New Year, New Blog, New Website!

Happy New Year! I've been spending the last two weeks redesigning Wouldn't it be Lovely's website. The new and improved design includes all new product images, and brand new designs too! The best part, the blog is now on the same website! So if you've been spending time at the blogger version of Wouldn't it be Lovely's blog, have no fear! All the old content has made it's way over to the new blog and website! Be sure to take a look around and send it on to your family and friends! I'll be checking in tomorrow ON THE NEW BLOG with my new years resolutions! What are you're resolutions to begin 2014?

Holiday Check In

 Hi there kiddos! Just checking in mid vacation! I've been working non stop redesigning the website and blog, crossing my fingers that it'll all go up without a hitch on New Years Day! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday, I know I did! There is nothing more fun than days full of family and delicious food! My biggest gift hits were "Sex Panter Cologne" a la anchorman for my brother in law and the little cord keepers I made that just about everyone got! I think the favorite gifts I received were my new camera lenses and camera bag, dodo case for my iPad, and the watch and sweater in this photo! Hope you're holiday was full of goodies too! What were your favorite gifts?

Christmas Cards

It's Christmas time! This is the first year (in 6 years of living together and 3 years of marriage) that I have gotten my shiznit together and am actually sending out Christmas Cards! I've been toiling away addressing them all and am anxiously awaiting the delivery of the cards I designed from the printer (it seems like it's taking forever and I'm worried they won't get here in time for xmas!) Everything else is ready so as soon as they come I'll be sliding them in the envelopes and they'll be out the door! But man my hand is tired from all this addressing!
From now until the new year I'll be taking some time off from the blog (everyone needs a vacation!) but I'll probably drop in a post here and there and will surely be filling up Instagram with lots of holiday photos! My plan is to give the website a much needed face lift over the next two weeks, so if all goes well, I'll ring in the new year with a new website! Happy Holidays everyone, I hope you'll be enjoying your family, friends, tasty treats and general holiday wonder as much as I will be!

Bridal Shower Gift: Love By Numbers

I wanted to share with you the latest "Love By Numbers" design! This one has a map of Bentley University in the background, the place where the Bride and Groom met for the first time! Check out the previous versions of "Love By Numbers." They are all custom designed for different couples, the perfect gift for a wedding, bridal shower, or even as a holiday gift after their wedding. They are in the store if you're wondering about pricing and process!

Gift Guide: Deck the Walls

Time to deck their walls! I'm a big fan of giving art as gifts. Many people fail to buy art for themselves, which is a shame because I really believe what is on the walls of a room can really make or break it. Above are some great pieces for men, women, babies, the art enthusiast, the wood worker, the car lover, and the chef!

1.  Gold Ice Cream Cones: I love these gold dipped ceramic ice cream cones, 3D pieces of art bring great dimension to any art display! 
2.  Laser Cut Art: This is a great little art piece for the person who is into technology and graphics. the laser cut wood with color popping through is just so cool! 
3.  Gems and Jewels Watercolor: Frame up these little cards for a lovely little art collection, for the lady who loves bling! 
4.  Joinery Poster: This is a great piece of art for any wood worker or DIYer. 
5.  Laser Cut Letters: The perfect piece of art for a baby's room! Alphabet prints are always great for a kids room, and this laser cut wood alphabet is a great take on a classic.
6.  Ford Blue Print: Perfect for the man ow women who loves cars! This is really a perfect Dad or Husband gift! The blueprint really elevates it to art instead of the standard car photo.
7.  Kilim Painting: Such a pretty watercolor pattern! 

DIY Leather Cord Keepers

These leather cord keepers are a great last minute DIY Christmas gift! They are inexpensive and super easy! Each one only takes a couple minutes to make and you only need a handful of supplies. These make great gifts for the traveler and the person with more cords for their tech than they know what to do with! The full DIY is below:

Supplies & Tools:

1. Ruler
2. Heavy Duty Plier Kit for Snaps (you can get these at your local craft store they are about $20 and come with 5 sets of snaps) 
3. Exacto Blade
4. Martha Stuart Hole Punch (Also at your local craft store. It's intended for paper but I decided to try it on leather and it works AMAZINGLY and is so much easier than leather hole punches that you have to hammer. My husband was glad to get a reprieve from the pounding!) 
5. Scissors
6. Leather
7. Snaps

Process:

1. Cut pieces of leather 1in x 3.5in (this size works best for smaller cords, if you need them for larger cords, I would go for 2in x 6in and add another set of snaps)
2. Punch holes in the pattern shown above, use the medium sized punch for the ends and the small punch for the holes in the middle
3. Cut a line connecting the smaller holes as shown
4. Using the punch pliers, follow the directions that come with the Pliers to attach the snaps, it's pretty strait forward. 
5. Cut the ends of the leather to have a nice rounded shape.
6. Thread the bundled cord through the straps and snap them together! 
7. Done! 

Gift Guide: The Fashionista

Some gift ideas for classy and fashion conscious ladies! Clothes can be a tough item to pick out for someone, so here are some great alternatives that will make any fashionista smile!

1. Velvet Clutch: Adorable for any outing, a wedding or a nice bar, I'm obsessed with this bag.
2. Paper Fashion Print: This is an x-coworker of mine, she is so super talented, one of her fashion illustrations would make a lovely addition to the walls of any home!
3. Perfume Roller: This little perfume roller can be filled with their signature scent and kept in her purse. It's one of the prettiest perfume rollers I've ever seen!
4. Lovely Heels: What can I say about these? Fabulous!
5. Brass Colored Pencil Holder: The loveliest pencil holder of all time! Perfect to hold the pencils for anything from writing notes to doing a little fashion sketch of their own!

Hand Lettering: If the Shoe Fits

There are so many good sales during the holidays! I keep finding the most PERFECT gifts..... for me. Drat only being able to buy for others.... but one pretty pair of shoes is ok right? They're on sale, so it doesn't really count as buying something for myself. I needed $50 more to get free shipping anyway. There are just so many ways we can validate purchases during the holidays! Love it.

Custom Designed Photo Postcard Save the Dates

These Save the Dates just went out in the mail and I couldn't be happier with how they came out! Andrea, the Bride was great fun to work with. She and her fiancé, Gerard, had taken some really lovely engagement photos and she wanted to use one of them on her Save the Dates. She had looked at some of the bigger websites, but none of the templates were quite right, either not what she wanted, or wouldn't work with the photo she wanted to use. That's where I came in!
We worked together to figure out the look she wanted. We decided on a nice matte finish with rounded edges for the paper. As for the design, I designed their logo by hand, sometimes an existing font just doesn't translate for a logo. For the address sticker, I laid it out to work as a round address sticker to tie in with their wedding logo. It came out with the right balance of formal and fun, perfect as the first impression of their big day!

Gift Guide: Furry Friends

Do our dogs know it's Christmas? Probably not, but they do know something's up when a big ol' tree is in the house and they aren't allowed to pee on it! We have two dogs and we spend way more money on them than we like to admit, but come on! Those faces! These are some of the things I'm thinking of buying our pups for Christmas, along with lots of treats and bones!

Dog Paw Dog Bowl: I am obsessed with this dog bowl! 1.) it's elevated which is great when our dog Truman splashes water all over the floor as he drinks (elevated means it'll evaporate instead of making water rings on my wood floors). 1.) It's amazingly cute!
Rope Leash: Love these pretty rope leashes from Fab!
Doggie Duvet: We swear by Molly Mutt! Instead of buying a standard doggie bed which usually run from $50 to $300, we buy these "Duvets" it's great because they are basically just the outer shell and you can stuff them with old close or stuffing from an old destroyed dog bed! An extra plus, they come in GREAT patterns and colors at a great price!
Tie Dye Collar: Love this collar with the gold accents, we bought a similar one a while ago for Lincoln and he looks so sharp!
Doggie Drink Fountain- Our dog Lincoln will whine at the bathtub and then jump in when you turn on the water, thats how much he LOVES to drink strait from the tap. This would be a wonderful doggie gift!

DIY Cheese Labels

I used to be a SUPER picky eater, so it is only as an adult that have I come to appreciate a good cheese plate spread. When hosting Thanksgiving, I knew I wanted to make an awesome cheese plate appetizer (mostly so I could justify eating cheese and sausage with honey and fig jam for dinner every day the following week). One of the parts of an awesome cheese spread are cheese labels, so people aren't constantly asking what everything is. I decided to DIY it, it was an hour project and came out great! These make a great DIY gift for the holidays too!

Supplies:

1. White Fimo
2. Fondant roller (really anything to roll out the Fimo, but I like the fondant rollers because they come with these rings to make sure that it's rolled a consistent thickness)
3. Thin Paintbrush
4. Brass Paint
5. Exacto Blade

Process:

1. Roll out the Fimo, I rolled mine to about 3-4mm thick 
2. Cut out the shape as shown, don't worry about making them all the same, I think the irregularities are actually what make them so charming
3. Lay out all the tags on a cookie sheet and follow the instructions for cooking on the Fimo. Cook in the oven until they are hard. Take out and allow to cool.
4. Using the paintbrush and brass paint, write out the names of various cheeses, I did the following: Chèvre, Brie, Morbier, Fontina, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Gouda, Cheddar, and Blue Cheese. With all these you should be able to cover almost any cheese option! 
5. Paint the edges of the Label, closing the rectangle at the bottom, don't paint the part that will stick in the cheese! 

Let them dry and either wrap them up as a gift, or use them the next time you host a party!

Gift Guide for Newlyweds

We all have some newlyweds to buy for! For the holidays or perhaps for an upcoming wedding! These are some great and thoughtful options.

Mr. & Mrs. Cutting Board: Because all newlyweds should receive at least ONE "Mr. and Mrs." (or Mr. & Mr. or Mrs. and Mrs. because this shop is awesome has those too!) and this one is so darn cute!
Love By Numbers: I custom design these, they're sold in my shop, all the dates, colors and wording are customizable, as is the city map in the background!
His & Hers Glasses: These are cute and simple little glasses by Kate Spade, so cute!
Anniversary Wine Box: This is an adorable little box that you can fill with wines for the couple to drink  on their anniversaries and then keep to store things that are special to them.
New Home Coordinates: This is an adorable customizable piece of art, with the latitude and longitude of their new home together!

Hand Lettering: Everything You Can Imagine is Real

 I love this quote. As a designer, it's a great reminder that if you can imagine it, you can make it happen.   After a week of gift ideas, I'm imagining a perfect holiday season! Bring it on December! I love Christmas, getting so see family and having lots of close friends in the area for the holidays is one of my favorite things!

Gift Guide: The Meat Lover

Though for most people these would probably be the perfect gifts for the men in their lives, but I have to say, I would be all over the monthly meat box!

1. Meat Shredders: These shredders are the perfect gift for the man who is all about making his own pulled pork! Delish!
2. Praise the Lard Print: Some art for the meat lovers! These are the greatest series photos!
3. Personalize Meat Brand: For the griller, a personlized brand so no one can mistake who cooked their steak to perfection!
4. Dehydrator: So no scrap of meat will ever go to waste! A dehydrator will make the perfect jerky, dried fruits and more!
5. Meat Smoker: The perfect add on to a grill so they can smoke their meat to perfection!
6. Monthly Meat Box: For the person who has everything, get them a gift that lasts all year! A monthly delivery of an assortment of delicious meat! 

Gift Guide: The Chef and Baker

We all know someone who is happiest in the kitchen making up meals and tasty treats for the people they love! These are some great gift ideas for the chef, baker, or dabbling cook in your life!

Spoon Stylus: This is a creative little gadget for the kitchen! The end of the spoon acts as a stylus on iPads and iPhones so they can keep their flour covered fingers off their screens as they cook!
White and Wood Kitchen Tools: These lovely kitchen tools would make the perfect addition to any kitchen!
Personalize Pie Dish: Personalize these lovely pie dishes with a perfect label or message for the cook!
Recipe Box: This is a beautiful box to store all the cooks best secret recipes!
Storage Canisters: Store all their ingredients in style with these cute kitchen canisters!

Gift Guide: The Technology Lover

Todays gift guide is for that person who seems to have every new bit of tech, so why not give them perfect accessories for their iPhone or iPad.

1. iPhone Zoom Lens: Perfect for the person who is always taking pictures with their phones!
2. Mini Photo Printer: This little printer can go anywhere to print out all their favorite pictures.
3. iPhone Walkie Talkie: A little fun accessory for your iPhone!
4. Cord Keeper: These are lovely little cord keepers to keep all the cords for their various devices perfectly organized
5. iPhone Dash Mount: Keep their phone secure on the dash as they drive around town!
6. Sporty Ear Buds: These are the perfect ear buds for the athlete in your life! 

Gift Guide: The Host & Hostess

 It's December! Which means everyone is looking for the perfect Christmas or Holiday gifts. The next two weeks will be a series of gift guides for all the different types of people we love! 

Today is all about the host and hostess, whether you're going to a party or just have someone who loves to throw the perfect get together, these gifts will be a hit every time!

1. Cheese Labels: every party is made better with the perfect cheese plate, why not give these little labels to make it even better!
2. Coasters: Every host needs coasters, and how lovely and unique are these wood laser cut versions? They are perfect little pieces of art.
3. Slate Place Cards: This little package includes these lovely little slate place cards with wood bits to hold them up and chalk to write in the name of each guest. 
4. Wine trays: The perfect addition to any party, these little trays hold your wineglass so you can actually eat your apps on the go! 
5. Glasses: a lovely gift for a couple, these adorable Mr. & Mrs. glasses will be a welcomed addition to any bar cart or kitchen.