Sisters. (and awkward hand candids.)

I feel for all of you in 30″+ of melting snow and I got as close as I could to a “snow day” in Hawaii. The east coast got showered with record number snow this weekend and all I could think about was “LET’S EAT SHAVE ICE TO CELEBRATE!” (Ululani’s, of course). This is my first winter in four years that doesn’t involve slushing around melting snow, dodging ice patches on the sidewalk, wearing a sleeping bag for a jacket, and dreaming about what it felt like to be warm. I enjoyed cold winter walks and the newness fresh snow brought to the busy city. I’ll miss dressing up to be warm, but let’s be real, this view isn’t too bad either.

Back in March, Jes and I found ourselves at home to celebrate G-Flo’s 87th Birthday. This year, more than ever, we have found our way home at the same time, for some time. This has all been thanks to Matsumoto Studio. Although we are in different places during the majority of the year, Matsumoto Studio, is the one thing that brings us together. Growing up five years apart, our age difference meant we were interested in different things. Now, that we are both older, we share so many similarities. We may have spent many years doing different things but at some point, they all collided.

Matsumoto Studio is just beginning. We are just at the shore getting our feet wet with the crashing waves waiting to jump in to the big ocean. Our similarities have become a strength for our sisterhood and now a small business. I am lucky to share something  with someone so close to me. We are sisters, so we have our moments, but it also means we have something special. We think similar things but differently enough to challenge, grow and push each other to be our best. That’s the best thing I could ask for in a partnership, better yet, a sisterhood.

The post have been scarce, the work hasn’t been updated but I haven’t felt more right in the things I’ve been doing. Sure there could be more (FT job) but if there was that, would I be making coasters? After an overwhelming positive response from family, friends, and friends of friends, I started making time “once in a lifetime” coasters for gifts. Things don’t always come how you plan but you just go with it. I might think I’m lost on “coaster-nation” but maybe I’m actually going down the road that was meant to be. So far it feels good. While it makes me nervous to not know where this will go, I also feel excited about the uncertainty as it makes everything that much more exciting.

Playing make-believe beach with some kinetic sand and a make shift photo studio. All this pretending but the pictures turned out pretty nice.

When there is no beach, make you’re own sand. Working on projects and making use of what some may see as “useless.”

Adding little touches while making more coasters. Sometimes the little things matter most.

It’s finally here! matsumoto studio–a big sis & lil’ sis collaboration to do what we love most–design! We live on different coasts (Jes on the west & me on the East) and specialize in designing the annie + flo notecard line, stationery, invitations, announcements and more!  We believe that good design should be accessible and affordable to everyone.  All of our invitations and announcements are DIY printables so you can either print them at home or through a print shop. Check out our current selection of products and keep an eye out for updates. It has been a dream to be able to share what we do with everyone and am exciting for this new adventure.

You can also check out our blog where we will post things about what we do, what we are working on, and also what we eat! One thing we want to do is start “Tasty Tuesdays” where we will share a recipe.

Check out this weeks Tasty Tuesday post about baked stuff shrimp and fettuccine.  Yum! Hope everyone enjoys matsumoto studio, because we surely enjoy sharing design with you all.