Ambrosia Creative

Winter is very, very far away from the California coast. Just last week we were at the beach. But I can dream about bundling up in layers of tights, boots, scarves, and mittens and walking through crunchy white snow. It seems like an entirely different life when I was a little girl growing up in Chicago, but I will always remember the snow. And the wonder I felt seeing the year’s first snowflakes fall out of the sky.

Care to download my free snowflake notecards? These are little, one-sided flat cards that would fit into an A2-size envelope. For personal use only, of course.

{top photo via Feaverish}

Our next big Relief Society activity is only a week away and my mind has been pretty preoccupied with all the party details, so I wanted to design an invitation that had no post-printing work involved: no folding, ribbon tying, stuffing into envelopes, etc. The result is a full-color, double-sided, 5″ square invitation.

And big props to my darling friend Angela who happily obliged to get dressed up and nails painted red (and hands dirtied with pumpkin guts!) for our little photo shoot.

A roundup of things that stood out to me this week:

Pretty plates – I know exactly where I’d hang these in my kitchen.

Typographic calendar – Love the design, love the concept.

School and office supplies – This store makes me wish I can rummage through my grandma’s old house and take home with me items I took for granted growing up.

Vintage circus posters – Isn’t the typography rad?

This dress – I’m a sucker for clothing with animals printed on it. P.S.: The price tag is ridiculous.

And last, but not least, my ultimate favorite thing this week:

Testimony about the Book of Mormon (QuickTime video) – This year marks the 10th year I’ve been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This talk by Jeffrey R. Holland touched me to the core and was especially poignant because the Book of Mormon is very dear to me, and was instrumental in my decision to join the church. Hearing his testimony made me recall all the feelings I had when investigating the church, and rekindled that same fire I felt reading the Book of Mormon for the first time. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

{Pic of Kai above trying to hop into some beached kayaks at Harbor Cove}

I celebrated the completion (for now) of my store by indulging in cupcakes from Vanilla Bake Shop that Raya picked up from LA. Not only are they “Mmmm! Ishes!” as Dax would say, but their mini cupcakes will compel you clap your hands and say yay.

And. This is the most awkward segue ever. But now I’m going to tell you to enter the giveaway for my goods at Simple Blueprint: two winners, any item in my store for your choosing. Good luck, and huge thanks to Joanna for being a kind host!

ENTER GIVEAWAY!

Hello, I’m back. I ducked in last Friday to slap on an “open for business” sign, then quickly left. I had been glued to my computer for so long, my hands were beginning to lose their unique human properties and nearly fused themselves with the keyboard and mouse. Scary.

I owe Ryan majorly for a couple of late nights he spent running the press and cutting my stationery down. And for adhering to an unreasonable production schedule that only a wife can get away with. Also, a huge thanks to Raya for taking product shots of my prints.

So I’m going to switch gears now and share with you a free download. This evening, I was working on an “e-” version of a save-the-date card for an upcoming church activity (recycling an old illustration of mine):

And it came to mind that this would make the perfect Halloween download. So if you could use some stationery for a fall or Halloween-themed event, click here to download a printable PDF. The design has no text or copy so you can customize it for your own use.

Happy fall!