Shop has been re-opened with new products, Valentine’s Day goodies, and a new color addition to the family. We still have something new in store for you so check back often for more info.

Christmas seem to fly by this year, no? It came and went with a blink of an eye for us but we managed to embrace the day. After waking up and convincing Kendall no strange man in a red suit was still lingering around we made apple tarts for breakfast and tore into the gifts. She really got into the hang of it this year and opened all of ours too. Her favorite toy right now is the vacuum, let’s hope this isn’t just a phase.

This year the tree was decorated in all silver ornaments except one. I purchased a custom silhouette ornament from my dear friend Vana, owner of Le Papier Studio. On the back I had her include the year so as each holiday comes and goes we will remember what Kendall looked like each year. I just love the details of the eyelashes and the ‘puffs’. I’m so intrigued to see what profile we’ll have on our tree next year.

I hope each and everyone had a great holiday and enjoyed both old and new traditions. Soon this year will come to a close and we can embark on another. I have a lot in store for Perideau Designs so check back often for many updates!

See more Christmas photos here!

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Part of Sabine’s newest collection, maman & moi, are 2 beautiful embellished shirts that come in robin egg blue and rose. How simply darling are they?

These are the very reason why I’m going broke raising a girl. I simply cannot resist.

It was so much fun playing Santa last week and handing out a package of red velvet truffles to close friends at work and around the neighborhood. They were a hit! I made so much that I was able to keep some at home, with much gratitude from the mister. So if you’re looking for a DIY holiday gift but short on time, baking is a great way to go. Check out bakerella! A one stop shop for all of your baking needs. That’s where I got the recipe for the red velvet truffles. So simple and so good! I would suggest using candy melts for the chocolate since the chocolate from the grocery store doesn’t melt as well. Learned that one the hard way. Thanks K for the little tip!

Do you do any baking for the holidays? If so, what do you bake? I’m always looking for new recipes to try.

We’re wrapping up this year’s Modern Monday {all about paper} series with the cutest duo in town, Lauren and Joel, engaged couple running Old Tom Foolery. I first came across this pair at the National Stationery Show and their witty sense of humor was one I could easily relate to. I never laughed so hard at a greeting card before. So let’s check out how this couple is able to evoke such feeling with so little words.

Tell us about yourself.
My fiancé, Joel, and I co-own Old Tom Foolery, a greeting card company that we started in 2007. We currently live in San Francisco, though we’re both originally from the Midwest.

How and why did you create your business?
We met in grad school for advertising and discovered we both had an odd fondness for greeting cards, especially letterpress printed ones. We were always looking for cool new cards to give each other when we started dating and began talking about starting a greeting card company someday. After grad school, we both worked full-time in advertising in Seattle and then San Francisco, but were really itching to work for ourselves. So in July of 2007 we officially launched Old Tom Foolery and started preparing to debut our first line of cards at the National Stationery show in New York in May of 2008. Although we still dabble in advertising, it’s great to be able to put the majority of our time towards our own business and focus on helping it grow.

Describe a typical work day for you.
We usually wake up around 9am and, after hitting the snooze bar a few times, start the morning routine of showering, then surfing the web with some breakfast and coffee before getting down to business. Being on the West Coast, it’s nice to often wake up to orders and good emails waiting for us from the early birds 3 hours ahead on the East Coast. For us, the work of the day varies quite a bit. Some days we have to focus on getting orders out, some days are spent creating new cards, and some days we have to focus on the not-so-fun aspects of running a business, like managing the accounting and other paperwork. But we try to find some time every day to get outside and enjoy our beautiful San Francisco neighborhood. Even if it’s just walking down to the bank or post office, it’s always nice to break up the day. And unless we’re cramming to get a big order out or prepping for a trade show, we try to cap the work day around 6pm or so, though it’s often hard to mentally turn it off, especially since we work from home. But even when we do work long hours, it’s rewarding because we know we’re working for ourselves and our own goals.

Why did you choose the form of paper to express yourself?
Not only were we big fans of independent greeting card companies, but a card company seemed like a business we could take on because the skill set involved is really similar to what we were already doing in our advertising jobs. Joel is a writer, and I’m an art director, so we’re essentially still filling those roles with Old Tom Foolery. For the most part, he writes the cards and I design them, though we are always giving feedback for each others’ roles. We also liked the idea that there isn’t a ton of capital needed to start a card company. We were able to use our own savings to purchase a letterpress, create our initial batch of cards, and launch the line.

Where do you draw inspiration from?
Joel and I both have our own cycle of blogs and websites that we check daily. That always helps to get the mental juices flowing and put you in a creative mindset. We also love going to bookstores and boutiques, which are abundant in San Francisco. It’s such a creative city, it’s hard not to find inspiration on a daily basis. We’re also suckers for anything that’s “old-timey” and love looking at old documents on sites like The Library of Congress (loc.gov) and flea markets/vintage shops.

What are your favorite hobbies?
The two of us are pretty different in terms of hobbies. I love taking photos, and recently started a dog photography blog called Other People’s Pooches (www.otherpeoplespooches.com). Joel likes to read and play hockey, which he grew up doing in Minnesota. He also does some voiceover work on the side. (Little known fact: He was the voice of the Oakland A’s TV and radio commercials this past season.)

Thank you so much for sharing you two! Enjoy the holidays!
website :: blog :: etsy

Today was spent playing in the snow, enjoying hot chocolate, and taking long naps. A perfect snow day in my book.

See more pictures here.

The last of the holiday orders are packaged and on their merry way. Boy does it feel good to have it all done and can now sit back and relax. I’ve closed the shop until December 28th to unwind, spend time with the family, and get new designs ready. I’m really looking forward to the indulging, sleeping in (well as much as I can with a toddler in the house), and just be stress free.

My good friend Tiffany ordered quite a few presents from me this year and also some for her holiday gift giving. She was kind enough to share how she used the reindeer gift tags. How cute are they? Only if I lived closer could I sample some of those delicious cheese wafers. Tiffany is an up and coming actress in the LA area who on the side makes quilts for her friends. I was so lucky to have gotten her first one. And now she’s expanding and looking to grow. Check out her darling blog!

Earlier this week I put together my own holiday gift for friends and neighbors. But until I hand them all out will I share the goodies that I made. But for now, here’s a little sneak peek.

Today I bring to you Cathe, owner and designer behind Feterie, an online haven for paper. From holiday note cards to wrapping paper, it’s your one stop shop for all things paper. And to boot, Cathe is such a sweetheart. She’s prepping for the arrival of a beautiful baby girl yet still manages to plug away with her business. How does she do it? She gets up at the crack of dawn ready to go. Let me tell you she’s been such an inspiration, even if you aren’t a morning person. So enough of my babbling, let’s meet Cathe and learn first hand how she manages it all.

Tell us about yourself.
My name is Cathe Huynh-Sison and I am the creative force behind Feterie (among many other hats that I wear on a daily basis). In addition to running and designing for Feterie, I am also a freelance art director/designer with a B.S. in Graphic Design and background in branding — 8 years ago I decided to leave the corporate and agency world to freelance. When I am not designing, I am a happy wife to a rocket scientist, trying to keep up with my soon-to-be 4 yr-old son and (for the last 9 months) have been preparing for the arrival of our new baby girl who should be making her debut anytime between Christmas and the New Year. I am also a Francophile with a passionate love affair for traveling, Paris, vibrant patterns & color palettes, and finding the perfect Palmier pastry.

How and why did you create your business?
Feterie came to fruition after an exhausting search (without success) for just the perfect wedding stationery for my own wedding 9 years ago. Then it dawned on me that as a designer, I should just design it myself! I didn’t stop at designing our wedding stationery (and thoroughly loved the design process), but I ended up designing an entire line of luxe and modern wedding stationery suites! As luck would have it, the event coordinator at the art museum where wedding our reception took place took notice of the design that I had created for my own wedding and invited me to showcase them at their Spring wedding event a few months later. The rest just fell into place, Feterie (the business was known then as Fete) came into being, and voila!

Describe a typical work day for you.
My typical day usually start very early in the morning – at around 5am with a cup of coffee or tea. While some may think that is really early, for me that is my daily schedule. Every day is different, but a typical day would involve what seems like a high-rope circus act of the work/life balance. My son goes to preschool in the morning and that is when I get my second block of time to focus on work that needs my undivided attention, whether it is scheduling phone calls, answering emails, editing and designing, or packing orders. The rest of the day is a flexible schedule of work mixed in with breaks to the park or library with my son. Since I am an night owl, I also do much of design work at night.

Why did you choose the form of paper to express yourself?
I have had a life-long love affair with paper and you can say it started very early — I used to eat it for fun (and to get a reaction) as a toddler. That love of paper became more of a productive one as I matured. I loved engineering different folds, drooling over the various colors, weight and textures of paper, and when it came to working with a medium that I was comfortable with — paper was it, my first love!

Where do you draw inspiration from?
I draw inspiration from the most mundane and unexpected places. It could be as mundane was driving pointlessly with no destination in mind, or spending a day outside, walking around, wandering the galleries of the art museum. Inspiration comes to me when I least expect it and when my mind is clear of the to-do lists that seems to swirl in my head.

What are your favorite hobbies?
One of my favorite hobbies is baking. To me, it’s a great stress-reliever. I love the entire process — figuring our ingredients, mixing, watching the baking time, and finally eating! My other hobby revolves around photography. Though I have not had a chance to focused on that much for several months, I do try to take the camera out to capture some moments and things that catches my eye. I have a few hobbies that I would love to pic-up again, such as knitting, sewing and oil painting.

Thank you Cathe for sharing with us! Congratulations and good luck with the newest addition to your family!
website | blog | twitter

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. We decorated the tree last weekend but as the week went on it wasn’t looking quite “right”. That’s the perfectionist coming out. So after adding more ornaments and lights it’s finally perfect…well minus the topper.