Overdrive!

I feel like I have been in overdrive the past few weeks  MONTHS! Work has been a whirlwind to say the least. After working on expanding Studio SPC (my art, design & photography business), I have been a slave to all things design & photography. With weddings fast approaching what little "spare time" I have had has been devoted to save the dates, shower invites, wedding invites, photography, etc.
Dont get me wrong I am ever so thankful for all the creative outlet I have been able to persue, but with a full time job (graphic designer for a printing company) & a part time craft freelancer for JoAnn Fabrics I am working my little tail feathers off!

There will be SOOOO many goodies to post soon, since im impatiently waiting for goods to come back from the printers! But for now here is what I have been working on that I can show you!

Business card & logo design: Heather Johnston, Attorney

Senior Photos for Everett Logan:

Maternity Photos of Kylene & Michael Brown:

(lots more photos here)

Emily & Brent : Save The Date Magnets

So excited for our cookout tomorrow to celebrate the hubbys birthday with our friends & family. 

And all this work is making me MORE & MORE excited for our impromptu getaway coming up in two weeks from tomorrow! YIPPEEE~ 

Cheers and have a delightfully spooktastic Friday the 13th! - SPC

Spring into savings!

Why not spring ahead tonight with a little more style and a little more cash!

These are a few great finds, all three are super affordable, and all found locally in Akron this week.

Purse - Gabriel Bros. [$19.99]
(originally $85!)
(gift from my bestie Tara Custer)

Scarf - Noto [$15.00]

Ring - Dogwood Design [$15.00]
(available at Noto)

Faux Food

My husband and I decided to finally make a conscious effort to eat good and exercise (p90x, ahh!) regularly. Though extremely hard, especially for two choco-holic, cereal loving, snackers... We both are extremely glad we made this decision. The hubs has lost 8 lbs in our 3 week journey, I've lost 2 (hah I swear Im not binge eating while no ones looking), but weight loss is really not my goal. Im getting toned, have more energy and just all around feel better.

We are making every effort to eat at home and pack lunches, thus I will no longer be a regular of Wendy's for lunch (sad that the drive thru people know me!) and one meal I made the other day is definitely share worthy! Reducing carbs and calories led me to find alternate recipes and foods. I stubbled upon "Faux" Mashed Potatoes and was intrigued...The potato is substituted with Cauliflower and boy were they OH so delicious. The recipe I used was from Food Network, I tweaked it a little to my taste but here it is if you would like to try it.

Paired along with Curry Chicken & Snap Peas is was an amazing meal, our house was full of such amazing aromas and our belly's were full with an amazing meal.

mmmmm.... enjoy!

Sculpted Dangles

Who isn't ready for spring!

Check out my newest fun earrings, hand sculpted, colorful and only $20!

Available online at dogwooddesign.etsy.com & at NOTO in Akron, Ohio

Let's all encourage spring to get here a little sooner!

For more updates and to see whats new "like" Dogwood Design on Facebook

-SPC

Smooches & Hugs! (With a little crackle)

Well first off this project lead to a debate between the husband and I on which were the hugs and which
were the kisses...so in case you need that clarified, check this out, which is way too much clarification for anyone! Though I was right, but not with 100% confidence, the husband made a great argument as to why he thought X's were hugs and O's were kisses.

So with lots of crafty love, hugs & kisses, heres a quick easy way to spread some vintage inspired LOVE this valentines day season! And you can use this for any other words or holidays too!

Vintage/Crackled Letters


Supplies:
- Letters of choice
- 2 colors of paint (one for the base color that will crack through and one for the top color)
      *The top color will be the predominant color, for this project I alternated the top and base coat with the
        X's and O's for contrast.
- Elmers Glue
- Sponge brush
- 1" paint brush
- push pins

Directions:
1. Add push pins to the back of the letters so that they act as a base to hold the letter up off your work surface, this will help so that your letters are not painted to the work surface and so the sides can be throughly covered.

2. Paint the letters the desired base color and allow to throughly dry.

3. Add a layers glue to the front surface of the letters evenly with a sponge brush, once one letter is thoroughly coated add the top coat and then move on to the next letter. You do not want the glue to dry before you add the top coat of paint or it will not properly crackle to give an aged look. You can experiment with the amount of glue you but on the letter to get more or less of a crackle affect.

Allow to throughly dry, take out the push pins and display! Happy Valentines Day!

XOXO

Bullseye!

With Valentines Day approaching I thought I would share a not so cutesy, but still V-day themed craft (ok its still pretty cute). I love decorating and crafting for all the Holidays (Even if they are a little over sold by Hallmark), I really enjoy the color and festive vibe it brings to my house! So with less words and more pictures, heres a super easy fun craft, so get ready and take aim!

Love Arrows:

A super easy and cheap project you can even get the kids in on

Supplies: (to make 6 arrows)

- 3 dowel rods (pencil thickness)

- pink, red, black, white, silver paint

- pink, red, light pink felt

- a thin & thick paintbrush

- hot glue gun

- scissors

- utility knife or hand saw

- pencil sharpener

Directions:
1. Cut the dowel rods in half so you get 6 arrows out of the 3 dowel rods. I first marked the center point and then scored it with a utility knife. Score around the entire dowel rod a few times til it is easy to break in half. (you can use a hand saw if you have that available)

2. sharpen the cut ends of the dowel with a pencil sharpener. It is recommended to not sharpen to a point for safety reasons. (no one needs a sharp Love Arrow plummeting towards them)

3. Paint the arrows in shades of pink and red & paint the tip metallic silver (set aside to dry).

4. While the arrows are drying cut out 1x9" strips of felt. Cut the 9" strips into three 3" strips. Then cut the ends of the felt on a diagonal (as pictured) to create the "feathers" for the tail of the arrow.

5. Glue the felt pieces to the dowel, with the felt end pointing towards the end of the arrow dowel (as pictured).  Embellish using a detail brush and contrasting paint colors, Add stripes to the arrow base and feathers. Notches can also be cut into the feathers to add interest.


Now all you need to do is add them to a vase & enjoy

Share the Love - Pass it on. Here are some coupons for your local craft store!

(this blog is not sponsored by either of the stores listed above, just trying to help fellow crafters save a buck or two!)

Captured

My love of photography is only growing stronger, I have been investing tons of time, energy and of course MONEY into this obsession, which is only making it grow. Im so thankful that I grew the courage to finally start putting my work out there and thankfully have gotten a pretty good response back :)

I have had a love for photography for many years, I scarfed up rolls and rolls of film on vacations and shooting in the woods behind my parents before the digital boom. Now I have the pleasure of shooting till my hearts content and not worrying about the hefty price tag film and developing brings along with it. The huge advantage for me on shooting digital is I can play, experiment and shoot shoot shoot til I dont want to shoot anymore!

This past weekend was a kiddo/family session, it was probably one of the hardest conditions I have shot due to the time and conditions, typically the earlier or later in the day is the best condisionts, due to schedules we had to shoot this session at noon, and to make matters even better there wasnt a cloud in the sky! We still had a great time and I got some great shots from this great looking group of people.

Heres a few shots from that session: Meet The Holodys (Jonathan, Emily, Josie & Mae) and The Hampshires (Jonny, Lindsay & Jackson)
FYI if you can't tell, Emily and Jonny are siblings! So all these little cuties are cousins and are Oh, so sweet!

Photos coming soon :)