Dark Stained Mr & Mrs Signs

Its funny when you make something for someone and get stuck in a rut making the same thing. That is what happened with my original Mr & Mrs signs, then someone asked for them in a dark stain and I was like why haven't I ever thought to make them in a different color?! I am so thrilled with how they turned out and might even start working on a different variation soon too!

I even tried to take things one step further and think of a non-wedding way to use the signs either after your wedding or if you wanted them regardless of a wedding. I thought they would be so great hung above your/the couple's bed. If you did buy them for your wedding, it is a fun reminder of that special day you two spent together.

You can purchase your own Mr & Mrs signs here from my shop.

Watercolor Calligraphy 'You Are My Sunshine' Print

I designed a beautiful new print for my shop! My cousin is updating her son's nursery/ big boy room and wanted the song 'You Are My Sunshine' written out in calligraphy.  Since I have started working with a lot of watercolor (and loving it!) I decided to watercolor a gradient from red to orange to yellow and have it peak through the calligraphy words. The outcome is so beautiful!

She asked for the print to be made really large so that it was the focal point on the wall.  I printed it on 11x14 white card stock printed here in the USA.  It would slip into a 16x18 frame perfectly and have a beautiful mat framing it. 

If you are interested in your own print or maybe want it in a different size/ color swatch please leave me a message or visit my shop and I would love to work with you!

Knitted Baby Sweater

One of Scott's cousins just had a baby girl and I had asked what she would like or need.  Her only request was something homemade.  I was so happy!  I had found this baby sweater pattern online and knew it would be perfect.  Since she was born in February, I decided to make the sweater for next fall/winter so she could get a little more use out of it then just for a month this winter/spring.  

The pattern is the Wyatt pattern on Ravelry and I could not recommend it enough.  This was my first time every knitting a piece of clothing or anything for a baby before and only had to restart about twice.  The pattern was very easy to follow and very very easy to make adjustments to if you needed to.  For example, why I love this pattern so much is not only is it unisex you could add rows in the chest area to make it longer and a dress for a little girl rather than a sweater.  They also recommend holding it up to your babe as you are knitting to get the length and arms right.  I decided to make it in a white super wash wool, or how the lady at the knitting store called it "mama friendly yarn", so that it is washable and won't shrink.  I figured that was a must when making baby clothing.  Also, she could possible use it again for another child later on.  I would highly recommend making one! Just took me a couple weeks off and on to make.

Come What May Wood Sign With Gifts By Allyson

I don't know if you remember our other 'come what may' wood design we did?  Well at that time I had designed two different designs and Ally just finished up the other one.  It is in a square shape instead of rectangle and is smaller so it will blend into your other decor. It is stained a pretty rich brown so the words come through the natural wood color.

Photo by Ally.
Available through my shop- we are taking custom orders!

New Work With Gifts By Allyson

Ally and I have been working on some new pieces since the holiday rush is over and this is one of them!  Ally took my calligraphy in "I love you to the moon and back" and carved it in to plank wood. It was originally designed in mind for a nursery but could be perfect in any room. We have some more pieces debuting soon that I will share when they are ready.

Other pieces with Gifts by Allyson.
Order yours here from my shop.
Photo from my instagram.

A Couple Of Tree Stamps

Around Christmas time, a client contacted me to design a stamp for him as a gift.  Unfortunately it was nearly past the cut off for shipping products on time to get there for Christmas but we decided to work something out.  We decided on him gifting the design of the stamp in time for Christmas and then would deliver the stamps once they were ready.  He loved the idea and ordered two! Yay!

I'm so happy with how they turned out and love that they are going to be used as both a return address stamp and a book stamp, how genius! If you are looking for your own tree stamp, check it out here in my shop. 

Well, this wraps up my 2013 projects and December gifts, I have a '2013 Year In Review' coming soon with lots of fun announcements and a giveaway! Thanks for looking! 

Calligraphy Chalkboards

I'm going to post the last of my projects I worked on last year this week. I got a couple orders for painted calligraphy chalkboards and so much fun working on these.  It feels like every new order gives me the opportunity to refine my work and find/learn new techniques.  I had five total! and one apparently I forgot to take a picture of... whoops.

I wrapped all of the boards in brown paper, tied them with string, attached a red berry sprig and splattered calligraphy card to the front so they were perfect and ready to go under the tree.  The packages looked so cute all finished I wanted to rewrap all of our gifts under our own tree.
All of the boards were Christmas gifts.  I sent them all with a chalk pencil which is nicer to write with then a piece of chalk and a lot less messy.  I am so proud of how they all turned out.  I have lots of other fun ideas for chalkboards coming in the future!

Thanks for looking and if you would like one yourself, please email me or check out my etsy shop.

A Collaboration With Gifts By Allyson

I am so excited to finally share this with you guys! My friend Ally with Gifts By Allyson and I teamed up to create these personalized beautiful wood and calligraphy pieces.  I provide the calligraphy and she carves it in pieces of wood that people can give as gifts and display in their homes.  Ally and I have known each other since high school and she has always been one of the sweetest people.  When I was home over Thanksgiving we had a chance to get together and have some fun projects on some beautiful wood coming in the near future! 

-above- our first project together. It is a piece for a bride and groom whose favorite saying is 'come what may' that we put on a long wood plank with some simple calligraphy.  We gave it to them as a gift early and they decided to also display it at their rustic themed wedding. 

-above- A custom gift for a ferried of ours to give to her family for Christmas. -below- how we wrap up our pieces once they are made and deliver to our customers.

Some holiday pieces we made together. -above- this one got to come home with me! -below- A happy customer showing us how she displayed her Merry Christmas plaque.

-above- I love this shot of our Merry Christmas plaque. We have been lucky enough to make a couple of these and just love that people love them too! This above photo is one of my favorites because it shows a little glimpse into how Ally works.

above- A customer requested a custom last name plaque for his wife for Christmas. Once he saw it he ordered another one for other family members. -below- a fun phrase that we are working on as a constant staple in a family home. 

Thanks for looking and if you are looking for your own custom piece or a replicate of one of the above pieces, check out my listings here in my shop! 

Calligraphy Last Name Chalkboards

The wrap up of my wedding gifts that got delivered and opened (see a couple's post about it here!) so now I can post and show you what else I made as gifts. Remember the post I did yesterday with the wreath and couple's last name initial? Well these three boards were bigger and I hand painted their whole last name in calligraphy at the top of the chalkboards.

A couple detail shots (up above) to show a close up of the calligraphy and twine knots on the front. I did a little something different for each of the three boards. One was a big loopy calligraphy, one I painted in a classic calligraphy, and the last one (the couple has a really long name -10 letters!) I did a big underlining line that connected between two letters and put their first name initials up above their last name.

I truly had so much fun making these. Painted calligraphy is another world but it is a lot of fun seeing your work come to life so quickly. I also love giving such a useful and fun gift. If you are interested in ordering one for yourself or as a gift, you can order it here from my etsy shop, AMEdetails. 

Thanks for looking!

Painted Wreath Chalkboard

The rest of this week I will be showing a couple wedding gifts I made for friends and family that got married over the summer.  This one went to my cousin and I think it is one of my favorites so far. I hand painted a wreath and their last name initial at the top. 

Included with the chalkboard is a chalk pencil and I tied twine with big knots that show on the front and work as a hanging mechanism in the back.
I really love how it turned out. This would be my first piece of my 'Boxwood Collection' that I am slowly debuting and getting together, so you will see more of this wreath and other projects soon! If you are interested in buying one for yourself or as a gift, you can find more information here in my etsy shop.

Ties

When Scott and I got married, I took on a load of projects I did myself. My bridesmaid dresses came from a shop on Etsy and somehow I found the same fabric she used at our local craft store and I was able to buy a bunch of it to add straps to the girls dresses and I made matching ties for the groomsmen. I found this tutorial on Purl Bee and was so excited. Little did I know that making seven ties (Scott's included) was a lot of work, and I also had plans to make a couple for the fathers too but scratched that plan in the end (I still wish I would have and regret it to this day). The tutorial was easy to follow and I actually enjoyed making them in the end. They have since changed the tutorial a bit so make sure to do measurements to get it the right length.

Anyways, I made these ties for our wedding and didn't think anyone really liked them, actually I thought that all those guys (Scott included) thought I was a bit nuts for making them but they went along with it.  Well almost two and a half years later, one of Scott's groomsmen mentioned that the tie I made is his favorite tie and how he loves that it is cotton and not shiny like other silk ties. So he gave me a couple colors and a little while ago I made him a couple more custom ties to go along with his work wardrobe. He picked 'burnt orange' and 'a-little-darker-than-royal-blue' (ties in first picture). It felt a bit nostalgic making ties again but I enjoyed it and hope that I get to make them again in the future.

Carhartt Christmas Gifts

So I made my sisters Carhartt beanies with pom pom's on them because I knew they would love them... I found the inspiration here.

Here is the progression of them opening up their gifts:

                                                           Both opening up their gifts

                                                     Bobo peaking (and super excited!)

 Both super happy!

Holiday Gift Idea

Looking for a last minute gift idea... well make this cinnamon swirl bread! It is easy and absoultey delicious. I made four mini loaves for our neighbors and then it was so good I made another one for us (you can't waste the extra filling, right?). If you read the recipe, she states up above an alternative to using the egg whites mixture (its just powdered sugar and cinnamon) and that is what I used. It was so easy and yummy!

If for some reason you can't find a reason to eat the whole thing when it comes out of the oven , you could slice it up and make some french toast (or maybe this was your plan all along- hello Christmas morning!)

Yes, that is cinnamon-goodness oozing out of the bread. Happy Baking!