workin' on the workshop

i've decided it's time rosita had a proper workshop. no more desk slash dining table and little square of space in the basement slash dungeon. i'm takin' over mr man's office, which really shoulda been done when rosita set up shop in the casita, but, have we met??? don't worry, i might save a little space for mr man.

mr man says once he's overcome his end-of-football depression, he's all mine (y'all, can i get a halle-friggin-lujah for the end of football??) and, i guarantee i'll be puttin' him to work. he's handy, that guy. thank goodness, cause the workshop needs work. don't believe me? see for yourself:

doth my eyes deceive me? or is there truly only one item hanging on these walls? seriously? when i make art for a living? that giant eyesore of a tv prolly hasn't been turned on in oh, like 3 years. why...is...it...still...there?? what the heck's that metal cabinet, you ask? i really shoulda taken a pic of it open. y'all...it's full of cds. like, so many we could open our own cd warehouse, full. y'all, we're a little old school, and are havin' a hard time partin' ways. can we get a moment of silence?

and, then the piles. piles on the desks. piles on the floor. piles under the futon. piles on the cabinet. piles in the closet. ewwww, i'm getting itchy thinkin' about all those piles.

holy hannah, this project can't start soon enough! so, let's talk about what i wanna do with the room. if you can't tell, the room ain't so big, so we're gonna hafta git creative. i reeeeally want floor to ceiling shelving, and a nice high, double-sided work table in the middle of the room for mr man and i to share. that means the futee's gotta go, which i'm stressin' over.

before i break out in hives, let's check out some purdy pictures of ideas brewin' in my cabeza (head, for you gringas).

all images from my pinterest boards

all images from my pinterest boards

great, now that i've looked at all these amazing inspiration pics, i'm stressed out about how cool my room needs to be. i gotta get outta the box, peeps. do tell, have you done any makeovers lately? got any ideas for this little undertaking?!

i'll keep you posted every step of the way. next up, i'm thinking about changing the paint color!

cupid, draw back your bow

i've been doin' a little updatin' to the ol' etsy shop just in time for that little chubby cherub to deliver.

say i love you with one of the basic LOVE cards.

hows about gettin' a little more graphic with you rock my world.

or, get super wovey-dovey with the beautiful scripture from solomon.

there is also the custom order (you know how i love those). if you have a special sweet nothing that you and your honey share, or if you want to order up a pack of cards for all the sweethearts in your life, give me a shout.

ah, love. ain't it grand?!

poppin' the question

now that baby sister's "said yes", it's time for her to do some question poppin' of her own. to her little maids all in a row, of course. she's chompin' at the bit for me to create some kind of "will you be my bridesmaid?" thing, so i put together a leetle mood board for her to check out.

after lookin' around a little herself, she decided she likes top left corner's style. i personally love the cutey-cute paper dolls, but a friend of hers just did that.

what i can't figure out is why she didn't want to recreate the works of art i sent out 8+ years ago. i had to fancy up the peechure to make myself feel better. man, my design style has come a long way! that font! i maybe mighta gone thru a ma-hajor scrapbooking phase back in the day. if you're nice, maybe one day i'll show you my invites. 

how did you pop the question? was it super cute-c (inside joke)? do tell! i promise i won't laugh (see image above).

scenes from a snow-filled week

unless you were under a rock last week, chances are you're aware that mother nature gave good ol' seattle the smack down. and, since our fair city is quite ill-prepared for weather-related smack downs, mr man and i were stuck on our hill. it was pretty romantic. a blanket of white outside. me baking cookies and spiking hot chocolate inside.

i quite enjoy the occasional snow, and have no problem being cooped up for a few days, but mr man got the cabin fever. so, we set out with some cardboard for a little night sledding and a walk to the neighborhood bar.

we thawed out with a little pizza, vino and etta james. (RIP). and, capped off the weekend with a gal pal's birfday celebration.

what'd you do last week? this weekend?

i linked up to:

a few of my favorite things - january

i've been thinking about doing this for a while, and what better time to start than the first month of the year!

windows phone | jamie spinello metalworks cuff | kate spade this is the year bracelet | downton abbey | buxom lips trixie | OPI lincoln park after dark | aspen bay reserve candles fire

i'm not biased because mr man works on the windows phone. i really love it. to me, it's friendlier than the iphone. (ducking) i do love a bracelet. and, the more i can fit on my wrist, the better. that cuff is to.die.for, and i've coveted the kate spade idiom bracelets for months now. this one has cute sayings about a new year, but really, i'd take any of them! downton abbey (say that with your best english accent!), how i love thee. if you haven't watched, you must! go, i say, go!

if we met on the street, chances are i'd have trixie on mah lips, and lincoln park on mah nails. buxom is a lip plumper with a little bit of sparkle and, that polish?! love with a capital l. in fact, i need a mani now! y'all...that candle! if only the screen were scratch 'n' sniff. it smells divine! it burns forever, is soy, and when the wick's gone, put it on a candle warmer, and enjoy the smell even longer. divine.

ok, what's on your list?

*images from the respective links

initially (a tutorial)

wanna do the easiest tutorial ever? like seriously, easiest ever? that's the spirit! let's get started.

letters, initials, words, words, words are all the rage these days, and i've got my fair share adorning the casita. frankly, when i walk by the letter aisle at the joann's, michaels, hobby lobby persuasion, i'm hard pressed to resist dumping a few in the basket.

so, next time you're at one of the ol' crafter supply shops, don't resist the urge. pick up one or forty letters.

bring those bad boys home, and give them some color. if it isn't obv by now, black is my signature culuh. (my culuhs are blush and bashful).

then, find something around the casita with a sweet design you can use as a stencil. like, oh, i don't know, the mat from the front door. what? there's inspiration everywhere, i tell ya!

then, give those bad boys another shot of color. silver? my otha signature culuh.

and, they's done! let 'em dry, then hang 'em. or, prop 'em on a shelf or desk. or string 'em from twine over the beddy bye. you decide.

see how easy that was? hardest part is waitin' for 'em to dry. and, aren't they just the cutest things you ever done seen? mmhmm. thought so. of course, i could do it for ya, if you need me to.

and, i've since used that doormat on numerous other projects. poor thing's so confused as to its lot in life.

what y'all been workin' on? got any cool tutorials for moi?

you gotta know when to fold 'em

it's no big secret around these parts that i do love a folded card. and, i try to convince everyone to order them. i've prolly tried to convince you. they're awesome - and they generate oohhs and aahhs aplenty whence received. (i've been watchin' downton abbey)

so, you can imagine my excitement when not one, but two of you lovely peepsies ordered folded holiday cards! woo to tha hoo! and, y'all, those cards were so dang cute. and, creative. now, before you say 'modest much?', i can say they're dang cute and creative, because the only thing i did was put idea to paper. 

let's take a look...

see how they changed the lyrics to a favorite christmas carol to fit the haps in their lives? uh, cute! and, baby boy tucked into brightly colored christmas balls? uh, double cute! and, how instead of the 2-pg, front and back, 8 pt font christmas letter (yawn), they highlighted monthly events? cute! cute! cute!

let me just put this out there - when professional pictures are involved, it's hard to mess up the card. now, when you special order paper, then it's printed and cut wrong, that could maybe mess up the card. but, i wouldn't know anything about that. and, these pictures? awesome! they could be models! and, i seriously wanted to trade mama's boots for the cards, but alas... she had ideas, and i ran with them - in our shoes with tidbits from the year for each family member - love.it.to.death!

and, on the back, a take on the lululemon manifesto trend. i daresay (downton abbey, again) celebrate with vino is my fave! you're not surprised, are you?

the mother figure decided she wanted in on the folded action this year. at first i told her no, because i already had something in mind for her. but i started movin' the design around and realized i could make a folded card work. and, voila... (or, viola, if you're like me)

now, when it comes to middle sissy's cards, i like to push the envelope. it doesn't do wonders for the old pocket book, but my ulterior motive is that bunches of peeps will see my logo and come'a orderin' something of their own. (secret's out)

since i had some special paper left over, i decided on a funky fold. middle sissy wanted to focus on what i call 'the scripture of 2011' - glory to god in the highest. so, we did a take on that for the front, and featured the full scripture on the back. and, we filled it with pictures and pictures, because they went sans-letter this year.

in full disclosure, middle sissy's card, and my personal card were printed the 19th of december, scored and folded at 35,000 feet, and put in the mail on the 21st of december! you know what they say about the cobbler's children's shoes...

which leads me to the cobbler's card. to say that i run out of steam by the time i'm ready to design my own maybe might be the understatement of the century. i might whine so much, i resemble a 2-year old. but, once i get it together!, i can usually pull a rabbit out of the hat.

we were lucky ducks to have had perfeshunal pictures taken this year, and, man, they made designing the card easy! a little list of bright spots, and done. i even got a few compliments!

since i don't see my addiction to folded cards waning anytime soon, and, since our card has been folded 3 years in a row, i'm really gonna have to pump up the volume next year! sheesh - i better start brainstorming now!

the merry-go-round

every new year, i think about writing a resolution/goals/life changes/whathaveyou post. and, every year...i don't. i mean, of course i have goals. duh. and, a ridick list of life changes. ahem. but lettin' the universe in on those goals means i maybe might hafta actually try to attain them. and, that reminds me of  barftastic corporate annual reviews. and, that makes me wanna break out in hives. the thought alone makes me itchy. mo.ving.on.

sorry - i really wanted to work on my digressions and tangents, but alas - it seems they's here to stay. sheesh - what were we talking about?

oh, right. the merry-go-round. things is crazy, y'all. and, that is sucka (how could i delete that typo?!) such a good thing! after a two week holiday break full of snow, baby spoiling and cancelled flights, i'm back, with my runnin' shoes on.

this year promises to be a good one (good riddance, 2011), and here's a sneak peek at what's on tha horizon...

onesie cuteness

celebrating baby over a little bubbly

and, the most exciting news of all - baby sister GOT ENGAGED!!! so, get set for oodles and oodles of fun designs, and a healthy dish of sisterly advice. pshaw - goes in one ear and out tha other with that one - poor child was blessed with three mamas.

i'll also be back with a recap of some super creative holiday cards. i love custom - you guys make this job so fun!

let's finish off this post with a little look see at our new year's shenanigans. we tore middle sissy and the farmer away from the kiddies and had a large time in downtown dallas.

don't be jelly - they're taken. at least they have a sense of humor! and, we love 'em for it!

see ya soon!

tunes for twenty12

a new year. again. these days, do you feel like you're on the merry-go-round, being spun and spun, so dizzy with how fast life is going, wishing it would stop so you could get off and clear your head? no? well, i do. every day. and, remember when years were divided into 'semesters' and how looooong the school year seemed? now? it's 20 friggin' 12. 20 friggin' 12. and, 2011 passed in about one second! and, i say good riddance - it was not my best year. so, resolution time! hmmm, looks like 2012 isn't gonna be the year i give up tangents - sorry.bout.that!

are you wondering why you had to go thru all that to get to the playlist? me too! on to the music - peeps, i'm shazaming like a mad woman and i think it's now an addiction. try it. you'll super like it! also, big thanks to the farmer, who is always on the cutting edge of musica, which in turn makes me look like i am too. (wink) you're on the cutting edge, too? do tell - who ya lisnin' to?

disclaimer: no comments about the jewel song. it doesn't totally sound like her. and, once upon a time, i maybe mighta worn out my copy of pieces of you. shoosh - you did too.