Sunday in Paris Bridal Shower

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Pretty details from a shower I put together in the fall. I love the contrast of kraft paper with more romantic elements. Isn't the crown for the bride sweet?? I love to use Cavelini map wrapping paper for accents.

Mother's Day Luncheon

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I like to have a little luncheon for my favorite mom friends the weekend before Mother's Day. I wouldn't survive with my sanity without these women in the motherhood trenches with me so it's fun to celebrate being moms together. This year our move prevented me from getting it together in the end but I always play around with ideas before hand and this was my plan. An easy hand-stamped invite with hand-made Lokta paper accents from Paper Source. Our rosemary bush goes crazy this time every year and I love giving my non-gardening friends a bit of my garden to take home with them so rosemary wrapped in kraft paper for favors.

Yummy greyhound with rosemary sugar recipe here.

All this strawberry and asparagus salad needs is a little poached chicken breast to be a lovely main course salad. Recipe here.

Daisy Wedding Inspiration

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I adore daisies. We got married in a lovely white church atop a hill in Tiburon, California (Old St. Hilary's below) and if I could do it again I'd definitely go with this this navy/yellow/white theme and have daisies everywhere!

My bridesmaids could wear this cute navy J. Crew number.

And I'd carry a litte bouquet like this with chamomile flowers that look like mini daisies. So sweet!

The fun paper daisies are from my fave Paper Source. So fun because you can do all of this without paying a florist a fortune and can do it all ahead of time (with help from your bridesmaids of course!).

And yummy little lemon cupcakes with sugar daisies would be fun too!

Simple Things

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Snipped this branch off of a shrub in the yard. Nice to have just a simple bit of nature on the counter to enjoy when I'm doing the dishes. I love to save little bottles and pitchers for just this kind of thing. This bottle formerly housed some Trader Joe's balsamic vinegar that we thoroughly enjoyed on salads and is now being put to good use as a little vase.

Mom's Birthday Card

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Birthday card for mom I made with this adorable girly paper pack from Paper Source. How cute is that little geisha girl?!? So easy to make a matching envelope with the template kits too.

Mt. Tabor Park

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I adore this little slice of heaven in my neighborhood. A brisk walk up the hills can completely transform my day from stressed and cranky (which it has been a lot lately) to well, less stressed and cranky (let's be realistic). Hard to believe it is smack dab in the middle of our bustling little city. I'm sure I'll find some lovely spots in Chicago but going to miss the beautiful Portland landscape.

Red + Pool Blue Wedding Inspiration

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A wedding inspiration board I did for the Paper Source blog. Fun color combo for a retro/carnival wedding. Paloma's Nest made the lovely ring bearer bowl.

DIY Collage Art

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Seriously loving collage lately. There is something about tearing up little bits of paper and rearranging them that is so satisfying. I made these super-easy little fruit collages, put them in a couple of Ikea frames and viola! Art for the kitchen. How-to is below.

Draw your shape out on cardstock. I started with pencil and then drew with marker to get the shape and size I wanted.

The fun part! Be a kid again and tear up lots of little bits of paper.

I like to rub the litle bits of paper along the glue stick and stick down on the paper but you can also rub some glue on the paper and stick down.

Keep glueing and sticking down, overlapping as you go, until the shape is filled in. Don't worry about being perfect! It is supposed to look a bit rustic. Rub the glue stick over the top when you are finished.

Stamp some labels on if you want.

Frame, hang up and enjoy!

On the Market

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Freaking out. Trying not to but it's hard when everything is so up in the air. Moving to Chicago in a month and haven't sold our house yet and have no idea where we are going to live. Of course because we are selling the house (and I'm sure because it is so clean all the time now too!) I'm sooo sad to leave it. There are lots of things we wanted to do but we've been here 4 years and finally finished the kitchen remodel just so we can sell. I can't believe I was able to let it go that long but working full time + all of the family stuff the past couple of years has been exhausting. Not having the money to do it the way I wanted definitely didn't get me motivated either.

I will miss my studio the most. It is a light-filled room with crappy old windows and beat up painted floors that don't seem to matter at all any more. The best thing about it is the gorgeous oak tree right outside the second story windows makes it feel like I am in a treehouse. The tree was a gift from our lovely neighbor Ruth to the original owner of our house 42 years ago. That little sappling is now at least 25 feet tall and my very favorite thing about our house. I love to lie on my back in the grass in the summer and look up the branches and leaves from below. Of course now I am wishing I would have taken the time to do that more often. Then there are the little creatures that come back every spring: a squirrel who loves to raid the hazelnut bush and leave the shells all over our patio, 2 black crows that are clearly a couple and break off the tiny new branches off of the oak tree in the spring to make their nest and then a bluebird who pulls worms out of the grass. Feels silly but they were little buddies when I was sewing and running my bridal business. Sigh. Have to keep trying focus on the positive. Chicago is amazing and we'll have lots of new adventures. Hopefully that will include a new home that is as great as the one we are leaving behind.

Crispin's 40th Birthday

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My darling husband turned 40 this past weekend and threw a little party for him with just our favorite close friends. It was a really lovely evening even though (or probably because) I didn't get to everything I had to planned to make. I had big plans for a whole array of homemade chocolate desserts to go along with the chocolate theme (and Crispin's obsession with the stuff) but just had time to make the cake. It was super yummy and nobody cared that I didn't have 4 desserts. (Note to self -  nobody cares but you!) Since his family is in England and couldn't be here to celebrate I emailed and asked everyone to send a favorite memory of Crispin. Some super funny and some very touching and he loved the surprise. I'm going to miss our friends terribly when we move but it will be great to be closer to family in England.

Love this little perforation tool! The invite had 3 pages - one with the details, one with a funny little "how well do you know the birthday boy" quiz and the other was for guests to write a funny quote or advice on life after 40.

Yummy English cheeses. Used chocolate brown wrapping paper for a table runner and silver marker to write the names of the cheeses. Everyone loved this detail! I used it on the cocktail table too.

For favors I unwrapped English chocolate bars and rewrapped them in chocolate brown paper and embossed 40 with silver embossing powder.