The One With the Modern Wedding Invitations

I've been thinking of modern wedding stationery lately... and just couldn't help but create some just for fun.

I love ampersands... I think a stationery suit using ampersands as a focal point would be so cool.



And who doesn't like vivid color? So sleek and organized.
Or maybe in just 2 colors for a good punch!


Thoughts?

The One With the Handmade Cards

I like making handmade cards. They are fun to make... and I feel that it's a good effort since I seem to become speechless when it comes to what is written on the inside. Therefore, I try making cute cards so maybe, just maybe, no one will even bother reading what is on the inside.


And this is my personal philosophy about cards: I like them sweet and simple. I'm not one of those people who adds a million doodads to things -although I do see some cute stuff featuring that look. I really go for adorable paper and pattern play with some cute fonts. I LOVE fonts. Seriously, I download them all the time. But, when it comes to cards I have being trying to stay more personal. Especially after running across this blog. Gina Sekelsky and her gorgeous handwriting inspire me... so I'm working on being just as cool. I've got a long way to go.




Sometimes, however, I am relieved of my duties to improve my penmanship and just find the perfect paper or stamps. That's always nice. It wastes much less paper - as I can usually get it right on the first try.

Carson General Store Branding

Branding of Carson General Store is finally complete!



T-shirts were printed at customink.com. I highly recommend them! Not only are their American Apparel t-shirts so soft and comfy, their customer service is A-MAZING. And their online chat tool is also great!

The One With Carson General's Sign

The Carson General Store sign is finally done! It was a very long project - but the result is pretty cool. And here's a little insight into the how-to.

Step 1: We mounted the plywood on a wall to make the painting easier. Painted the plywood white and used a projector and transparency to project the image onto the plywood. Next, we outlined the design on the plywood with a Sharpie. In retrospect, I would use something a little easier to paint over. It turns out that Sharpie is rather difficult to cover.


Step 2: Painting in the color. Since the sign is going to be outside, we used exterior paint. It was color matched at Home Depot. Exterior paint is difficult to work with - but worth it for the end result. This is me painting - one of the final steps was outlining the mountains with charcoal colored paint.

Getting all the long lines of the lettering straight proved to be quite a challenge. I ended up edging almost every part of every letter with painter's tape. It took a long time - but was well worth the ease of painting such long strokes against the grain of the wood.

A close up of the final product before we had dismounted the plywood. After it was dismounted, we used a skill saw to cut out the half-oval over the top of the mountains.

And this is what it currently looks like mounted above the store. I wish that the pulleys in the front weren't there... but apparently it was a necessity. In the Columbia River Gorge there are a lot of big wind gusts - gusts strong enough to take the sign off and into something valuable. So, until we figure out a new way of securing the sign, the pulleys stay.

The One With a Sneak Peak

I thought I'd explain why I haven't updated in a while: I've been really busy! I am in the process of painting a sign for an upcoming grocery store in Carson, Washington: Carson General Store. Basically, I am turning my logo design into a huge sign to go on the roof of the building. This a rendering of what the sign will look like.It is going very well and you can expect a full recap soon!

I have also been hard at work on two political campaigns for family friends. You'll get to see all the details soon, but for now, here's a sneak peak at one of the buttons.

More to come on all this later!

The One With the Other Kind of Cupcakes

Having survived (both financially and physically) a pretty dangerous clearance sale at Sur la Table, I had a new brownie cup pan that just needed to be tried out. It makes a new kind of cupcakes... cakes that are actually cups for holding other delicious things.

Experiment Number One: Strawberry Shortcakes


They were simply delicious. The dough was unsweetened, so I doused the strawberries in sugar and that made up for it.

Experiment Number Two: Brownies filled with pudding. This time it was chocolate pudding. But I also tried French Vanilla the other day and it was also scrumptious.


Next up: Ice cream filling of some kind... maybe a sponge cake or two as well.

The One With Kaycie and Erich's Engagement Pictures

Yes, I realize that I already posted about Kaycie and Erich's wedding. But I wanted to backtrack and post pictures from their engagement shoot. (Photography by Michelle).