a foggy sunday morning...
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we have had days of warm weather (in the 40s) and fog. So we headed out Sunday morning to take a few pictures.
it's starting to look a lot like christmas
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and it is sort of a contemporary one...
trains, type and textures
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sunday we spent the day at the Illinois Railway Museum outside of Union, IL. It is between Madison and Chicago. It was a perfect Fall day and I was there with 3 generations of Ganahl men. Jackson who is 3 is train-crazy. We even got to take a 40 minute ride on an electric, passenger train. Alex who is 1 appeared to like it too, he gave Grandma a fist bump.
Lots of cool signage and typography. There was something for everyone which makes this such a great place. We were there for 4 hours and walked over 3 miles and did not see everything.
Who knew? I didn't. Lots and lots of interesting signs that we wanted to read. Maybe next time.
As the guys were climbing on trains I slipped away to take photos of rusty stuff. As I said, something for everyone.
Here is what Wikipedia has to say: The museum was founded in 1953 by ten individuals (one of the founders was Howard Odinius from Milwaukee) who joined together to purchase Indiana Railroad interurban car 65.
Originally called the Illinois Electric Railway Museum, the name was changed to IRM in 1961 to reflect the museum's expanding scope. The museum was initially located on the grounds of the Chicago Hardware Foundry in North Chicago, Illinois. In 1964 the museum's entire collection was relocated to Union along the former right-of-way of the Elgin & Belvidere interurban. Two years later, operations were begun using Illinois Terminal interurban car 415, and in 1967 the first steam engine was operated. The first storage barn was erected in 1971. In 1981 a one-mile (1.6 km) streetcar loop was constructed. A 4.9-mile (7.9 km) railroad line was built during the 1980s and early 1990s.
The museum's operations are primarily concentrated around its main campus just east of Union, Illinois. Train rides are offered on the main line as well as the streetcar loop. Electric trains are operated from April through October, and diesel and steam trains from the beginning of May through the end of September. Trolley bus operations occur the first Saturdays of June, July, September and October. IRM is one of only two railway museums in the country that operates both electric and diesel trains. It is the only museum that offers trolley bus rides.
It was pretty much a perfect day. And we were amazed that so few people were there, probably because it is late in the year. I can recommend this outing. In fact I could go back several more times. Next time I'll take a real camera.
giveaway...
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Fall is here... yes it is. And it seems time for a giveaway. Since we all know what follows Fall the giveaway is a collection of 20 Holiday Cards.
To enter go to here and LIKE or SHARE the Facebook post. Plz leave a comment so I can find you. Happy Fall!
nautical doodles & christmas
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September font specials! The new Nautical Doodles and Christmas fonts, 50% off. Yes... it is time to think Christmas. All those holiday invitations, cards and newsletters are just around the corner. Yes they are.
a few new house things
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we plan to take a vacation next month and stay home and do condo things. Like stain the deck, wash windows, basically winterize. Also seemed like it was time to spiff up the main living area. I got this new rug at Crate and Barrel. Nice Summery thin rug for my office space.
I've wanted a new clock ever since we moved in. Love this one. Especially after John figured out how to stop the tick-tock sound that sounded just like dripping water. I could hear this from my desk and it got so bad one day that I taped things to the back of the clock to muffle the sound. Love this tall element. It anchors the seating area which is part of an open space. This came from the Touch of Modern website. I am pleased with several things I have gotten from them. But you wait forever and ever, shipping is really slow.
These darling salt & pepper birds are from West Elm and are even on sale! They work with my mid-Century look.
I seem to be going back to a black and white, charcoal, cream, non-color kind of house look. No purple, no lime, very little blue.... it's all good.
Soon it is time to edit the house for Fall & Winter. I go room by room and put away things that are sitting out that should not be. Try to get as visually clean as possible because in a few short months out will come a carefully edited group of Christmas decorations. Summer rugs go away and heavier Winter ones come out. The large Norfolk pine will need to find a home indoors again. We get cozier then. And while it does feel good it is hard to watch the days get shorter and colder.
mighty deals and outside the line...
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If you don't know about Mighty Deals you should. Amazing deals for web and graphic designers. You can sign up and get the daily deal emails.
Outside the Line has a big deal on Mighty Deals. Oodles of doodles at a fab price. For less than the price of one font you get 6. Yup, you read that right. Short time and ONLY on the Mighty Deals site. Check it out here.
new office supplies...
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I adore new office supplies. New books, new pens and pencils. Whatever. I finally broke down and ordered these pencils because I am such a fan of type designer extraordinaire Louise Fili. And I don't even like pencils. I must say these do glide across the paper rather nicely.
Legendary designer Louise Fili brings her love of vintage packaging and all things Italian to this collection of beautiful pencils. Housed in a sturdy lidded case, Perfetto Pencils features twelve double-sided, two-color pencils that showcase Fili's unique ability to capture the bygone elegance of our design heritage.
And then there is paper. I do like this unusual notebook. I got it to keep track of words and phrases. Hopefully that will make me be a better writer. Many different pages to write on grids, dots, lines. Other interesting pages like Alpha Bravo Charlie, braille, Morse code etc.
Map out graphs, schematics, sketches, and dreams with this sleek and durable workbook. Inspired by vintage laboratory notebooks, Grids & Guides features 144 pages of graph paper (eight designs repeating throughout) interspersed with a multitude of scientific charts, tables, and infographics featuring everything from the periodic table to alternative alphabets to Newton's Laws of Motion. This journal is the perfect tool for right-brainers and left-brainers alike.
Last but not least... a little pop up light studio. Tiny for tiny things. I think I am going to be pleased with this. My office space is small with little storage. It has a little strip of LED lights. I did a little test run and was pleased. For larger things I use my white table top and wait for a sunny day.
If anyone is interest links to products are below. Enjoy!
