Finally updated the header on here. I've been meaning to for a while, but just finally got around to it. Sounds like most things with me.

Up there is one of my trivets spotted in action on New Year's Eve. Looks good peeking out there from under the dish, if I do say so myself. Anyway, happy new year and merry christmas and all that. The holidays were nice, but not relaxing enough, and I'm having some serious trouble getting down to work and being creative. I'm sure things will get back on track soon, but until then, links!
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More than 1000 dead birds fall from the sky. What?? What makes this extra sad to me is that the red-winged blackbird is my favourite bird. Sad.
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Speaking of birds, you may know we kind of favour bird images around our house. Jenna recently found these two different antique packaging items that I really need to keep an eye out for now (on top of this Hush-shak can I'm itching to own):

Ronson Oily Bird lubricant. Clever, clever use of the spout as beak. Love it.

Snow Bird Dust Mop Polish. So pretty.
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If I were a snowboarder, I'd probably want this HBCxBurton snowboard. It's like a Bay blanket on a board!
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I know this is a little late, but Black Thought throws down some beautiful vocals in this video of The Roots doing The Christmas Song. Multi-talented vocalist! Love it.
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Also a little late, is this article about the novelty industry struggling with creating glasses for NYE 2011. Some pretty ridiculous solutions there.

When Marc recently ordered a bunch of coasters from me for the Princess Cafe, he asked me to make some with a projector on them. I've been working on how that would look, and I'm pretty sure that the image above is going to be the end result. I hope it ends up printing okay.

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Started off today with some design work for a yoga teacher in Guelph, and a viewing of Vanishing Point. Spotted this production company logo in the opening credits which apparently somebody else also thought was cool, since they put it up on youtube. Simple and awesome.
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The more I see of the design for Frank, in Austin, the more I LOVE it. Seriously, it's making the rounds and it is awesome. Check out this run down that The Dieline posted. Really, really nice stuff. Thorough too. I love how they even went to town all over the outside of the building.

Actually, a number of things designed by the firm behind it, Helmsworkshop, have come to my attention of late, and they are putting out some amazing stuff all around. For example, go here and pay special attention to the Optimistic Beverages logo. Forget that, just look at everything on there. Nice stuff.
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These might be the cutest bird-feeders I've ever seen. Too bad I've only seen them for 99 euros. That's a little much for me!
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Shepard Fairey, and other people, have designed manhole covers in Milan? Awesome.
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Dueling Bears by BoyGirlParty. This print is adorable. I've seriously probably looked at it once a day for the past week or two.

And my summer blogging hiatus-ey kind of thing continues. It's been a pretty awesome summer though. Old friends in town. Screen printing. Disc golf (finally made it to St. Thomas this weekend). Other stuff. Great summer.

But I've returned because there are things I have to share... Hold on for a tonne of links, and then another long break likely... Exciting things coming in the future though, I promise.
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This Patches comic is one of my favourites in a while. SO CUTE. And sad. Don't you just want to hug him?
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Speaking of wanting to hug comic characters, I think I might need to make my own Beartato pillow. I was tempted by the shirt, but realized I don't really wear brown anymore, so I figured it was impractical. BUT, I have been wanting a stuffed Beartato (this guy is close, but not quite, and yes, we do own one) for some time, and this looks like it's as close as it gets...
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Wow, Coca Cola made a great move in the re-branding of Mello-Yello. Nicely retro. The one thing I don't like, is that the can seems to be having an identity crisis, trying to make the retro look a little more modern with the citrus in the back. Take the citrus out and drop the outline on the text, and the whole thing looks a lot better. But still, nice work.
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The best Emmy's opening ever?
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Love this pin-up girl hot chocolate packaging. Clever.
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These bottled smoke art pieces are beautiful and a little haunting. Really nice stuff.
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The Birds art installation in Vancouver's Olympic Village. That's something that would be exciting to come across.
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United States Postal Service theoretical re-brand. Really nice. If they switched to this, I would be so jealous!
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Stubby Beer Bottles. While tall cans of Red Stripe have definitely taken over my summer drinking, I'll never not love a stubby. They do look a little silly when I'm holding them though...
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I guess that's it for now, maybe you'll hear from me again sometime.

I keep going back to this Audi image. Stark and simple, but stunning. The confidence it exudes is amazing. So much different from so many car ads. (Thanks to Grain Edit for linking to that one)
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Film guide is done. We're never done this early in the month, and it's going to make this Christmas a lot more relaxed. It was a stressful time to lock it down so early, but totally worth it.

Our living room is finally painted, and the Christmas tree is up. It feels so much more like home now in there. And it only took like 6 months! Dining room is painted, but will be painted again this weekend. The colour we picked was just not quite right...
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Here are some tabs I've had open for awhile, either to look at again (and again), or to share:

Ampersandwich tee - Pretty funny. Not quite totally doing it for me, but enjoyable.

French Paper Company and Charles S. Anderson Design - Nice promotions!

Cabin and Cub desk calendar - I love the idea and look of calendars, but I've never been big on using them. This one almost got me to buy it. It's pretty great, and bears!

Swingline staple gun & box - Jenna sent me this one, and I would LOVE to own it. Once you add in shipping though, that cost is just totally impractical. The label on the side in picture 3 is pretty great.

Baby Kermit Glass - Another one from Jenna. SO CUTE.

Lotta Nieminen Birds - Love so much about this image. Grain Edit featured a couple of her pieces. All are good. This one's the best though.
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Few, my Firefox is way slimmer now! Hope you enjoy some of that stuff.