pre-made logos!

I've been working on a bunch of pre-made logos for my shop lately! They are an affordable way to give your business a new look! There are lots of styles and colors to choose from, so please stop by and take a look! And I'm giving one away!  

One lucky winner will win a pre-made logo of their choosing. 

Here's the way to enter: 

1.) leave a comment about which logo you would choose.

2.) like me on facebook. 

I will be drawing a name on Friday, so hop to!

Birth Announcements

Been working on a lot of new birth announcements in the shop!

If you, or someone you know, has a little one to announce then pop by and get one...

 All of the listings are digital which makes it cheaper and easier to create the perfect announcement.

wee one

Here's the official announcement.

Yes, I am pregnant. about 8 weeks now.

and yep. I feel icky, and excited, and scared, and nervous, and joyful.

and I'm trying real hard to visualize two diapers to change, two mouths to feed, two cries to tolerate.

BUT I know that the Lord is faithful and I am trusting in His word and goodness.

So to all of you out there that may have sensed that I am a bit off these days.. I am.

Turns out being pregnant while already having a wee one... that's a whole new ball game.

excited to share this news.

and keep the work coming, we're going to need all the help we can get :)

 

2012 Holiday Cards

I'm pretty pumped to show you my holiday collection today! I really love creating things for the Holiday season, because I get giddy about that fact that my little creations go flying through the postal service and send love to people all over.

Here are some closer looks at all of the cards:

 Merry Cat-mas

 Up on the Housetop

 Season's Greetings Wreath

 Season's Greetings

silent night

what's his face

beauty

 Before Haddie was born, my beauty regimen involved 5 steps, possibly even 6.

Nowadays, there are three easy steps to achieve my look.

mascara

lip balm

curl spray

repeat the next day.

I can't say that I really miss those other 3 steps anyways.

Minted Art Challenge

man. it has been a while since i've entered any of the design contests on Minted.com.

I'm pretty excited about the latest challenge.  It's all about modern art.  Simple, yet well designed.  Here are a couple that I am starting out with! I will keep you posted on when the voting begins :)

Old Me

 The other day, I came across my old flickr account and found these pictures of me.  Which really was only 5 years ago.  But I look so.very.young.  A lot can happen in 5 years, and a lot has happened.

I know that I am not that girl anymore.  But in a way, I know we're still the same.

holidays

The weather is getting cooler, and its pathetic to say, but I have been holed up in my house listening to holiday music to get me in the mood for some holiday illustrations. 

pretty soon, we'll all be humming jingle bells.

:)

My fonts

Although I have been getting into hand lettering a lot more lately, I still use downloaded fonts all the time in my designs.  Finding a good font that you can trust in your work is like finding a good man, don't just settle for any old font. (Note: You probably shouldn't pick 6 good men, like I have picked 6 good fonts above) :)

So, without further ado, the list above are the fonts that I used on a regular basis.  Obviously there are others too, but these are the ones that appear the most.  Some are bought at a wee price and others are free, which is much more fun.

hope that these help you in creating what you want!

My little painter

Since I have recently been getting into painting, I thought that I should give Haddie the pleasure of doing so as well.  Just added some food coloring to yogurt, and voila... a little picasso. 

too fun, will definitely be doing it again.

My Little Invite OPENS TODAY!

eeks! I am so excited to share with you my newest brainchild: My Little Invite!

It's an online shop that features Printable Invitations and Announcements.

So many people these days are choosing to do their own printing and therefore saving SO much money, that I thought I would join in the fun.

There are Wedding invites, Save the Dates, Birth Announcements, Thank you cards, Holiday Party Invites and MORE!  I also plan on developing as ideas come to me, so the shop will be constantly updated.  I also have printing options as well, if you'd rather have me take care of that part.

What's more? You get a discount!  Because of the big day I am offering 10% off ANYTHING in the shop.  Just use code BIGOPENING upon checking out.  Offer ends September 17th.

So please Take a Look, and let me know what you think. I would love your input :)

My little invite

I have some very exciting news to share, and this sneak peek as well!

This Fall I am going to be launching a new shop adjacent to my current shop: my little buffalo.

It will be called "my little invite" and will feature LOTS of fun new designs for save the dates, wedding invitations, birth announcements, and more.

keep checking the blog and twitter for when it opens up, and there will probably be some sweet deals with the launch :)

Freshness of Fall

As much as it pains me to say it, Fall is pretty much here...

Kids are in school, pumpkin lattes are being sold,  and you need a sweatshirt at night, need I say more?  I do love this time though, in a way it feels like the freshest time.  A time to reorder things, and kick off a great year. 

So I encourage you, if you own a small business to use this Season to really dial in your branding.  If you feel like your blog has just been way too busy, or if your logo just doesn't represent you at all, let me know.  I have branding packages here.  But even if you just want to send me an email asking for advice, that's okay too.  It's important that your business is visually pleasing to others.  It gives people confidence in buying your product.

So let's do this!  Fall is here, it's time to kick it off right!

Haddie's First

 

it came and it went! I am the proud parent of a one year old now!

We had a great party complete with kitty ears, kitty sammies, kitty cakes, and a very cute one year old. Now.. to start planning for the next :)

Party Planning

This week I am in full on party planning mode.  Little hadley turns one on Sunday!

I used this tutorial to make a number 1 pinata.  Next step is tissue paper..

It's surprisingly easy to do, check it out!

My first real painting

Once upon a time I walked into a thrift store with high hopes of finding a cool vintage painting that I could hang on my new bare walls.  I walked out with this piece above.

I thought I had made a good purchase.  I mean yeah it was a bit different than what we were used to.  But I was desperate to cover my walls, and for $12, I just had to take it.

Then I got home.  My husband let me know just how much he did not want this piece in our living room.  It took a while, but finally the veil had been lifted and I realized the same thing.  dang.

So i decided to paint it.  Keep in mind that I haven't really painted anything in my whole life.  It just seemed so intimidating. I'll admit it, that since I was so intimidated I didn't try to make an original painting.  Instead I borrowed an idea from Sarah Goodreau.

She happens to be amazing and you should check out her work.

Annndd after 4 nights of painting (which I LOVED) here is my finished piece.

I think I found a new love in painting.

Winner!

The winner of the business card giveaway is Jacky!

email me, Jacky and we can get started!

Business Card Giveaway!

I am pretty excited to share with you something new in the shop.  They are custom hand-lettered business cards.  Woot! The listing is for the design only, and then you can print some off at vistaprint.com for mega cheap, and BAM you have yourself a cute set of business cards to pass around.

These are perfect for a small business or even for moms on the go.

Guess what else? I'm giving away a set of 15 printed cards and the digital file to one lucky reader!

TO ENTER:

1.) leave a comment about what you will use the cards for.

2.) for an extra entry like my facebook page.

giveaway ends on Monday, August 26th, so hurry!

We're Animals Art Print

new to the SHOP! "We're Animals Custom Family Art Print".

I'm pretty excited about this new design, its especially for families.  A fun new way to represent who you have in your tribe :)

It would be great as a housewarming gift or a baby gift.

And you can pick from foxes, elephants, and deer. 

pretty fun, right?

magic

This little girl is pure magic to me.

I can't look at her and not feel at least a bit of joy.

She loves her some kitties

There are a lot of reasons one might be certain that Hadley is in fact my offspring.  We share noses, smiles, grimaces, the same laugh, to name a few things.

But the minute she fell in love with kitties, I knew it was true.

You see, I love cats. I think the little fluff balls were put here on the earth to make me melt.

Haddie thinks the same.

She loves her kitten book.

Our former pet Abe was her best friend in Oregon.

She can make a meow noise.

And most of all, she hates dogs.

So when I was planning out what kind of 1st birthday party we would be having, it was a no brainer.

A kitten one.

Kitty hats, kitty balloons, kitty cakes.

Its going to be one kitterific time.

I've been fairly cryptic about why we moved to Michigan and all that jazz.  Not on purpose, its just that things were so busy and we're just now finally starting to breathe.

We moved back to Michigan:

a.) to be closer to family, with a wee one in the family now its all the more important.

b.) to be near friends.  we're still good buds with my college friends and we missed them.

c.) to take a leap on a new career path for nate.

you see, Nate is now an employee of Edward Jones.  He's studying to become a financial advisor for the company.  I think that he will do really well at the job, but its a far cry from the landscaping days of his past.

and when you live in western michigan, and you are in finances, you need to shave your beard.

this part I am sad about. I always hate it when he shaves his beard, but this time, its final.

hope i get used to the baby smooth face because i have no choice but to.

Custom Stationery

seriously though, is there nothing better than opening your mailbox and seeing a pretty little handwritten card? I think not. 

introducing my new custom stationery set, there are soon to be many more like this in the shop!

A little help with chores

meh. cleaning. who really likes it anyway? not me.  I struggle with getting the energy to move a mop.  to help encourage me to stay one track with cleaning before the house ends up looking like the ends times, I made this little print for my fridge.  Its just a little prompt telling me what I need to focus on that day.  And hopefully by the end of the week I will have a semi-clean house.

does anyone else loathe cleaning?

I thought you might enjoy this to, so CLICK HERE for a free download. 

happy cleaning!

August Discount!

Ahhh, August.  For some reason I just love this month.  I don't know if it is the lazy feel of Summer or if it is the excitement for Fall, but none the less, I am a fan.

To celebrate this month we are entering into, I am offering 30% off anything in the SHOP.

This works for prints, cards, design sets, ANYTHING.

Just use the code 30AUGUST.  This deal is valid until August 3rd.

So go ahead, grab some ice tea, lay on your hammock, and enjoy a little discount from me.

Bonus! If you tweet about this discount, I will give you 40% off instead.  Just email me with the tweet link and I will create the coupon for you.

i've been working hard on developing some new birth announcements for the shop.

Make sure to check them out if you're about to welcome a little bundle :)

winner!

Jwolff is the winner for the wedding invitation giveaway!

please email me to get started :)

its almost here..

i've been all business on the blog lately, so can I just mention real quick how completely crazy it is that my baby girl will be one in almost a MONTH!?

shocking, i know.  I'll let you catch your breath.

I'm excited to celebrate this sweet one and also give Nate and I a chance to do a touchdown dance for surviving the first year mostly unscathed. 

life goes fast.