Paw Prints.

"But courage, child: we are all between the paws of the true Aslan."-C.S. Lewis {The Last Battle, Chronicles of Narnia}

I first started a blog in 2008, after my parents were in a horrible car accident.  You can go here to start at the first post and begin reading the whole story.  The blog was mainly a way for me to update everyone with the day to day progress of my parents.  Then the more I typed, the more I began to heal. My parents are better and only a few lingering problems remain since that fateful day on December 8, 2008. 

Sadly, a week ago tornadoes ripped through our town of Tuscaloosa, AL and now April 27, 2011 will be another one of those days I will never forget. I am sure you have all seen images and footage by now, so I'll save you the pain of having to see it again. Needless to say, words and photos do not describe what happened here until you see it first hand.  My husband's Aunt and Uncle lost their home in Pleasant Grove, AL and what I saw there I will never forget.

I have a hard time going back to "normal."  I have the Mr., Kitty Lynn, a roof over my head, power, cable and internet access.  I thought I would attempt to do what I did in 2008 and allow the blog to help me heal again from the emotional trauma that we were a part of.

I needed something that was lighthearted today.  I realized the two things that makes everyone smile are children and pets. 

This is Atticus. He lives next door and was in the basement during the storm. He is safe and has already gone home for the summer. He is the nicest cat ever. Kitty Lynn hates him.  Normally, Atticus is a fluffy Persian.   However, he got a haircut recently. I wish you could see his tail in the photo. It seriously looks just like a lion's tail!

Hey, maybe I could redesign that funny cat's haircut into some cute calling cards for a little girl.  Instead of a cat with a haircut, why don't we just go ahead and create some lions.

I actually created this just days before the storm for one of my friend's daughters.  I can't wait to get them all printed out and ship them her way!

Team Player

Even a tornado can't stop SEC fans from loving their football, especially free football. Even after a Friday filled with terrible storms across the state and southeast, die hard fans still came out to support their teams this weekend at spring practice games.

I grew up going to UGA games as a child and I vividly remember going to the Red & Black spring games where the team puts on full pads & helmets and plays each other. {Now I believe they call it the G-day game}  So here in Alabama, we have the A-day games for both Auburn & Alabama.  I will give the award to Alabama for having the most dedicated fans.  According to this article on SB Nation here is the break down of this weekend's spring practice attendance:
Alabama: 92,310
Auburn: 53,209
Georgia: 43,117

I took this picture 20 minutes before kickoff.  By the time the game had started most of the upper deck was filled!

Saturday really did turn out to be a beautiful day and we were able to enjoy one last SEC football game before we move to ACC country.  As I've mentioned here, we live about a mile from the University of Alabama's stadium so game day is always a fun environment. 

Hey maybe I could redesign that SEC team spirit into some fun calling cards. What a fun way to show your school pride when you pass along a gift, note or batch of cookies!

Don't see your team?  No worries there's plenty of time before the fall NCAA football season begins. Let me know and I'll redesign your team spirit!

Hello Kitty

Before I begin today's post I wanted to update my blog followers about the Swoozie's competition.  Sadly, they did not pick any of my designs for the contest. You can see their finalists here and of course my designs are from my post here.

Not to fret, I will still keep on designing and chasing my dreams.   Perhaps I can gain inspiration from today's post about none other than my cat, Kitty Lynn.

This is Kitty Lynn. She is 11 years old.

She constantly struggles with her weight.

And for a while was always thirsty.

So I took her to the vet and we found out she had diabetes. So we began researching.

Turns out she beat the disease just by changing her diet.  {She follows a low carb CATkins diet} She now has LIVEabetes and truly is the face of HOPE!

She has recently had to go through a lot of changes. I stole her boyfriend.

And made her come to the wedding.

We also made her move to a new house and she sometimes gets lost in the long hallway and cries a lot.  So we went back to the vet. Turns out she is starting to go senile and has some arthritis.

Hey, maybe I could redesign that long list of ailments into something positive and create a cute tag to put on her carrier for the next visit to the vet.  Of course each tag needs to have the attitude and sass of Kitty Lynn. And while I'm at it, I should probably warn them about her health issues and behavioral problems.

I officially outed myself as the Crazy Cat Lady. I realize this so you don't have to point it out.

Happy Pi Day

Today is 3.14 or in the math world it's Pi day.  Don't ask me to explain that to you because the last math class I took was my freshman year in college.  However, for my friend Torry who owns the tutoring company, MasterMinds Learning Center, Pi day is kind of a big deal.

So in the spirit of "redesign that," Torry called me up and asked me to redesign that mathematical equation of 3.14 into a greeting card to be sent out to the parents of his students on Pi day. 

I first thought about PI.

photo via http://tomselleck.tv-website.com/

Wait not Magnum PI, I meant the actual equation of Pi.  And I had to Wiki it because I don't remember a darn thing except it's 3.14 and then a ton of other numbers that never stop repeating.

3.1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510 5820974944 5923078164 0628620899 8628034825 3421170679 8214808651 3282306647 0938446095 5058223172 5359408128 4811174502 8410270193 8521105559 6446229489 5493038196 4428810975 6659334461 2847564823 3786783165 2712019091 4564856692 3460348610 4543266482 1339360726 0249141273 7245870066 0631558817 4881520920 9628292540 9171536436 7892590360 0113305305 4882046652 1384146951 9415116094 3305727036 5759591953 0921861173 8193261179 3105118548 0744623799 6274956735 1885752724 8912279381 8301194912 9833673362 4406566430 8602139494 6395224737 1907021798 6094370277 0539217176 2931767523 8467481846 7669405132 0005681271 4526356082 7785771342 7577896091 7363717872 1468440901 2249534301 4654958537 1050792279 6892589235 4201995611 2129021960 8640344181 5981362977 4771309960 5187072113 4999999837 2978049951 0597317328 1609631859 5024459455 3469083026 4252230825 3344685035 2619311881 7101000313 7838752886 5875332083 8142061717 7669147303 5982534904 2875546873 1159562863 8823537875 9375195778 1857780532 1712268066 1300192787 6611195909 2164201989 
(This came from Math.com not me!)

Then I finally saw something I understood. PIE

photo via Wikipedia

Which led me to my all time favorite, quirky movie about pie, Waitress, starring Keri Russell.  If you haven't seen it you need to Netflix or Redbox this immediately!

photo via Amazon

photo via IMDB

And I know, you don't personally know my friend Torry, but he is super smart, especially when it comes to Math and one tutoring session at MasterMinds Learning Center will really make any subject seem as:

photo via flickr

With that in mind, I decided to redesign that mathematical problem of 3.14 repeating into a greeting card for parents.  I will make sure actual pies and the symbol for pi are on the front of the card with an all American red/white checkered tablecloth. 

Outside of Card

Inside of Card

With all the talk about pie it definitely makes you hungry for a delicious slice.  Don't worry because the best part is the cross promotion that MasterMinds Learning Center is doing! When the parents open the card they will find a coupon for a free slice of pie from a local restaurant, Ashley Mac's.  Genius! What do you except from a guy who runs a tutoring company?  And trust me, if you are in the Birmingham area and need tutoring you need to call Torry or if you need pie call Ashley Mac's  either way-you won't be disappointed.

Put it on Paper

Time has come for me to get some business cards.  I think the easiest way to do that is design them myself and print them as needed.  We traveled quite a bit this past winter and I always hated not having any business cards to hand out.  So I have been researching and a few things have inspired me to come up with 3 designs.

My wedding is still a constant source of inspiration for me because honestly it is a "mixed tape" of blogs, photos and ideas that I gathered from others.  I met an amazing florist, Alison Kynerd Thomas, with Buttercup Blooms. This is her magic!  (Her website will be up by the end of the month so I will keep y'all posted!)

all photos via Rob Ingram

Maybe I could redesign that bouquet into a business card.

I also have been drooling over peacock feathers lately. I am not sure how I want to incorporate them into my daily life but I did purchase some shoe clips similar to these from etsy seller, Sofisticata.  For only $25 you can dress up a pair of shoes you already own!

photo via Sofisticata

I also can't stop admiring my friend, Patty George's, Peacock painting.  I may have to save up for another artwork purchase.  My home is slowly becoming a Patty George gallery. (Side note: Patty is also an amazing travel agent by day and would love to help you plan your next vaca. Info can be found here)

painting via Patty George

 Maybe I could redesign that peacock into a business card.

And finally twitter and the blogs are all abuzz due to New York Fashion Week. It began on February 10th and continues through the 17th.  Even  Pantone has a fashion color report for Fall 2011's hottest new colors.

photos via Pantone

Maybe I could redesign that color scheme into a business card.

Which one do you like? Let me know-email me, tweet me or comment below! Loved to hear your feedback!

PaperCakes

I am heart serious when it comes to cupcakes. My best friend bakes them with love. No lie. I have seen her recipe and I'm pretty sure it calls for 2 cups of love.  Just recently we FINALLY got a cupcakery in town- Gigi's Cupcakes. Life is now better.

Today's design inspiration hails from these tiny little cakes. I thought it would be fun to redesign that cupcake into some calling cards for different occasions.

First up Birthday Wishes!
And appropriately, Gigi has a very colorful cupcake called, Birthday Surprise.

photo via Gigi's Cupcakes

attach this cute little note to any birthday gift and you are sure to bring a smile

Next up Cheers!
Who doesn't love a new bottle of wine to celebrate life's joys.  Luckily you can bring them cupcakes and a $12 bottle of wine from Cupcake Vineyards.

photo via Cupcake Vineyard

attach this to a ribbon and tie it around a lovely bottle of merlot

And finally Give!
Because sometimes it's better to give than to receive, so why don't you tie on this adorable apron from etsy seller, Sassyapron, and bake up a batch of  your very own.

available on etsy for only $34.95 from Sassyapron

tape this little note on top of your baker's dozen

Oh no! My sweet tooth just woke up and I already brushed my teeth.  Maybe I'll just print out these Papercakes instead.