Dreaming of Labels

Working on a freelance project this weekend and my mind is swimming in vintage labels. A bit rusty, but I wouldn't say no to one of these. Photo via The Dieline, my new favorite site.

Scenes from a Farm Wedding

The head table before the reception starts. Decorated with local wildflowers and fresh apricots from one farm over (Full Belly Farms), the Bride's collection of blue glass, and of course, peacock feathers from the farm's most famous bird.

He made an appearance during the ceremony rehearsal the day before, but kept clear of the festivities the day of the wedding. He might have been a tad jealous of Kristi's dress.

Later in the evening, guests hit the dance floor for some high spirited square dancing in front of the barn. Square dancing has thankfully replaced the chicken dance at my most recent weddings.

2 Weeks and Counting

We went out to Capay this weekend to finalize decor plans for the wedding, 2 weeks away. This is the crazy old chicken coop, which has been cleaned out and repainted (on the inside) to serve as the bar/saloon. Guests will line up along this side (by the flower beds I'm standing in to take this shot), enter through the front door, and then go out the back entrance. We have big plans for this small and magical space.


Kristi and her Aunt Rie working on the bunting for the front porch of the house. Aunt Rie is the fastest seamstress I've ever seen. We put this project to her on Saturday evening, and by end of Sunday she was nearly finished. She also sewed Kristi's dress and embroidered Blair's shirt. Details of those to come after the wedding--wouldn't want to ruin the surprise.


The large pecan tree that the head table will be in front of. I'm working on a wreath idea for the trunk, but not sure if it will work out exactly as planned in my sketchbook. It never quite does, but hopefully it will be something interesting to personalize this beautiful scene. Orange groves in the background.


An old, rusty wheel barrow along the back to the saloon. Not sure what we'll stick inside (ice with cold beer, flowers, wedding favors), but somehow this old beaut will be used.

Thriving on chaos

I always thought I was the one sane person in my family who didn't take on twenty projects at a time, but after a phone call with my sister last night, I realized that was a complete fantasy. My sister takes multi-tasking to an art form, but she learned it all from our mother, who has a full time job, runs a major NIH-funded research project, and freelances--you know, just on the side. I've come to the conclusion that I thrive best when I have lots of balls in the air, but then I need short sabbaticals to recharge. Just when you think you're oh so different from your family, BAM! You find yourself growing up and being just like them. I can just see the high school version of myself rolling her eyes.

This weekend is all about the balance, as shown in the photo above of my two side businesses. Our growth charts have been kicking it around the blogs this week--thank you for all the lovely press! It's so exciting to see an idea realized, and watch it grow and spread. We're working through this insane Bay Area heatwave to get more charts made. The Capsule SF fair is fast approaching (next Sunday, May 25th!), so we have lots more to go.

Tonight I'm driving out to the Capay farm to get back to work on wedding preparations for one of my favorite clients, Kristi & Blair. We'll be hauling major river rocks up from the creek to mark paths and garden beds. Since it's going to be 98 tomorrow, I imagine we'll also be jumping in the creek a lot, as well. The photo above shows test prints of their wedding invitation, which was so fun to make. I'm going to post more photos of my client work soon, just another glimpse into my strange mind.

Speaking of, I forgot to mention that Poppytalk did a Miss Natalie Studio Visit last month! Check it out on their April 30th, 2008 post (scroll to the second entry).