It's an Infographic Christmas!

Inspired by my love for infographics, I came up with a Christmas photo card design that combines the best of two worlds: a photo card with a newsletter! Highlight your favorite moments of 2012 and showcase your beautiful family at the same time.

Love the modern and simple look of this. Completely customizable and available in my store now.

Thanksgiving Printable

So there's an awesome (atleast in my not-so-humble opinion) free Thanksgiving printable up over at A Bird and a Bean. You can go check it out HERE. 

Since I created it for Erin as a contributor and I want it to remain on her website before I post it on my own, I won't post a photo here but will tell you that it's a fun, hand-lettered chalkboard inspired design. Fun! Go check it out. You won't regret it.

News

So I have a piece of exciting news... I'm going to be a contributor to another blog. For a wonderful person whom I just happen to love! I love their blog too, so it's win-win! I'm going to be filling in the role of "free printables" so I can't wait to show you all what I've been working on. I'm really excited for it. As soon as it's up I'll let you guys know so that you can go check it out for yourselves.

Anyway, today is Link's first parent-teacher conference. I can't wait to get some feedback. I know that he's been learning a lot (colors, shapes, numbers, etc.) but I want to know more. Since he doesn't have all the words to tell me, our typical ride home consists of me asking how his day was, "Good," and what he did, "Um...play...paint."

Yesterday, for the first time I think, he used an adverb. We were snuggling on the couch watching Polar Express (that movie creeps me out, anyone else?) and it was snowing. He turned to me and said, "I really want snow." I was blown away! This kid hardly ever forms complete sentences and hardly ever uses I and then even threw in an adverb. If it had been within my power I would have made it snow right there and then for the kid! I'm excited to see all of his progress.

Tis the Season

So I'm way behind (big surprise, I know) with holiday designs. I just don't feel right putting out holiday/Christmas designs yet. But since everyone else is, and I risk losing business, I had better hop to! With that being said, I've posted a few in my store.

I really love the rustic feel of this one with the modern spin on typography (it's got some great fonts). Another one of my recent listings:

 

It's got a whimsical feel with the swirly Christmas tree, fun ornaments, and bright colors like coral and aqua blue. Check out my store soon for more additions.

You are my Sunshine free printable

I love the song, "You are my Sunshine." The lyrics are just addictive and sweet. I know there's tons of free printables or nursery art out there in this theme (think Little Miss Sunshine birthday parties), but I wanted to create something too. Simple, modern lines and bright happy colors. Makes a wonderful card or nursery print. Please follow the link to the download for the 8x10 size below.

Download the 8x10 digital print HERE.

Please respect my work and don't try to pass the design off as your own, or resell it. Please don't distribute it in any way, but if you want to share the design, please share this blog post. Thanks!

Designs copyright 2012 by Amy Proffitt.

A Few Favorite Fonts

So as a graphic designer, I have an affinity for fonts. I LOVE them. Probably a bit too much. I go into restaurants, read the menu and can tell you what fonts they used. It's that bad. My husband likes to tease me about it. I also get quite a few questions from customers about fonts (everyone loves a good font apparently!). So I thought I'd share a few of my favorites. Here's a few of them, in no particular order.

Adorable can be found HERE

Champagne & Limousines can be found HERE

Contribute can be found HERE

Pea Breathe Easy can be found HERE

Japan can be found HERE

Sketch Block can be found HERE

Anderson Four Feathers Falls can be found HERE

Just Me Again Down Here can be found HERE

Cookies can be found HERE

Circus can be found HERE



Valentine's Freebie - Printable

With the passing of the Christmas and New Years holidays, there's not much to look forward to here except for Valentine's Day. It's not a major holiday, of course, but I have fun letting the kids color and create Valentines for their little friends (and their family). I created these valentines for them last year:

They had a lot of fun coloring them and I love the vintage or cheesy sayings.

Here's the already colored version:

Now I'm sharing them with you! You can download the already colored in sheet by

CLICKING THIS LINK.

You can download the coloring sheet version (black and white) by

CLICKING THIS LINK.

I hope to have a newer Valentine's printable soon so stay tuned!

New Designs in Store

It's been awhile since I've posted here. Oops! Things always seem so hectic and then I'm not even sure where all the time goes. At any rate, I've posted some new designs in store. I'm really excited about them.

Have a little one who loves all things that go? I know I have two like that. By plane, train or automobile, however you go, invite your guests in style!

Cookie Monster! How cute is this invitation? I think it'd be really great to actually cut out the top left corner of the invitation, just like he had taken a bite out of it.

Wild thing in your house with a party coming up? Invite your guests with this rockstar inspired design. 

I love this western and rustic invitation. Great for a cowboy or cowgirl.

Have a zoo of a party with this safari animals invitation. Design features giraffe, jaguar, monkey, zebra and lion.

I finally got around to designing an owl invitation. I know the owl theme is really popular so I'm a bit behind the times with just now listing it, but oh well. Better late than never, right?

Also, I just have to say, the first five designs have photos of my boys. Aren't they gorgeous? Yeah, I'm that mom. The one who's always bragging about how beautiful--inside and out--her children are.

New Christmas Designs!

So things have been crazy hectic around here. I'm still trying to catch up. I keep adding things to my to-do list without ever crossing any off. It's kinda getting pathetic. I might just have to put things on there that are easy, like "kiss the kids." Then I can feel all accomplished for the day!

At any rate, I've been listing some new holiday Christmas card designs in my store. I'm really excited about them and I have a few more in mind that I need to work on, but that's only when I find the time. All available at my store HERE.

There's either a white or a black border aroudn these images that won't be printed on your card if you choose one of my designs. It's just the easiest way to format them and make them square for etsy's photo restrictions. All designs are completely customizable and more can be found at my store HERE.

Party Time!

I love doing graphic design, especially for fun theme parties. Awhile back a friend of a friend contacted me with a custom request for a kitschy party she was having in honor of her birthday party. Each table would have a kitschy theme, like garden gnomes, Care Bears, and unicorns to name a few. I was totally on board with this! I love designing and getting to cover such a wide range of designs is right up my alley. Recently she was nice enough to send along the photos of her party. Check out all the kitschy cuteness!

LOVE it. Thanks to Stephanie Proffitt (no relation :)) for providing me those photos, which were taken by the very talented Lanna Hoffman (check her out HERE).

Explore, Dream, Discover Free Printable Subway Art

So I have a confession to make: I like to change my home decor atleast twice a year. I have an addiction right now to fun graphics and typography in general. It's a good thing I can design things myself or I would end up spending so much money on cute graphics. I thought it might be nice to share my most recent design with you all, so you can switch out those printables in your home too. This one is a lovely quote from Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens). I love the quote itself and really should practice it more.

It reads, "Twenty years from now, You will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." I think it's a beautiful sentiment.

Here's a detailed view of it:

And here's an overall view of the design (please don't right click and save this image. The download link is below, and it's free and without the watermark, no strings attached):

You can download this design (it's an 8x10 print centered on a sheet of standard sized US paper) for free here:

MEDIAFIRE DOWNLOAD LINK

If you do download the design, drop me a line and let me know if you've got the time. I'd love to hear from you and if you have any suggestions on future quotes or free printables, let me know!

Linking up to: Making the World Cuter, The DIY Showoff, New Nostalgia, Todays Creative Blog, Tatertots and Jello. Under the Table and Dreaming, I Heart Naptime

Bachelorette Party Design

Since I don't have time for a proper post, I'll just update you all on a cute new design available in my store. It's a little black dress bachelorette party design. Love it!

The design features a modern edge and shows the bridal gown or dress in front of little black dresses along with a saying about donning those little black dresses and mixing and mingling for the bride's last days of being single! I've also added some new designs in store in the birth announcements and birthday party invitations categories (pool party anyone?). Have a great Tuesday!

Yearly Photos

Okay, I'll admit it: I'm a bit obsessed with photos, photography, editing, and anything in between lately. I recently stumbled across an adorable idea on Pinterest where a photographer had combined some lovely word art along with a photo of theirs to create a unique way of documenting their child yearly on their birthdays. I think it's a great idea, and definitely not your standard fill in the blank baby book page, but a wonderful way to document all those wonderful quirks of your child.

Here's a few of mine that I created (click to enlarge):

Problem is that some of my earlier photos of the children weren't exactly spectacular quality or lent themselves to this task, but I think I did alright. And now I know that on each of their future birthdays that I need to take a great shot with enough blank space to write in their yearly notes. The ones with Lincoln are a bit better in terms of photo quality, I think.

I hope to frame these in 5x7 frames, matted, and line them up, year after year. It'll be a nice way to display just how much they're grown, not only in appearance but in tastes and personality.

If you want to do these on your own, I recommend getting the free software at Picnic or GIMP. They both have a text feature (look for the T in the tools toolbar) where you can add your information. Feel free to get creative, turn those photos sepia, black or white, or even leave them in color. Experiment with different fonts and text colors. You can find some lovely FREE fonts at Dafont. Happy documenting!

Vintage Cowgirl Invitation

I've been updating some designs in my store, updating the pricing structure, the wording of my listings and generally just making everything better. As for designs, I've been on a vintage kick lately. One of my favorite designs is a vintage cowgirl invitation in my store:

I've recently added a printable party package in this theme as well. It includes several party staples for one low price, such as the invitation, cupcake toppers, a banner, and more. I think it turned out pretty cute!

I need to get around to making a vintage circus invitation as well as some summer inspired designs, like pool party invitations, but I guess those will have to wait until I manage to find some more spare time! I'm always taking suggestions for designs too. I really love to design.

Fourth of July Free Printable

In honor of America's independence day, I will be serving cupcakes with some cute embellishments. I figured I might as well share the printable cupcake toppers in case anyone else wants a quick, cheap Fourth of July decoration. You can download the file HERE.

These fit twelve to a sheet of standard US paper. I recommend printing them out on heavy cardstock and setting your printer to borderless printing or the margins as near to zero as possible. They're incredibly easy to punch out with a 2" scrapbook punch (available at crafts stores) or you can do it the old fashioned way and trim them out with scissors. Enjoy!

Close-up of one of the designs

Happy Fourth of July!

Linking up to: It's a HodgePodge Life

Top Ten Tuesday - Things I'm thankful for this week

10. New blog followers! I'm sooo excited that you're here!

9.  My family. I know, this is standard and every night I thank my lucky stars for them. But I've been very blessed and I try not to lose sight of that.

8. Finding a sandbox on a craigslist type website for Germany. Now the boys are allowed to dig!

7. Having two very brave children. They both had to get blood drawn for yearly tests (standard checks for lead, anemia, etc) and Link didn't even flinch and Drake just said ow a couple times. I'm one impressed and thankful mama. I think anything that hurts your kids tends to hurt the parents more.

6. Tons of sales at the grocery store. There were so many deals that we spent $150 on groceries and essentials around here (like diapers, wipes, etc) but we got soo much out of it. Sometimes we hit the grocery store and feel like we spent a ton of money and got very little. Not this week..yay!

5. Having time to myself to craft. I've done a couple crafty projects this week and I think they keep me sane.

4. Having the husband home on vacation. He's only working a few days this week and then he's off for awhile. Partly because he needs to go pick up my step-daughter and fly her over here...which leads me to number 3...

3. My step-daughter is going to be here in less than a week! I can't wait. I've missed her sooo much. And I know she's going to love Germany and Europe in general. We have a ton of fun things planned, like a vacation to Venice and Rome. Yeah, we're spoiled.

2. New playmates, for both the boys and myself. I'm so excited about some friends that we made and it's been a blast having playdates. I know the boys are always happiest when they're playing with other children and I'm always happy to have company as well. (I know this isn't a photo from our playdate, but I am reluctant to post someone else's child to the internet)

1. Warmer weather where I can let the boys play about in their blow-up kiddie pool. It's like an entirely new toy to them and they spent hours amusing themselves, and letting this mama take a break.

Anything you're particularly thankful for this week? Share them in the comments. I'd love to hear from you! Linking up to Oh Amanda

Father's Day Free Printable - UPDATED

***UPDATE: I replaced the links with mediafire links, hopefully this will fix the problem***UPDATE x2: I put in some links for a 16x20 denim version and a green Stepdad version***

Since I was sooo behind the times on getting a free printable out for Mother's day this year, I decided to get a father's day print out much earlier. I did another subway art type graphic print but about dad-isms. You know...all those rules and epithets that all great dads say like, "Stop making that face or it'll get stuck that way!" I know my dad always had rules and expectations about how we children were to behave, and now that I'm an adult with children of my own, I definitely appreciate all that he did for us. I now know that all those rules were designed to protect us, nurture us, and make us become more compassionate adults.

Also, if you don't get the message, try reading the colored words. I call this one, "dads rule!"
I've created this 5x7 design in four lovely shades: denim, citrus, robin's egg, and pea green. You can see a sample of all four colors below. If you want a different color or size, just message me or drop a comment below and feel free to follow my blog as I plan to create more free printables in the future! The card looks great printed on heavy cardstock. Then write a personal message or poem on the backside, sign and date, and frame. You don't have to frame it, but it looks really lovely in a black frame.

Here's the links to the downloads:
Click  HERE for the denim version
Click  HERE for the citrus version
Click  HERE for the robin's egg version
Click  HERE for the pea green version
Click  HERE for the denim 16x20 version
Click  HERE for the green Stepdad version


Please respect my work and don't try to pass the design off as your own, or resell it. Please don't distribute it in any way, but if you want to share the design, please share this blog post. Thanks!

Also, if you're a fan of the original design that I created for Mother's day and want me to switch out MOM with DAD just let me know. I just wanted to do something a little bit different for the fathers out there. You can see that original design HERE


Designs copyright 2011 by Amy Proffitt.


Linking up at:   Coastal Charm, Today's Creative Blog, The DIY Showoff, At Home with K, Sumos Sweet Stuff, Marvelously Messy, Crafts Keep Me Sane, Between Naps on the Porch, C.R.A.F.T., Making the World Cuter, Sugar Bee Crafts, Someday Crafts, Sew Woodsy, Run With Glitter, Finger Prints on the Fridge, A Vision to Remember, Tatertots and Jello, Lolly Jane Boutique, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, Kuzak's Closet, Petite Hermine, A Bowl Full of Lemons

Blue and Red Party on a Budget

As I've mentioned before my little man had his second birthday here recently. Seeing as we know few people here in Germany, we kept the event really low key and didn't invite many people. But that didn't mean that my little guy didn't deserve a spectacular party, right? I think I honestly had too much fun putting it together and photographing it (well, not photographing it so much). This party was designed and assembled on a budget. Not counting the items I already had on hand like twine, scissors, tape, printing paper, etc. I spent twenty-five euros on the whole thing, which is about thirty-six US dollars. This cost even includes purchasing/making the three cupcake stands!

All the stationery items like the invite and the banner I created myself. I wasn't sure what theme to go with but just decided to go with a vintage feel with a few of my favorite fonts. I actually didn't start planning this party until the Monday of the week the party was on, so it's also possible to achieve a great looking party with minimal time. Here's some of the printed items I created for his party:

I printed everything at home on heavy cardstock paper. For food, I made cupcakes, brownie bites, and marshmallow pops in addition to having such party staples as colorful gumballs and m&ms. I put the larger items on some cupcake stands that I made from some ceramic vases and plates that I found at my dollar store.

I love the way these turned out. I can't wait to use them for different occasions as well as just regular home decor. I made three because sets of similar items always look better in odd numbers (don't ask me why, but generally they do).

Some party details:

As you can see, I didn't stick to the strictly red and blue theme, but added in some punches of color with the food. I'm by no means a professional photographer, or chef, so you'll have to excuse my sloppy photos and food. I assure you little Link didn't mind one bit! Oh, and I'd also recommend that if you're planning on dying your icing to match your colors, don't buy the spring yellow icing (even if it's on sale). The icing turned out a bit too aqua/tealish. Oops. :)