Adding "JOY" to Your Home

Hello friends! are you ready for Halloween? I been busy making a few Halloween and Christmas projects and I thought I would offer them to you as well!

Aren't these so cute? Have you seen any string art on pinterest lately? I thought it was such a cool and simple idea so I created a few patterns myself. I decided to mix the sting art with vinyl and painted graphics as well.

So do you want to add a little "JOY" to your home? Not only are they great decor for your own home, but they would make great gifts as well! Contact me if you would like one of the designs above or something COMPLETELY CUSTOM, like a name or an initial or maybe a thanksgiving turkey, or something you dream up yourself. I can create just about anything with nails and string! You can pick the size and color of your board as well as the colors of the embroidery floss.

Think you'd like to create one yourself but don't really know where to start? I am also selling the patterns for the projects seen above, I can also create you a custom pattern for you to print and use to create your own board.

If you are interested in pricing for any of these or something custom, please leave a comment below and include your email. You can also contact me directly through my email listed at the top of the blog.

Happy New Year

Hello Friends! How was you Christmas? I hope it was filled with family, fun, and relaxation. We had a ton of fun in Livermore over Christmas and on the train (more on that in a later post). Have you made any New Years resolutions? Have you given up on any yet? I have a ton of things to share with you but today I thought I'd just share a few of my resolutions with you. I'm trying to keep them really simple this year so I won't fail so early on in the year.

1. Get Healthy
I have been on so many fad diets in my lifetime it's not even funny, and of course they only work while you are on them (and starving yourself)! This year instead of trying to reach a certain number on the scale I've decided to just get healthy by eating better and exercising as much as possible (anyone want to be my workout buddy?). If you know me you know that I am addicted to sugar so sugar has got to go. I'm not cutting it completely because that would be extreme and then I would most definitely fail. This year it's all about moderation! Anyone else trying to get healthy this year?

2. Create
Do you ever have the urge to create something with your hands? I work on the computer a lot, probably more than I should so this year I want to step away from the computer and create more things by hand. When I was in school we were always encouraged to experiment and create countless sketches, and it was wonderful. Some of my best work has been from playing around, and not trying to "design" anything at all. This year I want to go back to that!

3. Be Friendlier
I'm not all that friendly, but I would like to be, so I'm going to work on it!

4. Grow the Biz
I am so excited to expand designfancyink.com this year. Soon I will be adding shower invitations, business cards, and hope to add a few small gifts as well. I really want to gain more followers here as well as on Facebook! If you guys help me get to 50 followers here on the blog, or 100 followers on Facebook (which ever comes first) then I will do a big giveaway here on the blog!


I feel like this year is already off to a great start and I know exciting thing are to come (like our move to California). I hope your year is happy and successful! Happy New Year!

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Paper Nativity

This morning I'm leaving for our Christmas vacation, but I could not leave with out sharing this little paper nativity I found via How About Orange. It was created by Marloes de Vries, an illustrator and designer from the Netherlands. I LOVE nativities and I got really excited when I saw this one because this is one you could give to/ make with your kids! There is even an outline version you can color in! All you need is scissors, glue, and maybe some crayons and you've got holiday fun for the whole family! Download the pdf here. HAVE FUN!

Pack it up

Really quick I just have to brag about my weekend! On Friday my husband gave me an early Christmas present. It was a much needed gift card for a massage. THEN he surprised me with a babysitter on Saturday so we could have a date night (which we hadn't had in a long time)! Awesome right? I am so lucky! On to the post...

Today we are packing up to head to California tomorrow! Have I mentioned we are taking the train? I am so excited, I've never taken a train, unless you count the one at Knotts Berry Farm (but I don't). Have you taken a train anywhere? How was it? I'm a little worried for Mason because he only sleeps in his car seat or crib and we will have neither of those AND we're traveling in the middle of the night AND the ride is almost 18 hrs. Any pointers? I would love to hear!

Unfortunately I just looked at the weather report and of course it will be snowy and windy tomorrow of all days! We still have so much to do! The laundry is still piled and the only suitcase packed is the one full of Christmas presents.

I am excited, however, because tomorrow I get to meet my best friend's new little baby before they head off to Canada FOREVER (rethink it Ros).

Have an amazing Christmas everyone! I will definitely take pictures of our train adventure and will be sure to share them with you!

Image via Curbly

Feeling Festive

I'm feeling quite Christmas-y today, for no apparent reason! I just want to go sting some popcorn and cranberries! That would definitely be Christmas-y! Here's some things I found on Pinterest to put you in the Christmas Spirit!

These so remind me of my childhood! My grandma always had this same mug sitting on a table with those minty taffy things that have the tree in the center! Yum!

So I am not a big fan of Rexburg in the winter, but one thing I love is Main Street. They cover Main Street in lights and it makes me so happy! (This is not Rexburg, notice no snow?)

What makes you feel Christmas-y? Please Share!

Have a wonderfully Christmas-y day!

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Camp Family Christmas Cards

I finally can share our Christmas card with you! I sent them out late last week so I've been waiting 'til people received them to share this with you! I love how they turned out! What do you think?

We decided to go with this card because this will be our last winter in Idaho so we thought it was fitting.

I created a custom backer for us (which you can have too right here). I was inspired by the navy and green in Mason's newborn photos (taken by the amazing Rosalyn).

I also created a wrap around return address label to match (if you want one contact me through my custom page).
I'm proud of this little card and so happy to show off our little family. Thank you so much to those who have supported me in my new little business venture. It's taken a ton of energy and love, so thank you to those who have stuck by me and furthered the new brand!

Gingerbread Party

Yesterday we had a few friends over to for a little gingerbread house party, it's sort of becoming a tradition for us. This is a really fun and simple idea if you want to throw one yourself. We had each couple bring their own house and a candy to share. We bought our kit from Target this year and it came with EVERYTHING! It had pre-made white royal icing as well as red and green and all the candy you would need. This kit did not have the house pre- assembled so we tried to assemble it our selves and it was sort of an epic fail. Our icing did not harden quick enough so while we were still trying to assemble it one side fell and broke in half. We never did get the roof to stay on (it's resting on the wall just for this picture).

The hubs decorated the roof pieces separately and I decorated a wall and a half (not my finest work).

Needless to say our house is a disaster but the party was a success! No one finished their houses but we had great conversation AND Jon  and I were "psychoanalyzed." Here's a few mor pictures of our little home.
Tomorrow I'll be sharing our Christmas cards here so be sure to check back then!

Unique Custom Gifts

Are you still looking for the perfect gift for someone? Have you thought about something custom? Maybe you have childhood pictures laying around and would like to create something out of them for your mom for Christmas. Or maybe you've seen some subway art on pinterest and want a custom saying for your wall (or someone else's wall) printed on canvas. If you think you would like to give something really personal and special this holiday send me a request on my custom page. Hurry quick! To insure delivery by Christmas orders should be placed by December 15th.

Pinspiration: Wreaths

Happy Friday! Are you so excited it's December? The Hubs only has 2 weeks left of this semester and then it's off to California for 9 days! Saying I'm excited would be a huge understatement! What are your holiday plans? Today I have a little Pinspiration for you. I love having a wreath on my door this time of year and I've been seeing some amazing wreaths on pinterest, so I thought I'd share. Most of these would be pretty easy to DIY as well (if only I had money...).

This first wreath above I fell in love with a few years ago on Martha and then recently rediscovered it on pinterest (link below). Can you tell what it is? Moss! Yup. I was going to attempt making  this wreath but unfortunately I live in a small town and couldn't find the right moss! To recreate this all you need is a wood wreath form, moss, and t-pins. Could someone please recreate this and send me a picture since I can't make one myself?

This one is moss as well but they used a square form! I love when wreaths get an update with a geometric shape!

Gorgeous right? And they look so timeless and effortless!

Have you been introduced to felted balls? You can buy them on etsy in bulk and glue them on a simple wreath form. I'm diggin the red one. The different sized balls give it so much texture!

I die every time I see this one. The white on white with hints of gold makes such an impact!

This beauty is created from dollar store ornaments! So cheap and easy (and no one would suspect it's from the dollar store).

How cleaver is this? They just took a large letter and glued fake berries to it! Easy peasy.

Shut the front door! (no seriously, I want to see your wreath) This last one is my FAVORITE! This is what I would put on my door if I lived near the ocean or in the middle of the desert.
You want a wreath now don't you? Have an amazing weekend!


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Christmas Colors

When you think of Christmas colors you, I'm guessing, immediately think of red and green. Red and Green are classic and always look great for the season, but are you wanting something a little different? Today I've complied a few different color schemes that are modern, bight, and still festive to inspire your decor this year.

I love the "peacock blue" with the hints of red in this one!

Hello! Isn't the mint with the black and white chevron amazing! This color is so inspiring to me, in fact it inspired this card. I am CRAZY about this!

Have you seen work by Emily Henderson from HGTV? The girl in a genius! You have to see her globe snowmen, who thinks of that? She does! This color scheme is based off of her holiday special on HGTV, check it out!!

Hope you were inspired! Now go buy some hot pink ornaments and get decorating!

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Paper Snow

Hello my friends! How have you been? Are you so excited Christmas is near? I am! What are your favorite things to do this time of year? Do you have family traditions? Have you started your own traditions? I've been thinking a lot about traditions lately, which ones I want to carry over from my childhood and new ones for our little Mason baby. This year we won't really be starting any traditions because we will be gone for about 10 in December, plus we are moving in April.

One thing I will be doing this season is making paper snowflakes. This is one of my favorite things to do (in fact I do it throughout the year, it's very therapeutic). I love that you can fold a piece of paper, make a few cuts, open it and it's a different masterpiece every time!

A few nights ago I got bored so I pulled out scissors and paper and got to work making little snowflakes. Since we won't be around much in December our Christmas decor budget is $0 so I thought it would be cute to sew a bunch of snowflakes together to make a garland, or suspend them at different heights in our front window. I haven't officially decided what to do with them yet, but I think I need a lot more to make an impact!

This one is my favorite! It reminds me of the native looking patterns that are really popular right now.

What do you think I should do with these beauties? Please share your ideas, and I'd love to hear about your Christmas traditions!

Holiday Cards

I just ordered my holiday cards and I am so excited for you to see them. Since it's our last winter in "Iceburg" (that's Rexburg for those of you who have never been to this frozen tundra) we ended up choosing the "warmest wishes" card. We chose a different picture (and name) than the one on the site and I designed a custom back. I've decided to share the custom back with you, so now if you order warmest you can get a little somethin' extra. Check the store to see the new backer. Today I will be designing our return address labels to match the card (maybe I'll share those with you too).

Don't forget about the Cyber sale that ends tonight! Enter "cybersale" at checkout to receive 10% off holiday card orders over $50.

Cyber Monday is Here Early

Head over to the DesignFancy shop to snatch up this awesome deal! Don't miss out, offer ends Monday!

Winners

Congrats to the winners of our Facebook giveaway! Later today on the Facebook page there will be a poll happening so go check it out and participate.

Have an amazing weekend, and I'll meet you back here on Monday my fancy friends!

Holiday Giveaway

Today we're having a giveaway on the designfancy facbook page. This is the first ever giveaway for designfancy and I am pretty darn excited (I don't even get to win anything!) If you haven't seen them already, last week holiday photo cards went up for sale in the design fancy shop and they have received a really positive response. Because I'm so excited about these cards I've decided to share the love! I'm giving away a set of 25 double sided holiday cards AND a set of 50 double sided holiday cards over on the facebook page! That means you could receive gorgeous holiday cards to send to 50 of your closest friends on me!  Plus there are 2 ways to enter! Are you excited now?

Check out a few of the designs here on the blog and the rest in the shop (more cards have been added TODAY)! Scroll to the bottom of the post to find out how to enter.

Cute right? Here's how to get your 2 enteries:

• Head on over to the our Facebook Page and become a fan. Click the big “Like” button on top of the page. Then click the “Share” button on the giveaway post. Make sure to leave a comment on the giveaway post and say Holiday Card you would choose. (already a fan? Just share the post and leave a comment about which card you'd like)
• Become a follower of this Blog. Leave a comment on the Facebook Post telling me that you became a follower (if you are already a follower just leave a comment on the giveaway post on the Facebook page letting me know) The comment is what counts as your entry.

You may only enter each way once before Thursday (11/17) at 12am MST. The winner will be announced Friday (11/18).

Don't miss out on some cute (and free) Holiday cards.