Ninja Party- Heck yes!

Hi (yah!), everyone! Just finished up a pretty great weekend and wanted to share with you some pictures of this epic ninja party I helped create for the craziest, sweetest, red-headed ninja I know. Although most children celebrate their birthdays, and simply boast or brag about the all-important following half-birthday, Burke opted to play down his actual winter birthday, and go big (ninja style) this summer for, the less conventional, Half-Birthday Party. 

NINJA INVITES: 

I wanted the invites to get kids excited by reflecting just how amazing and hardcore this party was going to be. Aside from providing the standard party info, they apparently doubled as an unintentional first challenge, as I later found out that it took some of the guests days to realize that the sword actual opened up! 

NINJA HEADQUARTERS:

Jaci (Burke's mom and my employer/good friend) had the great idea to wrap the trees lining their long driveway with "Chinese symbols." I put that in quotations because they were more 'inspired by true symbols' than actually reflective of them. The kids were able to help out too with some of the banners and enjoyed making up their own meanings. The entryway was made by taping together two pieces of red paper (from a roll), cutting a child-size opening (yes, the parents all had to duck), and then painting some Chinese dragons. I hung it up with red duct tape, and put up streams of red crate paper on each side. The end result? -A pretty badass way to get the party started, and the kiddos in gear for a true ninja experience. And speaking of gear...

NINJA GEAR:

Immediately entering the house, the kids(already instructed to wear all black in their invitations) walked up to a table equipped with all the ninja essentials- num chucks, Chinese tattoos, a pouch (for storing gold coins and pinata candy), and bands of red fabric for their heads, waists, and arms. The numchucks started off as solid black. During the course of the party, the ninjas were guided through various tests/challenges; after completing each challenge, they earned a different color stripe representing various B.S "virtues" Jaci made up along the way- very entertaining.

NINJA CHALLENGES:

Jaci kicked the Ninja Challenge Extravaganza off by leading the group in a few rounds of Sensei Says (our adaptation of the ever-popular Simon Says). This proved to be a great start to the party because it established clear authoritative roles: Jaci as the Head Sensei and me as the Tape Master. Also, it allowed for some serious practicing of needed ninja skills like double kicks, num chuck twists, and karate chops. Some of our other challenges included wood breaking (Styrofoam boards painted brown), a laser obstacle (a web of red yarn that the children must maneuver through without touching the 'lasers'), a javelin throw (pool noodles thrown through vertical rings of other noodles), a giant slingshot used to knock down towers of cardboard boxes, an elaborate snake hunt that earned them gold coins, a kick bag pinata that the kids attacked (one at a time) with their best punches and ninja kicks, and a ninja star toss where they tried to knock off foam balls resting on black toilet paper rolls. 

NINJA FUEL

After successfully completing all of their tasks, our little ninjas enjoyed some pretty tasty cupcakes with surprise ninja centers ( mini ninjas were pushed inside the baked and cooled cupcakes and covered with generous amounts of vanilla and chocolate icing). Red plastic cups were wrapped in black felt masks and filled with yummy 'Ninja Juice'

Needless to say, everyone had a GREAT time. The kids really played the part, and took the challenges pretty seriously. Everyone left with goodie bags of fortune cookies, chop sticks, a dragon glider, an inflatable samuri sword, some ninja figurines and pencils, chinese tattoos, and lots of perfected ninja skills :) Now to start brainstorming for Bella's birthday in the Fall.....

Hey there! Just got back from a lovely weekend in St. Louis. There's no better feeling than when you can seamlessly enjoy a stressfree, quality weekend with a favorite high school friend, your best college friends, the family, and your b-e-a-UTIFUL boyfriend. Oh, and did I mention there was sushi?

As for today: no work, no shower, and lots of advertising research. However, before I do anything TOO productive (like wash this crazy hair or actually apply to some of these pretty great ad agencies) I thought I'd blog my latest packaging project. My original goal for this brand was to create a fun logo that incorporated the image with the name - a more integrated style of branding than some of my past work. I've already started with the boys' design, but I plan to create a girl's line soon and will, of course, share the results with you. Anywho, here's a sneek peek of what I have so far: Enjoy! and have a FABULOUS week!

More Handlettering!

So, this is a portfolio piece I did a while back, and am now revisiting to make the change from computer font to some good 'ole hand lettering.

And now here's one after the switch:

Hand Soap meet Hand Lettering

I recently bought target's new(ish) kitchen cleaning supplies by Caldrea. Although I believe Caldrea's original packaging to be a model for good layout and design, its simplistic (and somewhat flat) qualities weren't a perfect fit for my home. So, because I truly enjoy this particular brand and scent (citron ginger), I purchased it anyways with the intention of recreating my own, more illustratively artistic labels.  Here's how they turned out!

You're Invited! Again...(and again).

Although my Spring tea party was already a tradition set in place years ago, I went a little (okay a lot) further and more extravagant this year because I planned on using it as a portfolio piece to show in future interviews. Since the party, it's come to my attention that it would work as a much stronger piece if I could incorporate some variations of the original invite- you know, so that they could be packaged in groups of three, adding more interest (and the opportunity to draw more floral tea cups). So, without further ado, here they are:

Garden Par-TEA!

Okay, so the ultimate tea party has long since come and gone, and I'm FINALY getting my busy busy buns to post some pics. I've gotta say, the work (and play) I put into creating original, garden party- inspired invitives, wine lables, and place cards did NOT seem like a waste. My closest friends and I enjoyed the perfect sun shinning, tea sipping, food munching, story sharing, wine drinking afternoon and I have some great pics to remember it all by. For my next tea party, I hope to plan it around a Pintrest theme in which guests participate by bringing, wearing, and sharing things from thier boards; It's still in the early planning stages, but I have some pretty spectacular ideas already! 

Got quite the Budget Talk from my dear old dad last week, and have taken his advice/demand to heart. Sort of. I can't just quit my gym dad, or stop tanning, or use conditioner from Walmart- those things are CLEARLY essentials. My three dollar car washes down the street however were, admittedly, a luxury I just can't afford. Instead. I have enslaved these fine young workers to do it for a buck less. Cha-CHING! That's the sound of a smart shopper feeding her pig :)

Fusion Book Signing

Just had my first St.Louis Book signing yesterday. So much fun! And look at these cuties I got to hang out with!

February:

Bought me some turtles! Two, to be exact. Milo is the handsome fellow on the left, and Rosie is the cutie on the right. I'm that weirdo in the middle. 

March:

March was pretty good to me (minus the death of my newly beloved, Rosie- apparently, a side effect of leaving your infant turtles in the overly enthusiastic hands of a 6 year old). BUT the fact that I got the call while in Florida made it a lot easier to deal with. Nothing seems quite as bad with a tan and a pretty view. Bella, my turtle's first (and tragically last) babysitter, quickly replaced Rosie with a turtle of roughly her size, and named her Rosie. Just like the one that died. I found this creepy and kind of cold, but, like I said, she's six and this, along with an extensive collection of Rosie portraits, seemed to be important to her grieving process. So I said thanks, waited 'till I returned home, thanked Bella for all her 'I Love Rosie' artwork, and changed my new Rosie's name to Lyra Rose. Lyra kind of sucks as a turtle so far. She hides in her cave every time I enter the room, and she and Milo don't stack up on each other the way Rosie and Milo did (I love it when turtles do that). But, Lyra is pretty. And super fast in the water. 

March also marked my first Bachelorett party (yay, Kelly & Eric!) and my first Fusion Rave (yay for Rave and Neon, Boooo for that Fusion workout that kicked my out-of-shape ass)

Also, like most of the country's female population, I saw The Hunger Games- WHICH. WAS. AWESOME!!!!! My only complaint? Not enough shots of Gale. Not even close. 

A big chunk of my March (and possibly the second half of February), was spent on making T-shirt scarves- an addictingly stylish and easy craft my friend, Jaci, found on Pintrest. I was really into making certain scarves for specific outfits and events. For example, I made the green one in that picture for St.Patty's day, and I don't expect I'll wear it again until next year. But that's okay, because I made it out of shirts I bought for 2 bucks at the Salvation Army! And it was fun!

Oh, AND I was featured as my sorority's Fabulous Alum of the Month for my book, If You Live Here! Way kewl!

So, what I'm I up to now??? Right now, I'm pouring my creative energy into planning, designing, decorating, and baking for my upcoming tea party. Yay! Already sent out the invites- here's a peek of the finished product:

Holy slacker! I've been gone for quite some time. The thing is, I've been meaning to post for a while now, but the task gets more and more daunting every time I think about all the things I've needed to blog and missed. So....... here's the condensed version of all the things I meant to show & say but didn't:

NOVEMBER:

Oh dear.... I really cannot remember back that far. I know I ate some turkey. And that may have been the month Tim and I went paintballing with my family in the rain. That day was awesome. 

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DECEMBER:

Bought a crock pot. Seemed life changing at the time, but I haven't used it since January. Kindda want to now tho (although that means trudging into the yet-to-be-spring-cleaned storage closet). Maybe I should check out Pintrest for some new recipes (and some tips & motivation for decluttering)

As for Christmas and such, my favorite holiday activity ended up being preperations and decorations. Once again, I made personalized tags for all my gifts, and thoroughly enjoyed wrapping presents (both from myself, and on behalf of the wrapping impaired). I found this facebook status update from December 1st to give give you a glimpse of my holiday cheer and enthusiasm: "Five hours and 430 dollars later, I have (almost) all my x-mas decorations. Crank up them jingle jams, I'M DECK'N MY FRICK'N HALLS!" I swear, Pier One is sure to be the death of me. Damn their BEAUTIFUL seasonal decor! "

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JANUARY:

okay, Januaryyyy..... hmm. Well, I spent a lot of time playing in a hot tub with no water. 'Why?' you may ask?? A red-headed piece of crazy and her adorable sidekick baby brother can't seem to get enough of it. We read there, snacked there, colored there, took naps there, and everything else. Brin likes to keep it filled with lawn pillows now and Boden likes to sneek in handfuls of dirt from various flower pots around the house. Needless to say, it's a pretty cool hang out spot, but the club has gotten kind of exclusive. Just today I found a 'DO NOT ENTER. MUST HAVE PASSCODE' sign taped to the door. Underneath, Burke (age 5) had drawn a bunch of buttons with numbers and 'numbers' scribbled on red construction paper. Serious stuff, man.     

In other news, I had my first book signing, which went incredibly well, and finally finished The Pillars of the Earth (the book and the series). 

Also...discovered this awesome youtube video that just can't recieve enough praise. This girl is whack. But, like, in a good way. 

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Shit! Just realized what time it is, and I need to get ready for dinner with the bf and his parents. You'll hafta wait for February and March summaries until my next post (with my track record, lets hope that's sometime before September).