Ha.

Yes, that happened. Wacky Hat Wednesday at AC. When you show up to work without a wacky hat, you make do with what you have! Amy suggested ears, so we went with it! Courtney had cute little cat ears, and I had...mouse? bear? I don't know...cute, generic little ears. It worked. 

Thanks, Jen, for the pic :)

Inspiration: Alison Oliver

I've never really been a huge reader, but I love books -- especially children's books. I was at Barnes & Noble over the weekend and discovered the illustrations of Alison Oliver, and totally fell in love with her work! One of my favorite things about her style is the subtle use of pattern within the illustrations. So cute! I ended up adding Pride & Prejudice to my (small) book collection.

Totally unrelated, but I just finished watching Being Elmo on Netflix. Completely adorable, and totally worth watching. Enjoy :)

Sketch to Quilt

{Left: via Sarah Jane Studios blog. Right: via Cut to Pieces blog.}

How amazing is this??! It's no secret I love (LOVE!) fabric and quilts. Quilter-slash-artist, Angela Pingel, was inspired by a sketch my friend, Sarah Jane, included in a blog post, and created this amazing mini quilt. I n-e-e-d to learn more about raw edge quilting. So beautiful.

Oh, and the Heather Ross fabric in the heart thought bubble? Completely adorable.

Done Deal

Done and done. Birthday trip tickets are purchased. Couldn't be more excited!

Tea for Two

{Claire having a tea party with Pet Wock}

Claire is obsessed with rocks. A walk or bike ride is not complete until she's picked up at least a pocket-full of rocks.

I saw these little pet rocks while doing a little online shopping, and knew it'd be a hit with Claire. Sure enough, she fell in love as soon as figured out how pet rocks work. Claire and Pet Wock (or Pet for short...and still working on that hard "r" sound) have quickly become BFFs. Pet likes to sleep, have tea parties, go for car rides, eat cereal, sleep, watch Dora and Diego, jump on the trampoline, sleep, play with toys, read books, and we learned tonight that Pet likes to eat carrots.

Spending time with this girl is always the highlight of my day. I don't think I left Katie's house tonight until after Claire said "I luff you wiff awl my hawt" ten times! Good times.

I love my little BFF.

Paper Crafting & Patience

{video via Etsy}

Wishing that I had this kind of patience and wishing I had this talent! 

Video via decor8, featuring art by Nicole Licht.

14 Days of Love :: Day 14 :: Happy ♥ Day!

{stop motion video via nicolephoto.com}

Just wanted to share a few other last-minute Valentine's Day ideas!

• Add some love to a glass of milk with heart milk cubes 

• Cute way to wrap up some last-minute treats

• Good option for a candy-free valentine

• Sew-A-Heart valentine tutorial

• An easy way to add a little love: heart paperclips

• Cross stitch a card for your Valentine

• Darling little felt fortune cookies
• Free (!) Valentine downloads
• Adorable e-cards -- 10 different cards to choose from

14 Days of Love :: Day 13 :: Valentine's Party

Need last minute party ideas? Just a few ideas:

1 // Be My Valentine garland // Cut out some letters, attach some valentine ephemera, hang up and you're done!

2 // Valentine Tree // All the more reason I need to get a pink Christmas tree!

3 // Heart Shaped Pepperoni Pizza // Use a cookie cutter to cut out some pepperonis for a sweet addition to your pizza!

4 // Kissing Booth Sign // Totally adorable letterpress sign in pink & red. Love it!

14 Days of Love :: Day 12 :: Straws & Sodas

{images via papermash and the silhouette blog}

Such a cute, easy, and cheap way to dress up straws and old-fashioned sodas for a Valentine's Day party! Need a little inspiration for how to decorate? Spend a few minutes over on the Amy Atlas website and I'm sure the ideas will start flowing!

(Unrelated side note: have you seen this adorable Mary Poppins-themed party??)

14 Days of Love :: Day 11 :: Edible Paint

{image via How About Orange}

Decorate some plain dishes for the holiday with edible paint! Simple, cute, and it's likely that you already have what you need in your kitchen for this project.

How About Orange is one of my favorite blogs -- definitely a must-add-to-your-google-reader kind of blog. Muffin and I met Jessica while attending ALT. Super kind and totally down to earth. While everyone else was putting together their personal style boards for ALT, Jessica put together a "what to wear to the farm" style board! Awesome :)

Click here for the complete tutorial!

14 Days of Love :: Day 10 :: La La Love You Paper Craft

{image via Crate Paper Blog}

Create some simple wall art to decorate for Valentine's Day! This would be such a cute way to use up those little paper scraps. Click over to the Crate Paper Blog for the complete how-to.

14 Days of Love :: Day 9 :: Free Card Downloads

{image via sweet muffin suite}

Quick (and free!) card downloads are available over at Sweet Muffin Suite! Totally loving the simple, graphic style. Pair with a kraft envelope (how cute would that be?), seal with a kiss and you're good to go!

Muffin and Sharon have teamed up for the holiday--be sure to check both of their blogs for a few other adorable Valentine's goodies!

Click here for the card printables.

14 Days of Love :: Day 8 :: Heart Pillows

{images via U Create Crafts and V and Co.}

I think I need to make some of these heart pillows and keep them out year round! Time to get out the sewing machine and get to work! Both tutorials look super easy to follow and include how-to videos. The pink pillow on the right is made using reverse applique -- I've attempted reverse applique once before, and it turned out kinda cute!

Click here for the white and red pillow tutorial and click here for the pink pillow tutorial.

14 Days of Love :: Day 7 :: Chocolate Garnish

{image via celebrations at home}

Little chocolate hearts to garnish treats and drinks? Yes, please! Super simple to make and they add the perfect finishing touch.

But I have to admit -- the first thing I paid attention to in the photo above were those little pink heart cakes and I was secretly hoping to find the recipe for them! Little Debbie Be Mine Valentine Cakes (in vanilla!) are my weakness this time of year -- but I've held strong so far this season!

Click here to get the how-to. The possibilities are endless!

14 Days of Love :: Day 6 :: Heart Bookmarks

{image via thirty handmade days}

Adorable, simple, and totally usable! I'll be making a few of these to add to my stash of office supplies. Now, if I could figure out how to use these to bookmark pages on my iPad...

Click here for the complete how-to.

14 Days of Love :: Day 5 :: Lovey-Dovey Playlist

Cheesy, lovey-dovey love songs get me every time! Enjoy a little compilation of some of my faves!

Adele // Make You Feel My Love

Aaron Neville & Linda Ronstadt // Don't Know Much

Ray LaMontagne // You Are The Best Thing

The Archies // Sugar, Sugar (side note: adorable video!)

Rascal Flatts // Waitin' All My Life

Yaz // Only You

Bad English // When I See You Smile (that hair...so dreamy! ha!)

Aaron Neville & Linda Ronstadt // All My Life

Brad Pasley // She's Everything

Cher & Peter Cetera // After All

(Yes, two Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt songs. Love it!)

14 Days of Love :: Day 4 :: Heart Gift Box

{image via the wonder forest}

These DIY heart gift boxes are perfect for little Valentine's treats. Click here to download the template, trace onto cardstock, and fold into a cute box! (Pebbles has a super cute Valentine's paper collection that would make some super cute boxes!)

14 Days of Love :: Day 3 :: Red Velvet Hot Chocolate

{image via a beautiful mess}

How adorable is this? Pink and red velvet hot chocolate! I might need to get up a little extra early in the morning so I'll have time to have a cup before heading for work! Find the recipe over on the always creative and inspiring Beautiful Mess Blog.

14 Days of Love :: Day 2 :: Heart Jewelry

I may--or may not--get my love of hearts from my mom (who loves all things Brighton). These simple and adorable hearts are perfect for Valentine's Day, but could easily be worn year round. Easily customize a conversation heart necklace at Hannah Blount Jewelry. That little heart bracelet could easily make it's way into my jewelry stash!

Images: Be Mine Conversation Heart Necklace, via Hanna Blount Jewelry. Single Heart Bangle via Kris Nations Jewelry.

ALT Business Cards

The business cards of ALT have received lots of attention--there was quite a bit of talk before the conference about how to best represent yourself through your card. Letterpressed or stamped? Foil or flat ink? Edge painting? Traditional size? Include a little surprise with your card? Enclose in an envelope? Textured paper? Smooth? Vellum? Die cut? Clearly, lots to think about. It's been a while since I've designed a hand-out-worthy business card for myself, and with time not really on my side, things were kept pretty simple. 

This afternoon I spotted my little ol' card in a business card round up over on Creature Comforts, along with Muffin's beautiful card! (Mine's the one with the little floral print, one of the papers from the Pebbles Floral Lane collection.) Ez was so fun to chat with, and totally willing to answer any and all of our questions about photography! 

Need more business card inspiration? Here are just a few: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

{image via creature comforts blog}

14 Days of Love :: Day 1 :: Treat Bags

I can't believe it's already February! Ai yi yi.

14 Days of LOVE starts today! I thought it'd be fun to roundup 14 of my favorite Valentine-themed projects/recipes/crafts/downloads for the two weeks leading up to Valentine's Day! Every day will feature something different--things I've found around the web, Pinterest, or things I've come up with. (I can be crafty occasionally! :)

Day 1 :: from Twig & Thistle

Love, love, love these little treat bags from Twig & Thistle! Just download, run a paper bag through your printer and fill with fresh brownies--my favorite--and you have an adorable Love Day treat! Click here to see the original post from 2009, or click here for an updated treat bag download.

And for heart-shaped brownies, simply use a cookie cutter!

image via Twig & Thistle