Airing my Dirty... Drawers?

Not those kind of drawers. And you're welcome for that.

I love organizing. I'm an "everything has it's place" kinda girl. Chef Kev rolls his eyes at me as he's a "this sock belongs right here on the floor...  In the kitchen" kinda guy. But alas, he's married to me so he has to put up with it (or rather, I do I guess) and as I demonstrate the 'ol "bend and snap" while retrieving yet another wayward sock, he opens up another drawer to discover that I've taken it over and organized it.

And he doesn't even get excited in a stationery store. How is that possible? Anways...

Enter exhibit A.

These kitchen drawers weren't crazy unorganized, but the 'stystem' (term used lightly) was not working that well.

top drawer:

middle drawer:

third drawer:

And don't even get me started on the grungy drawer liner that was there when we moved in. GROSS! It looks like we never wiped it but really it was just the texture of the stick on vinyl in it's bad, bad state. It was horribly beat up.

I take full credit for the crumbs on the drawer lip though.

Nothing annoys me more than something that still looks dirty no matter how many times you wipe it.

And even better? This is what it looked like in each drawer once I peeled what was left of it out!

I should have just left it like this and played dumb.

But no. To remedy this, I made a quick trip to the dollar store and picked up a roll of fresh new drawer liner and a few cheap bins as well as a cutlery tray (which I didn't plan on using for cutlery - I will explain that later). I think I spent about $7 total!

So after a very thorough cleaning of each drawer I began. Well, by this point I'd really already started but I'm sure you follow me here...

I used a tape measure to measure the inside of my drawers and then cut the liner down to size using the handy guide lines on the back. The cut I had to make didn't fall on one of the guides, but they helped me to verify that my ruler was straight. Luckily one of my dimensions was the same width as the roll. Handy that! Not all too surprising since it was drawer liner after all but it doesn't take much to get me excited.

To place the liner in the drawer, start at one edge of the backer and peel back an inch or two. Don't pull the whole adhesive backer off at once or you'll have more trouble than trying to put a piece of cellophane around a watermelon after you've been drinking sangria all day. Just. don't. do. it.

Next, place the sticky edge at the front of your drawer and rub out from the centrem first to one side, then from the centre again to the other. This will help your liner stay straight as well as work out any bubbles.

Slowly peel the backer off while repeating this motion until your liner installation  is complete!

After I had all my drawers lined, I set about finding a system with my new bins and cutlery tray. I wanted the tray as I loved the skinny nature of each section and thought that could be really good for organizing some of Chef Kev's go-to utensils. That way he wouldn't have to hunt to find them while cooking dinner masterpieces.

I only needed to do this for two drawers as the top (cutlery) and bottom (tea towels, plastic bags, plastic wrap, tinfoil etc.) had existing layouts that were working okay.

Once I had those established, I simply reloaded the drawers!

Top drawer:

Oh, and here's a fun tip you may want to try? As a space saver, tuck your 'special' or extra set of cutlery in another tray under your regular use set. Lucky for us, the drawer is just deep enough to accommodate our extra, nicer set that we use for guests and special occasions. Since the trays have similar footprints, I rotated the bottom one to make them stack better.

Second drawer:

Third drawer:

Bottom drawer:

Organized City Batman. Me happy.

It's not wrong that I love organizing like it were a pet is it? Feel free to lie to me to make me feel better. Thanks ;)

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Going to the Chapel...

And my brother-in-law's getting maaarrriieeed..

My nice brother-in-law and his sweet fiance surprised us all on January 1st by announcing their engagement! Yes!

That means I got to design their wedding invitations (yes!)... well, basically I forced myself upon them and they took me up on it. Smart choice? Oh, and for those new to this blog, I am a Graphic Designer. So my forcefulness was at least backed up with some experience in the area ;)

Since the future bride and groom live about a five hour plane ride away, we had a discussion over Skype to talk about their vision for the wedding! I pinned some designs on Pinterest for them to start the discussion - seeing what appealed to them and to show them different formats and ways we could go.

From that discussion, a few key elements arose:
1) They loved the slogan 'Eat, Drink and Be Married"
2) They were drawn to an ivory and green colour palette
3) No RSVP card was required as they wanted to do a wedding website which could gather replies
4) The venue is quite formal so they hoped for an image of a chandelier if possible
5) They loved the look of hand drawn and sketched fonts. They also liked a bit of a vintage vibe.
6) They wanted the invitation to feel sophisticated YET still wanted to portray the feeling of FUN. It is a celebration after all! and
7) They wanted to play up the fact that even though they met miles away, years later from where they started, they were actually born in the same hospital half-way across the country!

Coincidence? I think not. Obviously fate.

Taking all that in to account, I set off to work.

Oh, and I should mention they are both actors. Fellow creative types so I took that into account too...

The finished design... FRONT

AS YOU OPEN (It's a 3 panel roll-fold). It reads "From Lions Gate (the name of the hospital they were both born in and also the name of the bridge in the photo) to Queen's Landing (the name of the venue).

COMPLETELY OPEN

BACK

As you may have noticed, some names and dates have been blurred out to protect the innocent.

A few details should you decide to attempt something like this on your own, I designed this piece to be 5" x 7" once folded. This way, it would fit perfectly in an A7 sized envelope which is 5.25" x 7.25". For a 'perfect' fit you want to leave 1/8" (.125") around each edge. This gives you some wiggle room to allow your invitation to slide in and out easily. Since we have four edges, we deduct .25" from each dimension of the envelope to give us our finished invitation size.

Never design an invitation and then go looking for an envelope to fit it (nightmare). Always look at your desired envelope size first and work back from there.

Another thing to note, is that since this invitation is a 'three panel roll-fold" style (which means the panels roll in to themselves) you will need to deduct 1/8" off your inside panel. That makes the flat size of the invitation 14 7/8" (14.875") x 7" versus the 15" x 7" that you may expect if doing simple math. Two of the panels (front and back) are 5" but the panel that rolls into the centre is 4 7/8" so that it is slightly smaller than the 5" panel it will be sitting against once closed. If all panels were 5" then your invitation would buckle in the centre where the edge of your panel met the fold.

And lastly, one note about folds. This invitation is scored in two places so that it folds nicely. Scoring your paper insures a crisp, clean fold. I score using an exacto blade which I pull loosely across the top of my paper. Make sure you don't apply too much pressure of you will cut right through! Score against a straight edge (a metal ruler is ideal). Always score on the side of the paper you are folding away from (the outside or back of your piece). I know that sounds weird but when you score, you break the tiny fibres in the paper which is what allows you to get that nice clean edge. You want to fold your paper along that 'broken' line.

Now, back to the pretty pictures...

As far as fonts go. the font used for the word "EAT" is Sketch Block. The font used for the word "drink" is Lavanderia. The font used for "And" is Bergamont Ornaments. The font used for "be" is Handy George and the font used for "Married" is Simon Script. They are all free for download.

I printed these on a colour laser printer and chose a paper stock with a linen finish. I love how you can see the texture of the paper coming through. And, fun fact, but I had to add in the horse and buggy (Photoshop) as the bridge image on the left had a vintage vibe to it so our bride and groom wanted the same for the venue photo.

I had fun playing with different typography treatments which were used to reflect the casual yet formal, while still being fun vibe.

I used the chandelier because it had a formal feeling to it (our bride-to-be requested it) and introduced the bunting (flag banner) as a way to give the invitation a feeling of celebration and fun. Also, since the invitation has a vintage feel, using a trendy or current element (bunting) is a way to make your design feel modern and fresh as well.

I also used a swirly dotted line throughout to add some whimsy and draw your eye through the invitation.

I had a great time designing this invitation for my brother-in-law and future sis-in-law! Thanks guys!

What about you? Any weddings this year? Are you involved in the planning or designing? Or just showing up for the buffet and open bar? ...Not a bad gig either!

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Lighten Up!

I did a little bit of refreshing on the 'ol mantel. It was time to (literally) lighten up. As in, all things WHITE!

I like the simple, clean and understated approach that using only white elements offers.

My Spring mantel was still relevant (since it is still Spring), but had a lot of Easter influence so it was time to shake it up a bit.

Since my last few mantels have been quite full, I wanted something a little less dense this time - and with an airier feeling about it. Plus I think I was inspired by my new curtains :). It's the first mantel I've done since I installed them and I think the graphic nature of them (and the colour palette) led me in this direction.

I used what I already had on hand, and the elements themselves are quite simple. First I took a white frame and framed some shells photos that I got from 'google images'. To tone them down a bit (keeping with the light, white feeling) I actually put a white box over them (in my design program - Adobe Indesign) and set the opacity to 25%. Basically what that did was make the shells a softer colour. Then I just printed it out on my colour laser printer.

The decorative scroll plaque is actually one that I got from a consignment store and spray painted white to use in my outdoor garden wall awhile back. It was sitting unused in my outside storage bin since I haven't put all my outdoor decor up yet.

This candle holder is one I've had for years I lovingly call it my 'swiss cheese holder'. As you can imagine, it makes a funky circle pattern when the candle inside is lit.

And lastly are these tree bark vases that I got back in the fall. I have used them on every mantel since I purchased them. (Seriously, check it out: Fall, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Spring)  I love the shape and finish - and even love them without flowers in them. I often use them just by themselves 'as is'.

So that's it. Clean. Simple. Nothing fancy.

I think it compliments the new curtains, panelled wall and art above the couch. What do you think?

What about you guys? Get up to any refreshing around your house lately? And new mantels? If so, I bet you can safely say you didn't use any swiss cheese or bark on yours... which is a lot more than I can say ;).

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