party time, excellent

i thought we'd continue the kids birfday theme to round out this week. stay tuned next week for the extras that you can add on to your design orders. some cute ideas there!

i'm starting with what i think is the ding dang cutest idea, and i think one of my personal faves. i keep trying to get middle sissy to do it for her kiddos, since she is married to a farmer!

this little munchkin can't get enough of princesses. she loves them so much, she wanted a princess party two years in a row! check out the designs...

i do love a rock star theme, and designing more "grungy, alternative" invites, so this was right up my alley! a rockin' birthday, indeed!!

a pool party with a girly twist - does the middle design resemble a pool to you? how 'bout the beach ball masquerading as an "O"! splish splash...

this family never fails to amaze me with their creativity. how cute is that little rhyme? i love the tiger costume, the rhyme, and the born to be wild theme! roar!

every once in a while, i'll do some designs that clients can print themselves. so, that's what these next designs are. kaeden loves trains, so choo choo it was.

and, sweet p only invited two little girly girls to her cupcake and tea party, so middle sissy asked me to put together a design she could email to the mamas. not my best effort, but still cute!

is it birthday time in your house? let's have a little chat.

take a peek at some past designs in case you need some inspiration.

pretty in pink

after years of wishin' and chickenin' out, then wishin' and chickenin' out, i finally pulled the trigger and dyed my hairs. it's atomic pink, and i'm in love. little nervous about getting it out of pillowcases, shower curtains, and clothes, but i'm in love.

it seems the higher the climb toward the big 4-0, i feel the need to do something drastic to my hairs around mah birfday. last year i chopped it off (much to mr man's chagrin); this year - COLOR! see for yo-self...

for the old (yes, OLD) birfday this year, our best pals joined us for some booty-shakin', fist-pumpin' 80s cover band nostalgia. it.was.awesome! rebel yell. fight for your right. jump. just like heaven. hungry like the wolf. melt with you. man, i love a show where i know the words to every song.

i wasn't planning on dressing up, but when i stumbled across some pink skinny jeans, i knew they must be mine. my 16 year old self is so rolling her eyes right now... and, if i was sporting pink jeans, then you know mr man had to break out the crue tee. straight outta the 80s, dontcha know!

hmmm, pink hair, pink jeans...i think i'm seeing a trend, because my new tennie-runners are pink, and my latest pedi is bright pink! whoa, maybe rosita needs to change her 'signature culuh' from red to atomic pink.

i'm gonna need to sleep on that one. whatchoo been up to??

it's beginning to look alot like...

i'm gonna let you in on a little secret...nuthin' lights a fire under my patootie faster than house guests. it maybe might be the only time i clean, but i'm not tellin'. after our "family" of 12 thanksgiving dinner, some dear (cheesy word, but packs a punch) college friends paid us a visit.

so, that meant the decor had to go from this:

to this in less than 12 hours.

but, i thrive on a challenge, and that was the fastest decorated tree on the planet, i'm sure.

so, yes, it is beginning to look alot like christmas around here. tree's up. outside lights are up. and, designs are flying out of the workshop. and, this little elf is feeling so, so blessed. y'all bring a tear to my eye every time the email bell dings. the support is overwhelming - thank you will never be enough.

let's see what's brewin' this year, shall we? you've got your humorous

you've got your adorable pictures

moving announcements

party invites

and, the corporate persuasion

that enough to get your creative juices flowing? need more inspiration? order up - it's less than a month 'til christmas. i know. I KNOW!

we rock the party

soooo, apparently no-vember means no-blogging. whoopsie! y'all didn't even notice, didja? well, i can't promise i'm gonna stay on top of it, but i'm here today to show you the (little-too-much) fun, sorta-surprise partay i planned for mr man.

here's a little back story to set tha tone - after the fiasco that was nebraska, i knew i needed to pay mr man back big-time - he needed a party he wouldn't forget. and, in a light bulb over head moment, i thought...i should hire a band! well, long story short, i hired half of mr man's fave local band to play an acoustic set in our basement. wife of the year right here, peeps! heehee

with that outta the way, it was time to get down ta biz-niz. first task: invites. guess how old mr man turned?!

next step was to clean up that basement (oh, baby sister, if you'd only seen it - ya-ikes). cleaning up means shoving everything into corners, and covering it with black tarp, so that's what we did.

once we got a little breathing room (wheezing was more like it!), i got to setting up the partay space - food table, bar table, sink of never-ending beer, decor, mood lighting.

in an effort to be so creative (by surfing pinterest), i threw a '35' up on the wall and tacked up pictures of mr man thru the years (did you make the wall?). and, i adorned the party cups with more pics of the b-day boy. (no pic of that)

i sent mr man off so the band could set up for the surprise. i gave the ok for him to join the partay, and we serenaded him with happy birthday. i think he maybe mighta been surprised!

after a little minglin' and munchin', the music kicked in and those guys seriously rocked the party. (seriously - i was nervous the neighbors might wanna join us!)

after the band wrapped up, we weren't ready for the festivities to end. and, if you've been around here a while, you know it's not our party without a little karaoke and air guitar.

i set out to knock mr man's socks off, and i think i mighta. the band rocked. the party peeps rocked. mr man had an awesome time. and, we maybe mighta spent the entire next day on the couch. that, my friends, is my kinda party!

thanks to my best gal, carrie, for takin' pics so i could run around like a headless chicken.

On Wings of Hope Gala

image source: Hope Heart Facebook Page

A few months ago, I designed a logo/theme for the 'On Wings of Hope' Rock & Roll Gala event here in Seattle. It was held at Showbox SoDo, featured a performance by Everclear, and raised money to support the Hope Heart Institute.

In addition to the logo, I designed Save the Dates, lanyards for everyone to wear, and thank you notes. And, they used the logo all over the event. A cupcake wrapper was even designed by one of the event's sponsors, Bella Cupcake Couture. (Check out her other stuff - so cute!)

image source: Bella Cupcake Couture

If you are interested in getting involved with, or finding out more about the Hope Heart Institute, visit their website.

To see pictures of the event, check out Hope Heart's Facebook page.

I'm getting excited for next year's event!

Spring Fever

So, Mother Nature's playing a joke on us Seattleites. She's decided to send us snow! Ok, so it's not sticking, but it's MARCH, and after our warm Winter, it's got to be a joke!

I hadn't been anticipating Spring too much, but I now have the fever. The magnolias out my bedroom window are making me antsy for the rest of the yard to blossom. And, the recent temps around here (at least 65 on Friday) have me craving happy hours on the patio, and stringing up the lights for dinners alfresco.

It might have something to do with my recent orders, too. All shades of yummy pinks, Easter cards, cutesy owl themes. Just take a look at this cute bunny:

Now, if you're thinking this looks a little "rock & roll", maybe "edgy", you're right. The mom-to-be is both of those things, so we blended her love for Mark Ryden with the baby's bedding to create this awesome design. I wish you could see them in person, they are so delicious! Heck, even the baby's name is rock & roll - Phoenix joins us around May.

So, if you've got Spring Fever too, and want to incorporate that into a design for a special event you have coming up, let's chat! And, as you can see, Spring doesn't have to be pastel and plaid.

If you're there, I'd love to hear from you - I love getting comments, so share away. And, if you'd like, I'd love to have you follow me here at this little blog.