New Items to Show Off

Ok, People! I finally started some invitations before it was too late! These new July 4th SooBoo Designs Invitations are really crisp and fun and get your guests in the mood!

This invitation above is a fill in the blank flat card. The who when where and rsvp are outlined in blue and the core letters are red. It's really cute. When an artist can take advantage of color, then we must! These invites are a larger 5" x 7" size but can be made into the smaller 4.25" x 5.5". They come with white envelopes.

Above is the corresponding "Save the Date" card for the July 4th get together! It's got a white envelope and measures 6.5" x 3.125 and also comes with a white envelope! These are really a great item..

Above is a party favor tag. It's a clever idea to add these to your party list. stick them on sparkler boxes and hand them out when it gets dark to the kiddies and the big kids, too!

These two, above and below are also party favor tags. SooBoo Designs can match them to your outrageous invitations! They come in sets of 20 ... the same quantity as the invitations and save the date cards!
Below, another take on the fill-in-the-blank invitations. I love this flag incorporated into the words! The lettering is outlined in blue!

I love plaid and so it seems others do also... so instead of the humdrum plaids you see when they are computerized, I made my own and made 3 different hue variations of them. I added existing calling cards from past orders to make them into personalized note cards! I plan on making them calling card size, too. I hope to get a lot of takers on these unique creatures~



Ok.. just wanted to show off the latest and greatest on the SooBoo site before Dean and I leave for the Honors Band Concert tomorrow am.. I forgot to start the washer, so i thought this a great time to catch up on the blog.
Oh yes, THANKS to JODY for her great order yesterday for 19, yes 19 large notepads! It is unfortunate that I will not be here this weekend to finish them, but guess what? I got all but 3 done today! I worked like a maniac and boy, did it feel TERRIFIC! thanks loads, Jody! I know they'll enjoy them on Wednesday.. we should all be that giving..

Oh yes, Rommel update.. What is with this animal? He's so peppy and wants sooooooo badly to run around like Tootsie does.. she runs circles around him and he yelps like crazy wanting to chase after her. Ooops~ gotta go give him the nitetime pills~

Have fun living and thanks for reading...and looking!

Susie

Good Intentions

In keeping with the time of year, I realize that GRADUATION time is upon us. I have a nephew who is graduating this year from DePauw University and am very excited for him. I should practice what I preach (staying in touch!) and get my act together for all that is coming up in my family - 3 birthdays, and above mentioned graduation! Unfortunately, I don't live in the same state as my immediate family. Of course, I have every intention of sending off a card and giving a call, but as the time nears, my intentions seem to be forgotten. I am a bad person. My poor sister's birthday was in February, and I have yet to send her her gift. I get caught up in my own stuff. I need to make more lists...and either not lose them or remember to look at them! It's true, knocking things off a list is very gratifying. My gratification these days seems to come from making new items for my website and entering all the data, which I have mentioned in a prior blog, is painstaking. When I see the SooBoo items up there, though, I am thrilled and wish the best for myself in reaping the benefits of all that was involved in the process to get it on website.


I had a girlfriend mention to me if she could use a gift card/certificate holder for money/check for her monetary graduation gifts? I thought, "Why don't I have some of those money holders on my site?" So, I decided to make some for graduation and some will be coming for the holidays, birthdays, etc... so I INTEND!

I had a great time making a fun invitation for a repeat customer. Her daughter's 10th birthday is to be held at some place called The Bath Junkie. I love that name. Apparently, it's a place where the guests make fragrant soaps, bubble bath stuff, and maybe even lotions! I want to go!

Here is the invitation along with the coordinating party favor tags and personalized thank you
note cards. It was a fun project and I appreciate the repeat business.

Have fun, Sarah! Happy early birthday! These were a joint medium.. my watercolor and computer generated copy and circles.

Sarah's Mom is giving party favors for the girls attending the party and asked that I make matching favor tags! I added green satin ribbon for her to tie onto the favors if need be.
What a super fun idea!

Sarah's Mom was thinking ahead when she asked me to make some thank you note cards as well. In keeping with the tub theme, it was simple to come up with a cute card. I love that she is having her child write thank you notes! I have the HARDEST time getting my son to write them... he always INTENDS on doing it, yet sometimes, well, most times, it takes weeks.

My dog's attitude is much better, but still has those nasty hip and knee issues. As the weather gets lovelier and lovelier here, his desire grows to be outdoors. This means carrying him up those dreaded six stairs to our house when he needs to come inside. Since it was so nice out yesterday, I thought it the perfect time to butcher off his gorgeous coat so he wouldn't pant so much and be more comfortable. I INTENDED to do this, and actually made it happen, seizing the warm weather opportunity. To my surprise, my husband volunteered washing him..outside... after the haircut.. a first for Rommel who seemed to bask ( I just looked up the spelling of bask and was delighted to see that I was correct! But what I loved was the definition; 1. To lie in pleasant warmth. 2. To enjoy something. He basked in royal favor. This was my Rommie... He delighted in the warmth of the sun and as the breeze blew threw his cream and apricot colored long ears, he seemed a glorious royal being. What a dog!

Ok.. my INTENTION for this blog was to introduce you to some more of my designs. I hope that it worked.
Thanks for reading. I hope to be back earlier this coming week, although, my son and I will be traveling on Friday to Winston Salem to bask in the pleasing sounds of clarinets, trumpets, flutes, french horns, saxophones and percussionists for the All State Honors Band.

By the way, I will toot my own horn...my son received straight A's once again. That one B (his first) last semester MUST have been a mistake! hee hee

Bask in the joys of life!

Susie

Decision Making 2008

Do we realize in a day how many decisions are made? Recently, our family has been back and forth with the deeply immense decision to put 9 years of faithful, fluffy, smart standard poodle to rest. Since Rommel's decline due to his now double issue with his hips, and now one knee, my husband and I have struggled daily for the past 2 weeks deciding what to do. Is the dog in pain? Well, we give him two pain medications; one acts like morphine and the other I have no clue. After 9 days of routinely, skillfully and sneakily hiding pills of different sizes in his american cheese slices, his attitude, I will call it, is noticeably brighter. Even though we must carry him up the 6 stairs to the house - of which he goes down as easily as ever - this is what we must do as pet owners. There is nothing wrong with Rommel other than his walking issues. I will leave it at that. The first week his head hung low, he was seemingly conscious of our discussions of the inevitable. He didn't even like to lift his head. Funny though- two days prior to our "cut off" day, he obviously made the decision to lift his head and get back in the game. He became more in tune with all of us. He started reacting to noises like he used to. He began to be interested once more in his life; accepting it for what it was now. He made the decision for us. We will wait, keep him on his medications and see how long he can go without injuring his hip or knee further. His decision led us to our decision for life. And the decision to do this was an enormous burden off our shoulders. It just wasn't the right time. We discussed this with every person we could find and all of them had experience in this predicament. "They will let you know." Not ever having to put down a pet, I was weary of this sage advise. I didn't know if I wanted to let our gorgeous 75lb beast to have to tell me how sick he was. But, alas, we will wait for that day.

Other decisions included in our lives the past several weeks have been either family oriented or work related. Family decisions have been: What shrubs were we going to find to work in our drought spent flower beds? What nursery would we go to? What kind of fertilizer do we use for our sorry excuse for a yard that has not been green in 4 years due to water restrictions? When should we get that 20,000 mile car inspection (the mechanics have been telling us for the last 3 oil changes we need to change the transmission fluids). What hotel to get for my son's All State Honors Band Concert? When will my husband meet up with us? What should we do with the dogs? Who should take care of them? What is for dinner? What grill should we purchase? The list goes on for EVERRRRR~

The work related decisions are not just mine, but my customer's as well. I ask, "What do you need your invitation to say?" Then they have to make the decision, which apparently is not too easy. Then, they have to decide if my design is what they want. It goes back and forth. I sit here and am deciding right now if what I am writing really matters to anyone out there? Or if it's just one of those insightful blogs that brings attention to our grinding, sometimes, boring, typical daily decisions, albeit tiny or life changing.

Should I start to write about my website?. ugh. duh! YES..so..

I have had some real fun making a special order invitation for my old sorority sister for her Kentucky Derby Run for the Roses Party. She asked me at our reunion in NOVEMBER to come up with an idea. Yikes, it has taken me that long to decided what to do for the design! Imagine! Fortunately, I was straightening my barn/studio (more like watching a cartoon where all you see is stuff that's not needed being tossed out the door!) and I ran across these great 8.5" x 8.5" white envelopes! They're in perfect shape and immediately thought of Dena's invitations. I love big invitations, especially for something as fun as the derby! I went online to locate mint julep cups, as I have never had nor seen one before, so I could create a rendition for this invitation. I found that these fabulous cups are all silver and have pretty beading below the rim and above the base, usually. So later, I started on the idea. I have loads of inks I use for my art. I dug a little further and found a pearlescent off-white..sort of silver-like ink. I mixed it at times with black and with chartreuse and i got this goofy looking, trying to be metallic piece of half-baked art. I thought it was going to be a redo for SURE. But, I made the decision to see how it would look to be scanned, and Photoshopped and made to size on that square format on which I was so interested and determined to put it! Well, my decision paid off! It looked pretty darned good for starting off as a mess. I added "beading" to the rim areas via Photoshop and cleaned up edges of which were not borders before. I added shading and a sprig of mint leaves and copy and as you can see for yourself, it's a lot of fun. It has power, just like the horses who run. Dena said she liked the pink and the red type and will use those two colors for the roses she will vase during her party.
I also wanted to make tribute to my all time favorite musical artist, Dan Fogelberg, who died of prostate cancer December 16, 2007. I will do so, with Dena's permission, on the back of the flat invitation. I am thrilled to be able to do this. I would like for you to click here to go to the Fogelberg Living Legacy website. It's incredible what that one man meant to so many. I have never experienced better concerts than his. My decision to remind us of this great musician, is a conscientious one, and one of which I am proud.
I guess I'll leave you all with this..

We all recognize making decisions is part of every day life. Make smart decisions-use your gut- it never lies to you. Smart decisions are learned from experience, mistakes, finances, and love. Teach your children how to make the wisest decisions they can and practice what you preach them! So now, I will wind this down quoting lyrics from Dan Fogelberg's old tune Lessons Learned:

Lessons learned are like bridges burned
you only need to cross them but once.
Is the knowledge gained
worth the price of the pain?
Are the spoils worth the cost of the hunt?

See you all later and be smart with the power of decision..it can make you or brake you.

Susie