too, too tweet.

after a week of vacation in florida, it feels good to be home! don't get me wrong -- a tropical holiday was definitely in order -- but it's nice to be back in my comfy chair, surrounded by my familiar things.

on my first day of vacation i received an email asking if i could create an invitation for a "tweet one" birthday party. miss alyx will soon be celebrating her very first birthday, and her mommy needed an extra-special invitation for this tweet, tweet day {sorry, i couldn't resist}. =) i could hardly wait to get back home and start working on the design -- truth be told, i couldn't wait, and i pulled out the trusty laptop on the drive to florida, at the house, and again on the drive home.

i've said it a million times before, and i'll probably say it a million times more, but i.love.you.guys. love you!! for real! you bring so much inspiration and color to my life. i don't know where i would be without you.

kristi knew she wanted to use a mix of fun colors and incopoate the tweet one theme with a cute little bird.

here's what we came up with:

join us for chirps and cheers! alyx's birthday will soon be here. if this playful little guy doesn't set the stage for a super fun summer party, i don't know what would. ;) i love it when i get to mix all kind of colors, shapes, and designs together. and this color combo? definitely a fave.

next on kristi's list? a fun banner of course! this banner will actually have ribbon running through it, but you get the idea, right? =) each of the pennants are about 5 inches wide - perfect for a tweet little one's tweet little celebration.

finally, we created these precious 2-inch cupcake toppers. i just love that little bird!

alyx reece, you are one lucky little girl to have a momma and daddy who love you so much! i can't wait to see the fun pictures from your birthday party. {of course, it's not until august, so we'll just have to wait ... don't you know i'm terrible at the waiting game??}

sweet 16.

this sweet sixteen party was so much fun! and i have very few pictures documenting it. {how does that always seem to happen to me lately?}

the party started off with this colorful invitation. i have never met a girl who loves crowns and the color pink more than ms. sierra. she lives in a small town, so there were few places that had availability for a larger party. we booked a banquet room at a local hotel.

we created a "sweet 16" banner for the event. because the venue was much larger than just someone's living room in a home, we wanted to make sure it didn't get lost. each letter is a 12x12 sheet. it's hard to see the entire banner in this picture, but you get the idea.

we also designed a candy and dessert buffet. i don't have pictures of it, but have requested they be sent to me. i'll share those as soon as i have access to them.

a baby shower for amy & mackenzie.

my dear friend {and photographer} jenny collier hosted a baby shower for her long-time friend amy. i love attending any soiree jenny throws. she always has the best ideas for events and does so much of the work herself. while i wasn't at amy's shower, i wanted to show off jenny's creativity {and beautiful photography}.

all images copywright jenny collier photography. please contact jenny for permission to use any photos.

the invitation jenny used had a clothesline of baby clothes strung across it, so she incorporated the idea into the shower as well. the items on the line also doubled as gifts for amy's little girl mackenzie.

jen used amy butler paper for the shower decor. the coffee cups at the drink station were wrapped in the same paper to match.


seana hon designed the gorgeous cake. i've since had one of seana's cakes and would second jenny's recommendation of her services. the cakes are delicious and the price is always very reasonable.

i love that no detail misses jenny's eye. the past few years banners have been very popular at parties and jenny loves using them at her events. i love that this particular banner uses tiny clothespins to coordinate with the theme as well.

the favor's were joy's hope mason jar cupcakes that jenny made. the favor tags were made of the same amy butler paper that you've seen scattered throughout the shower.

if anyone knows how to throw a party and make a girl feel special, it's ms. jen. amy and mackenzie are lucky, lucky gals to have such a good friend willing to throw them such a spectacular shower. to see more pictures from the event, visit jenny's page

fourteen days of love. 14.

My mom is a Valentine's Day baby. She is so thoughtful and always going out of her way to do kind things for others, so this year we decided to do something a little different from the traditional afternoon family lunch and gifts.The birthday girl collects tea pots and tea cups so an afternoon tea was right up her ally. We started with the invitation {you can see it below next to the vase of flowers ... I'll try to post a picture of just the invitation later} and went from there. The colors were inspired by the pink, white, red, and yellow found in spring tulips + my mom's love of paisley.
lemon cupcakes with toppers reading "happy birthday," "deniese," & "d"

lovely spring tulips {+ the invitation}

the spread

another shot of the spread: raisin scones . lemon cupcakes . red velvet cake balls . brownie pops . asparagus + ham + honey mustard + cream cheese on whole wheat . cucumber + cream cheese & mint on whole wheat . tuna sald on rye . chicken sald on whole grain rounds . tomato + basil quiche . spinach + mushroom + strawberry + almonds salad . made by yours truly + lindsay leach + justin leach

the birthday banner {but certainly not the greatest shot of it}

I didn't have the best camera in the world, so please excuse the pictures.

fourteen days of love. day 02

Well, I started a day late on the fourteen days of love, and then yesterday I didn't have a chance to get to the computer {Imagine ... a day when I wasn't in front of the computer all day. I didn't think days like that existed!} So it looks like {if I stay on track from here on out} we will have the eleven days of love!

For paper love 02. banners

I love banners! I did one this week for a baby boy whose room is decorated with sailboats and all things nautical. The picture isn't available yet, but it was precious, if I do say so myself. The one pictured above was done for Thanksgiving of 2009. These fun signs can be done is so many shapes and sizes {squares, circles, pennants}. The one below was for a Sweet 16 {clearly} at a hotel. Due to the size of the room, a much larger square was used.

I love how versatile they are. They're great for baby showers, baby gifts, parties & celebrations, & home decor.