All the News that’s Fit to Print…a little update post

Hello, Friends! Can I hear a giant TGIF resounding out there? What a wild and wacky couple of weeks I’ve been having. I felt like I needed to touch base with all of you with a little update post. So, without further ado, here’s all the news that’s fit to print.

Guest Designing at Petaloo International this week

I’ve had the incredible honor of serving as a guest designer with the fabulous folks at Petaloo International this week. Earlier this week, I shared Birdie’s Sweet Springtime Retreat on their blog. These springtime flowers are sooooooo dreamy! I hope you’ll find a moment to pop over to the Petaloo International blog and say hello. I have lots more pictures and information on this project posted HERE.

And as if being Guest Designer at Petaloo once was not enough to make my heart go pitty pat, they invited me back again today! What a treat! Today I’m sharing this “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” banner on their blog. I’ll give you a sneaky peek here, and maybe you can pop over and see all the fun details on this project as well. Click HERE to visit this post.

Photos from my most recent project for BMW

As many of you know, along with my design team work, I also create for special events at BMW. (Yes, the automaker.) Their Odyssey events are held in spectacular locations all over the world and I have the incredible honor of designing custom souvenir menus for these incredible events.

In September of 2015, BMW Odyssey was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the birthplace of the tango. After being given photos of the venue for the event, I went to work to create 116 menus to tie in with the venue and table decor.

The event was held at El Zanjon in brick tunnels that were built in the 1500’s. The menus I created contained embossed “brick” papers, the history of the venue, the story of the tango and embossed metal to reflect the industrial feel of the tunnels.

This week, I received photos of my menus at the event, which is always a thrilling moment for me, and I thought I’d share them with you here.

Although I’ve never attended one of these extravaganzas, I always feel like Cinderella at the ball when I get the event photos back. It’s a magical moment when I see the menus that I lovingly created by hand on the tables in these magnificent venues. I just shake my head in wonder every single time. I thought you might like to see an example of the sorts of things I do outside my design team work.

Update on our MOVE: The 3rd time’s the charm????

And, the other big event that you all have been following here on the blog is our upcoming move. During the summer of 2015, we made the difficult decision to downsize from our beloved family home into something smaller and more manageable. My sweet husband, Dale, has recovered well from his open heart surgery, but just doesn’t have the energy necessary to maintain this big house and acre of land. And, to tell you the truth, the house gets bigger every time I clean it, and the stairs get harder to climb at the end of each day. We realized it was time to choose a simpler way of life.

We worked overtime to get the house spiffed up and ready to go on the market in September. Little did we know the roller coaster ride we had just stepped into. In 5 month’s time, we showed the house 55 times! We went under contract for the first time in late November….and in January, that buyer backed out of the deal. Within a week, we had competing offers for our home, and had another contract. Hooray!

Everything was going great until 2 weeks ago when our 2nd buyers had to terminate the deal due to a health situation in their extended family. You know those rides at the amusement park where you go up up up in a balloon and then they cut the power and you free fall to the ground and your stomach migrates to your mouth? Yeah….that.

But…and this is amazing to me, even as I write it….our realtors pulled out all the stops and by the end of last week we were once again under contract with a sweet husband and wife who are expecting their first baby in June. They fell in love with our house and can’t wait to move in. So, barring anything unforeseen…we are back on schedule to move into a lovely ranch style home on April 5th.

I’ve been working ahead on projects and writing blog posts in advance as well. I have one or two more things to wrap up here in the studio, and then I will pack up the Closet of Shame and the rest of my crafty stash. You won’t even know I’m gone, though, as projects will continue to post while I’m busy setting up my new nest. Technology is our friend!

In case you’re interested, here are a few photos of our future home. These are realty photos, so none of the decor is ours, but we can’t wait to move in and get settled! We move out of this home on April 3rd, so I’d better get busy packing!

So there you have it, my friends: all the news that’s fit to print!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I’ll be back in “real time” soon!

Cheerio,

kathy

Hello, Friends!

I’m just popping in quickly today to share photos from the big BMW Hawaii project I worked on earlier this fall. The event was held on the Big Island of Hawaii in a beautiful outdoor amphitheater. (No…I don’t get to go….just my finished menu cards!) I was given a small swatch of the tablecloth fabric and asked to create about 120 custom souvenir menus for the event. I don’t know about you, but when I think of an outdoor event in Hawaii, I think beach. These events are totally gorgeous, so it had to be sophisticated beach, glam beach…not bikinis and sunglasses and flip flops beach. Here’s what I came up with:

I created a 6″ x 8″ pocket with an embossed nautilus design, beautiful sheer, iridescent copper ribbon and pearls, of course. The blank card on the front was imprinted with the name of each guest, so the menu card was also the place card.

The menu was also embossed and pulled out from the top of the envelope.

The food at these events always sounds amazing, and I get hungry when I am making all these menus!

Here’s a photo of the menu card on the table at the actual event. It is always exciting for me to see these on the table in the actual venue, and the event planner I work with is always kind enough to have a photo taken for me.

The tablecloth and setting was exquisite. Such an honor to be chosen to create these special souvenir menu cards.

Earlier this month, I participated in the annual Visions of Sugarplums Holiday Gift and Art Show in North Raleigh. I’ve been part of this wonderful holiday boutique for the past several years, and always enjoy catching up with all the other local artists. This show is unique…in its 40th year…and all the artists are local and everything is hand made. Here’s a peek at my booth before the show started.

These are all my own display pieces. And everything you see in this photo was hand made by me. and yes, it took me all year to make! LOL

The set up for the show was on Tuesday night. The preview show was Wednesday night from 6-8PM. We were open all day and evening Thursday and Friday and Saturday until 3PM. It’s a long week….but lots of fun, too.

I made lots of beach themed goodies for the show.

And lots of altered art items, too. I sold a LOT, and am thinking about putting what I have left in an ETSY shop. Which brings me to a very important question: would you be interested in an ETSY shop from Kathy by Design? You would have the ability to purchase most of the projects I post here. It’s just something I’m turning around in my brain, and I’d love to have your input on the idea. I could also take custom orders there…..you know me…I’m always thinking!

Thanks for letting me share what I’ve been up to. Between BMW Hawaii and Visions of Sugarplums and my regular design team work, I have been keeping busy…and out of trouble…which is always a good thing! I look forward to hearing from you in the comment section below.

Thanks for stopping by!