Dream Locale: The Viceroy Palm Springs

Well, I've already got my wedding venue, but the Viceroy Palm Springs looks pretty darn swanky. I love, love, love the yellow + black and white color palette that they have for this whole hotel! Yellow is my favorite color and playing a big role in my own wedding, but the Viceroy takes the yellow to a whole new level of hip, California cool. It's 90 degrees here in Chicago, but Palm Springs is still looking pretty nice :) Especially that pool.


Check out the full post over on The Wedding Chicks blog.

And after your done ogling the images of the Viceroy, head on over to Lane Dittoe's website. He took all of the above photographs and there so much great wedding and couple photography on his site.

All photography by Lane Dittoe Photography
Source: The Wedding Chicks

FREE Father's Day Cards!

Hello Lovelies,
Well, I have been a very bad shop owner lately. I'll admit it. Between traveling and planning my own wedding, I have been been a bit neglectful and have left you in the lurch without any Father's Day cards! Shame on me! I sincerely apologize for the oversight. I DO love my papa, and I'm sure you do, too!

So, to make amends, I've posted some free, yes FREE, Father's Day cards that you can download as a PDF file and print on your own personal computer (or take to your local copy shop). NOTE that these are only for your personal use (not for selling them or for stealing my ideas). Just print 'em out, cut and fold along the lines. Then give the card to your Dad this Sunday with a big hug and a kiss!

Here are the 2 card designs (2 color options for the first design)
Simply click on the LINK below the card image to go to the pdf file download.

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dads out there! -Kami

Happy Daddy Day! Card - BLUE

My Pops is the Tops Card

Happy Daddy Day! Card - RED

Etsy Love! :: Dancing Pen Calligraphy

I just wanted to spread a little Etsy Love to a fellow Etsian, Elecia of DancingPen. Isn't her work beautiful? And to top it off, she's a sweet shop-owner, with super-customer service. I'm lucky enough to have her addressing my outer envelopes for my wedding invitations. She also does calligraphy for a range of other products--marriage certificates, vows, placecards, poems and I'm sure much more!

I admit, it is a little splurge to get calligraphy, but even on a budget I wanted at least one extra special touch to our invitations. After seeing so many beautiful calligraphy samples on wedding blogs, I knew that I wanted calligraphy. Elecia is going to use white ink on dark grey metallic envelopes and I cannot wait to see the results. I'll have to control myself until August, but I will be sure to share the results when I get them back! Until then, I need to get working on the overall design of our wedding invitations. It's definitely on my "to-do" list for this month.

Top image source: Dancing Pen Calligraphy

Go Ride a Bike!

The weather forecast for Chicago next week is looking a little better and my goal is to ride my bike to work at least two times next week (with my helmet, unlike the cute lady above. Yes, you look chic, but put on that darn helmet!). My trip to work is only about a 15-minute bike ride versus a 5-minute drive in my car. I know, I am such a lazy American. A 5-minute drive! However I defend myself on the basis of these three facts: 1) I am absolutely, positively, never-in-a-million-years a morning person. It's just not pretty in the morning until I have some coffee and the clock strikes 11am. Unfortunately, I need to be at work much earlier than this. 2) I am currently training for a triathlon, which is both the reason I should be riding my bike to work and also the reason that I should not. My body is just so doggone tired lately and biking even just a few more minutes is not the most appealing idea. Also, if I have my car, I can whip over to the gym at lunch and get a run or a swim in. So being lazy and driving actually allows me to workout more (i'm sure that you love this logic. ha!). 3) Lunchtime=errand time. I get so much of my weekly shopping and errands done at my lunch time. No car = no trunk, which poses a logistics problem for how I would actually get all of those groceries and Target purchases safely home.

Okay, enough of my faulty logic (or excuses :), I'm just going to try and ride my bike to work twice next week. It is fun and energizing and actually does wake me up a bit more than the coffee.

Are you able to ride your bike to work or get in a bike ride during your normal week? Maybe for just a quick errand or for a fun ride with the family?

And speaking of biking, Chicago is also having a fun event over Memorial Day weekend (Sunday, May 30th to be exact) called "Bike the Drive." They shut down the busy Lake Shore Drive to cars for a few hours and let everyone come out for a nice ride with their families along the lake. It's not a race, it's not competitive—just everyone out there, all ages and all athletic levels, pedaling around for fun. 30 miles of undisturbed biking along the lake and in the heart of Chicago. What could be better than that?

I'm signing off until Monday, I've got a "spa day" scheduled with my sister tomorrow, a lot of work for the shop, some workouts and most importantly some relaxation with my sweetheart planned. I hope everyone has a great weekend and is able to get outside for a nice walk, run or maybe even a bike ride! -Kami

Top Image Source:A Cup of Jo blog (more on this Australian blog later. It's great!)
Bottom Image Source:Strawberry Luna "Going to See My Baby" Art Print

Ahoy, Dresser!

How fun is this dresser? I'm definitely filing this away for future use. This was painted by the folks over at Chroma Lab. They have some great ideas on their site for creating whimsical and textural design with just a bit of paint. The great thing about decorating with paint is that it's affordable and easy to change. Now that's my kind of design!

Image Source: Chroma Lab via Design Sponge

Getting Some Work Done

Hello, lovelies! I've been hard at work on a BUNCH of new stuff for the shop. There's just never enough time in the day, is there? I hope that everyone is doing great and getting ready for summer (it's almost here!). I've got a lot of new prints coming to the shop, as well as some great new cards. I can't wait for show-and-tell time. Until then, though, I need to sit down and crank some work out! And doesn't the desk above look like a lovely place to be if you have a lot of work to do? Just add a cup of coffee or tea and I would be set for more than a few hours. Ta ta for now! xo -Kami

Say "Hello" to the Future of Laundry

Okay, so I digress from my normal design rants. I don't normally get excited about cleaning products, but this new laundry detergent from Method just rocks. And I feel that I just have to let people know. I purchased it on a whim at Target the other week, mostly because I had walked to the store and realized that I was going to have to carry back anything that I bought. Eyes scan shelves and land on a laundry detergent bottle that promised to wash 25 loads and was smaller than a grande Starbucks drink. Sold! (Ok, so there's some little nugget of innovative packaging design appreciation in this post...) I initially bought the smaller version just to give a try, but we've loved it and have since bought this larger 50 load pump bottle. This 50 load bottle is the size of a 20 oz. soda bottle. I haven't counted, so I'm not sure how many loads it actually does, but it seems quite close to what the bottle promises.

Good things do come in small packages. This new super-concentrated, small packaged detergent is probably the most eco-friendly option on the laundry detergent shelves. Less plastic waste (the Method website says 36% less plastic is used to create these bottles vs. other concentrated detergents. 50% less plastic compared to normal detergents. whoa). You're buying a super concentrated detergent (so less water) and less weight to lug from the store and around your laundry room. Bonus: it saves space in your laundry area (my laundry area is a tiny closet, so that's a big deal to me!).

If you're still not convinced, the Method Laundry website outlines everything much more scientifically than I ever could. Take a look and next time you're out of detergent think about giving this brand a try for a few loads. The earth will thank you. (ok, i'm literally stepping off the soapbox) xo-Kami

Image Source: Method website