Category Archives: holidays

60 years of marcus lee

This past weekend we went up to visit my parents to celebrate my birthday, Mother’s Day, and my dad’s 60th birthday. (60!!) So everyone (except for my dad) knew about the birthday gift I had been cooking up (AKA slaving over for months), and I couldn’t wait to show him. I wanted to really commemorate the past 60 years of his life and since he has always loved photography, I made him a little photo book through Pinhole Press. I sneakily took a bunch of old photos from him when I was up there to visit around the beginning of the year, which if you know him at all you know how organized he is so taking these without him noticing was a feat in itself.

When I finally gave it to him we all watched as he flipped through it reminiscing over each photo. When he finished he told me it was the best gift he had ever received. Here are a few of my favorite pages.

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photo 2 (1)

photo 3 (1)

photo 1 (3)
photo 2 (2) photo 3 (2) photo 4 (1)
photo 5 (1) photo 5 (2) The book I chose was 8″ x 10″ hardback book that was hand-bound and wrapped in red linen cloth, and held 98 photos. I was I was a little nervous about the quality of the book because I’ve been disappointed in the past by other photo books I’ve made from other companies, but I heard really great things about Pinhole Press, and when I received it I was totally blown away. I wish these photos really captured the quality and tooth of the paper. Simply perfect. I truly think this will be something we will all look back at over time and our children will get to enjoy one day. I think this is just such a wonderful keepsake, and I plan to make one with all of our wedding photos soon. Happy Birthday Daddy :)

vintage stamps for sale!

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During the wedding planning process I became a regular at our local stamp collecting shop and have accumulated a boat load (okay more like a laundry basket load) of misc. vintage stamps of all different denominations. And knowing I will never in my lifetime use all of these stamps I am selling them!

***UPDATE!! AS OF 1/30/13 I AM CURRENTLY OUT OF VINTAGE STAMPS, YOU GUYS CLEANED ME OUT PRETTY FAST! I’LL BE GOING TO THE STAMP STOP THIS WEEKEND TO REPLENISH MY COLLECTION, AND I’LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN WE’RE BACK IN BUSINESS :) ***

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They are all “face value” meaning that whatever number is written on them that’s what they’re worth (ie: .6 cents = .6 cents), and I have several colors, themes, shapes and sizes.

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The going postage rate for a standard letter right now is .45cents and for an oversize (or square) letter (like wedding invitations) is .60cents. So I’ll be selling them in packs of .45cent bundles and .60cent bundles so that you will have the exact amount you need for your letters. Basically if you buy 10 packs this means you have enough stamps sorted for you to mail 10 letters. Got it?

So after choosing your quantity you can then specify if you simply want a mix of stamps (totally random themes, shapes, sizes, etc.)

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or to follow a certain color palette like red:

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or to follow a theme like botanicals/nature:

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Or if you want your bundle to be small with only a couple stamps with high denominations:

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Or large with several stamps using small denominations:

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The choice is yours! I’m charging .60cents per bundle of standard .45cent packs and .75cents per bundle of oversized .60cent packs. Why am I charging more than their worth? Call it a labor fee. I did sit down for hours to hand pick each and every one of these stamps, none of them are random they are all stamps that I have chosen due to their colors, images, sizes, etc. So you won’t be getting a bunch of American flags and doves. Any stamp you see pictured above I own, and to see more of my collection go here (which only shows you about 5% of what I have.. I’ve also added a TON of Christmas themed ones for your next Christmas cards). To see more ideas on how to use vintage stamps with your letters go here.

If you’d like to request a quantity that is different than what’s provided in the drop down list, please email me or leave me a comment with your exact order. Each pack of stamps will be sent to you in small ziplock bags to keep them sorted. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask!

for the holidays: gifts under $100

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Today concludes the gift roundup and we saved the ~~best~~ most expensive for last. Here are my favorite gifts for the extra special people in your lives which are all under $100. Don’t forget to check out my round up of gifts under $50 and under $25.

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For more gifts under $100 check out last year’s round up as well as the year before. Happy shopping!

for the holidays: gifts under $50

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As promised I’ve rounded up my favorite gift ideas which all happen to be under $50, and some are only $30! If you missed last week’s guide of gifts under $25 check it out!

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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14

Be sure to come back tomorrow to see my roundup of gifts under $100. You can also check out last year’s guide and the year before that for more gift ideas under $50.

for the holidays: gifts under $25

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For those of you that have time to Christmas shop this year (unlike me.. sorry guys everyone is getting presents from Rome this year.. who’s upset? ;)) I’ve put together a few gift guides for every budget to help you on you with any gift giving dilemmas! Enjoy :)

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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8a 8b | 9 | 10

Stay tuned for Monday when I’ll share gifts under $50 and Tuesday with gifts under $100. You can also check out last year’s guide and the year before that for more gift ideas under $25.