sequoia national forest

For our family vacation this summer, we decided to go to Sequoia National Forest.  It has to be the best vacation as a family that we've ever had! 

There was no one else in the campground.  It was so very peaceful and relaxing.  Only the sounds of wind and birds interrupted us.  I had some time to sketch out some new designs and I can't wait to get them completely finished.  Ah, there's never enough hours in the day for me...

Visiting this area has been on my bucket list for a while.  I've wanted to see the Methuselah tree for quite some time.  That tree is 4,000+ years old and is the oldest in the world.  Even though we didn't make it out to see that tree this trip, we certainly will be back to the area.

Our campground

Enjoying a sequoia

Looking up

This gives you an idea on the age of this tree!  My hubby is six feet tall.

Beautiful bark.  Inspiration all around!

I do hope everyone is taking time to relax and spend quality time with loved ones this summer.  We definitely needed this vacation!

weather vane stamps

Oh yes, I'm a complete stamp dork.  I've been collecting for years, but it's rare that I really like the new designs.  I saw these weather vane stamps on a blog recently and HAD to have them:

The colors, design and texture of the stamp itself is just amazing.  I ended up having to buy them from the USPS site directly.  None of my local post offices had them.

I just finished a Save the Date project and was fortunate enough to do all the styling - envelopes, paper, liners, stamps, calligraphy.  I love completing projects like that and I thought the weather vane stamps were perfect.

I'm happy with how they turned out:

What do you think?

featured at oh so beautiful paper

Many thanks to Nole at Oh So Beautiful Paper for featuring a Save the Date that I recently completed.

Check it out! http://ohsobeautifulpaper.com/2012/07/naomis-kraft-paper-and-calligraphy-save-the-dates/

rifle paper

I'm a long-time follower and admirer of Rifle Paper Co.  From now until July 24, use NOTE15 at checkout on anything in their Featured section and receive 15% off! 

I got my eyes on these babies:

Ah!  It's a sickness, I tell ya...

new business cards

I want to extend some gratitude to the folks over at Print and Grain.  They worked with me to create my new letterpress business cards.

A splurge?  Yes, but I just couldn't be happier with the way they turned out.

Thank you Mike and Violet!

time for a break

This week, our family is traveling up to the mountains nearby to camp for our vacation.  There's absolutely no cell coverage so it's going to be a very relaxing trip. I am SO looking forward to it...

There are Joshua trees all around in the area that we're camping.  If you're ever in SoCal, Joshua Tree National Park is definitely worth a visit.  It has this silent and other-worldly beauty.  Much more than photos can describe...  A few years back, I went during the winter months when the weather wasn't too unbearable:

Cholla Cactus

Beautiful Joshua Tree

This one seemed to have been burned

One of the many amazing rock formations in the park

This one looked like a bear's face

Evidence of 5,000 years of human habitation in the park

My favorite photo

So I'm obsessed with these trees and have always been drawn to them.  They only grow 1/2 inch a year and some of them are in excess of 15 feet, which is just amazing. 

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer vacations as much as we are!  I'll be back to the blogging world after next week.

another work in progress

Oh my, I have been incredibly busy over the past few weeks. 

Here's a little sneak peak at some custom calligraphy that I'm working on.  Kraft paper is incredibly difficult to calligraph, but I think I may have found a way:

A Save the Date

This has been a great project so far and I'm now moving on to the actual invitations.  So fun and exciting!