taking the plunge

'member this?

what'd you guess it was? were you thinking cannonball? maybe bride and groom? how about pool time? if you'd guessed any of those, you'd be on the right track, because it's all of the above, and it's from baby sister's save the date!

y'all, it might be the cutest dang thing evah. but, we can't take all the credit for the idea. while spending all day stopping by pinterest one day, i came across this (using this link cuz the photog's blog keeps redirecting.) on baby sister's 'someday' board. 

and, an idea was born! see, baby sister and her fiance both swam for the LSU tigers. so, seriously, how could they not do something similar? armed with dress and suit, all they needed was a pool and a photographer. well, lucky for them, our papacito just so happens to have a pool (in the perfect shade of blue) and one'a them fancy cameras that can take 4+ pics in like 2 seconds. (just a weensy important when water's involved!)

are y'all thinkin' 'quitcher yappin' and show us already!" ok, ok. here ya go...

was i right about cute? and, those pics couldn't have turned out better. these are first take, y'all! can you believe? let's take a closer look at those facial expressions.

pure giddiness right there, folks! kiddos are excited to be married! and, that cannonball picture might be pure perfection! i hope it gets framed!

now, if i'm being honest, there was a smoochy picture of the lovebirds that i reeeeealllly wanted baby sister to pick for the back, but alas, it's client's choice. we kept the back sweet and simple, leaving all the deets for their website. i love how it feels like a movie poster!

to ship them off, they got the wraparound treatment. i really don't know when i'll get tired of this label style.

see what one little idea can do? these maybe mighta been the easiest design i've ever done. i've said it before, and i'll say it again, good images make the best designs.

better give a shout out to the ol' man for takin' such fantastic pictures. (silly guy wanted credit on the save the date!)

will you be my bridesmaid?

guess what came in the mail last week??!!

i was so excited to get it, speshly since middle sissy got hers three whole days before me! excited because, 'member, i sent off the innards for baby sister to assemble herself. and, i couldn't wait to see it all done up. big, fat party in the mailbox right here!

everything was tucked in a yummy, metallic cream envelope wrapped with my favorite label style. 'to' on the front, 'from' on the back. (major tip here: you'd be surprised how often postage is underestimated, so weigh your finished project before you buy stamps and ship.)

baby sister personalized each card with a picture of each girly-girl, which slips easily out to use as a fridge reminder. adorable washi tape and matching ribbon holds it all together.

the inside gets dressed up with fun embellishments and more dang cute washi tape (um, the girl in the dress? sweet like sugar!). fun letters stamped in coordinating colors make sure no stone's left unturned (or, no envelope's left unopened).

can you say fun?? and, seriously, folks, when you get a labor of love this cutey-cute in the mail, how can you say no?

well, one thing's for sure, i'm definitely fulfilling my matronly duties...with honor!

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.

some assembly required

more like 'all assembly required'! 

this is what's goin' on around here right now as i gather all the items for baby sister's bridesmaid cards. oh! if you think you're on the list, stop reading now! good thing middle sissy gave up the interwebs for lent.

last time we chatted, we were thinking of one of these ideas. 

well, after wasting time doing research on pinterest, the design has morphed into something that will resemble this.

cute little envelopes for sweet sentiments and such. yummy washi tape to hold everything together. stickers, ribbon, punches, paint swatches, doilies.

the workshop's been abuzz. i've been printing, cutting, scoring, folding, gluing, taping, stringing, punching. no surface is safe. and, i'm just about done puttin' it all together to ship off to baby sister, so i get at least a little element of surprise! ha!

here's the most amazing thing: i only had to buy the doilies to make those (in the words of sweet p) so, so tiny envelopes. and, i got them at the $ store! can you believe? i had everthin' else floatin' around in the workshop. ok, maybe it's not that unbelievable, but i was pretty amazed i found so much cute stuff in baby sister's colors. (um, do you see that true love ribbon? adorbs!)

once baby sister puts them all together, i'll be back with a look at the finished product. i kept a few pieces secret, so y'all didn't see it all.

my stipulation for making these was that baby sister had to assemble them herself. i hope she bought the big jug of sangria - she's gonna need it!

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!

so very grateful

(the voices in my head just had an argument about the correct spelling of grateful. greatful. grateful. whatevs. you know what i mean.)

ok, maybe i sound like a broken record here, but i'm go'n (inside joke) say it again - custom is amayyyzing! (oprah voice). take this little ditty por ejemplo.

i may never be able to get over the awesomeness of this photo shoot. but, i digress. look - you pick a theme. you rent some costumes. you get your pictures taken. and, then you have rosita whip up the most creative moving announcement/ holiday card on the planet. (ok - the odds of you renting costumes are prolly slim, but you're catchin' my drift, right?)

i mean, seriously. we've settled? pure genius!

and, how perfect a segue are these cards to talk about things for which i'm grateful (greatful?)? it's always nice to write it out, in case i need a reminder later.

i'm thankful that the lord has provided me with a wonderful family, friends who are more like family, and a husband who puts up with my crazy, indecisive self. this year has rocked me, my hope and my faith to the core, and i'm not sure what i woulda done without mah peeps.

i'm thankful i get to use my creative juices on a daily basis to create fun things to brighten mailboxes, walls, or even someone's day.

and most importantly, i'm thankful for you, my three readers. without you, rosita couldn't design and she'd have to go back to the corporate world. i'll never, ever be able to accurately share my appreciation, so just know i really, really, really love y'all.

now it's your turn - what are y'all thankful for this year? it's been a doozie, right?

ok - i'm off - i'm hosting thanksgiving for 12 people, and my dining room table is this sad state of affairs (yikes!):

that time of year

are you in denial that the holidays are about 2 months away? i know it's not even halloween, but once that rolls around, the holidays just keep comin' at us. so, i decided to put this together to get the idea juices flowing.

best part about custom? it can be whatever you want it to be. it can be small, large, do double duty to announce other exciting news, and the list goes on. here, see for yourself:

if you're lookin' for a flat card, all my designs are double-sided, which make them perfect for a short christmas letter.

or, maybe you want a folded card

but, maybe you have lots of pictures and want a TRI-fold

how about no pictures, and a save on postage with a postcard

you could announce your new baby's birth

or a sweet boy's birthday

and, when you're done with the family card, how 'bout one for the biz?

that enough to get those juices flowing? of course, the sky's the limit. whatever you can dream up, we can do it.

check out the site for more ideas later this week and have a super great weekend! i'm heading off for a 2-day trip with mr. man, and i know baby brother's going to arrive in that time, because that's just how murphy's law works in this family!

Gifts for Every Occasion

in honor of baby sister's birthday today, this post is full of gift-y things you can order from rosita designs. and, they work for every occasion - birthday, mother's day, wedding, just because. you get the idea.

pretty much, if you have something to celebrate, we can work together to create an invite and maybe decorations, and then i can whip up a gift for you to give. (insert smiley-face here) if you are interested in ordering something, email me. some items are in stock (hair flowers, cards, canvases). and, you know, i'm all about the custom.

for the new babies or kiddos birthdays

for the fashionistas

for the writers on your list

good for everyone

and, promise, these items will be added to the website soon.

May I Take Your Order?

Time to order Holiday Cards. I know, I know, you're still deciding what costume to wear Trick or Treating, but Thanksgiving's like next week, and those December holidays and parties are right after that.

So, do yourself a favor, order your holiday cards. You don't have to know what picture you're using yet, just place the order. Tell me what look you might be going for (if you're having photos taken), styles or colors you might like, or just tell me to wing it. I get lots of those "wing it" requests. You guys like to make me work. If only flexing creative muscles burned more calories...

I've put together a little montage of some of last year's favorites. Maybe you'll see something you like here, or get an idea for style or color.

Remember, all my cards are double-sided, which is a great way to fit a brief Holiday letter on your card.

And, holiday cards are great for doing double duty, like announcing a new baby.

Or, updating people's address books.

And, if you aren't really into sending pictures to everyone in your address book, that's no problem.

Drop me a line if you're ready to order. I've got some orders going, in case you were nervous about being first in line!

Score!

I've folded cards. I mean I've really folded cards. If we were counting, it'd probably be over 1,000 or something. All folded & scored by hand, using an embossing stylus, a metal ruler, and the edge of my paper cutter (which, (danger) had to have the arm up so I could fit the metal ruler on it). Why yes, I do have a visual:

Now, mind you, this task is not what any of these tools were created to do. Well, ok, I guess the ruler might not be dancing too far outside his comfort zone. But, really, could I have made it any harder on myself? Good grief - the ruler likes to slip, the sound of the metal on metal is enough to put anyone over the edge, and I never knew what the fold was going to look like when I was done scoring.

Why did I do this to myself? Especially since there are tools made to put folds in paper. Why did I not just trot on down to my local paper store (they should know me by name now) and purchase one of these tools a looooong time ago is beyond me. I mean, look at this thing.

It's a huge board (you can even create boxes with it) and comes with a bone folder to score the paper, and help with the fold.

And, it's broken down every eighth of an inch for folds. (see the ridges).

I know this won't excite any of you as much as it does me. I'm just glad I bought it before I embark on the scoring & folding of 250 thank you cards. And, it's music to my ears, because that nails on a chalkboard of metal on metal thing - heebie.jeebies.

Yay me for making life easier. To that I say, SCORE! (pun totally intended)