This past weekend was very special.  My dear friend hosted my husband and I as guests with her membership to a lovely nature reservation on a hot, humid, afternoon.  I finally got to do something I’ve been dying to do all summer: go for a swim.  Summer just isn’t summer without swimming to me.  The lapping of the gentle waves, the splashing and laughing of children jumping in the water, the sunshine dappling as a lone hawk flew overhead.  Who knew a simple 10 minute swim could be so refreshing, physically and emotionally?  Then afterwards, to be able to see my friend’s baby girl get to splash in her parents arms and experience the same joy of the water made it even sweeter.  To spend an afternoon on the lake with close friends was perfect indeed.

So how was it possible to top of such a great afternoon?  To go to the hospital where my sister had her first child and meet my third nephew.  Such tiny hands, such little eyes, but so much excitement and love for this new life.  Regardless of all the everyday to-do’s and worries, having a weekend with close friends, a simple swim, and the experience to be present for my new family member’s entry to the world makes me realize how perfect, rich, and full my life truly is.

Congrats to my sister and brother-in-law!  Good thing the baby shower was LAST weekend, and not this past one!

{for more of my outings & experiences photos, check out my Flickr}

Even though I just finished throwing a party, I still wouldn’t mind thinking about throwing another one (in a few months, of course).  This invitation from Betsy Dunlap makes me think a cupcake party is a simple enough reason to throw a shindig.

{images shown belong to Betsy Dunlap}

Some really beautiful paper designs from Essimar.  I’m really enjoying her use of color (especially the bright color groupings I normally wouldn’t think of to put together), her shapes, pattern and line.  I’m really attracted to her animal pieces, but I also like her abstract ones as well.  Her creativity really comes through in her Flickr photos.

Besides her Flickr, make sure to check out her Etsy store and blog.

{images shown belong to Essimar}

Today is my last post on the details on my sister’s baby shower.  With the color scheme, theme, invitation, and menu already shared, all that’s left is showing you the decorations, table settings, and favors.  When I was searching for inspiration on decorating, I turned to the very talented Chelsea Fuss and fell in love with her Orchard Wedding Table.  We decided to have the “picnic” tables on the back porch that would allow the red, white, and green colors to pop as well as add to the summery outdoorsy feeling.  I hung cherry red and green apple paper lanterns from red and white striped bakery string near the ceiling and covered the tables with white tablecloths.  I found a perfect red and white pin-striped fabric and made the table runners for each table.

I loved Chelsea’s use of bottles, so I found vintage milk bottles on Etsy and eBay to act as vases and filled each with white, red, and light green flowers.  I wanted the flowers to emphasize the picnic setting, looking simple and relaxed, like I had the milk bottles on hand and cut the flowers fresh from the garden.

On every table I scattered several Richard Scarry characters driving in cars and vehicles, as well as baby and childhood photos of the parents-to-be.  I also was inspired by Chelsea’s use of fruit as centerpieces and places several bowls of Bing and Rainier cherries on each table to add to the late summer atmosphere (as well as adding more red to the color scheme).

The favors were also inspired by the Orchard Wedding Table design, but instead of apple butter, assorted jams (blueberry, cherry, apricot, and plum) were topped with green apple gingham fabric, tied with red and white bakery string, and finished with a tag (with of course, a Richard Scarry character).

It was a lovely day and we were truly lucky to have absolutely perfect weather.  Sunny and warm, but cool enough to leave the glass porch doors open for a soft breeze to flow through the room.  Absolutely perfect summertime picnic weather.  I had so much fun planning this event with my Mom for my sister and wanted to make this event as special as she is.  I am so excited for her to be a Mom and can’t wait to meet baby James!

{for more of my perfect parties photos, check out my Flickr}

Yesterday I began showing you details about my sister’s Richard Scarry Summertime Picnic baby shower, and today I’m sharing with you the menu for the event.  To stick with our theme, we served everything we could think of for picnic food: an assortment of sandwiches (chicken salad, egg salad, and seafood salad), tiny chicken wings, a mixed greens salad, fruit salad, and lots of sides (potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw, and pickles).

For beverages we served homemade raspberry ice tea, fresh lemonade, sparkling juices and several Italian sodas.  I also found three Richard Scarry toys on eBay to keep the refreshments company.

The menu was capped off by a fresh strawberry shortcake, assorted cookies, and vanilla cupcakes.  I created a simple and inexpensive cupcake tier (or as my Dad called it, a cupcake pyramid) using gift boxes of different sizes wrapped in brown kraft paper.  To bring the shower design elements to the desserts, I bought striped cupcake paper cups and designed Richard Scarry flags for the tops.  The entire day was full of yummy and delicious food (that also left plenty of leftovers for midnight snacks!).

Tomorrow, I’ll wrap up the posts on the shower with the details on my favorite part, the decorations, table settings, and favors.

{for more of my perfect parties images, check out my Flickr}

My sister’s baby shower was this past weekend and went wonderfully.  All the months of planning and scheming were well worth it and everyone enjoyed themselves immensely, especially the parents-to-be.  And, since it’s now past I can finally share with everyone the details of the shower (which has been killing me to keep locked up).  Today I’m sharing with you the invitation and theme for the shower, and later on this week I’ll show you photos of how everything turned out.

When my Mom and I originally started thinking of a shower theme, I remembered my friend Renee’s baby shower last year.  Her dear friend Jacki threw her a Very Merry Un-Birthday (a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party) and it was such an amazingly designed event.  Since her shower was based on a book, I asked my sister what her favorite childhood book was, to which she said anything by Richard Scarry.  I started brainstorming about how to pull this off, and once I saw this inspiration board via Snippet & Ink, I knew an August Picnic would be perfect.  So the theme was a “Richard Scarry Summertime Picnic.”

I designed and letterpress printed the invitations myself, scanning Richard Scarry characters in cars, bicycles, and airplanes from several of his books for the invite.  The colors of the invite were to reflect summery fruit: strawberries and raspberries for the inks and a warm, green apple envelope.  I was worried my sister would perhaps see the invite on a family member’s fridge or someone might “spill-the-beans,” but luckily she was completely surprised when she arrived to the party.

More photos and details on the shower to come this week!

{for more of my letterpress work images, check out my Flickr}

This Saturday is my sister’s baby shower, and I am overjoyed for both her and her husband while they patiently await their little bundle of joy.  I also must admit, as a designer, I am freaking out with excitement that FINALLY I will be able to share every detail with everyone: family, friends, my sister (who’s been trying to sneak information out of everyone, might I add), and the blogging community.  All of the little details that I’ve been daydreaming about for so long, for months, can finally be shared.  I have a laundry list of things to do (cleaning, organizing, assembling, … you get the idea) that is still expanding, so I need to keep this post rather short.  But know that this time around (compared to my husband’s graduation party) I will be taking a zillion photos and I can’t wait to share all the details with everyone next week.

Till then, I’ll leave you with the Snippet and Ink inspiration board that started it all… the color scheme… (da-da-daaaah).

{image shown belongs to Snippet and Ink}

Some really gorgeous landscapes from Billy & Hells (found via Lobster and Swan).  What I would give to visit those places right now…  I love the vintage color and grainy texture of his work, they remind me of daguerreotypes.  The “Wild West” portfolio has some really interesting portrait shots as well.

{images shown belong to Billy & Hells)

I recently realized I hadn’t changed the photo on my laptop’s desktop since May, so here’s the photo that’s now displayed: an amazing inspiration wall and desk area that belongs to Geninne.  Everything about this woman is inspiration: her work, her home, her studio, her Flickr…  I currently have a small and very cramped space to work in, but seeing this wall on a daily basis is a constant reminder that soon enough, I’ll have a better space to design and print within.  And when I do, you know I’ll be designing an inspiration wall of my own!

{image shown belongs to Geninne}

Le sigh… big time.  Check out these beautiful shots of the small writing cabin that Michael Pollan has in Vermont.  According to his book, A Place of My Own, he built it himself over a period of 2 1/2 years.  I am forever dreaming of my own small cabin (I even have a folder saved on my laptop of small cabin & cottage images for the “one day” where I’ll build one), and this one is so simple and perfect.

{images shown via Michael Pollan’s site, taken by John Peden}