[two parties...]

A few weeks ago I received a call from my friend Jordan asking for assistance and creative inspiration for a baby shower she would be throwing for her sister-in-law Brooke. Knowing both Jordan and Brooke to be ladies of great taste, and even better company, I was more than delighted to take part.

And then I heard that Jordan had a little more planned up her sleeve. Not only was she aiming to throw a baby shower but had a mind to hold her daughter's 3rd birthday party earlier on that same day. Now here was a challenge to sink my teeth into! Needless to say, I was definitely on board.

The inspiration for Brooke's shower was easy. We decided to base it on the adorable invite that graphic designer Brooke herself had created. I fell in love with her color choices at once and who doesn't love an elephant motif?

In fact we took this theme and ran with it - branded it, if you will, as Jordan and Brooke's husbands (who are also graphic designing brothers) comically put it. Jordan and I divided up the work load and proceeded from there. I made a slew of white iced sugar cookies and packaged them as celebratory favors.

And then went on sprucing up and personalizing water bottles, stacking a diaper cake, and dotting fabric back drops.

Add some blue tissue paper poms, delectably dipped strawberries, a corner store's worth of blue candies, scrumptious sandwiches, a sinful strawberry spinach salad and some pretty darn good store bought cupcakes and a party spread we had.

The guests arrived and we enjoyed our time celebrating Brooke and her little bundle on the way.

Now for the birthday party for a certain little 3 year old princess. Jordan made the most incredible princess cakes out of my Williams Sonoma pumpkin cake mold. I don't think these Disney princesses ever looked so good, do you?

We doubled up on the iced sugar cookies and went with the same circle punch sticker solution for the packaging, reducing the work load a bit.

The princess of the hour no doubt enjoyed her day very much as did all her little guests.

Jordan made these darling hats and birthday banner.

We used the same water bottle label solution and doubled up on the party poms (only adding a few more colorful ones for the birthday bash).

(princess party photos courtesy of Jordan Daines)

Happy faces and delighted darlings tell the tale of a smashing party.

Whew! Well from my perspective we pulled it all off rather well. And if you are thinking of doing something similar, here are a few pointers:

-most definitely pull someone else in to help you

-double up on as many goodies and design solutions as possible, still making sure each party has it's own signature look

-plan as much as you can ahead of time, divide and conquer

-simplify wherever you can

-when the clock is ticking, ditch whatever isn't working

-and when it's all said and done, let it all go and enjoy your guests along with the fruits of your labors

Happy party planning!

[celebrating...]

Like so many of you, I can't believe the legacy of LOST has come to an end. And what a moving and beautiful ending it was, wasn't it? I mean WOW. Well, we were happy to celebrate it with friends munching on island delicacies such as wild boar (pulled pork sandwiches), sushi, smoke monster pudding (complete with a black and white edible stones for Smokey and Jacob) made by Jon, and Dharma Initiative cupcakes (recipe courtesy of Magnolia bakery) and more.


Jon went as the perfect Sawyer (he had the scowl down to a science).
(And can I just brag that I cut his hair? I really had no idea what I was doing but I think it looks particularly good in this photo...)



And I went as Kate with a muddied up T-shirt and boy jeans (couldn't come by a rifle...).

We had fun reminiscing, predicting, discussing and I'll admit it, crying...just a bit...

I hope all of you had an enjoyable, relaxing and reflective weekend as well...and if you are a LOST fan, I'd love the hear how you celebrated the finale!

[because I just can't get enough of...]

Be they fabric or oil based, it's official, I'm obsessed with paint pens. The possible applications for these snazzy little markers are truly endless (and SO not messy...big plus).

I first experimented with the oil based pens on wood, creating freestyle geometric patterns (yes I'm also obsessed with this pattern, I can't help it. It's so fun and nearly impossible to mess up). After playing around a bit I got the hang of these. I found that you have to shake and push down hard for a bit on an alternative surface to get the paint flowing in a consistent manner. Then when you notice it start to fade you'll have to do this again. I was pretty happy with how my little experiment turned out and I'm thinking of making a few more as a set of coasters (which I will then seal and add little padded feet).

Once I got going with this little pen I couldn't put it down. For my next project I covered a 12x12 boxed canvas in black acrylic paint. After letting it dry I jumped right in with the paint pen (making sure to prime the tip first). I was pretty happy with the ease of use. I missed the interesting line quality that an actual paint brush would give but with how fast it all came together I really can't complain (I'm sure with practice one could become quite skilled with this medium). I like how it took on a chalk-on-chalkboard sort of look.

So now I have a new little bird for my wall which just might have to be the beginning of a mini-series for me. I'm thinking constellation charts, more birds, botanical diagrams...you name it.

[a delightfully, delicious...]

I hope all of you had a magnificent weekend celebrating the mothers in your life. I know we did! We seemed to have a strawberry theme going on this year. Instead of the typical flowers that Jon and I usually send our mothers we traded up for something sweeter and tried out Shari's Berries, chocolate covered strawberries. Both of our mothers LOVED them and couldn't stop raving about how delicious and grand they were. We were so happy we could show our appreciation and adoration for two magnificent ladies in such a refreshing and scrumptious way.

Jon and the boys made me feel very loved as well. After being spoiled with cards, poems, gifts, and lunch, Jon cleared the kitchen so that I could indulge in making a strawberry tea cake for all of us to enjoy (something I had asked for). When the cake was done (and the boys had licked the mixing bowl clean) Little A broke out in a "Happy Mother's Day to you..." tune and we all sat down to stuff our faces. Yum! It was almost as delicious as this little guy.

Then came some dancing on the living room couch, story time, reflection and a few precious moments of completely enjoying being a mother.

With full hearts and full bellies we ended our Mother's day by turning in early, a rare luxury for me and a perfect closure to such a perfect day.

[one fish, two fish...]

I was delighted to find the current summer Garnet Hill catalog in the mail this past week. Back in November I worked on several fish softies that would be used as props to accompany the Garnet Hill kid's summer 2010 collection and I've been dying to see them in action ever since.

The lovely and talented Kendra Smoot (an old New York acquaintance and recent referral from Brooke) contacted me shortly after the nautical Halloween post where I had thrown together some very basic, primitive looking fish for Little A's goodie bag. To my delight she asked me if I could do something similar for an upcoming shoot she would be styling. I of course readily agreed.

While residing in NY, some years ago, I had worked here and there as a stylist assistant to the fabulous Jane Fife for Garnet Hill and was excited to be working for this company again. In another lifetime I would love to do what these fantastic ladies do.

Kendra picked out the darling vintage inspired fabrics from Mood and I came up with the various fish patterns based on what she needed for the shoot. Kendra styled the absolutely adorable on-location shoots and I believe the incredible Amy Chin styled the still life shots (aren't those waves so cute?! Not to mention the cons! Little A just might have to sport the gray ones).

It felt great to be working away on a deadline that involved the sewing machine and not the drawing table or computer. Very refreshing and very fulfilling. I just might have found a new niche. Thanks ladies for letting me be a part of your wonderful work!

[hunter]

Despite all my pre-planning we seemed to have another up-to-the-last-minute Easter this year. Thank goodness I did in fact do all my Easter candy shopping weeks ago and that I started Little A's suit last week, or we might not have had much of an Easter egg hunt at all (Easter itself still would have been wonderful of course). Some how or other (burning the midnight oil, cranking out illustration after illustration had nothing to do with it I'm sure...) I managed to come down with the worst case of strep throat ever. I seriously woke up one morning feeling like a ferocious cat had clawed out the back or my throat (and it sort of looks like it too...but enough of the gruesome details...).

By using a few of our favorite creations (bunny nesting dolls, chalkboard painted pails, etc.) and candy traditions (Lindt chocolate carrots, Trader Joe's malted eggs, etc.) we managed to pull it off...in the nick of time.

I made Little A's suit from a vintage simplicity pattern, picked up last summer at a thrift store and threw together a plaid scarf (fabric from Joann's). It ended up a being a bit windy and nippy so I'm glad the scarf came in handy.

I had great visions of making a companion ensemble for Baby O but there just wasn't any way I was getting up off the couch. I do think however that he looked adorable in Little's A outgrown "jolly holiday" attire even if it didn't so much "match" his brother's look. I also loved that he was able to take part in the festivities this year. He kept going back to places where he found eggs previously to see if they were there again (such as the leaf above). So adorable, I just about died from his cuteness.

The hunt was splendid. Little A was seriously into this year and most definitely ate one too many chocolate carrots.

Baby O was all about the loot as well. Wow. The first year of candy overload ever...Not even Halloween was this bad. "Cranky kids" at bed time doesn't even come close to describing it.

But we had fun, chocolate overload and all. And now it's finished, and I'm off to recover so I can get back to the drawing board.

[wishing you all a...]

Yes it's late in the day but I hope you all had (and still are having) a wonderful Easter Sunday. Aside from the cat scratching strep throat I've got going on I think things worked out pretty well for us this year (I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make it off the couch).

We made our own dye this year out of food coloring and vinegar and are totally converted (no more store bought dyes for us!). The coloring is so great and sticks to the eggs immediately. We used a few basic letter decals for decoration, dipped away and called it good.


Pretty happy with the results and just might have to do this every year.


More pics of the day to come! Hope you are all munching away on delicious chocolates and scheming up new and creative ways to prepare and eat hard boiled eggs. Happy Easter!

["why didn't I think of that?"...]

Now that baby O has wiggled his way into the title of toddler, I knew it was high time I did away with the itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny baby towels that I've been stretching over and around him in and attempt to dry and cuddle after bath time. Little A's polar bear towel had also seen quite a bit of wear and tear so it was undoubtedly time for new bath towel hoodies for the boys.

I loved the white simplicity of Little A's previous bath towel as well as the little hidden hand pockets and wanted to carry over both of these features in the boys new towel wraps. I had previously purchased white terry cloth and striped fabric that my mother ran through her bias tape machine (super cool time saving device btw...seriously am going to have to get one of these) months ago but just couldn't decide on how I wanted to put them together. There were so many options...I could put the hood on a rectangle of fabric or just cut out a square and add a hood at one corner, etc. but none of these seemed to capture the look I was going for.

Then out of the blue a friend called me up wanting some sewing help with a couple of baby towel wraps she was making. She brought over a version that her aunt had made out of an pre-existing towel. All her aunt had done was fold the towel in half, cut a scoop out of the top, sewn on some trim and presto - new hooded towel. It was so simple. so brilliant. I was sold. Quickly I measured how long I wanted the towels (based on the boys heights) and where I wanted the scoop/hood to be.

I then added a couple of triangles for hand pockets, the trim, and finally some ears. I love the results. They drape so nicely and the boys love them (even if it was hard to get them to sit still long enough in them for any sort of photo shoot).


In fact, baby O wasn't having it so here we see Little A sporting his blue eared bear towel in a crouch, ready to spring around the living room couch.

And as Little A became restless during the shoot he managed to grab my camera and take this candid pic of me readying the towel. I rather like how it turned out. So telling.

And of course...as the photo shoot was wrapping up Little A rid himself of the towel and willingly posed for some goofy shots of his own choosing.

[arts and crafts corner]

As is the norm around here, we've got a pretty busy week ahead of us. With lots of exciting illustration work going on (naps and bedtime just won't cut it this week) I've had to get creative about how to entertain the Littles. I'm not sure much can be done to keep Baby O (who is a toddler now but I just can't strip the "baby" title yet) out of the paints and away from the keyboard, but I'm armed and ready with an ongoing art project for little A - and we have Ann Wood to thank for it.

Inspired by her 100 horses series Little A and I have set out to create our own little stampede (we're not ambitious enough to go for the full 100. We'll be happy with 10). Once a day, while I'm at my desk/drawing board Little A makes himself comfortable on the floor with craft paints, brushes and a cardboard horse cutout (made from Ann's template).

He loves it and has already started to ask about his horse every day. It's amazing to watch his concentration. He truly immerses himself into the painting, focusing on every stroke. I limit his color palette and offer a few suggestions such as painting the legs a different color than the body, but otherwise let him go at it. When he's done, I finish the horse off with an eye and few details. Little A then picks out the buttons and we assemble the horse together.

I hope this project sticks and Little A stays motivated. I can't wait to see what our colorful stampede will look like in the end (and I think I'll actually get some work done!).