Colors of the Market

One of my absolute, most favorite things about living in Seattle is visiting Pike Place Market. I haven’t had an afternoon spent at Pike Place that wasn’t beyond enjoyable. For starters, my very favorite antique shop is located at the Market, the vendors are AMAZING and the colors, sights, and sounds are infectious!

I’ve gotten some great opportunities, recently, to spend some time down at Pike (when Coli was here in March, when Adam’s parent’s visited a while back, and when my friend Ellen visited a few weeks ago), grabbing some good eats, shopping and best of all people watching! In the midst of the crowd I was able to capture some great shots of all of the happenings of the market, including the amazingly vibrant colors that are always present throughout the flower and produce sections of the market.

Every time I visit the market I am inspired by the vibrant colors of all of the fresh fruits, vegetables and fantastic seasonal flowers. It’s tulip time and the market was full of ‘em! The colors of the tulips are like nothing I have ever seen and I couldn’t get enough of them! It also doesn’t hurt that every time I go down to the market I am inspired to eat the healthiest of foods, since all of the fruits and veggies looks so scrumptious!

Here’s a look at a few of the pics that I have recently taken at the market and watch for my next post to include some photos of my paper creation inspired by the colors of the market…

A Friendly Visit

I cannot wait for tomorrow! I’m finally getting the opportunity to visit one of my girlfriends Vanessa in the land of Chicago. Vanessa and I have been best buddies for almost 9 years, meeting each other during college at CU Boulder. She is someone I not only admire, but strive to be more like. She is both intelligent and beautiful, possessing a charisma and wit unmatched by most – the girl is just amazing.

I haven’t seen Vanessa since she was a bridesmaid in my wedding last August, as she is a very busy gal currently completing her obstetrics residency in Peoria, Illinois. We do not get to see each other as often as I would like which is why trips like these are so special. I can’t wait to see Chicago through the eyes of my favorite midwesterner…Cubs game, Sex and the City 2 premier, sailing, Chicago style pizza, antique markets and girl time here I come!

When Adam and I were on our honeymoon last year I bought a gift for Vanessa in Italy that I had ALWAYS wanted to deliver in person. Of course, since the gift got “misplaced” about 4 times since my last move and we haven’t seen each other in a while, I am just now delivering Vanessa’s gift on this visit. I wanted the wrapping to represent my good friend, even personalizing it with her initials. I actually felt quite accomplished last night when Adam said “that gift looks like Vanessa.” Ding ding ding! Mission accomplished! Can’t wait to see you tomorrow V!

Look Whoooo!

I was so excited to get the opportunity to create Maili’s baby shower invitations. I worked with Maili during my time at UW Medical Center and I adore her! I actually saw her last weekend and she has to be one of the most beautiful pregnant woman I have ever seen – she was glowing!

Emma and Kate (hostesses of the event) were in the process of searching for invitations when Emma suggested that I make the invites rather than her and Kate purchasing them offline. I jumped at the opportunity especially since Emma and Kate were kind enough to give me creative liberties, only requesting that there be a few shades of blue in the design; AND I had never made a baby shower invitation before.

I have always wanted to do something with owls (they are so cool!), and while searching through baby shower invitation wordings online, I came across the adorable idea of stating “look whoooo’s expecting” as the opening statement on the invite. The statement turned out to be the perfect tie-in to my owl design.

The owls came to fruition through hours of cutting out different shapes to create my own owl “ideal”.  I wanted there to be a mamma owl and baby owl, and as I started the process of cutting all the tiny little pieces by hand I thought, “there has to be a better way to do this!” I checked out a few paper shops in Seattle, and came across circle punches that were the perfect size for the owls eyes. As for the rest of the design it is all from scratch and hand cut. I had so much fun making these invites!

I hope you love them as much as I do, Maili! Congratulations my friend, you are going to be an amazing mommy!

Closing a Chapter

Wow. My youngest sister is graduating from high school tomorrow and I cannot believe it…the years just flew by! I remember when I was younger counting the years ahead and saying things like “when Coli graduates from high school, I’ll be really old” or “when Coli turns 21 I’ll be…gasp! 30!” The years just keep ticking on, and I can’t believe how fast they go.

I remember when Coli was born. I was so proud to have another baby sister and loved carrying her around like she was my own personal little bundle of joy. I still tell Coli to this day how much I loved the little dimples in her chubby baby hands and the hot, summer days when she was 2 and would stand on the sidewalk out in front of our house in her hot pink Minnie Mouse bikini and wave at the boys as they passed by on their bikes…memories I cherish so much!

I have spent the last 3 years away from home and have felt like I’ve missed quite a bit of Coli’s high school years. I was lucky enough this year to help her pick out her prom jewelry and shoes, and even got to see her in her gorgeous dress during her visit to Seattle in March. I am beyond proud of all of her accomplishments and cannot wait to see all that her college years (oh my gosh!) have in store for her. Congratulations Coli! I’m so proud of you!

Class of ’10

Tis’ the season for graduations and this year is extra special because I actually know quite a few graduates. My sister Coli is graduating from high school this year and many of her friends whom I’ve known since they were tiny, are graduating as well. My Mom called me last week and asked me to create a graduation card for Coli’s BFF Mary. Mary and Coli have known each other since they were 9 months old and I’ve known Mary so long she feels like family. I wanted to create a card for Mary that was fun, bright, and represented her graduating class.

Congratulations Miss Mary!

Mom’s Day

Celebrating Moms just seems like a no brainer. Moms are fantastic. They may drive us bonkers many times throughout our lives, but when I reflect back on all of my fondest moments spent with my Mom all I can do is smile.

My Mom  has been one of my biggest supporters and someone I strive to make proud. My Mom has been there through all of the ups and downs in my life and had such a tremendous part in creating who I am today. She is probably the most creative person I know and I am aware that any ounce of “craftiness” that I possess,  is a direct reflection of her. I miss my Mom all the time (she lives in Albuquerque – hopefully soon back in CO) and the distance seems to get even farther apart the longer I spend away from “home.”  I always know, though, that my Ma is just a phone call away…phew!

In the past year I have also gained a new Mom as well. My mother-in-law, Linda, is an amazing woman and I am so blessed to have her in my life. She did a BEYOND FANTASTIC job of raising the man I married, and I am so lucky to have such a kind, thoughtful, and supportive mom-in-law.

I wanted to make some Mother’s Day cards for the two moms in my life, and I wanted to personalize them in a way that included pictures from mine and Adam’s childhoods. The card I made for my mom includes a photograph taken by my Uncle Mike when I was only a toddler. It is one of my all time favorites and is one that makes me giggle every time I see it. The card I made for Linda includes a photo of Adam wearing Mickey Mouse ears during a family vacation to Disney Land. The look on his face is so mischievous and a look I’m sure he gave Linda many times before and after the picture was taken.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom and Linda. I am so grateful for the both of you and I love you so much! Thanks for all that you do!

Funky Fonts

I spent hours yesterday searching for new funky fonts to add some spunkiness to my newest designs. I fell upon this AMAZING typewriter font, which is my new *favorite*, and is sure to make it onto many of my upcoming creations.

I had never really contemplated much in the past about how important fonts might be to my paper projects. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago when I got my first tattoo with my sisters (weird right?!) that I really started thinking about the significance of a “good” font.  I had spent a few weeks searching through hundreds of font styles for our tattoos, and realized that there are some fantastic fonts out there that I hadn’t even thought to use in my designs. The only other time that I can remember having “serious” thoughts about fonts was when I was creating mine and Adam’s wedding invitations last year.

When I 1st started designing our wedding invitations, I found a “cute” font style on Word and decided I wanted the lettering to stream across the invitation from edge to edge. It was not something I had seen offered by the stationary shops in our area, so I thought “why not make our own?” After hours and hours of Adam sizing the wording to the invitations to fit “just right” we decided in the end that the look was a bit too informal for the style of wedding we were hoping to create.

Working with new fonts over the past couple of days spurred my memory of that first draft of our wedding invites. I decided this morning (at 2am when all my ideas usually start brewing) to use my new favorite font to create a birthday card. I used all lowercase lettering and typed the words “happy birthday” over and over again until they covered the entire span of the card – edge to edge, just like I had wanted last year on our first draft of invites. I think it’s my new favorite design…

Merci Beaucoup

I remember when I was a little girl I would make every attempt to avoid my mother for days after Christmas, or a birthday, or any other holiday or event in which I had received a gift. I dreaded the words “it’s time to write your thank you notes” coming from her mouth. It was as if it was a nightmare….the words slowly creeping from her lips…the phrase tormented me. I would whine “No! Can I do them tomorrow?! Mom please!” I was given about two opportunities to “wait until tomorrow” until my mom realized that I was only trying to push-off writing them forever.

Now, it wasn’t that I wasn’t grateful for the gift I had received, but sitting down to write a thank you note as a child was, well, what do you call it? Boring! Eventually I stopped resisting and began writing my thank you notes practically at the same time I opened my gift. I realized if I just “got it over with” I wouldn’t have to worry about my mom seeking me out to do them. AND I could brag to my younger sisters that I was “already done” with my thank you notes, while my mom followed them around the house begging them to do theirs. What’s an older sister without a little bragging?

I now realize as an adult that thank you notes are one of my most favorite greeting cards to send. Sending a thank you note signifies that someone in your life loved you enough to give you a gift or do something special for you. I now pride myself on getting my thank you notes done in a “timely” manner (whatever that means) which is a far cry from my days as a child. I love sending thank you notes that are colorful and include art images. I used to buy my thank you notes from museums, or fun, eclectic stationery stores in the cities I visited, but realized when I started this blog that it would be fun to instead create my own thank you notes. I still love purchasing beautiful and “artsy” blank greeting cards, and have found that they are actually perfect to place inside photo frames around our home. Art is so fun!

Here are some of my newest thank you card creations, which I am sending out to thank my family and friends who were kind enough to give me a birthday gift. These particular creations are a bit different from a traditional card, because they don’t open and close, but are more like postcards – one flat piece. Instead of saying “Thank You” as the greeting, I used “Merci Beaucoup” because I LOVE LOVE LOVE french detailing! I wrote my thank you messages right on the front of the cards, tucked the postcard thank you notes into their respective envelopes, and placed them in the mail. Voila!

Girls Night In

I love any night when I can just sit and relax with girlfriends, veg out, and talk until we can’t keep our eyes open any longer.  It just never seems to happen enough, and when it does there are always stinky boys around to ruin all the fun!

So, I decided a few months ago that I wanted to have a great group of gals over for a night of just girl time. I kicked Adam out of the house (not really, he went to hang out with Kadi’s husband Bryan for a poker night) and invited my best buddies in Seattle to come over for a “Girls Night In” sleepover at my house last night. It was so much fun! We drank cosmos, flipped through tabloid magazines, listened to 80′s classics, and watched “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” with Sarah Jessica Parker – total 80′s teen movie that I had never seen before….so good! It all brought me right back to those years of slumber parties as a kid, minus the cosmopolitans of course! I’ve included some pictures of the goodie bags I sent the girls home with this morning, because what’s a slumber party with out goodie bags, right?!

After plopping myself down on the couch this morning after the girls left, I thought about when Adam and I first moved to Seattle. I didn’t know anyone except Rachel (my buddy from nursing school and the maid of honor in my wedding last August) and now I have an AMAZING group of girls whom I’ve become so close with. Over the years I’ve met them through either work, mutual friends, or Adam’s best buddy Lars.  I am so lucky to have Kadi, Esther, Emma, Rachel, Alison, Alexis and Hadley in my life and I want to thank you girls so much for spending a night at my place, and giving me that reminder of how truly lucky I am to know each one of you! I love you girls!