What is the Atherton Lin version of Season's Greetings? For this set of notecards, entitled TURN ON THE LIGHTS, we took inspiration from paper theatres and dioramas. Look for a red postbox and mysterious footprints, a fox in the snow, Christmas trees on cranes, a psychedelic lighthouse and a lost flock of geese. Coming very very soon to our own online shops and to our US distributor, buyolympia.com.

A quick note on how to shop with us... U.S. customers, the most economical way to mail order is through buyolympia.com, which is based in Portland. Any customer can buy from us directly via our etsy shop or our folksy shop. When you order from either of these sites, we ship to you directly from our studio in London. On etsy the prices show in dollars and on folksy the prices show in pounds. Click the STOCKISTS link on the left for a list of shops worldwide. We are sometimes involved in pop-up markets and art fairs. One way to keep informed is to "become a fan" of Atherton Lin on Facebook.

Here's another note for Londoners... Our 2010 wall calendar is now stocked at the great bookshop at the Design Museum as well as the new Marc By Marc Jacobs boutique on South Audley Street. Also, this weekend: We will be at the Autumn Fair hosted by We Make London. It's held at Abney Hall on Stoke Newington Church Street on Saturday Sep. 5 and Sunday Sep. 6. Meander over and say hello. Stoke Newington is a very autumnal neighbourhood. It's the area in which Edgar Allen Poe went to school, and the Abney Park cemetery is an overgrown wonder. The funny thing is: Can you believe that autumn is already here? We think we're ready.

This hello is especially for our London friends and neighbours... Just to tell you that we will be at the Arts & Crafts Pop Up Market at the Old Truman Brewery Boiler House (Brick Lane) from Friday Aug. 21st through Sunday Aug. 23. Please stop by and say hello and greet the Atherton Lin gang (pictured above). Also, we will be at We Make London's Autumn Art & Design Fair at Abney Hall on Stoke Newington Church Street on Saturday September 5th and Sunday September 6th.

Twice now we have broken with our tradition of always using watercolour. Our new MUSIC IS GOING TO MAKE EVERYTHING OK card/disc set is in felt tip pen, and our new LOVELESS ERASER card is in pencil. Guess we are gently branching out. These and two other new cards (one featuring the vinyl collection and one featuring the hoodie boys) are up now on our shop. As always, they are small square cards on recycled paper. Let us know what you think.

Thank you everyone for your orders. We are really chuffed to be getting a good response on the new calendar and new cards. We are going to the post office almost every day filling orders. We like the post mistress with the grumpy face, because even though she is a bit intimidating, we feel we can trust her to get your mail to you efficiently.

Our 2010 wall calendar is now in print! Our annual calendar roots the characters and stories that pop up in all our items. This year's is entitled Stand Up Straight. The watercolour illustrations look like they come from a children's book, but the feelings are more grown up, such as ennui or getting the hots. Starting with a New Year's resolution, to stand up straight, the 2010 calendar follows our six nameless characters through one year of letter writing, music mixes, childhood fears, old stereo equipment and perhaps a parallel universe... Fans of the Hoodie Boys: The answer is yes, the duo appears in full colour in February, September and October. (Plus a glimpse in July with their hoods off!) Please visit our online shop in order to browse the calendar (as well as our new greeting cards). A big THANK YOU to all of our friends who offered technical support, creative input and funding to help make the calendar possible. We're excited about this one. And we look forward to seeing how each page settles into our lives throughout next year.

Our three new bookmarks are each litho printed with vegetable inks on 100% recycled paper. The SMELLY JACKETS bookmark features ink drawings of two jackets and a list of all the scents that cling to them. WORDS TO LOOK UP AND THINGS TO REMEMBER is a useful bookmark for active readers, with its watercolour interpretation of lined notebook paper. ALL THE RECORDS I EVER LOST, BROKE, GAVE AWAY OR LEFT BEHIND is a lament featuring four vinyl records illustrated in watercolour. The three designs, along with the HAVEN'T LOOKED BACK bookmark (see below), can be purchased as a set. You can visit our shop for purchasing details.

We're at press! Here is an image of the printing co-operative Calverts churning out Atherton Lin stuff, using vegetable inks on recycled paper powered by renewable energy. We think that if you are going to put paper products out there, that's the way to do it. Calverts is located right next to Bella Union records (Fleet Foxes, Beach House, Vetiver, Midlake, Wavves...) in the shadow of those huge Regent's Canal gasometers. It's about twenty minutes from our flat/studio... We've been walking back and forth a lot recently.

We have been working forever on the 2010 wall calendar, and it is now nearly ready to print. You can help us offset our printing costs by pre-ordering! We've concocted a "buy one, get one half price" incentive: Each pre-order consists of a set of 2 copies (one for you + one for a gift) plus free bookmarks. The calendars will be mailed in late July/early August, as soon as they are printed. For the details and a sneak peek image, please visit our shop. Thank you to everyone who is able to place a pre-order. This will allow us to make more copies and keep prices down.

These are the two new blank card/disc sets. Each greetings card comes with a companion CD-R, which can hold up to 80 minutes of music (700 mb of storage). You can send your deserving friend a greeting plus a music mix, photo album or whatever.

The first card reads THE RADIO IS PLAYING SUMMER HITS. It suggests the cheer of pop music and the vibe of a sunny day. The second card reads RAINY DAY MIX TAPE CALLED RAINBOW. It introduces a new Atherton Lin character, who is caught in a storm wearing a rainbow jumper. This is an appropriate greeting for a friend who is a bit melancholic, a bit optimistic.

We are pleased with our new printer, a London-based cooperative that uses renewable energy and 100% recycled paper. When the proofs for these cards were being printed, a group of schoolchildren were visiting the print shop, and they were the first to take a look. According to the sweet staff there, the kids liked our stuff. We are really chuffed to have their approval.

The HAPPY GAY card is our first gay love greeting. The two hoodie boys are new Atherton Lin characters and their story will unfold further in our 2010 wall calendar. This image captures the moment of their first kiss under a street lamp.

This is our new bookmark. It's the hoodie boys again, sitting atop a brick wall and perhaps discussing past anecdotes or future plans. With a touch of irony, the caption reads WE HAVEN'T LOOKED BACK SINCE. This scene is a piece of the ongoing story of their companionship. Of course, we will continue this story in the next calendar as well as other products.

One of our vendors, buyolympia.com, turns 10 years old this year. They asked artists from their stable to create a special banner in celebration. For ours, we devised this design featuring our usual character. We are very happy to be associated with buyolympia. The folks there do an incredible job. And we love being affiliated with a company that was founded in Olympia, Washington, home to so many cool bands and artists.

We are super excited to inaugurate our range of collectible editions with Jamie's Fairytale Poster. Printed in East London in an edition of 50 giclée prints on 290 gsm Hahnemüle bamboo paper, the poster features a wicked illustration that feels a bit like a pop song, a bit like a dirty dream. While the Atherton Lin stories are usually about the poetic details of normal life, this one is an epic! Available to purchase from our etsy shop, each poster will be printed to order, signed and numbered.