Batman!

You don't want to know how long we have been meaning to make this card. Considering how close Batman station is to our house it is actually a bit embarrassing. But it is here with some usual yellow shorts action. We have him available on Etsy and at our markets this week, The Suzuki Night Market at Queen Victoria Market from 5.30pm-10pm tomorrow night (Wednesday) and the Rose Street Market on Saturday and Sunday from 11am - 5pm.

The internet. And Cats.

Over the weekend I was looking around the internet, getting lost on those Tumblr pages that just have loads of weird/funny pictures. Those places are dangerous, suddenly you're on page 22 and in this half asleep stupor and the only thing that will get your out is a brisk walk and a slap on the face.

Sometimes these "sessions" get you something really good like the website Kitties and Bullshit. Not sure what the bullshit is because I only saw amazing but then I'm kitty obsessed so it could be a blog about cats sitting in bullshit warming their paws and I'm going to love it. The site has = three simple boxes ticked, there is drawing, there is cats and there is familiar song lyrics. It's by a Brooklyn based illustrator called Sofia Falcon. You can view her portfolio here.

Image Source: Kitties and Bullshit

What's on offer

Romance comes in all different shapes, sizes and gestures and while some people have specific tastes, other find those things utterly distasteful. I remember reading an article a few years ago about how a woman found getting the flowers and the chocolates rather offensive viewing the generic gift as a reflection on herself. I remember thinking, sure it is predictable, but you have chocolate and that is a good thing.



Our new 100% total romance card is a bit of a nod to those generic notions of love, the 12 dozen roses and the box of fancy chocolates (the ones you eat in one go because if you don't they will call your name all night long). He is available on Etsy with his cute little bow tie (what is it attached to?? I like to think he double sided sticky taped it on) ready to impress you with his skills.

CATS!

Since shifting office and coming back to work after Christmas I've been designing new cards. Around mid November I realised I wouldn't have time to design anything new and to just focus on everything else December throws at you. I didn't realise taking time off from doing a job that really is the whole foundation of our business would have such an impact. It's almost like I forgot what it was that I did and was coming up with ideas for cards that were pretty craptastic. On Saturday I dropped Gareth off at Rose Street and got to work in the office on my own with only the internet to distract me. Then I came up with this card:

At first I thought I couldn't make it, it was too ridiculous. But once I drew it, coloured it and printed it I got the giggles. Then I remembered that this was what it was all about. I showed it to Gareth that night with the warning that he was going to hate it, but it was my new favourite card. He smsed me on Sunday to say someone had bought one. Mullety cat man is available on Etsy. Or in your dreams, he can deal with both.





As an aside, can you imagine if the Katy Perry song was the same lyrics as this card? I think the world would be a better place.

Even your SMS are not safe

My sister sent me an SMS last week with a line about the box office of her heart and I wrote back saying I was using it for a new card. People often ask us where the ideas for the cards come from and usual we say anywhere and everywhere. Some cards don't have a cute story, others have totally funny 'this happened to our friends and they needed an apology card' story.

Our box office guy is available on Etsy and we will also be at Rose Street both Saturday and Sunday and at the North Melbourne Market on Sunday.

Tennis and Sunburn

Yesterday I went along to day two of the Australian Open with a bunch of friends. I'd not been for a couple of years but ended up in the same spot watching the Frenchman Gael Monfils playing again. I took the photo below on the phone and changed it using the Tilt Shift Focus app, one of the really fun (as long as you have the right picture) photo apps.

I don't know what the temp was but I think it was around 35 degrees, so I made sure I was prepared for some sitting around in the sun by eating lots of food, drinking lots of water and getting drenched in sunscreen. Having skin that would make Antarctica look tanned I burn in about 10 minutes so the old SPF 30+ is mandatory. I do always end up missing spots and find those odd little patches of burnt skin both funny and annoying.

Speaking of tennis, we have had this card for a few years and it is still a favourite. I like the big hair and have to admit I was sad I didn't get to see the Williams sisters and check out what fashions they had this year. I hope it was an early '80s retro theme with big hair, that would be amazing!
If you're in Melbourne get along to the tennis, it is loads of fun. As I said to my friend yesterday, sitting in the sun drinking beer, does life get any better than this?

The summer for ....

...Cocktails!

Summer is my favourite time of year. I like it because you can go swimming, drinking is more fun and it has that fantastic 6 days between Christmas and New Year when going at a slow pace is expected. Even if you don't do anything amazing the thought of those 6 days makes November and December's super busy times more bearable.

This summer we have been going a little cocktail crazy. We got some shakers, we got some booze and we got some books and have been mixing up a storm. We are usually beer and wine drinkers but cocktails have been growing on us the last year or so. Building a drinks cabinet is a long process (unless you're rich) so we have been slowly adding to it for months.

Gareth's current favourite cocktail is a Whiskey Sour and I like anything not too sweet. Last night I yanked a lime off a tree while walking home from the new office and it went well in a rummy number I took from Stephy A's colourful stripey cookbook. It is in the Lemon/Lime section and it uses the rule of 1 bitter, 2 sweet, 3 strong and 4 weak which I think it is a pretty good way to go about making your own cocktail recipe, and it rhymes.

So I think this summer we will be creating some cocktail themed cards (to go with these two...) and if you have any favourite drinks please sent them our way!

Moved in!

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone is having a lovely festive season and had a lovely Christmas and New Year. We are back in the thick of it moving office to a bigger and better space. I've been excited about it since we found out about the new place but right now I'm in the thick of allen keying stuff undone and wishing I had million large boxes to fill everything up. Shifting it HARD work and we don't even have an oven to clean.

We have been a bit slacko with the old blogging with November and December being filled with so many markets and the usual business that the silly season brings. I was hanging out for Christmas Eve and spending some time with the family and relaxing and boy did I do that. I don't think I've felt as content with just sitting as I have the last few days. But that will not last for long, the markets start back up tomorrow night with the Suzuki Night Market and our new office will need sorting, a job I'm kind of looking forward to because for once in Able and Game's life we will have a bit of room to move and maybe even a table that is just used for packing orders and another for cutting paper.

We will have to play catch up on the blog because lots of things have happened, but right now it is one job at a time, at least until the cool change comes!

The picture at the top was taken flying into Melbourne a few weeks ago just as the sun was setting. I couldn't help getting out the camera as the light was so perfect.