Since my kids are my mother-in-law’s only grandkids, I get the pleasure of creating a holiday card for her that she sends to family and friends each year. It’s been wonderful to see how quickly my kids have grown taller than her!
Family Forest Fest
I had the privilege of creating artwork for the Family Forest Fest; a camping experience designed for families with young children. In 2017 they had events in two locations; one on Whidbey Island outside of Seattle, the other at Leaping Lamb Farm in Alsea, Oregon. In 2018, they had one event in Alsea, Oregon. They hosted a teddy bear hunt, outdoor play for kids, live music, bubble professionals, a movie night, a costume carnival, night hikes, family yoga, and so much more. There were also outdoor gear vendors there with gear for campers (and kids) try out. It looked amazing and I was sad to see them stop the events when it was becoming too difficult to make it sustainable.
I designed t-shirts for the events along with magazine ads, social media graphics, event maps, signs, and banners. Here's the adult t-shirt from 2017. It was printed in kelly green for staff members and navy blue for adult attendees.
The kids tees were printed on lime green.
I also created signs to identify different parts of the camp and a map of each location so campers knew where everything was. Some spaces were even sponsored.
Event map for the Oregon event:
For the 2018 event, they were able to use many of the same signs, but we did revamp the t-shirt designs:
Kid’s shirts were bright blue:
For the adult tees, they went with this lovely shade of dark green along with some lighter green and gray options:
Image by Heartbeat Photography
Image by Heartbeat Photography
Image by Heartbeat Photography
Image by Heartbeat Photography
It was such a pleasure to work on all of these items for Family Forest Fest. Thank you so much Shanti and Erin!
Laura's Holiday Card - 2019
Laura’s awesome holiday cards are always creative and they never disappoint; and this year was no exception. I also need to give her family credit for being so enthusiastic about these fun holiday cards.
She took photos of everyone in the family separately and I pieced them together in Photoshop. I LOVE how it turned out. The comic book theme with the text totally meshed with the silliness of the photo.
And how about a zoom in on those joyriding kids, freaked out parents, and a terrified pug!
Thanks so much Laura and a very Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Click here to see all of the fun holiday cards I’ve done for Laura and her family.
Joey's Holiday Card - 2018
My dear friend Joey had these beautiful photos taken of her son and she wanted to send them to family and friends for Christmas, so I whipped up a few holiday card concepts and this one was the winner.
We made sure to include an elephant to pay tribute to their oldest son who passed away shortly after he was born. Love you, Jack!!
I love the subtle, gold sparkle print and the knitted sweater background. The beautiful photos were taken by Jennifer Lyn Holmes.
Galaxy Dyed Vans
My oldest son finished third grade this past spring and that year was the first time I had been able to volunteer in his class with any regularity. I volunteered once a week when they attended art class and I was able to get to know a few of the students and learn a little about third grade dynamics. This is the gist of what I learned:
Third graders are still emotionally sensitive. They want to be cool, but they still suffer from the emotional instability that plagued them at the magical age of seven.
Third graders aren’t quite old enough to believe that everything is stupid… yet. But they’re getting close.
Third graders can be really mean!
It was so fun to be able to help out when I could and I hope I’m able to join his fourth grade class as often as I can in the fall.
A while back, my son had it in his head that he needed more expensive shoes. Supposedly, a kid in his class declared that his Keen shoes were “dollar store shoes,” and that cool kids only wear expensive shoes. Ugh.
First, I reminded him that we actually can’t buy him super cheap shoes anymore because he’ll rip through them faster than you can even say the words “Dollar Store.” Second, I explained to him that how much a pair of shoes costs means absolutely squat. What matters is if they fit comfortably, look good to you, and keep your feet dry. And it’s nice if they last a while, or at least until they’re outgrown.
Their teacher reprimanded the kid who tried to make others feel bad if they didn’t have $100+ shoes, but I did my own little passive-aggressive comeback (with my son’s blessing, of course). I made him some custom-dyed Vans.
Vans are ALL the rage among kids from elementary school all through high school. I have to admit that it makes me chuckle to see teenagers wearing the exact same pair of checkerboard Vans I’m wearing. I wear them because I like how they look and they’re slip-on, and I LOVED them when I was a kid.
We bought some plain white Vans from Journeys earlier this month and I galaxy-dyed them in green and blue, my son’s favorite colors. I used fiber-reactive dye from Dharma Trading and a similar technique that I use for galaxy-dyed clothes and baby carrier. They ended up being quite a pain to rinse, the dye inside the soles was tough to get out. I also did my best to mask off the white rubber to prevent them from being stained by the dye. Lastly, I masked off the rubber and labels when I painted stars with fabric paint.
I really love how they turned out and so does my son. Apparently a few of his friends want a pair now. #momwin
Mostly Coherent Thoughts
My dear friend Haley launched a blog this spring (on her birthday too!), chronicling her life as a mom, wife, and adventurer. Shortly before the launch, she and I worked together on a logo and some branding elements for her new blog. She wanted to use aspen as one of the elements in her logo and share her love for the outdoors.
Check out her blog here: Mostly Coherent Thoughts I love the watercolor we used and how it kind of looks like a speech bubble.
It was such a pleasure working with you Haley!
Smith's 3rd Birthday
Smith turned three this spring and his mommy, Jessica threw him a dinosaur-themed party for the big day. We went with lime green, yellow, and shades of blue for his custom birthday items. Jessica was gracious enough to send me a few photos from his party too, check it out!
Custom invitation:
I love the wording!
Cupcake toppers:
Penant Banner:
Thank you card:
It looks like your party was a blast, happy birthday Smittysaurus!
