I have a secret. It feels so indulgent and seemingly irresponsible that it's a little scary to talk about it here. Which is exactly why I think I should. I've been spending my late night hours with a mistress: clay ceramics and a pottery wheel.

I make art for a living. What was once a childhood/young-adult/working-adult dream has become a reality, and now time spent illustrating and painting colorful flowers and patterns is all part of a good day's work. I actually get paid to do art.

What anyone who has made art for a living will tell you, though, is that sometimes turning your hobby into your source of income makes it a little less like fun and a lot more like work. That is to say: there's a lot riding on whatever comes out of my paintbrush to be GOOD and product worthy.

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful BEYOND description for my company and my livelihood. But what used to be my free-wheeling escape; the place I mentally ran to when I wanted to get something complicated out of my brain and heart and onto paper, that is now a mandatory function of my daily life. I have a team of people relying on my ability to be creative on demand.

So while it's wonderful to be able to paint creations for 1canoe2, I still need that wild place where I'm creating JUST FOR THE JOY OF IT. Where there's no critique or sales goal.  And for me, that outlet has become ceramics.  In the pic below, you'll see a few of my finished pieces. Wall decorative tiles, ceramic platters, etc. I'm still painting, this time with underglaze on a slab of clay that I have to fire.

I'm just a beginner, but it is so so so much fun. For the time being, I'm not thinking of selling it, although I think it's just in my blood to lean in that direction. As I'm making different pieces, I think about the time that goes into them and how I could do them in production, and then I think WAIT! this is supposed to be fun. Maybe for me the fun is in the making of a business. I feel about ceramics the way I felt about letterpress when I first got into it: completely enthralled by the challenge of a new medium. Constant problems I needed to solve, and a craft to be honed are both like a siren song to me. Part of what makes the pottery project so exciting to me is that it's a physical creation made with my hands, and I can make things in production. It's in my blood, I think.

It's my strongly held belief that creativity in any form keeps the ideas coming in the other forms. Painting informs ceramics. Ceramics generates new concepts for products. Maybe I just believe in the "juju" of creativity and the mysterious connections your brain makes that can result in the holy grail of creativity: truly new, original ideas.  (and if you want to catch the juju, please, please read this book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.)

So I'm giving myself time and permission to keep going with my secret creative project. Who knows? Maybe someday 1canoe2 will have our own line of dishes. That would be amazing. And when that day comes, I will have already done half the homework of intimately knowing shapes and forms and how the clay works. That's the work that takes time and cannot be knocked out on a deadline.

The beautiful thing here is that my secret project is now inspiring me to paint. Check out this sketchbook painting below. I'm just obsessed with these weird little paintings. Again, it's a no pressure situation. They're just small paintings in my sketchbook. But they are delightfully fun.

What is your secret creative yearning? I think we should all have one. We should all have that little daydream project that is all our own.

If you're interested in pottery, check out these really great ceramicists who have been inspiring to me:

Aron (our friend! and local ceramics hero) from Facture Goods

Michelle Luu Pottery 

Molly Hatch

Samantha Brown Ceramics

Heather Dahl

You can also see a lot more behind the scenes of our art process on Instagram!

 :: Beth, 1canoe2 Bosslady ::

Let's face it...we're all busy. Life is busy, work is busy, sometimes even dreams are busy! We need to save on time where we can. So today we're not going to work harder...we're going to work smarter. This method shows you how to draw repeating patterns by drawing and cutting a design that, once digitized, can be repeated seamlessly at any size. So let's get started!!

Supplies:
Paper
Pencil
Ruler
X-acto knife
Paint and paint brushes (optional)

1. Prepare your paper
Measure and mark the center of your paper both vertically and horizontally. Use your ruler and X-acto knife to cut the paper into four separate pieces. Keep track of which pieces fit together!

**Cutting with a ruler and X-acto knife is ideal because it gives perfectly straight, clean cuts. Scissors will work, just be extra careful to cut one straight line.



2. Number the pages 
With the four cut pieces of paper laying in order, number the edges that lie next to each other so that each edge has a corresponding number.

**I reinforced the numbers below to help see them clearly in photos, but make sure to use a pencil for these markings. You'll erase or cover them up later.



Now switch the left and right sides and label those edges in the same manner.

Finally, swap the top and bottom pages and label the last four edges. Each edge should now have a number and corresponding number assigned. These will be super helpful when drawing your design. Even if you accidentally get the pages out of order, you'll easily be able to identify how to put them back together so your drawing aligns.

3. Start drawing!
The pattern can be anything from simple shapes to an intricate, solid floral. I'm currently working on our next scrapbook line, so I'm doing a scattering of fireflies.

Start in the middle and leave the outside edges blank for now. The trick here is to have at least parts of your design crossing the cut intersections. This will ensure that the final design looks like one seamless drawing instead of four distinct sections. 

4. Finish the edges
Once you have the middle portion done (you can always adjust it later), swap the left and right sides and the top and bottom portions so that the blank edges are now in the middle 

Now all you have to do is finish your drawing! If you find that something needs to be adjusted, swap the pages and draw/redraw as needed. Just make sure that the edges are always aligned with their corresponding number.



The base for your repeating pattern is done! Each outside edge lines up perfectly with the opposite outside edge.

5. Finishing touches
From here you can decide how you want the final pattern to look. You can leave it a simple line drawing (I recommend outlining the pattern with a fine-tip pen so the lines are crisp and defined once you scan) or color it in using markers, paints or pencils.

I used gouache paint to finish my pattern. Use the same technique for painting as you did drawing -- start in the middle and then swap all the pages so the painted portion is on the outside and you're left with the unpainted portion in the middle. While you're finishing the pattern, be sure to blend your painted edges into the previously painted border so there are no color differences or seams.

6. Digitize
Scan all four sections of your repeating pattern and open the scan in Photoshop. Delete the background, move the edges of the pattern to line up right next to each other (you may have to use the Clone tool to clean up the edges and erase any hint of a line), and save it as [Pattern]-Tile. This file is now the tile that will be repeated indefinitely to make any size pattern you'd like!

The four painted sections come together to create the pattern tile

Duplicate the tile several times to make a bigger repeating pattern


The final repeating pattern!

And you're done!! I hope you had fun with this tutorial...comment with any questions!

:: Haley, 1canoe2 Artist + Marketing Director ::

Creativity and organization: two words that aren't usually seen together! We are constantly trying to keep our artistic spirits active and engaged while still managing the rest of our lives, be it kids, work, or even just the daily to-do list. So, when we heard about bullet journaling, we knew we had to give it a shot.

Bullet journaling is the process of combining your planner and journal into one comprehensive life guide. Instead of having a planner, a notebook, and a journal, bullet journals take a more holistic approach, making this one journal a collective book of your to-do's, memories, and musings.

You can create your own code to signify your status on each task, so that rather than transferring each task to the next day, you soon start to be able to see where you're at just by glancing at the page. For example, if you want to show that you're halfway through a project, you can mark it with a half circle, or if you decide to delegate that project to someone else, you can mark it with a triangle. The code is completely up to you! For those of us who get so much satisfaction from crossing things off lists, this system lets you get a bit of that satisfaction every time you make a little progress here or there.

After learning all of this, we were already on board for this journaling venture, but then it got even better. We started creeping on some bullet journal fanatics via Instagram, saw some *insanely pretty* bullet journals and were immediately smitten. People bullet journal in so many ways! Some stick to no nonsense black and white, while others are covered in washi tape, stickers, colored pencil and doodles. We love the idea of incorporating art and imagination into our everyday tasks, and these bullet journals seemed to be hitting every mark.

So three of our incredible ladies on staff decided to start a two month trial period to test it out and see if these journals could actually handle the chaos of our busy lives.

KELSEY

Q: Before we started this project, did you already know what bullet journaling was all about?

A: A little bit. I knew that you would come up with your own code for taking notes and it would be your own interior way of demarking stuff so that you would be to figure out what you're doing to make it faster. It was mysterious but I knew that you could set your own thing. You didn't have to follow somebody else's example, which I like 'cause I'm a contrarian.

Q: Can you describe your bullet journaling process?

A: So I took it to be a do-do calendar more than anything else, and kind of a place to reflect as well. I have a lot of different jobs and do a lot of different things so it was nice to have one spot where I could keep track of everything as I thought of it. I would make one big list where I could just write everything down, and then I would break those onto separate pages with more detail or description.

Q: Do you have a favorite part of the process?

A: I really like lists and I've always enjoyed making lists so that part I enjoy. I like the notebook that I use because it's really thin and portable so I took it on vacation and I didn't feel like I was lugging around another journal.

Q: Do you have a least favorite part of the process?

A: I think if I continue to do this, I would commit to keeping everything in one notebook, and because this was kind of a trial to see how I would like it, I still had two notebooks, but in the future I would try to only use one. It wouldn't be as pretty though because it would just be lots and lots of notes.

Q: Do you usually keep a planner or a journal? If so, how would you say this differed from a traditional journaling experience?

A: I keep a "feelings" journal, which is one of those things like "do not open this. That is not okay." And then I also have my planner which keeps my calendar, and I'm still a paper person, so I like to keep it all on paper. I use my phone but hardly. And then I have a notebook of lists and that sort of thing, so I'm kind of over journal/planner-ed. But I enjoy that, and I'm okay having those things be separate a little bit, but the good thing about the bullet journal is that it kind of gets to all of those things, because it almost became a record of March and April for me. These are both really busy months for me, so it was kind of like "wow, I did a lot of stuff!" Or "these are all the things I have to think about in the next couple of weeks."

Q: Did you find bullet journaling to be a time saver or a creative outlet and why?

A: I'm a creative person in my life. I draw and paint and take photographs so the creative aspect of it, while fun, was for me almost taking away from my creative pursuits in what I need to get done, so I think I would use this as a time saver as opposed to a creative expression.

Q: Will you be continuing to bullet journal?

A: Yeah, I think I will, but I think it'll be more of the time saving. I'd like to work it into my planner. I have the 1canoe2 big spiral bound planner and I think I would prefer bullet journaling in there. Although it's not traditional in terms of a blank page where you can do whatever, I think within the confines of each day box, that would be really helpful for me. I think it'll synthesize all of my to-do's. I came up with my own code and I'm really excited about it. I've started to remember what it is and not have to flip back all the time!

LIZ

Q: Before we started this project, did you already know what bullet journaling was all about?

A: I did not.

Q: Can you describe your bullet journaling process?

A: For me, I had to take a look at the subject that I wanted to use the bullet journaling for and then spend some time breaking it down in terms of what would be helpful for me to track. From there, I made a list of those things and I thought about how I could display that visually in a way that kept my attention and be interesting to me, so that I would want to return to it and would be able to glance at it and know what's going on.

Q: Do you have a favorite part of the process?

A: Having to spend that time thinking about "okay, this is the thing that I want to track", and then coming up with a few different ways to display that visually. But also, spending some time looking at other people's bullet journals was really inspired, and it's always nice to spend some time looking at beautiful things.

Q: Do you have a least favorite part of the process?

A: If you mess up a part, you have to work around it. It's a lot of problem solving. If I didn't like the way something turned out, I wouldn't want to redo the whole page. If I had just started I might redo the whole page but if I'd gotten further along there's that "okay, how can we make this work." I think it was hard not to want it to look perfect, but the realty is, that's the nature of journaling. There are these moments where things just kind of happen, and you have to go with the flow with it because you can't control it too much.

Q: Do you usually keep a planner or a journal? If so, how would you say this differed from a traditional journaling experience?

A: I do both. I use a planner and I also do "big" journaling once a month, but then I also do a daily thing too, so I have all these different methods going on. It just combines both of those really nicely - a space to write down things that are more observations that you wouldn't put in your planner, but they're more task-oriented than what I would put in my journal, so it's a mix of those two things, which was really nice.

Q: Did you find bullet journaling to be a time saver or a creative outlet and why?

A: Creative outlet, for sure. It was worth it, for sure. I am always looking for ways to incorporate creativity into my day to day life, because that is where most of my life happens, so I think that if there are ways to make it a space for me to problem solve visually, or get to practice different drawing techniques, or lettering that I want to try, then I can combine that in a way that's also useful. I really struggle when doing creative things because I feel like it needs to be purposeful too, so I don't just create to create as much as I should, but this was a space where I could create with a purpose. I do the same thing with my grocery list. My husband, Jonathon, gives me a hard time because I'll rewrite our grocery list a thousand times because I'll try to doodle on that and try to make that aesthetically pleasing.

Q: Will you be continuing to bullet journal?

A: Yeah! I really liked it for a really specific part of my life. I used one page for our family and day to day life and I felt like that was too overwhelming for me to map out, but when I did the garden one, that felt really good, because that's something I track anyways, but to have that kind of method, I think I would return back to it and use it once a week or something like that to keep track of those things, rather than my whole life.

JAYLYN

Q: Before we started this project, did you already know what bullet journaling was all about?

A: Kind of, not really. I had to Google it.

Q: Can you describe your bullet journaling process?

A: First I started scrolling and seeing how other people used theirs, and appreciating how neat and tidy everyone appears to be, and aiming for that but knowing that was pretty unattainable for myself. I think I started with a little bit higher expectations than I should have for my own abilities! I think it was helpful to read a couple of prompts from other people about what they felt bullet journaling was about and it's purpose. It helped me decide on what pages I wanted to try to flesh out. I used some pages to help flesh it out but then I would just turn the page once I figured it out, so my bullet journal is full of drafts and then the real thing. I flipped through my existing journal to see if I could figure out a theme, or some lists that were already going, and go from there.

Q: Do you have a favorite part of the process?

A: I think once I said "okay, I have to stop obsessing over it looking perfect or being formatted exactly how I would dream it would be and just make it usable." Once I got there it was a little more freeing.

Q: Do you have a least favorite part of the process?

A: Feeling this expectation of this unattainable beauty and perfection that I appreciate but isn't attainable for me.

Q: Do you usually keep a planner or a journal? If so, how would you say this differed from a traditional journaling experience?

A: It's the difference between your actual lab notebook in physics class and your notes that you take in class. The lab notebook being where you write all the notes that you hold onto until you have time to organize them in an efficient way as you discern what's important.

Q: Did you find bullet journaling to be a time saver or a creative outlet and why?

A: Definitely not a time saver for me, but that might be because I was trying too hard at first. But I definitely enjoyed when I did sit down and take things out of my other journal or I would think "oh, this could be a bullet journal entry" when I was about to make a list or plan. That was fun to put it out in an organized way. I'm a list person already so I like to do that.

Q: Will you be continuing to bullet journal?

A: In the future, I think I'll incorporate some of those bullet journaling techniques into my regular journal when I come across a theme or a list or a collection, and flag the page or something so I can find it again and keep the list updated and going, but for me personally, I think it would be hard for me to maintain it. It's definitely more my personality to throw down my thoughts as I can and then as I need to go back to them and they are still useful, then I'll organize them. And also, it's hard to know in the moment what's important.


Give it a try and let us know how it goes!! If you don't know where to start, check out our collection of planners, notebooks and scrapbooking supplies to find all the supplies you need for your first bullet journal.

Have fun!
:: Claire the Intern ::

The mailman. WHAT would we do without our mailman?!

Our “People Who Make the World Go Round” project would be incomplete without a big shout out to our favorite mailmen, Gary and Mason! The mail is very important to us – not only because we can use it to send greeting cards and thank you notes to all our favorite people (we are in the stationery business!), but also because we use it every day to send retail and wholesale orders to all of our customers. We literally would not be in business without the postal service, and Gary and Mason, and their diligence and faithfulness in picking up our packages every single day. And, man oh man, some days we have a mountain of packages. Especially during those busy times of year, like around the holidays. They always show up with a smile on their face and the willingness to bend over backward to help us out.

Thanks, guys! You make our world go round!

National Postal Worker Day is this Saturday (July 1st), giving us all the perfect opportunity for an act of kindness. Let's spread some love! Maybe you could do something a little special for your mailman, or your UPS delivery guy, or the nice lady that works at the post office. They will surely appreciate it, and we designed a free thank you card to make it super easy! Simply save the card to your computer, print and share!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD!

We can’t wait to see how you thank your mailman!

:: 1canoe2 Crew ::

Handwriting has been a passion of mine ever since I can remember. I never thought it would end up being such a large part of my career, but I am so glad that it is!

One of my favorite things about lettering is that it's something we all do almost every day. Writing has become second nature to so many of us that we don't even have to think about doing it. And each person's handwriting is as unique as they are. It seems to be a dying practice due to technology, but I'm so excited about the interest so many people have had in learning a more traditional script in our Brush Lettering class.

I have had so much fun teaching and sharing my love for lettering with so many awesome people. If you're interested in signing up for one of our upcoming classes, go to the "workshops" tab at the top of our website. We'd love to meet you!

:: Kate Z. ::

You guys...we love this. Starr Mercer and her friend Missy Hodgson hosted a super fun workshop using the globes and accessories from our Globe Gallery and we are just head over heels!! Check out this serious eye candy...


























Way to go, ladies!! These globes look amazing! If you want to get in on the fun, check out the 1canoe2 Globe Gallery to pick up your favorite globe and accessories!

:: 1canoe2 crew ::

All photography by Starr Mercer Photography

Pssst!! Want a sneak peek? We're adding a new globe to our gallery in just a couple weeks and it may just be our favorite yet!

We are so excited to finally share Creekside with you! Our second line of scrapbooking paper and fun stickers, stamps, washi-tape, etc is inspired by a summer day along the creek with the best pals around.  

We have some really fun paper-lover's products in this line. Check out these notebooks: they fold like a matchbook, come with a cute little pencil, and you get THREE of them in a pack!

The rotary stamp that we did with our Hazelwood line was such a huge success that we wanted to bring you another cool option: squiggles! 

Washi tape is always my most favorite item in the line. ISN'T THIS PRETTY! I definitely don't have 3 tubes in my drawer that I'm hoarding. Nope. I don't.

There's also a little boxed set of cards that is an incredible deal. 40 cards in 1canoe2 designs!

Stickers are always fun!

And of course, the paper collection is out of this world! So many options!

Stay tuned for updates on when this hits our shop! Should be just a couple more weeks!

:: 1canoe2 crew ::

Well, the busiest week of our year is in the rear-view mirror. Every Spring, the 1canoe2 crew paddles (har har) extra hard to get ready for the National Stationery show in New York.

Starting in January (or hopefully sooner) we begin brainstorming concepts for our signature cards, calendars and other products. The concept phase is quickly followed by a couple of months of late night painting sessions and weekly art team meetings. We typically paint 3 or more times the amount of artwork that ends up in a release of new products. 

Aside from the artwork and product development, there are an enormous amount of details to take care of to make sure we put our best foot forward at the show. Here are just a few of the major to-do list items:

New catalog: This year we are switching to an annual catalog model, with supplements mailed out again in August and January. We are paper people, so that means that we print and actual paper catalog, and we think of it as our signature marketing piece. Our amazing art director and her sister--who is also crazy-talented--reshot almost every single product photo and reimagined the entire catalog. The result is stunning. And most importantly, it looks and feels just like 1canoe2. 

Booth logistics: We have to design, build, and outfit our booth with electricity. Where will the products go? What color should it be painted? Is it eye-catching? Will we need to hire labor at the tradeshow to screw in shelves? Did we pack the hammer (and also the nails)? We ship our booth from Missouri all the way to New York, and you can bet my fingers are crossed from the time it's forklifted at our warehouse until I walk in the booth the day before the show. There are some horror stories out there about booths not showing up. YIKES.

Travel plans: We love New York, and we really try to take the opportunity to enjoy the city while we're there. There are flights to plan, hotel rooms to book, and most importantly, dinner to eat. Here are a few of our favorite places:

• Momofuku I prefer the Ssam Bar location. Get 4 pork buns.
• Buvette French rustic. So good.
• Shake Shack cheese fries and everything else.
• Tacombi street tacos, but in a restaurant. And crazy good cocktails.
• Magnolia Bakery I mean, everything is good, but the classic vanilla/vanilla cupcake is my favorite.
• Gallow Green super cool rooftop restaurant. Food is great, atmosphere is better.
• Becco they have an incredible prix fixe pasta meal, and $25 bottles of wine.
• Eataly get the pizza, or just snack at the little bar piazza area.
• Gotham Market everything delicious under the sun: Sushi burrito.
• Pio Pio roasted chicken and french fries.
• Nom Wah Tea Parlor Get the soup dumplings. Also, a great place for 4 people to eat themselves silly for $40.

There are also countless marketing opportunities that we get lined up to try to encourage people to come to the booth and place an order. Postcards, phone calls, print ads, etc., etc. 

You could say that our entire world revolves around NSS for a couple of months. But in the end, it's worth all the hard work to see the smiling faces of new and favorite customers. And also the pork buns.

:: Beth :: 

Everyone loves pie, am I right?

A couple of weeks ago I went back and looked through all of our blog posts from the past year, and started thinking about the year ahead. I was trying to think of some kind of ongoing project that we could post about on a weekly basis, and hopefully get you, our readers, involved in some way. In the past I’ve shared a few pie recipes here on the blog, which made me think of my friend Brenda. A couple of years ago Brenda made one pie a week for the whole year. A pretty great idea! I do love to make pies, and there are a lot of recipes out there that I’d love to try. So…here’s the plan…

One pie a week. Each week a new recipe. That’s 52 different pies over the course of the year, and I’ll share the recipes with you right here on the blog. Who will be eating all of these pies? Well, not me. I mean, I’ll probably taste one here and there, but there is no way I should be eating pie every week. Instead I plan on either sharing them with friends or giving them away, because, everyone loves pie!

I’m not going to make any promises that I won’t miss a week here or there, but I’m going to give it my best shot. I’ve also been making a mental list of all the people that I plan on surprising with a pie, which I think will be the best part. I have some friends who are really excited about the whole idea, mostly because they’re looking forward to eating some of this pie, which they undoubtedly will have the pleasure of doing. They’ve already declared 2013 “The Year of the Pie”!

I know a lot of you out there are great cooks and probably have some really great recipes. I have a short list of pies that I plan on making, but I need your input. If you have a favorite pie, or a family recipe that you’d be willing to share, I would love know about it. 

Week 1 : The Perfect Apple Pie

I decided that we should start out the year with a classic, and nothing is more classic that an apple pie. We had our final family Christmas gathering this weekend and I took this along with me. Most of it was eaten, and I sent the leftover piece home with my brother Dustin because he really liked it. He actually told me that it might just be his second favorite dessert of all time – right behind Aunt Bobbie’s layered cake with chocolate icing. Woah. He also said he gives it 7 high-fives out of 7. Not exactly sure what his rating scale means, but that seems like a solid score.

I used a recipe I found in the Better Homes and Gardens NEW Cookbook, copyright 1968. I know you’ve seen it. It’s a three ring binder style book with a red and white checkered cover, and I’m pretty sure everyone’s mom has one their kitchen…

Perfect Apple Pie