Lexi's Moving Announcements

All personal information (address and phone numbers) has been changed in this moving announcement, if you cannot tell. :) 

I've had the pleasure of working with Lexi from Clean, Smart, Simple Style before, once when she had me make a wall print for her brother and a second time when she so graciously asked if she could virtually crash my house and show it off on her blog.

Well, Lexi and her family of four just moved and she came to me with another paper need: moving announcements. So we got right to work on those.

Lexi has a clean, classic style (true to the name of her blog) and so she just wanted something very simple with a monogram at the top for her family's name.

Font for the D is Chopin Script. The rest of the font is Hiatus.

I love how the monogram turned out - simple and stylish like Lexi wanted. 

I met Lexi well over a year ago now when we were bridesmaids together in my best friend's wedding. Almost a year later we've had a lot of fun working together and I hope that our working relationship continues. :)

I'll be back next week to show you some more fun shower invites I've been working on...until then, enjoy the beautiful fall weather!

Pssst - Make sure to like Vivian Elle's Facebook page...next week there will be a Christmas card giveaway for fans only! Visit Vivian Elle's Etsy Shop to check out the designs you could win.

Here's a fancy jpg I whipped up for the occasion. :) 

Dan and Jaime's Moving Announcements

Who doesn't love summer? Seriously, is there anyone out there who is not 100% completely and utterly thrilled when the weather gets warmer, the days get longer, and the smell of summer is in the air?

Last summer I was making myself crazy trying to get our house put together. We officially moved into our home on June 1 and I'm not kidding - I went nuts for 3 weeks trying to make it livable.

This summer, I'm able to enjoy myself more. I've gardened, we've headed out for some day trips, and I've played my share of recreational sports (my husband and I are on a volleyball and softball league. no, I am not athletic). I've been able to step back and breathe and enjoy myself.

But as wonderful as this stage is, I wouldn't appreciate it as much had we not gone through the super hectic/crazy stage of moving. And because it is one of those stages in life that bring about a lot of change and a good share of adjustments, it should be marked by a moving announcement. I did our own moving announcements and proudly displayed them here last year. But had we moved a year later than we did, I guarantee you I would have stolen this girl's moving announcement to use for myself.

Jaime and her husband, Dan, are moving to Indianapolis this summer. I've become pretty familiar with Jaime by this point. Not only have I done her wedding invites, I also did a shower invite, wedding extras, and thank you cards for her. And now she's asked me to do her moving announcements. That makes five events. I think there is some sort of award she should get for this.

Jaime was pretty low maintenance when it came to these announcements. She basically said she wanted something that was simple and bright. Seeing as I love all things that are bright, I was on board. Here's what we came up with.

I think one of my favorite things to do lately (besides anything summer related) is use this U.S. graphic that I have. I used it with this invitation suite in my Etsy shop and I thought it would be fun to use it for these announcements, too.

You can't see it super well in these pictures (how bad is it that I was too lazy to shoot some more so you could see it?), but under the We're Moving sign, it says, "Come Visit!" and the little postage stamp thing at the top says their last name and Indianapolis, Minnesota.

Jaime had the cute idea of making a list of cool facts about Indianapolis. In case you can't see them, they are:

It's home of the largest children's museum in the world.
It's the only major city in the U.S. NOT located on a river.
It's the 12th largest city in the U.S.
It's home of the big twn.
It's the top popcorn producing state.


...and the Taylor's are moving there.

So, Jaime will be getting an award for my most loyal client. She is wonderful and I wish her and her husband all the best in Indianapolis. She has already said that she will be coming to me when they need baby announcements and I will HOLD HER TO THAT. :)

Next week I'll be posting about another wedding invitation. Until then, enjoy your summer!

Sarah's Moving Announcement

If you asked me (you did ask me, right?), I would say that I don't really struggle with getting older.  I mean, there was the unfortunate incident on my 30th birthday when all of the sudden I moped about being 30 for a few hours before my husband asked, "Jenny...what is so horrible about your life?",  snapping me out of my funk (because the answer was nothing, and I was just being overdramatic).

But other than that, I firmly believe that you are only as old as you feel, and since I feel like I'm 23 on most days, I'm content with that. 

However, every now and then one of my college friends throws out how long we've known each other and then I think that maybe I should stop trying to convince myself that I'm 23, suck it up, and accept that I really entered into college 14 years ago this coming August. Which means that in October, our class will get together for our 10 year reunion. 10 years...since college. Which means it has been 14 years since I started the crazy/scary/surprisingly wonderful/life-changing experience in a little town in Tennessee.

14 years since I cried to my parents on the curb outside my dorm because I thought my life was over because I was so far from home and didn't know anyone (like I said, overdramatic). 

14 years since I sat in a meeting with the other girls on my floor, looking around and sizing them up, not knowing that they would be like sisters to me throughout our four years together.

14 years since I completely fell in love with the state of Tennessee.

14 years since I met girls that would become some of the best friends I've ever had.

14 years since I quickly realized - about two hours after my parents left me to head back to Michigan - that I had to admit that they were right and that college was kind of a cool experience.

And then I realize that even though 14 years since I started college means that I'm getting a little older than I'd like to admit, it also means that my life is so much better because 14 years ago, I decided to go to a tiny little college in Dayton, Tennessee.

Sarah was one of my freshman year floor mates. Our rooms were right down the hall from each other and if I remember correctly, we quickly became friends. In fact, we became friends with most of the girls on our floor and we ended up being a sisterhood of sorts. We all might go off during the day and do our own thing, or go out on the weekends with other groups, but we always came back to each other at night and to talk about our day, or have a late night snack together (snack of choice during freshman year was Raman noodles, upgraded to Easy Mac by senior year), or just goof off, or cry together...whatever we needed to do that particular evening. 

The thing is, we were just always there for each other. And as far away as we've moved from each other post college, and as many years as we've gone without seeing each other, there's always this bond that we share because we were a part of something pretty special when we all lived together for four years.

So when Sarah came to me and asked if I could do moving announcements for her, I happily agreed. And during our work together, I got to remembering all of those fun times we spent together, and even those hard times (we just happened to go through rough break-ups around the same time, which pretty much cemented our bond) that brought us closer together. 

In the last few year, Sarah and her family moved around a bit. In fact, in two years, they moved three times. And the funny thing is that the house they left during move #1 was the house they moved back into with move #3. 

And with Sarah being who she is, she wanted a moving announcement that fit their situation perfectly - that they had come full circle and were now right back where they belonged. 

So Sarah had the idea to have her family pose in the picture you see here. In a circle. And then we put that picture...in a circle. You see the theme, yes? :)

And then I thought some fun chevron stripes behind the circle would be cool and that using the font Chunk Five would be fun, too.

And then we added a picture of them on the back, on the steps of their new (old) home. Happy and content, right where they belong.

Each invitation or card I do becomes so personal to me, which is why I always share a little bit about my own life along with it. This one reminds me that no matter where you move, or how many times you move, you always have those people who will be consistent. Who will keep you grounded. 

Which reminds me of 14 years ago, when I would come back to the dorm after a night out, eager to see my forever consistent and loyal "sisters" and talk with them about life over a big bowl of Raman Noodles. 

Want to hear more about the value of custom invitations? Check out this post. 

We've Moved!!!

It's official. Or maybe I should say it's been official. My husband and I moved into our new house on June 1. And no house should be moved into without a little moving announcement going out so people know where they can find us.

Last week, I sent out these moving announcements and this past weekend we officially had people over for the first time. So it's been a month and I feel like we are making progress. I would call the house "livable" at this point. There's still a lot to do, but since we're sticking around for a while, we'll have plenty of time to do it in.

But back to the moving announcement. Here she is.

We had a pretty sweet place we lived in before. I'll admit that when we first thought about moving, I never thought we would find somewhere that we loved as much as that first place.

I was so wrong.

This house just fits us. It has rooms that are just so practical for our lifestyle. It's cozy and comfortable and has so much character and I just can't get enough. I didn't know how to put that all on a moving announcement, so this was the best I could do.

Three of the four colors in this moving announcement are similar to colors that we painted our walls. I thought that once I moved into a "real house", I might use muted tones. Not so.

I thought I'd throw a little snarky comment in there about Luke doing yard work. He loved it, believe me.

The back of the announcements. I love that little house.

So...I am aware this is not a home improvement blog. However, some people out there have asked to see some before/after pics. And I sort of want to show some.

Here is the living room when we first walked through the house in January.

And now.

A few comments:

1. That lamp on the right side of the room behind the couch is there only because we need light there. It will be replaced ASAP with a much cooler lamp. I am slightly horrified that I forgot to hide it, but too lazy to retake these photos.

2. The basket on the ottoman (on clearance from Target about 3 years ago) usually holds magazines. But we've only had two delivered to us at our new house. So lately it holds a cat instead.

3. Yes, I have more planned for this room. We've only been in here a month, people!

Lava couldn't help himself...he had to get in a picture. 

Yes, we have the smallest TV known to man. And it's not even hooked up yet. So that tiny thing is purely for show.

And yes, magazines should be in the little green magazine holder to the right of the loveseat. But in my crazy purging of everything before we moved, I gave all of our magazines away. So now it's just there. I still think it's kind of cute.

Why didn't I move the laptop cord before taking these photos?

Fun fact - those were the third pair of curtains to go up in our living room. Third time's a charm, though...I love them.

Moving on to the kitchen.

Here it is when we did our first walk-through of the home.

And here it is after.

We have a kitchen nook! I love it love it love it.

I hate that I didn't hide the washcloth over the sink.

The previous owners left this IKEA drawer for us. How excited do you think I was about that? It fits perfectly and I can display my Kitchen Aid mixer so proudly on it (a gift from the grandparents for our wedding). 

Hi, Kitchen Aid mixer. {I love you.}

This photo (which I remembered to move the washcloth from) is for Ms. Heidi Rew, who gave me the sweet little jars from Anthropology for my birthday. Aren't they the cutest?

(Also, do you think I need new dish soap?)

Two words: OPEN SHELVING!!!!!!!!!! I was overly excited about these shelves and they were one of the first things I decorated. I do have plans to paint the backs of them. Eventually.

Magma showing you all her yoga moves.

I just took this because I love the clearance towel I got from Target a week ago. I think it matches the kitchen perfectly.

There you have it. Young House Love - Haddad style. I truly fell in love with the house after about five minutes of our initial walk through. But now that we have made it more of our own, I love it even more and it's feeling more and more like home.

Next week - more weddings!!!!!!!

Melissa's Moving Announcements

OK, because I just decided to make next week a Week of Thankfulness (after seeing this blog), I am going to do my Fall To-Do List round up this week. Wait for it...

But first, a little moving announcement I've been working on.

If you've kept up with this blog at all, you would know Melissa by this point. If you haven't, or you just need a reminder, go here and here.  This girl loves her paper products, and I'm fortunate enough to be the one she comes to for them. 

So when her family moved, she needed a way to announce their new address to everyone. She had the great idea of making a postcard and she wanted to keep it simple with just a basic black lettering and artwork on white card stock. Here's what we came up with.

I'm kind of enamored with that house. I can say this and it's not arrogant because it's not anything I designed. Envelopments has a ton of artwork that I'm lucky enough to have access to. So on the front we thought we'd announce their new address (I'm getting better at taking the address out, huh?!), list their names, and put that cute little house in there.

Mel found this little rhyme and we used that for the back. I need to stop here to say that I absolutely love the cursive-ish font. It's Channel and you can grab it for free here if you'd like. 

I just love working with Melissa. She's so creative herself, but very open to new ideas. 

And guess what? I'm currently working on yet another project for her. Because when you buy a house, you need to have a housewarming party, right?  So stayed tuned for her beautiful (seriously, I love them so much just based on the papers she chose) housewarming party invites. 

OK, now on to the Fall To-Do List Round-up. 

Here is the completed list. 

Some things weren't done. Though I should mention that I did buy the fabric to re-cover the lamp shade, but just haven't done it yet (maybe over Thanksgiving break). I am also still in the process of finding hardware that actually fits my vanity. Everything I see is just a little too small and it's making me think that they don't make 4" hardware anymore. That might be permanently off the to-do list. 

Also, I only showed gratitude in a unique way once. :( My husband was the recipient and I just put sticky notes with reasons I love him in a heart on the bathroom wall (it's always nice to have something to read in there, right?). He really liked it, but believe me...I know I could have kicked it up a notch on that one. Thus the reason for it not being crossed off.  

A couple of notes on certain accomplished items.

1. Grow a pumpkin for Halloween and decorate it.

I did grow a pumpkin for Halloween. However, it was small. Very small. But did I still carve it for Halloween? Of course. See below. 

There's the little guy. Kind of pitiful, but I love him still (yes, the pumpkin is clearly a boy). I had to surgically removed a nubbin from the back of him in an attempt to help him stand by himself. It did not work.

However, you may notice that my Fall To-Do List said that I needed to decorate my pumpkins. Since I was not about to decorate that little thing for my porch decorations, I bought pumpkins instead and decorated them. 

And of course, took no pictures. 

But if you want to get a feel for what I did, I took my inspiration from Young House Love. And yes, what I did involves puffy paints. Cue 80s music, please. Here is YHL's pic...mine were similar-ish.

Puffy Paint + Spray Paint + pumpkins = my favorite Halloween pumpkins ever. I did a spider, an H, and swirls, and then I spray painted two of them grey and the remaining one red. The reason for this was because those were the spray paints I already had in our house. Did I get asked if we were Ohio State fans? Yes.

That's a lot of talk about pumpkins. Let's move on.

2. Make our wedding vows into a canvas.

OK, the canvas idea did not happen. It didn't happen because making the canvas involved printing on tissue paper. However, my heavy duty printer pretty much annihilated the tissue paper so I had to change my plan. Luckily, I saw this awesome idea from a picture my sis-in-law pinned. I had to go with it. Here's the original pin from Sparkle and Hay.

And here's how mine turned out.

I really wanted to do two frames with vows specific to each of us. I just loved the thought of having these up in our house (yes, they found a home on a shelf and are no longer sitting on the floor). This was easily my favorite thing that I crossed off my to-do list. 

3. Make my own Carmel Apple Spice.

Carmel Apple Spice is a drink from Starbucks. I learned how to make it because I (again) found a link from Pinterest. Just look at that fall goodness... 

So good. So so so good. You can find all you need to make it (it's super easy) here. 

4. Bake an Apple Pie. 

OK, this is not done....yet. But I will be bringing a pie to my in-laws on Saturday and it will be this pie. So I therefore have cause to prematurely cross this one off the list.

It's a Paula Deen. I love that woman. Here's what it looks like.

I made this last year and it's a good one. I can't wait to try it out again. You can find the recipe here. 

5. Go to Bed by 11PM Each (Week)Night and Take a Nap Once a Week.

It's just worth noting that these were by far the most beneficial things to me this past month. Not always easy to do, but so worth it. 

To end this fall to-do list post, I wanted to share a picture of Luke and I in Chicago this last weekend. It was taken by my best friend of 17 years (yes, we calculated this while we were there), Amy Sayre (who you may have heard of a million other times on my blog).  I just feel like these will always be my favorite fall photos. I'm using these for our Christmas cards, but thought there was no harm in putting just one out on the internet early. 

So now on to Thanksgiving week, or a Week of Thankfulness here on this blog. I've asked some of my closest family and friends to share their gratitude with you and I can't wait to share what they've come up with. It's been a lot of fun already collecting their thoughts. Really, I just can't wait to share them with you in general. They're kind of great, you know.

Stay tuned next week for a daily (gasp!) post on my blog in honor of Thanksgiving!

Want to hear more about the value of custom invitations? Check out this post.