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!

my daughter's hand lettering

I think that most parents can relate to this...  My daughter and son constantly mimic me.  They both pretend to walk around the house with a laptop, talking on the phone.  It's always both amusing and a little strange to watch.  Ha!

Lately, my daughter has been practicing her hand lettering with me:

Love it!  Maybe one day I'll write as well as she does...

Happy Friday everyone! 

a stunning wedding site

Oh my!  I saw this site today and had to share...  It's the very talented Jessica Hische's wedding invitation site.  Check it out - http://jessandruss.us/

my son's first birthday

I blinked my eyes and my son turned a year old this May.  When people say that time goes by quickly with babies, it's SO true.

My husband is Korean, so it was important to me to honor my son's Korean heritage by giving him a Korean first birthday, called a dol. 

For those of you that aren't too familiar with the tradition, first birthdays in Korea are a big event.  In the past, disease and malnutrition caused high infant mortality rates.  When a baby made it to his/her first birthday, it was cause for celebration.  I personally love the tradition.

Family and friends gather together, pray for the child and share food.  The main event of the dol, called the dol janchi, is a game telling the child's future as an adult.  Several items are placed in front of the baby and he/she chooses one.  Whatever item is choosen symbolically foretells his/her future.  For my son, we let him chose between a computer mouse, a pen, money, rice and the Bible.  If he chose the pen, the tradition is that he will be a scholar as an adult.   The mouse is for a computer genius, rice means an abundant life and the Bible means a minister.

It took many months of planning, but it was truly a labor of love.  I enjoyed every second:

(All photos by Laura Izumikawa Photography)

Welcome Sign

The main table, called a dolsang

The Cake

Paper Straws

Paper Pinwheels!  I used a wonderful tutorial from A Subtle Revelry here.

Dessert Table. 

Ruffled Streamer (Tutorial from MADE here)

Favors

The Wishing Tree (Found here)

During the doljabi, he kept going back and forth between the pen and Bible, but he finally chose the mouse!

 All of the vendors I used were fantastic.  If you live in Southern California, I highly recommend all of them:

• Photography:  Laura Iz Photography


• Cake:  The Cake House in Buena Park


• Cake Topper:  Knitting Dreams - A wonderful Etsy shop


• Bouncer:  Jump Action


• Invitations/Welcome Sign/Favor Tags/Thank You cards:  Little Seouls Party


• Food:  Waba Grill


• Tables and Linens:  Create a Party in Brea

Isn't Laura's work beautiful?  She was absolutely perfect and I'm so happy that we decided to have her do the photography.

I swear, this kid is my clone!