:: elopement announcements ::

 

my favorite-project-of-the-moment? elopement announcements for laura and brandon (based on this modern invitation design in the up up creative shop. this adorable couple took off to new mexico for the most totally-freaking-gorgeous private ceremony and upon their return hired me to create a fun, sweet announcement for their friends and family.

i chose the colors to match their storybook wedding pics and i cannot even begin to explain how happy the finished product makes me. and this couple, frankly.

what a good idea, elopement announcements. have you heard of anything like that before?

:: at least we don't have carpet ::

as a parent, you want your kids to excel at things, right? i mean, you don't necessarily need one of those babies who learns to read at 18 months or anything, but you just can't help but be proud of your little genius babies when they learn something really super early or whatever.

my kids, though? sometimes their advanced-beyond-their-years learning acquisitions leave me, well, wishing for slightly more average babes. for instance this week, emily learned how to spill snacks out of non-spill snack bowls.

really, emily? seriously?

and not to be outdone, big brother evan figured out how to take apart the vacuum cleaner. but not how to put it back together.

photo credit: me, on the iphone. and no, that's not the spill-proof bowl, that's a regular bowl. after she did this i remembered those toddler non-spill bowls we had somewhere and when i got them out and gave them to her, she figured out just the right way to hold them so that all the cheerios could come cascading out as if lid-less.


alas.

:: in which we pick up where we left off and i thank you with a special reader-only sale ::

this thing happens whenever i've been away from the blog too long: i feel compelled to create a post that sort of rehashes what i've been up to during my absence.

as if the reason you read this blog is as a summary of my daily calendar rather than as a fascinating whirl through my daily (weekly? of-the-moment?) brain-state.

i know list posts are all the rage and supposedly so good for your search engine ranking or some such nonsense, but seriously friends: you don't want to read my "this is why i haven't written in two weeks" list, do you?

and yet i'm surprisingly unaware of my own current brain-state since i haven't been around here checking in on it and all. which is a problem for those of you hoping for something fascinating and inspiring, and which is perhaps more of a problem for me who was really banking on coming back to the blog all fireworks-and-air-pistols.

alas.

instead i bring you this:

i am very very very proud of myself these days. i haven't mentioned it yet around here because i've been quite wrapped up in trying hard to forget all about it as it occupied the better part of my waking brain power for the last two months, but i finally went live on saturday with the overhaul of my e-commerce site, upupcreative.com.

the overhaul i figured out how to do all.by.my.self. i coded. i queried. i uploaded and downloaded and upgraded and patched. i kicked that shopping cart software's ass all over the internet and taught it how to behave like a proper, well-designed website.

each time i look at it i'm struck by two things:

how awesome it is, and how many more things i want to do with it.

go check it out, won't you? with features like everyday savings, simplified color choices and wording customization, and more, i think you'll find that this isn't your mama's e-commerce site anymore.

oh yeah, one more thing. because i love love love you guys and totally appreciate that you don't seem to have disappeared even though it was probably starting to seem like i had, i've got a special little offer for you:

now until sunday, october 24th, save 25% on any sapsucker cards bought from the new site using the code sapsuckerholiday at checkout. it needn't be a holiday card but it always could be. and remember: this doesn't work in the etsy shop.

ENJOY!

:: supercool holiday cards from the sapsucker shop ::

today's stop on the sapsucker tour is the holiday card selection. there are technically just four designs, but really? the sky's the limit.

i'm selling them in sets, too. the more you buy, the more you save.

i think we're going to use the whatever you celebrate cards for our family card this year. but honestly i can't decide. could be the happy this, that, and the other thing cards. or maybe some of each?

:: irreverent birthday cards from the sapsucker shop ::

i know i posted a sapsucker shop sneak peek, and then a formal introduction to the line, but you still haven't gotten to see any of the new designs up close. so this week, i'm going to take some time to walk you through the new collection.

in honor of the birthday party we went to last night, i thought i'd start with birthday cards...

 

 

 

i considered revealing who inspired each of these cards, since every single card in the new line was inspired by someone in my life, but i decided that i should probably just keep that info to myself. i'm all about sharing and truth and all, but i'd hate to offend anyone in my life.

plus if i tell you who inspired these then i have to tell you who inspired some of the others, and some things are best left unsaid.

i'll bring you some more sapsucker cards later this week, okay? and then, at the end of the big let's-walk-through-the-new-line, i've got a little giveaway planned. little as in kinda big. like don't buy your holiday cards yet big.

:: and great things will happen ::

i originally sketched this in my notebook and planned to embellish it before turning it into a desktop wallpaper, but the more i played around, the more i fell in love with just the original sketch, rendered a bit sketchily and in graphite gray.

download it and imagine that i drew it right on your desktop.

cool, right?