Christmas 2012

Happy Boxing Day, Loves! I haven't really recovered from my Christmas vacation yet, so today I am going to share with you some highlights of my Christmas season this year. I am kinda sad that it is all over, but only 364 days until Christmas 2013! :) (My apologies if you have seen these pictures already!) 

Friday Faves and Freebies

Happy Friday Loves! :) 
I'm sorry I haven't been around much lately, I have been out doing things! Ever since I stopped drinking soda  and only water I have come home from work with ENERGY! I have been cleaning, and crafting, and cooking (okay, okay, let's not kid ourselves) but I have felt very active. Which is an improvement for me, because I usually came home from work to rest and watch tv, and left the doing things to the weekend.  But lately, it's been every night. I have had this extra energy that I have to GET UP AND DO  SOMETHING.
 Dakota has been very impressed. 
Things like this:

I bought the frames, painted the frames, found artwork for them, and laid them out on the floor. Not all in the same day. But still. And it is even on the wall now! Thanks to my hunky hunky boyfriend hanging stuff.
I will be doing a post on this probably this weekend, or next week after Christmas.
Let's just say you all have been doing gallery walls wrong this whole time and I would love to show you my better way.
Is that mean?  I'm just trying to help. I swears.
Since it's Friday, I will share with you what I have been loving this week (and  probably last week, let's be honest):
I loved Ashley's post on how Success Requires Attitude. Check out this list of 40 free handwriting fonts.  And here are more free fonts.  And fonts for logos and headings.  Can you tell that I love fonts? I love these design quotes. I want to get some for my wall (see above) Abigail and I are making these homemade mint patties tonight.  I love these free printable tags! I might have to make some for my last minute gifts (anyone else wait til the last minute? I have to get a present for my DAD. I am horrible. BUT I made him awesome gifts that I will show off after Christmas ;))
AND, I have a freebie for you today! :) I made it for Stephanie when she interviewed me this week, but I will give it away here as well. Click on the preview to download. Very inspirational, especially with the start of a new year quickly approaching!

I hope you guys have a great weekend, and an even better Christmas. And here is a wish from me to you, I love all of you guys for reading my ramblings and putting up with me on Twitter and Facebook. You guys are the best.

Merry Christmas!

Guest Post: Just My Crazy Kitchen

Hi guys! As you know, I have been totally swamped with design work, and school and stuff, so today I'm handing over the keys to Cristina from Just My Crazy Kitchen to talk about one of my favorite things: Christmas presents! I'll be back with some great content soon!
Give a warm welcome to Cristina!
Hi, I'm Cristina! You can find me baking and blogging over at Just My Crazy Kitchen. I am so excited to share my Christmas list today. I love seeing all the fun things that Jessica posts. I wish I had her talent for graphic design. Have you seen her Etsy shop? So cute! For Christmas this year, I want design talent like Jessica's. But just in case that doesn't happen, I've got a few other things on my list.



#1 on my list is a Canon EOS Rebel! Right now I am camera-less, so I rely on my cell phone to take pictures. My phone takes great pictures, but it still doesn't compare to a real camera. And this one is so pretty {and makes me look like I actually know what I'm doing.}

Last year, my mom got me seasons 1-5 of How I Met Your Mother. I love HIMYM, and I really enjoyed
watching it from the beginning. But now I've gone through all of them, so I need to update my collection
for some newer episodes. =)

I am an education major starting my student teaching in January. I can't wait! To get me organized
and ready, I am looking at this Erin Condren Teacher Planner. It's so cute, and personalization is included in the price!

I'm also slightly addicted to my Kindle, and Erin Condren just came out with Kindle folios! Such a cute way to cover my Kindle. Also, I hate the case I am currently using. It was meant to be a temporary fix until I found one I really wanted, and it has become more permanent than I would like.

And just to keep myself warm throughout the winter, I have been looking at boots. I love boots. I own
about a thousand pairs of shoes, but I only have two pairs of boots. According to my math, that means
I need more boots =) And this pair from Kohl's is so cute!

I could write about a million more baking products and kitchen accessories, but I will spare you
this time. If you enjoyed this post, you can find me on Facebook, Twitter,
Pinterest, or sign up for my email updates!

Thank you so much to Jessica for allowing me to share my Christmas list with all of you! And thank you
for reading all about my Christmas wishlist. What's on your list this Christmas?

Thanks Cristina! I will have to make my Christmas list so that you people know what to buy me ;)

All About Jessica

This post is a questionnaire for my Secret Santa. But if you feel like answering the questions, make sure to let me know! I would love to read it!

What is your favorite color? 

Dark purple. For sure. I am still thinking of how to incorporate it into my blog design.

What is your favorite book?

I think The Lovely Bones. But it changes every day. I have a lot of favorite books.

What is your favorite holiday movie?

Goodness. Too many. I am going to have to say How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the cartoon one.

Describe your perfect day.

Sleeping in with my love and kitties, watching movies, eating chocolate and not feeling guilty about it, reading a good book, having a clean house and clean laundry.

What is your plan for the Zombie Apocalypse?

Become a zombie.

What is your favorite gift received during the holidays?

Anything sentimental.

What are you obsessed with this year?

Blogging! And design. I am in love.

What are your favorite blogs to read?

Wayy too many. But probably After Nine to Five, Katelyn Brooke, Ciera Design, and KV's Confessions. Those are my must reads. :) But I love all the blogs I read.

What is your favorite post this year?

Probably the one where I posted pictures of my tree. I just love Christmastime.

What do you love most about blogging?

The community. The friends I have made.

Who is a person (dead or alive) you’d most love to have following your blog?

Any blogger I admire. I once got a comment from Ashley and it made my day!! :)

DIY: 99¢ Store Christmas Table

I don't know if I have told you this before or not, but I am cheap. Don't get me wrong, I love expensive things. But sometimes, I just can't justify spending a lot of money on things like Christmas decorations. I would really love to, but hey, Dakota and I are college students.
But that's no reason to not have Christmas decorations, right?
So I came up with a plan. But first, a little backstory. Dakota and I got a new entertainment center. Thus, we can repurpose our old (but still new) entertainment center! So it has been placed by our front door as an entry table. And once Dakota moved it there, I had the genius idea to decorate it for Christmas! A place for my Christmas village! (Which I don't have yet.. But I want.) 
But the thing is, the money thing.
So I was like, well I need to go to the 99¢ Store today anyway (they carry picture frames that I am going to use for the gallery wall in the kitchen, I'm finally starting it!) so I checked it out. And was I ever amazed what I found.
Here is what the table looked like before, in all of it's cluttered glory. Hey, I'm going for real life stuff here guys. Don't tell me you don't have clutter.
And if you don't, can you tell me your secrets?

And here's the after:

Very simple, but that's how I like it.  And I even kept with my color palette that I like for Christmas. I probably would've got more, except that the store was packed today and I have issues with crowds and all I wanted to do was get the hell out of dodge.
Whatever that means.
Here are some detail shots:

Okay, so I cheated. The pine cones are off of our tree. But that means free, right?!

Our first Christmas card, from Dakota's grandparents. I adore them.

The "Peace" sign is my favorite thing that I bought today, I can't believe I bought it at the 99¢ store!
Isn't that awesome, though? I only spent a grand total of $11 at the 99¢ store, but some of that was other stuff.
In total I bought,
Table Runner - 99¢ "Peace" Sign - 99¢ Glittery trees - (3) at 99¢ each
So I am pretty proud of myself. Just proof you don't have to spend a lot to decorate for the holidays. I will be adding more to this in the future, but for now, especially with a cat that gets into EVERYTHING this is pretty good.
Oh, and by the way, I wasn't sponsored for this post.  I just love that store.

Christmas in the air...

So, recently, I haven't used my camera much. I just find it so much easier to pull out my phone. But did I mention my phone has been having an issue lately? The lock button doesn't work! So unless I plug  or unplug my phone, or someone calls or texts me, my phone won't light up. 
So I broke down and pulled out my big girl camera.
I'm so glad I did. 
I am definitely going to be bringing it out more often! Abigail and I also did a craft that I documented, but I haven't even really looked at the pictures yet! I'm so bad.
Plus I am getting sick AGAIN so I haven't felt like being on the computer much. Forgive my absence. I am a horrible sickie. I am going to go to the doctor today. I think. I am tired of coughing so hard I think I'm going to break something. Maybe I will have something interesting like bronchitis. Or pneumonia. Then maybe all those people who made fun of my cough will feel bad.
Doubt it. :P
Photo dump time! 

Is your house decorated this year?

Freebie Friday: Christmas Clipart!

So you know a bad way to wake up?  A cat biting your toes. I don't recommend trying it at home.
But despite that happening (for the second time.. Loki wants me up early, I guess) I am in a pretty good mood!

(It might be that candy bar I had for breakfast. Who knows?)

Do you have plans for the weekend? I hope I can get the rest of my list of gifts bought! (If my bank allows)

Oh, and then there is this:

So I will probably be pretty busy.

But I love being busy! It means that I am needed. And who doesn't like to be needed?

Anyway. I have a gift for you today, because it's Friday, and because I love you! 

Christmas clipart! Click on the image to download the file at full resolution. It's a transparent PNG, so you can overlay it over other things. If you have problems with this, please let me know.

In other news, I have figured out that I love drawing snowflakes! Aren't they beautiful? Something we never get to see here in this part of California. :(

I hope ya'll have a great Friday, and I think I am going to write up a post about my design process so far. But who knows. Maybe I'll come up with something more interesting!

Freebie Friday: Christmas Printables

I love everything about Christmas. I love the decorations. I love hot chocolate. I love snuggling under warm blankets. I love Santa Hats. I even love rain and cold weather! I love the baking. I love the time with friends. 

I am a total winter girl (my birthday is in February), and Christmas is one of my favorite days of the year!  I will also be celebrating Hannukah this year, but that's a different post for a different day.  Today, since its Friday, and since I love you, I have not one, but TWO freebies! Two free Christmas Printables! I am thinking of opening an Etsy store, to design things like this, because it is so much fun. And so different from what I do all day at my day job. What do you think? Could I make the cut? Anyways, click the image of the printable you want to go to the download page. Let me know what you think. :)

And even though this picture has nothing to do with this post, I have to show you. Loki is crazy.  And loves bags.

Happy Friday, Loves! Come back tomorrow for Design Tips: Vector Vs. Raster.

Christmas Color Inspiration

Last year was mine and Dakota's first Christmas living together. So, naturally, we had to decorate. Well, I needed to. Dakota probably couldn't have cared less.    I really wanted to keep things classic, in terms of color. I love when things match. It's kind of an OCD thing I have. I think its part of what makes me a great designer. But its kind of an issue as well, because I can't break out of that box sometimes.    But that's a story for a different day.   Today is time for a color palette! All about Christmas! This one is a little similar to the Fall Palette I showed a while back. I think the main idea for Fall and Christmas is warm, inviting colors.    I just love classic colors for Christmas. Do you stay classic or do you go for the new aqua blues and other colors I've been seeing lately?   Let me know in the comments!   Enjoy!    

Tree Image Source