Christmas Countdown #1 - Merry Christmas!!!!

For our final day in this little Christmas Countdown I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas from my family to yours!!!

I am so blessed by all of my wonderful clients and friends who have supported my passion and business this past year. I seriously could not do it without all of you!!! THANK YOU!!

May you all have a wonderful Christmas with friends and family and know that you are all so very loved!!

ENJOY

Special Thanks to Legacy Photography for the beautiful family photo!!

Christmas Countdown #2 - A bittersweet memory...

It has been two years. TWO! Since we first got the call. Cancer. The call that will shatter any man to his knees and bring out the waterworks within minutes. The call I have seen so many other friends and family receive time after time over these past few years. And with every call the painful reminder is still as fresh as it was two years ago.

That was the Christmas we spent at the hospital with my dad. I had never spent a holiday in a hospital before. But have done so many times since then. It was a strange mix of emotions. The feeling of Christmas Joy and excitement comes to a halt as you walk through those double doors and into the stark empty hallways. Not many visitors on Christmas day... but then you realize that there ARE people there. Taking time out of their busy day to be with loved ones who can not be home with family. There are doctors and nurses and cafeteria staff who also have to be there. To them it is just a normal day of the week. Outside those hospital walls is the hustle and bustle of the holiday season yet inside those walls it is the survival of the day to day.

It was a Christmas we will never forget. And now, two years later, as I began to design my parents Christmas card... the flood of memories and emotions all came rushing back. Christmas will forever hold a new set of memories. It will always be a joyous time of celebration as we rejoice in our Saviors birth, but these memories will forever be linked to cold waiting rooms in anticipation of news from the surgeon on that Christmas Eve two years ago.

Yet as I looked at the photos for this card, through my tears I had to smile. Yes, it has been a long two years as my dad has fought this enemy within him. And yet, he is still here!! Full of life and laughter. Enjoying the moments and memories we make as a family. Cherishing each and every time the grandkids get to give him a hug. It is these memories that I will gather up and treasure in my heart. No, they will never replace the sting of cancer, but the bittersweet memories of two years ago help make the small moments and miracle of today that much sweeter.

Merry Christmas Mom and Dad!! And thank you Lord for giving us another Christmas together!!

ENJOY!

Special Thanks to Legacy Photography for the amazing photos!!!

Christmas Countdown #3 - The Lovely Loveland Family!

Happy Monday before Christmas!!! YAY! The countdown is getting lower and we are already to #3!!!

Every so often my dear friend at Fabulous Friday Freebies hosts an amazing giveaway. This year they had a 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway and we created a Custom Print for the winner. Last year we participated by giving away Free Custom Cards. The lucky winner of this giveaway decided to hold off till this year to get their cards ordered and I have to say they turned out adorable!!! I mean seriously how cute is this family? I love designing cards for new clients and I am so honored to be a part of their Christmas festivities this year.

Congrats on winning the Fabulous Friday Freebies giveaway and Merry Christmas Loveland Family!!

ENJOY!

Christmas Countdown #4 - The Amazing Young Family!

WOO HOO!! Christmas week is finally here!!!! And with that comes one of my all time favorite parts of this season.. Christmas Cards!!!! Call me a bit old fashioned but I love seeing everyone's photos, reading yearly updates, and of course displaying each and every card as part of my holiday decor. Yep, I love it!!!!

Not only do I love getting said cards in the mail, but I truly love designing them as well. It is so much fun to see these dear families grow year after year through their Christmas Card photos. And the Young family is no exception. I love this family dearly and am so honored to have met them so many years ago. They are a constant blessing and encouragement to me and to numerous others as they live a life full of God's Grace. No, it is not perfect, as they will be quick to tell you, but I LOVE the messy, honest, humble, adventurous, crazy, and Christ centered example they set through their family. Yep, you guys rock!! Thanks for being you and for letting me once again be a part of your Christmas card this year!

ENJOY!

Christmas Countdown #8 - Silent Night, Holy Night!

One of my most FAVORITE things about this season is the music! I am a music person any time of the year, but there is just something special and comforting when it comes to the familiar sounds of our favorite Christmas carols.

This year I had the opportunity to not only sing with an amazing local choir, but I was also asked to help design the concert banner/poster. Unfortunately I came down sick the weekend of the big performance and was not able to join them on stage, but they did an amazing job and I am truly honored to have been a part of a group like this.

So whether you are the lead musician, sing so-lo-we-can't-hear-you, or you are just out there making a 'joyful noise', I want to THANK YOU for sharing your talents and voices to bless others around you this year with the good news that our Savior is Born!

ENJOY!

Christmas Countdown #9 - A Very Groovy Holiday!

Happy Snow Day!!!

We are enjoying a beautiful, yet cold, snow day today and it is time to party like it's 1975...

Oh wait. No, not really. It is just Christmas Countdown #9!

But I do have a fun retro Holiday Poster to share with you all today. The annual Garfield & Hecht Holiday Party theme this year was a throwback to 40 years ago when the company first started. I love how fun and colorful this poster turned out and hope the party was super groovy!!! Congrats on 40 years of business!!!

ENJOY and stay warm out there everyone!

Christmas Countdown #10 - It Came Without Ribbons...

Hello and Happy Monday!!!!

Are you ready?? Our Christmas Countdown starts today!!!

I love being able to design fun things this time of year and this countdown is just a fun little way to spread the Christmas Spirit and Joy to all of you as we lead up to Christmas Eve!!!

So without further ado, our countdown kicks off with a little custom print I designed for a 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway over at Fabulous Friday Freebies. I am so honored to partner with them again and this little print not only makes me smile but through all the hustle and bustle of this season it is a good reminder that "Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!"

ENJOY!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!!!!

A very Merry Christmas from my house to yours!!!

Thank you all for continuing to support my business this year. I wish everyone a safe, healthy and blessed 2015!!

ENJOY!

Little paper gifts....

Happy Tuesday and Merry Christmas Eve Eve!!!!

It is no secret, but one of my most favorite things about this season is Christmas Cards!!! I love seeing cute photos of dear friends both near and far, stories and memories of the past year, and of course tidings of good cheer and hope for a new year.

Not only do I love getting these wonderful little paper gifts to hang up on my wall but I also love MAKING said cards!!! I have been honored to design the Christmas card for this amazing family for the past few years and I just love watching these kids grow more beautiful through the years. Thank you for being YOU, for being such an incredible inspiration and encouragement not only to me but to so many who are blessed by your lives. Wish we lived closer, but at least I get to see lots of new photos of these cuties!!! Love you guys!!

ENJOY and Merry Christmas Eve Eve!!!!

Christmas Showcase #24 - MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

And one more post to end the Showcase for this year....

MERRY CHRISTMAS from my little family to yours! I wish you all Peace and Joy this season and may you all be blessed in 2014! HUGS!!

ENJOY!

Christmas Showcase #23 - Family!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!!!!! I hope everyone is either on their way to celebrate the Holiday with loved ones or you are already surrounded by the warmth of family and friends. Family has always been important at Christmas, but this year being with my family will take on a deeper meaning as we face 2014 with a lot of new unknowns.

I am so blessed to be able to have such an amazing, strong, close and loving family. No mere words can begin to describe how much I love them all, but since they say a picture is worth a thousand words here is the Christmas Card I was honored to design for my parents this year. HUGS!!!

ENJOY!

Christmas Showcase #22 - A Full House for Christmas!!!

EEEK... just 3 days left till the BIG day. I am daily reminded of this quickly descending number by my 5 year old. Thankfully, the little one is still too young to take up the chant of "Days left till Christmas..." so I only have one little (ahem LOUD) voice to offer this reminder. BUT these dear friends of mine.. have 7, yes SEVEN of these lovely chattering excited voices to listen to. Talk about a wonderfully full house for Christmas!!!

It has been an honor to design Christmas Cards the past few years for these dear friends of mine. This family seriously rocks my socks off and I wish we still lived closer so our kids could get into trouble together.. hehe. Love you guys!!!!

ENJOY!

Christmas Showcase #20 & #21 - Golden Giggles!

I know I have mentioned it before, and I will most likely mention it again in the future, but one of my favorite things about owning my own business is getting to participate in local events such as silent auctions for the different activities I or my children are a part of. Today, for our Christmas Showcase, I wanted to share with you all the finished product of one of these opportunities.

This year I was once again honored to participate in a wonderful silent auction for the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group I have been a part of these past few years. A few weeks after the auction the winner of my Photo Gift Certificate called to set up a photo shoot for her family AND to get some Christmas cards designed with said photos. Yep, thats right... this family not only won the Photo Session, they also won the Custom Card Gift Certificate. YAY!!!!!! I love getting to bundle projects and packages like this.

These kids are seriously adorable!!!! We had such a fun day taking photos of this super cute family, and I love how fun and colorful their Christmas cards turned out as well! Here are a few of my favorites from that day!

ENJOY!!!

 - Young Family Christmas Card - 2013 - 

  - A few of my favorites from our photo session - 

Christmas Showcase #19 - Be your own kind of Beautiful

To continue with our Shop Small Christmas Showcase I am excited to share with you all one of my favorite little businesses in the area, KC Salon!!!! Not only is my super talented and amazing sister-in-law one of the owners, but they are the only girls I trust with my hair-care AND the hair care of my daughter. Who, well, shall we say, has had more than one run in with a creative pair of scissors!!

A few weeks ago we had a fun little photo shoot with these ladies and I just have one word. Beautiful!!!! Seriously, these ladies are just too stinking cute!!!

The girls wanted to do a creative photo shoot so we could design a cute little Christmas Card for their clients. Just a little something to show their appreciation for all the faithful local support of their thriving small business, KC Salon. And to be honest, I simply LOVE how their card turned out!!!

Girls, I love you all and wish you many blessings in 2014!!!!

ENJOY!!!!

Christmas Showcase #15 - Make a Joyful Noise!

Happy Sunday!!!! It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas more and more each day here. Today's To-Do-Before-the-Holiday check list was brought to you by the wonderful voices of my daughters little choir with a delightful Christmas performance at Family in Christ Community Church this morning. I just love listening to, and watching, these kids perform - and as always, todays performance did not disappoint! Complete with: dress twirling, nap taking, shepherds' staff sword-fighting, sibling pinching and a whole lot of mid-song "Hi Mom" waving!!! Indeed, it is the most wonderful time of the year!

In honor of todays entertaining performance, I wanted to share with you a fun little number I worked on recently for our local church. Yes, not only do I have the opportunity to work with some of our local businesses, but I have also had the privilege of working with several churches as well.

Family in Christ (FIC) recently completed a new expansion project and they wanted to share the news, and the new space, with their neighbors. Each year the church sends out a little newsletter/newspaper with info about the church and updates for the new year. This year they wanted to focus the newsletter on the new expansion with a little Christmas flare added in. I had so much fun updating the design on this project. And the cute kids choir on the front was the perfect icing on the cake!

ENJOY!

Christmas Showcase #4 - Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!!

SNOW DAY!!! Hooray Hooray!!!! With the 5 degree temperatures and snow falling everywhere, it is starting to look a lot like Christmas!!!!

So how about a little Holiday Cheer for our Small Business Showcase today?

One of my favorite things about being a small business owner is being able to work with some of the best small businesses around, and even better when the small businesses are from small towns like Aspen, CO. For the past few years I have been asked by Garfield & Hecht, P.C., in Aspen, to design a new poster advertising their Holiday Party. I love getting to come up with new themes year after year and this year was no exception. I love how simple and fun this poster turned out. A perfect showcase for a snow day like today!

ENJOY and stay warm out there everyone!!

Christmas Showcase #1 - What a Difference a Day Makes!

Happy December 1st!!! I am so excited to start our Shop Small Christmas Showcase today!!!! I have so many fun projects that are just jumping to be shared with you all.

I thought I would start the showcase off with the GIVEAWAY!!! Who does not like a giveaway?? I know I am usually the first in line when it comes to the idea of winning something fun. Usually I don't even care that much what it is.. I just want to be able to say "I won." This giveaway, however, I know you will enjoy.

We are giving away a Custom 11x14 "What a Difference a Day Makes" print. (You can find official rules HERE.) So I thought I would take the time today to showcase some of the custom date prints I have had the honor of putting together for several clients.

To say that I LOVE the date choices on these prints would be an understatement. On my original I used big dates in my family, Weddings, Birthdays... simple stuff. These ladies I was designing for had some amazing dates to remember. Ranging from Birthdays, Weddings, Engagements, Adoptions, Hospitalizations and Surgeries, Home Ownership, even to remembering the days loved ones have left this earth.

I have never met these wonderful families but I loved being a little fly on the wall in the momentous days in their lives. To me, this is what a small business is all about. The ability to personalize and create something unique for each person. This is why I do what I do, this is what I love!

ENJOY and I look forward to creating one of these fun prints for our Grand Prize winner at the end of the month!!!

Shop Small Christmas Showcase & Giveaway!!!

Shop Small - All Month Long!!!

Small businesses need more than just ONE day to celebrate the personal touches and unique atributes they bring to their clients. In my little business I am honored and pleased to have the opportunity to work with many local families and small businesses. So I am taking from now until Christmas Eve to host a little Small Business Showcase & Giveaway!

Contest RULES:
1. Check back here and on Facebook each day for a fun new design, business, logo, photography, custom card... etc. that we will be featuring that day.

2. Comment, “Like” or Share each daily showcase for a change to win our Grand Prize.

3. ALL entries will be collected at the end of this month and one random winner will be selected.

GRAND PRIZE will be a Custom 11x14 “What a Difference a Day Makes” Special Date print!!!

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!

On the 2nd Day BEFORE Christmas...

"On the 2nd Day BEFORE Christmas, I present to you..
.. A Very Merry Christmas!!!"

- Ta Da! Here is my family Christmas Card for 2012. Christmas Cards of any kind make me happy and I hardly ever get to design things just for me.. so I had a lot of fun with this one. 

From my family to yours, I wish you a Very Merry Christmas to you all!!!! This year I am finding myself incredibly blessed beyond measure and I wish the same for YOU in the New Year!!! -

ENJOY!

A million thanks to the wonderful Erin at Art & Soul Photography for the amazing photo of my two precious daughters. You are the best!