Boxwood Clippings

Watercolor is all the range around the bloggy world these days, and why not? It’s flippin’ amazing!

This watercolor card is a so simple and can be used for any occasion, and the best part is you can make it while you’re having art time with the kids. Just pull out those Crayola paints and save yourself a pretty penny on your upcoming  events.

 What You’ll Need:

Water color paper (I use this one)

Watercolors

Cup of Water

Paintbrush

Thin Black Pen (in love with this!)

Stack of Magazines or a heavy item.

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Instructions:

1. Fold your paper in half

2. Lightly wet your paintbrush and get a good amount of paint on it

 3. Glide your paint in a line across the top of the card

 4. Next, lightly dip the brush in water and make another line touching your first.

5. Repeat again!

 6. Do the same but starting at the bottom of card. I like to use another color too.

7. Wait a few moments until it’s dried off then set it under a heavy stack of books or magazines. Place some white paper on top of it to protect it.

8. I like to leave mine a couple of hours or overnight, then when it is completely dried and pressed write a saying in your own penmanship.

I hope you find this little tutorial helpful, and your inspired to create your won little works of art. :)

It was about this time last year when we posted about Martha’s new line at Staples (see HERE). Since then we’ve been recommending them to everyone. They are just too cute, and finish any organization project off nicely.

Anyhow, many of her stickers are now on sale. I got all the packets below for only 50¢ each.

So far, I’ve been to Folsom CA and Sandy UT stores and found the deals. Be sure to check out your nearest location, and let us know what you find!

My organization project was really just for the house, but I’ve really caught the bug and nowhere is off limits. :)

Being part of a big family, we have LOTS of birthdays and they are so hard to keep track of. I use THIS system Em blogged about a few years back. But also found having a list somewhere I see daily helps me pop them in the post on time.

Over at The Project Girl, she has a great free printable (see HERE).

I also emailed my family a copy…now there’s no excuse!

Threshold ombre throw pillow $14.99

Red stipe pillow $19.99

Essie really red nail polish $7.79

Red ikat pouf $39.99

Huffy men’s cruiser $119.99

A favorite red notebook $2.99

Today we are hitting up Target with our sister, Helen who flew in town for a long weekend.  You can always rely on Target to hit the bulls-eye with Target-red Valentine’s loot! What are you loving at Target right now?

Today we are happy to get you all ready for Valentine’s day. We are giving away a lovely Winnie Press letter-pressed card that we made at Winnie’s Workshop for two lucky winners.

Simply leave a comment by Saturday 12am Mountain time,  and we will announce the winners on Monday, Feb 4th.

Good luck!

Last weekend we escaped the inversion and headed up to the mountain village of Midway, Utah to attend Winnie’s Workshop Valentine’s class and boy, did we have fun…

Winnie’s Workshop is a picturesque country barn owned by mother and daughter duo, Nancy and Meredith who’ve put their heart and soul into making this space a crafter’s heaven.

Nancy, a life-long seamstress, has a larger than life personality and is currently teaching classes on quilting and felting what she calls “wacky woollies”.

Meredith has a bachelors in print-making, a masters in visual art, and is currently teaching classes on letter-pressing and bookbinding.

We were warmly greeted into a Valentine retreat with Nancy at the sewing machine, stitching bright wool hearts to pillow covers, Meredith warming up the vintage letterpress with red ink, and the workshop adorned in heart garlands and fabric, cards, and ribbons galore all ready for us to start crafting!

For the next three hours we made our own letter-pressed Valentine’s cards and crafts, munched on delicious snacks, chatted and laughed, and enjoyed the beautiful and quaint surroundings of the Midway valley and mountains. It was a day to remember, that’s for sure!

Thank you Nancy and Meredith! We had a such a great time!

Click HERE for upcoming classes, make sure to look at the kid classes too.

Please inquire about any special requests, private parties and group discounts. Nancy and Meredith are so great to work with and will work with almost any budget. We are already thinking of future birthday parties and girlie retreats!

We had a crazy good time and know you will too!

Nancy and Meredith will be at the Utah Art Market this weekend (Fri Feb 1st+ Sat Feb 2nd) selling their gorgeous letter-pressed stationary and ‘wacky woollies’…we can’t wait to see what these two talented ladies bring!

In my last catalog from Crate & Barrel I noticed a little ad mentioning Paperless Post. So I went to check out the link HERE, and found out the two companies have joined together to offer a FREE collection to their readers.

Aren’t their invites so cute and stylish? Perfect for that last minute get-together. This design is tempting me to host an Oscar party…

Go see if there’s a free invite for your next event or announcement, and don’t forget to invite us!

PS. Over Christmas we were playing a game when the word “catalog” came up, my 9 year old nephew asked what it was….scary how things are changing!

We don’t know about you, but we dread January. It is so yucky; frigged cold and dark, long nights. Therefore, we always plan on things that we know will cheer us up. Being pumped about new goals, and January clearance is always high on the list, but this year we decided to treat ourselves to new stationary.

Ever since being very little we have been obsessed with stationary, and while we were looking at Christmas cards at Minted we also discovered their beautiful personalized stationary and couldn’t resist.

Within a few minutes we’d tried our monograms on several different designs, the only hard part was deciding which ones we liked best! We finally decided on these two pretties:

We are in love with our stationary, the quality and design is exceptional. They have definitely added a little cheer to our drab January and have inspired us to bring back the art of a hand-written note. You know how much we love to give personlaized gifts, and with so many design options to choose from we are loving this gift idea…

frilly& feminine for Kimberly:

A classic monogram for Mumsy:

Guaranteed fun personalizing a design for your recipient, and guaranteed a special gift to be cherished.

Make sure to sign up minted’s email list for promotions and specials HERE.

Good morning Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year!

Yesterday I shared this project over at Lil Luna, but thought I’d post it here too, in case you missed it!

It’s a cute little project to share to kick-start the new year: this free printable New Year’s stationery:

Simply download the design HERE, and print on regular cardstock.

I always love a fresh start, and New Year’s is a perfect time to set goals and visualize my future. By having my goals written down in a place I can see them, it’s easier to keep them fresh on my mind, and therefore easier to complete. Personally, I like to set only three or four goals, so completing them is actually doable!

What are your tips on goal making? We’d love to hear!

In our opinion, a perfect gift is a little splurge for the recipient that they usually wouldn’t buy for themselves.

Today we’d like to share a few of our crowd favorites that everyone is sure to love…including your wallet!

Anthropologie mugs $6

We think this is the perfect gift. Last year Sarah gave them to our whole family. It’s so fun to have matching mugs, and Brad and I love having a cup of hot cocoa together after date night.

Notebook $2.99

We cannot get enough notebooks and love to give them as gifts. This one is from Target and SO cute for only $2.99. There’s something therapeutic about starting a new notebook at the start of a new year, don’t you think?

Zipper Lighters $6.31

Zipper lighters are our fave. Stylish and chic, we just love to have them in our kitchen drawer.

New Tunes around $10

The gift of music is underestimated in our eyes. We are old school and love nothing more than receiving a favorite CD from a loved one.

If your recipient is solely digital, you can’t go wrong with an itunes gift card, so they can pick out their own tunes (this is a especially great for any teen).

Starbucks Gift Card $5-$10

During this recession, many have eliminated from their budgets a favorite treat. A Starbucks gift card can always be used for a warm drink and sugary treat on a cold day.

We hope you found this roundup handy and inspiring to know you don’t have to break the bank to give a great gift!

A friend of mine is having her first baby, a boy. The couple has had his name picked out for years: Aston (as in Aston Martin, the famous British luxury sports car).

After seeing their nursery (it’s amazing), I was inspired to throw them a modern baby shower, with a little racetrack theme thrown in.

We headed to Gygi in SLC for some inspiration, and before we knew it, we’d designed the invitations.

The invites became little packages, and a perfect sneak peak for the upcoming shower.

We wrapped them with some bakers twine and a personalized tag, and voila! Simplicity always works best!

We were SO happy with our experience at Gygi. We just LOVE going into a store and finding everything we need. But even better, it’s a place where our heads can get ticking and inspiration flows freely!

We’re also excited to announce that our friends over at Gygi are offering our readers a 10% discount through their online store (whoot whoot!) found HERE. Simply use the code ‘BOXWOOD10′ at check out.

Their prices are already the best around, so with this additional discount you’ll be scoring some mega deals…holler holler! Also, it’s good to note that although the discount is only good online, you can pick up your purchase at the store to avoid shipping costs. :)

The items we used today were: the boxes HERE. The gum balls, HERE. And the twine HERE.

We hope you LOVE this store as much as we do. Now go shop!

Finding the right stamps is essential for good reasults. In the past I’ve bought cheap sets from the dollar section at Target or my local craft store, but none have really held up longer than a use or two. Plus the letters always seem to be too thick and tend to bleed.

A couple of weeks ago I was in the Office Depot (with the Mr, and I didn’t want to be there) so I decided to see if they had anything decent in their clearance isle, and I’m happy to report I found a couple of great things. THIS stamp kit, down to $15, and these tags down to $1 for 100.

Stamping comes in go great for things you can’t run through the printer, but also to give everything a one of a kind look.

So, the morel of the story is to keep your beady eyes pealed for clearance items anywhere you go…little treasures can be found anywhere!

One of the best things about Target is that they are constantly getting new stock, so there’s always lots of new lovely things to look at. But more than that, they introduce us to fabulous designers at a price point we love.

Mara Mi’s new stationary line at Target is flipping beautiful. Lots of bright colours, with bold patterns. It’s all so lovely I want to by the entire collection; but here are a couple of my favorite items:

The Hot Layered Invitation Kit  would be perfect for a baby announcement. Just add a black and white photo of the little princess, and tadaaa…a modern announcement for only $29 for 30, thats like $1 each. Paired with matching Thank You Cards ($12.99 for 50) you can’t go wrong.

These yellow items had me instantly feeling summery, wouldn’t they be lovely for a summer birthday gift?. The Lemon Note Cards are $6.99 for 15, I’m totally dying over the envelopes. The Journal Set is only $7.99, perfect to document your summer delights.

Check out their entire collection for Target HERE, or in store, and Mara Mi’s website HERE.

Good Morning! Hope everyone had a lovely, relaxing weekend. We are excited to share our favorite finds from our monthly subscriptions.

First up this month is Emily’s favorite article from Country Living on personalized rubber stamps.

I have loved personalized rubber stamps ever since Sarah designed one for her wedding. She included it throughout the event from invitations up through favors at the reception. This article from Country Living had a few really cute ideas for personalizing stationary:

How adorable and useful would this be?!

Every time I write our return address on an envelope I remind myself I need one of these, but adding a cute sketch of your house! Adorable! Ok, probably don’t want a personalized design of our 70′s apartment but maybe one day when we have a symmetrical colonial :)

This next idea is so superbly simple and I love it.  A personalized stamp with just your name. So old school and classy, I just love it.

I think a really bold block script would be a nice modern twist to this traditional idea as well.

I love this circular ‘from the library of’ stamp..have always loved this idea,

Am trying to think of some way to mark our DVD’s like this. They somehow walk out of the door and I never remember where! This article inspired me again to get at least one made, I think I’ll at least get one for our address.

Custom stamps are available lots of places online. The ones featured in Country Living are from HERE and HERE. We recommend designing your own and having a local company create a stamp for you for a fraction of the cost.

McGee’s Stamp and Trophy‘s website is equipped to upload your artwork and have your stamped shipped to you.

This month’s House Beautiful was packed with pretty fabrics rooms and decor but nothing jumped off the page as this ad:

Ok, I admit that I may have a slight obsession with pretty cakestands/domes/cloches, but aren’t they just beautiful?! I directly went to Macy’s website to check out Martha’s new collection.

Now I am even more excited to look in the new Macys at City Creek on Thurs!

Now for Sarah’s finds:

This month’s magazines are all about the garden. It makes me both overwhelmed and inspired to see so many lush greens. I’m starting some seeds this week, and this year my goal is to eat summer salads stocked from my own garden.

In Martha she mentions historical seeds from Monticello, that may have been the same variety that Thomas Jefferson used. I think the packaging is adorable, and would make a perfect additon to any spring gift basket.

Also this month getting in shape seems to be on everyone’s mind. I’m not the best at hitting the gym, but with the swimsuit months fast approaching and cadbury mini eggs now in season I’m in need of something.

This article in Parents gives suggestions to a highly efficient workout that only takes 15 minutes a day.

For that amount of time, I won’t even bother thinking up an excuse I’ll just get to work. :)

HAPPY READING EVERYONE!

The new Martha Stewart line at Staples has been all the rage lately, we just had to go and see what all the fuss was about.

Finding 40% off coupons in our Martha Stewart publications quickly encouraged a visit. Stickers, labels, notebooks, dry erase boards, the woman thought of everything. Her team is pretty much amazeballs:)

I believe we spent at least 30 minutes in one aisle of Staples checking out all the goodies and narrowing down what we wanted to try first.

Our favorite items so far are the dishwasher/microwave safe labels. They are also incredibly smudge proof and dirt proof and we are giving them two enthusiastic thumbs up.

All these exciting new products have definitely inspired some spring organizing.

Giving cards is a tradition that my family really embraces. These days I see the tradition being pushed away, much like the handwritten letter. While posting on well wishes on someone’s Facebook is very convenient, it is hardly a substitute for a well chosen card and a thoughtful sentence or two.

Ever since I discovered Tiny Prints last year I’ve had the best of both worlds. Their website is amazing and sends you notifications when you have an upcoming birthday, anniversary or holiday. There’s always a huge selection of cards to choose from, but best of all there’s always an option to customize with a photograph, how personal is that?!

And I’m also happy to report that the cards are more lovely in person, printed on a lovely, silky, thick card stock. Here’s the one I ordered for the Hubs this Valentine’s.

I have more good news: TODAY only they are offering any of their Valentine’s selection for only 99¢, just enter code DODVDAY at checkout. You’ll receive free shipping if you have it sent to you not the receiver, or just pay 44¢ (the price of a stamp) to have it shipped directly to them.

At this price it’s a great way to sample what they have to offer, and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

While catching the tail end of the 90% off Christmas clearance at Target, I spotted these fun files and thought what a perfect little treat to brighten up my desk this winter.

At just $1 for 2, I didn’t even consider resisting.

2011 was such a big year for our group of friends. Lots of babies entered our little crowd and it was lovely to spend this New Year’s Eve with little ones in tow.

In the fall of 201o, Emi and I threw a shower for the first baby of our clan, Greta. I posted the invitations we designed on my personal blog (see HERE). We’re still surprised to receive emails and comments about this little project, so we thought we’d post it here on Boxwood Clippings with a Free Printable PDF for all those wanting to replicate it.

The boxes were found at GYGI in Salt Lake.

Simply Click HERE for the Front PDF, and HERE for the Back that you can customize and print.

Good luck, and don’t forget to shoot us a picture we’d love to see how yours turns out.

Happy New Year! It didn’t dawn on me until Friday that I was in need of a new calendar!  Usually I fall in love with one in June and have to patiently wait until January, this really is a good indicator of how my life has been this year, ha!  I am totally old school when it comes to Diaries and Calendars. You can always find a pocket calendar in my purse full of post-its, lists and scribbled out dates, always guaranteed by the end of the year to be in an ugly state.  So, today is a happy day as the hunt begins…

Of course I had to glance at Smythson, (did anyone notice the famous stationers in the new Sherlock Holmes movie?)

Panama Diary: I would have to be very rich and also end world hunger before purchasing this baby, but a girl can dream)

Of all the pocket calendars I’ve seen and tried this one has been my fave so far:

Moleskine weekly notebook: It has the week on one side of the page and ruled lines on the other, perfect to make a list for the week.  It also has the elastic enclosure so it’s not all loose in my purse.  Only $7.50 at Amazon, but currently out of stock.  I called BYU Bookstore who has it for $10.50 and you can get it engraved with your initials for free! LOVE!

While browsing Amazon, I also saw these:

Moleskin Daily Planner: A new notebook for each month, ADORABLE!

Do any of you still use an old paper pocket calendar? Any recommendations?

Happy New Year’s Eve everyone! I’m really excited for 2012, how about you guys?

This year I have lots of little goals, (such as reading 2 books a month), which if I didn’t write down I’m likely to forget. Therefore, I thought I’d update last year’s letterhead (seen HERE) for 2012. Please feel free to DOWNLOAD IT HERE and print IT for yourself, and lets make this year a rich and productive one!

Also, don’t forget about this other little free printable. Perfect for sending out a festive thank you for all the little treasures you received this season. See original post HERE.

See you in 2012!