Birthday Balloons

I have a friend. Her name is Vanessa. “V” for short. She is a doctor. And very cool. And very smart. And someone I admire. And my BFF. She lives far away. In Peoria, Illinois to be exact. And I miss her. A lot. I mean, A LOT.

I’ve known Vanessa for more than 8 years now, and I am so lucky to have her in my life. She is, to this day, the closest friend I have from my college years, and any time I spend with her is such a blessing. I was fortunate enough to get to spend some time with her in Chicago a few months back, and I had the time of my life. Vanessa is one of those friends that is just so easy to be around. You never have to question where you stand with her, and she is always able to shed some amazing light on anything for which you are seeking advice.

I love her to pieces, and wanted to send her a birthday card along with her gift that would hopefully bring a smile to her face. V works REALLY LONG hours, and is so dedicated to her career, so I wanted to remind her how important it is to take time for self-care, and pampering time. I filled a basket with all things “spa” like, and included a card with fabric birthday balloons as a finishing touch.

Happy birthday V! I love you!

Bunches of Thank You

Over the past several months, I’ve hemmed and hawed over whether I should create a stationary “line”. I am so in love with creating custom designs, meant to suite the needs of the individual customer, and I have no doubt in my mind that I will continue to create as many custom designs as I can get my hands on.

BUT, I have been intrigued by the idea of creating something for the masses. I contemplated where to start, and immediately thought of a thank you note design as my first line of greeting cards. I don’t know about you, but I am always looking for the perfect thank you note to pass along to a loved one.

I set out to create a line that was bright, cheery, and got the point across : thank you bunches!

This post goes out to all of my friends, and family, (especially my BPP family) who have given me their unwavering support over these past few years. I am who I am today, because of you loving me, and I thank you so much for that. Here’s to you…my “Bunches of Thank You” line…

Baby Ladybug

Oooohhhh! I am so excited about these announcements!

Awhile back I was encouraged by my friend Emma (okay, so I’m calling her my agent now – joking of course, well…not really) to approach Aly, the director of Becoming Parents Program (where I work), about creating her baby announcements. Aly was expecting a little baby girl, and had been calling her “ladybug” during her pregnancy. I thought the nickname was completely adorable, and I was inspired to design an announcement for Aly before she even said “yes” to my offer.

I found these incredibly sweet and delicate, hand-painted ladybug buttons at a fabric store, and knew immediately that they had to be incorporated into the design. It also just so happened that a “ladybug” print (actually these cute little flowers made to look like ladybugs) came from out of nowhere and instantly became the envelope liner. I finished off the look with some “baker’s twine” and voila! Baby ladybug – June Elizabeth’s birth will be officially announced!

Congratulations Aly and Allie! Really excited for you (and Sam too!).

A Shower of Love

Over the past several months I have been extremely excited for my good friend, Emma, and her fiance, Jason, to get married. Emma and Jason are quickly becoming some of mine and Adam’s closest friends in Seattle. Finding a great friend is tough enough, but finding a great couple that you AND your spouse have things in common with, AND enjoy hanging out with is hard to find.

I have worked with Emma for quite some time now, and her spunky east coast personality, and HUGE heart make her such an amazing person to be around. I am going to miss her terribly in September when I am no longer with Becoming Parents, but I know that Emma and I will remain close friends for many, many years to come.

Emma and Jason are getting married on September 18th in upstate New York, and I wanted to throw Emma a bridal shower with her closest girlfriends before her big day. I set a plan to decorate her shower with bright girly colors, and decided to use canary yellow, gray, purple, red and hot pink as the primary colors for both the party and her shower invitations.

For the past several months, I have been wanting to use these tiny heart buttons I found, and I thought that Emma’s shower invitation just might be the perfect way to incorporate them into my designs. I stamped an umbrella onto white cardstock, embossed it, and then hand stitched the heart buttons to represent raindrops. I wanted the umbrella and “raindrops” to not only represent a “shower of love” for Emma, but to also symbolize Emma’s life with Jason in Seattle.

Check em’ out! And Happy Bridal Shower Em!

Wanna Get Away?

Travel is something I live for. Really, I don’t know who I am without at least 1-3 trips on my “to do” list. It’s to the point that I can’t see one of my Seattle buddies without them saying “Adam just sent me a text for poker night. Where you headed to now?” I get a ton of grief about my constant traveling, but I know it’s something that feeds my soul, and luckily I have a spouse who understands my travel obsession, and supports me in any new endeavor or adventure I set my sights on.

I vividly remember my final train ride on my European honeymoon, and bawling my eyes out because for the first time in 4 years I didn’t have a single trip on the horizon. I quickly got home and planned a trip to Cabo San Lucas with some of my closest girlfriends, because I honestly didn’t feel like myself without my travel bug at bay.

I’ve never quite understood where my infatuation with travel comes from, but can always remember being extremely jealous of friends who would travel to far off lands. Every time I come within yards of an airport I feel a rush of excitement and yearning to hop on the next available plane to…well…anywhere!

Over the past several years I have been afforded AMAZING opportunities to visit family, vacation with close friends, and now to take a personal trip to Europe. A lot of this comes from setting traveling as my ultimate priority, but also from a career in nursing which allows for extended time off and a continued aching desire to increase my cultural competencies.

As I prep for my upcoming solo trip to Europe (a trip I’ve been waiting my WHOLE life for) I contemplate the endless amounts of places to visit and ponder the reality of traveling alone….eeeks! My honeymoon a year ago fueled my desire to see more of the world, and with an imminent layoff from a job I love at the end of September, what better time to pack it all up and jet set for 6 weeks or so, right?

With plans to spend about 4 weeks of my trip alone in Paris (blogging, cafe-ing, walking, sleeping, eating, antiquing, pondering, biking, discovering, and anything else with an “ing”), I also know that I want to spend about 2 weeks or so, hitting up the trains, and visiting various countries around France.

Now, despite what my friends and family might say, being alone is not something I necessarily fear, but actually something I quite enjoy from time to time. I am totally stoked for a few weeks to myself to figure out the “next step” in my life, whether that be continuing on my nursing career path, or braving some new adventures. With that said, I wouldn’t mind spending a couple weeks or so with good friends traveling from place to place expanding my view of the world.

As a means of inquiring about who might be available to take a leave from work, or school, or motherhood, or residency (hi V!) to travel with me, I created a little greeting card for a few of my closest girlfriends. I thought it would be fun to send a card rather than an email, text or phone call, to ask if anyone was interested in spending a couple of weeks or so away from home.

I found this AMAZING map of Paris and cut it to pieces to create both an envelope liner, and various parts of the card itself. I used vibrant turquoise colors to accent the look of the card, an amazingly funky font, and finished the design off with a tiny Eiffel Tower charm tucked in the envelope.

With hopes to get a “heck yes!” response from at least one of my gal pals, I sealed the envelopes and sent them on their way. Now just one step closer to the trip of lifetime…

S + T = Love

I’m flying to CO this morning for my sister Sarah’s wedding. I’m super excited and honored to stand beside her on her big day!

It’s hard for me to imagine that the little girl that I grew up pushing and shoving, laughing with, and loving, is all grown up and about to say “I do”. I have MANY fond memories with her, but one of my all time favorites is a home video where she turns to the camera, and in the sweetest voice at 3 years old says “Mom, can I have my birthday now.” 20 years later she is on her way down the aisle…amazing.

Being a big sister is the best. I’ve gotten the opportunity to witness all of my sister’s triumphs and tribulations, and have watched her mature into such a beautiful woman. Sarah is one of the most caring, kind-hearted, determined, self-driven, uber-talented, generous, thoughtful, and inspiring people I have ever met. I’m proud to call her my sister, and I’m excited to see her grow alongside Tristan in their new lives together as husband and wife. I know Tristan and Sarah will take good care of one another, and I look forward to having a new brother : ) Never had one of those before!

I created a box for Sarah and Tristan to hold all of their most cherished wedding memories. I used turquoise and red (their wedding colors), and included a “5 of hearts” for their wedding day (August 5th) and each of their names as a way to personalize the box.

I hope this box is a reminder of the love, laughter, tears, excitement, exhaustion, joy, and thrill that they are sure to experience and share on their wedding day. Congratulations you two!

A Seattle Visit

A little over a month ago, my parents and sister Coli came and visited me and Adam in Seattle. I was so excited for their visit, especially since it was my Dad’s first time to Seattle; and I LOVE seeing my city through the eyes of a newcomer. Every time I explore Seattle with a friend or family member who is visiting for the first time, I learn something new and exciting about this amazing city.

I am BEYOND in love with Seattle, and moving here with Adam almost three years ago (wow!) was the best decision I have EVER made. Well, of course, second to marrying him!

It was so fun to have my family out to visit, and I had been wanting to send them a little note thanking them for coming to see us. I found this adorable paper, that reminded me of raindrops, full of pops of green and pink colors which I used for the card and envelope liner. I added some lime green twine, and a teenie tiny Space Needle charm to complete the design.

I miss my family everyday, and wanted them to know how much it meant to have their presence in our home. Love you guys!

Vibrant Colors for Vibrant Friends

I had such a blast with this one!

My mother-in-law, Linda, asked me a while back to wrap a gift for my good friends, Evan and Amy. Evan and Amy were married this past March, and my mom-in-law had a quilt made by Adam’s aunt Sandy (family tradition) to give to them as a wedding gift. I was so excited to get another opportunity to wrap a gift for Evan and Amy because they are such an amazing couple, and are some of the most vibrant, kind-hearted, and witty people I have ever met.

I started the wrapping with this fantastic striped wrapping paper I found a while back at Papyrus. I kept thinking back to Evan and Amy’s wedding day, and all of the beautiful colors that they had incorporated into their day: lime green, orange, red, navy, yellow, white…the list goes on.  I wanted the gift wrapping to remind them of their wedding day, so I continued the look with a bright orange ribbon, and a green damask envelope I made from scratch. I added some pops of color with various buttons, including some amazing wooden ones I bought on a recent antique shopping trip.

I fell in love with this wrapping during the process, and was so thrilled to see the smile on Amy’s face as she exclaimed “this has to be a Jenn Elliott Blake wrapping!!”

Navy, Gold, and Ivory

This weekend Lars and Anna are tying the knot! That’s right! After all of their hard work, and planning, their day has finally arrived!

Lars and Anna are getting hitched this evening in Ollala, WA at the beautiful Edgewater House, and I can’t wait to see all of their wedding details: the ceremony, the reception, the cake, the programs, the centerpieces, the dress, the flowers, the escort cards…the list goes on, and on….oh how I just LOVE WEDDINGS! The weather is supposed to be gorgeous, and with a beach side wedding, I’m sure the entire day will be picture perfect!

I asked Anna a few months ago what her wedding colors were; she replied “navy, gold, and ivory.” In attempt to follow their color scheme, I’ve spent the past few months brainstorming how I wanted to wrap their gift, and it wasn’t until a few nights ago that I committed to a design.

I knew that I wanted to include buttons (it’s clearly my latest obsession) and I also wanted to make the envelope using this fantastic bright, and beautiful paper I found at my favorite art store almost two years ago, which I have held onto for a special occasion. Luscious ribbons were the last touch; holding the envelope just right. Take a look : )

Congratulations to the bride and groom!

Bachelorette Buttons

(In my best singing voice) Going to the chapel and she’s gonna get married…going to the chapel and she’s gonna get married….not quite yet! The bachelorette party, and bridal shower have to come first!

My sister Sarah is getting married in a few weeks, and this weekend I flew out to CO for her bridal shower, and bachelorette party. I’m stoked to be hosting her bachelorette party tonight, but we’re starting off the day with brunch and painting pottery (something she loves) with her bridesmaids and our mom. I’ve got a lot of surprises up my sleeve, and I can’t wait to get the day started! I’m so excited for Sarah, and since I love her sooooo much I thought I would try my hand at something that I don’t love so much….envelopes!

A while back I mentioned how much I despise envelopes. Overall, I love all things paper, but envelopes bore me…ALOT. So, I decided to attempt making one on my own, and of course added my own little touch…buttons! I used lots of red and turquoise (Sarah’s wedding colors) on this one, and had so much fun! Check out Sarah’s bachelorette gift and my first ever envelope from scratch!

And guess what?! Envelopes aren’t so awful! Who knew?

Happy Bachelorette Day to Sarah!

Keepsakes in a Keepsake

My good buddy Emma asked me a bit ago to create a “keepsake box” for her friend Jen. Jen is getting married this week (July 17th to be exact), and Emma is a bridesmaid in her upcoming wedding back in Philadelphia. Jen and Emma have been friends for many years and Emma wanted to give her something extra special on her wedding day.

I had told Emma awhile back that one of the most amazing and emotional gifts I had ever received was a box with the name “Blake” on it given to me by my sister Sarah just moments before I walked down the aisle. Sarah had advised me that the box represented who I was about to become, but that it should also hold keepsakes and treasures in it that represented who I was in my past: an “Elliott.” That box, to this day, means the world to me, and I was so honored when Emma asked me to create a keepsake box for her friend Jen, since I knew how much I loved the one that was given to me.

I asked Emma to share a few things with me about Jen (her hobbies, occupation, wedding colors, likes/dislikes), and got going on creating a box that could be passed from one friend to another on her wedding day. Even while making this box I got emotional thinking about how excited Emma has been to present it to her friend. I cannot wait to deliver it to Emma today and I hope that this box has as much meaning for Jen, as my box did for me. Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials Jen!

Brooklyn

I didn’t know what it was going to feel like to be an aunt. When I got married last year, I was so excited to know that along with marrying such a wonderful man I would also have a new title! I am now lucky enough to be called “Auntie Jenn” and I have two BEAUTIFUL nieces, Izzie and Brooklyn. Brooklyn was born last December and it has been excruciating not to have had the opportunity to meet her yet. My sister-in-law Caryn and brother-in-law Steve live in Arizona with their adorable girls, and I do not get to see them as much as I would like. BUT this weekend, I finally get to meet Brooklyn after 7 LONG months of waiting!

I cannot wait to pick her up and engulf her in hugs and kisses. I have no doubt that she has just as much personality and spunk as her older sister, and I feel so lucky and fortunate to have another niece. Brooklyn is also getting baptized this weekend during my trip to home to CO, and I am so thrilled to be present for such an important occasion.

I decided to get Brooklyn a little gift as a way to say, “so nice to finally meet you!”  While shopping at one of my favorite stationery stores, I happened upon an elephant-print paper and immediately gravitated towards it. I loved the rich colors of the paper, and although it’s not a traditional “baby” looking design, I somehow got a feeling that it would be just perfect for Brooklyn. I had this fantastic orange and white striped ribbon at home that has been waiting to make its mark and I just loved how it looked in contrast to the little elephants.

I can’t wait to meet Brooklyn!

A New Abode

We all know at some point that we will have to “grow up” and move away from home to find our own niche in the world. Some of us resist this more than others, and some of us even beg to come home. Okay, so yes, I have done this once….maybe twice! ; )

Well one of the things that grown up’s do is buy houses. Yes, buying a house is a MAJOR “big kid” step in my opinion, and one I greatly admire of my friends who have already made this step. This past week, one of my best girl friends, Rachel, just bought her first home, and I am SO PROUD of her! I felt honored to go over to her new place and help her pick out her paint colors last week. It was such a thrill to see the excitement on her face, and hear about all of the amazing plans she has for her new home.

I can’t wait to see Rachel’s house when she really makes it her own, and I wanted to make a card to congratulate her on her new adventure. I wanted the card to not only scream “congratulations you’re a homeowner!”, but also reflect Rachel’s personality as well. I used bright eclectic colors and included a type key font on the card that I felt gave it that vintage “anthropologie” look that Rachel and I love so much.

I can’t wait to deliver this greeting card to my friend Rachel, the homeowner. Congrats my friend!!

The 4th

Holidays are the best! No work. Good food. Family and friends. AND on this particular holiday – FIREWORKS too!! Adam and I are lucky enough to be invited over to our good friends, the Andersons, this afternoon for a 4th of July celebration. We consider the Andersons our family away from home, and are super excited to spend the 4th with them.

I decided to make a 4th of July greeting card for the Andersons using (of course) red, white and blue detailing. I stitched floral fabric (fabric that was my grandmother’s that I found when I was back home early this spring) onto the card and then completed the design with polka dots and the number 4. I carried the design onto the inside of the card as well as the envelope. I made the envelope from scratch and included an envelope liner as a final touch.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

The Announcement

I was so stoked a few weeks ago when my good buddy Mike asked me to create engagement announcements for his upcoming proposal to his girlfriend, now fiance (yahoooooo Mike!), Adrienne. I was VERY impressed by Mike’s ambitious request to announce his proposal to his wonderful girl, and was extremely honored to be asked to create something so special for him. Being involved in such a momentous occasion is such a thrill for me, and is truly what drives my passion for paper design.

Mike initiated his request for me to create his announcement by sending me an example of another announcement he had found. I was a bit nervous at first when I saw that the design was a graphic, but asked him to give me a few days to brainstorm and see what I could come up with. I had never really created a graphic design before, but since his only request was that I include “lots of orange” I was put at ease. It also didn’t hurt that his only other request was that I be “smiling” when I make them, and that the recipients be smiling when they receive them…how awesome is Mike?!

In my first attempt to create a graphic design, I hit some bumps in the road; not only while trying to get the circles of the announcements “just right,” but also when asking my printer to do something that, in my opinion, has never been requested of it before: to make accurate and flawless margins…what a concept for a printer, right?!  Well, after almost chucking my printer out the window a few times, Mike’s announcements are done and ready for delivery.

I am so excited to have been given the opportunity to assist Mike and Adrienne in announcing such an amazing moment in their lives, and I wish them a lifetime of happiness together. Mike is such a wonderful guy, and I’m so glad he has found his match. Congratulations you two!