April Showers Bring...Babies?

Well, I hope April will bring me a baby!  I don't think Baby M can incubate much longer.  It is time for her to arrive.  The nursery is still awaiting it's finishing touches, but I am too afraid to puncture holes in the newly painted walls to hang my art and framed prints without a second opinion.  Alas, I think this final touch will have to wait until my mother gets to town, which means after baby comes.  Not sure that I trust the husband on this one.  If I could even drag him in there to hold things up and ask for his opinion, he would barely look up and say, "Yeah, looks great there.  Now can I get back to the game?"  Sorry, honey, but you know it's true.

In the meantime, Happy April!  Here is my ode to April Showers....

I love the idea of using an umbrella as a motif on a bridal or baby shower invite.  The literal interpretation is always fun.

Invitation by PaperSource

Love this one...

Invitation by minted

Invitation by seller on Etsy (no longer available)

Invitation by seller on Etsy (also no longer available on the site)

And here's one of my own that I designed a few years back...

Invitation by E|M Design

Spring is in the Air!

It might be rainy today, but it has been in the 60's and 70's the last few weeks, and everywhere I go, people are just floating on air!  Well, except for me and my huge belly...I could only float right now if I was in water.  I think my baby bump would make a nice floatation device.  But this weather - I just love what the coming of spring does to people's spirits.  We also associate the spring with new life, and I am expecting my new little sprout of life in LESS THAN THREE WEEKS!!  I am so tired of waiting for this little angel, but also not sure if I am ready at the same time.  I am not the only one, I know.  There are so many spring babies popping up (or out) everywhere.  Here is one precious baby shower invitation I designed for a friend's baby shower in Bluffton, SC.  I used her beautiful fabric from her nursery as inspiration.  And the little bird (her maiden name is Byrd) is just perfect for her and for her spring baby.

2010 Year in Print

A few of my favorite projects from 2010...

Here is a fun personalized 5x5" 2011 desk calendar I did for some close family and friends.  This particular calendar was for the husband.  He has it on his desk at work now.

Here is a fun and clean baby shower invitation I designed for a shower for a baby boy.

I obviously enjoyed this project because it was my own!  Here is my Christmas card...

Here are a few fun stationery items and invitation.

The holidays were very busy.  I was constantly mailing out Christmas card orders and party invites and packaging everything with festive holiday ribbon.

Here is my label from the back of one of my projects.

I loved designing this stationery for a baby boy.  It is so cute, but not too cutesy at the same time.

A fun invite below that I designed for a friend's Bourbon tasting holiday fete!

One of my favorite Christmas card designs.  I like this one mostly because of the fire engine red that matches his cute little outfit in the pic, and the adorable picture makes the card!

This client chose to use a fun army green for their holiday card, rather than a traditional holiday green.  I love this!!

Making it Match

My friend Shelby called me up and asked if I could do something for a baby shower.  The honoree was having a baby girl, but she did not want anything too girly.  They actually wanted to match the invite to the baby's bedding so that they could have it framed to go in the baby's nursery.  The bedding is this adorable blue, tan, brown and white by Serena & Lily.  Sooo...I took her request quite literally and made it match.  Here are the four sample invites I came up with, and then the final product that Shelby and I worked on together:

And the final product!...

Invitations

This year, I have been lucky to have so many great friends, and friends of friends, that have asked me to help them with invitations, announcements, logo designs, business cards, etc. This has allowed me to begin to build a portfolio and actually get organized and make a real business out of my hobby. Here are a few examples of some of the fun invitations I have worked on in the last year or so.