feels like Christmas...

When I was pregnant with Isaac almost 2 years ago, I was on a google search looking for baby shower inspiration when somehow I came across the breathtaking work of Meg Fish Photography.

Flash forward and now Meg is not only still an amazing photographer but also the mother to an equally beautiful little girl. Today she posted TWO sets of pictures featuring not only a hair pretty I'd sent for her cute baby as a gift, but also a custom piece she commissioned that I am in love with!

Looking at her beautiful photographs really feels just like Christmas. I get SO excited to see all the pretty, dream-like images. Be sure to visit her site for more information on how you can book a session with Meg :)

this little piggy went to roseville.

The other week I bravely bundled up all 3 of my boys. I packed a diaper bag with everything I might possibly need to use in any given emergency situation. I sat in traffic in the rain unaware that Marysville was having a Christmas parade. I drove over an hour to get there and when we made our first stop I went to reach for my checks (I lost my debit card and have yet to replace it) and realized it was gone!

I called Billy who was working and he told me he borrowed it out of my purse when we had picked him up earlier on his lunch break and he forgot to put it back inside when he was done. We had NO way to pay for anything. I was so upset but I took the boys over to the mall anyways, just so they could stretch their legs and be out of the car for a bit before turning around to drive all the way back home.



SO. Flash forward to today, Billy took me down to Roseville with Isaac so I could actually get my errands done. We did some grocery shopping at Whole Foods and Billy took me over to Anthropologie to get a little gift for the family we will (God willingly) be leasing our studio from next year! While we browsed around these little piggy salt and pepper shakers caught my eye and Billy was thoughtful enough to sneak them up to the register where our other items were waiting.

So now they are all mine and they make me smile every time I look at them. Sometimes it really is just the simple things!

We also went over to Galleria but for some reason nothing really caught my eye. Not sure what it is but lately I have not been into "mall" shopping...this year I'm feeling handmade...sustainable..vintage...and purposeful gifts...and well, I just don't find too many of those in the mall!

What are you feeling for Christmas this year?

home love.

When I first saw this home tour I was instantly in love. Specifically with this picture of the rug with the aqua and brown colored dots. I have been wanting it since last year and I am happy to say that Dwell Studio had a fabulous black Friday sale and I am now the proud owner of my dream rug! I bought it in the biggest size possible and I can't wait to use it! I never thought we'd be able to afford it but I guess good things come to those who wait :)

The only problem is I haven't even unrolled the rug yet and it arrived 2 days ago...I love it so much I don't want to use it. Hate when the happens! I'm sure I'll get over it soon enough! :)

Other than admiring my rolled up rug, I think I am just about finished with my Christmas shopping. I can't wait to see my little kiddos' faces on Christmas morning!

2010

I can't believe its already December and 2010 is coming to an end. I secretly like when the New Year comes. I always make resolutions and have been putting a lot of thought into what I want to change for 2011. I once read to learn to be "content with what you have but never with who you are." I thought that was a nice challenge!



We don't do "santa" in our household, but I took the boys over to the studio to get a "santa" picture...minus the santa! :) I recently designed an ad for Moments To Remember Photography that my husband flawlessly executed...God must have known what He was doing when He paired us up! The ad was featured in a local magazine.


In other news I was really happy to see another hair pretty picture over at one of my favorite photographer's sites. The beauty in the simplicity of her work never fails to inspire me!

Birthday Boy.

We were finally able to celebrate Micah's birthday last Sunday. Micah was so happy to see all 3 of his favorite grandmas...Grandma Gloria, Grandma Baby (grandma bebe) and his "mountain" Grandma! Thank you so much Grandmas for your thoughtful gifts and a thanks to Tamiko and Zac too who made a quick Target run before the party to pick up a little gift for Micah so he would feel extra special!



Here's Micah with his birthday invitation...he loves Harley Quinn!

saving up.

I still have a few months till Billy's birthday is here, but I thought I'd do a limited edition hair pretties sale on Black Friday to start saving up...truthfully I really don't care for Black Friday...I'm more of a Cyber Monday kinda girl I guess :) BUT I'll keep my fingers crossed...this will only be the second time I've offered them and last time they completely sold out in 2 days! I don't even think I got to keep one for myself :) But my little sister does have quite the collection...:)

tired.

*photo taken by my good friend Jessica Harker back in the day..we were both maybe 20 years old at the time

Lately I have been crazy tired....dark circles under my eyes and crabiness towards my kiddos. I decided that something would have to change. I haven't gotten it all figured out, but I do know that changes are coming and I've told Billy to be prepared! :) The idea of minimalizing has always intrigued me and I've felt that tug to simplify more strongly since I became pregnant with Isaac.

Before it seemed I wanted to go out and buy buy buy..maybe it was because he was the 3rd boy, I don't know why, but I really just wanted the bare necessities with him :) I think I registered for 15 things at Target and that was it. I didn't want anything more! Well, besides minimalizing with Isaac's belongings, I think its time to cut down in the Wilson family all around. Not just with physical possessions, but with our commitments as well.

I'm slowly mapping out my plan and making little changes now, but I think we will really kick off strong starting the new year. Wish us well!

my micah boy.

Happy 4th Birthday to one of the loves of my life. I love you with all my heart mister Micah "mew" Wilson! At the ending of the age 3, start of your 4th year you:

are still a cuddle bug

are obsessed with Harley Quinn

like to watch Nemo and all 3 of the Toy Stories

still sneak Colby' special stuff off the top of his dresser

are very helpful with Isaac

will only wear the 3 same shirts over and over (they all have spiderman on them)

love to play with Legos

loves "little big planet" on the ps3

can spend a whole night away at Grandma's without crying to come home

LOVE Sunday School and loved being in VBS over the summer

are a picky eater

still love your milk...whole..skim..2 %...soy....vanilla...chocolate..you love it!

You are so smart and observant I love every little thing about you. Happy Birthday baby boy!!!

honored

One day while I was pregnant with sweet Isaac, I google searched something along the lines of 'beachy baby showers' and managed to come across some beautiful images that linked me over to the work of the ever so talented Meg Fish.

While I love and respect the different types of photography, I must say Meg's work is especially inspiring to me because of this key element: simplicity! I love me a good prop, I do, but there is just something so elegant and understated about her photographs and the lack of overpowering colors or extras. You have no choice but to focus on the subject and there is nothing to distract from the natural beauty she captures in the fleeting moments of pregnancy, infancy, and motherhood. I love every picture she takes, they quite literally take my breath away!

So, to say I was honored to see her feature hair pretties on her site does not quite do my feelings justice. I am so in love with these pictures of her beautiful daughter Ella. Thank you for the shout out Meg! I hope you too will become a daily follower of her blog.

Meg requested the *santa baby* with a white band and I created the nude/peach flower on the stormy grey band just for baby Ella. I have been getting lots of requests for it now, so I am so happy everyone has liked it :)

So its past my bedtime..I was actually sleeping but awoke and was unable to get back to sleep..so here I am..catching up on blogs, including updating my own! :)

late night blogger

soooo should be sleeping right now! but sadly Isaac just fell asleep and so I need a little quiet time to unwind...poor little guy has been so fussy lately, I think he may be cutting in some new teeth.

Other than holding him 24-7 we've been working on some design jobs which are always a fun challenge. We'd love if you'd come by our site and say hi!

I have been working on getting the hair pretties collaboration pieces ready and here's just a little peek at the sweet bobby pins featuring the beautiful hand crocheting flowers lovingly made by my adorable Grandma.



Been doing lots of reading lately too...mostly on simplifying life....its funny how easy it is to let life get cluttered with things that don't matter....spiritually, emotionally, mentally...physically...! It can be draining and sometimes its so nice to purge ourselves of old things that no longer hold any value or meaning.

So there you go...the mindless rambles of a tired mama!

areaware

I have been in love with areaware's kimono onesies since I first spotted them years ago in a copy of my Cookie magazine. I love the balance between being sophisticated (eco friendly, simple background, kimono cut) with playfulness (brightly colored, screen printed animals). I desperately wanted the sea turtle onesie for Isaac but never ended up ordering one.

WELL. It might not fit my little fatty now, but I couldn't resist it when it went on sale at Gilt this week. I picked up the elephant onesie as well and stocked up on some brightly colored pillows for the boys' room. I love the high contrast prints and I'm sure the boys will too :)

virtual ribbon cutting

Our web site went live today. Still more to do, but I feel so much better that it is up now!

So...I feel like we should celebrate in some way...bring out the sparkling apple cider :)

house love.

Whenever I see a picture of a home I love I save it to our desktop...turns out I have saved up quite the collection! I wish I knew all the sources, but I'm guessing tumblr for a lot of them...maybe Lonny magazine? If you know where they came from, I'd love to give credit where credit is due :)

thinking...

been thinking a lot lately...too much if you ask me.. about nothing in particular and everything in general. :) I've come to decide that there is always going to be someone for whatever sad reason they have that won't like you. Someone who wants to be mean, rain on your parade, or plain just put you down. Heck..maybe even plain just make up stuff about you out of their own insecurities.

It can get pretty ugly out there and a girl could waste a lot of energy worrying about stuff like that...Personally, its hard to not want to scream when you hear things that aren't true (though thankfully most people look at the source they are hearing it from), but I know that revenge isn't mine. God didn't grant me that right (dang it!). He just commanded me to love. If there is ever an example of someone who was falsely accused and lied about, where better to see how it was handled than the example of Jesus Himself?

SO that girl who is feeing attacked, well she could just choose to focus on the hundreds of other positive people in her life. The ones that cheer her on, make her laugh, and know the very heart of her. There is a verse I have always loved in the Old Testament. It says (paraphrased) that if you listen hard enough you might even hear your own servant saying something bad about you. The point is people talk...always have, always will. But the only person you can control is yourself.

So I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and be proud that I can hold my head up high. Because my boys are watching. And they will face a time in their own life when someone out of being hurt, jealously, insecurity or whatever reason attacks them. And I want them to know that people can't take who you are away from you. You belong to the King...and when someone goes around trying to hurt your reputation, well, they usually just end up hurting their own. So glad that God's word never turns up void.

So...today I am thankful for a wise Father and friends who make me laugh all day long with their texts, comments, phone calls, emails...or whatever else they throw my way :)

Oh. And on a separate note, how cute is my Grandma (and Grandpa)? My Grandma and I did a Hair Pretties collaboration together. More information over here!



And I don't mean to write in a tone that says that I have it altogether, because the good Lord knows I don't. I'm just learning that sometimes you don't have to say anything to defend yourself because its not really your battle...God is just and His ways are best :) And that's something I can have full confidence in :)

birthday wishes

I like that when Micah draws candles he calls them "wishes". Love his sweet little way of thinking!

Well...today we celebrated my nephew Ezra's birthday with ONE wish on top of the cake! That's right! This little 2 pound 9 ounce when born baby is now a thriving one year old!










He had a little costume party..Keaston is not wearing all of his costume, because he had the best wig and sparkly glove to complete his Michael Jackson look!

blessed

next to my relationship with God, my family will always be first....being a wife and a mom is hard work but it is also the biggest blessing.

I am loving this picture that Moments To Remember took of my little love bandits. I'm also loving that watermark in the top right corner...the design concept was by yours truly and it was perfectly executed by my talented husband.



We recently looked into some commercial property for opening a design studio...nothing is set in stone yet, but we are so excited/scared and excited some more. We want more than anything for God's will to be done in our lives, so we will be waiting on the Lord for instruction!

On a totally unrelated side note, I also saw that Isaac's happy birthday post made it up at one of my favorite blogs. Love! :)

Today.

the weather (in my humble opinion) was beautiful today. Even though I have allergies I loved the breeze today...reminded me of our vacations in Laguna!

A few pictures I snapped up of the boys...Colby and Micah are both so artistic I love it. I think Micah has inherited Billy's eye for design...the other day while playing with blocks at Grandma Gloria's house he put blue and green triangle blocks together to form a square and said, "Look mom. I made the Sam's Club sign" (logo). That's my boy :)







Other than being busy with my 3 little boys and my handsome husband I was selling Hair Pretties at the California Beer and Wine Festival at the Wow Now Photography booth! It was so nice to meet so many lovely girls!

We just finished a fabulous logo for one of the few photography studios here in town. I can't debut it yet since we have yet to hand over the final files, but everything has been approved and I LOVE it! :)

Hope everyone's week is off to a great start!!!

Vintage Love.

couple little things I picked up for Isaac for Christmas. It's fun shopping for babies because they don't tell you what they want :) But I think if Isaac could talk he would have asked for these anyways :)

classic Fisher Price record set


and I added a little friend to his Steiff collection. Love this little hippo. He looks so retro to me and his little fur is all fuzzy, he is too cute!


Am I the only one who has started their shopping? I just love this time of year!

the times they are a changing...

It's time...Different By Design is growing...and we couldn't be more happier about that. We love what we do...we know anyone can hop into a print shop that offers graphic design services on the side....or buy one of those 'one size fits all' logo templates but we think people deserve better.

Here at Different By Design we design on purpose. We have a unique designing process and a thorough knowledge of the key elements in creating good design....because after all, "Good design is good business."

And we are in the business of doing good :) So...to better showcase our work and who we are and why we can help you, it's time for a web site. Of course we will still have our facebook page too, but I am excited to get the web site up and running...give us one more week and I think we will be good to go!



"Different X Design's Dynamic Duo: helping our clients win the fight against bad design one job at a time."

broken record.

so I know I keep saying this but really...can life just slow down for even ONE minute?! We have so much going on right now I'm not even sure where to start! Colby and I got sick (again). We should win some type of medal the way we've had the flu around here!

In happier news a few weeks back I had the honor of snapping a few photos of Meagan and her sweet little girl. Aren't they beautiful?! I am NO photographer, but I was happy Meagan humored me because she and her little one made for beautiful models! And yes. They are both wearing their hair pretties!



I also received these photos in my inbox taken by the talented enluce photographers! Natalie was a beautiful bride and she even wore a hair pretty too! LOVE! I may have looked at her pictures a million times already! Congratulations Natalie!!!



And in other news we are getting ready to launch our site for Different By Design. We did some studio work with Gary Roberts for the site and I can't wait to get some edited pictures but here is a raw image for fun :)



Gary was even kind enough to snap a picture of my little sister in a limited edition hair pretty and sweet baby Isaac running wild in his black sheep costume! Thanks Gary!!!




SO. Life has been keeping us busy to say the least :) Hope everyone is alive and well!

anniversary.

Yesterday we celebrated 2 years of marriage...I must say being married is hard work..but it is so worth it! My mom was kind enough to keep all 3 of our little bandit boys so we could escape for a dinner date. Later this week we will continue celebrating where we spent our first mini honeymoon... in San Francisco. I LOVE that city!

Tradition has it that the second anniversary is the cotton anniversary. I had these fern animals custom made by the talented Ashley Anna Brown...they make me so happy! I had the Liberty of London fabric imported for mine and then picked a vintage brown gingham for Billy. She stitched our monogram and wedding dates on the backside. They are too cute for words!



I got Billy a new 49ers hat (hey..its cotton and he had bought one on our honeymoon but that one is pretty beat up now) and Billy sewed me this little banner and even embroidered I love you under the heart! I love him :)

I cut 4 inches off my hair and it feels great! Had to celebrate with a hair pretty. We took a quick picture and then we were off! It was a fun night. Happy Anniversary Billy! I love you!

one. and some change.

When my sweet baby boy turned one last month, I decided to get him a special little keepsake present apart from his other gifts we got him. Billy says its not a present for Isaac...he says it was a present for me, but its not..honest!

Ever since I was pregnant for the first time (almost 8 years ago) I used to sing "Baby of Mine" to my babies...I have LOVED that song for as long as I can remember and I cry every time Dumbo's mom sings it to him...baby elephants have a special place in my heart. I love now that Colby and Micah are grown some they will actually sing "Baby of Mine" to Isaac when they are trying to "help" me put him down for a nap.

So mix my love of elephants with my love for all things vintage (which this is not, but it certainly has that look) and behold Isaac's little keepsake gift to commemorate his first year of life:





I wrote a little note to my baby on this letter pressed card and for now it will be tucked away inside his baby book.. I am so blessed to be his mama and have the honor of watching him grow...I am really treasuring these moments...because I know it will all go by so fast and soon enough he'll be able to read the sweet memories I recorded for him inside!

proud to announce..

we finally wrapped up some design work we did for a wonderful local photographer. You can read about what went in behind the making of the logo over here.

I love so many things about her new logo but my favorite thing is that the birds are composed of the thumb prints of her two adorable children.

And a new blog header...you can follow her blog right here.

*old blog header


*new blog header

fall.

*boys in long sleeved jammies also has me looking forward to fall!

Today it felt like fall for the first time in a long time! I wish I could have enjoyed it more! I ended up in bed with a headache but I have slowly been coming to...thank God..you know with 3 boys and a husband I can't stay out for too long!

I am looking forward to our 2 year wedding anniversary...and the pumpkin patch..hot soups and warm bread...putting the quilt back on our bed...Thanksgiving meals...and the holidays! What are you looking forward to?

life...

It feels like life has been going by so fast lately! I wish I had a little timeout button! Isaac has been going nonstop, you'd think he'd come out of the womb walking :) Poor little Micah has been sick for a month and a half :( and Colby is just so grown up in the 2nd grade!

Billy's corporate America job has always kept him busy, but we've been designing away together too, which I can't wait till we are able to do full time!!! We are preparing to launch our web site and have a really fun photo shoot scheduled with a great photographer in Sacramento that is all part of the top secret web design :)

In the mean while, we had pictures taken of our three little love bandits by the very talented Jessica Cole. And we've had the honor of working with Meg of Captured Images on some secret projects!







Hair Pretties is keeping me busier than I could have thought but I truthfully love every minute of it!!! I even received an email today from a fabulous store interested in carrying them, which had Billy and I both smiling ear to ear...we LOVE this store! Above are some photos I took of new pretties...I love how unique and different they are! The limited editions completely sold out in 3 days, with the exception of one!

SO. Enough blabbering! Anyone else feel like life is just going by at an extra fast speed right now? :)