Monty Python Invitation

Hello there!

I hope you're all staying warm and cozy during this exceptionally crappy winter we've been having. If you're reading this from somewhere warm, I don't think we can be friends right now.

My area is no stranger to getting a lot of snow, but it seems that ever since the Superbowl it's been non-stop. We are running out of places to put the snow in our yard and there are piles of it that are taller than me! It's crazy. To say I'm ready for Spring would be an understatement.

Good news is that I have been too busy to notice any cabin fever the winter tends to cause. You guys have been amazing! As of today, I'm at 88 sales. That's only 12 away from my goal of 100 by my first Etsyversary! I don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched, but I'm starting to feel super confident that I'm going to reach my goal!!!!!! :D :D Cross your fingers for me! And maybe your toes, too.

I've had the privilege to work on some really cool stuff lately and I wanted to share with you one of my most favorite projects to date. I was contacted by a friend of mine, Jill. She is having a joint 30th birthday party this summer with her husband, Tim. This is not just any party though. It's a Monty Python theme. I have to be honest - I have only seen The Holy Grail and I think that was in my 6th grade class - which looking back seems super inappropriate. I know, tisk tisk. These are CLASSIC movies that EVERYONE loves, so I really should watch them all. While we are on the subject, I might as well tell you that I didn't see Star Wars until I was 26. Even then it was the first three movies. I haven't even seen the other three. So, I guess I just kind of suck.

Anyway. Jill asked if I could illustrate some of her favorite characters and create a design that is similar to the Halloween invitation that I made with the critters dressed up in costumes. Here is a close-up of each character that Jill requested:

Knights of Ni

 




The Black Knight

(post "flesh wound")

Patsy

(with coconuts)

Tim the Enchanter

And, finally, the "Dead Guy" who isn't really dead

And here is the whole invitation (with some changes to her personal info, of course).

-- Alison --

Immediate Satisfaction

Today, I'm trying my best to stick with my resolution (or well.. one of them) to blog more. I don't have much to share right now other than my current thoughts. This week, I'm having an inner struggle that seems to resurface every so often: 

immediate satisfaction vs. long-term satisfaction

There are times in life when you just need to jump into something spontaneously and other times when you need to sit down and think about it. Sometimes I have a hard time with that and can be a bit impulsive. Examples of this: in college while filling out yet another student loan application, the little voice comes in and says "go ahead, Alison, take out a little extra! You need it NOW - don't worry about the next 20 years of your life paying this back tenfold. You should really go shopping instead... RIGHT NOW!" Or "Girl, switch it up - GET BANGS! Don't worry, you will look just like Taylor Swift!"

I don't feel like I'm alone in this, though. Right? ... Doesn't everyone struggle with this?

As I've mentioned, (and even listed it as another resolution - ha) Sam and I want to buy a house. Like, real bad. We're trying to save our pennies and we've been really good about it. Until... duh duh duh.... Sam's laptop dies. We're now sharing a computer and it's terribly inconvenient.

So, what does my brain immediately go to? "OH!!! This is actually great! A blessing in disguise! LET'S BUY A SUPER FANCY IMAC!!!!! WE NEED IT RIGHT NOW!!!!!" "We won't be able to buy one once we have a house, anyway - since you know, all of the money will be gone!" I mean, we kinda do need another computer and I've always wanted a mac.... why wait!? Life is short? Right? ORRRR do we do the smart thing and just suck it up, take turns with the laptop, save the potentially $2000 a mac could cost and put it in the house fund instead?

Sigh. Making decisions is hard. And yes. I do realize what a first world problem this is.

At least this weekend my mom and I are going to the SPA! Yes, my fabulous brother got us a gift card to get massages. After reading the description for the massage we are getting, I have no cares left in the world. Forget everything else I said and just read this:

THAI POULTICE MASSAGE

80-Minute

Let tensions drift away while you enjoy an unforgettable traditional hot Thai massage, unchanged since Thailand's Ayutthaya period (14th century), when a hot pack was administered to soldiers returning home from war with muscle aches and bruises.The cloth poultice, filled with all organic green tea, lemongrass, rosemary, lavender and spruce will open pores and impart a deep medicinal heat to your muscles, releasing tensions and revitalizing your entire body. After the poultice application, you will be treated to a Royal Thai and Aromatherapy Massage with peppermint and mandarin essential oils. Popular with athletes, this wonderful treatment is especially beneficial for anyone experiencing soreness due to physical activity or stress.

ALSO, the super bowl is this weekend. Which means, squares. I'll probably hit it big with my squares and then buy ALL THE THINGS. Nothing to worry about.

-- Alison --

Happy New Year!

Hey, friends!

It's me again, your long lost pal, here to wish you a very happy new year! It's been a whirlwind over here lately. I've just been plugging away with the daily routine and then BAM it was Christmas and then... New Year's! Time just seems to be flying by, it's nuts. Do you realize that it's now 2015? I mean - my 10 year high school reunion is this summer! Sigh.

Since it's a new year, I've put together a list of things I'd like to work on. Last year, my goal was to start up The Invitation Oven. Sure, I didn't get to actually opening up my Etsy shop until the last day in April, but hey.... I did it! Soon to follow would be launching my very own website, creating over 30 brand new invitation designs, and making it to 60 sales! I'm super proud of myself for how far I've come in just the past few months, but with that said I have so much more to do.

Here are some things I'd like to work on this year:

1. Get better at blogging!!!!! I'm not afraid to admit that sometimes, I just don't know what to write about. Other times, it gets put on the back burner and by the time I go to write a post the topic is no longer relevant. No joke. I still have written on my "to do" list to blog about my camping trip from JULY. Sorry, friends.....guess you'll have to wait for next year's camping trip.

2. Create more designs! This is a give in. There will always be another design to make. My sketchbook is filled with ideas that are just waiting to come to life. 

3. One goal that I'm so, so hopeful to obtain is to reach 100 sales by my first Etsyversary. This is a goal I set when I first opened my shop and it remains. My Etsyversary is April 29th and as of today, I'm at 60 sales. 40 more to go...eek! I still think this is obtainable, but I'm beginning to have my doubts.

4. SAVE SAVE SAVE!!!!! Sam and I have been saving to buy a house for years and years. With the mountain of student loan debt we have between the two of us, and things popping up like car repairs and weddings, and amazing trips to California, this is no easy feat. We have decided to really get serious this time (like we haven't said that before) and try to cut back on frivolous spending and just save. Anyone that knows us, knows that we aren't really frivolous spenders to begin with, I freaking LOVE a good bargain, but there is always room for improvement.

5. Did I mention that my 10 year high school reunion is this summer? Maybe I'll finally get those Carrie Underwood legs or maybe improve my volleyball skills, or do something cool like invent something like Romy and Michelle did before their high school reunion. 

6. Read more books! I love to read, but usually I'll read one book as fast as I can and then go weeks before reading the next one. It'd be nice to be a bit more consistent and read a little at a time, all the time, like normal humans do. Also, it'd be nice to up my Jeopardy game a bit.

What about you? What are your goals for the year? Let me know in the comments!

And incase you missed my Facebook post. I'm currently offering 15% off in celebration of the new year! Check out the coupon below.

-- Alison --

Monster Cookies

Remember when I said I wouldn't make you wait two months for my next blog post? Look at me! Following through on that promise only a couple of days after Halloween.

So is the suspense of knowing our costume killing you? 

I thought so!

This year we tried our very best to pull off Kramer and Elaine from Seinfeld. We were pretty happy with how it came out, and even though we were asked all night if Sam was Ace Ventura and if I was trying (unsuccessfully) to be a character from Beetlejuice - some people got who we were, so I'll say it was a success! After a couple of adult beverages, I busted out some of Elaine's horrible dance moves (or maybe just my regular dance moves) and Sam threw out lines like, "These pretzels are makin' me THIRSTY!" Lots of fun was had by all, except for the guinea pigs. They weren't a fan of costumes. 

I also baked a scary treat for this party (with LOTS of help from my mom and Sam, as I was trying to perfect my Elaine wig at the same time).  This was a Pinterest recipe (which you can find here) that I didn't think would come out anything like the photos and thought maybe instead of blogging it I could submit it to "Pinterest Fails" or "Pintrosity."  We were all pleasantly surprised at how well they came out, visually. The key is to find neon food coloring. Flavor-wise... they were kind of bland. They tasted like a sugar cookie or shortbread, so if I made them again I might try to add something to spruce it up a bit. Perhaps almond extract instead of vanilla. We also had to make two batches, which was an unexpected surprise.

I originally bought two packets of the little candy eyeballs, but my mom made an emergency trip to the store to get a pack of the large ones.  We still ended up running out of eyes - so if you were looking to make more than one batch, I would probably get two packs of small eyes and two packs of big eyes. You can find them in craft stores or in the cake-decorating aisle in Walmart (that's where I got mine.) We were afraid that the eyes would be hard little rocks that would be unpleasant to bite into, but they were actually very soft and easy to chew. No broken teeth for us! 

Here are some photos Sam took of the process:

Here is the recipe again, in case you missed it above!  

How about you, friends? Did you do anything fun over the Halloween weekend? How did your costume go over and what did you dress up as? Let me know in the comments section!

-- Alison --

BOO!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, FRIENDS!!!!!!!

Sorry that I've been sort of M.I.A. on the blog the past several weeks (okay, let's be real, it's been two months.) Not only have I been denying you, my dear readers, of my sweet and hilarious writing (ha), but also I've left you all on the edge of your seats about a very important issue! 

THE BANGS!

The fact is...I did it. I went with my fun and carefree side and went for the bangs. And....drumroll.......... I hated it. Actually, I ended up hating my haircut so much that I went back in to ask her to "tweak" it. Have you ever done this? I have not. I was incredibly nervous about this and felt like a total idiot for not saying anything the first time around about how much I didn't like it. It's just awkward - plus, I'm awkward. If you put an awkward person in an awkward situation, it's just no good.

Fortunately, my hairdresser is as sweet as pie and did her best to "tweak" it. However, I just don't think that bangs are my thing. So, can I just blame my lack of blog posts on the fact that I have been in serious denial over my bangs? No? I didn't think so. Good news is, it's been two months and they have started to grow out.

Let's see... what else is new. OH YEAH today is Halloween! I LOVE HALLOWEEN!

This year, Sam and I are heading over to Dave, my brother's, house to pass out candy with my mom, Diana. OH and my adorable dog niece, Maggie, will also be there. Dave lives in a prime trick-or-treating neighborhood and averages 100-150 kids, depending on the weather, which is... a lot of kids. Remember how I said how awkward I am? Well, I'm exceptionally awkward around kids. I just don't know what to say to them. If they aren't old enough to understand sarcasm, my default is usually to shake my keys at them. So, I'm not sure why I enjoy handing out 100-150 bags of candy to them. I guess I just love to see their little costumes and I know that our interaction is limited to "trick-or-treat" and maybe I'll compliment their costume, then they are gone.

Tomorrow night, our friends Mike and Caitlin are hosting a Halloween party at their house. Sam and I have been running around all week to get our costumes together for this party. Last minute, like always. If we can pull it off, I think it'll be one of my favorites yet. Stay tuned! I'm also planning to make a scary little treat to bring as our dish to pass. I plan to blog about this treat. Hopefully I don't totally screw it up so I can share it with you all!

Mike and Caitlin LOVE critters. They have dogs, cats, fish, turtles, guinea pigs, and ferrets, and maybe even more things. They asked me to make them an invitation for this party that incorporates all of their furry, and not so furry, friends. In order to keep their privacy, I have changed some information on this invitation, so that I could share it with all of you. (I also added it to the shop if you are in need of a very last minute invitation.  You can find it here.)

I just love how it came out! Caitlin also told me that some of the critters would have costumes in real life, too, which I'm just jazzed about. The only one I know about is one of the guinea pigs will be wearing a bikini. Now you want to come to this party, don't you?



Okay, I think I have rambled long enough. Stay tuned for more blog posts to find out what scary treat I'm going to make and what our costume is this year! I promise it will be sooner than two months from now.

Have a fun and safe Halloween, friends!!!

-- Alison --

Kraft paper on ALL the things!

In my last post, I showed off a fun rehearsal dinner invitation that I had recently made - complete with a bluegrass dinosaur!  Okay, yes.  I admit, I'm kind of obsessed with him.  Turns out I'm also obsessed with two other things lately.

First - bangs.  Once a year, I go through the ultimate struggle of deciding if I want to say "yes" or "no" to bangs - like pretty much every other female, except maybe Zooey Deschanel, who can rock a bang like nobody else. Part of me wants to say, "YOLO" and "Do it!  Hey, they could be fun!  You need a change!" While, the other (much more realistic) side says, "Bangs are probably not a good idea for someone who wakes up and leaves JUST enough time to shower and grab a banana before scurrying out the door for work.  Dry your hair before leaving? HA!  How about dry your hair with your heat vent in your car while driving and eating the banana you grabbed on your way out.  Also, girl - you are a sweaty beast.  Your bangs will get sweaty and curl up into unflattering little frizz monsters, dangling on your forehead." Regardless, I have scheduled my appointment for next Wednesday and my fun, irrational side is winning. We'll see what happens when Wednesday comes.  The struggle is real.

Second - kraft paper.  I used this look with the dinosaur invite to give it a more earthy and Jurassic feel.  This look is super rustic and perfect for fall, too!  Since making this invite, I have used this look for a bridal shower invitation, which you can find here.  Then today, I thought, hey! that look would translate really well to the current chalkboard designs that are in the shop, too!  So, I swapped out the chalkboard background on the Oh Deer! invite and really loved the result.  So, guess what that means!  It's now available in the shop.  I also did the same thing with the other chalkboard invite in the shop.  You can find them here and here!

Here are both invites with the chalkboard and kraft paper looks for you to enjoy.

-- Alison --

Coolest Rehearsal Dinner. Ever.

Lately, I've received some requests for custom invitations that have completely and utterly confirmed that opening this shop is the best decision I've made in a long time.  It's just so exciting to get to work with so many people that have such great, clever, and quirky ideas.  This job is a blasty blast.  I seriously love it.

One of my favorite requests has been from a bride that I had worked with previously with her wedding invites.  She is awesome, to say the least.  For her wedding invites, she ordered the floral mason jar invite, which you can find here.

When she contacted me asking if I would be able to create an invitation for her rehearsal dinner in a similar style, I was not only flattered, but super excited.  She then went on to say that the party will be at a fossil site and asked if there was any way to incorporate a dinosaur into the design. When I saw this, I got the HUGEST smile and ideas started buzzing around in my head.  There may have even been a small dance in my chair.  Seriously, how awesome is this?  If that's not cool enough, she mentioned there would also be bluegrass and BBQ.  At this point, I asked her if I could come because who wouldn't want to go to this party?

After much deliberation of how to incorporate a dinosaur into the rustic vibe of the original invite, with the feel of bluegrass and BBQ, it finally came to me.  The dinosaur had to be playing a banjo.  There was nothing else that made sense for this.

We could not be happier with the final result.  In fact, the bride informed me that this dinosaur has been deemed their wedding mascot.

Have I built up the suspense enough for you yet?
















No?



















Yes?
















Okay, here it is!

--Alison--