lowercase j design

Lets go on a Safari

2012-03-16T11:33:00.001-07:00

I feel like this blog post is loooooonnnnggg over due. Back in what? August I think...yup, just double checked, I posted a blog about these really awesome save the dates (which you can see here) for a friend of mine's 30th birthday. This specific invitation went through several revisions before Gina and I could agree on something we both liked. Honestly, I really like all of them, and for the right party I think they could all work for something! Take a look and tell me what you think.

Some of you are looking at this and saying "Hey! Isn't that last one a Save the Date?" and you're right, good catch! That Save the Date was one that didn't make the cut but I really really liked it a whole lot. I figured I could at least show it off here.

My favorite invitation is probably the one with the wine glass (and we almost went with that one, but decided it gave off a very sophisticated vibe...which doesn't really fit a safari and BBQ themed party). It took me a while to get the wine glass built but I think it came out great (and the fact that you can tell what it's supposed to be is even better!). The first time I created and used the rhino stamp was on that wine glass, who knew it would grow to be the center piece of pretty much everything!

Row Row Row Your Boat....

2011-10-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

My friend Jessica and I are notorious for trying to find fun new exercise classes to try out…especially when there is a discount involved. Our first adventure was at Bar Method and we loved it. It really is too bad it was so expensive; it’s a great workout that goes by fast. Of course we have been doing yoga together for a while (you know, she is my favorite yoga instructor) and then yesterday, Jessica and I tried out something new, Indo Row, and it was so much fun (and the first class was free)!!

How it works is you sit on a row machine that was specially made for this class (from my understanding the only difference is it uses a giant container of water as your resistance instead of the regular form of resistance, whatever that may be), and then you have to row as a team with your fellow classmates. Not that your speed effects them, but when the [hot] instructor turns down the music you can hear if anyone isn’t in sync with the team. Not to mention the sound of the water is rather relaxing.

The hour it takes to complete this class goes by really fast. This class was broken down into smaller segments so it was more manageable and let me tell you, when you’re going as hard as you can on that thing to beat your own score it gets tough. Like hard to breath, OMG am I going to make it for 30 seconds at this pace because I’m pretty sure my heart is going to explode, tough. There are breaks between segments to stretch and do some sit-ups and then it’s back to rowing and trying to be faster than you were in the last segment. At the end of class you do a relay race against your fellow classmates (3 teams of 4). We had to give our team a country to race for so naturally I picked Uruguay…because the US felt like I was cheating (too easy) and well, why not Uruguay? We came in second, but with a team full of new people and then the instructor as our fourth, I’m pretty sure he pulled all the weight.

What is also pretty cool is that for those who are self conscious of people watching/judging you (which I’m sure no one is) you can’t tell how fast anyone is actually going. Everyone is doing the same number of strokes, it’s all about how much you push with your legs and pull with your arms. I may have blisters on both hands and my back and legs hurt, but for some, obviously masochistic, reason I cannot wait to go back.

Weekend in Pictures

2011-10-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

I just downloaded this new app on my iPhone called instagram, and by 'just downloaded' I mean its been sitting on my phone for several months now waiting for me to take the time to use it...which I did this weekend and let me tell you, that this app is so much fun to play with! Here is my weekend, well really just Sunday.

Starting the day off right

Fruit basket!

Arnold Palmers

Flowers by my table at lunch

My friend's necklace from Pueto Vallarta

The clock down the street

Espresso shot time!

Kickin' off the new shoes to take a break

Bike riding gang, watch out, we have basets!

Sunset at the beach, taking a quick break

Waiting for the rest of the gang to catch up

The final rays of sun slipping over the edge of the world

Decorating Pumpkins

2011-10-13T15:40:00.000-07:00

While traversing Pintrist last week I stumbled upon an ingenious idea. One that I couldn't wait to do myself at home. Now I'm not a huge fan of messy crafts mostly because I don't like to clean it up. While I did carve many a pumpkin when I was a kid I've since stopped doing it because, well frankly its a lot of work...and my super amazing pumpkin carving skills haven't improved much since I was five (no joke they look the same, the only difference is...well there is no difference, I'm still not allowed to use the sharp knives and Mom helps with the hard stuff so....)

Okay so Pintirist, I found these amazing pictures of pumpkins that had been decorated using black puff paint as dots and I thought, hey! I can do that! I went to Michael's and picked up the puff paint and then went to the supermarket for the pumpkins. I didn't need big, straight from the pumpkin patch pumpkins, so I grabbed three smaller ones. Once I got home I cleared off my work space and then spent the next 10 minutes or so staring at the pumpkin, black paint in hand poised ready to dot away. Once I came up with a design I did a few practice dots on paper to get the hang of it. Next I began the slow dotting process. I thought a symmetrical pattern would be easy...I was wrong. I got 3/4 of the way around the pumpkin before I realized I was really going to have to squeeze the rest of the repeating design in there (clearly I should have drawn the design on there with a pencil or something). I gave up after that and just went crazy and dotted the crap out of the next pumpkin.

Then I let them dry for a couple of days (somewhere high, because knowing my luck my cat will purposefully rub himself up against them, only because he knows the wet paint will stick to his fur and then cause me hours of misery as I comb/cut it out of his hair).

Oh best part, total cost $4, how awesome is that!

Vacation + Sick = No blog posts

2011-10-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

Howdy!

Sorry about being MIA for a week and a half. Its been crazy busy but I'll recap quickly in pictures:

First my friend (the bride) and I got ready for her wedding

Then they got married on a cruise ship (apparently I don't have any of their wedding pictures on this computer) more to come later!

Then we ate [4 times] our weight in food

Next we relaxed on the beach in Cabo...ok clearly poolside as well

Then we ziplined through the trees in Puerto Vallarta - hooray for a fear of heights!

We got back on Sunday but of course I managed to get nice and sick (no pictures available). I've had just enough strength to go to work, come home and watch several hours of television before passing out for 10 glorious hours of sleep. Now that I'm feeling better I'll be posting more frequently.

I hope you all had a great week and a half!

Beach Side Yoga

2011-09-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had the extreme pleasure to practice yoga in a park near the beach. Now I am not a person who particularly likes yoga but my friend Jessica teaches it. I don't know what it is but she is just the most fantastic instructor that I have ever had and I can't help but love every yoga session I have with her. As a person with zero balance you can imagine how proud I was to be able to do tree pose! Check out the pictures below (that I totally stole from Jessica's blog). Feel free to check out her yoga blog here or if you're interested in more beach side yoga sessions visit her website ladyjyoga.com.

Beach Side Yoga, OG Yogies

Warrior Two

Tree pose, doin' it!

Something for Everyone Gift Guide

2011-09-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

Its never too soon to be thinking about what kind of gifts to get people for *gasp* the holidays. To get started I thought I'd make a generic gift guide that covered everyone. Kids, adults, men, women...you get the point. Shown below are my favorites but you can find the full treasury here

Paris Postcard Collection - First I love the way they are all displayed in this picture, and even in frames (one of the other views available on Etsy) they look fantastic. Plus the use of yellow in every picture makes me want to smile.
Hand Made Seed Bombs - I saw these and just thought it was such a great idea! What a great stocking stuffer. Unfortunately you would have to wait until spring to use it but, um hello! it will bring butterflies, totally worth the wait!
Game Boy iPhone Decal - Yup, you guessed it, nerd! I saw this and laughed so hard, what a cool idea. Takin' it old school while still being totally new school. LOVE IT!
Hand Painted Canvas Messenger Bag - First I was totally impressed by the hand painted part. I couldn't paint this well if I tried (and I wouldn't try because some 5 year olds can put me to shame!). Then the witty comment and I knew I just had to add this to the list!
Hand Tooled Leather Owl Case - Yet another hand made object. There are just so many talented people out there! I love the owl, and the fact that each one is completely unique!

Housewarming Party Invitation

2011-09-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

Well it’s been over a month since I last wrote about it (here), and this invitation was definitely a trial. I had a hard time getting the idea in my head on paper. First the lanterns wouldn’t come out right and then it seemed like too much was going on. On a whim I added in the fireflies (the little yellow dots, not sure you can see them or not) and those took time to perfect as well. As you can see from the finished product it took quite the turn from its original conception but I like it. I think the finished product looks more like a party for adults, and less like a child's birthday party (not that there’s anything wrong with a birthday party!)

See the magic below!

First I wanted to stick with my text theme from before, but it wasn't working out the way I wanted to

Then I thought i might print it on a creme or beige background

Next I thought I might add some fireflies and make give it more of an evening feel

Finally, I decided that less is more, kept the fireflies, ditched the background color and called it a day

Here is the finished product. I really love the lanterns, they turned out better than I thought they would. You can purchase them here on my Etsy Shop (and, if you like any of the early versions, I can clean them up and make those too!)

Etsy Craft Night - Magnets

2011-09-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

Inspirational Quote:

When someone says "you've changed." It simply means you've stopped live life their way
-not sure who its by

Etsy Craft Night - Magnets

Sometimes, my life is really busy and sometimes it’s not, but all of a sudden it’s September and I’m like, woah! When did that get here!? Well on September 1 there was an Etsy craft night and usually I see it on my calendar a few days ahead of time but because it was on THE NEXT PAGE I didn’t see it until the day of. Luckily, I hadn’t made plans for that evening and was able to go.

The craft was making your own magnets using a kit they provided and cut outs from magazines. Turns out, the same guy from the last craft night was leading this craft night. Apparently he has a lot of awesome crafts in his Big Ass Book of Crafts (no really, that’s what it’s called). I met some fun new people, one of which moved here from Boston, and I also managed to burn my fingers several times using the hot glue gun (no pain no gain right!?....sure…). The stuff on display at the museum was the same but I did take a quick jaunt through the museum store and found some really awesome mugs. Check them out below!

Here are my magnets. As you can see (upper right) there were some technical difficulties, they kept pulling themselves apart! My favorite one is the one that looks a little orange and has a moon (its the one that is closest to the camera in the lower left image).

MUG SHOT:

I thought that these mugs were very cute and creative. Great for kids...or adults who act like kids (which is all of us, don't judge!). These mug are only for sale in their brick and mortar store but you can find out more info about it here.

The Engagement Party Finale

2011-09-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

Well the engagement party has come and gone. There was definitely a sugar hangover the next day what with seven different types of desserts and six different champagne beverages. We were able to get four of the desserts from Starbucks and then two from Costco and finally we dipped our own chocolate covered strawberries (with the help of Wes’ family). Our champagne beverages were mimicked from a local restaurant in Chico and were fun and fruity! I think that everyone who came had a really spectacular time.

The Bride and Groom to Be

As promised, here are the thank you cards I made for this party. You can see the full process here and here. I stuck with the champagne theme but to add a splash of fun I used multiple colors. Also I used the Loopi font that I liked from the beginning. The bride and I decided that she didn’t want to use their married name on the card because they’re not married yet so we stayed with ‘Thank You’ and called it a day.

These thank you cards are available for purchase here, in my Etsy shop.

Thank You the Pink Series

2011-08-31T16:41:00.000-07:00

Going to make this post short and sweet and to the point! As you may have noticed I’ve posted a line of Thank You cards on Etsy over the last month or so. Displayed below is the series in its entirety. The cards were all printed using a 'Strawberry' color but you can get them in pretty much any color you'd like. I hope you like them!

You can purchase them from my Etsy shop here

The Engagement Party is Tomorrow!!

2011-08-26T10:23:00.000-07:00

The food has been ordered, the chairs and glasses have been rented, and a new dress has been purchased. My friend’s pre wedding/engagement party is tomorrow and I’m totally excited! Everything is falling into place quite nicely and despite the heat, it looks like tomorrow night is going to be a blast! The thing I love to do when I’m all the way up in the far reaches of northern California in Chico, especially in the summer, is to wake up while it’s still cool out (summers like to be over 100 degrees here) and drink a cup of hot coffee. Hopefully, the pot was brewed by Wes (I don’t know how he does it but every pot he makes is just perfect!). I also like to drink in the sweet silence of a morning that hasn’t quite started to wake up yet. Everything is peaceful, everyone is quite, the birds have already caught their worms and are enjoying the post binge food coma, and it’s just so perfect I never want to leave. Then I run out of coffee, or the neighbor’s dog starts barking, or the sun starts to shine directly on the spot that I was sitting just trying to give me cancer. Not this time Sun, you can’t get me!

Okay, so memory lane aside, I’m supposed to have been making Thank You cards for this lovely couple (you can see my post from last week here). Well with all the party preparation going on, and two other invitations in the mix, I might not have had time to get to these. Well you’re wrong! I actually finished and printed them on Monday (how’s that for proactive!). However, I have my hard fast rule that you, my readers, can’t see them until after they are in the hands of the owners and that doesn’t happen until tomorrow, sorry.

Luckily I can show you some ideas I was toying with while making them. I already showed you the font I wanted to use in the last post. This time I want to show you this cute little champagne glass idea I have, you know, since it was a champagne party after all.

I chose a variety of colors and let Melissa pick the one that she liked the most.

For a little bit we were considering using their soon-to-be married name on the Thank Yous, who doesn’t love personalized stationary!?

Hopefully next week I’ll be able to show you the finished product until then…stay classy.

A Celebration of the 3rd Decade

2011-08-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

What is it about turning 30 that is such a big deal? Is it that you’re no longer ‘in your twenties’ because I don’t remember 20 being that big of a deal, it was just the final step before 21, hello legal drinking age! Or is it just the fact that you managed to not die for 3 decades that makes it special? Most likely it’s just a great excuse to have a big party!

Well I’m not turning 30 (at least not for a few more years) but my friend Gina is throwing a party for her friend who IS turning 30 (congrats!). The event is a Safari in the Bay Area where there will be a) a safari (duh) b) a dinner and c) wine! We’re calling it Rhinos and Winos (that might be the actual name of the tour but I’ll pretend to take credit for it…along with Gina of course), and I designed the invitation several months ago. However, the actual revealing of the invitation won’t occur until after the birthday girl gets to see them so you’ll just have to wait!

I have already made the save the dates...and I thought that I had put them on Etsy but I just went to find them and surprise! They're not there. So here is what they look like (eventually they'll make their way on to my Etsy Shop):

Now the thing I want to share with you (which happens to be my favorite thing about the whole invite/save the date) is the little "stamp" I made (note the theme above).

Isn’t that awesome!?

The invitation goes out in September so stay tuned for the finished product, did I mention there is an extra cool thing we’re doing with this one? I didn’t? Oh well you’ll just have to come back and find out!

Weekend in Photos

2011-08-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

Today's Quote:

"Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you." - Marsha Norman

Weekend in Photos:

Figured I'd make this one as simple as possible. This is my weekend in photos!

The iPhone didn't do too bad did it!?

Mug Shot: Postcup(TM)

Love this postcard style cup.

You can buy it here

Melissa and Wesley

2011-08-19T15:52:00.000-07:00

Maid of Honor, a prestigious title, second only to Bride, Groom and equal in strength as Best Man. This role comes with a ton of responsibility and not in the, let me order balloons and appetizers for this party, kind of responsibility (though you have to do that too). It comes with, no that dress doesn’t make you look fat, sure those flowers will match the napkins, your mother doesn’t hate you, and no hubby-to-be won’t refuse to marry you because you desperately want to have 'Everybody' by Backstreet Boys added to the playlist…but you should probably run it by him just in case. There is a lot to do, and while you’re definitely relieved when they finally say their ‘I-do's’ and it’s time to kick off your heels and shake your groove thang on the dance floor, getting there was still a lot of fun. I mean, before the wedding day is even close you get to spend hours with your friend doing all the things most girls like to do, shop, eat fancy food, try on frilly dresses and then go to the spa (gotta look great for your friends big day).

My roommates/best friends from college are getting married this September and I was asked to be not just the Maid of Honor but also the Best Man (we’re still trying to figure out logistics as to where I’ll stand and what I should wear). At first I was like wow how awesome, I get to be both! But then you start calculating in your head, that’s one shower, one bachelorette party, one bachelor party, and one wedding and OMG I’m going to be so insanely busy…and did I mention they live 468 miles away (yeah that’s right, I totally just Googled it)!? Luckily my wonderful friends thought of this and decided that the best option would be to have just one all inclusive party for the both of them just before the wedding. That party is next weekend, and naturally I made the invitations for them.

This is the one that was mocked up for purchase here at my Etsy shop.

Well with a party like this, one that will more than likely include a wedding gift or two, naturally, they will need Thank You cards, and guess who they asked to make them….yours truly! I’ve already started the design process and I’m totally in love with this font:

You can find it here.

I’ll keep you posted as the design process continues…since the party is next weekend you can guess this is going to be a rush order, who's pumped for a design-tastic weekend!!? ME!

Also, fear not friends! I have not forgotten about the Housewarming Party invitations, they’ll get their time to shine soon enough.

Organization Board

2011-08-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

Well I didn’t mean to get on a theme here but sometimes it just happens okay! Several weeks ago I came across this website where a guest poster (Moorea Seal) blogged about how she stays organized. I was totally and completely in love with her organizational ideas and amazed at how well she keeps her life together. Towards the end of her post she writes about this board she painted black and put post-its on. I thought it was a really great idea and wanted to implement it in my own life, but taking the time and money to buy the supplies and then wait for them to dry was far too time consuming for my taste so I came up with a plan B….

Ta da!! Ain’t she a beaut!? Now it’s nothing like Moorea Seal’s version but it totally works! Instead of paint and wood, I used cardboard (thank you new printer box! Hope I don’t have to return it!) and black construction paper. Then I took colored construction paper and a handy dandy paper cutter, with a fun shaped blade, to cut out the titles of each section. A little glue here, and a few post-it notes there and voila! A totally useable, totally awesome organization board….hopefully I’ll use it!

Get Organized

2011-08-15T16:02:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I love…LOVE to shop for office supplies. Since its pretty much back to school time for most students (and I really just wanted to peruse the office supply section of Etsy) I thought I’d lend a helping hand with an organizational treasury, which you can find here. As always, my favorites are listed below.

Chalkboard Wall Calendar – I think this is awesome. It’s huge, so it’s almost impossible to miss something. Plus all of the writing is done with a chalk ink pen allowing you to be as creative (or uncreative) as you want!
Custom Pencils – now you don’t have to worry about people stealing your pencils. You can have funny quotes, your name or pretty much anything you can think of written on these pencils (plus they will work on standardized testing forms!)
Glossy Black Queen Anne Desk – I just love the interior of the desk drawer and that it matches the chair! If I were in need of a desk (or if I had room in my house for it) this wouldn't be listed anymore because it would be sitting in my house. Love the colors and the look and feel, and I think that this desk will help inspire creativity!
Cosmo Cricket Planner – You can’t be organized if you aren't planning…or at least attempting to plan. I love the layout of this shot and the flowers on the cover are a lot of fun. It’s definitely something I would pick up and thumb through at a Barnes and Nobel.
Office Supply Addict Button – okay, I know, this really won’t help with any form of organization but when I saw it I was like the world must know this exists! I hope there are other office supply addicts out there! Office Supply Addicts of the world UNITE!!

What’s your favorite organizational item?

10 Ways to Find Inspiration

2011-08-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

Don’t you just hate it when you need to make something and you just can’t think of what to do? Here is what I do to find inspiration. These aren’t listed in any particular order but they seem to work out well for me.

Go outside. Embrace what Mother Nature has to offer. Go for a walk, clear your head. Literally stop and smell the roses. Go to the beach and feel the sand beneath your toes. Go for a hike, bike ride or anything that gets the wind blowing through your hair and allows you to soak up some Vitamin D (through sun block of course – wouldn't want to get cancer).
Exercise. Get your heart pumping! It will help you clear your head and get your mind off of your work. Kill two birds with one stone and exercise outside. The bonus to exercise is all those awesome endorphins you’ll create. Even if you’re aha moment doesn't come during a run, bike ride or swim at least you’ll be really happy!
Meditate. Find some place quiet (maybe after a run outside? It wasn't my intention to build upon these but when it works it works!) and then just sit there. Get away from people and distractions (put down the cell phone!). Living in such a fast paced world it’s easy to get lost in Facebook updates and Tweets. If your cell phone needs to reboot every day wouldn't it make sense that you do too? Find a happy place to just sit and listen to yourself breath, clear your mind. Think of it this way, if you were to force yourself to expel all the air out of your lungs, the automatic response from your body is to inhale a bunch of fresh new air. I like to think the same is true with creativity. If you expel all thoughts from your head then the automatic response is for your brain to bring in fresh new thoughts (hopefully creating that spark you’re looking for!)
Explore your favorite blogs. They’re your favorite for a reason. They obviously speak to you in some way. Maybe they make you laugh, or make you think, and hopefully you have a few in your line up that inspire you! I read dooce.com for entertainment, goinghometoroost.com for inspiration, and I love visiting Paper Source just because they have so many great DIY ideas. You never know where blogs may bounce you to next!
Google image search. I honestly couldn't live without it. Whenever I’m making a new project and I need help coming up with an image or an idea I search something in the ballpark of what I’m looking for. Sometimes the perfect picture shows up and sometimes another picture will spark a new idea. You could start out looking for a circus tent and instead end up with elephants eating popcorn.
Pintrest. If you haven’t checked this out yet I highly recommend it (link here). This is a collection of pictures that other people all over the world think are cool, funny, inspiring etc. that you can “pin” on your “bulletin board” for inspiration for that upcoming bathroom remodel or soiree you’re going to throw. You can use it for other things too of course, but whenever I’m in a creative slump I head right over there and am amazed to find so many unique ways that people see the world.
Write it down. There is nothing I find more cathartic than just writing down what’s in my head. I can’t do it all the time but when I do write everything down it feels great. By writing down thoughts in your head it gives you an opportunity to see what you really have on your plate. Maybe you’re so stressed out about doing laundry before the weekend comes that it’s consistently on your mind, which of course is blocking your creative flow. Write it down, get it out and move on. Who knows maybe something you jot down will be something inspiring?
Read about it. Go to your local bookstore (I’m a huge Barnes and Noble fan) and stop by the art section. Look at any one of the numerous art books they have just laying out and enjoy the pictures inside them. Don’t have time to peruse the books? Swing by the magazine rack and grab a couple to go. This way you can read them after you meditate in the park, you know, because you just ran there right?
Look at what others have done. Take a look at what other people in your field are doing. Pick out what you like about it. I’m not saying to copy their work (plagiarizing is illegal) but maybe something they did will inspire you to do something else. I like to find many different versions of something I’m trying to make and then figure out what it is I like about them. Then I take that information and try to incorporate it in my designs.
Talk to people. Use your friends and family as a brainstorming team. Bounce ideas off them, and try to come up with new ones. Ask questions and keep an open mind. What may come across as an out of the box idea might be exactly what you were looking for. Remember, your family and friends are there to help but they’re probably not paid employees of You Incorporated so be nice and don’t force them to brainstorm with you every day.

To the Beach

2011-08-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

Today's inspiration:

To the Beach:
Living in Los Angeles you find that you are never really very far from the beach…ever. However, because of this pesky thing called traffic, people here generally stay within their neighborhood bubble and never leave it unless forced to. Well two weekends ago I decided that I wanted to go to the beach, but was feeling kind of lazy, and while it is within my bubble it was still kind of a hassle.

Let me explain to you why going to the beach isn’t as easy and wonderful as it sounds. First you have to remember that it is summer here in beautiful sunny southern California. With a population of near 4 million people living in Los Angeles proper, you can imagine the number of people you may find on a sunny So Cal beach. This means that once you get within, oh I’d say seven blocks of the ocean you’ll sit in a half hour’s worth of single lane, stop light-tastic traffic. If you stop and try and park prior to that you’ll either be in a 2 hour metered spot, not worth it, or in neighborhood parking that requires a special permit…which of course I don’t have. Assuming you haven’t given up and actually make it close to the beach you have a choice to make. Santa Monica, the beach I was thinking of going to, is at the base of a cliff. When it comes to parking, you can park on top of the cliff, hike down it using the staircase and bridges (which means you have to hike back up it at the end of the day) and then walk across what I can only describe as the Sahara Desert before you can even touch water. The cost for this is free for 2 hours and then a max of $8 for the day. Your other option is to skip the hike up and down the cliff and just park at sea level. You pay $10 for the day and still have to walk across the Sahara Desert. Plus, everyone on the planet knows about Santa Monica, making it a tourist trap, meaning good luck finding a spot on the beach that’s not somewhere behind a lifeguard tower. You didn’t think you were actually going to get to sit by the water did you?

Back to the point. I was feeling kind of lazy, and instead of going to the ocean just drove by it instead. I took a nice trip up PCH (Pacific Coast Highway or Highway One, whichever you’d prefer) and every time I thought ‘I should probably turn around’ I just kept driving. An hour or so later I found myself in Oxnard, which isn’t really that close to the water anymore and turned around and dove home.

On Monday I had dinner with friends, and they said “let’s go for a walk on the beach.” Having not made it the day before I thought awesome! Now I’ll get to go to the beach! Well the driver had the same dilemma I’d had the day before – the beach is just so FAR and requires STOPPING. We ended up doing another quick drive up PCH before turning back.

On Tuesday I saw a blog post about someone who went to the beach with her family and I knew I had to go and touch the water. Of course this week is jammed full of events (like picking my friend Stella up from taking THE BAR!! – fingers crossed she passes) and making it to the beach just wasn’t going to happen.

On Saturday (after my week died down a bit) I was invited to travel down to Manhattan Beach and see a Volleyball Tournament. I was instructed to wear a bathing suit, which in my mind means, I’m going to get to touch the water! Unfortunately it didn’t work that way and we walked along the strand NEXT to the beach but never ON the beach let alone near the water.

Finally…FINALLY on Sunday I got to touch the water. I went out to lunch near Hermosa Beach, and afterwards we went all the way down and touched the ocean. The water was just perfect. Maybe next time I’ll get to swim in it!

Feet finally IN the ocean!

MUG SHOT: Mr. Tea

'nuf said

Buy it here

Work in Progress [WIP]: Housewarming Party

2011-08-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago a friend of mine moved. I made her “I’m moving” postcards which you can view here and buy here. In an attempt to come up with something new to add to my shop, and with this postcard freshly finished a friend suggested I keep moving forward and make a Housewarming Party invitation. I didn’t make this for anyone in particular. It was just something to keep the creative juices flowing, and of course increase my product line on Etsy.

I scoured the internet for inspiration and my first thought was a home wearing earmuffs and a scarf. However, the more I looked the more I realized that I didn’t want to make a house with earmuffs and a scarf. It’s not winter right now, it should be more summery! Next thing I know I’m knee deep in paper lantern pictures. Isn’t that the perfect end of summer beginning of fall thing? A nice backyard party?

I also really like the idea of using words like ‘eat’ and ‘party’ in the invitation. Combining paper lanterns and letters seems easy enough. Thus I began to sketch out a few ideas.

However, by the time I brought that idea to life I realized that this was not the direction I had meant to head in…something was just off. So I sketched out a new idea, thanks to a new brainstorming effort (p.s. I don’t know what I’d do without my friends because they’re the ultimate brain trust in bouncing ideas back and forth – thanks for being so awesome!). I’m thinking this new tree idea is really going to work.

The other thing I wanted to fix was the lantern color. For version one, I used pastel colors for the lanterns (see below) and as great as those colors are for baby showers and Easter, they're not so great for the late summer party that I was looking for. I found this image of lanterns and knew these were the colors I had in mind.

Stay tuned for the finished product hopefully coming up soon!

Walking through the [neighbor]hood

2011-08-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

The other day I decided to go out and see what my the manual setting on my digital point and shoot camera could really do. That’s right I touched things like the shutter speed and aperture and didn’t break anything….I don’t think.

What I like about the place I chose to take the pictures is that even though all of these houses are less than a few blocks from Wilshire Boulevard (one of the busiest and most widely used streets in Los Angeles) for some strange reason, after a block or so, you can’t hear the sound of cars rushing by. You hear birds chirping, kids playing, and lawns being mowed.

I took about a half hour walk around the neighborhood taking pictures of anything that inspired me or that was just kind of interesting. I’m sure people saw me walking around with a camera and was like “What is she taking pictures of? Is she spying on us? I bet that’s not just a regular point and shoot I bet she’s casing the joint and taking pictures inside our windows! Hide your wife! Hide your kids!”

I think I need to work on exposure just a little bit, or maybe it was because it was such an overcast day that everything came out kind of flat and maybe a little over exposed/bright. Either way, the brightness/contrast was changed a little on all of these pictures (thank you Photoshop), but other than that, this is how I took them. I welcome any comments as I’m not really a photographer (maybe one day). My favorite one is of the lamp…I kind of which I’d taken the time to remove the cobwebs though!

Mug Shot: Mustache

2011-08-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

Today’s mug is brought to you from LennyMud’s Etsy Shop. I found this mustache-tastic mug thanks to Etsy’s suggestion feature, who knew Etsy knew me so well! My favorite part is the picture of the guy drinking it (see picture below). This mug is simple, and to the point. It’s like hey, here’s a mustache, and I wear it every time I take a sip. I'm not sure why mustaches are in, and honestly I'm not a huge fan of them myself, but I love this mug. How much fun would it be to walk around work drinking out of it, super casual like, and just watch all your coworkers give you funny looks?

You can buy this mug here

New Cards on Etsy: Thank You

2011-07-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

I just started adding Thank You cards to my collection at Etsy. They're on this really cool textured paper and I think they're pretty awesome. I'll have more Thank You cards up in the next couple of weeks. I've also included (in Etsy) a list of colors to choose from. If Strawberry isn't your thing you can pick another color, maybe you'd prefer Pool, or Grape?

You can buy them here.

Bake Sale Treasury

2011-07-27T13:54:00.000-07:00

This week I was suddenly inspired to do a Bake Sale themed Treasury. It ended up being more baking than selling, but that's okay. All of this searching for baking things makes me hungry! I think I'm going to get my bake on and make me something delicious, like those cupcakes pictured below (although, those are soap, so maybe not EXACTLY like the ones pictured below!) My favorites are below, but for the full treasury go here.

Sweetheart Apron - I think this is adorable and I love the pink bow and paisley...yup I'm a girl!
Owl Recipe Box - I've been told that Owls are in this season. Whether or not they actually I are I think this recipe box is a super cute place to keep all your recipes!
Sign - Come on! If you're going to have a bake sale you have to advertise whats going on. What better way to do that then with a custom sign!
Recipe Cards - Now you have some super cute cards to put in your super cute recipe box (see item #2). Then you should start calling family members asking for recipes. Look, a way to keep track of recipes AND a way to bond with family, two birds, one stone WIN!
Vegan Cupcake Soap - While its not edible (well maybe it is, I don't know) I just thought they were really cute and a *sweet way to get clean :) Plus they went along with the theme splendidly!

Mug Shot - Good Morning

2011-07-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Now these mugs aren’t normally what I’d go to a store and pick up off a shelf to have and to hold forever and always, but I think they’re funny. It’s like, just in case you forgot, its morning and it should be good…even if it’s Monday. Especially if it’s Monday. If I had these cups I would use them every Monday just as a little inside joke to myself. I also like the fact that they’re so clean and crisp. You’re starting the day off right with these mugs.

You can buy them here.