CW Designs

Design on a Dime

2011-12-03T10:07:00.014-06:00

I wanted to show my latest endeavor. We have a new space and we needed something above the couch so this is my inspiration and my completed project!

I saw these on the fabulous discount website One Kings Lane only about 2 weeks ago. I loved so much and thought they would be awesome on our couch but I'm not in the market right for $2,000 pillows...

I don't care if i'm judged by this next comment ;) I watch Gossip Girl and always loved the huge Prada picture in the background in Lily's pent house suite foyer. The whole condo is decorated brilliantly glam but I like this large piece to calm it all down a bit.

Restoration Hardware has a few subway pieces that are similar but I didn't see these until today.

Of course, I don't have a penthouse suite in the upper east side nor do I want to invest in new pillows right now so I decided to make a scaled down/up more dramatic, personalized version of these things I've found.

I started with laying out the different places in my design program. I was actually planning on this, but decided it would be a job I couldn't take on since I like to have a painting finished in one day :) I'm all about instant gratification (and more recently with nearly one year old that would be almost impossible).

I decided to print on canvas to have a sharp clean look. I just got the finished piece Saturday morning and it turned out exactly the way I wanted it. I'm so excited. My finished piece is so much fun. I love how personal yet stylish it is. And what an amazing conversation piece!! I did, however, miss a couple of our favorite places but I'll put photos of the Running of the Bulls and other great adventures Jeremy and I have been on in the foyer right next to our home sweet home Chicago poster by our one and only Jenny Beorkrem. So now I still have this large canvas sitting in our dining room to be painted...What will it be next.

Birth Day Stats Posters!

2011-12-02T14:45:00.008-06:00

My newest fun project are the Birth Day Stats Posters! See my etsy store for details!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/cwdesigns2010

Martha Stewart Knows Best!

2011-10-14T11:07:00.008-05:00

Everyone needs a little help while at a wedding whether it be a new city or not. You are friends with the bride and groom, (let's hope) their likes are your likes & vise versa - so these handy maps help you find the couples (in-turn your new) favorite restaurants, bars, clubs and parks!

And don't forget to add it to your wedding website as well!

http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/photogallery/invitation-enclosures-etiquette

http://www.etsy.com/search/handmade?search_submit=&q=wedding+maps&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US

Newport, Road Island Save the Date Map!

2011-08-03T10:10:00.015-05:00

My favorite way to send out these maps are as Save the Dates!
This Newport RI map features the bride and groom's favorite things.

The Save the Date information on the back of the card can be displayed anyway you'd like!
Three different ways for this map are below. These would be for an envelope.

Two options for a postcard style Save the Date backs. Front of the postcard would be the same as above.

The final product the bride and groom chose.

Baby's first birthday map!

2011-07-28T09:46:00.013-05:00

Ella's birthday party will be held on the day of the Chicago Air & Water show in a highrise overlooking the planes! So I've featured the Wave building that the party will be at and the highrise's of Chicago, Navy Pier's famous Ferris Wheel and a few other Chicago staples!
The party should be so fun for all the kids!

The map was designed to go with this snapfish invite.

Girl & Boys Badge Personalized Onesies!

2011-07-10T18:31:00.015-05:00

I made these for a client that wanted something new! I love them!
They are now up on Etsy too!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/73443810/blue-and-green-custom-baby-boy-onesie

Little Charlie's onesie.

Little Olivia with her new O!

Initial or full name!

Sam and Olivia. Best buds.

York, Maine map!

2011-07-05T13:19:00.003-05:00

York, Maine!

Wedding in Itasca, Illinois at Medinah Golf Club!

2011-06-20T11:31:00.009-05:00

This bride is my friend and is very laid back, so this golf club wedding map with the two locations was easy and fun to create. Kelly and Mike added their map from their invitation to their hotel guests welcome bags.

Stonington, Conneticut Wedding!

2011-06-20T11:12:00.006-05:00

When the GROOM emailed me about his wedding weekend map I was a little surprised to not be working with the bride. But working with Matt was very easy and the map was done in no time with his great help and direction. Matt & Rebecca emailed me just weeks before their wedding to have their map created. I whipped up their map in no time for their guests hotel welcome bags. This map includes many more locations including the wedding site, hotels and homes than I usually do but we worked it out!

Chicago Marriage & Musical Celebration Wedding!

2011-06-20T11:09:00.006-05:00

BJ and Liz are dear friends of Jeremy and mine so their map didn't need much direction from the bride and groom. They would rather have a concert at Schuba's (with Eddie Vedder) than a traditional wedding, so that's what they'll do! (minus Eddie, although I would bet BJ did try!) Liz is also pregnant so she had little time to get the invites out! So we got this finished within a week and get them into her invitations just in the knick of time for the invites to be mailed! Looking forward to this one!! This map features the wedding site, reception and a couple hotels downtown where their friends and family will be staying.

New Maps!

2011-06-20T09:52:00.019-05:00

I've been busy with some new custom wedding maps over the past couple weeks! Enjoy browsing and let me know what you like!

BJ and Liz are dear friends of Jeremy and mine so their map didn't need much direction from the bride and groom. They would rather have a concert at Schuba's (with Eddie Vedder) than a traditional wedding, so that's what they'll do! (minus Eddie, although I would bet BJ did try!) Liz is also pregnant so she had little time to get the invites out! So we got this finished within a week and get them into her invitations just in the knick of time for the invites to be mailed! Looking forward to this one!!

When the GROOM emailed me about this project I was a little surprised to not be working with the bride. But working with Matt was very easy and the map was done in no time with his great help and direction. Matt & Rebecca emailed me just weeks before their wedding to have a map made. I whipped up their map in no time for their guests hotel welcome bags.

This bride is my friend and is very laid back, so this golf club wedding map was easy and fun to create. Kelly and Mike added their map from their invitation to their hotel guests welcome bags.

Kelly and Mike's beautiful wedding at Medinah

2011-06-05T19:35:00.028-05:00

A few weeks back a couple that my husband and I have known for many years wed. It was so great to see them get married and be apart of their beautiful ceremony and wonderful reception at Medinah (as well as be apart of the invitation/map and print job process) I loved it! Take a look at the wedding of the century below :) Congratulations Kelly and Mike!

Everyone enjoyed the candy station!

The cake matched the logo I created! Super cute.

I created dinner menus for the place settings.

The programs!

The maps were in the invitations and the welcome bags at the hotel!

Kelly and I with our work-workout buddies!

4 months of mommyhood

2011-04-20T12:44:00.004-05:00

After four months of being a first time mom all I can say is...WOW.
I had no idea. Delivery sucked. Recovery sucked. But meeting my little Olivia for the first time was the most amazing thing I've ever gone through. The first 4 months can be summed up as awesome, tiring, stressful, but most of all amazing, did I say that already? Olivia was born on December 28, 2010 at 7.45 PM. She was a little peanut at 6lbs 9oz with some huge feet. She's now big healthy girl at the 75 percentile. She loves to eat,which I am thankful for (after seeing a few of her friends not want to eat...frustrating!) play and be with mom and dad (and new nanny). She's awesome, changes every day and is SO much more fun now that we figured out her stomach issues. We discovered her milk and soy allergy around 12 weeks....that was quite the challenge to overcome! She was very cranky for a while but now that milk and soy are out of my diet she is a very different baby! It's amazing what we went through for 3 months. I wish we would have known sooner. I'm thankful we even figured it out, i'm convinced most people don't.

This post was supposed to be about all the clothes I was to make her while on Maternity leave. Right. That never happened. In fact, nothing happened while on M leave. I fed her and slept, that was the extent I was able to do. If she wasn't eating or sleeping she was crying. (thank god for happiest baby on the block) Poor little bug. I felt terrible I didn't figure out the allergy sooner. Anyway! I'm going to try my hand at sewing sooner than later and I'll post those clothes soon!

Turns out daddy is a writer. He started a great blog for us as well!
http://livefromwrigleyville.com/

Here she is!

Olivia with her CW Designs owl on! Happy girl in her Combi. She slept in that for MONTHS. Nothing could beat the vibration station.

Olivia with her cousin Maddie for the first time in Dallas.
This is still her cranky phase...can you tell by the look on her face?!

Loves bathtime!

Olivia on her first day with her (2nd) nanny! She loves her!

Our Baby Girls Nursery!

2010-11-15T11:21:00.033-06:00

Jeremy, Lulu and I finally got around to getting our little ones nursery started Halloween weekend. I was so exhausted from the day before on our little Halloween excursion to Andersonville we decided to start the nursery on Halloween instead of going to our parade, which is outside our door...I was THAT tired. With the crazy parade going on outside those two windows we got it all ready with our little helpe, Lulu. It's been so much fun getting everything ready and this room is going great and we are so excited that in 6 weeks already we will have her here with us! We live in a one bedroom condo right now, so the baby's nursery is going to be in the dining room. I've been a little embarrassed about this, but what the hell, we, like most people, can't sell our condo so what are we supposed to do?! She'll be in our room with us for a little while but then it's off to the dining room she goes!

The owl designs I did a few months ago when we found out we were having a girl are on her burp cloths (on changing table) and her hamper. They are also on some of her onesies! They turned out great! We are not painting the room again so this green will have to stay for now. I would love for it to be gray to calm the room down a bit but I'll do gray curtains to help that along. We still have a few more finishing touches to do but can't seem to find the time to get around to it when I'm so tired on the weekends! Curtains, mattress and a partition are on the to do list.

The yellow dresser is my mothers old dresser we had refinished by Crystal at Chic Antique Chicago. She did a GREAT job, I love it!

Baby Sully is smiling already!
My baby is getting big at 34 weeks. She's now around 4.5 lbs and about 18 inches long already! We are so amazed that she's due already in 6 weeks on New Years Eve, we are SO very excited to meet her! I will also post her newest 3D ultra sound picture from 3 weeks ago at 31 weeks!
The top of her head looks a little crazy but it's only because she's really low in my tummy. Can't really get an ultrasound that low, but we were told many times how lucky we were to get these (and 45 other) amazing photos of her so late in the game when she's already so low.

Ft Lauderdale wedding weekend!

2010-10-12T16:04:00.003-05:00

I just had a great time doing this map. It's different than my normal one city maps so it was a bit of a challenge to get all of the locations for this lovely wedding. Thanks so much for the direction, Sneha! Nice working with you! Fun design and great colors! Happy Wedding to you and your groom!

Fun with wine....yum

2010-10-07T16:28:00.007-05:00

One of the best party favors is a custom wine label!
They are so fun and make the perfect personal touch to any event.

GREAT for Bridal Shower favors!

So much fun for a birthday party!

Custom Maps for any occasion!

2010-08-16T10:55:00.009-05:00

I thought I might feature my maps and I LOVE doing them and am working on some more for summer weddings! But now these are for much more than only weddings, people want them for may different kinds of occasions!

Our little owl!

2010-07-29T15:28:00.005-05:00

I'm pregnant! I'm 19 weeks into it but I thought now that I get to dress my own child I would start designing some little tyke wear for her! How fun! We found out she's a girl 2 weeks ago and since then we've received such nice girlie fun clothes for her from good friends. It's so fun but since I'm into owls now I thought she needs her own! Can't wait to start sewing!

So here are the start of my designs for our new little bug due out New Years Eve 2010!

Baby Girl Shower fun!

2010-07-09T12:34:00.023-05:00

The invites were fun and flirty and I loved making them!
I think the new mom liked them as well!

The return address stickers:

My little owl I love so much!

The labels I designed for the guests books for Madelyn's new library!

I designed a large sign for the big shower day as well! Can't wait to see pictures!

I also made a few gifts for the new mom! Hope she likes them!

Bachelorette Party Invites and Map!

2010-07-09T11:45:00.011-05:00

I loved doing this Michigan map project.
We did a fun invite to match for all of the information that needed to go with it.
It's fun, flirty and a great bachelorette weekend invite!

Custom wedding logos

2010-04-16T16:00:00.019-05:00

A wedding takes on it's own identity. It's so fun to take peoples attitudes and make it into their very own wedding "logo".

Caitlin and Rob are getting married in Eastport, Maine.
She's a bit Irish and they wanted her roots to reflect their "logo".

Jeremy and I got married on the 3rd of July in Chicago.
I'm a bright person and love fun colors!

Katie and Nick are a fun, formal couple.

Robin and Ted wed in Colorado in the mountains in the fall.

Alicia and Josh got married in the fall in Minneapolis.

Fun new family outfits!

2010-04-16T14:45:00.011-05:00

Fun new family outfits!

Little Liam!

2010-03-24T11:02:00.007-05:00

What a cutie! Liam is growing out of his little outfit but it still looks too cute on him! I get to meet my good friend Robin's nephew this weekend! Baby showers are happening every week it seems!!

Custom Book Plates and Wine Lables

2010-01-08T11:22:00.011-06:00

These are my newest fun design I've started are the book plates. Everyone loves them so I thought I would share. I've designed for book clubs and individuals. I've put all of these in my books and they are great when friends borrow my books, reminds them it's my book and to return it! They are a wonderful gift for your girlfriends who read a lot.

I've also started making these wine labels. They are great to stick right on the wine bottle for a gift when you're going to someones place for dinner or a birthday bottle, instead of buying a new expensive bag EVERY time. If you don't drink that bottle while you're at their house they'll always remember who gave them that specific bottle! (You'll have to buy them a nice bottle then spend the extra $$ on a nice bottle of wine instead of a new bag to put it in!)

I've also done custom labels for friends who make special holiday drinks!

Check out my store to order or have me make a custom design for you!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/cwdesigns2010

2009 Holiday Cards!

2009-11-18T14:21:00.010-06:00

I heart you big, fun and flirty holiday cards.

I'm in the process of working on items for my first craft fair. I found myself working on some holiday fun cards to sell. I'm also in the process of setting up shop on Etsys! These will be great to customize anytime anyone needs a fun custom card for the holidays!

Baby Onesies!

2009-11-10T12:26:00.020-06:00

Sometimes throwing any baby shower is so much more fun than throwing a party. We are welcoming our first Chicago friends' baby this weekend at her baby shower! We finally will have a baby to play with all the time! Can't wait :)

I love to do the really fun crafty projects for all of my parties. They turn into more fun than I could image. Last night I finally got around to finishing up the designs for the onesies I wanted to make for Gretchen. My boss gave me a tee-shirt press years and years ago and I never used it! Turns out it works like a charm and I can't wait to make more. I love doing these!

We have so much more fun stuff we are doing for the shower I can't wait to post it all! Here they are!

Here we all are! Ready for baby Max to come.

We had ONE game at the shower. It was a fabulous madlib game. I designed large boards for the questions and answers!

The onesies I designed for Jim and Gretchen's Max.

Michelle ready to read the funny answers!

We also had fun gift bags with their showers logo on them with the shower poster!

These onesies I've designed for a couple of unborn twins! They don't know the sex yet and my friend couldn't find anything fun and trendy online for her new niece/nephew twins so I designed these and I love them! The wording for the alligator/crock will go on the butt of the onesie! SO stinking cute!!

Maddie and Carter are the older brother and sister of the new twins!

Summer Maine Wedding

2009-10-20T11:41:00.012-05:00

When I first met Caitlin I had just finished designing my very good friends wedding invites. So I thought about what Caitlin's would be like, then I realized they would be different than anything I had done before. She's quarky, smart, funny, a little dark and very Irish. I think these invites scream her name and I loved figuring it all out perfectly. She and her fiancé love them and they are so excited about their summer 2010 wedding in Eastport, Maine! I can't wait to do the other finishing touches to the ensemble!

Caitlin is a writer and recently started traveling a lot for her job and has started a pretty great blog about all the conversations she hears or has had in airports! Check it out! http://overheardattheairport.wordpress.com/

My wedding invitations!

2009-08-25T13:40:00.017-05:00

It's two months to the day since Jeremy and I got married. I didn't post any of MY wedding invites, maps, signs that I loved so much yet! Here's a little run down on what we did to make everything run smoother and made sure we BOTH knew what was happening in our planning process.

Since our wedding was on July 4th weekend in 2009, we sent out save the dates out almost a year in advance. We had a lot of family and friends travel from abroad and from all over the united states so it made sense for us to start planning as early as we did. (plus I couldn't help myself, I was so ready for it all the day after we were engaged) ;)

Our formal invitations (below) went out about 4 months prior to our wedding. With it being on the holiday weekend we really wanted to make it easy for everyone and get their info right away. We also had everything on theknot.com about a year in advance as well.

Our map was so much fun to design. I love this city so much I wanted to show much more on it but I ended up not having enough room. A map online, on weddingmapper.com shows all our guests hotels instead of the one we chose to make it easier on them. Turns out wedding mapper liked our map so much they are using it as the Chicago example on their site now!
http://www.weddingmapper.com/chicago/il/visit/0k3u9d

Since our rehearsal dinner was at Gino's East on Superior in downtown Chicago I wanted to do a city themed rehearsal dinner invitation. I wanted to make it separate from the other themes of the wedding. More informal and fun. We also had a email RSVP on this so it was easy to figure who was coming and not. We went on gmail and made a joint email for our wedding so either of us could keep track of who was coming. We also used this email for venders for the wedding so we both knew what was going on.

St Paul, Minnesota Wedding

2009-08-13T13:34:00.046-05:00

I was excited when my Maid of Honor, Alicia, and her longtime boyfriend Josh got engaged on New Years Day 2008. I was hoping that she was going to ask me to design her wedding invitations since so many ideas were already flooding into my head for their fall wedding. When she finally asked me to create her invitations I was so excited.

She gave me total freedom to design her invites. When designing a wedding set I like to look at all aspects of the wedding, including: attire, flowers, centerpieces, and even jewelry. When I have a good grasp of the elements of the wedding, I work on a design that complements the color palate (I'm not really a fan of having everything match). Most of the time I come up with the color palate, but since Alicia has a great eye for color and is a clothing designer she is as good as anyone.

What you don't see here yet, is the plum outer envelope that I even haven't seen yet, which Alicia has put together herself. It'll look so great against the acid green, yellow and cream we've done on the invite, reply card and, of course, the oh so marvelous, map. Everything will pop nicely. I'll post that once I get a photo :)

Can't wait for Josh and Alicia's fall wedding coming two months from yesterday!

Alicia's Wedding Concept Sheet:

Wedding Map:

Wedding Map Back:

Formal Invite:

Wedding Reply postcard:

Reply Postcard Back:

Birthday Poster

2009-08-12T14:30:00.000-05:00

As a designer I think of myself as frilly, classy and girlie. I just surprised myself with this sign for a friends 30th birthday party this weekend. It kicks some ass out of my wedding invitations.

It's all in the details...

2008-10-06T16:34:00.000-05:00

I have to show my newest wedding map today. I created this map for my dear friends Robin and Ted for their Boulder wedding last month and it was a complete success. Robin and Ted were so thrilled with their customized maps! I love creating maps, and just ask my fiancé about how addicted I am to my Rand McNally! They are so much fun to design and adding little event details are what make weddings special.