going postal - snail mail-inspired stationery

yeah! let's talk about REAL mail. don't you miss it? ugh.. i do. i used to collect stamps, and i was looking through my collection and found these three cute ones to pose with some new stationery i made for carly.

let's all write some real letters, shall we? isn't that what awesome pens and pretty stationery is all about?

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stars & stripes & prisms & lights at settlement goods

my friend amanda commissioned a congrats card for her to give to the owners of houston's newest store, settlement goods. she wanted a stars to go with the prism windows she created for their opening.

this was fun for me... a big departure from all the pink & girly stuff i've been doing lately.



a few weeks later i visited the store with amanda and was blown away by the careful selection of all the products. each product is made in USA, which is pretty amazing considering how many of the products we actually own are farmed out for cheap labor.

it drives me crazy that there's isn't a higher demand for american-made goods. but hey, i'm totally guilty of buying the cheaply made stuff from old navy, target, banana, outlet malls, etc. etc. (hey, these are some of my fav stores!) but i digress...

settlement goods is definitely a treat for cool jewelry and clothing...



a view from the top. tree trunk table made in brooklyn covered in awesome jewelry and housewares.



definitely digging the brass geometric light pendant.



the light coming in the store.. and a little peek of amanda's window installation (you'll have to visit settlement for the whole enchilada!).



some of the women's clothing selections.. stripes! i cannot get enough of stripes.



um, obsessed with this quartz-shaped ring.



there's so much more to see. men's and women's clothing accessories, candles, pillows.. on and on. check it out for yourself and welcome settlement goods to the 'hood.

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new year's eve wedding

here's some custom design i did for a new year's eve wedding in san marcos. the bride requested new years resolution cards as a festive twist on the wedding guestbook.



and because new years eve is all about the countdown, we created a timeline of the day with illustrated images.



to keep her guests warm she had these monogrammed blankets available. i wish i had some embroidery skills, but for this i just created the 'H' logo. this logo was also used on the 'thank you's i created for the couple.. but i can't seem to find my photos of those!



photos by AJH photography.

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orange forever

traffic was horrific yesterday, so i headed to the nearest nail salon and enjoyed getting lacquered up in OPI in hot & spicy.

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love notes from creativity explored

during my last visit to san fransisco, chelsey and her boyfriend insisted that we visit creativity explored, an art studio and gallery for special needs adults.

the experience was beyond anything i expected. it's mission statement says it all:

we provide artists with developmental disabilities the means to create, exhibit, and sell their art in our studios and gallery, and around the world.

the artists create work that is so insanely pure and genuine; i can't even write about it without getting sappy. it's just amazing and it almost made me cry when i was sifting through all their work.

i got two pieces for my husband while i was there. one was a 'love note' written by an artist named zachary adams. the love note was so adorable and reminded me of that honeymoon stage that every couple goes through when they first get together. take the time to read it... it's so sweet.

"....and we could eat a pizza pizza." i know that's one of our favorite things to do.



if you can't make it out west anytime soon, you can still be a part of the magic. creativity explored has licensed some of the art to CB2, a furniture store that i would consider to be crate + barrel's funky little brother.

the other piece is a rabbit by merna lum, which is sort of a meaningful animal for us. i can't get enough of her color choices. and bonus points: CB2 actually has a pillow with one of merna's bunnies.




cute, eh? now go write some love notes to your lover, friends and mamas!

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hand-carved stamps - pink & orange valentine's cards

here's what i came up with for personal valentines i sent this year. i carved an XO stamp surrounded by a heart wreath and stamped the image onto flat cards. i couldn't decide which kind of inks i like so some were rainbow images and others were embossed with neon pink powder.

all cards were set off with a tangerine colored envelope, cause i'm diggin' orange these days. xo


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freebie: download these valentine's

hi there! i'm excited to offer a these free valentine's to download. there's four total, but these are my two favorites (and hello, a great reason to use the word totes).

i printed them out on pink paper, but i think it will look pretty sweet on neon or yellow. enjoy!

download free valentine's cards



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happy birthday jonathan

here's a card I made for my husband - a nice departure from all the pink this month.

take two - valentine's inspired nails

can't get enough of the love dovey season. i'm embracing the all the pink that comes my way this year. it's seems to be the one color that is dotting my pinterest boards the most.

for this 'look' i went with really pale pink for all my nails except one - my ring finger (awwwww) on which i used rose gold glitter.

glitter can be such a PAIN to remove. so i love the trend of choosing one finger to give the sparkle treatment. lazy beauty tips at its best.

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tea time & sealing envelopes

i had a tiny stroke of genius this week. i find great pleasure in finding new ways to save time, money, resources, etc. so when i was nursing my last sips of sleepy time tea, staring at the task to seal 50+ envelopes it occurred to me that i could use my tea bag to seal envelopes.

sure, you could buy one of those envelope sealers, but that's just another thing to buy, malfunction and clutter up your home.

the tea method works really well too. i didn't have to re-wet the bag at all for my 50 envelopes. a slightly wrung-out bag holds in the water pretty well, but allows you to release just enough moisture to activate that bitter-tasting strip of glue that we never want to taste again.

ta-da!

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happy february ( + january re-cap)

it's feb, you guys. that means celebrating my husband's birthday, my mother and father's birthday and valentine's day. which means LOTS of cards to make. I don't mind.

gone are the days where we decorated a shoe box to receive valentine's from our class mates, but i think it's still a fun tradition to keep among close friends & family.

i've been working on my valentine's this week. if you follow me on instagram, you may have seen a little peek of what i've been working on. i'll share it in due time.

for now, ill leave you with my purple ( + tiny orange heart) nails to brighten up these winter days.



january re-cap
vintage christmas glass to remind me of my grandmother
vintage light-up letters
pretty watercolor banner stationery
serious loot from the cream event in austin
sharing my love for nautical & neon
we made this: industrial coffee table with storage
rah rah! a glimpse of the hypa gala
maui-inspired stationery

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