"Crafting A Meaningful Home" Book Party Report!

I had a total blast helping Meg set up the show for her book  launching party at Rare Device for Crafting a Meaningful Home! Meg & Kate had the idea to cover up  the gallery area in the shop with all cardboard sheets. We were cutting,  glue, stapling cardboard sheets like mad. It totally felt like school  again....ooh how I miss that adrenalin rush fearing that things aren't not gonna  turn out or that we'd have enough time to finish.... and the delirious feeling from  working so intensely and then have anxiety dreams the very night. Oh! How I miss all that!

Perhaps that's the workaholic side of me talking....

But to be honest, there IS something fun about working with bunch  people and doing hands on work like that!  We managed to pull it off in 2  days and even sucked my cousin in to help! Thanks cuz! :D

Here's what the cardboard covered space  looked like after we finished!  They even made cardboard side tables,  mantles, coffee cups and a typewriter! Super cute!

Below are the projects displayed from the book:

From Left to right:   Wood Burned Family Crest by Chika Eustace & I / Vintage Fabric  Display by Cathy Callahan / Rockite Bottle Vases by Anna Corpron &  Sean Auyeung / Locker Hook Rug by Christine Schmidt / Family Banner by  Samantha Hahn / Family Teepee by Billie Lopez & Tootie Maldonado.

From Left to right:   Printed Folklore chair by Diana Fayt / Needlepoint Racquets by Amy  Holbrook / Filipino Folk Art Replica by Meg Mateo & Marvin Ilasco /  Wallpaper Luminarias by Chrstiana Coop & Aimee Lagos / Gold leafed  lamp by Joy Deangdeelert Cho / Jewelry Tree by Carolina Saxl /  Decoupaged Plates by Lisa Congdon /Braided Rag Vessels by Sian Keegan /  Travel A-Z poster by Anh-Minh Le.

Upper Left: a table full of treats that I almost O.D.-ed on.  Upper center: Lisa Wong Jackson from Good On Paper design & Joy from Oh Joy! Bottom left:Meg, Meg's extra super helper Dianne, & I. Bottom center: Rena Tom who runs Rare Device with Lisa Congdon. Bottom Right: Lorena of Petit Collage's little one doing what I was doing....hovering over the food table with food shoved in my mouth.  

Here's me by my (mini version of) Mega-Doily  rug...I had to make a smaller one so it'd fit the space better. And if I may say  so myself... I think the mini version actually looks pretty cute!! :)

You can see the rest of photos from the book party here!

L&G on Dwell!

L&G is totally stoked to be in April issue of Dwell! ...we're actually in there twice! First feature is of the piggy bank along with other neat items...

here's piggy the Dwell website.

...and the second feature is of my Mega-Doily rug project under Meg's "Crafting a Meaningful Home" book!

Yay! Double awesomeness.

FABulous Ending To Our Sale!

We've been so excited about being on FAB!!

We got ourselves geared up for our 3-day flash sale, and now our sale ended we couldn't be happier with the result and seeing the wonderful write up they did about L&G on FAB blog...(blush)

We put out a new item... Terracotta Piggies!...I love how the peachy-orangy terracotta color that makes it look more like a pig! Looks very nice for the summer, yah?

They sold out on fab for now, but they will be available soon on our site!

We really didn't know what to expect in terms of how people will respond to our work and how the sale will go...but turns out it was more than great and we actually sold out quite a few things!!

 

 

I know lot of the stuff aren't even in our shop right now, but we're in the works to put up more! Such as the new Terracotta piggies, one-off Daily Affirmation vintage mirrors, Alphabrass tables with vintage lamp parts and more!! We're planning to have our shop updated soon totally amp up our shop!!

But....

SHOP NOW and get 10% OFF all L&G originals!

Just Enter "GIMMIE10" at checkout!

Sale end of the day on July 4th at 11:59pm PST!!

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L&G Goods In Japan and Soon...US!

So we got some DOUBLE exciting news for L&G and for us!

We currently have some L&G goodies & hand selected vintage items at our friends' shop in Japan called Depot Cycle & Recycle. It's a charming family run bike & lifestyle shop in Ichikawa owned by THE MOST adorable, loving, & happy people we know!!
For the past month, We've been sending some fun things from L&G, R&L goods, and Piano Nobile goodies for their house & lifestyle area of the shop. They just sent me the photo of what it looks like and I'm already in love with all the things, the colors, and just the charming aesthetic of their shop!! I Especially love all these beautifully made ceramic ware.
Here is a photo of the lovely Minato Family. Seiya & Mami & their 3 adorable kids, Aika, Yume and Yuni!! ( I'd like to adopt all of them....yes please...) This is pretty much what they look like ALL the time....always happy and adorable....no joke.
The Minato family visited us in Seattle last summer at our duplex and between Dylan, Chika, Jared and I, we had such a blast with them hanging out around Seattle, Ballard and Guemes Island to show them the great NW.
It was especially fun experiencing everything through their eyes since pretty much wherever they go...birds would sing, people would smile, flowers would bloom, babies would laugh, and even total strangers would go up and talked to them and be compelled to be their BFFs...
It sounds like I'm making it up...but I am not exaggerating.

So in about a week, Dylan & I are actually going to Japan to visit them!!
We'll actually get to really see and experience what its really like to live like one of the happy Minatos!

We're especially excited to see Seiya & Mami shop in person and see L & G piggy banks, servers, and doily rugs!
I made couple of Mini-Mega Doilies (One 2.5 ft diameter and the other is 2ft diameter) for them since their space is limited, but I also think they might actually do well at that size in Japan since it can also be used seating pads for the floor or on a chair....I hope they do well!
At that size... it's actually pretty cute if I may say so myself! :)

I also made a little sewn look book for them of our work.
There's something so satisfying about the combination of thread & paper...

Here's what the inside looks like...I can't explain how excited to see them & also visit Japan!! I'm getting butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it!
It's been a LONG time (7 years!) for me since I was last in Japan studying abroad there, and Dylan on the other hand has never been!
We've been talking about it for couple of years now, and it's also been a long time since the two of us have taken a long personal vacation that's not family or work related!
So it's about time!

....now on with planning the trip......Oh boy!! Where do we even begin or stop!?!


"Crafting A Meaniful Home" Out Now!

FINALLY the book that we've all been waiting for!! (Or at least I have!)
I seem like only yesterday when we first met Meg and got the opportunity to be in her book!
We got our copy of Meg's "Crafting A Meaningful Home" book recently and was totally blown away by the quality of it all. The beautiful cover, all the lovely colorful photos, and 27 seven amazing project by all amazing designers/artists/crafters!

Here's a little sneak peak!!
Meg and her husband.
I'm on the first page! Crazy!L&G's Mega-Doily!
R&L's wood burned coat of arms for the Dupe!
I just love this photo...
Here are all the project & the people in the book
About the book
As the second decade of the 21st century begins, we’re more compelled than ever to find refuge in our homes and personalize our living spaces with DIY projects that celebrate who we are and where we’ve been. In Crafting a Meaningful Home, Meg Mateo Ilasco shares 27 projects that tell personal stories and celebrate heritage, all easily created on a budget. Learn how to decoupage a plate with photos of a best friend; silkscreen upholstery with folk motifs; artfully display love notes; sew a teepee from a vintage quilt top; or create family silhouettes for a festive banner. Contributed by a hip cast of well known designers from across the country, the projects are, at once, nostalgic, sentimental, and modern. Clear instruc­tions are easy to follow, even for beginning crafters.

You can get your copy here!


L&G on Country Living!

L&G's Mega Doily rug is featured on this month's Country Living Magazine! Woot woot!
We're offering a 10% discount for the month! Just enter the discount code when checking out!
A nice spread of rope themed goods. I love those magnifying glass wrapped with jute!


Mega Doily on BLTD

It's been a while since we had any L&G news, but Mega Doily rug just got mentioned on Better Living Through Design (BLTD)!!
It's funny to be talking about this since I'm actually in the process of making a rug at this vary moment...and I have to say, as much as I'm excited to have my rug featured on the blog, I'm really sick of looking at this rug. My hand hurts right now....ow.

The lovely photo of the rug was taken by the wonderful folks over at Fancy (Thanks Sally & Erich!) and they also just launched their new website with lots of wonderful new design! So go check it out! Job well done guys!!


L&G on Lucky Magazine!

Okay...take deep breath...
So get this...our Mega Doily Rug got featured on Lucky Magazine! This is our very first time getting our designs featured in a printed magazine! Kind of a big deal for us, since all the past mentions of L&G were all viral, (which I'm more than grateful for all the kind mentions!), but for some reason getting an actual feature in an editorial magazine makes it feel so official!

I knew before that the rug would be featured on the March issue...but totally forgot that the issue comes out a month before....so all this still caught me by surprised when I found out that the issue came out this last weekend!

But on another SUPER exciting note for L&G is that I'll also be contributing to Meg Mateo Illasco's new book "Crafting a Meaningful Home"  (STC Craft/Melanie Falick Books).

I had the honor to meet Meg in person last year at the Renegade Craft Fair when she was doing some book signing for her book, Craft Inc. Through some casual conversation and me getting her autographed book, we ended up talking about her new book. One thing lead to another and the next thing I know, both Chika and I were talking about projects to propose for her book and dates for a photoshoot in SF! I swear, no one was drunk when all this happened!

But this is even BIGGER deal! Don't get me wrong, blogs & magazines...I'm not making it sound like this a competition nor am I playing favorites, but I'm saying it's a bigger deal because I realized how much work goes into putting a book together from both ends.  Turns out publishing a book isn't so easy...who would of thought, right?
There was so much back and forth of editing and re-editing that goes on and really made me wonder how people did this before the world wide inter-web came about...

In anyhow, the book will come out this Fall and we'll be able to share more in beginning of this summer!!  I'm trying really hard not too say too much, but I'm totally excited knowing what I know and knowing how awesome this book is gonna be!

Stay tuned for more updates!!

L&G/Chikabird in Meg Mateo Illasco's New Book!

So around last August we briefly mentioned that Meg Mateo Illasco is working on some home decor book....but we forgot to mention that both Chika & I are also gonna be her book!!

Ok, you totally want to hear the whole story, right?
Well...let me tell you! It was a total serendipitous thing.....
It all happened on lovely mid-July day in San Francisco when Chika & I traveled there to sell our goods at the Renegade Craft Fair......But this particular day was more than any other craft show days we worked at. We had the pleasure to meet Meg for the first time that day when she was doing book signing for her book "Craft Inc."
I decided to get a copy of her book to have her autograph it since I'm a big fan of her work and I love the book and wanted to get it for a friend..but instead of acting like my normal self....I some how turned into a giant dork too shy to say much besides looking awkward and mumbling some less than significant words like "uh..your books is, uh, really cool...yeah...I like how you talk about business...and stuff...but for crafters....uh...that's pretty cool...yeah, totally."
Well...those weren't the exact words..but I'm sure it was pretty close. :P

But of course, Meg was totally cool and SUPER friendly and just started asking me what I do...and as it turned out, Meg actually knew about our work!! AWESOME!

On top of what was already an exciting interaction with Meg, things just escalated from there. Next thing I know she was in our booth checking out our stuff and chatting with us as if we're already friends (I love friends!)...and JUST when I was thinking that things can't get any awesome-er..Meg all of a sudden says to me "Hey, I'm working on a home decor book and is looking for people to submit some creative projects with a personal story, you guys wanna do it?"
I looked at her like a deer in the headlight....then looked at Chika who also had the same look as me......I looked back at Meg and thought "Could this be real?!"....then realized I should provide some sort of response since she asked me a question....then finally I responded with great confidence "......yesssss?????"
I totally thought it was too good to be true and thought maybe she just wanted to feel it out and so I was prepared that at some point we'll get an email from Meg saying that she found someone better with a better project or for whatever reason.....but everything fell into place....and we realized it was truly official when both Chika & I went back in SF 2 weeks after we met Meg, and found ourselves hanging out at Lisa Wong Jackson's lovely mid-century modern house doing a photo shoot with Meg, Lisa, Joy, and Joanna with Thayer Alllyson Gowdy the photographer for the book. Everything happened so fast I couldn't even register it all!!!
The book will consist of of 25+ other well-known designers/artists/crafters each with a DIY home decor project that has their personal stories or memories. We were thrilled when Meg told us all the awesome people like Joy from Oh Joy!, Lauren & Derek of The Curiosity Shoppe, Lisa Congdon, Lisa of Good on Paper, Cathy Callahan of Cathy of California, Tootie of ReForm School and more were all contributing to the book!
With a power group like that, I don't even have to know what sort of projects they are doing for me to just KNOW that this book will amazing!

Here's some photos from the shoot. I want to live in Lisa's house!
Lisa & Virginia (Meg's lovely assistant) in their matching striped shirt watching the photo shoot take place.
Below are the projects that got shot that day....
My Mega-Doily Rug....Oh how I wish my living room looked like that....it looks much better than my long skinny coffee table sitting on top of it...
For Chikabird, we made a Coat of Arms for the Dupe with all the graphic icons that represented us and then we wood burned them!
Joy's beautiful gold leaf glass lamp
Joanna's lovely stamped door curtainAn here's everyone sitting down for a nice lunch break. It's amazing how exhausting styling a shoot is! There were lots of moving objects back and forth going on, standing back to look at it, framing the shot with our hands, tilting our heads, squinting, and then repeat....
Yum yum almond croissants from my FAVORITE SF bakery, Tartine!!
I still couldn't really believe that this whole book thing is actually happening even after several months in when we already done the photo shoot and submitted the instructions and story...for some reason I just feared (and was trying to prepare myself) that there would still be a chance that we could get edited out.....for simply looking stupid in our photos or something like that...but they decided to keep our project! Even though I wouldn't argue one bit that I probably do look a little stupid in the photos... :P

I'm just more than excited the fact that not only will this be our FIRST time getting published in a book...it's gonna be in a book by Meg along with an amazing group of people that we've always found inspiring, too!
There's just too much awesomeness all around! Can't stand it!
The real book is plan to launch this early fall!
Stay tuned! 

Mega Doily on Craft Magazine

If you're not sick of this yet....Here's Mega Doily featured on Craft Magazine! Woo Hoo!

Mega Doily Making Blog Tours!

Besides our recent exciting mentions on D*S of our Mega-Doily rug and on Apartment Therapy, they've also been making its way around the blog-o-sphere on all sorts of blogs...oh! what a great world that is....

Just when I was starting to feel a little too depressed in this cold and rainy city....there's a beam of sunshine coming out of my computer screen with little blog people smiling and waving at me.... :D
Okay, maybe that's a little creepy...

In any case, thank you all my blog friends and confidant!!

found us on fffound!
The Coveted (of all things stylish)
Petite Pomme (lovely lifestyle blog)Crochet Today (On the Crochet Today Magazine's blog)

Making Chicken Salad (adorable vintage inspired blog)Sodapop Design (a German blog!)
and few others...
Crochet Spot
Chicpea Studio
CaseyBaudin
Erin Everafter
Loverswin
Urban Flea



L&G on Apartment Therapy

Our Mega-Doily rug got yet another nice write up by Seattle's AT contributor, Anne Reagan.
Anne gave a well-summarized post about L&G studio and the rug. On top of that she even provided a little wonderful history about doilies! What a great way to expand our knowledge on a daily biases, wouldn't you agree?

It's been great to see all the positive responses about my Mega-Doily rug. Thank you everyone! But with that said, there's still people with their oh-so-wonderful-but-not-so-positive comments.... I still thank them for taking the time to share their opinions....for my own amusement. Chuckle chuckle...oh they things they say...I friggin' LOVE it! :D