Holiday Invites

Lately I've been bouncing between pasting and cutting paper and baking and icing cookies. One of my students, Megan, recently told me her Mom needed some invites for a Christmas party. I was excited to do them but it was going to be a challenge since she needed them quickly and I had several papers and groups projects due that week. So I had to be creative and be creative fast! After two trips to Hobby Lobby and two evenings of work, I had 20 beautiful custom Holiday invites. These were so cute, simple and I was so proud of them.

I wish the pictures were a bit clearer, I apologize for that. I layered on top of green textured paper. I put this beautiful white paper that has a great iridescent, shiny effect that reminded me of snow.  I got a little snowflake punch and glued the snowflakes for the martini glass which I glued to actual toothpicks. I also drew the martini glass and cut them by hand. The lettering was printed off my computer. For a nice touch I stamped the envelope with a snowflake.

Debbie and Megan loved them and told me their guests loved them too. It was a great experience to create something quickly that I was happy with in the end.

Ciao!

Tweet

Christmas is Here!

Tap, Tap, is this thing on? It's been a whirlwind of a few months but also an exciting few months. Filled with many ups and downs. I was asked by the wonderful Ms. Maria at the Yancey House to make some treats for her guests visiting her beautiful home for the Grayson Tour of Homes. I have never done such a large order, of 200, but was more than willing to try. My Mom graciously allowed me to use her kitchen since mine was very far away and not prepared for so many.

I had made several attempts at a design for these but was not happy with any of them. Finally I spotted a technique I loved.

The pattern was so easy to create. While the white icing was still wet I alternated lines of red and green icing. When that was done I ran a toothpick through the lines, alternating up and down. When the icing was dry, I sanded the tops with gold sanding sugar. Finally the monogram was added for a very personal touch.

We added the business cards to the packages so that the treats would also supply some business for the Yancey House. 

It was a lot of work but I enjoyed the time working with my Mom and teaching her how to do these. I hope you enjoy them too! Merry Christmas to you!

Ciao

Tweet

For Home and Hearth

Every since I started using Pinterest, I have been continuously inspired to create. There are some fantastically creative people out there. And since there really are no "new" ideas, I've been recreating some of my favorite things on there as gifts.

This one is definitely my favorite. I made it for a friend who is getting married in December. I made some fabulous invitations for her. I'll post those for you later. I wanted to make her a keepsake but also something for her new home. The same scrapbook paper I used for her invitations, I used to make this piece of art! I just added the buttons.

This one I made for my Mom for her birthday. I was pretty impressed with myself on this one. I bought the frame, plain unfinished, the hooks at home depot and painted the letter by hand. I painted the frame grey, let it dry, and then painted it white. The next morning I used sandpaper to scuff it and distress it. I painted the O directly on the scrapbook paper the night before, making sure I didn't s\use too much paint which makes the paper curl.

These gifts were super easy, the frames and scrapbook paper do all the work. I hope you try it out soon!

Ciao!

Tweet

Fall creations

I love Fall! It's not too hot, not too cold. You get to spend saturdays making chili, watching football, baking apple desserts, driving to the mountains and if you're me making fall creations! I've been bitten by the crafting bug and have been busy creating some fall decor.

This first one is probably my favorite. I wanted a fall wreath for the door and I spotted an adorable creation on etsy that I just had to try for myself. I used a wreath ring, a yard of orange burlap fabric and black and white damask ribbon. I cut the orange burlap into strips about an inch or so wide and 6 inchs long. This took a while and was pretty messy but nothing my vacuum couldn't take care of. I then tied the burlap around the ring alternating between the inside and outside ring. When I got to the end I tied a double bow onto the end. And Viola! a beautiful wreath.

This second project I am pretty proud of because I hand painted the M onto my white pumpkin and dotted the orange pumpkin freehand as well. I know your impressed now too, haha. Both of these pumpkins cost less than $10 to do. The fake white pumpkin I bought on sale at the craft store, I also bought black acrylic and puffy paint. The little real pumpkin I got at the grocery store. It's a cute little pumpkin display for my counter but you could do lots of variations of this for your front porch or dining table.

I hope your enjoying the fall weather.

Ciao!

Tweet

Southern Centerpieces

I told you guys that a few weeks ago my brother got married. My mom had asked for my help with the rehearsal dinner, which I was thrilled to do! She wanted a southern theme which I loved. We didn't need to do much as mom had rented this beautiful mansion in Loganville called the Yancey House, you guys should definitely check it out. http://www.theyanceyhouse.com/ Maria has done a beautiful job restoring this house and has a great eye for decorating. We used the basement and outdoor garden for the party and it was just beautiful. One of my favorite things was the centerpieces we created.



I found the clothe toile napkins by Waverly on Amazon. They were perfect because no sewing was necessary. We used 3 different sizes of Mason jars and filled them with crushed shells. I loved the sand because it reminded me of pearls which is so very southern. A tealight was placed on top of the sand and lit for a great effect. Finally mom put together some beautiful hydrangea arrangements and we placed them in the center of the mason jars. These we so easy and inexpensive! We did 8 centerpieces for less than $75! They were a great touch to the event and it was a lot of fun collaborating with my mom.

I hope this inspires you to create your own lovely event decor.

Ciao!

Tweet

Get Inspired!

This week I have been totally drooling over an app on my iPhone called Pinterest. For those of you who haven't heard of it, you can also access it online at pinterest.com if you don't have an iPhone. Once your there, in order to get in you have to request an invite but they usually send you one within 24 hours. This fabulous website is like a visual blog. You can see great ideas for weddings, outfits, recipes, decorating, DIY and sooooo much more. I am OBSESSED! When you find something you love you just repin it to your own board and are able to go back and look at it later. And you can follow your friends so you can see what they are finding or creating. It is an amazing way to get inspired and come up with your own creative ideas.

Here's an adorable idea I found this week for you brides-to-be. If your having a ring bearer in your wedding, more than likely you'll get him a little pillow to carry down the aisle. I know very few brides who actually put their rings on this pillow and the pillows themselves get very pricey AND once you use it that day it will probably be put in a box to gather dust and take up space. Of course you still want the little guy to carry something because well, it's adorable! SO here's an alternative:

Isn't he CUTE! You can expand this idea in all kinds of ways. If you have more than one flower girl, have each hold an end of the sign. Or if your adventurous like my Mom you can make your own signs for the backs of your chairs at the reception. I've also seen these as directional signs to help lead the way to the wedding.

If your not so adventurous you can buy all of these types of signs on etsy.com and they'll still be handmade and beautiful. I love this personal touch and hope you'll enjoy adding it to your beautiful day.

Ciao! 

Tweet

A Whole Lot of Love

It has been a weekend full of love! My little brother Casey married his beautiful bride Leslie yesterday in Greensboro, Georgia. Of course there was lots of planning and preparation in order for it be the fabulous weekend it was. I helped my Mom plan the rehearsal dinner. First, Mom picked out an amazing location just 10 minutes away from their home in Loganville called the Yancey House. We hosted on the lower floor of the house so that we could easily access the garden in the backyard and the huge, comfy gazebo. You can check out this gorgeous southern manor at http://theyanceyhouse.com/

As we were planning, Mom asked if I would make favors for the dinner. She loved my cookies so she requested some of my yummy sugar cookies. I was happy to make them for the party and I'm extra happy to share them with you as a follow up to my post a few weeks ago. So here are the delicious results!

So there ya go! Some super cute and super delicious favors for a beautiful couple. It was a fabulous wedding and I have few more highlights to show you from the party on the next post. Until then...

Ciao!

Tweet

Orange Blossom Wedding Invitations

A couple of weeks ago, I shared with ya'll a Save the Date card I did for my soon to be sister-in-law Leslie. I'm soooooo excited to share with you the wedding invitations I did for her and my brother. First off, Leslie put a lot of faith in me. I had never done a wedding invitation before but she loved the examples I gave her and was impressed with how much cheaper it would be for me to make them for her. I'm really grateful for her trust and belief in my talents. I'm also really proud of how the invites turned out.

This invite was made with:
Orange Blossom Scrapbook Paper (from GCD Studios)
Cream Card Stock Paper (Craft Store)
Brown textured Scrapbook Card Stock (Craft Store)
Cream Envelopes (Invitations.com)
I wanted to make a jacket for the invitation so that the Direction and RSVP card were not loose within the envelope. Of course this took a little bit a magic cutting but I was able to take a 12x12 piece of heavy scrapbook paper and make a half fold jacket with a pocket on the left side for the cards. Of course the invitation is the main focus so the other half of the jacket is completely covered by the invitation. I fell in love with the orange blossom paper by GCD Studios and went crazy with it, haha. I made an insert for the envelope so you see it immediatly upon openning the invite, I also cut peices for the closure of the jacket and on the left side of the invite as an accent. It has a great texture and a slightly vintage look, I just couldn't help myself. Plus it went well with Leslie and Casey's outdoor garden wedding theme and her colors Persimmon Orange and Ivory.

Leslie was really pleased with the invitation and I was too! My first attempt at an elegant wedding invite was a success and I hope you enjoy the results as well.

Ciao!

Tweet

Yummy Favors

Hi All! Sorry I'm posting so late in the week. My husband and I moved last weekend and our Internet service is STILL not connected. Ugh, so I am writing to you from campus, in between classes of course.

My latest creation endeavor is taking place in just 2 weeks, but ever the prepared secretary I am planning and plotting now. And since it's fresh in my mind, I thought I would share with you guys how to make this creation into a wonderful part of your shower, wedding or holiday celebration.

I LOVE to bake, probably because I have a sweet tooth but never mind that. This idea originated from a blog post I found when looking for shower ideas for my sister-in-law Alisha. At the time it was a little blog called Hostess with the Mostess done by a fabulous young woman and since she has grown into an even more fabulous website filled with fantastic ideas and pictures. Check out her site here Hostess with the Mostess  Anywho, she did a lingerie shower for a friend and as favors she did these adorable corset shaped sugar cookies. I do sugar cookies at christmas every year so it didn't seem that difficult to do. You could use these cookies as favors for any celebration and I love the idea of sending guests home with something delicious instead on the usual mints, picture frame or some other useless thing that YOU spent way too much money on and your guests will probably throw in a drawer never to be seen again.

I ordered my corset shaped cookie cutter from Copper Gifts, they have tons of cookie cutters in every size and shape imaginable. And for my upcoming endeavor, I ordered a heart shaped and round cutter. I baked my cookies 2 days before I needed them because I wanted to put the cookies in nice clear bags so that the guests could admire the decorations. The royal icing needs to dry over night so that it doesn't stick to the bag and become a big gloopy mess. So 2 days is just enough time and the cookies won't dry out as long as you store them properly. (Flat, in a dry place. Try not to stack them as they may stick together. If you need to stack them place a layer of wax paper between the layers) Of course I planned and plotted how I wanted to make sure my cookies were beautiful so I studied! Check out University of Cookie for great how to videos and tutorials. These ladies are super professional and creative and I can only hope to be that good one day. In total I made about 50 cookies.

I did my cookies in pink icing with white lining and strategically placed pearl sprinkles. It matched the decor well. The bag was tied with a kelly green ribbon and a little tag that read "Thank You". Finally I displayed them in a big white basket, near the door so guests could grab them on their way out.

The girls who attended the shower loved them and the leftovers were eaten by Alisha's fiance and his friends who said it was weird eating a corset cookie but they were too yummy to care. Now THAT is some high praise!

Here are some other ideas for edible gifts:
Mason jars filled with ingredients for cookies or biscuits
Popcorn! In cones or small baskets
A miniature version of your favorite dessert

If you are not culinarily inclined, you can still use this idea. Go to your favorite bakery and order a batch of your favorite cookies. Then it's just all about the packaging! And voile you have a fabulous favor.

I'll be sure to post pics of my creative endeavor in 2 weeks!
Ciao!

Tweet

Saving the date!

Sorry I haven't posted this week, my husband and I are moving and I just started back to school so I'm just a little bit busy.

But I'm excited to share with you my next creation. My brother got engaged this past spring and I wanted to help them announce their engagement, so I created for Casey and my soon to be sister-in-law Leslie, a Save the date card for their fall wedding. But this couldn't be just any Save the Date card, I wanted it to be really unique. I was inspired by the trend of doing photo booth style photos at weddings and for announcements. So I created my own version!

We did a little photo shoot at a garden near my parent's home. Below are more detailed photos. It was a really fun day, I bought a simple chalk board at the craft store and wrote Save, the, date with with their actual wedding date and took different shots with each word.

I loaded the photos on to my computer and used an easy photo editor to make them black and white photos. I then put them in sequence and printed them on matte 5x7 photos paper. The bottom info card was printed on simple white card stock. The back of the card is also white card stock paper and the cute orange polka dots are scrapbook paper. Leslie chose the orange paper because her wedding colors are persimmon orange and cream.

I also loved the envelope for this card. It was a open end envelope sometimes called a coin envelope, the contemporary style of the envelope went great with the fun, playful card.

This card was so easy to make and was a great personal touch for Casey and Leslie as they prepared for their big day. Later I made wedding invitations for them and I can't wait to share those with you soon.

Ciao!

Tweet

Flower Power

Let's be real for a sec. Flowers are expensive! Not all of us have a huge budget for our big day. So we can't drape every inch of our day with beautiful, fresh, expertly arranged flowers. Does that mean you can have gorgeous flowers? No Way!!

Here's something I drool over: There is a new trend of using unconventional materials to create beautiful and interesting bouquets. Using everything from ribbon, brooches, fabric and paper, yep you heard me, PAPER! What's so great about these bouquets is that they are easy, fun to make and after your wedding day they are an instant keepsake! Just drop it in the vase on your kitchen table or bookshelf and your friends will be asking, "Hey wasn't that your bouquet?" I first saw the idea in a little online magazine done by MSN.com called GLO. They have some wonderful stuff which you check out in THIS article. Project wedding also has some awesome how to articles on how to do these beautiful bouquets.

I know! Can you believe these are made of PAPER! If you'd like to try this out, HERE is the link to the tutorial.

I am going to try my hand at making one of these beautiful bouquets to show you just how easy it is. You just need a little daring. I hope to post my conquest soon. Until then I hope you will be daring! Be bold and try something you never thought you could do! You may just surprise yourself. I'll have more later on how you can also do your own real flower bouquets and accents for super cheap.

Ciao!

Tweet

Let's start at the very beginning, it's a very good place to start- Teapot Invitations

Let's go back to how all this creating began. Back in the spring, I was helping my sister-in-law Deidra give her older sister and my other sister-in-law Alisha a lingerie shower in honor of her upcoming wedding. Now Alisha is a classy southern young woman so instead of your usual lingerie shower with risque decorations and suggestive themes, we decided to make it a tea party theme.

Of course any good party needs guests which means you need......invitations! I went to the local craft stores in search of invitation sets. They were super expensive! And none of them matched my theme. I thought I can do something better and cheaper! Soooo, I grabbed some cream card stock, patterned scrapbook paper, cream satin ribbon, stamps and a gold ink pad. I later came back for matching cream envelopes.

And here's what I came up with. (Please excuse my photography skills, I'm a work in progress)

This is red and pink patterned scrapbook paper. I found a teapot template online and printed it out on card stock. I cut it out and traced it onto my scrapbook paper. I then carefully cut out the teapots. Below the beautiful red and pink pattern is the invitation which you can see in this picture.

The background was created with gold ink and stamps. After printing out the teapot template on cream card stock, I stamped the pattern on and let it dry overnight. Then I ran the card stock back through the printer to get the wording on. If you run the paper through too soon after stamping them you will get smudged and streaked invitations which is so not cute. After printing the wording on, I cut out the invitations.

I added a few more personal touches. A monogrammed "C" attached to the ribbon added a nod to Alisha's upcoming nuptials and shaping it like a teabag made the extra touch very appropriate. I also added a simple stamp flourish to the flap of the envelope making the plain envelope look more interesting. Here is a picture of all of the components.

So there you have it. The beginning of my creating! There's more where this came from and the shower itself had some great touches that I can't wait to share with you, but that's for another day.

This project was very affordable and cost much less than the boxed sets. You can save a bit more at craft stores if you read the weekly sales ads and print out the coupons they offer online. I check them weekly and take advantage of them when buying supplies for my projects.

I hope you enjoy making your own teapot invitations!

Tweet

"Good seasons start with good beginnings." - Sparky Anderson

I've never thought of myself as a writer and certainly not as an artist, but here I am writing to you about how I have recently become an artist. I think everyone has things that they love to do and whether they are good at those things or not they do them, well, because they LOVE to! And two of those things for me are creating beautiful things and sharing them with others.

About two years ago, I got married and aside from being the happiest most beautiful day of my life thus far, I realized one of those "things" that I love is weddings. I enjoyed every bit of planning and creating for my wedding day. Flowers, ribbons, pearls, dresses and pretty paper. It makes me smile just thinking about it. I was especially excited when I discovered the new trends of doing unconventional things at weddings. Wearing orange Converse tennis shoes to your reception, candy bars instead of favors,  and mason jar centerpieces. Not only are Brides looking for creative personal touches they are looking for ways to do them in an affordable way. My own wedding was less than $8,000 which is becoming more and more typical for Brides in this economy.

As my friends and family have been getting married in quick succession, I have found myself giving advice, throwing showers galore and best of all CREATING! Somehow I discovered that creating invitations is simple and I could bring a personal and affordable option to my friends and family. But more on how it all began later.

Which brings me to the reason for this blog! On this journey I've been encouraged by my wonderful friends and family to share my creations. Of course I've been reluctant to do so but now I am ready to share it with you in the hopes that you will love my creations as well.

I can create something especially for you, a personal and affordable touch for your happiest and most beautiful day. And of course, anything you see on here is very easy to create and I'll share with you some of my tips and tricks so that you can discover what I have, the love to Create! This is also a place for me to share with you the things that I find and drool over. So come back often because there's a lot for me to love!

True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new.
Antonie de Saint-Exupery

Tweet