The Nutcracker Holiday Stationery Collection

I am thrilled to present my first holiday collection! Can you believe it? After all these years, and all the collections I've created, a holiday collection was never among them? Christmas is such a special time for me, and I was so intimidated to get it right. Especially with a theme so dear to me, The Nutcracker symbolizes a big part of my childhood and what makes Christmastime so magical.

I created this collection as a reminder of home and traditions, which I think we are all craving right now. This year, I was inspired to create cards for those uniquely 2020 situations we find ourselves in. However I look forward to updating the text to suit a more normal holiday season in the future!

The Nutcracker was a big part of my life, from performing in the local dance studio's production, to watching a family member perform in the Pacific Northwest Ballet's production numerous times. The story captures my childhood wonder in a nutshell (pun intended) and I love discovering how different authors and ballet companies interpret the original E.T.A. Hoffman story. My favorite interpretation is by Maurice Sendak, the illustrator for Where the Wild Things Are, created for the Pacific Northwest Ballet. I picked up a copy of the picture book with all of Sendak's artwork created for the ballet company plus additional illustrations to accompany the text translated by Ralph Manheim. Seeing the story through a new lense with more subtext was truly fascinated to me. I wish I had time to illustrate all the ideas that came to mind from reading this book!

My favorite part of the Pacific Northwest Ballet's production was the growing tree created by Boeing. It was truly spectacular! I tried to capture the detail of the tree in my Christmas Tree greeting card. What's your favorite little detail?

I was excited to add a holiday notepad to the mix because there's always endless list-making this time of year. The message "Get Crackin'" is a subtle reminder to get that holiday shopping done before the last minute!

New to my shop this year are stickers! I've been wanted to break out my Silhouette machine to create my own stickers for years (but motherhood had other ideas). I'm thrilled to finally be bringing you gift tag labels, perfect for sticking on holiday gifts that will be shipped through the mail. I look forward to create more sticker designs in the future!

Do you have a holiday tradition of seeing the Nutcracker? I certainly can't wait to get back to the theater someday soon.

Spirit Riding Free Inspired Toddler Birthday Party

My daughter is a huge animal lover, and her biggest love are horses. She went through a phase where she only watched horse shows, specifically Spirit Riding Free, the Netflix series based on the DreamWorks movie. When it came time to plan her second birthday party, Spirit was trending real high.

We lived near the most adorable park/railroad/horse stable in Orange County that I knew would be perfect to host a party. Not only do they offer pony rides, but they have an actual train! One-way ticket to Miradero please!

I booked the last available shelter 5 months in advance (only to find out it would end up being our last day in California) and jumped in planning the wildest party in the west!

To match the signs, I created cupcake toppers that I glued to popsicle sticks. Thankfully I still have my circle punch from my days at Paper Source!

I used the Spirit Riding Free coloring pages to create mini coloring books as a party favor (partly motivated by wanting to use up all my printer paper before moving). The coloring pages came from the Dreamworks show page. That combined with the signs for all the different activities throughout the party were my favorite details to create.

Pulling off this party literally the last day we lived in California (our moving van left the next day!) was the hardest thing I’ve done since childbirth. I still have the scar from baking those allergy-friendly horse shaped cookies, but they were worth it!

The whole day was very bittersweet, but a wonderful farewell to all our California friends. Harper still talks about all the details from this day, but especially those horse cookies ;)

Location: Irvine Park Railroad
Animal Party Hats, Horse Treat Bags & Favors: Party City
*They now have Spirit themed decorations, which would have made life much easier!
Signs, Water bottle Wraps, Cupcake Toppers and Coloring Books: Made by me!

Reflecting on a Decade

I wasn’t going to do a Decade in Review, or even a Year in Review. I couldn’t place in my mind what had happened at the beginning of 2010. Then I started to make a list:

• Moved 8 times

• Lived in 3 states

• Traveled to 5 countries

• 5 jobs before starting my own business

• 2 new dogs

• 1 baby

The more I thought back, the more I realized how much I had accomplished. It’s helpful to reflect on the past. Not to dwell or regret, but to realize all the obstacles you’ve overcome, goals you’ve accomplished, dreams you have pursued. In my mind I remembered a lot of sadness and frustration, but in reality I have achieved so many of my dreams.

• Graduated from college

• Got married to my best friend

• Worked in my “dream” career of advertising, and realized it wasn’t my dream anymore

• Started my own business to inspire other people to dream

• Became a Disneyland Annual Passholder

• Lived in a new state

• Traveled to new countries

• Vended at local craft shows

• Became a mother and shared the magic of Disney with her

Dreams are a fickle thing. You think you know what you want, then the universe throws a tidal wave at you that realigns those dreams. Motherhood, and learning how to advocate for my daughter and dog’s health, have become priorities that I didn’t know would ever exist. Going forward I realize that advocating for my own health needs to be a priority in order to achieve the other dreams I have.

If 2010 was the decade of Change, then I hope 2020 is the decade of Roots and Growth. I certainly don’t want to move anytime soon, and I’m craving growth in my business and family. Both of those things require a strong foundation that I hope we will find in Washington. With occasional trips back to the Happiest Place on Earth of course.

So what does that mean for Enchanted Type?

As much as I want to commit to solid goals for my business right now, I know the last time we tried to grow our family I hit a major mental block. This time I’m giving myself more space to adapt as I see fit for myself and my family. That being said, I’m looking forward to introducing new products, better utilizing sites like RedBubble, and growing as an artist.

I’m so thankful to those of you who have been a part of this journey here with me. I’m looking for ways to better keep it touch with all of you and give you the magic mail you’re looking for. More to come soon on that!

I hope you can take a moment to reflect on the goals you’ve reached in the past decade, no matter how big or small. They are significant for you, and something to be proud of. I would love to hear your favorite thing from your life in the 2010’s, please share in the comments below!

Minnie Mouse 1st Birthday Party

Welcome to Harper's Clubhouse! Come inside, it's fun inside...

Bet you didn't expect to have that song stuck in your head today. Well, let's be real, it's stuck in my head everyday. My little girl LOVES her some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so I knew we had to theme her first birthday party around her favorite pals.

We celebrated at our local Gymboree play center, which was clutch with taking care of basic setup and cleaning up after a group of babies. They also led the group in singing songs, chasing bubbles and getting under the giant rainbow tent.

Of course I wanted to add my own touches of fun! I recently gifted myself a Silhouette Cameo precision cutting machine, so this was my first chance to try it out. I ambitiously attempted to create my own toddler mouse ears, which turned out to be quite the saga and took away from other projects I wanted to tackle. So while I didn't get to create all the fun little details I wanted, I was able to add a bit of Minnie magic to my little girl's party.

The Birthday Girl had a blast! Seeing her devour watermelon and her first (dairy free!) cupcake made my mama heart swell with joy. We were so thankful for all our baby friends who joined us in the celebration. And one of the best parts? NO cleanup! ;)

Straws, Platters, Glitter Paper, Tulle, Felt: Michael's
Mouse Ear headbands: Amazon
Cupcake Liners: Wilton, found on Amazon
Mickey Mouse cookie cutter (used for watermelon and rice crispy treats: Wilton, found on Amazon
 

If you're curious about how I created any of the details, just pop me a message!