numsi | the blog

Always the way

Hey ho! How goes it, long-neglected blog peeps?! Just wanted to pop in and say that I haven’t disappeared, I haven’t vanished, the world of numsi didn’t end after the last giveaway! Whilst things have been super-quiet up front, behind the scenes there has been a flurry of activity. I have been doing some really interesting work back here. figuring out exactly where numsi is going and how we’re going to get there.

I’ve started implementing the changes and there are some more big ones to come! First up, let’s talk about what’s going, going, gone. In the beginning, t-shirts were retired.* Whilst I loved designing and making the tees, and of course my (and your!) kids looked amazingly adorable wearing them, I realised that as a clothing line they weren’t sustainable for me. Hand-cutting each motif took a lonnnng time, time that I’m afraid I just don’t have. With this realisation, I have decided to phase out some other things from the shop – mirrors, buttons, magnets, even cards will all be going the way of the shirts. Which is not to say you can’t get your hands on them, I’ll still be putting little surprises in with each order, but they will no longer be part of my bigger picture. (*If you’re in the Minneapolis area there’s a lot of them at I Like You, and some more in the gallery shop down at the Rochester Art Center.)

Again, whilst these things are super cute, and I still love them and feel like hoarding them, it’s time for them to go. I have decided to focus all my energies on the very core of this business, the reason for starting this business, the reason that I race eagerly back to my desk each morning after the school drop off. You see, at the very core of my belief system is the sometimes complicated, sometimes glaringly easy puzzle of fitting together three elements

art + design + parenthood

Everything here started from the notion of trying to integrate my life as an artist and my love of and belief in great design with being a mother. How could those disparate roles and personalities match up? The answer was making art for design-conscious (picky!) parents to celebrate their kids. So from here onwards, that is what numsi will be all about. Focusing and focusing on wall art. Wall art for your kids, wall art by your kids, wall art celebrating your kids. Curating your life to include the crazy messy creative chaos that happens when you’re a parent. I’m really, really happy with this distinction, and I hope that by always following it, life can be even more awesome!

But wait! That’s not all, there’s one more piece to this puzzle. When I’m not making art, oggling good design or running around after my crazy kidlets, I’m a teacher. I teach mixed-media techniques most often, but I’ve also taught painting, drawing, experimental drawing and sculpture classes. And I’ve run a fair few workshops. The classes are usually for adults, often for adult educators to teach to their school kids, the workshops are sometimes for grown ups, sometimes kids, sometimes everyone and anyone. I’m also on the Minnesota State Arts Board registry of teaching artists in schools, which means that every now and then I get to go work with a bunch of school kids for a week or two, working on something awesome. So that, in a nutshell is the one part of me that hasn’t been brought to the numsi table, but all that is about to change. I have a super new, exciting top-secret idea for integrating cool contemporary art-focused education ideas for kids into the mix. I’m working on the back end – it’s going to be a whole new site – and I’m also working on cloning myself. Because there is no doubt that having a kindergartener and preschooler gives me a ton of spare time compared to having a newborn and a toddler, those 2 1/2 hours of quiet studio time by seem to fly by faster each day!

Posted Nov 16 2011 by admin in figuring it out, shop news, studio with 0 Comments

Kids quote Competition Winners Announced!

Slide 1
Wiiner #1
Winner #2
Winner #3
judged by design mom gabrielle blair

The entries for the kids quote competition were absolutely awesome, seriously! Reading through them had me in tears of laughter at points, and I became filled with nostalgia at just how quickly our kids grow up. Thanks so much for entering everyone, all of your kids are priceless!

I was so pleased to have a judge for this competition, I’d still be going backwards and forwards on this I’m sure! Gabrielle Blair of Design Mom chose the three winning quotes, and she did a great job. So, without further ado, here are the three winning quotes… (drumroll please!)

This is how you get older. You collect birthdays and you eat cake.

You should enjoy me as a kid, because when I’m a teenager… I might be wild. I’m not sure.

I can’t say sorry because I am busy whining.

Congrats to Katie, Michele and Adrian, each winner will receive their quote made into a 6″ x 18″ rectangular custom text panel in the color of their choice.

And if you fancy a rectangular text panel for your home, then use coupon code “NOTSQUARE” at checkout to take $25 off a rectangular panel of your choice!

Posted Aug 4 2011 by admin in life with 0 Comments

Quote-tastic competition: win a new rectangular personalized wall art panel from numsi!

win a custom text panel from numsi

what's the silliest sweetest thing your kid ever said?

win a custom text panel!

archival quality modern custom text wall art

judged by design mom gabrielle blair

Here at numsi we are delighted to be unveiling a brand new option for all you custom wall art lovers out there! Featuring the same vibrant colors and crisp text on archival quality canvas as our regular custom name panels, there is one crucial difference here. No longer hip to be square, these panels are rectangular, baby! And what does that mean for you? It means that there is so much more space for you to lovingly craft your message of awesomeness! No longer limited to two or three words, knock yourself out, come up with a whole phrase to have created as custom art!

And if you had to ask yourself who comes up with the best sayings, well odds on, you might go ahead and choose something that one of your kids uttered one day. You know, the mis-hearings, or the mis-pronounciations, or just something utterly hilarious or absolutely fabulous that came straight from the heart of your little one. What better phrase to put on your artwork than something which means so much to you? Wouldn’t you like to see that everyday? I would.

I decided to embrace rectangular panels for text when I was thinking about my complete and utter failure in the baby-book department. Seriously, my kids are so hard-done by it’s not even funny. I may have mentioned that I’m a perfectionist. Well after finding The Perfect Baby Book (which I didn’t actually like, there was no Binth book back then) for our firstborn, I managed to spell her name wrong on the first page. I was pretty sleep-deprived, for the record. Anyway, I, erm, had to abandon the baby book. So, eventually I found another baby book – aaaaand I didn’t like what I wrote for the first entry and I, erm, had to abandon again. Needless to say, our second child didn’t even get a baby book purchased. So I may have both guilt and regret there, perhaps.

So what better way to recompense than to immortalize those funny baby words than on a custom wall art panel (far better than a baby book, sort of). It’s difficult to choose just one quote- of course we’ve forgotten a ton of funny things our kids said (see above: perfectionist over-achiever baby-book fail) but some of the panels I plan on making reference Freaky and Sukoop, our imaginary friends, an insistence on calling raisins “ninnies”, the wonderful line “too many daddies on the wheaties box” (how lovely is it when all men are daddies and all women mummies!) and the earnest request for “just a little tiny bit of more”.

Oh my goodness, thinking about this makes me booth weepy and broody. Let’s change the subject, quick-smart! So, without further ado, it’s competition time! I’m so unbelievably super happy that one of my favorite people from the blog world is going to stop by to help us judge this competition. It’s Gabrielle Blair from Design Mom. And if you read any blogs, you have to read hers. Designer, mom of 6, all round awesome lady- it’s a great read! To enter, swoop on over to the competition page and leave your best quote. Alternatively, you can post it on the numsi Facebook wall or follow numsi on Twitter and tweet your quote with the hashtag #numsidesign. The contest ends July 31st, and Gabrielle will choose the top three quotes- winners will receive a delightfully modern personalized wall art text panel featuring their winning quote. Quick, go enter, before you forget!

Posted Jul 23 2011 by admin in numsi events with 1 Comment

Story Time Reading: What We Are Reading This Week

The lovely Flavia at the ever-awesome Petit Eco Kids blog is wondering what peeps around the internet are currently reading to their kids. I love this question, and after reading two truly awful books to my kids this evening, I thought it would be cathartic to look at some of our perennial favorites over here Chez Numsi. These are some of the books that I really am delighted to read when the kids reach for them, the ones that make my heart sing a little bit every single time. They’re funny, they’re witty and they have some great details in the illustrations to keep your eyes occupied and your brain engaged. These books are all written by Julia Donaldson, and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

First up, The Snail and the Whale. This beautiful, low-key book chronicles the journey of a tiny snail who, unlike his snail companions, has an itchy foot and “longs to sail”. A humpback whale serendipitously appears and volunteers to take the snail on a journey to distant lands. They see sights which the snail could never have imagined, and the snail feels so small and insignificant in the world. However, at the end of the book, there is a near-tragedy which is only averted when the tiny snail saves the life of the giant whale. The prose is truly delightful, with a hint of wistfulness and nostalgia. The understated friendship and equality in this book make it a winner, as does the great alliteration, rhyme and pace. Love.

Secondly, let’s go with Tiddler, another sea-themed classic. This is the story of Tiddler, a fish who likes to tell “tall tales”. Every morning in school, Tiddler tells a fantastical story about why he’s late. One day Tiddler doesn’t turn up for school and this time he really does have a dramatic reason for his absence. In the end, it turns out that Tiddler’s many stories have become urban legends of the sea, and that is how he manages to find his way home again- he follows his story back to the source. This book has a great upbeat tempo and refrains that may well pop into your head way after the kids have gone to sleep. It’s fun and energising to read and truly is a delight, again, I love this book. (We have the British version, Tiddler, as my mum is generously keeping the kids stocked up with British books, in America it’s titled “The Fish Who Cried Wolf”)

We have an almost-complete set of the Donaldson/ Scheffler books (rumor has it there’s one in the mail right now!) I’d really recommend them. We’ve been reading them since our kids were babies, and my almost six year old still loves these books. Tomorrow I’ll raid the kids rooms and type up some quotes from the books – I feel I know them by heart but it’s late and I should get some sleep. Goodnight!

Posted Jul 12 2011 by admin in life with 1 Comment

It’s hip to be not-square: new format, new product, new wall art

This is a sneak peak of what’s happening right now around numsi HQ! The big reveal will be Friday!

Until today, all of the art available from numsi was square in format. Square because it looks so good, square because it’s easy to put a collection together when everything is unified by it’s squareness, square because it’s hip to be square. But sometimes, just sometimes, squares can be restricting. Which is when it becomes time to break out the rectangle, baby!

So here it is, custom text rectangular wall art for when your words are too long or too many to comfortably housed inside a square. Let those words break out of the box, let them roam free across a larger surface area. Let those words sing!

The rectangular wall art comes in three sizes, all of which are three times as long as they are high: 6″ x 18″, 8″ x 24″, and 10″ x 30″. The largest panel is big! All feature an archival quality print in pigment inks tested to last up to 75 years on the highest quality canvas, sealed with a protective UV sealant. The art panels, or museum quality birch supports, which the canvas is mounted to, are all 2″ deep. This means that your new artwork can easily be hung from a wall or it can happily sit on a shelf.

So start thinking about words, baby, words! What do you want to see everyday. What would make your lips smile and your heart sing even before you’ve had your morning coffee? What motivates you? What about your baby’s first words? Or something silly that they said as they got older? What about a large scale reminder to smile, in a non-cheesy way. In this format, which is classically good looking, you can even get away with motivational messages which look good. Listen to your heart, find your words, order a panel. Give yourself, or a loved one the gift of good words, well said.

Posted Jul 6 2011 by admin in shop news, studio with 0 Comments

Coming Soon: make modular art from your kids art!

This is a sneak peak of what’s happening right now around numsi HQ! Another reveal later today!

It’s all well and good choosing artwork for your walls by artists and designers, but what about making high quality, archival artwork from your doodles or your kids sketches? What if you took the masterpieces that are generated in your own home, and chose one or two or a handful, and gave them the numsi treatment so that they could last for generations, and not be consigned to residing crumpled in a dusty box under the bed. Let’s say, for example, that you have kids. And if you don’t, let’s imagine that you know someone who does. Failing that, whenever you read the word kid, just substitute it for yourself in the following text!

So, you have kids (maybe), and they draw. Oh do they like to draw. At some point, the crayon stabbings become swirls, and the paintings start to take on a special greatness, and then before you know it, they draw their first person. And then, in the years to come, so many lovely drawings of your family, your pets, your house. And words, delightful words, sometimes with backwards letters, labeling sometimes ambiguous drawings. But they are oh so adorable and tremendously awesome. And then, if you have girls, there’s the hearts and flowers stage… and so it goes on. Imagine that each one of those drawings could be a definitive moment in your child’s creative career. Imagine the promise and excitement contained within each scribble (with the possible exception of the ones you send straight to the recycling bin at naptime, we all do it sometimes). Imagine that one day you will look back on these images and get a lump in your throat from just how *small* your kids used to be.

Take one picture from each stage or one from each kid or just gather together a whole pile of drawings and create the most beautiful, personal, resonant wall of art you can imagine. One that you really will treasure for years to come. One that will last until those budding artists are out their curating artwork from their own kids. Or grandkids for that matter.

Order a custom panel or a set of custom panels today, and no longer feel vaguely guilty that your fridge is clutter-free. Let your fridge shine with glorious exterior emptiness (and delightful interior fullness) and decorate your walls with your kids’ artwork. Stylishly, beautifully, effortlessly.

Posted Jul 6 2011 by admin in shop news, studio with 0 Comments

Ooh! Mpls St Paul Magazine Scene + Heard

Whoo-hoo! Got some local love in a real live magazine printed on paper the old school way! Sweet! Stephanie Davila mentioned numsi in the Scene + Heard section of the May issue of Mpls St Paul Magazine. There’s a cute wee picture too under a picture of the new Children’s Hospital at the University of Minnesota that I drive past every week on the way to the chiropractor. (Traffic accidents, the gift that keeps on giving…!) And, the numsi mention sits next to mention of one of my bestest design-entrepreneur pals, the fabulous Sara Lintner of Too Many Suitors.

Numsi designs limited animal wall art in limited batches on archival paper- making your little ones art collectors in no time.

Posted May 31 2011 by admin in nice words with 1 Comment

Uncommonly Good – numsi custom message grids available at fabulous online retailer

Hello Good Morning! It’s a bittersweet day for me today- I’m trying to savor my last hour in Caribou before gearing up for the end of preschool picnic. This is the very last day of preschool for this year for my two girls. In fact, my eldest is done for preschool forever, for she is headed to Kindergarten at the end of summer. She’s almost six, so she’s more than ready for school. Me? I’m not so sure. Seriously, what is it with the growing and the getting bigger and wanting to do stuff with these kids? Seriously, when did my baby girl become this tall, strong, beautiful, opinionated girl with these long horse legs?!

Bonus though, she has a place at Kindergarten at the school at the end of our road, by which I mean less than a minute’s walk away. And it starts at 9.40am which is all sorts of fabulous for a mama who tends to work through the night. And, double bonus, my youngest has a place in the preschool at the same school. Their classrooms will be on the same corridor, which is tremendous, and did I mention we can walk there, or even run, conceivably. I could probably manage a 30 second run! And if I start crying uncontrollably when I first drop them both off, at least I can hide out at home, not sniffling in a parking lot somewhere!

But, back to today, I should be working with turbo-speed. I just wanted to mention that I am super-duper-oooper happy that the numsi custom alphabet message grids are being carried by the fabulous Uncommon Goods, one of my favorite websites for amazing finds. Their tagline, Unique Gifts & Unusual Gift Ideas couldn’t be more true. Please go check it out, this is like a fantastic mini-milestone for our company!!

Posted May 27 2011 by admin in shop news with 0 Comments

if my house was an art gallery

If my house was an art gallery, then my kids’ rooms might look a little bit less like a clothing warehouse exploded inside IKEA and a little bit more like this, which would be The Awesome.

numsi wall art panels

Posted May 24 2011 by admin in studio with 0 Comments

art and design for modern people

Hello! Hello! Just a tiny wee blog post to say that the great rebranding of numsi has begun. OK so maybe it’s not massive, but it has begun! I love the tag line “start them small: design for the little ones” but it is no longer all-encompasing of what we do here. numsi came into the world because I couldn’t find any artwork which lived up to my ridiculously picky standards when our eldest child was born. And we do sell a lot of wall art to parents of young kids. The custom name panels are particularly popular for babies and kids, but babies are not the only fruit, er people. So, we are widening our focus to art + design for modern people. Which is not to say that numsi designs are just for people, maybe one day we’ll include pets too. Anyway, soon enough I will be rewriting some of the numsi materials to include big people as well as small, but for now go forth and look at some artwork for modern people!

Posted May 22 2011 by admin in shop news with 0 Comments

George to the Rescue!

So very very happy that there is a custom numsi panel in this NBC The Bronx, NY makeover by Courtney Cachet and George Oliphant. Sandy, whose apartment gets a total makeover seems like such a fabulous lady who is truly deserving of her updated abode. A 12″ x 12″ pink panel saying “la buena vida” is on the shelf in the guestroom- it debuts around 6:42 mins on the second video below. You should watch this makeover, it is super sweet.

View more videos at: http://www.nbcnewyork.com.

Posted May 16 2011 by Helen in as seen on TV! with 0 Comments

Happy Mother’s Day!

Is there anything more wonderful than kids learning to read and write? Yes, I got breakfast in bed today, but it was the fabulous penmanship of my three* and five year olds which brought a tear to my eye this morning. Happy Mother’s Day, one and all. It is truly the hardest, and most fabulous, job of all and we parents need to stick together!

*FYI My three year old is called Naomi, but she has pretty much been “Omi” from birth. I love that as she just learns to write her name, she’s Mio and Oim and, like above, Imo, it’s just brilliant!

Posted May 8 2011 by admin in life with 0 Comments

May the Fourth Be With You

Hey there, hello! I have had the most insane day and need something a little more cheery to think about! Let’s not even speak of it… so, in other news, today is Star Wars geek day- “May the Fourth” be with you, get it? You know what, I know a fair amount of artists who are design snobs who are also huuuge Star Wars fans, but they also have relentlessly picky aesthetic sensibilities. My husband may or may not be one of these people of which I speak. Anyway, perhaps they (or their significant other) love Star Wars merchandise, but don’t really want it in the house because it’s too obvious. Or maybe the retro-nature of it is cool in theory but not in their minimal pad. If that’s the case, do I have a suggestion for you!

Do you remember the numsi wall art message grids? If you don’t, and you’ll be hearing more about them soon I’m sure- it’s basically a grid of letters in alphabetical order repeated across the panel. The message of choice (26 characters or less, including spaces) are highlighted on the grid. The end result is a very subtle , very quiet message hidden within a minimalist design.

Perhaps you might want to propose? Then I recommend this: a panel which spells out “would you like to marry me”.

But, what if you want Star Wars wall art for your walls? Well then this is perfect for you! A stormy grey (moody, adolescent, yet grown up and mature) panel which quietly says “may the force be with you”. Perfect? I think so!

Posted May 4 2011 by admin in shop news with 0 Comments

Flash, I love you, but we only have fourteen hours to save the earth

Tell me I can’t be the only one who gets the old Queen song Flash stuck in their head when thinking about flash sale sites? Please! I was thinking that it might date me, but Google assures me that I was only 5 when the song was released in 1980, so I’m going to go ahead and blame my elder brothers for this. Anyway, just a quick one to let you know about the flash (A-ha!) sale that numsi text panels are currently to be found in. It’s on at The Foundary and only has another day to go – actually another 23 hours and 1 minute as of right now. The event is curated by Courtney Cachet, Celebrity Designer and includes a host of goodies. If you need an invite to sign up, you can follow this link here. There are four designs of text panels, each in two colorways and two sizes at great prices. Go forth and save the universe, erm sorry, I mean snap one up!

Posted May 3 2011 by admin in sale! with 0 Comments

Going To The Zoo Zoo Zoo (Gift Shop)

Hello and welcome. I’d love love love to say that at the end of April it is a glorious spring day in Minnesota… but alas it is chucking it down, absolute cats and dogs out there. And I have heard a rumor that the rain may turn to snow this evening. But, if you put your fingers in your ears and sing la-la-la-la and pretend you didn’t hear that, then surely it can’t be true. And spring will come. Surely?

Anyways. Thought I’d write a wee post about what I’m working on right now, which is Project Zoo. As many of you know, all of the animal imagery in the numsi product line is based on photographs taken by yours truly here in Minnesota. Our nearest and dearest zoo is Como Zoo, an institution in St Paul which is over a hundred years old. On occasion we flirt with the bigger and shinier Minnesota Zoo with the annual Farm Babies event which is going on right now (in the rain). We are so unbelievably lucky to have two great institutions close by. I love the nonchalance with which our kids talk about the sloth or the anteater or the polar bears we go and visit every couple of weeks. I love that we have an annual tradition of visiting the zoo on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. (Watching two preschoolers stand in the snow singing “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” to the reindeer never gets old).As a kid I remember going to the zoo twice, ever. Once to Edinburgh Zoo and once to London Zoo, both day trips and both sensory overload!

Now, believe it or not, it didn’t really occur to me to contact any zoos outside of Minnesota to see if they would be interested in stocking any of the numsi animal panels, prints or cards until it was suggested to me by the fabulous Emily of LiLiPicked when we met up in Vegas last year at the ABC Show. She mentioned that Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo has a fabulous new flamingo exhibit, which of course was news to me. So right now I am researching and collecting information on zoos I should contact to let them know about our wall art. Do you have any favorites I should know about?

Posted Apr 26 2011 by Helen in shop news with 1 Comment

Giving

There’s no doubt that we have all been completely and utterly horrified and heartbroken by the devastation of the last month in Japan. Words are almost impossible to find to even begin to talk about the plight of the people and the place. Everything. Looking at images and reading reports, it is impossible to process just how much needs to be done. Where would you even begin?

Now, Japan is facing a nuclear disaster on top of everything else. It is unfathomable. In the spirit of giving, remembering that every single penny helps, we have decided to donate 25% from all sales in April to Disaster Relief in Japan via the Red Cross. You shop, we give, it’s as easy as that.

Posted Apr 12 2011 by admin in shop news with 0 Comments

Smile, you’re on TV!

nice words

Actually who knows whether they are nice words? I’m going to go ahead and say that they are, fabulous words even, although I don’t really know. This is Courtney Cachet, my new interior designer/ media celeb pal on NBC Miami, South Florida Today with some custom numsi wall art panels. I made a mini “la buena vida” and a “lots of cachet” in the smallest size, 5″ x 5″. A larger version of the yellow panel will hopefully be featuring in an apartment makeover in New York City any time now. If anybody saw this, or miraculously have it on their DVR, please please let me know!

Thanks Courtney!

Posted Apr 11 2011 by admin in as seen on TV! with 0 Comments

Giraffes are the new owls are the new black

Hello there and greetings from this insanely snowy snow day, which dumped on us just after a tantalising glimpse of spring had us dreaming of trees and flowers and herbs over here at chez numsi. On the plus side, I finally brought a bunch of snow inside for the kids to sculpt which I’ve been meaning to do all winter. Today was just so cold and windy they only lasted maybe 20 minutes outside before racing in again. So off with their winter gear- and outside for me in pajamas and boots- with a scoop and two bowls. They made mini snowmen in the warmth of the kitchen all morning. Then they crafted an igloo and entombed a number of unfortunate plastic dinosaurs in a chilly blanket. There are all sorts of treats in store for the freezer repair guy to see if he makes it here this afternoon as planned.

Anyway, hennyway. I just discovered that numsi giraffe panels were featured last week on Apartment Therapy, which is both awesome and hilarious. I am an avid reader of all the Apartment Therapy sites so it is truly an honor to be mentioned. And numsi giraffes are mentioned alongside some fabulous other giraffes- good company indeed! The article is saying that the giraffe is the new bird, meaning that all of a sudden giraffes are everywhere. It is strange how these things come and go in cycles, I’ve heard many a designer say that once a motif appears in Target, it really has been done and dusted. I guess we’re not there quite yet… I’ll keep an eye out next week! Here at numsi, the giraffe was our second design I believe, the flamingo was first if I recall correctly. Of course now the giraffe is all popular, all the cool people have to move onto something else. But we can proudly say that we liked giraffes before they were famous, way back in 2008! What’s next on the cool spectrum we wonder, earthworms perhaps?

* Edited to add*

Interestingly enough, the day after I came across the Apartment Therapy post, I saw a couple more posts on giraffes in the blogosphere, particularly this one on the always lovely Small for Big where Lil’ Magoolie was guest posting on items inspired by the iconic Sophie the Giraffe.

Posted Mar 23 2011 by Helen in nice words with 0 Comments

New York makeover show with numsi wall art text panel

A while back I sent some samples of numsi text panels to Courtney Cachet, interior designer and Huffington Post blogger. She mentioned the berry pink You are my sunshine wall art as a great Valentine Gift. I was delighted and super excited to receive a Tweet a while later saying that she’d used a panel in a recent makeover she’d done for NBC.

The panel in question was an itsy bitsy 5″ x 5″ “I love you just the way you are” wall art panel in blue. The Rescue was a living room makeover in New York for a mom, Stephanie, and her two kids. The video footage is on NBC New York’s website here. The panel is on a bookshelf, you can see it plenty as the camera pans around. Unfortunately the online version of the show is not high enough resolution to read the panel, but it’s there, look!

numsi wall art panel on NBC makeover show

numsi wall art panel on an NBC makeover show

Posted Mar 17 2011 by Helen in as seen on TV! with 0 Comments

Huffington Post Valentine’s Day Guide Recommends numsi Text Panels!

Pretty excited over here to reveal that numsi text panels have been recommended by Courtney Cachet over at the Huffington Post in a Valentine’s Day Gift Guide, the

Love-It or Love-It-Not Valentine’s Day Gift Guide

Snappy, sweet sayings on a modern wall plaque. The site is largely catered to children, but these are a suitable gift to almost anyone. Could be used in place of a Hallmark card.

Fo’ schizzle, it’s the truth. Go load up on your Valentine’s Day gear.

Posted Feb 5 2011 by Helen in nice words with 0 Comments

art + design + parenthood + life

Hello! Happy New Year, it’s what? February these days? Hmmm. At the risk of prefacing a blog post with sorry to be away for so long, I’ve been buuusssyy, I think that’s what I am about to do. This blog was relaunched with the intention of looking at the messy intersection of art + design + parenthood + life, and well January was like taking the volume level on all those things and setting it to maximum. It got so loud in here that the walls were reverberating…!

Many of you know I have a secret double life. Not only do I sit at the numsi table, I am, and have been for many many years now, a contemporary installation artist. I actually work collaboratively with my husband, a Dane appropriately named Lars, under the name tectonic industries. We’ve been working together since 1999- we met in 1998 at Edinburgh College of Art where we were both pursuing our MFA’s in sculpture. It seems so long ago now that I’m hazy on the details on what came first, the artmaking or the relationship- I know that we started talking based on a mutual respect of each other’s art work and discovered lots of overlaps in ideals and approaches along the way. Fast forward twelve years, and here we are living in America, with two daughters, still married and still making work together. It’s a minor miracle! Anyways, all this to say that last Saturday our largest art exhibit to date opened. After three years or so of planning, it’s here, it’s open and I actually think it’s pretty darn good. It’s at the truly extraordinary Rochester Art Center in Southestern Minnesota. The Art Center is an absolute gem, one of the most beautiful and inspiring, light-filled contemporary art spaces that I have ever seen, bar none.

Our exhibition fills the entire gallery- 6000 square feet I believe, with the exception of part of the third floor which is dedicated to the Emerging Artist Series and features the work of Tim Roby. Despite having known about this show since soon after we exhibited tin the Emerging Art Series in 2006, the lion’s share of the work was done pretty recently. And as of mid-December, we have no longer had any pre-school or childcare arrangements for the smalls. So to say life has been hectic is a massive understatement. To top that off, we have had sickness running rampant through the house, with seemingly cold upon cold upon cough overlapping each other in a haze of sneezing.

However. Changes are afoot. Our eldest daughter will be going to school in September, and hopefully our youngest will get in to one of the school’s half day programs. After much deliberation and many school tours, we’ve decided to go for the school right up the street. It’s less than a minute’s walk from our house, it starts at the most civilised hour of 9.40am, and although it has some issues, as all public schools do, the community who attend seem to love it. Love it. So I am hoping that we will too, I’m already loving the idea of not driving anywhere in the morning. Of having a leisurely breakfast, walking the girls up the street and coming back to the studio for a day of uninterrupted work time. A day. Working during the day… oh excuse me a second, I seem to have drifted off into a star spangled reverie. Currently, almost 100% of numsi work takes place through the night after the kids are sleeping. It’s not as much fun as pulling all-nighters was back in college, but it has to be done. We’re interviewing babysitters very soon though, so I look forward to the day when some of this can get done during daylight hours at least. A girl can dream, right?!

Posted Feb 5 2011 by Helen in figuring it out, life with 0 Comments

Daily Candy Kids Recommends at numsi Art for Kids’ Rooms

What seems like a million years ago, way way back in October at the ABC Kids Expo in Vegas, two lovely editors from Daily Candy Kids stopped by the numsi booth to say hi. And now I am super excited to have numsi artwork featured on the awesome Daily Candy Kids. It’s live in what they call the Local 7 edition, so peeps in Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Washington D.C., Boston, Seattle, & Philly will all get a little look-see at numsi delights. One of the things that they liked about the numsi imagery is the fact the images are good for both genders- this was hugely important when I started this business.

The driving aesthetic behind numsi is to produce images that are clean, crisp, minimal and modern. I am inspired by real life, by seeing the world fresh through the eyes of my children. One of the first images I produced was for my daughter who as a two year old loved diggers and machines. The overly stereotypically “boy-ness” of most available images of machinery bothered me. The digger placed on a background with polkadots was my solution to the problem- it was approachable without being too cutesy or girly. Now as a five year old my daughter is seemingly inevitably into princesses and unicorns… and I have nothing for her!

So what did they say? You can read the text below if you like, or click on the image above to be taken to the original post, or click here. Thanks so much Daily Candy Kids!

With all the rocket ship riding and magic spell casting happening in your house, you wonder if Captain Imagination appreciates the real world.Show him what a colorful place it can be with Numsi nursery art. Made by a British installation artist living in Minnesota, the square wall panels depict everyday things (trucks, cars, animals) in stylized, eye-catching ways.

Each pic is digitally enhanced, juxtaposed against bold colors and patterns, and printed on canvas. The results: wall art that’s sophisticated enough for mom and dad, but cartoony enough for a kiddo. What we really appreciate, though, is the subtle combination of things girly and boyish (think an orange digger against a bright pink background).

A birch plywood frame holds each piece, so it can stand upright on a dresser or desk. Alternately, mount one (or several) on the wall to inspire dreams — for real.

Posted Dec 28 2010 by Helen in nice words with 0 Comments

happy & merry

Wishing you all a healthy and happy holiday season and a wondrous 2011! It’s the date of the future, it’s almost here! After a last minute sewing and wrapping spree through the night from Christmas Eve to almost morning, I finally made up a super-quick card to email to friends and family. The girls insist on matching party dresses and wear them every single day, I kid you not. When they are in the wash, the wait can be agonizing. When I got their new dresses for this year (why yes at 10pm the night before we needed them, need you ask?), I got one photo before the camera battery died on me. So this is the photo we used, and it’s strangely appropriate for their personalities. It’s a birth order thing, I suspect!

Posted Dec 25 2010 by Helen in life with 1 Comment

Free Shipping Day for numsi | December 17th only!

Hello! This is a super duper quick one. On the tale end of a week of two snow days, one preschool closed as it has no water day, one child sick so they are both at home day and to be followed tomorrow by a the kids are running fevers, they need to stay home again day, I’m a little exhausted. And I haven’t started my Christmas Shopping yet, at all. Seriously. Which is why December 17th is awesome. For it’s Free Shipping Day, designed to get people to shop online later in the holiday season, more than 1500 merchants will be offering free shipping on orders placed tomorrow.

Guess which fabulous company specializing in contemporary modern wall art for babies and children will be participating? Oh yes, we are! So go ahead and shop, pretend your procrastination was intentional and we’ll get your stuff to you by Christmas. No one will ever know how late you left it this year, and everyone will be happy.

So! One day only! Free shipping on all orders placed on December 17th for Free Shipping Day! Any order, any size, ships free within the domestic States. All in stock items will be delivered by December 24th via USPS Priority Mail. Any custom items will still ship for free, but they will not arrive in time for Xmas. We will let you know the estimated ship date after you place your order, and can send a gift card to your lucky recipient if required.

Any orders over $30 ship internationally for $10 and any orders over $250 ship internationally for free.
This is an awesome deal which only comes around once a year! What are you waiting for, go shop!

Posted Dec 16 2010 by admin in sale!, shop news with 0 Comments

numsi art cards featured in the petit eco Xmas gift guide

Just in time for Christmas, Flavia from Petit Eco has included the numsi art cards in a round up of fun gifts for kids as part of her awesome Christmas gift guides. There’s some lovely stuff, thanks Flavia!

Posted Dec 14 2010 by Helen in nice words with 0 Comments

Giveaway Winners A-Plenty!

Hello! Hello! What better day to catch up on some blogging business than this epic snow day in Minneapolis. We are snowed in by the biggest, snowiest blizzard since 1991! It’s been both awesome and a verrrry long day so far. The kids and I have written letters to santa, sewed small pillows and I have started making them some adorable rose barrettes, as explained and documented beautifully at The Purl Be e. They are apparently having quiet time now (we are eternally optimistic in this regard, despite repeated evidence to the contrary) and this afternoon we’ll decorate the tree.

Anyway! I only have a few minutes before snacktime, so here it is, the list of winners of the last few giveaways!

The winner of the Small for Big giveaway is: Cindi!

Congratulations, your 12″ x 12″ green You are my sunshine wall art panel is in the mail!

Ok, next up we have a winner!

The winner of the Living the Swell Life giveaway is: Laura!

Congratulations, your numsi gift set of a paper suitcase filled with a giraffe pocket mirror and a giraffe wall art panel in orange will be in the mail as soon as we can dig the car out of the snow!

And finally, last but not least…

The winner of the Petit Eco giveaway is: Lou Williams!

Congratulations Lou, your $45 gift certificate will wind it’s way to you as soon as we have an address!

Ok, that’s it folks, some small children need sustenance. I see an afternoon of baking in our future…

Posted Dec 11 2010 by Helen in giveaway with 0 Comments

The Ultimate Gift Guide for Designers

A wee while ago, Cassie, one of the great talents from I’ll Know It When I See It [a pretty and witty design studio] and a Twitter pal, decided to ask a bunch of talented designers what they would like for Christmas. Apparently, finicky design types are hard to please (I know, who knew?! And mum, I am sorry I made you cry when we went clothes shopping when I was a child, I wasn’t being picky I was being “aesthetically aware”. Ahem. Moving On!) Yes, so where was I? Oh yes, Cassie decided to put together the ultimate gift guide for designers.

I was completely honored to be asked to participate, along with some very talented peeps, or as Cassie calls them, Designer Extraordinaire’s. There’s a bunch of ladies who I know from Twitter; the lovely and fabulous Mari from Small For Big, the fantastic Fiona from Cartolina Cards, the super delightful and helpful Lori from Marzipan Inc., and wonderful Lesley from Smidgebox Designs, and the very very talented Christine and Cassie from I’ll Know It When I See It . Those I don’t know, but intend to seek out are Vana from Le Papier Studio, and Marc Desbiens.

The Ultimate Gift Guide for Designers really is great, you should check it out. You may get some fantastic inspiration for the picky people in your life. And if you were per chance looking for something awesome, for say, hmm me, and you didn’t want to spring for an iPad or the entire range of Pantone Color Mugs then I’d be quite happy to receive this fantastic watch… just saying…

Posted Dec 7 2010 by admin in nice words with 0 Comments

Fabulous giveaway week over at Small for Big

Super excited to be part of our second giveaway over at the wonderful Small For Big. Mari, the genius behind the site, was a friend of some of my friends on Facebook, then a Twitter friend, then a go-for-coffee-pal and then my roommate in Vegas! I love Small for Big and love Mari’s aesthetic and love love love that she’s local. So I was super excited to participate in her Happy Haul-away Holidays event. There are some wonderful things for grabs over there- check out the delightful mobiles from Puka Puka- how amazing are they?! Some of my other favorites include beautiful dual mittens for kids and grown ups from Oeuf and fabulous creative kits from Makedo all on Day 4.From numsi you can win a lovely green 12″ x 12″ large wall art panel proclaiming “you are my sunshine“. Head on over to Small for Big and enter to win some amazing stuff- I believe all giveaways run until December 6th. Also, check out Mari’s fantastic gift guides while you are there- they are seriously awesome! (*Goes off to enter the rest of the giveaways..)

Posted Dec 3 2010 by Helen in giveaway with 1 Comment

Tough decisions: Empty Trunks and No Coast for numsi

Well, well, well. Some of you who follow numsi on twitter may have seen this a couple of weeks ago.

I was driving home from a friend’s house at about 10.30pm on a Saturday night when the roads turned into an instant ice-rink. It was the legendary freezing rain conditions which amazingly for the last ten years in the Midwest, I have managed to avoid. Long story short, a car in the middle lane braked and skidded across into my lane, hitting the side of my car and pushing me into the crash barrier.

Although my car was pretty smashed up, I felt ok and all the passengers in the car that hit me were ok. I was incredibly pleased that the kids were safely home in bed and not stuck out with me. We waited a couple of hours for the police, and when it became apparent that they were not going to make it to us, the other car involved decided to go home. It took me another two hours to get home- about a mile- in my creaking, complaining, probably not fit to be driven car. At one point a bunch of students were pushing cars up and around the exit ramp to get off I-94, which was pretty amazing. When I finally got home, I realised I was pretty shaken up- the semi skidding out of control inches away from my car, and being hit from behind by a truck trying to get past didn’t help. But mainly I was just relieved and thankful to be home. There were over 400 accidents in the Twin Cities that night. It was indeed insane.

Over the next few days my back and neck started to stiffen and present some problems. I’ve started seeing a chiropractor and apparently I have some torn muscle tissue. I can still get around, in a creaky, robotic kind of way, I just can’t carry much nor stand for longer than about 30 minutes without shooting pains. All work is happening at a snails pace as I try and stretch and rest and get better.

Which brings me to today. This weekend is one of the biggest in the numsi calendar. We are scheduled to be at both the No Coast Craft-O-Rama and at the Winter Trunk Show down at the Rochester Art Center. Both events promise to be a lot of fun with some amazing vendors. After talking with my chiro, and evaluating how my body is feeling, and trying and failing to find people to represent numsi at the last possible moment, I had to make a tough decision. For this year, I have decided to pull out of both events and take the time to rest and get better. I’m super sorry to be missing them both and hope that next year we can be back in full force, in good health and good spirits. In the meantime, this weekend will be all about taking it easy…

Posted Dec 3 2010 by Helen in events, life with 0 Comments

numsi Giveaway with the lovely Petit Eco

Once upon a long time ago I discovered the delightful website Petit Eco which consistently shows lovely eco-friendly delights for kids and their parents. I think it may have been via Twitter, although I can’t be sure. Anyways, when I sent out a “maybe it’s time for a giveaway” Tweet and Flavia, the designer, illustrator and mum behind Petit Eco responded, I was super excited. So, here it is, the numsi + petit eco giveaway just in time for the holidays. Petit Eco is based in Australia, but anyone and everyone can enter to win a $45 gift certificate. Go check it out and stay awhile on Flavia’s site, it really is fabulous!

Also, how cute does my eldest little girl look right there?!

Posted Nov 30 2010 by Helen in giveaway with 0 Comments

No Coast Craft-O-Rama 2010: numsi will be there!

We are super excited to be going back to the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis for the third year in a row for the No Coas Craft-O-Rama. We’re a little late to the game this year, so we aren’t on any of the printed materials, but we will be there! Come on by to booth C3- come early, shop well! Last year there were over 10,000 visitors- this event is huge! (Runs away to start preparing…)

Posted Nov 28 2010 by Helen in events with 0 Comments

We Really Are Living the Swell Life

Once upon a time (pre Vegas, seems like a million years ago but the calendar tells me it was only last month) I did a Trunk Show at the lovely Pacifier, an awesome baby store here in Minneapolis with a bunch of awesome business ladies. Sara from Too Many Suitors and Amanda from My Little Dear were talking about Jessica, the brainchild behind Living the Swell Life, and her Meet the Maker Monday features. A few days later I discovered that I read Jessica’s beautiful blog on a semi-sporadic basis (as all my blog reading is these days, in the interest of Getting Things Done). Randomly, not long after that, I received an email from Jessica asking me to take part. I was super excited- indeed I think this is the first interview that I have done wearing my numsi hat(s). So I was doubly delighted when Jessica wrote a lovely feature and put together a very nice article. I don’t know what time today the numsi giveaway is drawing to a close, but maybe there is still time to get on over there and enter to win a gift set. We’re giving away a paper suitcase with a giraffe wall panel and a pocket mirror- a super cute gift all packaged and ready to go! Head on over there and check out the giveaway, stay for the article and bookmark the blog for it’s loveliness. Seriously.

Posted Nov 26 2010 by admin in giveaway, nice words with 0 Comments

The Buy Modern Baby + numsi giveaway winner announced

Yay! A winner has been announced over at Buy Modern Baby! The winner of the numsi giveaway for a $75 gift certificate is… (drum roll please) Michelle! Congratulations Michelle and keep an eye out in your in box. I will send you a special code so you can go shop! Wheee!

Posted Nov 26 2010 by admin in giveaway with 0 Comments

Black Friday to Cyber Monday Super Sale 2010

Hello hello! Well it’s Thanksgiving evening so it must be time to post a sale! From the stroke of midnight ushering in Black Friday (November 26th) to the stroke of midnight closing down Cyber Monday (November 29th), numsi is delighted to offer 25% off everything in the store! That’s right, anything and everything is yours for a super price, and what’s more, we’ll throw in free domestic ground shipping*! Hurray!

numsi.com sale- 25% off sitewide and free domestic shipping

Simply shop online, and at checkout enter the word “THANKS” into the coupon code box. Your total will be adjusted and you will be on your way!

* Free domestic shipping is offered on all purchases for a limited time. Your parcel will be mailed via USPS or Fed-Ex Ground. You will be emailed a tracking number when your parcel is on it’s way!

What are you waiting for? Go shop!

Posted Nov 26 2010 by admin in sale! with 0 Comments

first time at a tradeshow, part II | actually building the walls (twice)

I shared with you earlier the thought process behind shipping my own walls to Vegas, and how they came to be corrugated plastic because I figured that they would be less likely to get crushed while being shipped from Minneapolis. I hadn’t known what exactly to bring with me to erect my walls so I had taken a comprehensive trip through Home Depot a couple of weeks earlier. I had wandered up and down each aisle, searching for The Thing which would make my life easier. What I came home with was a big pile of velcro, some white duct tape and a whole host of these little metal clip things in a variety of sizes. Essentially they looked like kirby grips or an unfolded paperclip. I have no idea what they are called, but they connected two pieces of corrugated plastic together perfectly- each leg slipped down the groove of the edge of one piece of the plastic. If you have the space and the ability, I’d certainly recommend pinning both the top and the bottom of the sheets together, and taping them down the back with duct tape, before trying to erect the walls in your booth. At this point I was working on my own, and the 4 x 8 sheets of corrugated plastic are somewhat unwieldly so my construction methodology left a little to be desired. Plus the fact that I’d scored the panels in half to make them portable had compromised their strength and rigidity. I’d attach one side of the wall to the pipe and drape, with a pin and velcro, then as I’d move to do the other side, something would flap down and bonk me on the noggin… It would have been funny if it wasn’t the middle of the night and I was working alone and exhausted and so very overheated. Interesting fact, the Las Vegas Convention Center doesn’t bother turning the air conditioning on while people are setting up and taking down shows. Apparently with the doors open, it would be too expensive/ wasteful to cool the building, but what this means is that if you are working overnight, you will roast very, very slowly. Anyway, I digress. While roasting, I finally got the vinyl lettering on my walls and got the walls in place. I attached them to the pipe and drape with a mixture of velcro and tape with the odd pin thrown in their for good measure. I had not really accounted for the fact that the “pipe” would be so flimsy. For some reason I’d expected that the scafolfing-type set up would be sturdy and rigid. I could not have been more wrong. At various times over the course of the expo, a pipe structure would topple if you so much as looked at it too fiercely… Anyway, moving on, I set about assembling my IKEA furniture and realised that I really, really missed my husband. What normally takes about 15-20 minutes to assemble (I read the instructions and pass him the parts, he puts everything together) was taking a really long time. Our whole house features furniture from the blue and yellow emporium, and we certainly have some of the pieces that I was assembling alone this time. Hours later (literally) I had my Melltorps and my Daves ready to go. All I needed now was some products…

By now it was Saturday night, I believe, and thankfully Mari from Small for Big arrived in town. We met each other online through Twitter and Facebook last summer, then had got together for a few coffee dates. Come October, we were to be roommates in Vegas. You know, when it’s the right time to step your relationship up a notch, you Just Know. So Mari helped me set up everything else- by which I mean we got some products on the shelves, and finally we called it a day. It wasn’t perfect, but it did exist, which was as much as I could hope for!

The next morning I got up bright and early for day one of the tradeshow. My immediate neighbors were selling disposable bottles, and around us was Oeuf and Ore. Midmorning, my Steribottle friends were not happy, they found their location to be really awful. Interestingly, I had been so utterly preoccupied with just getting my booth unpacked, that I had not really looked around me. Suddenly, instead of seeing Oeuf and their delightful new bunkbed and adorable knitted clothes, I looked straight in front of me and paid attention to what was essentially a giant 20ft tall shower curtain.

It seems that there had been some sort of snafu, and the set designers of one of the big fancy booths had thought that there would be another booth behind them, but, well I guess not. So instead, we were overshadowed by the shower curtain of doom, creating the corridor of desolation. My neighbors lobbied to get their booth moved, and somewhere along the line it was decided that I was going with them. I have to say this really freaked me out- it had taken the best part of two days to set up the numsi booth. The idea of moving it at 7am the next day before the Expo opened at 9am was fair to middlingly terrifying. But honestly, there wasn’t that much of a decision to be made. We were going to move to the other side of the grey column that flanked the shower curtain wall. On the other side there was more light, more traffic and a way better position. So we were moving.

At the close of the show Sunday night, Mari and I packed and moved what we could, leaving only the walls. They were wonky, they were homemade, they were shipped in from Minnesota. In short, they were not $2000 walls. I was concerned. The next morning, at 7am, I was there but the men were not. When they did show up, they just got on with the move. With two pairs of hands, it took them minutes to disassemble, and then reassemble the walls. Even better, this time they were straight! Also my booth grew slightly in size, which is never something to complain about. And this time round I even got the lights up!

So to end this post as I began, what happened to the walls? Well, in a moneysaving effort, I did leave the walls in Vegas, so that I didn’t have to pay for their transport yet again. I figured that my walls cost around $250, all told. So they were a fraction of the price of the ones I could have ordered, although in fairness they probably were way more than nine times the hassle. I’d say it’s all checks and balances- if you have the cash, having your walls built is presumably well-worth it. If you have more time than money, then build your own. If you’re starved for both, then good luck with that, and keep your fingers crossed that you don’t have to move your booth once you finally do get it up!

Posted Nov 25 2010 by Helen in events, figuring it out with 0 Comments

first time as a tradeshow exhibitor | building my walls

When I first decided to do a trade show, I started to look for one which would be reasonably easy to do logistically, and one which would be a good taster to see how difficult doing a trade show really is. Instead, through good old fashioned Twitter, I learned of the hugeness that is the ABC Kids Expo. ABC stands for All Baby and Child, and it is the premier juvenile products specialty show in the nation.

“With more than 900 exhibitors in over one million square feet of exhibit space, it is currently the fastest growing trade show in the nation and ranks 54 out of the 100 largest trade shows in North America.”

What this means, essentially, is that ABC is huge. Vast, enormous, cavernous, monstrous. But I am skipping ahead of myself. I decided to apply for the Modern Child Pavilion and figured that the difficult decision as to whether or not I should go would be made by the jury. I applied late and was pretty sure I would be unsuccessful. I was offered a space elsewhere and I turned it down. I really wanted to show in Modern Child and Modern Child only. I figured that I wasn’t going to go, so I wouldn’t have to fly to Vegas on my daughter’s fifth birthday. One day at the end of July, while I was teaching a mixed media art class for teachers, I got a phone call. numsi had been accepted to Modern Child.

A small cold sweat later, it sunk in. I was going to Vegas, baby! After much debate it was decided that I was going to go on my lonesome, finances simply couldn’t stretch to taking someone with me. I turned my attention to matters of display- I had a 10ft x 10ft booth with curtains provided on one and a half sides, and I needed walls for display. Turns out if you want tradeshow booth walls, they are spendy. Like really expensive. Like over $2000 expensive… Hmm, amazingly enough, those walls made from diamond dust were not in the budget.

I started Googling late at night figuring it must be easy enough to make your own walls. When I stumbled upon a whole series of fantastic posts over at the blog of Blue Dogz Design, it became apparent that it is easy enough, provided that you can get sheets of foam core to the convention center. I looked at U-Line, I looked at Fed-Ex, I looked at local delivery… I did as much research as I could on getting sheets of foam core into the convention center, and each time the budget kept coming in too high. I figured that maybe I could use white corrugated plastic instead of foam core, and if I could score a 8′ x 4′ sheet in two, I could fold it in half and ship it on a pallet with the rest of my stuff. So, I called our local signmaker, who was cutting the vinyl for my booth signage anyway, and he ordered the sheets for me at cost. When I went to pick them up, pathetically accessorized with a ruler and craft knife, he suggested that I use their huge wall-mounted cutter. Half an hour later, I had a pile of folded walls, all ready to go. The fact that they were almost too heavy to move aside, I was feeling all set. I sent them to Vegas with the rest of my stuff and hoped for the best.

I flew to Vegas on my daughter’s fifth birthday. It was only the second time I have ever been away from her and I have never been away from my then almost-three year old. The morning of her birthday (when of course preschool was closed) was not spent so much in happy celebration so much as my kids witnessing me have a whispered breakdown at the local printer. My brochure- a job which was quoted at $280, a job which they then lost, a job which they suddenly said wouldn’t be ready on time, needed to be picked up. When I got there they said it took longer than anticipated so they needed to charge me $850… So that was a fun and stress-free morning. Saying goodbye to the littles was super-sad, my eldest was upset but the youngest reassured her that I’d be back after lunch. Yep, after lunch in 6 days.

When I finally got to the Convention Center, it was around 7pm. All around the Modern Child pavilion, elaborate beautifully lit design museums/ upscale boutiques dedicated to one brand had been erected. Some had teams of people working on signage, one had around ten people working on lighting. I walked and walked through the vast hall, and then I found my booth.

Posted Nov 22 2010 by Helen in events, figuring it out with 0 Comments

giveaway at Buy Modern Baby!

Way back in October at the ABC Kids Expo, I had the pleasure of meeting Esther from Buy Modern Baby. As a follower of her comprehensive tweets and blog, it was great to put a face to the name. So, it is with pleasure that I am teaming up with her to offer a great giveaway for Black Friday. Head on over to her site and follow the giveaway rules and you may be the lucky winner of a $75 gift certificate to numsi! Holiday shopping doesn’t get much better than free!

Also, I am super pleased that Esther has added numsi to the wall art category in the Buy Modern Decor guide over at the Buy Modern Baby Guide. In her own words,

“Buymodernbaby is your best resource for all modern baby and nursery products. We’ll show you all the newest choices and best designed gear and nursery furniture for your mini-modernist.”

We’re super happy to have joined such prestigious company as Avalisa, Dwell and Oopsie Daisy , thanks Esther!

Posted Nov 19 2010 by admin in giveaway with 0 Comments

life, the universe and everything

Well, well well. We’re back. From Vegas, in one piece. After being home for a week my feet have just about recovered and my sleep deficit has been minimized (well, sort of!). The ABC Kids Expo was everything that was promised, and more. It was gargantuan, it was exhilarating, it was exhausting. It was exciting, (at times it was dull). I met some great people, I was surrounded by some amazingly good design, and I saw a whole host of solutions for problems which I had not realized existed. Seriously. Made some great contacts, some beautiful stores are going to be stocking numsi products, it was great, Can’t wait for next year!

I’m going to write a recap of packing for the trade show, set-up, take-down, set-up again somewhere else, trade show trade show trade show, tear down and send home. When I was trying to figure it all out for the first time, reading posts like these were extraordinarily helpful, so I am planning to do one.

But now I need to scoot and go meet with a curator in my other life, back soon!

Posted Oct 21 2010 by admin in life with 0 Comments

Every cloud has a silver lining: numsi sale extended!

Because I appear to have lost my iPhone somewhere between the car and the house (obviously the two greatest black holes of missing small things) I have no idea what date it is, or what time it is, or what I need to do this morning. So far I woke up on time without my alarm going off, looked smugly at the clock on the bedroom wall and thought hey, it’s amazing, I didn’t sleep in. And then I promptly fell back asleep. When I stirred again, we were definitively in late territory. When my phone should have been clanging the 7.55am alarm for us to put on our shoes and leave the house, the kids were still comparing and contrasting breakfast cereals. So we were late to preschool and so I am working from a coffee shop because driving back to the studio in Minneapolis doesn’t make any sense when the morning is already cut so short. And then I sat down to work and promptly told a lovely customer that the numsi sale ends Friday. Not Wednesday. And somehow that is because of the lost iPhone too (wow, it’s like I have another spouse).

Anyway! While I plan to spend the day not doing all the things scheduled for me but instead looking for the thing that apparently keeps my life on track in a big big way, how about we extend the sale to Friday 24th anyway. After all, it’s probably what the iPhone would have wanted.

Posted Sep 20 2010 by admin in life, shop news with 0 Comments

Upcoming Trunk Show at Pacifier in NE Mpls

Posted Sep 18 2010 by admin in numsi events with 0 Comments

Vegas, Baby!

Hello! Super excited to announce that numsi will be exhibiting at the ABC Kids Expo in Vegas starting on 10/10/10. We will be in the Modern Child Pavilion, in Booth 5336, alongside some of the latest and greatest hits of the baby and child product world. Oeuf, DwellStudio, Skip Hop, See Kai Run, numsi, we’ll all be there!

To celebrate, we are running a 25% off store-wide sale, using the coupon code VEGASBABY. The sale will be for one week only, from today until September 22nd, so now is the time to stock up!

Posted Sep 15 2010 by admin in events, numsi events, shop news with 0 Comments

On the road again

Hello hello hello. Just a super quick message from the house of crazy and the studio of chaos. We are moving house and studio in the morning so things are a little hectic right now. The plan is that the numsi studio will be fully up and running again by Monday August 9th, if not earlier.

We are moving from St Paul to Minneapolis, a whole 5 miles but a different world apparently! See you soon from the big smoke!

Posted Jul 29 2010 by Helen in life, studio with 0 Comments

numsi special offers at The Talent Show- this weekend!

This weekend numsi will be at The Talent Show in Minneapolis with a whole host of other Twin Cities talent. Come on by for exceptional modern wall art, prints, cards and short sleeved unique t-shirts, all at super duper summer special prices. The event looks like it’s going to be fabulous, please come on by and say hello! All vendors will be donating an item to the silent auction, and there will be fantastic food and drinks by Tour de Farm and Bull Run Roasting Company.

Posted Jun 1 2010 by Helen in numsi events with 0 Comments

T is for Taking Photographs

Today we did a bit of a photo-shoot with our girls (A is 4 1/2 and O is 2 1/2), trying desperately to cycle through as many of the new numsi spring designs as possible before our luck and their good humor ran out. I took hundreds of photographs in the park, but I think my favorite may be this one I snapped later in the day as we took down an art installation. The plan is to get all the t-shirt designs online this week, please stay tuned!

Posted May 17 2010 by Helen in life, studio with 0 Comments

Walker Art Center Local Artist T-Shirt Mart

Way back in December I participated in the Local Artist Gift Mart at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. It was a fun event featuring a whole host of talented local designers and makers, and the stark white Target Gallery was the perfect setting for the colorful numsi wares. I don’t think that I ever posted photographs, here are some taken by Gene Pittman, the Walker’s resident photographer.

numsi at the Walker Art Center

After the event, one of the wonderful store managers mentioned that they may have a t-shirt only event in Spring, and lo and behold it is almost here! The press release has just been released and the line up of artists looks great. I am super excited to be participating, and looking forward to once again being in great company at a great event. Perhaps most exciting of all, numsi are going to be selling adult shirts as well as kids t-shirts. Let the making begin! April 17th, consider yourself marked in my calendar!

Walker Art Center’s Popular Artist Marts Expand to Feature T-Shirt Showcase

Just in time for spring, the Walker Art Center presents its first Local Artist T-Shirt Mart from 11 am–5 pm Saturday, April 17, in Cargill Lounge. The latest t-shirt designs for adults and children by locally based artists ranging from design collective Burlesque of North America to internationally renowned photographer Alec Soth will be on sale. Proceeds from all sales support the Walker’s artistic and educational programs. This event is part of MNFashion Week, April 16–25, 2010. For more information: www.mnfashionweek.com.

612.375.7633
shop.walkerart.org

Featured Artists

Saman Bemel Benrud
Benrud, the designer behind Minty Fresh Monster Apparel, is a Minneapolis native and recent graduate of St. Olaf College who was raised on comic books, video games, and the Internet. When he’s not designing t-shirts, he’s hard at work on large-scale drawings or doodling in a sketchbook.

Burlesque of North America
Burlesque of North America is a mob of graphic designers, illustrators, screenprinters, poster slingers, photographers, record collectors, exacto-knifers, pixel pushers, and BBQ mock duck eaters. Their t-shirts feature the perfect combination of humor and design sensibility and can be found gracing the chests of art-lovers from Minneapolis to Montreal, from Osseo to Osaka. Beyond shirts, Burlesque has been keeping busy designing and screenprinting album packaging, posters, logos, and stage backdrops for Rock the Garden, Arcade Fire, Rhymesayers, 89.3 The Current, Nike, Kidrobot, First Avenue, Target, and many others.

Kevin Hayes
Lovely Mpls is Keven Hayes’ Northeast Minneapolis graphic design and print workspace. His handcrafted work reflects his interests in the urban landscape, typography, calligraphy, contemporary music, and street culture. Using screenprinting, letterpress, and fine art techniques, he incorporates paper, wood, textiles, and a variety of other materials to create a truly unique experience for those who encounter his pieces.

Helen Jerlach
Helen Jerlach created Numsi Design shortly after the birth of her first child to create the same aesthetic she strives for in her “grown-up” world—simple, crisp, and minimal, yet beautiful and arresting. In addition to adult and children’s t-shirts, she produces wall art blocks and notecards.

Sara Lintner
The idea for Sara Lintner’s Too Many Suitors hatched in her senior year of college and expanded to larger-scale production after completing herBFA in Graphic Design in 2006 and settling into her first full-time design job. Her creative touch even reaches to the labels on her t-shirts. As the perfectionist Virgo that she is, Sara has been working diligently to perfect her line of high-design, yet affordable goods.

Alec Soth/Lester B. Morrison
Under the pseudonym Lester B. Morrison, acclaimed artist Alec Soth has published several books and a t-shirt through his publishing arm Little Brown Mushroom. Soth’s photographs have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the 2004 Whitney and São Paulo Biennials. In 2008, a survey exhibition of his work was presented at Jeu de Paume in Paris and Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland. The Walker Art Center will premiere his first major U.S. survey, exploring the past 15 years of his work, September 12, 2010–January 2, 2011. Soth has received fellowships from the McKnight Foundation (1999, 2004) and Jerome Foundation (2001), was the recipient of the 2003 Santa Fe Prize for Photography, and was short-listed for the highly prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Prize.

Sarah Nassif
Putting aside a scientific career, designer Sarah Nassif opted to use her botany degree as inspiration for her original line of textile motifs—modern takes on leaves, prairie flora, and trees created from her photographs of the Midwest and beyond. Her Rectangle Design line of hand-screenprinted t-shirts features water-based inks. Remnant fabrics, vintage notions, and environmentally sensitive production methods figure strongly in her designs.

Christine Solheim
Christine Solheim, originally from Wisconsin, learned to screen print in high school. After designing t-shirts for herself and her friends for years, she now sells her Future Lint t-shirts online. When not working at her job at a K-12 public arts school or making art, she can be found playing baseball, sailing, or riding her bike around town.

Posted Mar 28 2010 by Helen in numsi events with 0 Comments

numsi text panels and cards now in Minneapolis: i like you

I am very excited to announce that there is a great range of the limited edition text works panels now available for purchase at the delightful store i like you in Minneapolis. I dropped off a huge box full of panels and the matching text cards this afternoon and I can’t wait to go see how they look in store. Have you been to i like you? It has green astroturf on the floor, a fabulous play area and it is jam-packed with amazing local wares. The owners Angela and Sarah are lovely and you are almost guaranteed to find a great gift or treat for yourself or a friend. Totally worth a visit, you can find the shop at 501 1st Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis.

Just before I packed up the panels they looked so lovely sitting together on our dining table that I couldn’t resist snapping some photographs. Between the colors and the sunshine outside, why it’s almost like Spring has sprung!

numsi limited edition text works

Posted Mar 23 2010 by Helen in numsi events, shop news with 0 Comments

Super secret store orders- watch out Minneapolis

Very excited to say, without really saying anything too revealing, that this weekend I am working on orders for not one but two stores in Minneapolis. numsi artwork is coming! One store will get a whole host of limited edition text panels and the other will be getting a selection of panels and clothing. All will be revealed once deliveries are made. I am excited!
Of course if you know of any stores that should be stocking numsi, please send them my way, or me there way, either way works!

I like you by numsi wall art and gifts

Posted Mar 20 2010 by Helen in shop news with 0 Comments

What people are saying about numsi

One of these days I will get a press page up, but until then I just wanted to share some of the lovely things that have been said around this here internets in the last week or two.

“Modern eco families will love finding the perfect niche in their home for this 12 inch by 12 inch masterpiece…”
Babble- Droolicious

“Numsi decor is a sophisticated focal point and conversation piece with a modern aesthetic that will befit a child’s room from cradle to college, and beyond!”
Inhabitots

“Numsi is a great selection of very well-designed products for kids that I promise you’ll be willing to live with as well.”
Small for Big

“If you want artwork which won’t look babyish once they’re out of the nursery, check out the contemporary wall art panels at Numsi.”
Gifts By The Stars

Thanks everyone, it is certainly appreciated!

Posted Mar 11 2010 by Helen in nice words with 0 Comments

Partnering with Inhabitots for a new giveaway!

Hello! Super duper excited, once again to announce the latest numsi giveaway, this time with the always awesome Inhabitots, home of “modern green design for children and babies”. Could there possibly be a better tagline that numsi products could fit under? I don’t think so! Can you tell I am excited to partner with them? Anyway, here are the details. Go visit inhabitots and sign up for their lovely newsletter, then go back andleave a comment on the giveaway post saying which of the numsi animal designs you like best. Bob’s your uncle, a 12″ × 12″ panel in the animal design of your choice could be winging it’s way to you by the end of next week. What a great ‘I Survived Winter, Welcome to Spring’ present to yourself or a loved one!

Posted Mar 11 2010 by Helen in giveaway, numsi events with 0 Comments

We’ve got it: www.facebook/numsidesign

Hooray! numsi finally has 25 fans on Facebook, this is a big day! Everyone has to start somewhere, right?! It means that we can claim our username instead of directing people to an address which ends /58848327295. Alas, /numsi is taken, so you can find us atwww.facebook.com/numsidesign. In the coming months there will be all sorts of exciting things going on there. Sign up to receive advance notice of giveaways, exclusive coupons and sneak previews of new designs and products.

numsi on Facebook

Posted Mar 8 2010 by Helen in shop news with 0 Comments