I am adding this idea brought to me by a great customer of mine, Laura. Her girls and she are very much Lilly Pulitzer fans.. so I added this green and pink border. These are SooBoo's Photo Gift Tags! I wound up using a flower hole punch for any string they might want to use to attach to a gift.
She loved them so much she had some made for her good friend!

Seasonal Wreaths

I've finally made time.. not timet to read, or get a massage or do my nails or even get a long needed pedicure. I have made time to take photos of my new fabric wreaths and post them in my handmade shops. It's easy to forget how much fun it can be to list your items when you believe in them. Colors have always impacted my life, therefore, I can't go into a fabric store and not go NUTS surrounded by coordinating materials. My custom wreaths take 5 different fabrics. Normally, I would go into the store intending to buy ONLY a quarter yard of 5 different fabrics. But the holidays creep up quickly and the craft fairs are a plenty, so I have no choice (oh, sure!) but to purchase anything I can get my hands on. I have recruited my friend's Mom, Sandra, to tag along. She more than tags along, she helps me find the perfect fabrics that will go together and offers a point of view that helps often. When we both agree, we know we have the right fabric combination! Thanks, Gigi! (her grandkids gave her that name!) I have some for the holidays, for little girls rooms, for halloween and for the glorious fall when all the rich colors come into our yards and our homes. Please take a gander and some of my colorful creations! Susie

Mixing it UP!

Showing off my Black-eyed Pea Soup
my first time!

My son loves different soups. My Mom has made this soup before when I was a kid, but I'm pretty darn sure she didn't cut LEAKS and put them in it! They just sort of melted in the pot with the onions, carrots & celery. I had some old dried (from fresh) thyme as well. That added a lot of flavor. I combined two recipes I found on foodnetwork.com and from a southern living magazine. I didn't use a bay leaf (didn't have any!) and I didn't add kale or spinach. (that would be ugly and weird I think). Dean said, "Mom, the texture of this soup is like, like indescribable!" You can't get a better compliment than that~ and he's just about 15! I used my fabulous Le Creuset pot for this. The best kitchen gift I've ever received! (Notice I didn't say best gift ever.. I added kitchen! ha!) Also in this soup is country ham pieces. Well, I had never ever seen this item before I moved to North Carolina. I find it unrefrigerated in airtight plastic wrap. I used it first for my split pea soup, another of my boy's faves. Anyway, for all you Yankees out there, after you open the package, you peel apart this ball of ham..it's cured so its very very salty. I browned it first in the pot I was using for a little while till it looked sort of crispy, removed it and then cooked the leak, garlic and celery in that..yum! I then added the pre-soaked beans and carrots and a whole cardboard box of chicken stock. I then let it simmer for about 1.5 hrs. OMG..it was really delicious! It pays to tear out those magazine pages and then make it your own!

So, making it your own.. that's what my websites are all about.. Call it what you want, customizing, personalizing, that's what I do. It's what I love to do for you! Below is a Tea Party Invitation. Make it yours with the hostess' name in SooBoo Style Early American and let me know the colors you like as well. Add this text or any other you desire and it's done!

I also wanted to show you some older hand painted kid's lettering I have done. I think you'll like it. This lettering I can't find anymore. It was carried at Target pre-painted white.


I painted a stool to match.. and a little rocker as well, but the picture is horrible!

These letters are so cute. My customer had a quilt made in these exact colors and wanted to have the baby's name hanging with those colors as well. They turned out deliciously!

This was another commissioned stool. Very adorable for this little girl!


Unfortunately, I think this might be the last time I made these adorable goodie bags for my friend's daughter's class for Valentine's Day Gifts~ I have done many for her over the years, but her girls are growing fast. What was done for these:
Drew out the names in black outline.
Photoshopped the colors in them and added the polka dots or stripes
Added the To: on one side and on the back side, I added From: and her daughters name in the same fun design!
Filled the bags with candy
The bag topper folds over the candy bag like a tent and is stapled to hold the candy in the bag.
Fabulous..all for $1.50 per bag!
Can be done for any occasion..

Party Favors for:
Book Clubs-think the book name in SooBoo name art! and maybe a personalized SooBoo Bookmark!
Teacher Gifts- add a gift card and a thank you note!
Office Parties - add photocopied Dilbert comics and new pens!
Adult Birthday Parties- add chocolate covered strawberries and blindfolds~
Themed Parties- ie.sweet sixteen, add SooBoo's personalized keychains!
Holiday Parties- endless possibilities!
Philanthropic Events-use event colors and fill with custom m&m's and stories of how the money raised will help the cause.
Baby Showers - think adding rattles and pacifiers and pinky rings
Bridesmaid Gifts- add garters and pictures of the bridal showers
Small Store Grand Openings- add savings coupons.
Promotional Pieces- fill with coupons and candy!
Realtor Leave Behinds -fill with your business cards, local eatery bus cards, local businesses cards, an extra key.. be creative and humorous!

Thank your for reading and getting your ideas here~
To order any of the painted wood or custom party bag toppers and bags contact me at susie@sooboodesigns.com!
Susie

Falling It

October is around the corner. I'm beginning to get my act together...finally! I found myself spring cleaning yesterday after I saw the clock say 3:30 on a Sunday afternoon and all I had accomplished was walking the poochies and dicing potatoes for a nice side for the families breakfast. (I just had a few bites!) and purging unmentionables from my dresser drawers! Anyway, as we have all experienced and learned along the way, omitting clutter is a cleansing thing. Mostly, though, I emit clutter. Polar opposites. I long to be one of those clean artists. One who abides by the "touch once" rule. I'm a Sagittarius, I am not good with rules. I don't know about you all, but I can handle only one room at a a time. Same with the business; I need to get one card done, one bag tag done, one design done.. no assembly line for me in my studio..or apparently in my home...save for dinner. Adapting is good. I think growing up in a four season state is a good thing. You must adapt to the weather, the different clothes for that weather and the different personalities that emerge during those changes in weather!
SooBoo Designs is adaptable with your personalized orders. If the end product is for a person with high energy, the SooBoo style can go right along with that. Maybe the fun & funky style would be perfect. Maybe it's for a young boy... so a spike style or blended colors would be appropriate. I can add different things to the backs of diaper/luggage/bag tags like fish, flowers or frogs. I can add so many different things for boys, girls, men or women. That is the beauty of these designs; they're adaptable. And that's what personalizing really is. It's well, I just went to my college thesaurus (ooo! I spelled it right!) and I found these words synonymous with "personal."
Individualistic, defined, singular, and distinct to name a few. My delightfully optimistic Californian friend, Marianne, reminded me of how people liked to hear their own name. Here is the quote from Dale Carnegie.

“Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

Don't forget this when looking for a gift. SooBoo Designs brings you a bunch of fun, vibrant and appealing selections from which to choose.

Recently, an adorable girl wrote me and asked if I could do something pirate like for a bachelorette party. I thought that was something I will never do again and of course, I said, "Yes!" She had something particular in mind, so with that, we came up with this.

I had started creating one which was totally different; one without the place to place map feeling. I knew it wasn't what she was looking for, so we talked some more and I adapted to her desires for this little invitation and it worked. We were both happy with the results. Another client needed some calling cards for her recently graduated son. He's into the Rastafarian thing, so she suggested incorporating the colors they use into the calling cards. This is what happened.

I know these are not in typical SooBoo form, but a business must conform to what it's public desires. I really enjoy graphics, especially placement of graphics vs. copy. For some reason, I've always been drawn to that and enjoy piecing these together to make the best visual.

This landscaping business has apparently been in business for many years...without a business card! I was so pleased that they chose me to create their first business card. Who knew? Tom & Mar... you must give these out to potential customers. Conform to the norm!

Ok... as many of you know, I went off to Austin, Texas on of all days, September 11! I know! Our other girlfriend and I decided that was the day we were going to travel. As it turns out, it was great. Even though it was the weekend of the great Hurricane IKE, Austin didn't get a drop of rain. We could not have asked for better weather. At the same time, we were worried about our Houston friends, who got hit pretty hard and turns out, were out of power for way over a week, yet were safe!
Anyhow, my hostess with the mostess girlfriend, whom I deemed "Queen" during our last days in college, got this medium sized notepad made especially for her by me, of course! Could this be any cuter? It's terribly apropos because, HER word is the ONLY word. Trust me!

So, you can see for yourself what can be done if you become creative. Imagine, just one of your ideas might evolve into an invitation, calling card, luggage tag, personalized notepad or personalized note card!
The fun holidays are creeping up on us! If you're interested in having some fun with friends and family this season but don't see what you had your eye on, email or call me . My name is Susie, aka SooBoo and I'm adaptable.

email: susie@sooboodesigns.com
or call the number on the home page of www.soooboodesigns.com

Sometimes we all need to stop and think, "What can I do to adapt to this situation?"
see you soon!

Susie