I’ll be frank with you: I have one objective every Mother’s Day, and that’s to out-do my two brothers with gift-giving. I know they’re sitting at home right now plotting how to top me this year {because that’s all that boys in their early 20’s have to do on Friday nights, right?}, but I’ve come up with what I believe to be the ultimate Mother’s Day gift. If you follow this herbal watercolor tutorial, you just may find yourself being victorious over your siblings, too!
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I’ll sum up this blog post succinctly: Inkstruck Studio and I collaborated to create a calendar, and it is awesome. The purpose of this post is not for me to go into slimy salesman mode, though. The real reason I am writing it is I want to give my mom a break from receiving {numerous} photos of the calendar over iMessage; photos that, as a mom, she is obligated to respond to with: “Wow, honey, that’s so great!” I love talking about this thing, and I don’t feel so bad talking to you about it because I figure you can leave this blog post at any point; you’re not a captive audience like my mom!
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{Lindsey’s Intro:} If you have read this blog for any length of time, you must have noticed my affection for using watercolors. I think watercolor is just about the best medium out there because it’s easy to work with, forgiving when the artist makes messes up, and renders beautiful results. Yet if you ask me anything about actual watercolors, my knowledge is very limited. I just buy them. Sure, I’ve tried Googling “watercolor paints”, but the chemistry behind them — I’m very sorry to say — was a little too boring for my taste. Until today. Meet Jessica: she’s going to teach you all about watercolors, and I guarantee you’re going to like it.
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Since I published my first free calligraphy worksheet — the Amy style — I’ve been receiving a lot of questions about calligraphy via email. I love these emails and am always happy to hear from any and all of you because the questions show me what I’m glossing over, or what I should explain better! Hopefully I answer more and more of your questions in each post.
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Last weekend, we went to Kansas to check out the cool new things our five month-old niece is doing; they include intent staring and an emphatic, continuous nodding of the head when Lady Gaga’s “Applause” comes on. When little baby Brixlyn wasn’t around, I decided to snoop in my mom’s basement. Mom has been getting in to calligraphy, and I stumbled upon a trove of goodies in her basement workspace … including a book that caught my eye: Modern Calligraphy {subtitled “Everything you need to know to get started in script calligraphy plus 20 DIY projects for weddings, parties, blogs, and more”} by Molly Suber Thorpe.
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I’d like to digitally invite you to Boulder today to take a tour of the studio, and to enjoy a little show-and-tell of what I’ve been up to the past couple of weeks. Maybe it’s just me, but I love seeing people’s workspaces; and since I have collaborated with several of you — be it on your wedding or your small business — I thought you might want to see where I create your masterpieces.
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These small gift ideas will help you to look like a holiday super hero. Someone who is on top of her game, a true gifting wizard. And, hey, you can do it all without making a dent in your budget. You know me: usually I am all about DIY. However, I recognize that we’re entering a bit of a gifting time-crunch here, and DIY takes a lot of time and energy. In this situation, I wholly recommend leaving the hard work up to another artisan. Accordingly, I have compiled these fifteen small gift ideas over the span of two days {hey, quality gift-hunting takes time!}. My hope is that you can: A) Experience the perfect “Aha! This will be great for So-and-So!” moment; or B) Garner inspiration; or C) Both. I only chose companies that I adore and trust {Chocolove and Zum Body} and individual artisans — because we should support people who are making wonderful products with a healthy dose of love.
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Etsy product photography has been the biggest hurdle I have had to jump thus far. I’ll be the first to admit it to you; I’m a horrible photographer. I used to scoff at professional/artistic photos, thinking, “Pff. How hard can it be to take a photo? Try to draw a portrait of someone and I will respect your ‘art’.” Wow, have I eaten my words. Taking good photographs is just as difficult — and every bit of an art form — as rendering a masterpiece in any medium.
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A few weeks ago, I was working with a good friend of mine to design save the dates. She wanted something fun, informative, and useful. As I was pondering what could fill all of that criteria, it came to her: “Let’s make a bookmark!”
I love the idea of wedding save the date bookmarks because they will be used for years to come. Usually (if you’re anything like me), regular save the dates go on the fridge, and a few months after the wedding, I realize the save the date is still on the fridge and I either recycle it or put it in storage. But there’s no need to put save the date bookmarks in storage because you can use them long after the big day has passed!
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I love receiving cards … but more than that, I love giving handmade cards, cards you can’t find anywhere else. Handmade cards are the best.
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