Mint

Wouldn’t that be nice? The thing about taking a vacation is when you get back, there’s so much to catching up to do. Here are some favorite photos from our Puerto Rico trip a couple weeks ago. Two of the highlights of the trip were our hotel, the Gallery Inn, and St. Germain Bistro & Cafe, beautifully photographed here by Him in the Kitchen who was there just after we were!

One of Mint’s sponsors, Flytrap, just added some new soft cotton wraps to the shop, and they are perfect for Spring! The wraps are perfectly soft and sheer, and look beautiful over jeans or dresses. Flytrap designer Jody Cedzidlo illustrated the cocoa pod. Jody says she was originally inspired by Escazú, “a chocolatier that turns cocoa pods into mouth-watering creamy chocolates just a few minutes down the road from our studio.” As with all Flytrap goods, it’s lovingly screen printed by Jody.

And then there’s the great selection of scarves, dresses, tees, and more…

Thanks Flytrap! Sponsors help make Mint possible, and I am so grateful for their support. If you’re interested in advertising on Mint, please get in touch by emailing ellie at mintdesignblog dot com, and I’ll be happy to give you all the details.

I never liked carrots, and then one day recently, bam, CARROTS. Roasted carrots. So delicious. This week’s recipe for Roasted Carrots and Fennel from Green Kitchen Stories has goat cheese on top, so what could be better?

São Paulo designer and illustrator, Bruno Borges.

These black, white, and red 1920s-inspired wedding invitations are some of my favorites! I designed and printed them on my gocco for a vintage inspired wedding, and the patterned paper you see was used as an envelope liner.

Now available in the Hello Tenfold shop! Photos by Whitney Deal.

Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.

— Ira Glass (via nefffy, by way of Fresh Air, by way of Yarn Yumminess)

Ira Glass press photo by Stuart Mullenberg via UAB

One of Mint’s wonderful sponsors is Mohawk Paper, who carries a huge range of papers for every need (letterpress, digital, labels…) and an online store front that lets you shop by project, weight, color, or finish.

Printed on Mohawk Papers:
Top, “Full Bleed” poster by Dan Christofferson of Beeteeth, letterpressed by The Mandate Press and available at Felt & Wire
Middle & Bottom, Environmental Papers Sample Book, designed by SEA design with photographs by Lee Funnell, via Creative Review

Thanks Mohawk! Sponsors help make Mint possible, and I am so grateful for their support. If you’re interested in advertising on Mint, please get in touch by emailing ellie at mintdesignblog dot com, and I’ll be happy to give you all the details.