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workspace wednesday | gathering inspiration.

By annmarielovespaper on July 3, 2013

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After a solid week and a half of nonstop work, I made the executive decision to throw myself a freaking bone and take a night off. So of course, I immediately went on a Pinterest bender. When paired with a cup of coffee (or glass of wine, depending on the time of day), there’s nothing else that simultaneously relaxes and excites me as much as a little visual inspiration seeking. My new favorite thing to do is find inspiring new feeds to follow…so much fun! I’ve also been trying to notice how inspiration “feels”…have you ever done this? Whenever a brilliant idea crosses my mind, I feel it in the top of my stomach. Such a strange correlation, but I guess there’s truth behind “going with your gut!”

Where are your favorite places to find inspiration?

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life goes on.

By annmarielovespaper on July 1, 2013

This past week has been nothing short of crazy, nonstop, and life-affirming.

Last Tuesday, my dad had open heart surgery. Even though it was a preventative measure to repair a faulty valve, it was terrifying for my whole family and rocked our world pretty hard. (There’s nothing that makes you want to take care of yourself more than spending countless hours in a cold + scary hospital.) THANKFULLY everything went well and he is now resting at home. Huge shout out to my amazing mom who is not only the heart + soul of our family, but a natural caretaker who will nurse my dad back to health in no time at all. Also! Major props to Jim Gaffigan for being a welcome distraction as he had me laughing until I was crying every night with his insanely funny book, Dad is Fat.

On Friday, I spent all day + night helping to photograph a beautiful wedding in Camarillo. Not only did it remind me how much I LOVE to take photos, but it was a great practice run for my own wedding! Thank you Jeff + Jess for letting me be a part of your special day!

And of course, throughout the whole week, I’ve been working like a mad woman trying to finish up a myriad of CHA projects. Yesterday was a DOOZY of a work day (sprinkled with a healthy dose of expletives) that started at 10am and didn’t end until 4am! I still have a long way to go before I can cross everything off my list, but I am finally starting to see the light at the end of the (effing) tunnel (;

All I can say is that I am SO looking forward to this upcoming holiday weekend. John has four days off and I am already dreaming of big things for us to do. And by big things, I mean a trip to Lemonade and a long visit to B+N for wedding and crafting inspiration. Living the dream!

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workspace wednesday | save the dates.

By annmarielovespaper on June 26, 2013

I will admit that John and I agonized over what to do for our Save the Dates. As two graphic designers with very different styles, meeting in the middle proved to be a tad tricker than we both anticipated. It’s one thing to collaborate with co-workers and professionally find middle ground. It’s another thing to be engaged to your fellow designer and attempt to have constructive critiques without making the other person mad (“whatever you want” translates into “that might be your worst idea of all time.”) But somehow, someway, we did it! We tag-teamed the assembly efforts and shipped them off to our guests last night with four months to spare. Despite my concern that we may have missed the mailing window of opportunity, the latest issue of Martha Stewart Weddings assured me that we are right on track. HALLELUJAH.

I can’t wait to share photos of the actual Save the Dates once they reach our guests! Stay tuned…

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weekly capture album | part one.

By annmarielovespaper on June 24, 2013

Hello everyone! My apologies for the radio silence…life has been all sorts of crazy lately, but I am determined to get back on track! ANYWAYS. Remember back in January when I talked about wanting a smaller format for my everyday memory-keeping? Well, I think I may have found the perfect solution: BasicGrey’s Capture albums. Not only are they the perfect size (6.5 x 9.5″), but they are so well-designed that it’s super easy to crank through them quickly (take my word on this…I’ve made six albums and counting for CHA over the past two weeks…!). I’ve decided to designate this particular album as my “week at a glance” book for the summer. Even though I don’t like too many rules, making weekly spreads is a breeze with this format, I promise!. And thank goodness for that, because let’s be real, I’ve got work to do and a wedding to plan! #realtalk

The first page is a calendar pocket that I’ve stuffed a bunch of memorabilia into. Every couple of days, I’ll clean out my purse and remove all of the fun souvenirs that are taking up space (and getting soaked by my water bottles) and immediately tuck them into these folders. Easy peasy.

LEFT: I embellished the back of the calendar pocket with a few of my favorite products and a photo of me doing what I do (even if it is from the holiday season, hence the Starbucks red cups – ha!).

RIGHT: I have to tell you that 2013 has been the YEAR for my Cameo die-cutting machine. Not a day goes by that I don’t fire that baby up to work on scrapbook pages, cards, and of course, wedding decor. For this particular page, I ran a sheet of ledger paper through the Cameo to cut out the “2013” and backed it with a white sheet of cardstock for a subtle effect. I then embellished the rest of the page with a handful of Snippets and candy buttons to set the tone for the rest of the album.

LEFT: I am such a fan of oversized photos paired with minimal embellishments, so the 6.5 x 9.5″ page protector was perfect for this particular week. But let’s be real, I just wanted to stare at Sarah’s amazing home all day long.

RIGHT: To maximize the 4×6″ pocket on the bottom of the page protector, I printed three vertically-oriented photos at 4 x 1.75″ and glued them to a sheet of white cardstock.

To record the highlights from trip to Utah, I wrote down bullet points on this journaling pad, popped it right into the interlocking rings, and called it GOOD. Now that’s my idea of scrapbooking!

You can read more about my weekly page updates here!

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workspace wednesday | whoa there.

By annmarielovespaper on June 19, 2013

This photo coupled with the fact that I am squeezing in this Workspace Wednesday post with seconds to spare before Thursday is a pretty clear indication of my life right now. CUH-RAZY TOWN. Let the IV drip of coffee commence!

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diy watercolor calendar.

By annmarielovespaper on June 18, 2013

I realize it’s mid-June and to most people, it’s not exactly calendar season. But for me, I just want a change of scenery. Since I can’t write on my Rifle Paper calendar (thou shalt not deface any Rifle products with messy handwriting…everyone knows that), I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own. Here’s how I did it:

S U P P L I E S

Watercolor paper
Watercolor paints
Ruler
Paintbrushes
Number stamps (mine are from The Curiosity Shoppe, which sadly appears to be closed!)
Cup for water

To begin, I (roughly) measured out the lines for my calendar squares and then ran my paintbrush right along the edge of the ruler. I should preface this by saying that I am NOT a perfectionist. I have little interest in making everything look uniform; I just want to have fun creating and get things done. Plus, watercolors don’t exactly lend themselves to clean lines. The more freeform, the better!

Once I have the lines and month name painted, I gather my number stamps.

To stamp with watercolors, I simply paint the rubber stamp with the paintbrush and stamp directly onto the paper. Easy peasy.

I decided to go with a light paint color so I can eventually write over the date without competing with the overall design.

Let dry and let the planning begin!

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andy’s graduation.

By annmarielovespaper on June 17, 2013

This past weekend my brother graduated from college with a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering, so we spent the better part of Saturday exploring the Cal Poly Pomona campus (beautiful!), taking tons of photos (740 to be exact…lord help my hard drive!), and celebrating Andy’s hard-earned accomplishment (heyyyy, brother). It was a reminder of the good things in my life: lots of walking under the California sunshine, big camera + empty SD card in hand, quality family time, an opportunity to wear a new dress + a giant hat, lots of laughter, exploring a new-to-me place, and a chocolate chip Pizookie for good measure.

Not only is my brother a whip smart, hilarious, human calculator, but he is also one of my best friends. Cheers to all your successes, Andy!

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twenty things.

By annmarielovespaper on June 14, 2013

20 things about me:

(Again with the dress. I know.)

1. I like very spicy food. Spicy to the point of sweat + tears.
2. I am a terrible movie-watcher but an excellent reality TV viewer (not sure what this says about my taste levels…?)
3. I often think about going back to school to become a psychologist.
4. I can never decide whether I want to spend the last few minutes of my night browsing Instagram or reading. (IG usually wins.)
5. My biggest celebrity crush is Michael Cera.
6. I want to visit all 50 U.S. states.
7. I already know the titles of the books I want to write.
8. I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.
9. I’m introverted often to a fault. Alone time is KEY.
10. Not quite sure what I would do without podcasts while I work. My new fave is The JV Club.
11. I love love love coffee. Partly for the taste, but mainly for the ritual of it.
12. I never screw the caps on water bottles tight enough, so at least once a day I encounter a giant water spill in my purse.
13. I send myself multiple e-mails daily. (P.S. This blog post was composed entirely in an e-mail.) (I literally e-mailed this sentence.)
14. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.
15. I love dancing. Aside from the actual marriage thing (oh yeah, that), I am most excited about dancing ALL NIGHT LONG at my wedding.
16. I aspire to be an amazing cook one day. I should probably get over my aversion to measuring + doing dishes first…
17. Occasionally I feel a strange sense of longing for my Utah days. I could never live there again, but it sure is fun to visit.
18. I always feel self-conscious about my legs when I wear shorts, but I’m trying to get over myself this summer. (My sentiments exactly.)
19. I can’t begin my day unless my bed is made. There’s just no way.
20. All I want to do is make things with my own two hands. All day. Everyday.

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workspace wednesday | to-do list printable

By annmarielovespaper on June 12, 2013

Every morning, I like to begin my day by brewing some coffee and jotting down my to-do list. Whether or not I actually accomplish everything on my list is sort of beside the point. I do it mainly just to get all my thoughts + assignments out of my brain and simply put a nice pen to well-designed paper. I mean, is that too much to ask for?

So of course, it was only a matter of time before I made my own to-do list form! I like to print these on the back of scratch paper or anything that I have lying around – no need to bust out the fancy cardstock! You can download these lists HERE. Enjoy!

P.S. If you’re looking for an inexpensive pen with great flow + the ability to erase (mind-blowing, I tell you!), I highly recommend stocking up on the Pilot FriXion!

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mini on the road | san luis obispo

By annmarielovespaper on June 11, 2013

I can’t even tell you how long it’s been since I made a mini book on the road, but after making one again for our SLO trip this past April, I am officially back onboard. As someone who is genetically-programmed to take pictures of ev-er-y-thing and collect every last bit of memorabilia like it’s my job (well, it kind of is), a mini book is an ideal landing spot for all of those treasures. Not only is fun to consciously seek out moments worth remembering, but it’s also a blast to set up shop at a hotel room desk after a long day of exploring + collecting (not as fun: cleaning up said hotel room desk before checking out).

For this trip, I used a Carte Postale 5×7 journal since it was the perfect size for a weekend adventure. Before leaving for SLO, I embellished the cover with a few Carte Postale supplies + my typewriter. Easy enough.

One of the main things that I love about this album is all of the pockets! I love having designated places to house my memorabilia + Instax photos before I figure out where they will permanently end up. Oh! And pockets also make great storage for supplies or scraps that I want to make sure I use on my pages. #pocketsforthewin

I brought this waterfall pack with me because it has everything I need (labels, letters, journaling spots, and die-cuts) all in one nicely-packaged place. This is key if you want to scrap on the road without schlepping your entire craft stash to your destination.

Mini books need not be fancy! I like to keep my pages pretty minimalist partly to avoid too much bulk, but mainly so I can finish the book before I run out creative steam. You know how it goes.

You can read more tips and see additional photos of my book here and here!

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