Oscar's valentines

Oscar's been pretty interested in crafts lately, and loves to tape, cut, fold, draw, and write. With this being his first year in pre-school, I was inspired to think up some valentines for him to help me put together to give to his classmates. I know this is sort of last minute for this year's Valentine's Day, but hopefully some of you can keep this bookmarked for next year.

Just download the template here, and cut and fold along the guides provided. Carve out the hearts with an Exacto knife - it's a bit tricky I know, but it gets easier with practice. Then I had Oscar write his classmates' names and his name in the space provided. I packaged up little fruit gummies in some flat clear cellophane bags I had, and stapled it to the edge of the bottom flap (Oscar was able to help me staple a few, but it was tough for him). Fold up the back flap, apply double-stick tape to the small top flap, and press down tightly over the back. Enjoy!

a star-themed baby shower

I threw a baby shower for my sister-in-law who is having a baby boy in a few weeks. I've been loving stars lately, and of course the ever-popular color mint, so designed the invite and shower decor around those two elements. Fortunately it was a small shower, 'cause sewing those little felt stars for the favors took longer than expected!

It's been quiet on the blog because life has been so busy the last couple of months. The shop and my increasingly active boys have occupied much of my days and nights. But things are finally slowing down, and now we're preparing for a very big and exciting family trip. More on that in a couple of weeks!

2013 wall calendar + a giveaway

Yay, the 2013 wall calendar is done and in the shop! I feel like this year's calendar is quite different from last year's. It really reflects how my tastes and styles have changed, no doubt influenced by trends, but hopefully still true to myself.

To celebrate, I would like to give away one wall calendar. Please leave a comment and tell me which is your favorite month by next Friday, October 12th. Thanks for all the support, and good luck!

Ian's birth announcement

Being the second kid, Ian usually gets the shaft. It doesn't help that his temperament seems to be more easygoing, so he's often ignored, poor guy. I thought I'd make it up to him by designing a nicer birth announcement. I wasn't feeling very creative after Oscar was born, so his announcement was pretty plain and boring. Overall, adjusting to Ian seems easier, mainly because I'm just more relaxed now that I know what I'm doing (for the most part!). Life is starting to feel more normal. I've re-opened the shop, and have been checking some big items off the to-do list. It feels nice.

more woodland

A woodland-themed baby shower invite I designed recently for a good friend of mine, along with matching thank you cards that I included in her shower gift.

one!

Oscar is one! He actually turned one a couple of weeks ago, but we didn't have a proper celebration until this past weekend.

I've been pretty obsessed with stripes lately, so thought I'd do a "sails & stripes" theme for his party with deep blue, seafoam green, and pops of yellow.





Once the invites were done, everything else came together easily..









The idea for the paper sailboats above came from here. I printed some coordinating patterns onto letter-sized paper and followed these instructions to make the boats. For the hat I printed the striped pattern on a half circle, glued it together to make a cone, and curled some strips of vellum to go on top.





I found the perfect striped fabric at Ikea and sewed drawstring bags to fill with goodies for the kids' favors. The adults got fruit jellies in glassine bags taped shut with striped stickers (printed onto adhesive sheets and cut into long strips).



All in all it was a great celebration. I know all the decor was really an excuse for me to have a little creative fun, but I figured a first birthday doesn't come around too often, and surviving the first year with a first kid is worth celebrating. This past year was quite a year for our family, with my dad losing a 2-year battle with cancer when Oscar was only 5 weeks old, and Oscar having some health issues that had us in and out of the hospital quite a bit. We are here today by God's goodness and grace, and are so incredibly thankful for Oscar, for each other, and for our family and friends.

oscar's birth announcement

I finally got around to sending out Oscar's birth announcement. I decided to keep it super simple, and also made it into a postcard to save time, money, and trees. The back just has his birth date and stats.




And here's the little guy all smiley and happy. He's growing so fast, I'm trying to make sure I take pictures of him in some of my favorite outfits before he outgrows them all! When we talk to him now, he'll crack a huge smile and try to mimic our mouth movements and will often coo in response. He's so fun.

woodland critters baby shower

A few of us threw a woodland critters baby shower for Traci this past Saturday. Everything turned out great and we all had a blast! I had tons of fun designing the invites and other pieces to go with the theme.





























I asked Irving to chop up some branches from our backyard to make stands for the food labels.




For the candied pecan favors, I sewed muslin drawstring pouches and stamped them with a squirrel stamp I carved out of an eraser.




We also bought a manzanita branch and stuck some felt leaves onto it for the main spread. Sumiko, Shelley, and Rita sewed little birds and foxes, and Rita and some other ladies made some amazing food. Susan knitted these awesome props for the photobooth (yup, we're into photobooths!).






See more photos here.

(And yup, still waiting for the baby to come out.. )

cardstore designs

A few months back some nice peeps at Cardstore.com contacted me to design a set of cards for them. Being pregnant slowed me down quite a bit, but I finally buckled down and got 'em done. I just noticed that they have my designs up on their website now! Below are a few of my favorites, but you can see all 14 of my designs here.

vintage circus baby shower!

As expected, the baby shower this past weekend was absolutely fantastic, thanks to some super kind and talented friends of mine! There were giant red and white balloons tied to little white pots with wheat grass, tons of delicious circus-themed food, a candy bar, and fun kiddie stations like block-painting, face-painting, and balloon animals... it was amazing!








Oh, and we can't forget the photo booth!




Thanks to Traci, Susan, Rita, Sumiko, Ishya, Lim, and Olivia for the best baby shower a girl can ask for -- you guys are the best!


:: photos courtesy of Herman and Susan ::

29 weeks

Oops. Somehow the month of August flew by without a post, and also without pictures documenting my growing belly! Well, here I am at 29 weeks. It definitely feels like the bump got a lot bigger just in the last 2 weeks or so. The baby is healthy, and I've just been feeling a little more uncomfortable than before, and maybe also a bit more tired or low-energy. So far so good. Life has felt busy though, with lots of family stuff going on, and a bit of trying to get ready for the baby's arrival. I'm starting to feel like I'm running out of time to do all the things I want to do before the baby comes, and yet I don't want to be running around just checking things off my list. I'd like to just enjoy being pregnant, and also just spend time with Irving, family, and friends.





Also, some lovely friends of mine are throwing me a baby shower this month! The invitation below is designed by my amazingly talented friend, Traci. Um, is that not the most creative thing you've ever seen? I feel totally blessed to have such an awesome invitation and what I'm certain is going to be a crazy awesome shower. They are totally spoiling me! I'll definitely be posting photos so be sure to check back in a couple of weeks.







Irving and I are off this weekend to celebrate our 2-year anniversary in beautiful Carmel. He found a pet-friendly hotel of course so Charlie is coming along. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Logo design

A few months ago I did a couple of logo designs for some friends who were starting new businesses. It's so exciting to be a part of the beginnings of new endeavors. The first is a baby photography business recently started by one of my closest friends. I helped a bit with the style of her website as well (but not the full design and definitely not the coding!).





This one below is for a friend's baby goods business called Cupcake Cuddles. I just found out that she got her website up as well! Super exciting. She has really neat products, being a new mom herself, and will be adding more soon.