Toon Tuesday 12/15/09

xmas shopping begins! or...shopping begins, at least.

I'm yours - the official version

classic...the non-radio unedited version ;)  this kid is so cute with his expressions, and i think his nose is itching, haha.

kudos to employee zo for finding this little gem, haha.

toon tuesday 12/08/09

c'mon, daddies need some mommy time, too...

toon tuesday - 11/24/09

a special thanksgiving toon tuesday edition -- have a happy thanksgiving!

Toon Tuesday 11/17/09

quarantine, people...quarantine...

toon tuesday 11/10/09

sometimes the best cure: misery loves company...

toon tuesday - 11/03/09

to vaccinate or not to vaccinate, THAT is the question...

look very carefully at the singer(s)!

what a great tribute to michael jackson! and look closely, it's just one singer! crazy, huh?

toon tuesday 10/26/09

sometimes you just have that perfect working environment...

toon tuesday 10/20/09

sometimes you can get away with it...

Bumble Ink Holiday Photo Card on Minted.com

we're having bumble baby's holiday picture taken this weekend for our annual xmas greeting card. we always debate whether we should be in these pictures or not. friends and family would much rather just see how big baby has gotten, right? but then again, it's a family christmas card? we'll see what we end up doing. nevertheless, bumble ink's all about tree holiday photo card is available at minted.com this year. get them early! they are offering 15% off if you order by 10/18. just use code EARLYSITE09.

My holiday photo cards now available at Minted.com

toon tuesday - 10/06/09

yes, we've skipped two tuesdays...ummm....yeah. hopefully this will make up for it? we all must sometimes be reminded of who is the boss of us.

Drool...new gadget...

make sure you check out the video here. gotta get one of these...just think what it would be like to sketch/research/etc. on one of these things! can't wait for it to come out!

toon tuesday 9/15/09

football season is upon us! good times had by some...

toon tuesday 9/8/09 - where did it go?

before you know it, it's come and gone. long weekends/vacations need to go by in slow motion time. we could definitely use it...

toon tuesday 8/18/09

no seriously, it's pretty hot right now...

Toon Tuesday 8/04/09 - the housing dilemma

housing in San Francisco is still so @$#*&%in expensive! i think we can afford a cardboard house in the Mission, now.

funny thing on google...

a friend pointed this out to me today-- went to google.com today and typed in "i am" -- and let the "google auto-fill" end the sentence for me...

being chinese, i find it both disturbing and yet strangely...gratifying?
i dunno, i don't see myself as very scary.

Toon Tuesday 6/28/09

now that we're getting older, i find i have to learn a bit more about portion control. i used to be able to eat 5 whoppers in one sitting back in the day.

ok, 4 and a bite. it got a bit monotonous. and now i hate whoppers to this day. probably wasn't the best idea, but hey! it was like a 5 whoppers for $5 deal!! we college men took that as a challenge!

all i know is, when we ordered, the guy at the counter whispered, "madre de dios," meaning, 'mother of god.' we all thought he was amazed at our eating prowess, but now that i think back on it, he was probably referring to how stupid we were.

uh..yeah. anyways, point is, gotta eat smarter!

a wedding i'd like to attend...

now this is what a wedding should be all about-- fun! how about a bride who is willing to just let loose and have a good time on her big day! makes you want to do it all over again...almost.

toon tuesday 07/21/09

now serving...a slice of our lives. welcome to "owning a card business with a baby."

toon tuesday - 07/14/09

ummm. i dunno. was feeling a bit weird today?

like peanut butter

did we ever say how much it sucks to change poopie diapers? never knew how much of a fan i was of urine until now.

Best MJ article out there

I'm sure you've heard and seen everything there is to see and hear about Michael Jackson's death in the past 2 days, but just wanted to share this article written by a local SF columnist -- i thought it was a pretty profound piece.

needless to say, inspiration comes in many forms-- without music like MJ's to rock out to while we're working, i'm certain that almost all of our designs out there would suffer immensely. for me, good beats translates directly into good design. when you feel good, design is that much better.

please check it out if you have a moment, it's definitely worth a read.
(thanks to our friend ngoc for finding this!)

in the meantime, this is my personal fave from Michael's work, and one i still have today on my playlist to move me while i design:

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
by hushhush112

toon tuesday 6/23

times may be tough-- but that won't stop us! buy buy buy buy buy buy buy!

prodigy? i would say so.

Sungha Jung has been on youtube for 2 years now, yet i only saw him today! with this level of talent at such a young age (he's 12 now), i'm surprised i hadn't seen him earlier. he's sooo good. soo inspiring. if you watch him play, you can tell he really loves it -- and it's so great to see that. just goes to show how much better things are when you love doing them. he even composes some songs! check out all his other songs, too. here are some of my favorites:


...and one he composed...so nice.

stop motion kick

Bubblicious from Rex The Dog on Vimeo.

we're on a "stop-motion" animation kick! found this gem on vimeo-- absolutely love it. The author even shows process -- all that x-acto work on the foam-core...oh my god, getting unpleasant flashbacks from school...what a nightmare that must have been. but what a result!

music is great, too-- kinda makes us want to dance!

bing bing bing

we usually don't get too excited when someone mentions another search site -- it usually elicits a *yawn* -- i mean, lycos, alta vista, yahoo, google, dogpile, etc.-- we've seen it all. or have we? Microsoft actually took a page out of apple's book and made a search site that is actually nice to look and interact with...
bite your tongue, right???
anyways, see for yourself-- it actually looks nice, and has some pretty neat features, like a rollover summary of the search result a la netflix, among other things.

not to mention, a pretty cool name. it's just fun to say it...bing!
anyways, i digress.... just go check it out already.

toon tuesday 6/15

there is just too much material for this subject...

some friday fun

a little fun for your friday-- so creative!

Toon Tuesday...6/9

men vs. wild

this guy just cracks us up, whatever he does--

when all else fails...or chair fails

poor guy..but so funny...sad how little things like this make me laugh.

no rest for the weary...

no refunds or exchanges... it's the toughest job for a reason! ah, gotta love em, though ;)

inspiration comes in many forms

you wouldn't think that the performing arts could inspire visual arts, but you can really draw from anything as long as you can distill what makes something really work. this group gave a commanding performance because every piece of the puzzle worked in precise unison. the choreography and attention to detail transformed the piece from simply a dance routine to a work of art.

loved it!

thanks to our friend Cyrnni for finding this!

powdery goodness

where can i get beignets in the SF area that taste like the ones you get at Cafe du Monde? call me a beignet snob -- but i grew up on this stuff! they must be airy in the inside and sprinkled with a generous amount of powdered sugar! gawww... i have a craving for them.... i need them now!


photo via yelp.com

jon and kate...don't h8

so we've been watching this family for a long time now, and they've been an inspiration to us and many families, i'm sure. i mean, if they can do it with 8 freaking kids, surely we can handle just one, right? right??!?

anyways, recently it looks like they've had some highly publicized marital problems, and this season's premiere as a result was definitely an awkward, and sad one.

gets us thinking how we always dream of being famous, but have never thought of what comes with fame. i don't think we could ever handle that kind of attention and, wow, the paparazzi -- what i saw in that episode would have set me off. those guys looked like the lowest of life forms throughout the show.

please don't break up, jon and kate!! it's just too sad.

time sink

if you have a moment, you've gotta check out one of my favorite design sites from red interactive agency-- you can create a little avatar on their site and literally roam, fly, chat (with little word bubbles) and interact with other visitors. it's definitely fun, and the art style is fantastic. there even seems to be a sort of cult following on this site, as every time i visit, there are people hanging out.

it's kind of a time sink too, so if you get caught looking at this at work, just say you're "doing research" on a local design firm ;)

bumble ink day care system

how did our parents do it? bumble baby was a terror this weekend, so we had to employ the services of the best baby sitter on the planet....elmo! and big bird, and grover, etc. er...we don't do it that much...really...:/

the one hot dog per month rule - a memorial day exception?

the famous bacon dogs in sf -- image from yelp

i love hot dogs. i mean, really love them. i love them so much that bumble girl has instituted the "one hot dog a month rule" so i don't die of a hot dog induced heart attack. i often ask myself whether i've had my hot dog this month. so sad.

i propose an exception for memorial day though! since it's barbeque season, what is a good bbq without hot dogs? a bad bbq, i say!

so for those who are grilling it up on memorial day, here are some great hot dogs you can buy from the store: Uncured Niman Ranch Fearless Franks. these guys are healthy (as healthy as a hot dog can get, at least)and have been taste tested as scrumdelicious!

for those that don't want to grill their own, go to some of our favorites:

1. New York: Crif Dogs or Gray's Papaya
2. Los Angeles: Pink's, or the bacon dogs outside of the staple's center
3. San Francisco: Top Dog, bacon dog cart, or fatt dog
4. other cities...uh....i dunno. post em if you know of any!

bumble ink in poppytalk!

thanks for the paper pops mention! check it out here

btw, we love love love poppytalk! jan posts about so many inspiring and beautiful finds! and we are huge fans of her poppytalk handmade market! (where we currently have a table -- go now! :) )

the seafood guide

i was at Lee's this afternoon contemplating whether to pick up some fish for lunch when i started doubting the quality and origin of said fish. now, they may have the freshest, most sustainably fished, best quality fish there -- but i just didn't know. i ended up passing on it.

it brought me to thinking about a handy mini-pamphlet we picked up at the monterey bay aquarium awhile ago, explaining the best choices of seafood, as well as the worst choices and why -- a very handy item to keep with you for just such an occasion!

you can download a pocket guide here!

one item of particular interest was the inclusion of "farmed Salmon" on the "Avoid" list. basically, they swim in these pens full of their own feces, which are then released directly into the ocean, chock full of parasites and diseases.

YUM.

brilliant? i'd say so.

we're big big fans of adobe, having used their product for years. and after seeing this beautiful and interactive mini-site, we love them even more. it's fun to just surf around and interact, and ogle at the eye candy throughout this piece. learned a lot about cs4 as well! no doubt that was their intention...
check it out at http://www.adobe.com/brilliant/

get the digits. even if they're wrong.

another successful night out-- for all you playas out there, learn to take a hint.

Chalk it up to inspiration

Firekites - AUTUMN STORY - chalk animation from Lucinda Schreiber on Vimeo.

Very inspiring piece -- original and well done! Must have taken an enormous amount of time and chalk...

the lightest, fluffiest, and BEST cheesecake ever!!

so we here in the SF bay area are lucky enough to have Zanze's cheesecake. it's not your typical new york style cheesecake. instead, the texture is very airy and light -- and just melts in your mouth. once you've had one bite, you won't be able to stop! the only caveat is that zanze's is only open a few days a week during a small window... i've known a few people to take an 'extra' long lunch from work just to pick up a cheesecake!

photo courtesy of yelp.com

the guy has something...i'll give him that.

not many singers turned actors have been successful. in fact, most if not all are downright terrible. this guy has had a lot of exposure lately. bumble girl, as a matter of fact, is a big, big fan. i've seen the way you look at him, bumble girl! and how you laugh a little too enthusiastically at his antics! hmph!

i am not a big fan, but i have to admit, the most recent snl skit of "PlasticVille" is one of the funniest things i've seen in a long, long time. the boy's got some comedic talent, i'll give him that. but that's all i'll give him!!! for now...

EDIT: Well, we USED to have a link to the video, but apparently NBC is keeping this one under wraps for now. SO, you'll just have to check out this video, which Plasticville was derived from. Still funny, just not AS funny in certain respects!

what freedom can do with the right tools

Cisma's "Le Sens Propre" from glossy inc on Vimeo.

we love adobe products. having used adobe since the first photoshop, we've come to appreciate what its tools allow us to do.

given the freedom to do whatever you want -- that's a designer's dream. this campaign for adobe had only one directive-- you can do anything you want, just do it with adobe cs4. and wow...what an amazing result. just goes to show how much creativity there is out there in the world!

hope you get a kick out of it!

baby survival mode

an extension of mother's day -- this is to all those "new" moms out there who may not have had the time to do much on mother's day.

trust us. we know how you feel.

hang in there!

prime, but subprime

subprime from beeple on Vimeo.

looking around at the state of housing in california, and found some eye and ear candy here -- beautifully and exquisitely done with great visual style and sound.

tea time with mom

this mother's day, take your mom to a cute tea house, or brew your own pot of tea. it makes for great bonding time with mom! my sisters and i do it anytime we get together with our mom. we like to try out different cakes, scones, and pastries to accompany our tea.

if you live in the los angeles/burbank area, try martino's in burbank for their tea cakes. mmmmmm.... their buttermilk and blueberry cakes are just the right size and simply deeee-lish!

i can't wait for bumble baby to be old enough so we can do our own mother/daughter tea parties!

happy mother's day to all the moms!

Arzberg Warmer and Teapot from Crate and Barrel

don't forget mother's day this weekend...

if you haven't gotten a gift/card yet, go NOW. here are some "In" gift ideas for the modern mom:

1. amazon kindle (unless she's not tech savvy, or you're broke) OR
   
2. sony ebook (unless she's not tech savvy, or you're broke) OR
   
3. iPhone (unless she's not tech savvy, or you don't want to pay for the $75/month plan as well) then you should try...
4. a massage/spa package (unless you're very broke) then try...
5. taking her out to a nice dinner (or a casual one, if you are economically challenged) OR
6. give flowers (eh...nice, but not very original) OR
7. make her dinner (unless you're a horrible cook) then just...
   
8. spend time with her, she just wants your company!

of course, get a card to go with that gift! we've got one here. nice self plug, eh? although if you don't have one by now, you're probably screwed. just give her a big hug -- that always works.

image of the kindle courtesy of amazon.com

spanish inspired

here's an innovative site that's just beautiful to look at, and fun to interact with. sure, it's in spanish, but beauty doesn't need to be read! love the organic feel and playfulness --truly an inspiration. (hint: move your cursor up when you get to the bean!)

tough times...

california tax where we are is at 9.25 to 9.5%!!! what the hey?!! anyone have higher? jeez.

in these times, we need....a jig

many of you may have seen this posted in many places already, but it never ceases to make us smile over here. it started out as just something he did whenever he traveled to a new place -- like when you have to pick up that hard rock cafe t-shirt at every new location (except um, just way more memorable). people loved it so much though that this guy now travels around the world, bringing people together to dance his endearing jig. how awesome is that??
just a reminder that there are few things cooler than acting goofy, and having complete strangers join in for a moment of genuine fun.

read all about his exploits here.

mascarpone = heavenly delight!

lately, i've been obsessed with anything mascarpone. it's like the perfect marriage of whipped cream and cream cheese. i use it with berries and cakes, as frosting and in sauces. my next endeavor is to make Giada's strawberry and mascarpone filled cupcakes.

according to cheese.com (yes, there is such a site!): mascarpone cheese is "not cheese at all, but rather the result of a culture being added to the cream skimmed off the milk, used in the production of Parmesan" and is 75% fat!!! hmmm... interesting.. maybe i was better off not knowing this!

photo via FoodNetwork.com

are we here yet?

is it this bad yet? man...
as if you haven't heard enough about it already. read more if you're so inclined...

web wednesday bonus

Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.
saw and immediately wanted to post this video from playing for change -- one of those 'feel good' videos with an excellent rendition of "stand by me" played and sung by people all around the world. hope it makes you feel good!

Web Wednesdays - Leo Burnett

want inspiration? we love love love this site. it's just fun to interact with. we find ourselves doodling with the pencil tool while surfing through this beautiful portfolio. funny thing is, just moving your pencil around the site, while leaving pencil marks, somehow manages to make the site look that much more interesting and "intended." not many sites these days can make you just say, "wow." you HAVE to check it out.

Toon Tuesday

Toon of the week...we're moving our comic from our uh... monthly/3-monthly schedule to a weekly schedule. check out our archives for past renditions.

Movie Mondays - Worldbuilder by Bruce Branit

World Builder from Bruce Branit on Vimeo.
Something to start out your week -- a truly moving piece, both in content and special effects. If you have some time, it will possibly make your day.

foodie friday: clear optometry fro-yo

yes, you read that right! it's an optometry place that sells frozen yogurt (and other tasty treats). we love the concept! (and it works, i went in for yogurt and came out with a nice pair of eye glasses.) better yet, it's one of our favorite fro-yo places here in the sf bay area. the yogurt is surprisingly very good, the portions are generous, and the green tea mochi toppings have the perfect amount of 'chewy freshness'. hmmm.. i feel like heading over there now...

photograph via yelp

thought of the day thursday

whoever invented salisbury steaks is a genius. even in tv dinners, they taste great.

bumble ink mother's day card

our mother's day card is now available in our online store -- check it out here.

bumble ink invention request#2: Baby Sleeping holder

we humbly request someone invent a baby holder that simulates a person's arms so that newborns can sleep, and allow parents to sleep as well! some babies just can't "do" the crib. oh, and it has to be safe of course, and provide a little heat, and maybe some rocking? don't ask us, just invent, please.

bumble ink invention request#1: Rubber Necking Screen

we humbly request someone invent a "Rubber Necking Screen." This screen is something police or firefighters could put up quickly around an accident (maybe with a printed graphic on the outside saying, "Move along please - Nothing to see here" -- cause seriously, there will be nothing to see). It must then be able to collapse just as quickly after they clear everything up. how much traffic would this ease? ask someone who lives in Los Angeles.

twitter

so yeah, we have a twitter page now. we're so cool and technically awesome? maybe, just maybe.

bumble ink in Real Simple

Thanks for the mention, Real Simple! You can read the article here: bumble ink in Real Simple