bah bah black sheep.

{found on Tumblr}

I hate to admit it but I kind of like this.

fishing for trouble

my Mac making his contribution to my current paper
{photo taken with ShakeitPhoto}

my imaginary home is expanding

New kitchen:

{love it all - - the floors, the windows, the island, the appliances!}

Cool dining nook:

{I love that door!}

Bedroom:

{great windows & I love pretty molding!}

New Bathroom:

{everything about this is beautiful - - the floor, the tub, the mirrors!}

lan- what?

How did I miss out on these?
I mean, I know I don't ever buy makeup
and I've never been to the lancome website before today
but, gosh, those are awesome.

Quixotic Designs: Invitation Compilation Debut

{all boxed up and ready to be mailed}

I think by now it is safe to post pictures of my recent creations without spoiling the surprise for anyone involved... so allow me to introduce you to what the philosopher refers to as my insane procrastination effort: baby shower invitations.

Technically, there were six different variations of the design that got mailed out and two different stamp designs. But, for all intensive purposes I think of the invitation as having 3 main variations with a little something extra thrown in for the {great!(grand)parents}, the aunts, and the uncles-to-be.

All of the invitations sent out had four essential components: The letter-pressed lion invitation with blue ink (printed on sustainable bamboo paper) from Smock; a personalized letter-pressed elephant enclosure card from Dingbat Press; a hand stamped, double-sided light blue insert that included directions to the shower, registry information, and a special request for guests; and one or two *super cute* stamps from Cakespy's Zazzle shop.

The elephant enclosure cards were not just for looks - - I especially want to orient the shower towards personal relationships and I thought I'd lay the groundwork by asking the guests to share something personal. I included the guest's name(s) on the bottom of the envelopes to add a personal touch to the invites and just in case someone fills out the card but forgets to sign, the new parents will know who it was from!

There was a "ruffle ribbon" version:


{at the very end I ran out of white ruffle ribbon and had to use a bright ivory ruffle ribbon for a couple invitations *technically* yielding two variations - - fortunately, the ivory looks white until compared directly against the actual white ribbon!}


There was a "jungle leaf ribbon" version:


{Since the ribbon was reversible, it *technically* yielded two variations.}



There was a "paper bag" version:


no frilly ribbon just a cute little paper bag to hold
the lion invitation, the elephant enclosure card, and the blue insert.


There were 7 extra special invitations for the parents-to-be,
three aunts-to-be, two uncles-to-be,
two sets of grandparents-to-be,
and one pair of great! grandparents-to-be.

For them, I put the invitation in an unsealed "inner" envelope, then encased it in blue tissue paper, and housed the whole shebang in a special little box. Partly I did this because the little chartreuse boxes were just so cute (but too expensive to mail to everyone!). But also it was important to me that these invitations not get too banged up in transit. After all, if anyone is going to save these invites it'll likely be someone especially close to the parents-to-be and the new baby.

And there were two stamp variations:

A "cuppies & owl" stamp version and a
"where the wild (and sweet) things are" stamp version.
{I really wanted to use these stamps too
because they're soooooooooooooooooo cute
but there just weren't enough invitations to merit the extra sheet.
I'll have to think of something else to mail! wink, wink}

All in all there were 29 shower invitations.
I can't wait to see how many people show up to the main event!!

speaking of...

I love this idea for "recycling" or re-using wedding decor after the fact. I've already got fabric incorporated into my wedding invitations and, perhaps as a result of being so giddy about my idea, I've gotten obsessed with fabric as a complement to any sort of invitation (not that it works best in everycase but I do love an element of the unexpected!).

I've also gotten pretty attached to this idea for a spin on the traditional "guestbook". And it is so nice to have someone else's tips and tricks from their own trial run. The tip about ink that washes off easily is actually what sealed the deal for me falling hard for this idea!

{I think this "leaf your print" bit would actually be soooo cool for a baby shower as well. Just sayin.}

Speaking of baby showers and weddings, this idea fits sooo well with my plan for my own eventual baby shower (in ten years, of course). If I weren't already so totally attached to my baby shower plan, I'd enthusiastically follow suit and scatter empty books around the wedding for people to fill. Although, now that I think about it, I've actually got something kind of similar lined up for the wedding... hmm.. no spines but a blank canvas meets comic books sort of thing. Well, more on that later, I guess. :)


Lastly, I'm still loving this photo shoot (and most balloon photo shoots for that matter). The only problem with photos as good as these is that I fall in love with every little detail - - in this case, I've fallen hardest for the now-impossible-to-get dress. Isn't it fabulous?! I never would have chosen it otherwise but with the balloons it just pops and is perfect. Wow. And, did you notice that guy is wearing a sweater? He's rocking it pretty well... I'm impressed. I don't think my Luke would ever get into a sweater.

this too shall pass...

When photos of your favorite weddingbee writer's wedding start popping up on Green Wedding Shoes and beyond I guess the party is really over. Darn. I love Miss Cowboy Boot. Now that the Miss is a Mrs where will I get my regular stream of fantastic wedding inspiration and behind the scenes event planning? Moreover, now that her wedding celebration has come to fruition I'm find myself oohhhing and ahhing over the photos secretly wondering if my own celebration will be anywhere as lovely.

Derelict Chic

What a cool exhibit! "Rethinking Trash Into Inspired Art". I dig it.

And yes, that is a bubblewrap-plastic dress.
Check out the details:

Like whoa.
Even better is the shovel guitar....
it actually plays well too!

I especially like the seat belt strap.

Wow. Cool. Now that really is turning trash into functional art.
Better than tossing the phones into a landfill I suppose.
Even though I'm not sure I'd want them in my house,
wouldn't these look awesome in a museum display?
Or an anthropologie window display?
{I'm not totally sure why but they remind me
of that movie - - "Honey I Shrunk the Kids"}

Ohhhh, collllllaaaggggeeee.
I like colorful collages.
Especially ones like this
where you'll find something new
each time you look.

Sweet speaker housing.
Supposedly the artist found all of these suitcases
along the side of the highway.
Can you believe it?
They don't seem all that junky to me
but maybe that's just how good the artist is.

Umm... so as cool as I think some of the trash art is.....
some things are not art.
They are, as far as I can tell, irretrievably and undeniably trash.

Case in point: the tea bag quilt.

That is nasty.

Here is what the artist had to say about the work:

"This unusual quilt is created with used tea bags. Artist Ruth Tabancay has used them to "represent a geature of warmth, an article of clothing, a barrier, cells of the human body, organelles within cells." Who would have thought used tea bags could be so versatile. Tabancay uses tea bags daily, so making them a medium for her art is a great way for her to reduce waste and consumption."

Am I sickeningly cynical or does that just sound like bollocks?
1) tea bags are biodegradable, right?
2) the artist is still drinking tea....
so unless she's sleeping under the quilt
I can't tell how she's reducing her consumption
aside from refusing to buy other art supplies.
But then again, as this exhibit shows, art supplies can be free.
3) maybe tea bags are nice and warm when they're freshly dipped
but when I see a pile or "quilt" of tea bags
"warmth" does not fit within my immediate associations.
In fact, quite the opposite. I think of cold, limp, disgusting tea bags.

Ick. Just looking at the photo gives me chills!
But, then again, that is just me.

then and now

{found here}

oh my. this is so funny!
I LOVED Mighty Ducks when I was younger
and was psyched to get an American Girl doll for Christmas!
AND, sadly, Target trips have become my vacation equivalents.

weddingbee flowers

{photos found here}

Beautiful, beautiful. I don't plan on having a huge three-tier white cake at my wedding and I probably won't be overemphasizing pinks and yellows but I do love these flowers! Wouldn't they look great at a girly baby shower? Or is that just my crazed-baby-shower-planning-delirium shining through?? Maybe without the light pink roses... just bright poppies and the yellow flower balls and books! books! books!

this is sweet.

{found here}

why I love the holidays, part one

pretty advertisements, festive packaging, and the spirit of giving

Of course I never shop at Target
since EVERYTHING is better (and usually cheaper) on Amazon.
But I do love their festive shipping for the holidays - -
no gift wrap necessary when the box is so cute.
And, clever clever Target execs, the more you order
the better it will all look on the doorstep.

I wonder if they do anything for other holidays...

"Hanukkah Delivered"

"Kwanzaa Delivered"

Kwanzaa is actually pretty interesting to me because it is so recent. I think it began in the 60's... I guess what is amazing about "new" or recent holidays or religions like Kwanzaa is that they're able to develop such a committed following so quickly. I mean, the principles of Kwanzaa were taught in my middle school. That is success.

funny lady

Ellen cracks me up. Every time.
The Dakota Fanning by line put me over the top.

Halloween!

I'm not really a Halloween person anymore... but sometimes I miss the Halloween days of my youth when the holiday was all about make believe and having fun. For college students it is mostly an opportunity to expose a little more cleavage... but sometimes when I find inspiration like this it makes me get a little giddy about the days when I've got a kiddo of my own to take up the creative side of Halloween spirit once again!

These DIY costumes from Martha Stewart rock.

I've also found lots of inspiration for Halloween parties which I just may make use of before there is a kiddo on the horizon. My philosopher's birthday is in October and I've been thinking about throwing a pre-Halloween birthday bash for quite some time now.

Maybe we could have some SPOOKTACULAR invitations like one of these (with a birthday twist, of course)...

Or something like this...


But my favorite invite idea of all is something creepy and surprising like this:


At the party we could serve some ghoulish treats like these...

chocolate (or hot coco or coffee) with marshmallow bones

yummy witchcream sandwitches

spider cake

And/or my favorite spooky sweet - -

cuppie brains!
Actually, my favorite thing about this is the name tag set up.
I especially love the one at the front because a long time ago
I started referring to my philosopher as Sir Thinks-A-Lot.
Coincidence?? I think not.

We could decorate our house sort of like this...

A Halloween birthday bash for my love is meant to be.
I just know it.