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??

ten tiny fingers, ten perfect toes

the other day, i realized i never showed you baby brother's announcement. well, he's 5 months old today, so better late than never, huh? i wanted to design something unique, because i felt like i was in a same size card rut. and unless someone comes to me with an outrageous idea, it's usually the fam who gets forced into 'outside-the-box' designs.

i had an idea about pictures of fingers, toes, and his nose to rhyme, but i was stuck on how to piece it together. so, i made creative writer middle sissy put on her thinking cap, and looky here...

we took all the pictures while i was there for bb's birth. middle sissy wanted the announcement to have an autumn feel, so we grabbed a brown and turquoise blanket of sweet p's and the colors were born.

during my sip and see entertaining prep, i unearthed an amazing bowl that was once my nana's gathering dust high upon the kitchen cabinets. lo and behold, the colors were perfect and it would hold a newborn nicely.

working quickly to try to avoid tinkle mishaps (unsuccessfully), we set munchkin atop the farmer's antique pie case, under their cross collection, and man, do i ever love the shots we got.

of course, sweet p needed in on the action. so, we attempted to deck her out in matching colors, and get her to hold bb for longer than 3 seconds! such a good big sissy! 

c'mon, let's get out of the same size card rut. the possibilities are endless! and, professional photos aren't even necessary - if you can stage your own, why not?

have a baby to announce? let's chat.

charcoal & turquoise sparkly invites

i thought y'all maybe might wanna get a closer look at the sparkly invites from baby drew's sip and see. mama's got a love affair with grey right now, so i found some yummy charcoal paper and envelopes. and, to bring the ice and sparkle to our winter party, what better color but turquoise.

since we were partying happy hour style, i wanted the invite to portray that. so, a wine bottle and champagne glass for mama, and a bottle for baby - everyone's happy! the invites were mounted to the charcoal paper, then got some rhinestone bling. i cut a small square out of the back of the invite to show gift ideas (sorry, no peechure).

then, tucked it all in that yummy envelope and wrapped it in what might be my favorite label. the return address wraps around the back, and the invite jumps out of the mailbox, beggin' to be opened.

as you can see, i'm playing around with the pictures - trying to find something more crisp and modern. what do y'all think? what's your fave?

and, remember to come back wednesday for a tute on the cute favors.

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?!

Canvas the Area

back when i had my open house, i dappled in some mixed media art on canvas. i had some out for sale, and a few sold, but what i really hoped would happen, did - custom orders. and, now it's a common item shipped out of the workshop. i've made them for wedding, birthday and just-for-me gifts, baby rooms, dining rooms.

i LUUUUUV these. LUV. it's pure get-yer-hands-dirty, handmade goodness. and, i can live for days on the high i get when i deliver one, they open it, their eyes light up, and they say I LUV IT! buuuut, the process is super nerve-wracking for me. (cuz i'm a nutjob.) ask mr. man. poor guy's constantly called to the workshop to talk me off the ledge and have (one-sided) conversations like this:

'do you think this should go here, or here? i'm really nervous they'll hate it. it's going on a wall in their house. they trust me to do something they're going to like. does it look like a third grader made it? what if they hate it. they're going to hate it.'

my sweet cousin LOVES horses and barrel racing, so her mama ordered this to match her lime green and zebra print room. (note to self: work zebra print into decor somehow)

this order was for mother's day. a sweet quote mixed with the colors of mama's house.

a bare dining room wall, a list of favorite lyrics and a cool idea led to this triptych. (that's for carrie.) talk about nervous nelly. i mean, it's going on their dining room wall! everyone who comes to their house will see it! a few deets: the door to the house is a map of ohio, where mama's from; mama, daddy, and 3 kiddos = 5 birds in the tree; 3 windows for 3 kiddos.

 

she collects hearts, and she's crazy creative, so she ordered some artwork for her craft room. only criteria: use reds and lots of hearts. success? we'll let her weigh in...

i used their invitation and maps to tie the couple's love of travel into this 'lovebird' wedding gift.

still with me? the possibilities are endless, really. i'll make one for you - order up! don't worry, i'll add them to the website soon - that project is underway.

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.