West Seattle Summerfest

so, next weekend, i'll be participating in my first street fair. i mighta mentioned it, maybe. so, if you're in the area, come by and say hi. i'd love to meetcha.

as it is, i'm a wee bit nervous. do i have enough goods? will i sell anything? i'm going out in public?! bah - noivous! here's a sneak peek of things around the workshop. it may not look like much now, but it'll work into something. (let's hope! hee hee!)

ok - gotta go make something of these piles. ;) i hope to see you next weekend!

A Little Site Updatin'

DISCLAIMER: y'all! i've been without internet for 3 days. 3 DAYS! whoa. ok. breathe. i've had to surf the web on my phone (which is awesome, but...). can you imagine how horrible this was? ok, i'm being a little overly dramatic, but wanted you to know this was 'posta be a friday entry, but instead, it's a monday entry. carry on.
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sooooo, i've been kinda neglecting the old website. since i spend so much time over here telling you about all the workshop goodies, i tend to forget i need to update the site. whoopsie.

well, i'll neglect her no more. i promise. until i do neglect her again. but, anyhoodle...

when you check her out, here's what you'll see:

that's right! i'll be selling the goods in my first street fair in a few weeks. (kinda why i'm sprucin' up the site.)

and, i've updated the portfolio page. there's now a moving announcement link, since those were a bit lost before. and, there's now a gift section, because they've never been added to the site, and i know some people have been looking for them.

you'll also notice each section is broken out into sub-sections, because i know it was tedious to scroll through all the designs just to see save the dates, for example.

when you click on the sections, you'll see pages like this:

and this:

you'll know where you are, too, because whatever page you are on will be highlighted in red text. and, the image depicting each section will stay on the left side of each page.

so, let me know what you think - if there are any broken links, etc. i checked and checked and checked again, but my brain hurt, so it's quite possible something got lost in translation. especially since the webster went down in the middle of my updates. sheesh.

on that note, happy monday! mr man and i have elected to start having 'meatless mondays' where our dinner is of the vegetarian variety (sisty, you so proud?). last monday, i made this and these for dessert (and several brekkies after). tonight, it's mongolian bbq (no recipe for that - just throw veggies in a pan with sesame oil, red pepper flakes, garlic and soy sauce and serve over pasta).

ok - go. check out the site. order something. make a meatless monday meal.

Vegas, Baby

i don't get too many orders for bachelorette party invites, but when i do, man, are they fun to design. especially when the party's in sin city, and you're told to make the design vegas-y and fun and bright.

since the party was also a lingerie shower, i was thinking maybe showgirl or vegas flyer style. (do you get bombarded with those things as you walk along the strip, too?) and, then i thought, what about the welcome sign? because nothing says vegas like the sign. and, how excited was i when i realized 'charity' has the same letters as 'welcome'... it's the little things, people, it really is!

we started the party in the mailbox, by carrying the design over to the printed envelopes!

the back of the invite (all my designs are double-sided, you know) was a fun design, listing the bride's unmentionables sizes, so we'll leave that off the blog.

i have it on good authority that they thoroughly embarrassed the bride. i guess they say 'what happens in vegas, stays in vegas'. so, might as well 'go big, or go home', huh?!

Graphic Wall Art {Tutorial}

as promised, i'm back to show you how to make some fun graphic art for your walls. just in time for a weekend project!

for this project, you're gonna need:

• a canvas or piece of wood cut to size
• vinyl or cut-out letters
• spray paint or paint
• a straight edge/ruler

first, you'll want to decide what saying you want, and figure out how many packs of vinyl letters you'll need. i got my canvas at michael's and the letters at staples, where they have a ton of sizes.

i wanted my letters to be some color besides canvas white. if you want the same, spray or paint the canvas/wood the color you'd like.

now it's time to start placing the letters. unfortunately, with the stick on vinyl letters, you can't really place them first, move them around,  and still have them stick. you pretty much have to commit. so, i measured an inch down from the top and started placing my letters.

i decided i wanted mine to be about an inch apart vertically, so i used my metal ruler to provide the gap.

all done. how cute is that heart in the 'o'? when i realized there were hearts in my pack, i resisted placing them all over the canvas ala my 6th grade trapper keeper, and just used one.

now, it's time to spray/paint the top.

i'm sure you're thinking 'why the heck did she pick black letters if she's going to spray black over them?' well, i don't know why. i was worried for a minute, but they were visible! don't be like me - get brown or grey or blue, whatever. (if you can name that song reference, i love you!)

now, it's reveal time. drum roll please - dadadadadadadadadada

dundadah! just peel those letters off. now, here's the deal. those stickers don't love stickin' to the sprayed canvas, and i saw that dang 'e' flutter while i was spraying. i was super nervous it was gonna look u-g-l-y-you-ain't-got-no-alibi, and i'd have to scrap it and start over, but i lurved it! i wanted a grunge feel, and even thought of sanding some of the edges.

but, once i pulled off all the letters, and saw some of the edges weren't so crisp, i decided against grunging it up anymore.

we're done! only thing left to do is pat yourself on the back, and hang that sucker.

of course, if you don't want to do it yourself, you know i'm here for ya. i'll do all the labor for you and wrap it up in a pretty little bow.

and, if you do decide to whip one up, remember to come back and show me. i wanna see what cute phrase you pick. (also, if you know where my saying hails from, i'll love you even more!)


i linked up this project to The Lettered Cottage

Bed Head

we haven't had a headboard in many, many years, and i thought we needed one. so, one day, i decided that we (mr man) should build one, and be able to hang it in one day. well, let me give you a view into projects i dream up: they never happen as i see them in my head. but, i can't seem to learn my lesson.

anyway - i'd seen loads of cool DIY headboards made of salvaged pieces like shutters or old doors, and figured it couldn't be that difficult. (that's foreshadowing, btw).

so, i drug mr man out of bed and to the salvage yard to pick out a door. if you've never been to a salvage yard, they have rows (and rows) of doors. after digging for about an hour, we found a nice, decently priced 5 panel door (so when we cut it down, it'd look 'natural').

of course, we couldn't just slap it up on the wall. it needed to look all perfeshonal like, with molding and stuth. only problem: we have the wonkiest bedroom walls and ceiling. so, nothing pre-made was gonna work. (ooh, i do love custom) see where this is going? we set off for HD to find our pieces, and i'll spare you the drama, but after 2+ hours there, we kinda found something that'd work and i maybe mighta turned into a 2-year-old.

how 'bout some in progress pictures??

we cut the door down, added moulding, and filled in the door knob. then, we sanded like crazy and painted the whole thing black. then it was up 4 flights of stairs to the bedroom, only to have the paint scratch off when it grazed the banister. *#%##%*

back down 2 flights of stairs to re-sand and re-paint. y'all, that paint peeled off like cheap nail polish. i said a few curse words. if you're keeping track, this was not a one day project. more like 2 or 3, plus a few nights. talk about a labor of love!

after all that, you really want to see it in the room now, right?!

doesn't it look awesome?! mr man's such a stud. nothin' hotter than a man in a tool belt and safety goggles. of course, since we got a new headboard, we needed new bedside tables too. it's a whole new bedroom. all we have left to do are the floors! the room needed more art, too so i whipped up some.

you want one, dontcha? well, come back friday, and i'll show you how it's done.

Muy Caliente

i'm back to show you all the wedding goods from this save the date. and, it's spicy. we kept the latin flavor of the save the dates, but used the wedding colors instead. red, black and turquoise were carried throughout all the pieces.

we chose to flood all the pieces of the invitation suite with a different color. the invitation got black on the back. and, the picture does not do it justice. we decided on delicious linen paper, and the black looked amazing on it.

the rsvp was turquoise. and, check out just how much info you can fit on that little card. rsvp, meal choice, favorite song, advice for the couple. we printed the return envelope with muted wedding colors.

then, the guest information card was red. i know i've said it before, but you can use these for whatever you like. the bride chose to use her card to feature local wine bars and tap houses, because there was a 3 hour gap between the wedding and reception.

this image may do nothing for you, but i love seeing everything all packed and ready to ship.

for the ceremony program, we again featured more muted wedding colors, but with the same flourish.

the final pieces were reception table numbers and placecards. the bride couldn't decide which color she liked best, so we did table numbers in each of the four colors, and then matched the placecards to the table number. how fun is that?!

to denote the food choice of each guest, we used cute little icons - a chicken, a cow, and a carrot for vegetarian. you can see a better close up here.

we also listed the food on the back of the card, just to make sure the caterers got it right! highlighted on the turquoise card below.

i had so much fun working on this wedding suite - the colors were fantastic, and it really warms my heart to be a part of helping the bride have the wedding of her dreams.

tina and antonio were married this past saturday. i've seen a few pictures, and it looked like a blast. i wish them all the happiness and love in the world! congratulations!

Scenes from a Birthday

this is what's going on in my kitchen at the moment. my ears are a-ringin' - hammer, crash, drill, crash. i can't look again for fear i might have a heart attack.

i'm so excited we're putting hardwoods in our kitchen, i just wish i could 'bewitch' it done. prepwork is hard, y'all. so, since i'm having a hard time concentrating...huh? oh, right - here's a recap of the birthday haps. in hindsight, i'm glad i didn't skip my birthday - we had tons of fun.

we had a lovely date night of yummy cocktails (mona's) and italian deliciousness (salvatore). mr man wanted to hit places we'd never been before, and that little sneaker snooped into my list and found places i've been wanting to try! he's a keeper, that one.

we continued the festivities into the weekend (of course we did). we lucked out finding a table at alki (it was friday night AND sunny), then went for my favorite pizza (belltown pizza) before my droolfest over bradley cooper at the liquor theater (aka big picture).

could the dude be any hotter? i laughed a lot, so if you're thinking about seeing it, i say go. it is pretty similar to the first one, but did i mention bradley cooper's in it? he could read the dictionary and i'd watch. (sorry, honey) and, there's a monkey in it. note about me: i love monkeys. they're hilarious, and i would gladly accept one as a gift.

on saturday, we did a little day drinkin' with friends. we all met in woodinville and traveled around for a little of this:

i love me some wine tasting. and, the day was GORGEOUS. amazing. glorious. fantabulous. sunshine, 80, and wine - nuthin' better! i tried to pick wineries with outdoor seating so we could enjoy the sunshine, and that we did. friends came and went throughout the day, and i capped off the evening with a drink in a boot.

'cause nothing says 'happy birthday' like a drink served in footwear. albeit, sassy footwear. sassy footwear you know i'd totally rock.

and, then, the icing on the proverbial cake - as if the twilight whose-it-whats-its knew it was my birthday, they released the trailer to breaking dawn. you know you wanna watch.

June-y Tunes

y'all, the PNW is bringin' in june right! i'm coming to you from my back patio soaking up some vitamin d - actual sunshine! there's a beautiful weekend full of sunnyshine ahead of us, and i'm so excited. and i just can't hide it. i'm about... oh, saw-ree. it's just that we call may a tease with all its glorious sunshine, because then we get june and all its rain.

so, see? it's a perfect day for a kicky new playlist. since it's my birth month, i threw in some of my faves from over the years. and, yes, that is rush, rush. i loved me some paula back in the day. and, keanu was in the vid. i loved keanu (don't hate). you know the drill - tell me what you're listenin' to these days. or, what you still have in rotation from over the years.

another year bites the dust

today's mah birfday. and, if you thought i had a hard time jumping into thirty-f*cough*ive, all squinty-eyed, 'this-can't-really-be-how-old-i-am', boy howdy (we do too say that where i'm from) thirty-s*blech*ix is gonna be a da-hoo-za-ie. y'all, i'm trying to put the skids on. toepick. pie wedge. nine. alto. i want it to stop! seriously, THIS CAN'T REALLY BE HOW OLD I AM!

i really hoped i could go to beddy-bye last night, and wake up tomorrow. which, those of you who know me and my birthday celebratin' ways, is a bad sign.

so, i got mah hairs cut yesterdee, and had every intention of doing this:

Source: ukhairdressers.com via Raeann on Pinterest

but when i got there, there was no colorist. what tha? well, to be fair, when i want mah hairs cut, i want mah hairs cut, so i go to rudy's. anyhoo - it's prolly a good thing, cuz someone was all: what? huh? red? wait? what? huh? and then: you already did it, didn't you? heeheeha! can you imagine? going that drastic without getting an ok, sure? as if! i'm still reeeeeeeally tempted to do the color. so, stay tuned.

alrighty - i'm off to enjoy the rest of my day. i have a rare sun break luring me outside. i'm also thinking about a mani/pedi and maybe a little retail therapy. and, you know i'll cap it all off with a cocktail. mr man's in charge of the festivities this evenink, so i'll have a recap next week sometime. wonder who's surprising me this year!