Fishing Baby Shower {The Invitation}

Who says fishing is just for boys? According to some, REEL girls fish.

Above is an invitation design I created for a baby girl fishing themed shower.

Logo Design: Loving Arms Family Support

My mother is a board certified lactation consultant, and an R.N. who LOVES working with moms and babies. I was honored to help her design a logo that reflects her passion and skills. She owns and loves this statue of the holy family and wanted to incorporate it into her logo. What I settled on, I hope evokes the same emotion and tenderness but in a clean, modern way.

It wouldn't be right if I didn't include my sketch.Yes, I do sketches for parties AND logo design. Pay no attention to that weird flower family in the top right corner (grin).

 Learn more about Loving Arms Family Support by visiting her facebook page.

Welcome to the World Baby Shower {The Invitation}

My brother and his wife are expecting their first baby and I was thrilled to help a wonderful group of girls host a baby shower in their honor. Because Joshua and Sarah love to travel, we thought a welcome to the world theme was appropriate for their baby. Sarah's favorite color is orange so that was a nice neutral color since the gender of the baby is unknown. These invitations were mailed in orange envelopes with these free vintage parcel post labels from World Label in blue. The map inside the heart was also a free download from The Graphics Fairy. She had so many beautiful maps to choose from!

Pumpkin Carving Party 2013 {The Invitation}

We are celebrating 10 years of pumpkin carving this year. Above is the invitation design. The painting was done by my brother-in-law Kevin. I love the painting because it reminds me of the very first year when we had a pumpkin pinata. The colors in the sky are so inviting with the contrasting, spooky black silhouette in the foreground.

In honor of celebrating 10 years we wanted to do something different, so we asked guests to help us GIVE to friends of ours who are adopting a baby. This year instead of asking guests to bring their pumpkins we bought 50 pumpkins (at wholesale) and asked guests to buy them from us for $10 each. We called it Pumpkins with Purpose and it was a big hit. By doing this we were able to give more and were able to bless our friends with a generous financial blessing. That made celebrating 10 years so much sweeter.

Pumpkins With Purpose

Psalm 68:5–6

“Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—this is God,

whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families;

he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.”

Tropical Honeymoon Shower {The Invitation}

I designed this invitation for a tropical themed honeymoon shower. The couple was blending two households and had more than enough "stuff." What they really wanted was money to go towards their honeymoon. The phrase I came up with was "give the gift of memories made, not just things that will fade." I had seen origami money folded into clothing before and thought this would be a clever way to communicate that guests should bring CASH without blatantly saying that. I followed these instructions to fold the money and then scanned them into my computer along with the drink umbrella using sand colored paper as the background. I added the text and palm tree sun design using Adobe InDesign. I saved the money clothes and used them as a topper for the cake at the event. They were perfect. People responded well to the invitation and the couple had a nice wad of spending money for their trip.

Knock, Knock Birthday Party {The Invitation}

Marin has a "thing" for knock, knock jokes. It's a recent discovery and it just so happens that this new found fascination corresponds with her sixth birthday. I'm always trying to think of party themes based on the current interest of my children. For two reasons, 1. because they are usually consumed by the item/insect/animal or curiosity and 2. it helps me archive this period of their life. What they were in to. What made them smile. Where they were developmentally. I often worry about my ability to remember details of their childhood. Birthdays are a big deal around here and so why not use them to archive not only their age, but their interest. Thus, this Knock, Knock Birthday Party theme developed.

We snapped a picture of Marin in her favorite swimming suit. She has a summer birthday and is learning to swim, so a swimming party was in order. I cut her out using Photoshop.

To pull off the theme idea, I knew a door would have to be incorporated into the invitation design. So, the first joke on the invitation has to do with a door.
"Knock, Knock." "Who's there?" "Theodore" "Theodore Who?" "Theodore is closed. Please open it!"

When the invitation is folded, you see just her face peeking through the top of the door.

Next, we needed to introduce that it was a swimming party, so we used:
"Knock, Knock." "Who's there?" "Less" "Less Who?" "Less go for a swim!"

and finally we needed to acknowledge the birthday girl so we closed with:
"Knock, Knock." "Who's there?" "Abby" "Abby Who?" "Abby Birthday Marin!"

The invitation was designed so that you can print everything on one sheet of letter size card stock, cut it in half and then accordion fold the two pieces. We cut out the window of the door and then, taped the two pieces together.

The final invitation is an odd size 3" x 4.5," so we had to make our own envelopes. However, if you shop for #4 Coin Envelope there are options for purchasing them. Here is the envelope template we created:

We spent an evening hand delivering these fun, joke filled invitations to friends and family, but also sent out an invitation via Facebook. The best part was when friends and family members sent their RSVP in the form of a knock, knock joke. Here were a few of my favorites:

Knock, knock
Who's there?
Mayonnaise. 
Mayonnaise, who?
Mayonnaise's gonna be a lotta people at Marin's party!
Tee hee. See ya there!

...

Knock, knock!
...knock, knock!!
...knock?
We're not home! We're going to Marin's party!

...

"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Orange!"
"Orange who?"
"Orange you glad we're coming."

...

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Boo
Boo who?
Don't cry! We are coming!

...

Knock, Knock!
Who's there? 
Sherwood.
Sherwood who? 
Sherwood like to come.
And we plan to!!! :) Happy 6th Birthday to Marin!

Newspaper Themed Baby Shower {The Invitation}

In March I coordinated a Newspaper Themed baby shower for a member of our church. She is employed by the local paper which is owned by her Grandfather. I thought a vintage spin on a family legacy would be a fun way to celebrate the new arrival. Above is the invitation design and below is my initial sketch pulling together all of my inspiration.

Silent Hunting Theme Baby Shower {The Remix}

The hunting baby shower that I hosted in December of 2010 is still the most popular post on my blog. So when the the same girl was pregnant with baby number two (another boy) I was quickly inspired to create a more low key remix version of this same theme. After all, it's hunting season!

It's often, with baby number two, that parents have all the necessary items but who doesn't need diapers?! So I created a "silent" baby shower for members of our church to participate in. The baby's name is DAX and so Diapers for Dax was born. For three weeks this 20x30 poster was hung on the wall in the foyer of the church with a box below it.

I ordered the poster ($19) and 50 4x6 prints from Walmart and distributed the 4x6 prints to the congregation. Participants or "guests" were asked to bless the family by "bagging a pack of diapers or wipes" and were given "pamper permits" to tag their score. This allowed them to put their name on the gift without the effort or expense of wrapping it.

This same concept would work for an office setting or for a teacher. Besides the initial time invested in the design and theme, it was a simple, easy way to bless this family. PLUS, it really worked! Let's just say, I think the hunters all hit their bag limit.

Hand Print Tree Christmas Cards

This was our Christmas card for 2012 and what FUN we had creating it! One afternoon we skipped naps to make hand print Christmas trees and another afternoon we splattered a canvas in red and green paint taking pictures with reindeer antlers. That canvas hung on the wall of our family room for a week afterward (ha), but it was worth the effort.

Getting a shot of all three girls at once is an almost impossible feat, so we opted for individual shots of them displaying their age in paint covered fingers. Baby Coralee often holds out her pointer finger as a greeting. We call it her "ET Phone Home" and I was really hoping that she would cooperate, but I ended up having to just chose a photo showing just how beautiful she is (grin).

We did have ONE almost winner photo with all three girls. What's even more funny is to imagine the crazy, silly, chaos happening behind the camera to get these beautiful smiles.

Pinup Lingerie Shower Invitation

My sister hosted an adorable pinup themed lingerie shower for our friend Sarah. I designed this invitation for the party. We created about 25 and I'm glad there weren't more as cutting out the tiny aprons and placing them on the doll was tedious! We thought a dress up doll was perfect for the 1950s housewife theme and everyone dressed up and wore an apron. Katy Keene is the diva on the invitation and we selected her because she embodied the attitude we were going for in the design. Fun, flirty, fifties.

Vintage Inspired Wedding Invitation

These two love birds are getting married on Saturday. Can't wait to dance the night away at their vintage inspired wedding celebration. I can't claim to have designed this invitation. It would be more accurate to say I put it together for them. Their idea. Shane Rhoden's photograph. You get the picture, but I was happy to be involved and think the end result was super fun and I'm excited to attend!

Retro Wedding Shower Invitation

Created an invitation design for a 1950s retro inspired wedding shower. The final cards were printed as 4x6 prints and mailed in these rainbow colored envelopes. The wedding is going to be so colorful and fun!

Pumpkin Carving Party 2012 {The Invitation}

Waiting for these beauties to arrive in the mail. Gotta get them sent out to friends and family soon!

My sister-n-law, Beth Evans, created the acrylic painting that is the base for years' Pumpkin Carving Party invitation. I love the slightly spooky, yet glowing shiny feel it has. This is the fourth years we've used original art for the invitations and the ninth year we've hosted this event at our home.

Come on cooler weather, apple cider, chrysanthemums, costumes, hay rides and PUMPKINS. I'm ready for you!

Lemon & Lime Wedding {The Invitation}

Nothing says summer like a fresh, lemon and lime theme wedding. I designed these wedding invitations for a co-workers daughter. The photo is one from their engagement session. The translucent, yellow pochettes and Stardream, Fairway (green) square envelopes were purchased from LCI paper.

Our summer has been busy and HOT. Designing these invitations for this sweet couple was a highlight.

Marin's Mermaid Birthday {The Invitation}

Above is the Invitation design for Marin's upcoming Mermaid Birthday party. The girls and I created clothespin mermaids to use as party favors and decorations at the party. When I read the fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" to Marin, she insists that I incorporate her name. So in her mind the story is "Marin the Mermaid." Can you believe that she's turning FIVE! Oh, and wearing the blue necklace for pictures was her idea. She told me it was "mermaidish." (tee hee hee). Below are the shots that didn't make the cut but I still love them. 

Lemon & Lime Wedding {Save the Date}

I've had so many wedding invitation projects lately. It's fun to work with these unique couples to create a feel for their big day. Above is a save the date design for lemon and lime themed summer wedding. The photo is one from the engagement shoot I did with them in April. I loved the pose and was so sad when those yellow wild flowers stopped blooming. Now, it's just blooming HOT. Below are a few shots from their session. Aren't they sweet?

Butterfly Birthday Feet {The Invitation}

We celebrated Adalyn's second birthday on Tuesday with a butterfly theme birthday party. I was inspired by butterfly feet artwork that I found on Pinterest. I tracked down the party and it's a sweet story. I loved that the size of Adalyn's feet would be captured at a time where a baby becomes a toddler so the footprints that make the butterfly are her actual footprint at 100%.

The girls had a BLAST making the butterflies. By the end of our project the bottoms of their feet were an awful color. I found that ink pads worked much better than paint. To make the invitation above I made prints of Adalyns feet in black ink, scanned in the prints and changed the colors using Photoshop. However, the girls enjoyed making many butterflies of various colors with just the ink pads. Here is a sampling:

Senior Pictures {My Nephew Zack}

Well, it's official. I'm old. I have a nephew who has graduated from High School. I had the pleasure of taking his senior pics and designing this announcement. What a handsome, polite, kind and talented young man. An asset to the world and the family around him. Congratulations Zachary!

Peacock Lingerie Shower Invitation

Invitation design for a PeaCOCK themed lingerie shower. An appropriate "theme," for such a colorful event don't you think? Or, maybe inappropriate?

Wedding Shower Invitation {Grey & Lavender}

Designed a matching wedding shower invitation for these Grey and Lavender Wedding Invitations.