100 Years Young!!!!

Happiest of Birthday Celebrations to this lovely young lady today!!!!!

Earlier this summer I had the amazing opportunity to take some photos with the birthday girl in preparation for her 100th Birthday celebration held over the summer. And TODAY is finally the big day!

100 YEARS!!!!!! Wow! Facing each day with beauty, grace, spunk and a twinkle in here eye, this lovely lady has lived a lifetime and is still going strong! Truly inspiring!

I am so blessed and honored to know this amazing woman and I wish her the very Happiest of Birthdays!!! I hope your family is spoiling you rotten today Louise!!!!!

ENJOY!

- Birthday Party Invite - 

Happy Birthday to my Littlest Lady!

Happy Tuesday!!!! Hope you all are enjoying the beautiful crisp fall day!! I know I am!!

Just had to take a moment to share a fun little design I did recently. Cutie-patootie Birthday Invites for my littlest love's 3rd Birthday!!! (YIKES I can not believe that she is 3 already!)

I love being able to look back at the cards from each year of my kids lives and see how much they have grown and changed. I may not be the best when it comes to home made meals for my family, but I like to think that at least their childhood will be well documented with photos, cute cards, smiles and tons of laughter!!!

Love you baby girl and I am so blessed to be your mommy!!!

ENJOY!

Take me out to the Ball Game!!!

July has arrived!!!! Which means it is time for some Red, White and Blue!!!!

I am so excited to share with you an amazing little print I was asked to design recently. And yes, I have been saving this one especially for this week to celebrate the 4th of July in official Red, White and Blue style!!!

A dear friend of mine commissioned this print as a special surprise for her father. Over the past several years her father has made it his goal to attend a game at ALL of the baseball stadiums in both the American and National leagues. If you are not familiar with baseball.. that is 30, yes THIRTY stadiums across the country.

This year for her fathers birthday my friend took him to the final stadium on his list! WOW! To celebrate this accomplishment I was asked to design a print with all the stadiums, dates, and teams played for each place he visited. It was quite the puzzle of details and numbers but I simply LOVE how it turned out!!! She even had it printed on the back of a shirt for him to wear to the game. So fun, and he got a lot of compliments and congrats on accomplishing his goal!!!! Yep, I love it!!!

ENJOY and may you all have a wonderful week celebrating with family and friends!!!

Sweet, Sassy, SEVEN!

Happy Tuesday!!!

I am finally recovering from the whirlwind of a weekend celebrating my eldest turning 7!!! What a fun card this was to design. She wanted a Summer Luau party this year and I simply love how colorful these invites turned out!!!

Yes, we do birthdays big at our house.

Yes, I am always exhausted afterwards.

Yes, it is totally worth it!!!

This year I am learning the hard lesson over and over again that life is precious and every day we have with our loved ones is a gift. So what better way to enjoy this gift of life than to make every occasion an opportunity to celebrate BIG!!!

I am so proud of this little girl and they young lady she is growing up to be. Even on the days that I can only see the rough edges of myself that this "mini me" displays, she still melts my heart in ways that only a child can do.

Love you little one and Happy 7th Birthday!!!

ENJOY!

Who's Turning 2??

Happy Tuesday!!!

Just wanted to pop in and share a fun little design to help brighten up this, once again, rainy afternoon.

I mean seriously How CUTE is this little lady????

One of the best parts of my job is designing fun things for special little ones and I am super honored to have been asked to help design these fun colorful cards for this precious girl's 2nd birthday. Her life is just one beautiful example of HOPE defying the odds. And that alone is worthy of celebration!

Happy Birthday little lady!!! May this year be wonderful for you and your sweet parents!!!

ENJOY!

Herzlichen Dank!

I am so excited to share this post with you today. This cute little man turned ONE yesterday and since I did not share his card earlier I wanted to do so today to wish him a Very Happy Birthday!!!!

In Germany they do birth announcement cards a little different and I LOVE it. Instead of just an announcement they use the card to take the opportunity to thank those who helped them when the baby was born. Meals, childcare for older siblings, gifts, well wishes, and all the other fun things that parents with a new little one can use when baby first comes home. I love this idea and think we should incorporate it more here in the States. Plus, is he not the cutest little thing????

So Happy First Birthday Tobias!!!! I am so honored I was asked to design this card for you and I can not wait to finally meet you in a few months!!!

ENJOY!

Turning Two!!!

Happy Tuesday!!!

The past few months have been full of countless fun, crazy, challenging, and life changing adventures for our family. And one of these fun adventures was that my littlest lady turned TWO!!!

She is a miracle baby from the start. A brave little soul who is already wise beyond her years. I am beyond blessed with her little life, courage, spunk and hilarious personality.

So without further ado, Happy Birthday sweet princess!!! We love you to the moon and back!

ENJOY!

The BIG 60!

What a wonderful long weekend this has been. I am exhausted but happy! There is nothing better than the opportunity to celebrate the birth of a wonderful woman with a bunch of family and friends. Especially when that woman is your Mother!

This past week my dear Mommy turned the BIG 60! So we threw her an all out Birthday Bash at one of her favorite places, Anderson Farms!!!! This year has been one for the books for my family and I think we all needed a party to look forward to, even in the midst of struggle and change. Celebrating the wonderful years God has blessed my mother with was the perfect opportunity to dwell on JOY and the HAPPY things in life instead of the harsher things that have come our way. It is safe to say that my mom is the glue that holds us all together. She is so much stronger than she will ever know and yet she can still approach every situation with gentle grace and patience. She is a woman of God, a youthful spirit, a faithful friend, a loving wife and a very caring mother.

Sunflowers were the main theme for the event and I had so much fun designing not only the Invites, Map, and Thank You's, but getting to coordinate them to the party decor as well. Yes, it was a bright and colorful, sunflower-filled, summer-on-the-farm party and I enjoyed every minute of it!

Happy Birthday Mommy and know that you are very Loved and very Precious!!

ENJOY!

 - Birthday Party Invite - 

 - Birthday Party Map/Directions - 

 - Birthday Party Address Labels - 

 - Birthday Party Thank You Cards - 

Frozen... in SUMMER!!!

Happy Tuesday! The first Tuesday of Summer to be exact. Yes indeed, this past weekend brought us officially into summertime! YAY!!! Days at the pool, library reading programs, VBS and summer camps, longer days to spend with family and friends... oh yes, and lets not forget Birthday Parties!!!!

Last week my daughter turned 6! She loves having a summer birthday and she tells us all the time that she is a "Summer Girl" because she was born in June and she just LOVES all things summery. Except one of her favorite things right now, which in fact, is NOT summery and warm is the new hit movie Frozen.

So of course, months and months ago, she started planning a "Frozen in Summer" birthday party for her big day. I love that she likes to plan and create and imagine all sorts of fun ideas for her friends to enjoy at her party. My little girl is growing up into such an amazing young lady!!!

So without further ado, here are a few glimpses into her Frozen in Summer party!!!

ENJOY!

- Invites -

- Wrap-around Address Labels -

- Themed Party Food, and WONDERFUL cupcakes a friend of mine made!!! -

 - And of course costumes!!! E is on the right in her Elsa dress with her little friend M who came in an Anna dress. Total Cuteness!!! -

 - "Coronation Day Crowns" and "Do you wanna build a Snowman?" craft tables were also set up but due to camera issues I don't have any photos of these to share -

Happy 6th Birthday beautiful girl. We love you to the moon and back!!

Christmas Showcase #2 - Happy Birthday little ONE!!!

Happy Monday everyone!!! I thought I would share a little something close to my heart to start the week off wonderfully.

One of the best things about being a designer and working for myself is getting to design fun little things for ME!!! This is not as easy as it sounds however, you see, I am a perfectionist and so getting what I want exactly as I think I want/need it.. can sometimes take forever. Yes, I am my worst critic. But I keep on working towards my own standards and I usually end up with something that I LOVE!

Or as I tell my friends, I may not be able to cook a fabulous meal to save my life but I can make a mean Birthday Card!!!

So without further ado I present to you my latest little creation for my Adorable, Squishy, Tiny, Miracle of a Baby Girl. She turned ONE a few weeks ago and I am just now getting around to sharing her Birthday Invite. I love this little face and these piercing eyes. Happy First Birthday baby girl!!!!

ENJOY!

The BIG 5!!!

Hello and Happy Tuesday!!! I am so excited to share a few fun things with you today. We have been busy all last week celebrating my eldest daughter turning The BIG 5! I love being able to create fun designs for my kids and birthday cards are high on my top 5 favorites list!! This year, however, I had a little help with the cards. I recruited my budding artist/writer to assist me in designing her birthday invite. I took her sketches and her name and digitized them to use with the design layout I created. I LOVE it!!! And it ads a super fun personal touch from my little lady!

ENJOY and Happy 5th Birthday to my dearest Emelia Rose. I love you to the moon and back!!!

AND I thought I would also share with you a few of my favorites from her 5 Year Photo session. This lady knows how to work the camera.. and when to run away from it. Yes, she must be the daughter of a photographer! But I just love her to bits and I can not get enough of the silly photos she takes!!!

ENJOY!

Christmas in June???

Last week I was off on a family adventure camping in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We were celebrating my wonderful Daddy turning 60!!! And no, we did not celebrate Christmas while we were there, but there was a little Christmas Spirit represented. A few years ago my dad fell in love with a silly little Christmas movie that he quotes on a daily basis. It is too funny, and even more hilarious to watch him while he is watching this movie!!! So this year as a birthday gift for my daddy I put together a fun little quote collage of his favorite movie, The Grinch!!! Now he can enjoy his Grinch-y laughs all year round and not just once a year!!!

I love how it turned out and I just had to share it with you!!!

ENJOY!

- My Daddy showing off his new birthday gift!! Love you!

Every Day Should be Mothers Day!!!

Ok, Ok, so in true fashion of being a mom with 2 little ones I am a few days behind with my Mothers Day Post. But as I sat down to write I decided that EVERY DAY should be Mothers Day, so in reality I am not behind at all!!!

To be honest though, I could not post my fun Mothers Day gift/designs because I had not given them to my Mother and Mother-in-Law yet. And of course, however excited I was to show these to you,  I did not want to spoil the surprise!!

These "What a Difference a Day Makes" design prints were inspired by an amazing fellow designer over at Pixels to Paper and I just knew I needed to create something similar for my family for Mothers Day. I Love, Love, Love, Love how they turned out!! (And yes, I did make one for myself this time!)

ENJOY!!!!

- Family Tree Print (Birthdays in Grey, Weddings in Red)

- Special Dates Print (Birthdays in Grey, Wedding in Red)

- My Little Family! (Birthdays in Grey, Wedding in Yellow)

Little bit of Summertime...

Today was such a beautiful day!!! Almost felt like Spring was on its way... maybe... or we could have another dumping of snow on our doorstep in the morning. Either way I am loving the warmth of today. And since I am in the mood for Summer, I thought I would just jump right in and share with you a cute little invite I designed recently.

It is not everyday I get to design a Pool Party Birthday invite in the middle of winter. BUT that is the beauty of this wonderful world we live in and although we might have snow here in Colorado, a dear friend of mine Down Under is just finishing up with their Summer!!!

A few weeks ago, this dear friend asked me to design a 2nd Birthday Party Invite for her little princess and I just LOVE how it turned out. What a perfect way to get through the winter blues by designing a super colorful, full of sunshine and smiles, barefooted, girly birthday card!!!

Eva, cutie, I hope your Birthday was amazing!!!!! One of these days I hope to finally get to meet you in person!! Love ya!

ENJOY!

The BIG 4!!!

The day is drawing to an end and I still can't believe that my little princess is officially FOUR years old!!!! We spent all day having a wonderful Happy Birthday and celebrating this precious little child I am blessed to call my daughter. I love you so much baby (ok, not so baby) girl, forever and always!!!

Here is a little taste of her Birthday Celebration. We had a fun little Pink and Yellow Lemonade Party that was actually thought up last minute because I was so in love with the color combo on her invite, and wanted to throw a theme together to match. Ta Da! It turned out super cute and fun and I can't wait to try out more Lemonade combos this summer.

ENJOY and Happy 4th Birthday Emelia Rose!!!

Double the FUN!!!

It is definitely spring around here.. which means Birthday & Baby season! For the past few weeks we have had multiple parties to attend as well as countless friends giving birth to new little bundles of joy. YAY for birthdays, babies, balloons and lots of Cake!!!!

Not only do I love a good birthday party but I really love getting to designing cute Birthday Invites. A few weeks ago I was asked by a dear friend of mine to help design an invite for her twin daughters 2nd birthday. These little girlies are just so precious and cute, I still remember visiting them right after their birth and it has been fun to watch their personalities come alive over the past 2 years. I was very honored to take part in their big day by designing their cute little animal themed invites... to go along with their super fun animal themed party!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday little ladies, hope your day was wonderful!!!!

ENJOY!

Little Boy in Blue...

In this hot month of July there is nothing better than a summer breeze, a good fireworks show, camping at the lake, running through the sprinklers and capturing the smile of a little boy in blue. Yep, July was an amazingly busy month for me, stuffed full of excitement. BUT one of my favorite things I got to do this month was take some super cute Family/1st Birthday Photos for some friends of mine. Their little guy just lights up the room with his toothy grin and amazing blue eyes.

Happy little man + Cute little family = A super fun morning playing at the park and capturing some summer memories. Here are a few of my favorites from the day! ENJOY.

Happy 1st Birthday little Man.. and thanks for letting me share in your summer fun!!!

A Legacy of Love...

I love my job. I love being able to stay home with my daughter while still working. I love the availability to meet with clients in the comfort of their own home. I love being a witness to some amazing first hand stories. THIS story I think takes the cake, and it actually set the tone for the whole design.

It was just an ordinary day, but my heart would be filled with something special by the time the day was out. A month or so ago I was asked to help with a 60th Anniversary & 80th Birthday's Party Invite for Mr. & Mrs. H. The quests of honor actually live close me so we decided to meet at their house to go over ideas and lay out what they wanted for their invite.

We piled the table high with old photos, memories, paper samples and LOTS of ideas... Mrs. H had a particular photo she wanted to use for the front of the card, not her first pick, but she kept saying that it was her husbands favorite photo from their wedding. It was just a quick snapshot of them leaving in a vehicle.. nothing special.. right???

UNTIL, Mr. H came over to see what us ladies were working on and suddenly he smiles and pulls his wallet out from his back pocket. Slowly, carefully, he pulls out a little folded up piece of faded, falling apart paper. With well worn fingers he carefully unfolds it and spreads it out on the table.

My eyes did not believe what I saw before me, for this crumbly piece of paper was actually the original newspaper clipping from the day they were married 60 years ago! With the exact same photo of them leaving in the car. WOW!

Awestruck, I now understood why this photo was so special. Through all these years, even during his time serving our country overseas, he had kept this newspaper clipping of his bride with him. I knew right then and there that we HAD to feature this priceless heritage on the front of the invite. How memorable and honoring... what an amazing legacy of love for a 60th Anniversary! I was truly blessed to witness the unveiling of such a crumbly little paper which had stood the test of true love!!!

Here are the Before and After images of the article, fortunately for us they still had the original photo so I was able to clean up the article and fit a new scan of the old photo in for a more polished look.

Here is the Invite... complete with news clipping, wedding photos, childhood photos AND even photos of the high school sweethearts before Mr. H left for war. Ya that's right, young love celebrating 60 years together... I LOVE IT!!! (Oh and Mrs. H's photo also was tucked away in the wallet with the clipping)

AND now, last but not least, since they loved the invites so much they decided to continue with the look of the Invite and had me create a set of 4 Bookmarks that served as little trivia party favors on the tables at the party. YEP, I am a total matchy, matchy girl and this project was just so fun for me to work with. Not only did I get to be creative with my designs and think out of the box, I was honored to meet one truly amazing couple who's testament of enduring love will continue to inspire me for years to come!

Happy Birthday's Mr. & Mrs. H. and congratulations on a very Happy 60th Anniversary!!!
You have blessed me beyond belief!

Red, White & Birthdays!!!

Happy July Everyone!!!! It is time to get on our party hats, set out the flag, pack a picnic, slap on the sunscreen and prepare for Americas Birthday this weekend!!! YAY! I love the 4th of July and all the celebrations that come with it...

So to kick off the weekend festivities, I thought I would share a little ad I did that came out in todays edition of the The Sopris Sun. (If you live in the Carbondale area check it out, it is the whole back page!!!). I was asked to help design this ad in honor of Jim Calaway's 80th Birthday and all that he has done for the community as well as Colorado Mountain College, where I graduated. I am so excited with how fun it turned out and just heard this morning that he LOVED it and wants to save 100 copies. YAY!

Congrats on 80 years Jim, and thanks for being such an amazing a part of my education! ENJOY!

My 3 Year Old Princess!!!

Happy Birthday to my Wonderful, Silly, Energetic, Dancing, Laughing, Singing, Imagining, Designing, Creating, Running, Cooking, Faceball (baseball) Playing, Orange Juice Drinking, High Fiving (too slow), Tree Climbing, Princess Twirling, Wedding Planning, Mermaid Swimming, Photo Taking, Computer Playing, Joke Telling, Tea Party Making, Beautiful, Heart Melting Daughter. I love you so much and every time I look at you I cant help but smile at the amazing girl you are turning into.

3 years ago and it still feels like yesterday. Happy Birthday Emelia Rose!!!

Here are her too cute for words (yes, I am biased, hehe) 3rd Birthday Party invitations. ENJOY!!!