confetti by lexi

instagrammed :: watercolor 2013

last week was the second week of summer for us, our favorite time to hit the beach! watercolor and seaside were never better. the forecast on my phone when we got there (i don't like to check it before since you can't do anything about it!) was solid thunderstorms, but after one day of heavy rain, it changed and we had sunny blue skies for the rest of the week. the thunderstorm symbol did pop up again on friday, but it was only 30% and never actually came our way. i'm so glad i remembered to take my phone in to the apple store before we left. the camera had suddenly stopped focusing a couple of months ago and they had to swap it out. i take my big camera everywhere, but i love the convenience of my phone. and all the fun apps! i ended up spending most of my time planted comfortably in my beach chair, so most of my pics are from that perspective. but i added the #abeautifulmess app to my line up and had tons of fun with it. quick and easy frames, text, and doodles. love! the teen didn't appreciate me "blowing up her instagram feed" but that's just too bad. when i'm on vacation, taking pics is what i do!!

i wanna go back...
:) lexi

motorcycle man

hi there! long time, no blog. the end of the school year proved to be a major race to the finish line, followed by requests for camp stationery before getting out of town for our annual beach vacation. i have so much to share from recent orders and events, but i thought i'd start with the personalized subway sign i made for father's day yesterday. like many dads, mine is hard to buy for. if he wants it, he gets it, and at this point in life, he has a lot! but, i often find cool motorcycle or vintage car art to go with his two main hobbies (he has a really cool "garage" lined with signs and posters) or interesting grocery art or signs for his office (he's a grocer). this year, i hadn't seen anything at the different fairs and shops i frequent, so i decided to make one myself - his name, a nickname, a reference to the grocery store (and all of his license plates), some bike and car phrases, and i was good to go. i had fun playing with fonts and lining things up. i can easily spend hours obsessing over the little details, but this time it all came together pretty quickly. and of course, i had to photograph it on one of his bikes. now, i can't wait to see where he hangs it...

zoom! zoom!
:) lexi

ease on down the road!

yesterday's sweet card inspiration reminded me that i had not yet shared the cake i made for my daughter's big eighth grade play cast party. i've done theme cakes for the last couple of eighth grade classes. a castle for beauty and the beast, dice for guys & dolls. and now, the yellow brick road to the emerald city for the wiz.

i knew it was basically the wizard of oz, but i wanted the cake to fit with their vision. i thought about creating the house on top of the witch's legs, but i was told that wasn't a big moment in the play. i didn't know much about the scenery, except that they'd created gouache paintings that were being projected as the backdrops, but i hadn't seen them. so when mignon described the painting she did of the poppy field with the emerald city in the background, i finally had my inspiration.

she said their drawings of the emerald city were like upside down test tubes - thankfully easy enough to create in edible clay. for the yellow brick road, i found a texture mat with the brick pattern which was so much easier than my original plan of trying to "draw" it myself - my dad thought i had, but i fessed up! it's hard to see in the picture, but i added a little gold shimmer powder to the road and city. and the board is covered in black glitter paper covered in cellophane for even more sparkle. the shoes were taken from a muses mardi gras bracelet - silver as they were in the play. i had very limited time to put this cake together with all that was going on that week (and forgetting some of the supplies at the cash register at michael's - yikes!), so i was very happy when mignon said i nailed it! we made it to school in time to help set up, the performance was fantastic (one of the best, says this biased mom!), and everyone else loved the cake, too. yellow on the bottom, chocolate on top. many enjoyed it at the cast party along with all of the other party food, but i heard it was really demolished at the student lock in that followed.

sweet!
:) lexi

sunday stamping

i am often inspired by the moxie fab world's tuesday trigger but i don't always have time to get it done. i really wanted to play the last one, but the week sped by. and then this one popped up - what's not to love about pretty little petits fours?! i couldn't let two perfect inspiration pics go by, so when i finished a little organizing project yesterday, i just had to put trigger to paper and make it happen!

pink flowers, squares, woodgrain - the elements and layout of the image just begged for a literal translation in paper. so i did just that! a woodgrain embossed base card, layered with pink squares popped up on foam tape in a similar formation to the petits fours in the photo, topped with copic colored flowers with black pearl centers and curled up petals. i even added silver mirror paper banners to mimic the spatula. and to balance that, i formed the sentiment out of silver wire - total love!

i always have leftovers when i create, so rather than leave these to clutter my desk, i decided to use them to create a second card. the result still has the same elements - pink flower & square, woodgrain & silver - but the layout is more simplified and less literal. i debated whether or not to add a sentiment, worried that it was too simple. after letting it sit overnight, the simplicity won out. i like the prominence of the woodgrain with the simple single flower, and adding a sentiment seemed forced. if i decide to use the card for a specific occasion, i can easily add someting to the inside. it's always good to have a few open ended cards on hand, especially one that is so pretty and pink! thanks for the trigger, cath. i love a good inspiration pic and this definitely qualifies!

:) lexi

flashback friday :: diaper duty

i mentioned in this week's way back wednesday post that i had purchased the newspaper stamp for a possible birth announcement for my first child. the other set i purchased at the same time was cuddles and tickles. i used both to create a variety of ideas, and in the end, this is the design that won. i can't believe i had never shared it here, but a 14 year old project definitely qualifies for a flashback! there was an article on birth announcements in martha stewart living that came out right when i was looking for ideas, and this one caught my eye. they showed it with a bow on one, and a real diaper pin on another, but i had this great pin stamp, so i immediately saw the possibilities. and i loved that i could slip a photo cut to the same size into the diaper with the announcement card. and there you have it, my first big stamping project. not much stamping, but i traced, cut, assembled, stamped and colored a lot of them! while i never showed this exact design here, i did share a later version in my invitations and announcements photo album - a printed striped diaper in bright colors for a baby shower. i've even made mini gift card ones. this is one of those baby designs that will always be relevant!

:) lexi

show and tell time

last week i participated in a trunk show, which has had me busy catching up with orders that were already in progress, along with creating for all the new orders that came in over the two day show. as the stationery girl on board, i created the invitation, too - i had so much fun with that clothes line of little towels! i had not done a show like this in a long time, so i had to put together a few displays to highlight my work.

i already had these boards which i loan to auctions when i donate gift certificates, so that was at least something to start with. they feature recent or favorite projects and double as artwork on the wall of my studio. since these often travel without me, i tried to include a variety of invitations and other cards, and i switch things up every now and then. i think i still have to blog about one or two things up there! for the trunk show, i surrounded them with even more invitations to look at and hold - i've done quite a few things that are interactive and need to be touched!

i don't have a catalog because most of what i create is custom, but after doing this, i feel the need to pull together a better compilation of certain designs, especially those for stickers and gift enclosures. i've done so many over the years! so this time, in addition to scattering samples all over my table, i created an example page of each of the main shapes of stickers i print and put them in table tent frames, along with a couple of other important signs, like a basic price list and a note that everything is customizable! i even created my own scan image for those tech types who wanted to scan themselves directly to my blog - so cool!

and last, but not least, i put out a basket of seasonal cards from those that i've posted here. i pull from this basket whenever i need one for a gift or note, but i've never been able to send as many as i create. i have a few regulars who like to pull from it too. it makes me happy to know that they actually get used! i sold several birthday and congratulations cards this go round. overall, the show was a success! i think i have a few more things to make the next time i do a trunk show, but it's a process. while this one is over, my blog is really an ongoing trunk show, right? so, if there's anything you need to freshen up for spring, just let me know!

:) lexi

way back wednesday :: bubbles & banners

how about another round of way back wednesday? this time, i decided to pull out photo album fun, a stamp set from my very first stampin' up! order. playing with this set was a little like wearing that random saved item of clothing that has made it back in style again. trends can be very cyclical - speech bubbles and banners are all over the place lately, yet this set is circa 1998! i've always had a thing for speech bubbles and often draw my own to custom fit various sentiments, both by hand and on the computer. i kind of forgot i had these! for my first card, i decided to build a rainbow with the different bubbles, adding in a pop of black and white with card stock and washi tape - clean and simple, light and bright. i esecially love that the words from comfort food additions are a perfect fit!

next up, i created a birthday card using the banner. like the main speech bubble above, it is fussy cut and popped up. where were the dies? lol! the trio of stars is also from the set. once again, i got stuck on black and white and rainbow all over. it's such a happy color story, perfect for congrats and birthdays. plus the six stars were just begging for roygbv!

and last, but not least, the front page news. the newspaper was actually the main reason i bought this set. i designed a birth announcment option with it while waiting for my first baby, but after having a girl, another design won out. i still love that little newspaper and how you can personalize the headline. again, i chose a few comfort food additions sentiments for a sweet congrats card, clustering the elements together to create a unified focal point. the cartoon sound effect bubble is a fun way to add a pop of color, while the chevron washi arrow points us in the right direction. chances are you have a few bubbles and banners in your collection, so go have fun! if not, a quick search will turn up several options...

happy stamping!
:) lexi