pretty writing meets CHUBBY BABY: Austin!

this kid is special:

1. first newborn baby of our congregation

2. first baby i've ever visited at a hospital

3. first newborn i've ever held, period.

seriously, we've seen this all the way from prayers to now REAL LIFE. 

wow.

i have a new appreciation for brand new babies because of him.

he's so cute.

only 6 weeks old and he's already changed so much.

i can go on and on and on.

but let me stop here,

and just show you:

so serious

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so when his mama asked me to create a little announcement card for him..

gee? how could i resist?

especially when our buddy Johan took thee cutest snap:

Johan Wong

which we then combined with a little lettering 

and his mama's favorite chevrons...

to make this fun number:

seriously, this wasn't even work.

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sidenote:

if you don't have a baby to announce, 

but you do have some parents to congratulate...

i've just relisted my "BABY congrats" card over on etsy!

have a peek!

TGIF.

it's the weekend!

this week involved a little more illustration and creative freedom than i've had in a while,

i'm not complaining!!

i think i need to start doing a little roundup of the week, 

just to keep tabs on what's been going on.

let's get organized, shall we?

What's the Point of Decanting Wine?

aaand now I know.

'twas VEGAN BBQ week at the Savory,

cause July 4th is next week, ya know??

Mushroom Burger

Hard Shell, Meat Free Tacos

the World Cup continues to be a big deal at the office,

so I continue to pretend to care a lot about it, especially during lunch.

we pick a winner here.

one of my favorites from the week:

Video How-to, too!

bts.

a #fbf from last week:

Why Does Asparagus Make Pee Smell Weird?

and an old gif:

yum!

cheers to the weekend.

coworkers are fun, but let's not see each other till monday.

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ps. camp sadness/excitement. wish i was there!!

In case you're wondering..

"I do not follow a God that I understand. 

I do follow a God that understands me. 

Who understands wrenching pain and searing loss....

A God who is intimately familiar with the raw, howling, soul-wrenching bone-weary keen of grief. 

In the mist of it,
I am grateful for the God that has been in hell. 

Who triumphantly walked through it and shattered the chains off the gates and declared it FINISHED so that death would not be the end..."

via My Little Black Desk blog.

Right when you think you can contain God in a box,

and you get flustered or frustrated 

or maybe even a little bit bored..

He surprises you with very truthful words on the interweb.

awesome.

pretty writing meets HOLY MATRIMONY: Melody & Matt

the great romance photo

2014, the year of weddings.

I declared that here, here, and here.

This year started off with an email from Melody & Matt,

(no joke, timestamp: January 1!!)

re: their wedding stationary

thus began a very quick month of back and forth emails,

drafts, printer quotes, prints printed, and so on.

it was SUCH a fun, creative team effort.

---

so y'all...

this here is my very first wedding stationary "set"!

a little snippet of Melody's Pinterest board:

peach + mint + gold

very pretty and chic.

designs began with brush lettering/calligraphy

here's a little mood board with all the finished elements:

1. Brush calligraphy + a little bit of type: Neutra Text

(the 'Sawasaki' last name is so fun to write)

2. Watercolor washes: so pretty, chic, light and airy

3. Hand drawn lace as a special design addition

4. and the illustrated golden chicken for the entree selection

with all that, you get some of this digitally mocked-up goodness:

And with some gold Baker's Twine and a little tag,

thee finished product:

the great romance photo

the great romance photo

in addition to the invitations,

Melody had asked me to letter up the guest place cards and table numbers

the great romance photo

the amazing venue, ahhh:

(image via Tritia Lau)

for those table cards, gold was definitely the way to go..

that, with some opaque white. um, BUENO!

and what they looked like, day of:

(image via Tritia Lau)

the great romance photo

the great romance photo


aren't professional photos wayyyy better than my old iphone snaps? haha.
an excuse to why this post took forever.

anyway, more to come!
Lord willing.


---

Matt & Melody,

you guys were such a dream to work with (i'm not sugar coating),

love your style, organization, and love your love.

really.