hopefully you're feeling my eggo waffles reference up there because apparently i can't title things in a professional way. anyway, i've recently completed the logo/header design for an up-and-coming fashion blogger's site. here it is for your enjoyment:

and here is a mock-up of the design on a fake blog set-up 

please, read the title of this post in a snooty accent. recently, i finished two chalkboards for a wedding and i'm in love with them. mostly because because working on a real chalkboard is so much better then working on anything sprayed with chalkboard paint. also- i loved all the blueberries in these designs. the wedding had a "Maine style with a little classy prep feel". i never knew there was a style for the state of Maine but i think i got the gist and it was just so courtney - it was perfect. these were really fun and aside from having my sister-in-law point out about 10 spelling errors (errrrr, but i love her for it) it was a very smooth process.  

i also design the programs, name cards, and wine label table numbers ...
i loved her idea for incorporating their two home states on the programs. some may say quirky but i think its adorable. also- the tiny name cards she got in two different designs to help the caterer distinguish which meal each guest ordered (super smart and convenient). 

this past weekend kicked off our wedding season and it was so much fun. we had the privilege of spending the entire day with the bride and groom because we were the unofficial friend videographers (wait, no, we ARE officially friends though). basically we had all the perks of being in the bridal party without having to stand up front and it was SO FUN! I also had the honor of designing their lovely wedding invitations. ^ seen above. the colors here are NOT what they look like in real life and i honestly have no idea how to ... pause while i come up with an idea ...

here enters a picture of our fridge - the current resting place of all of our save-the-dates (oh hey THATs the bride and groom), invitations (sneak peek for next week's post on the left there), adorable doctor picture frame magnets (emily is a JDC kid! for sure), and apparently robert downey jr... this is way more accurate depiction of the invitation colors. they chose to print them on linen paper and that just made the black ink stand out SO GOOD - i believe the words "letter press" were hinted at when someone described these babies. thats a compliment in my book. (disclosure: they are not letter press) 
a word on the bride and groom:
 they are so fun to be around and we are LUCKY to call them friends. we don't get to see them often but when we do its always enjoyable - both of them bring so much life and confidence into a room. we happened to be at a memorial day barbecue after the big day, one which they would have normally attended if they weren't on their honeymoon, and i distinctly missed their presence. i can tell their marriage will be deeply blessed and a blessing to others - you just know these things, you know?

i'll call this design "the aristocat" style since it resembles the disney movie character to the left. for the record, i'm more than ok with that. 

so its like "a thing" to make a chalkboard about your baby on their first birthday...exhibit a, and exhibit b-a zillion. it's a super cute idea and i'm glad i stumbled upon it before my daughter's first birthday so i could totally plagiarize/customize/use-it-tize? it for her. 
i designed the whole lay-out for emily's on the computer first and was mighty tempted to add some sort chalk texture to it, print it, frame it and call it a day. BUT, i didn't. i did print it out as a reference to look at as i painstakingly copied every detail with chalk onto a board sprayed with chalkboard paint. of course i had to make mine "not big and obnoxious" so as to make myself feel like i wasn't being all showy. mine was about 11 x 14 and this made the process time consuming, tedious, difficult, and frustrating. have you ever tried to write tini-tiny fancy font words with a blunt piece of chalk? lets just say i used LOADS of wet q-tips as my erasers. i think by the time i was done (many hours later) i had gone through an entire box of them. also, the table looked like there was chalk shrapnel exploded all over it from my on-going quest for a sharp point. i said to myself "if i ever do this again it SHALL be bigger!" but i did LOVE the frame i got for it and it turned out great so alls fair right?  

well, as it turns out- i did get to do it again! three more times actually. two of my friends requested one for their baby's and i volunteered to make one for my niece. it was really fun to design them according to the theme for their party AND every one of them was significantly bigger than my first attempt which made things A LOT easier and more enjoyable. 
for the first two i, again, designed them on the computer first and then took to the board with a fully laid out plan. however, for my niece i just winged it! i didn't really have a choice since i did it the night before the party (but i think it turned out just as good). 

if you'd like to tackle your own here are the materials i used:
- matte board, poster board, or foam board for the base
- chalkboard paint in a spray can 
(i'd do a couple of light layers- so what you spraying it on doesn't warp too much)
- chalk... duh. you could also add some colored chalk. that would be fun
- q-tips and a small bowl of water for your life-saving erasers
-computer/printer*
*i used illustrator for design mine on a computer first but a sketch would work fine also

This past summer my sister, Julie, and I bonded over throwing my other sister (in law) Jenn a TINY shower or as i like to call it a "sprinkle". (I could pretend like that was my creative genius but apparently sprinkles are already a THING and no one would believe me.) 
Anyway, we divided up the duties and spent way too much time on facetime talking over the details which really just means we repeated ourselves several times while our babies ran around in the background occasionally stealing our ipads and canceling our call. I never made a diaper cake before so i volunteered for that in addition to these lovely e-vites, some extra flare, a banner, and the cake toppers. I can't claim anything on the wonderful matching plates and cake tower and the DE-LISH cupcakes themselves- that was all Juls. So feast your eyes on all the details of our "When it rains it Pours" Sprinkle for our well deserving sister- Jenn. 

i'm probably the only person in the world who dreamed about the halloween costumes they would create for their one-day-future children. when we found out we were pregnant its one of the first things i thought about/looked forward to/put way too much pressure on getting perfect. For weeks i would ask ricky what he thought we should make emily for halloween. i took polls amongst our relatives, floated potential ideas to any one who would listen. finally, i arrived at THE PERFECT costume! Emily would be, for her very first halloween, a lima bean! to clarify, a can of lima beans, but still SHE WAS A LIMA BEAN! I googled it- she is from this moment on the FIRST can of lima beans on the internet and certainly the cutest. (if you haven't make the connection- our last name is lima. pronounced "LEEMA" as my former students used to spell it. like the capital of peru.) 
i should say that halloween itself is not a holiday that i'm IN LOVE with. really, i love it just for the fact that you can dress up and have candy. i hate horror movies and anything dark so i just ignore all the goo and gore for the fact that I LOVE CANDY AND COSTUMES!

If, upon googling "best cutest unique amazing baby costume", arrived here and would also like to make your child a can of lima beans (or any veggie really), here are my materials:
- fabric. i bought the silvery fabric for can and green stuff for the beans and hat. the rest came from scraps. 
- stuffing for the beans of course. you could really gut some old stuffed animals but thats sad so you can find this stuff at a fabric craft store. i got my at JoAnnes.
- boning. you know, the stuff that holds your strapless dress up or you maybe what you find in a bar. i got this at my local PA fabric outlet but they would have it at JoAnnes too. I used this to create the frame of the can. I realized afterwards that i just needed two loops at the top and bottom. 
- stiff felt. this i had laying around an was perfect for the lid. i covered it in fabric and although it was kind of floppy still worked. I used boning to get it to tilt up a little and connect it to the main costume. 
- mini shopping cart and fake veggies- if these weren't borrowed from family i don't know if this costume would have been as ultimately amazing as it was. they were the icing on the cake!