KC Royals Bags! Back To School Teacher Gifts…..

by | Aug 29, 2015 | DIY, handmade

Can you smell the freshly sharpened pencils and cool crisp EARLY morning air?  IT’s BACK TO SCHOOL TIME! Back to a routine, and waking up early and remembering to brush your teeth and admire the new waxy crayons that will soon be peeled and broken.  I love it. I love fall. I love planning teacher gifts! Fall Wreaths! I get in super high Martha Stewart Gear and make PUMPKIN EVERYTHING.  The struggle is real. But it’s not a struggle, I truly love fall and to me, it’s the most wonderful time of the year!

I have been reading up on what teachers really like to get for gifts, especially since I’m teaching a little this year!  There are numerous pinterest posts on the topic. The most helpful ones were written by….. teachers. Yeah. They are special people and they don’t do what they do for the money…so I try really hard every year to make sure my girls teachers feel loved and appreciated.  The top recommendations were:

1.)Gift Cards

2.)Thoughtful personal notes and handmade items from students

3.)Useful things that aren’t just for teaching

4.)Yummy Foods in small amounts/single servings

I decided on tote bags that were filled with yummy treats. But here’s the thing. I did not know how absolutely busy and tired I would be tackling the enormous task of getting 4 children ready for school and teaching and working on a new website and being pregnant with number 5.  I’m a classic first – child. Overly ambitious, task oriented, always making big plans in my head and overestimating my super woman powers.  I hit the wall. I designed three fun KC Royals tote bags to give the girls teachers in my head and ONLY. MADE. ONE.  I tested the perfect pumpkin muffin recipes until I found the right one, but when Sunday night came I had to be realistic and go to bed at a reasonable hour and give myself grace.  And we had all eaten the pumpkin muffins.  Except for Cranky Bear. He was on a diet. and boy was he cranky when he smelled those delicious little guys.

So this week after recovering from the first week of new everything, I regrouped and made my pumpkin muffins from Sally’s Baking Addiction.com and only gave the kindergarten teacher a handmade tote avec pumpkin muffin. I’m really happy with it though! WE are big Royals Fans here in KC. I have been loving all the handmade Royals Fan gear and art and was inspired to make my own. I’m excited to make more!

We bagged the rest of the giant muffins into cute brown paper bags with windows, and they were much appreciated.  One teacher commented on the fact that she didn’t have time to get breakfast that day and it was perfect timing. I love it when God seems to work even those little details out.

Well Here’s the Tote. I’ve added it to my little Etsy shop, Handful Of Arrows,  if you want one! If time permits, I may get the other designs out of my head and add those too!  If you’d like to make your own here’s what I did:

-Bought a premade canvas tote and some Tulip Brand Fabric Paint Markers from Michaels….

-Drew my design out, copied it onto my tote in pencil.

-Traced my design with the markers. All you do is press it with a thin dish towel on top and a hot iron to set the ink.

Let’s Go Royals Lets’s Go!!!!

My Top Two Graphic Design Resources….

by | Aug 19, 2015 | Graphic Design, Home Decor, Interior Design

I’m like a 100% sure that Creative Market is THE BEST thing that has ever happened to me graphic design wise. (Cue “I love technology…………but not as much as you you see!” from Napoleon Dynamite.) I want to be that designer that makes everything from scratch using my wacom tablet and my imagination. But alas, real life “gets in the way” and the MOST IMPORTANT WORK is of course asking me for pancakes and juice in the morning and needs clean laundry to wear and books read to them. So, until my littles aren’t so little anymore and life isn’t so full, I”ll leave the amazingness to the independent artists that make up the awesomeness that is Creative Market.  They have the latest and trendiest fonts, web site themes, graphic clip art, hand drawn illustrations, logo templates……..

The other best place to buy graphics is Etsy, OF COURSE!  Both of these sites are supporting real live independent makers!  Check out this collection of printables I was able to make for my job at the girlies school this week! I bought a package of cute clip art on Etsy from Graphic Grace Design. We are having a big growth spurt in our Classical Christian School and space is a big problem…The Lord has given our school some modular units that will be put together and remodeled this fall for more classroom space. So until that is finished, we will be in a “wilderness” period. That means driving my kids to THREE DIFFERENT CAMPUSES for school. I’ll be teaching at the Secondary Campus with The Boss Lady, The Doodle will be in 4th grade at the Elementary Campus and my sweet Hayler Bunkity will be starting Kindergarten at the temporary location. In an effort to communicate how this season will look my friend and PTF Coordinator came up with a great campaign to help everyone understand how awesome this is. Plus we could NOT EVEN help ourselves with all the cute teepees and adventure themed art at Hobby Lobby! So kudos to my friend Sara for the great idea and here are some Wilderness Prints available for your printing pleasure in my Etsy Shop. They would be great for a children’s room, homeschool room, boy’s nursery decor, or Sunday
School Room/Giveaway. Unlimited Personal Printing License for $5. I do ask that if you buy the pdf files, to please be respectful and don’t share the digital files. Every little bit helps 🙂

What’s a Design Board and Why Do YOU Need one?

by | Aug 2, 2015 | DIY, Home Decor, Interior Design

Imagine going to Lowes with a $30,000 gift card……..You pick out all the things in the store you like and bring them home. Cabinets, countertops, various fans, pendant lights that strike your fancy, random favorite paint colors…I mean you just go to town.

When you get home and put it all up what is it going to look like? Will it create the look you want? Will it feel like home? Will it work for your family? Did they have everything you needed to create a cohesive space? Did those Octopus shaped cabinet pulls really go with your seeded glass pendants?

This is why you need a Design Board. Most women and men know what they want in a home, but getting there may be a challenging process. That’s why I make a design board for myself and my clients. We can visualize what everything is going to “do” together. We can see if you really want the “Farmhouse” kitchen or the “Mid Century Modern” living room before we spend all your money and you hate it. You can make your own. It’s as simple as searching the internet and stores for various items, then cutting and pasting or dragging and dropping them into a visual display. It’s a “google spreadsheet for interior design nerds” if you will.

To give you an example, here is a recent series of design boards I made for a client. They are helping this (sweet) family to formulate a plan with-in their budget to create the home they need for their family and friends, their job and ministry. It was such an honor and delight to help them and I enjoyed it swatch by swatch!

I also included a detailed shopping list of resources and service providers for their job. It was a win – win. They get what they want in their budget without having to hire someone to manage the entire process. Although I can do that for you if prefer:)

Happy Designing! -Andrea