I'm a designer and paper shop owner from Seattle and I blog about things in my life that are simple, beautiful, practical or fun. I love books, flowers, organizing, and above all, good food.
Want to get in touch? Just email me.
Blog design and original content ©2009–2016 One Fine Dae / Linda Pham.
I made this notebook sometime last year but didn't get around to adding it to my shop until now. It's called isosceli and it's decked out in tiny, hand-cut triangles with specks of gold shimmer. A perfect notebook for everyday writing or doodling.
Phew! What a busy end-of-winter it has been for me. Chucking away late at night...reminds me of my brutal college years. But I am so happy to share with you a few things that I've recently finished and added to my Etsy shop.
These pencil sets are the latest addition to my growing collection. I call them "simple love" as each word, phrase, or code conveys a love message in 4 characters or less.
These journey scrapbooks/sketchbooks are such a treat and I am very excited to have them in my shop. The covers are wrapped in vintage newspaper maps from a publication called "World News of the Week" that began in the 1930s! The maps cover all sorts of topics of its time using illustrations, graphics, and text. I only have a few of these guys available, and no two book covers look alike. A limited edition piece for sure.
Finally, a couple of pocket notepads for everyday use. They fit comfortably in your hand but big enough to take notes or sketch on. I French-folded the front cover and stitched them together for extra thickness and durability. Even though the threads have a functional purpose first and foremost, I think they also bring a bit of charm and personality to the overall design of these books.
And here's a group photo! Visit my shop for more photos and info.
For years, I've wanted to offer a monthly planner in my shop. Timing was never right, however, for me to make it available. But this year, I'm finally ahead of schedule and carrying a limited supply on Etsy.
The planner is hardback, wire-o bound, and uses premium 100% recycled paper. Slightly textured and so soft. The covers are wrapped in kraft paper. I love this stuff. It's super durable and the texture helps to camouflage any marks and scratches from daily use. Plus, it's a classic!
The book is split into two halves using shimmery cardstock as dividers. The first half is the calendar. It includes 2 yearly views and 12 monthly views with plenty of writing space. This was a must for me when I started designing, considering most planners never really give you enough room inside the boxes. (A major pet peeve!)
The second half includes 50 blank pages for writing...or whatever you want. The last few pages are perforated into fours. You know, for those times when you need to jot down a quick note and rip out but don't want to waste a whole piece of paper? Yep, got it covered.
There's also an inside front pocket to keep small, loose papers, and a black satin ribbon to mark your place.
All text and graphics are printed in-house on an inkjet printer, and handmade with care. It comes neatly packaged in a clear cello bag and wrapped in kraft paper. Ready to use or give as a gift.
Despite all the smart phones and cool apps out there to help us stay organized, I'm still very much old-school and will always love using a paper planner. If you're interested, you can get one here.
Yay! I finally got around to publishing my shop's Facebook page. If you're a fan of One Fine Dae, click 'like' to follow along for shop updates, announcements, and secret sales.
Hi there! Hope you guys had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday. I had many rounds of turkey, mashed potatoes, and ice cream, and also caught up on sleep.
But the thing that I was most focused on these past several days was finalizing the packaging aspect of my shop, an ongoing project that I started several months ago but never got the chance to wrap up until now. Ha, no pun intended.
As a consumer I always love products that are nicely packaged, regardless if they're from big, small, or indie brands. I feel that enjoying a product begins with the excitement of opening it to get to the actual content, and it's part of the whole product experience that only happens once. Which is why I think it's special.
For One Fine Dae's packaging, I decided to go with a few simple elements using a neutral color palette: black, shades of gray, and light pink.
I created shop tags with ONE FINE DAE hand-stamped on the front, and a tag line printed on the back. The edge is detailed with light pink thread and finished off with a silver eyelet.
After doing a few test wraps, I realized that twine alone wasn't going to hold the bag's flap down, so I made stickers with a scalloped edge to hold it in place. They're translucent and so fun to make!
Here are the elements right before they're assembled: a handmade kraft bag sewn together with light pink thread using a zig-zag stitch to match the opening edge, a sticker seal, two different note cards—one for the gift recipient, one for the purchaser (only one is used per package), and a shop tag, all tied together with gray twine.
I'm a big fan of unified branding, so individual product packages also carry the same style as the wrapping. For the postcards, I created a slit in the back of the packaging to hold stamps. (They're free for domestic customers.) For the pencils, I also used light pink thread to create pockets to slip the pencils in.
And here's what a few pieces look like next to each other: shop tags, golf pencil just for fun, days of summer pencil set, happy trails postcards, and a label for this album.
More pencils? Yes, more pencils...but pint-sized.
Not only will these little guys be included in a few new products that I'll have available in the shop soon, they're also a clue of what the new products will be. So stay tuned...
I just added these bright and colorful days of summer pencils in my shop. Each set comes with six different colors and past times. They're so cheery and fun, and remind me of my childhood summer days.
A year ago today, a nervous and excited me opened my online paper shop to the world. It took a little over a month for that first real sale to happen, and when it did, I remember it being one of the happiest and best surprises to wake up to. Anyone with a shop probably knows and understands this elated feeling. (For those who are curious, it's like when you're a kid waking up in the morning and realizing it's your birthday.)
Now, a year later, the feelings have not gotten old. I am so thankful and appreciative of all the positive feedback, press, and of course, my wonderful customers who have supported my budding indie shop this past year. It truly makes me so happy!
So, to show my appreciation, I am offering a 20% discount in my Etsy shop until Sunday, May 8th. Happy shopping my dears!
I've been working on some new, love-themed cards lately. The first one to come out is this falling for you card. Simple, sweet, and subtle, it's perfect to give on Valentine's Day, or any day.
Did I ever mention that my paper shop idea came about through a conversation I had with my friend (while sitting in our tiny living room apartment) regarding the lack of nicely designed planners that were sold in stores? Yep. And I remember her suggesting to me that I should design my own planner instead.
That was early 2009.
Since then, I've created other paper goods, but no planners. (It's one of those things where you know you can do it any time so you end up not doing it at all.)
So when my friend Kevin came to me and asked if I could design a personalized planner to give to his girlfriend Lucy for Christmas, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. It was like I was reminded of why I started my shop in the first place. Working with Kevin was easy—he told me what he wanted (a monthly-view planner) and suggested a few styles and colors based on what his girlfriend likes, and left the rest up to me. This allowed me to combine Lucy's style with my own design aesthetics to come up with something she will like, but that I will also personally admire. Designers should always be a fan of their own work. You stay in the profession longer that way, I think.
The finished product includes my vision of what simple planners should look like, what Kevin thought Lucy would love, and a few extra special details to make the planner truly personalized. It has thin rules, boxes big enough to actually write in, lots of room for notes, extra writing pages, and little touches of personality.
This planner is probably my favorite custom project of 2010, just because it reminds me of how I got started, and why I love to design and create things that are meaningful to people.