Kelly's Colorful Baby Shower

I'm so excited to finally be sharing some big, huge, exciting news here today! This April, my sister Kelly is having a baby! Kelly and her husband Joe are going to be a Mom and Dad for the first time which means I'm going to be an auntie for the very first time too! My siblings, parents, and I are all jumping out of our skin with excitement to meet this little one, and April can't come soon enough! What's making the anticipation even greater, is that we don't know whether we'll be meeting a little boy or a little girl. Whichever it is, I can't wait!
A few weeks ago we threw Kelly a colorful-themed baby shower. Since we don't know the gender of the baby, we didn't want to go too pink or too blue, so we decided multicolor decorations would be fun. Before the shower, we had a craft night with the future aunties and future grandmothers and made one of my favorite craft projects for the occasion. Using this tutorial from Shoes Off Please, we made an adorable fringe tassel garland out of tissue paper that served as a backdrop for the gift opening. 
One of my biggest contributions to the shower was the baking of the cakes and cupcakes. Serving 80 guests was a tall order, but 14 layers for 3 colorful cakes, and 30 cupcakes later, I was really happy with how they turned out! I chose to frost the cakes with homemade white buttercream frosting so that the colorful layers inside would be a surprise. Each cake was decorated with a garland of giant pom poms and the cupcakes with mini pom poms that resembled something out of a Dr. Seuss book. Cute, right?

I really loved the favors that we offered all the guests at the shower. My mother made batches upon batches of marshmallow popcorn balls that we added a pop stick to and packaged in cellophane bags wrapped with colorful craft tape. I designed circle tags that read "Ready to Pop!" that I cut out with the amazing 1.5" circle punch tool I got from Michael's, and we stuck a tag on each popcorn pop. They were cute and delicious! 
As an activity at the shower, each guest received a Baby Prediction card where they made guesses about the baby's gender, weight, birth date, etc... and also offered advice for the parents and well wishes for the baby. After the cards were filled out, guests hung them on a string with baby clothespins, using a blue pin if they had guessed "boy" and a pink pin if they had guessed "girl". At the end of the shower it seemed to be pretty 50/50 between boy and girl predictions! Kelly and Joe were blessed to have received so many amazing gifts for their new baby at the shower, and everyone had a really great time. 

And now for some more fun news! After a long break, I've decided to dust off the ole Etsy shop and I'm now offering these prints there. If you are planning a baby shower, these prints would make the perfect addition to the special occasion! I'm also offering an 8x10 art print of a baby and mommy giraffe that would totally look adorable in any nursery. So head on over to my shop and check them out! Hooray for babies!!

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My Pinterest Makeover

As a DIYer, designer, and artist, I've found Pinterest to be one of my go-to places for finding and sharing inspiration. Recently, when I was looking through my social media accounts, I noticed that Pinterest was the one place that my blog branding didn't carry through. I wanted my main Pinterest page to appear as another extension of my blog, the same way that Twitter and Facebook do.

Design / DIY  / Packaging / Typography / Color Theory / Studio /   Blogging / Style

Using Adobe Illustrator (Photoshop or something similar will also work), I created a template that was 540px X 360px to fit the Pinterest board dimensions. I then made a simple design using my blog fonts and colors and a photo from each corresponding Pinterest board. In Illustrator I chose File > Save for Web & Devices > JPEG. 

Once I did this for each button, I went into Pinterest and in each individual Board chose "Add a Pin", and then the "Upload from Your Computer" option. Since the images I used in the designs weren't my own, I made sure to include the image source for each of these new pins at this point. If you can't find the original image source, doing a quick "google image" search will usually help to find it. 

Once all of my new images were pinned to their appropriate boards, I went through and set them all as the cover images. And voila, now my Pinterest boards reflect my blog brand. Woohoo!

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Customizable Cards From CardStore

Happy Wednesday friends! I just have to tell you about my new favorite thing today ... Ok, when you have a special occasion that you're trying to find the perfect card for, do you spend forever perusing the card section of the store? Ugh, I always do! I feel like I can never find the card with the exact sentiment that I'm trying to go for, or if I do find the right one, I don't like the card design. Well, I just recently discovered Cardstore, and it's a game changer! It's an online card shop with cards that are completely customizable and personalized. And they have a card for just about any occasion you can imagine.

I gave Cardstore a whirl with a wedding congratulations card. Right off the bat, I was given 45 different cards to choose from. Once I found the one that I liked, I was able to customize it by adding the married couple's last name to the front of the card. I was also able to choose from a variety of fonts and colors for the text. Pretty sweet! 

Next, I had the option of adding photos to the interior of the card (some of the cards also have a place to add photos on the front). I was able to choose the layout of the photos and how many I wanted to add. I could have added a caption to the photos if I wanted to as well. 

Inside the card, text is provided, but you have the ability to edit it and add your own. Sentiment problem solved! Just like on the front of the card, you have the option to change the font and colors of the text inside as well. 

When you're done, you can either have the card delivered to yourself so that you can give it to the recipient, or you can have it mailed right to them! When mailing the card to the recipient you just have to pay for postage. What I loved about this service was that even with all of the customization and the cost of postage, my final cost was just $3.95, which is comparable to what you'd pay in the store ... only I didn't have to make a trip to the store OR the post office!

And, as a bonus, they also have customizable invitations! They have beautiful designs to choose from for all sorts of occasions. Definitely worth taking a look if you're planning an event!

Needless to say, Cardstore is probably going to be my go-to card shop from here on out, and I highly recommend that you check it out yourself!

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My New Look

I'm sure that by now you've noticed that my blog has a brand new look, and I thought that it was about time that I explained why! As 2012 was winding down I was thinking about all the positive changes I wanted to make for the new year. One of the things that my mind kept wandering back to was the look of my blog. Before I made my changes, every time I had to update something, I was faced with that shade of olive green that was all over my blog. And every time I wondered, what ever made me choose that color anyway. Olive green is far from one of my favorite colors, and there was no significance! As I started thinking about the new year approaching, I decided that I wanted to give my blog a makeover. Everything I post about on this blog is something that's important to me; something I've created. I realized that I wanted my layout to reflect my personality as much as my content does. So I got to work.

I've had a lot of favorite colors over the course of my lifetime. In fact, for at least 3 years of my childhood I claimed that my favorite color was purple. While it is a fabulous color, it wasn't my favorite. For some reason, my grandmother was convinced that it was and insisted on buying me purple everything! Pretty soon I was convinced that purple was indeed my favorite color and I still can't remember what my real favorite was. But, these days there's no question. My favorite color is that sunshiney, happy, glowing yellow! It was my first choice when coming up with my new color pallete. From there the rest of my colors fell into place to give me a look that is far more "Amy" than olive green is. 

I wanted my new font to be more fun and playful than the old one. I also wanted to make sure it had a "DIY" feel, as that's the most important part of my blog. I think the "Frenchy" font I chose achieved the look I was going for. As for my embellishments and buttons, I wanted to go with something that felt more natural. I had used the flag/banner look in previous posts and liked the idea of using them as main features. When it came time to make a new logo I went with the "less is more" approach and now here we are... same ole' blog with a brand spankin' new look! I hope you all like it!

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New Years Resolutions for the Creative Soul

Growing up, my New Years Resolution list usually consisted of just one thing: to stop biting my nails. It was a simple resolution, but I failed to be successful year after year. I think I failed because I only hoped for an outcome but never actually made plans to follow through on. This year I decided to take some time to really think about what I want to accomplish over the year, with specific regard to my art and this blog, and came up with some more meaningful resolutions.

Over the years, I've found the increasing uses in technology to be both a blessing and a curse. It's amazing to have infinite resources at your fingertips, but sometimes I find it all to be a little too much. As much as I love Pinterest and looking at other blogs, I think it can be easy to forget that there is inspiration to be found out there in the physical world. This year I resolve to spend more time gathering inspiration offline and creating "real-life" inspiration boards. And, along the same line, I want to make a conscious effort to put pen/pencil to paper more often. I carry an 'idea notebook' around with me, and love jotting down ideas and sketches in it. I think if I took the time, that I could fill it up a little faster and be on to my next notebook.

I love designing, crafting, and creating, but one of my major downfalls is that more often than not, I rush to get to the end product. When I get an idea, I just want to see it through right away and usually look for the quickest way to get from point A to point B. Although this isn't always a bad thing, this year I resolve to take some time to really enjoy the process. I hope that this will help me to learn new techniques and to find myself inspired in ways I never knew. I think I will find a lot of success in my future projects if I can enjoy the process.

I don't know when it happened, but lately my normal bedtime on a weeknight is somewhere around midnight. And it's awful! I don't want to stay up that late when I have to get up early for work the next morning, but it seems no matter what I'm doing, I can't get to bed beforehand. I tend to try to fit as much into a single day as possible and I think that's where I run into trouble. This year I resolve to go to bed earlier so that I can wake up feeling more refreshed and ready to take on the day. I have a feeling that if I get a better night's sleep, I'll be able to tackle all of my projects with a clear head and at a faster rate so that I can continue to get to bed before midnight.

This past year I bought a nice new camera and took a photography class at the BCAE so I could learn the basics of my new tool. I found it to be so helpful and so this year I resolve to take a second class to improve my skill. I've come to find that photography is a hobby that I really enjoy, and to get better at it could only make it more enjoyable.

At the end of the year I want to see myself as a happy, healthy, and successful individual living a well balanced and creative life. I think that these resolutions will definitely help to guarantee that. What about you? Do you have some good New Years resolutions this year?

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A Year in Review: 2012

Happy New Year everyone!! I'm so happy to be back, and I'm feeling refreshed and rejuvenated from my break. I am very much looking forward to all the things to come in the year 2013, but first I want to take a look back on the past year and reflect on all the great things that I saw, heard, made, and experienced. 

I had so many fun adventures in 2012, and the year got off to a great start with (1.) a trip to Las Vegas with my sister to see Celine Dion in concert. It's no secret that I'm a Celine fan, so this was a huge highlight of the year. (2.) I took another little trip a few months later to New York City with my brother to see The Newsies on Broadway. The show was so amazing and I'd absolutely love to see it again! (3.) One of the biggest highlights of the year was my older sister's engagement to her boyfriend Joe. She's the first of our siblings to be getting married, and we're all so excited! (4.) 2012 was the year I finally bought myself a nice new digital camera. It has made all the difference in the world on my blog, and makes it so much fun to capture my adventures. (5.) This summer I attended my very first Boston Bloggers event, and I have since been opened to so many opportunities as well as new friendships. I love being a part of such a wonderful, engaging community! Through Boston Bloggers, I met Smita of Hogger&Co, and was lucky to be a part of her Style Profile series. That awesome experience led to Smita offering me the opportunity to (6.) photograph from the Press Pit at The Tent at Boston Fashion Week. As someone who loves both fashion and photography, this was certainly a memorable part of 2012!

2012 was a pretty big year for Instagram, and I jumped right on board when I got my iphone over the summer. These are a few of my favorite snapshots from the year. (1.) Princess the pig at Nihtila Farm...OinkOink! (2.) A beautiful chandelier at The Boston Opera House where I saw The Nutcracker for the first time. (3.) The sun setting behind willow trees at the Boston Public Garden. (4.) A view of Wollaston Beach in Quincy near my old apartment. (5.) Coffee is served during brunch at Papa Razzi on Newbury Street in Boston. (6.) View from the ski lift at Gunstock Mountain in New Hampshire.

In 2012 I celebrated my 1 year blog anniversary and from that point I decided to step up my game a bit. I increased my blogging frequency and had a lot of posts to show for it! These are some of my favorites from the year. 

1. Framed Children's Book  2. The Art of a DIY Business Card 

3. DIY Bleach Dipped Scalloped Shorts  4. Beeswax Candle  5. Driftwood Accessory Hanger

6. Led Zeppelin T-Shirt Makeover  7. Aday Photo Project  8. DIY Elephant Key Hooks 

I feel like 2012 was a really good year for music. I loved the folk sound that came from so many bands, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't love me a little 'Call Me Maybe' too. I've compiled a playlist of 12 of my favorite songs from 2012, so take a listen and enjoy. And, now that we've taken a look back, let's look to the future, and hope for many more great things to come! Cheers!


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Ukrainian Egg Decorating @ BCAE

 Christmas has come and gone as quickly as it always does, but I enjoyed every minute of it and hope that you did too! I spent the entire day with my family, hanging out in our PJs, playing games, relaxing, opening gifts, and eating delicious food (including a french toast casserole with walnuts made by my mother - you can guarantee that recipe will be blogged about soon). Having 6 siblings between the ages of 10 and 27 means there's never a dull moment, and that's what makes the holidays extra special. I'm on vacation for the next week, and after all of the quality time I've had with my family, I've decided that I want to use my time off to relax and enjoy them. Therefore, I'll also be taking a little blog vacation. Don't worry, I'll be back after the New Year. 

But, before I step back for the week, I do want to share my latest crafty experience at the BCAE. A couple of weeks ago I took the 2 part Ukrainian Egg Decorating class, something I'd never done before, and loved it!

Using hot candle wax and special tools, we learned how to apply multiple colored dyes to the eggs to make intricate designs on our eggs. We started by drawing lines on our eggs to break it into equal parts, which would help to keep our designs symmetrical. We drew as many lines as we felt we needed for guide and then drew over them with the hot wax. Anywhere the wax was, the dye would not be able to go through to the egg. The process kin of reminded me of my homemade screen printing method. 

After we dipped the eggs in one color, we added another layer of wax on the egg wherever we wanted that color to stay. Then we repeated this process over and over, working from light dyes to dark dyes until we were done.

Once we were satisfied with our colors, we melted all of the wax off of the egg with the flame of the candle. The class instructor then took the eggs home and applied a finishing coat and ornament hooks for us.

Here are some of the eggs created by the class. They were all so unique! After we did the colored eggs we learned how to use brown eggs and a special bleach solution to make a different look. Instead of being colorful these eggs ended up being white with a brown design (see my snowflake egg).

And, here are all of the eggs that I created in the class. They're not perfect, but I'm excited that there is a second installment of this class right before Easter so that I can practice the skill a little more!

See you all in 2013!

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Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

As you may have noticed, the blog has gone pink. Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I've decided to dedicate this weeks posts to raising awareness. I would like to kickstart the week with a 12 year survivor...

2012 marks the 12th year that Kathy Mitchell has been cancer free. To celebrate this amazing triumph each year, Kathy and her family and friends walk in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Boston, and they do it in style. Every year, Kathy and her sister Betty Ann come up with a new theme and slogan, get t-shirts made, and put together fun outfits. 

Last year Betty Ann (who is the mother of my sister's friend) contacted me to ask if I would design their t-shirts for them, and I was happy to rejoin the efforts when she asked me again this year. The new theme was 'a toast to good health', and the ladies came up with the slogan "Here's to Kathy's Good Health, as she Celebrates her Twelfth."

© Amy Connolly

Kathy, Betty Ann, and their family looked fabulous in their outfits as they braved the rain and walked this weekend!

Photo provided by Betty Ann

Photo provided by Betty Ann

Photo provided by Betty Ann

And just for fun, here's last years t-shirt design. The slogan was "Oh Thank Heaven for Kathy's Eleven."

© Amy Connolly

Kathy also has a Making Strides Donation Page where proceeds will directly help the American Cancer Society. Congratulations on being a 12 year survivor Kathy! Here's to many more!

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Going Pink!

You're probably thinking to yourself, "Yikes, Creative Soul Spectrum is looking awfully pink today!" Well I have an explanation for that...

My New RSS Feed

Hi friends! I just wanted to make a quick announcement to let you know that I have added a new RSS Feed as an option for following Creative Soul Spectrum. Hopefully this will make things easier for some of you! The link is located in my left menu bar. As always, thank you for following along!

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BCAE Jean Genie Class

I think it's safe to say that we've all been there... the day you realize that your favorite pair of jeans have reached the end of their lifetime and need to be taken out of the rotation. It's a sad day for sure, and if you're like me, you cope with your loss by folding them up and placing them at the bottom of your jeans drawer with the hope that they'll magically return to their original state. I have about 5 pairs of jeans currently residing at the bottom of my drawer, and though I've yet to see the magic happen, I can't bare to part with them...

...but, I have good news! Thanks to the Boston Center for Adult Education, those jeans are going to see the light of day again! This coming Saturday, October 13th, I have been invited to attend a class called Jean Genie at the BCAE. And, since there are still a few spots left, you should join me. As a DIYer, I'm excited to learn new tricks to repair and update jeans I already own. Lessons like this can prove to be invaluable, so I definitely recommend checking out the BCAE website for more information, and maybe I'll see you there!

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Scalloped Shorts Printable Template

Remember the Bleach Dipped Scalloped Shorts tutorial from way way back 2 weeks ago? Well, I have a fun follow up to that post that you might find helpful. I have created a free printable template that you can download if you want to make your scallops the same size that I made mine. Just click the link to begin the download. I hope you find this template useful... enjoy!

Download: DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE TEMPLATE HERE

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New Kids in the Shop

It's Friday! It's the last day in August. The day before a long weekend. The unofficial start to Labor Day, and the perfect time to talk about mustaches. Specifically, the new Mustache Koozies in my ETSY SHOP! I just started making them recently, and I've been having a lot of fun with it. I figured that koozies are a necessity as is, but koosies with mustaches on them just seal the deal. After all, a wise man once said "I mustache you a question, but I'm shaving it for later." 

So at some point this weekend, while you're celebrating the fact that you don't have to work for 3 days, stop by my SHOP and let me know what you think of the newest additions! Happy Labor Day everyone! Have a fun, safe, fab long weekend!

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Vacation

Well folks, I'm finally heading off for the week for a much anticipated vacation with my family. I won't be posting while I'm away, but I'm sure that all the relaxation will get my creative juices flowing and I'll return with plenty of inspiration! 

                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                     

Boston Street Art

I spend many a lunch break walking around Boston just taking in my surroundings and enjoying the scenery. Lately, I’ve noticed that many of these surroundings are covered with strategically placed stickers. I love the unexpectedness, creativity, and humor I find in these simple little things. And though they come in a simple form, I think they make for great street art.

This walk sign was the first one that stuck out to me. I was standing at the crosswalk waiting for the signal to change so that I could cross the street, and when it did I couldn’t help but laugh. But, I was also confused for a second because I didn’t know if the sign was telling me it was safe to walk or safe to rake the street! I decided to walk… and photograph. I think my favorite thing about this simple little sticker placement is that unless you catch it at the right time it might not seem like much. It only makes sense when the ‘walk’ sign is lit up, and you might miss it if the orange ‘stop’ light is glowing.

I’ve seen these koala bear stickers in a few different locations, but I think that giving Boston’s iconic swan a furry facelift made this one my favorite.  Since I had seen a few of the stickers, it also got me wondering what it was all about. Where does this headdress donning creature hail from? I put my googling abilities to the test to figure it out… and to make sure I wasn’t accidentally posting about anything offensive (you never know!). Turns out this little guy is far from offensive! He actually belongs to Coalatree, a pretty sweet Colorado-based company focused on healthy living and action sports. No wonder this sticker appealed to me!

I found this third piece right outside of my work, and not only does it make a construction sign adorable somehow, it’s also very clever advertising.  Due to construction in the area, I’m bombarded with detour and warning signs on my way to and from work. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I spotted a detour sign with a little character (literally!) that made it stick out among the rest. 

Upon further investigation I discovered that Wear Chemistry is an ethically conscious 

clothing company that is “inspired by Science. Art. Words. Everyday Life.” I can dig that! 

Already inspired by all of the little street art I had been seeing lately, you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this beautiful piece on my lunch break! Street art depicting characters creating street art?! It’s as if the artists knew I was going to write a post about this subject!

I didn’t have to look too hard to figure out what this street art was all about. Shortly after I spotted it, I saw an article in the Metro about the artists and their other works. It’s actually becoming quite a hot topic, as one of their other pieces is stirring up some controversy. I say controversy shmontroversy, I just want to talk about how cool this is. As an artist, I love seeing art in unexpected places, and that’s what I’ve found here. 

So who’s the artist anyway? Turns out there are two of them and that they are twin brothers from Brazil.  Known as Os Gêmeos, the brothers currently have an exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, which will run until November 25, 2012. Check out the ICA site for more info and keep your eyes peeled for more awesome street art in the city!

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