a little “Wicked Witch of the East” looking? I adore them! It seems that this pattern is no longer available, and the ones that are on their site now are a little boring. I’m so glad to have run across them.

[ PATRICK’S DAY JOB ]

I’ve mentioned before that Patrick and I are both graphic designers, but I wanted to share this behind the scenes video of one aspect of Patrick’s job as Art Director for our church.

So what does this have to do with thrifting? One of the “posters” in the video is an image of a barren tree. That tree is actually a bonsai tree that was purchased for the shoot. It had all of its leaves trimmed off, so we have adopted the tree, and are currently nursing it back to health with what little sunshine we can provide it. I found a great container at Deseret Industries for $2 to transplant it into, we just need to figure out some drainage first. 

Also, I just wanted to share my husband’s hard work. If you want to see more of his design, you can visit our other site The Mahoney.

Link
 View high resolution
[ HANGING POSTERS ] I’m really loving these bulldog clips, and seem to be finding lots of little uses around the house for them. I even use one to attach Alden’s blanket “cape” to his shirt yesterday when he was playing King & Queen with Tula. My favorite new use for them, though, is hanging posters. Alden received this fabulous luche libre print, by the Bungaloo, from his Aunt and Uncle for Christmas. Instead of having it framed, which would cost a ton more and taken me an unforeseeable amount of time to get around to, I simply attached a bulldog clip on the top and one on the bottom and then hung it on a nail. The posters on each side of the wrestler print are from the Gig Posters Vol. 1 book that we bought a few years ago. If you are looking for inexpensive art for your walls, this book is great. Each of the nearly 200 pages has a nice sized poster that is perforated so it can be easily torn out. For Alden’s room I chose (with his approval) a Kanye West poster from our friends over at Invisible Creature, and a Ben Harper poster from Furturtle Show Prints. What I love about this project is that it is simple enough and fast enough that I can change it on a whim. More art can be added easily, or we can switch out the posters that are being displayed. Larger sized posters can be hung by two clips on the top, too. I’m trying to restrain myself from hanging these all over the house, but the clips are so cheap, it’s hard to resist. Oh, lastly, check out Alden’s new organized shelves! We used some Christmas money to buy some storage for his room (which lacks a closet), and I spent a whole day cleaning and organizing his space. His room was getting seriously out of control… like to the point of not really wanting to go in there, so we’re all relieved to have this project tackled.

[ HANGING POSTERS ]

I’m really loving these bulldog clips, and seem to be finding lots of little uses around the house for them. I even use one to attach Alden’s blanket “cape” to his shirt yesterday when he was playing King & Queen with Tula. My favorite new use for them, though, is hanging posters.

Alden received this fabulous luche libre print, by the Bungaloo, from his Aunt and Uncle for Christmas. Instead of having it framed, which would cost a ton more and taken me an unforeseeable amount of time to get around to, I simply attached a bulldog clip on the top and one on the bottom and then hung it on a nail.

The posters on each side of the wrestler print are from the Gig Posters Vol. 1 book that we bought a few years ago. If you are looking for inexpensive art for your walls, this book is great. Each of the nearly 200 pages has a nice sized poster that is perforated so it can be easily torn out. For Alden’s room I chose (with his approval) a Kanye West poster from our friends over at Invisible Creature, and a Ben Harper poster from Furturtle Show Prints.

What I love about this project is that it is simple enough and fast enough that I can change it on a whim. More art can be added easily, or we can switch out the posters that are being displayed. Larger sized posters can be hung by two clips on the top, too. I’m trying to restrain myself from hanging these all over the house, but the clips are so cheap, it’s hard to resist.

Oh, lastly, check out Alden’s new organized shelves! We used some Christmas money to buy some storage for his room (which lacks a closet), and I spent a whole day cleaning and organizing his space. His room was getting seriously out of control… like to the point of not really wanting to go in there, so we’re all relieved to have this project tackled.

Link
 View high resolution
[ 2010 FAMILY CHRISTMAS CARD ] I was thrilled to find that our cards came a day earlier than expected, so I spent Monday evening thumbing through my address book and licking envelopes. We might have even set a personal record this year for the earliest we’ve ever dropped our cards in the mail (sad, I know). This year we made our family into a little paper doll set. I know most people probably won’t spend the time required to cut them out and assemble them, but we’ve been having fun with them. We made the front panel of the card work as a stand-alone piece, so it can be cut off and hung up with the rest of the cards without having the paper scraps hanging off the back. We had to order something like a million of them as a minimum order, so the kids have been coloring and embellishing them. I’ve also been cutting a few of the “Merry Christmas” banners out and using them as tags on gifts. What do you think?  Would you cut them out and put them together if you received it?

[ 2010 FAMILY CHRISTMAS CARD ]

I was thrilled to find that our cards came a day earlier than expected, so I spent Monday evening thumbing through my address book and licking envelopes. We might have even set a personal record this year for the earliest we’ve ever dropped our cards in the mail (sad, I know).

This year we made our family into a little paper doll set. I know most people probably won’t spend the time required to cut them out and assemble them, but we’ve been having fun with them. We made the front panel of the card work as a stand-alone piece, so it can be cut off and hung up with the rest of the cards without having the paper scraps hanging off the back.

We had to order something like a million of them as a minimum order, so the kids have been coloring and embellishing them. I’ve also been cutting a few of the “Merry Christmas” banners out and using them as tags on gifts. What do you think?  Would you cut them out and put them together if you received it?

Link
 View high resolution
[ CHRISTMAS CARDS ] The first wave of Christmas cards arrived in my mailbox yesterday, with more to follow in the next few days and weeks. Patrick and I—two graphic designers who adore the smell of freshly printed Pantone ink on paper—get excited about the possibilities that come along with making a personal family card. Each year for the past four years, we have done some sort of illustration of our family (last year’s Playmobil family photo is pictured above), and this year’s card will fall in line with the tradition. I have been at work on the sketches for a few weeks, despite the frequent set-back of Alden finding my pencil sketches and tracing them in marker the way only a five-year-old can. Last night, I finally finished the design and passed it off to Patrick to send to the printer. I’m pretty excited about this year’s card, and I’ll share it here when we get it back. Now I’m working on finding a creative way to display the cards that we receive. I think I have an idea that I’ll post later this week. Are you sending out cards this year?

[ CHRISTMAS CARDS ]

The first wave of Christmas cards arrived in my mailbox yesterday, with more to follow in the next few days and weeks. Patrick and I—two graphic designers who adore the smell of freshly printed Pantone ink on paper—get excited about the possibilities that come along with making a personal family card.

Each year for the past four years, we have done some sort of illustration of our family (last year’s Playmobil family photo is pictured above), and this year’s card will fall in line with the tradition. I have been at work on the sketches for a few weeks, despite the frequent set-back of Alden finding my pencil sketches and tracing them in marker the way only a five-year-old can. Last night, I finally finished the design and passed it off to Patrick to send to the printer. I’m pretty excited about this year’s card, and I’ll share it here when we get it back.

Now I’m working on finding a creative way to display the cards that we receive. I think I have an idea that I’ll post later this week. Are you sending out cards this year?

Loading posts...