From the Swanky Studio

A recent custom designed invitation with Seashell/Beach theme.

This recent design is for a bridal shower. The location? A beautiful house on the beach. A fitting invitation, don't you think? I love the simple star fish used on this particular invitation.

{pertinent information has been changed to protect the innocent}

{please do not steal priginal work by Swanky Paper or any image by me off this blog without proper credit}

patio cover

ok.. so remember this post?

We were digging ditches for those huge posts you see in the background.

This is our low budget answer to a great patio cover. (Anything is better than what we had!!)

It was a simple solution - ok, so not that simple - it took hubs quite some time to get those posts just right. It should have been a two-man job to lift those heavy beams, but he only got one and a half! Being preggers I didn't help as much as I normally would have.

The best thing about this cover (other than its size) is that it is UV protected and has a SPF rating.

Here is hubs relaxing as he enjoys his new patio cover.

vintage circus

I am way behind in sharing some of my custom work.

Here is one that I made a few weeks ago. Mama, Ashley, asked me to create a circus themed birthday invitation for her daughter. She wanted something with a vintage feel to it using orange and light blue (quite possibly my FAVORITE color combination!)

Wanting to get an idea as to what vintage circus theme is all about I poured through tons of images online ... It was too overwhelming, so I quit looking and came up with this:

Creating this made me want to plan my own vintage circus party! I paired the invites with orange envelopes and made a coordinating mailing label. In addition, little Camryn had matching thank you notes to go with her vintage circus invitations.

{invitation by me. please do not steal original work}

surprise weekend

We had such a nice relaxing weekend. It was very difficult to come home.

For Father's Day, I surprised hubby with a spa treatment ... out in Palm Springs! If any of you know my husband, he is a manly man. According to him spa treatments are for women. Well, the idea came to me one night when he asked if men ever get pedicures. Of course they do!! Let's go get pedicures, I say to him. Well, we never did. Being Father's Day, I used this as a great excuse to pamper him - HE LOVED IT!! He has even requested getting massages regularly.

While he was getting pampered I spent the day at the pool with the kiddos. Swimming. munching on snacks. and sipping virgin Pina Coladas!

We all has such a good time and can't wait to go back.


{top image via JW Marriott}

{bottom image via me}

I am thinking of surgically removing my backbone so that I can do this

(Hint: click on the image and skip past the first 60 seconds)

lovely package

I am in the market to find packaging for a new (as yet to be announced) product. So I did what anyone one of you would have done - I simply googled "stationery packaging."

Among the google pages I found the neatest blog - neat to me anyway. You see, I LOVE packaging. I will look at or even buy a product simply because I like the packaging. Now with LOVELY PACKAGE on my google reader I can feast my eyes the latest packaging find.

{all images via Lovely Package}

Just what the doctor ordered!

Hubby needed a little help this weekend. We are in the process of building a new patio cover - and when I say "we" generally this term is used loosely and I really mean my husband.

However, he did in fact need his 6 month pregnant wife to help hold the Groundhog while we dug a 3 foot hole.

So... what did you do this weekend?

Basic Bread

I love homemade bread!

But I just don't make it enough. However this simple (and fool-proof) recipe from my friend Tara may just be the thing I need to make it more often.

Basic Bread

2 Cups water

3 Tbsp. Oil

2 1/2 Tbsp. Yeast

3 Tbsp. Sugar

1 Tbsp. Salt

5 Cups of Flour (3 cups white & 2 cups wheat)

Mix and put in oiled bowl. Let rise. Put bread in pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

image via flickr

Sport Skirts

Somehow I doubt these come in maternity sizes!

Minus the preggo belly - how cute would I be working out in one of these cute sport skirts? I am going definitely bookmarking this for my post baby workout attire!

Cute ones from Athleta here or Skirt Sports here

image via here

gardening love

This is the first year that we've managed to plant a garden. We are growing tomatoes, corn, both yellow & red, carrots, green beans, radishes, squash, cucumbers, strawberries, celery, bell peppers, grapes, basil, cilantro and jalapeno & chili peppers.

Something has been eating the strawberries and tomatoes (and it's not my boys!). So instead of using a harmful pesticide I found an organic one using garlic. This is probably old news - but for me its not. (As I previously mentioned I am new to gardening...it has something to do with my "black" thumb). Here is the recipe for any of you gardeners out there who have the same problem:

Garlic pesticide spray
Soak 3 to 4 ounces of chopped garlic bulbs in 2 tablespoons of mineral oil for one day. Dissolve 1 tsp of fish emulsion in a pint of water and add it to your solution. Stir. Strain liquid and store in a glass container - not metal! Dilute 1 part solution to every 20 parts of water. Kills aphids, mosquitoes, and onion flies.

...and more uses with garlic

1. If you plant garlic with tomatoes, it will keep away red spider mites.

2. If you plant garlic around fruit trees, it will repel borers.

3. Spray garlic pesticide on sweet potatoes to repel rabbits.

4. Spray ponds with garlic-based oil to kill mosquitoes.

found here

Princess Parties

Have you met Princess Amerah?

To say she is delightful & charming is simply not enough. After all, she is a Princess with class, style & grace.

Justine does princess parties in the state of Utah for children of all ages (adults too!). She will even come as your favorite Princess. I had the privilege of getting acquainted with Justine through Startup Princess and the recent Academy at Disneyland. A few weeks ago I began working with Justine on creating an invitation for an upcoming party. We decided on creating an invitation with a character of Princess Amerah.

Having total freedom to come up with a design can sometimes be overwhelming ... what if the client doesn't like it, what if the client really wanted a pirate theme and not a princess theme, anyway - you get the idea! With creating invitations I love the freedom. Just give me an idea of your theme and I'll do the rest.

In creating this invitation I took a cue from Princess Amerah herself, I designed a classy invite with style.

{*names, dates & address have been changed to protect the innocent}
{**please don't steal content. designs are copyright protected}

So much to blog...

and just not enough time. The day is over before I feel like it began!

My life, work and all other activities I am currently involved in have consumed me to the point that I am lucky if I can respond to an email.


I have lots to share - some fab custom invitations (if i do say so myself!), a bit of gardening, some home remodeling, just to name a few.

I'll be back soon .... in the meantime, on a recent outing to the tide pools with the boys, my 4 year old convinced me that I needed to hold a "sea slermy."

They look girth-y in the water, but once you pick them up they practically melt in your hands. As you can see from my facial expression I thought it was pretty gross!