that's a wrap! christmas wrapping made easy.

my go-to for christmas wrap is kraft paper mixed with a bright patterned paper and fun, textured embellishments. it's super easy and looks great every time. this year i embellished with red satin ribbon, bright green raffia and charm & fig letter press holiday tags, a mix of shiny and matte finishes that add interesting textures to the whole look.

pssst! if you ever underestimate your box size and fall short of wrapping a gift with paper you already cut, just cover up the unwrapped section with a band of contrasting wrapping paper and BOOM, you're a creative genius that didn't break the 'measure twice, cut once' rule.

custom botanical stationery inspired by paris markets

this lovely stationery set was commissioned by my dear friend, andie. i'm kind of obsessed. she has a great eye for design and a love for all things french. 

austin, texas BBQ rehearsal dinner invitations

lindsay & boris were getting married in austin, texas.  with strong ties to the city (hook 'em!) and lots of international wedding guests, a big barbecue dinner was a must!

the rehearsal dinner invitation was all about fun: a chalkboard-style invite with vintage typography reminiscent of rustic honky-tonks let their guests know it would be a laid-back affair with lots of texas style. i couldn't resist a buffalo-check envelope liner complete with a custom logo featuring their soon-to-be monogram, LKB

see the full suite below and a little peek at the happy couple's rehearsal dinner celebration.

custom return address stamps now available at charm & fig

the shop is growing (oh so much more to come soon) but i had to get these custom return address stamps out ASAP. with holiday cards coming up, (you're sending them, right?) you can save some serious time and hand cramps with a return address stamp. 

AND it's a great gift for your best pen pal. i will undoubtedly be gifting some of these this year! xo

now available at charmandfig.etsy.com.

holiday tags are here! gold + white foil print letterpress gift tags

white, gold, bright red & chartreuse are taking the lead for my color scheme this holiday season. i'm so excited to decorate our house for christmas -- i've always held back on buying christmas decorations because i didn't want to move a bunch of stuff from apartment to apartment, but now that we're more settled... i'm looking forward to buying cheerful ornaments this year.

to kick-off my eager beaver holiday spirit, i created these holiday gift tags...

a little bit luxe: gold foil on white gets me every time.

white on chartreuse adds an unexpected pop-of-color to your gift wrapping routine...

.. and bright, cheerful red with white for an old school look.

sets of 12 are available in the shop at charmandfig.etsy.com

the weekend itinerary for your best gal's bachelorette party

why the bachelorette weekend itinerary? the party planners already know who is going, who is on the fence -- but this mailed piece gives the guests an idea of what's in store for the big weekend.

these weekends take so much planning and commitment by everyone attending, so the bridesmaids usually know who is 'in' or 'out' far in advance. and suddenly, a generic invitation becomes a bit arbitrary. 

...but there's still so many details to communicate to the guests and an email can be a little lack-luster. the bachelorette itinerary is an easy way way to get the guests excited and convince those on-the-fencers that the weekend is not to be missed!

late to the party.

so sad to see google reader go, but i'm now using bloglovin to stay current with my favorite blogs. while pinterest and instagram satiate my need for constant visual stimulation, there is nothing like curling up in bed and reading an old timey blog post! will our children ever know what it was like to read a blog? or will they just zoom on through their pinstagrams and be none the wiser? now that i'm looking at the internet through rose colored glasses and have tugged on your heartstrings, you can follow me on bloglovin. Pin It

we put a bird on it! in our scandinavian-inspired mother's day card

it's never too early to stock up on cards for all the mama's in your life! it's in the shop now.

this cheerful little number was inspired by danish folk art, spring palettes and one of my favorite social media outlets... 

modern groomsmen cards -- will you be my best man?

every now and then i get an email from a client asking if i make groomsman cards that don't have  mustaches on them! there's definitely saturation of mustache products at there.. and if you're looking for an alternative, there aren't a lot of masculine versions.

i came up with these simple groomsman cards that feature the wedding date on the front and the 'will you be my groomsman, best man, etc" question on the inside.

i imagine this groom to love adventure, whiskey and to never leave the house without his pocket knife. but if he doesn't do all or any of those requirements, that's okay. he's a total gentleman by asking his wedding party with good ol' fashioned stationery.

groomsman cards are available in the shop as single cards & sets of three.

 

2013 calendars are here!

ah, feels good to get this project posted. i think i started working on my 2013 calendars in march, so i'm very excited to finally get it out the door. i made a print calendar (below) and a printable calendar option.

this 12-page printed calendar features original illustrations and a little french & spanish vocab (months & numbers) to brush-up on throughout the year.... exelente!

my favorite is june's diving girl -- i think i maybe, just might turn this into a screen print next year... 

see the full calendar below and click here to purchase it in the shop! (there's both christmas & hanukah versions)

snowflakes, india-inspired love nest, camping & rainy mountains

ocean scenes, diving girl, patriotic crest & desert camel (it's hot in august, y'all)

nautical anchor, dia de los muertos, autumn moon & feathers & christmas tree.

thanks for checking it out! 2013 is upon us... 

 

november ( + october wrap up!)

oh hey, october.. you came and went. here's what you we did:

september re-cap & instagrams

neon striped & stamped personal stationery

texas lakehouse wedding invites

modern baby shower

for november.. i predict spare blogging (because in reality, i'm backlogging this from december 2nd!) and lots of food with my family & friends. and better weather, come on houston! show us what you got. let's whip out those cardigans (and not just for our cold offices). 

enjoying eatsieboys at the city hall farmers market

jumping in front of the waterwall

tomato & avocado on toast.

the super precious elizabeth street cafe in austin, texas

want, but obviously don't need. a picture will do.

my frida halloween get-up. it pays to have an overload of cheap mexican jewelry from your grandmother.

andie the droodge

a sparkly number

and hooray for a husband who loves to cook! breakfast crepes & espresso.

modern baby shower - pink, poppy & turquiose

ohhh i love me some baby girls, baby girl. i pretty much got free reign on the project, with guidelines to use turquoise, poppy & pink (a fab color combo, if you ask me) and to make it kinda funky and girly.

it's been extra special because i've gotten to know the mom-to-be a lot better throughout her pregnancy and i'm anxiously awaiting her arrival! she's got some pretty awesome parents.

.. and just a side note - this shower was amazing. my friend andie threw it and made it EVERYTHING a couples shower should be. there was football for guys, crafts for gals (a onesie-making table), amazing cocktails, enough food to feed an army. and of course, i didn't take any pics at the actual shower because i was having too much fun. but this photo can give you an idea of the cuteness.

need custom work for a shower, party or shin-dig? contact me at charmandfig (at) gmail (dot) com.

 

custom texas lake house wedding invitation suite

hooray! i can finally share this wedding invitation suite that i created for my brother-in-law and his lovely bride, chelsea. (get a peek of their beautiful ceremony at her blog). they got married at the lake house (a great place to get hitched!).

chelsea was the easiest person to work with. she knew she wanted the pieces to have a texas look with touches of moss green & eggplant purple incorporated through each piece.

thanks for letting me be apart of the process, chelsea!

the full suite

invitation with moss backer

info card with custom wedding site map

response post card

need something custom for your wedding or shower? contact me at charmandfig.etsy.com.

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ultra-light & modern thank you notes (with neon green washi tape!)

i totally forgot to post these neon striped correspondance cards i made for some friends a few months ago, now on sale at charm & fig. they can be ordered as thank you's, or just good old fashioned personal stationery.

...and what better to remind me than to have bri from designlovefest pin them on the etsy pinterest account during her stint as guest pinner for etsy? (thank you, by the way.)

i of course, tweeted my shop to her when she said she was looking for products...working in social media and being on twitter every now and then definitely has it perks. totally made my week. and i pretty much want to purchase thing she pinned on the board. christmas shopping is coming up and i see a few things for the peeps on my list.