11.03.2014

to have God


"But contentment is not a tool to get what you want from God. 
It is the sweet harmony that happens when you realize what it means to have God. "

10.18.2014

pretty writing meets HOLY MATRIMONY: Emmeline & Eric



"the Royal Wedding",
as we've all dubbed this day.

once that hunk of a diamond was placed on Em's hand,
THE PLANNING BEGAN:

all the pinning,
the emailing,
the gchatting,
the venting (haha).
oh, and Em was studying for her medical boards
all at the same time.
(cray)

quite a ride!

---

anyway, let's get to it.
PAPER.

one of the images I took inspiration from,
via Em's pinterest board:


sketchbook shhtuff:


The colors were mainly bright greens and a light peach,
very similar to her gorgeous wedding bouquet:

oh, hi Em!
Margarette Sia Photography

but I took a few liberties and pumped up the peaches
to a brighter, more energetic orange
(think the deep orange shadows of those peach roses),
which I thought would fit their summer wedding vibe a little more.

here's a little mood board of the invite elements:

so the vibe? 
fresh and easygoing,
florals and lots of green, chubby leaves.

aaaaand..
the final product!
off the press and topped with a cute little green bow:



glad we got to put these pretty engagement pictures to use,
from who else?  
Margarette Sia, of course.





the other paper items ran with the same feel,
i like how their names fit together here on the program:



the menus and name cards doing their thing, day of:

 

amazing setup, yeah??


---

it was a beautiful, beautiful day.
hop on over to Margarette's blog to read their story.
(the most thorough and thoughtful wedding photographer/blogger ever)

Margarette Sia Photography

thanks Em + Eric for letting me be a part of your day in this way!
you guys are very special to me.
so glad we get to do church together.


ps. the flower girl + ring bearer (AHH)

Margarette Sia Photography

8.21.2014

fullness.


our uncomposed God:

"our God is not composed in the face of your pain. 
 He feels wrath at the brokenness of the world. 
 He feels grieved by the pain experienced. 
 He feels a passionate urgency to intercede and rescue all His kids. 
And the ONLY thing that is keeping Him from acting on those feelings is 
the fullness of His character..."


7.03.2014

The Itsy, Bitsy Nutella Bikini


so this short 3-1/2 day week still managed to squeeze 
so much creative content out of the team..
i'm exhausted and grateful for the long weekend.

woot!

AMERICA:

Lemme gloat a bit:
I correctly predicted the end score for this game at the office: 
2 to 1, in favor of Belgium
..and now I'm just full of pride, just not the American kind.
hopefully all these flag-filled designs make up for my lack of patriotism.

beautiful America, patriotic cosmetics, lalala



one of my favorites of the week:


yeah, they did.


here it is, that bikini:
hahaha this one ended up being so fun.
and no, they're not for sale.



love this title.


hairy letters.


and we'll end with a my boss and i trying out the Spoon Facial:

6.30.2014

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



---

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:


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.

---


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!





6.27.2014

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?


aaand now I know.


'twas VEGAN BBQ week at the Savory,
cause July 4th is next week, ya know??




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.



one of my favorites from the week:


bts.


a #fbf from last week:


and an old gif:


cheers to the weekend.
coworkers are fun, but let's not see each other till monday.



---

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


6.17.2014

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..."



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.

6.04.2014

pretty writing meets HOLY MATRIMONY: Melody & Matt

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:



in addition to the invitations,
Melody had asked me to letter up the guest place cards and table numbers




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.