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.

Nautical Birthday Invitation DIY

**UPDATE- TO PURCHASE THE NAUTICAL INVITATION CLICK HERE!**

Happy Monday friends! How was your weekend? Ours was lazy, but it was great! Today II am finally sharing Mason's 1st birthday invitation with you, as well as how to create the same obre effect yourself.

For me, the basis of any good party is the invitation. It should set the overall tone for the event and give your guests a little sneak peek of what's to come! I knew from the beginning I wanted some sort of ombre effect on the card. First I tried painting different shades of blue, but since I don't know how to watercolor, it didn't turn out so fabulous (see below).

That's when I saw this post from Say Yes to Hoboken on how to dip dye tags, I thought it would be a great way to get the effect I was looking to achieve on the invitation. I, however, had to change some things up from her tutorial because: 1. I didn't have dye of any sort and I wasn't going to buy any, and 2. I didn't have a can/ cup/ vase or anything tall enough and wide enough to dip the 5x7" invitation. Below is my take on the dip dying process.

You will need:

A large enough baking dish to fit your paper, watercolors (not the dry kiddie kind), a paint brush watercolor paper, a rag, and of course water. (ignore the heart cookie cutters that was for another project).

Mix up your color in the baking dish with the water. Pour in enough water so it's about 1/4" deep. Add more paint depending on how dark you want your paper to get (you can also add more later if it isn't dark enough). Mix the paint with a paint bush to make sure there are no globs of paint on the bottom on the dish.

You will create the lightest color first. Dip your paper to the point where you want the color to start and giggle slightly to avoid a harsh line. Leave it in for just a few seconds and pull it out of the water. If it is the color you desire the dab the bottom on the rag to collect any pooling color and let it sit to dry. If you want that section darker, then put in back in the color for a few more seconds and let it dry.
When it's completely dry repete the process, but don't dip the paper in as far. This time leave the paper in the color a little longer. Continue this process till you have all the layers of color you desire. ** be sure to mix the color with your bush before each layer to avoid the globs of color on the bottom of the dish. If you don't you will end up with very thick, uneven layers of paint.

This is what my paper looked like when I was half done. Notice the little dark spots on the side? Those are globs that I missed!

That is you can dip dye an invitation!

I know what you are going to ask me, "You dip dyed every invitation?" No I did not! I dip dyed 1 invitation and scanned it in. I also painted a few sailboats to scan in so I wouldn't ruin my dip dying. After I scanned everything, I placed the in Photoshop and added my text. 

What do you think? Will you try the dip dying effect on any of your projects?

**UPDATE- TO PURCHASE THE NAUTICAL INVITATION CLICK HERE!**

Mason's Party Sneak Peek

Hello friends. Today I'm getting ready for Mason's 1st birthday so I thought I share a little something from his party. I found cheap little anchor charms and thought it would be cute to add them to the invitation so I went with a nautical theme. I did not, however, end up using the charms.
Next week I'll show you all the little details and a DIY for you! Hope your weekend is awesome! bye.

Kiah and Ramon's Invitations

I love a challenge, and this invitation was definitely that! When Kiah and Ramon decided that they wanted a mason jar on their invitation I was so scared. I am not an illustrator and don't pretend to be one, but I worked it out and gave them a mason jar. They loved it and I sort of love it too!

I went with a watercolor look done digitally in photoshop (something I hadn't tried before). This is definitely something I will be trying again! What do you think?

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!

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.