Taking a break

I'm taking a break from BBE for the next couple of months. I am taking a photography class and need to concentrate on that. One thing at a time :)

If you are looking for custom stationary, go look at these awesome shops:

Inkspot Workshop
Up Up Creative
Little Brown Pen
The Daily Sip

My shop will still be open, however, I won't be creating anything new.

Owl Invitations - I Heart Cab

I learned about a little boy, Cab, that is the son of one of my sorority sisters. He is just a little guy, about 6 months old, and he is going through a heart transplant. You can read more about him here:

http://oldgeorgiahouse.com/?p=1163

and here

http://oldgeorgiahouse.com/?p=1180

I created this invitation set for him. His nursery has an owl theme. All of the money made from these invitations will go straight to his family. The set includes birthday invites, thank you notes, gift tags, and an envelope. Even if you don't need birthday invites right now, you can buy the set and just use the thank you notes or gift tags.

Click here to buy!

Help support Cab!

Easy Recipe: Strawberry Pie

I found this recipe over on Rocks in my Dryer. I thought I'd try it out for July 4th dinner. The pies were so easy to make and were delicious! The best part is the recipe makes 2 pies. So, you can make one to take with you - but also keep one for yourself.

Download the recipe here.

Easy Recipe: Easy Lemon Pasta with Chicken

I found this recipe on Food Network a couple of months ago, and it has made it's way into our regular dinner rotation. It is really easy, and really good. It is a great summer dinner. You can download the recipe card here.

When I make this dinner, I marinate the chicken in a lemon pepper marinade first. I also make extra chicken and then we have some sort of wrap later in the week. This week I am going to make chicken cesar wraps with the left over chicken.

Easy Recipe: Gramma Schrock's Blueberry Muffins

This week's recipe was sent from Sharon over at the Good, True, and Beautiful.

Here is a little background story for the muffins:

This recipe has been a favorite of my husband’s for many years. Whenever I
ask him what he wants me to bake, Gramma Schrock’s is always on the list.
He talks about Gramma Schrock and her legendary muffins to anyone who will
listen. Imagine my surprise to learn from my mother-in-law that she has no
idea who Gramma Schrock is – apparently the recipe was in a church cookbook from
the early 1900’s and the name stuck!

Click here to download the recipe - Enjoy!

Easy Recipe: Chicken & Rice

My mom and I found this can at an antiques market a few years ago. It sits in my kitchen and holds Lipton tea bags. I'm a coffee drinker 99% of the time, but every now and then I have a cup of tea.

I love the can. I really like the pattern & colors, but mostly, I love it because I think of my mom every time I look at it.

I used the can's design to create my first recipe in my series of Easy Recipes. These recipes should be less than 10 ingredients and take very little time to put together. As a working mom, I know the importance of an easy meal that everyone will like! Little C, who is 16 months, loves this recipe.

The first recipe is the Chicken and Rice recipe my mom makes. It takes about 5 minutes to throw all of the ingredients into one pie plate, then the oven takes over and does the rest. You can make this dish, steam some veggies, throw some crescent rolls in the oven, and have an awesome dinner in no time.

Click here for the printable version.

Don't forget - if you have a recipe that is 10 ingredients or less and takes little time to prepare, let me know about it! I'd love to feature your recipe - just send a note to bigblueeyespress [at] gmail [dot] com

Free Summer Labels

While Little C took a nap today I worked on putting together a few labels. I believe they will work with Avery label products (30 labels / sheet), please let me know if it doesn't work for you..I didn't have time to test today. Or, if it works, leave me a comment and let me know which label product you used. Or, there are cut marks included on the PDF, if you want to use these on cardstock or some other format.

Update: I just checked these against a template downloaded from Avery, and these will work with these products: 15660, 18660, 28660, 5630, 5660, 8660

Download here!

Have a great weekend.

You Are My Sunshine

I saw this post last month over at Life In Motion Photography, and just knew I had to create one of my own. I created mine using the lyrics from "You Are My Sunshine". My Grammie used to sing this song to my sisters and I, and now I sing it to Charlotte. I took my image down to 8x10 and think I'll print it out and hang it in Charlotte's room.

I'm thinking of doing a couple of these for the shop. What format would you like to see them in? 8x10 prints? folded notecards?

Neglect

Poor Big Blue Eyes Press - it has been so neglected recently. Between work, travel, & one cute little kiddo, I just haven't had the time I thought I would to put into this little business.

I am going to get back on the band wagon, though. I have a few things up my sleeve that I have been thinking about to get this blog back on track. A little hint: one of the ideas involves printable recipe cards. Do you have quick simple recipes (10 ingredients or less) that you would like to see on cute printable recipe cards? Send me an email at bigblueeyespress [at] gmail [dot] com if you would like to share!

Scotties

I didn't intend to take such a long break from this blog, but life just gets in the way! I was busy creating a new printable invitation suite that is available in the shop.

My mom has the cutest little Scottie Dog named Riley. He loves to play with a big red ball out in the backyard of their home. This design was originally a birthday card for my mom, but I didn't get it printed out in time to give to her. Rather than having this little guy live forever on my hard drive as a design not used, I created this invitation suite.

Monograms

I love monograms. My husband's and my monogram was the "theme" of my wedding decorations - invitations, napkins, cake, etc. I love the way letters work together to create something really beautiful - and they are so personal.

I have used the cherry blossom design to create a set of printable personalized stationary. It is posted in the shop just waiting for you!

Should you be doing something?

Little C and I went shopping at the farmer's market and saw lots of beautiful watermelons. Since "ball" is Little C's new favorite word, she shouted "BALL" at the top of her lungs when she saw them. So, I've had watermelons on the brain today.

Combined with that, and the fact that I have a list of things I should be doing around the house, I came up with this little download for you. Hope it can motivate you to stop surfing the web for a minute and do something that needs to get done. I am off to put a load of laundry in the washer!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Logo for Melissa Knits

A friend of mine has opened an etsy shop for her creations -if you are a photographer, you should go grab a hat or two - they are perfect additions to your newborn or toddler photo shoots.

She is attending a craft show this weekend and asked if I could come up with logo for her creations. I love to do custom work, so I jumped at the offer. She had some pastel cardstock already, so I created the logo using black and white.

Here is a picture of my little one in one of her hats:

Trading Digits

Ever find yourself digging through your purse or diaper bag trying to find a pen and scrap of paper to write your contact information on? This has happened to me a couple of times when meeting other moms at the park or in the store. I have created a new offering for the shop that takes care of this problem! - best part is, it is only $5.00!

This editable, printable PDF is a great way to exchange your digits with other moms!

Little Whales

I have posted a new notecard and gift tag set to the shop. If you liked the little whale tags that I posted before leaving for the beach, then you'll love this set! The set includes flat & folded notecards, gift tags, and an envelope.

This set would also make a great beach or pool themed invitation!

Mommy Calling Cards

Just in time for Mother's Day, here is a little inexpensive gift you can make for that special Mom in your life. This free PDF is editable, so you just download this file , open in Acrobat, and fill in whatever name, number, and email address you wish. Then print on cardstock and cut. Each calling card is the size of a business card.







Look for this design, but in multiple colors to appear in the shop later today!

If you don't have Adobe Acrobat, you can visit adobe.com to downlaod it. When I open this PDF in Adobe 8, there is a button in the top right corner that says "Highlight Fields". When I click this button it shows me exactly where to fill in the name, number, and email.

Shop is Open

It has been a rough week around here. My daughter, C, and I were both sick with colds. It was still my goal to get my etsy shop running by today -and I just squeaked in. I just listed my very first item in the shop!







I created this printable set because I needed a couple of "Thank You" gifts to give to friends. I created these with the A2 Stardream Sapphire Envelopes in mind from Paper Source. These envelopes were on sale (still are!) and I picked up a couple of packs. Once I got them, I got to work on creating a design to match.


I plan to post more items to my shop over the next week - so please check back!

Cherry Blossoms

I'm back from a wonderful time at the beach. I unplugged totally - didn't look at one blog, didn't tweet once, and didn't respond to any email.

I love doing custom work. I was recently approached to make place cards and gift tags for a tea. The theme & color scheme was cherry blossoms. Here is a little sneak preview of the design. I'll be posting a printable of this design in my shop this week. Yes, that's right - I'm starting a little etsy shop where my printables can be purchsed! I'll continue to offer some freebies here, but will have full collections in the etsy shop. So, spread the word!

Off to the beach

I'm off to the beach with my family and our good friends. Since I've had the beach on the brain for the past few days, I came up with this little whale design.

Here is a little whale download for you. It is a sheet of whale tags - or you could use them for little lunch box notes.

Enjoy!

PS. Please download these and use them for yourself..but please don't resell!

It is easy to say Hello

It is easy to say "Hello" with these notes.

This file contains the folded note cards and envelope. Just print the notecards on cardstock and cut down the middle of the long side. Then fold the note in half. I like to score along the fold so it folds cleanly. The envelope file contains instructions.

Enjoy!

PS. I'd love to hear from you - any ideas for new products?

PPS. Please print these as many times for yourself - print out a bunch and give them as gifts. But please don't resell!!

Lists

My family is getting ready to head to the beach this weekend. In my effort to not run around like a chicken with her head cut off on Friday, I have started a list of things to pack. It is a simple list scratched out on a notepad with a sharpie. Oh how I wish that it was a beautiful list like this one from up up creative.

image links to its original listing

If I had a "beachgood" list this beautiful, I might be more excited about all of the things I need to do this week in order to get ready. Maybe Julie from up up will create one for me :)

Check out her shop. There are so many cute printables to choose from!

The Alphabet Book

Not too long ago I completed a little project for my daughter. (well, I guess it was really more for me) I got the idea from a series I saw from KaBloom Studios. When I started it, I was in the middle of a photography class and saw it as a way to keep me motivated to practice the lessons I had learned.

While I believe it did help me to progress with photography, it really gave me an excuse to play in Photoshop. I learned that I was getting just as much, or more, enjoyment from choosing the colors, fonts, and layout for each page as I did setting up the pictures themselves.

The book took me about 7 months to complete. I took each picture and put together each page, as well as the cover. I think it is something that C and I will cherish for a long time to come. Any ideas for the next book?

To see the full book, click here.

Happy Easter Tags

Download here: Happy Easter Tags

Just in time for Easter egg hunts and Easter baskets this weekend!

I printed the sheet of tags on cardstock, and then cut down between each row. I used a Fiskars 2 inch round punch to punch out my tags. However, cutting between each row of tags in each direction will give you cute square tags. Then use a hole punch to punch a hole at the top, or the side, and string a ribbon through.

Enjoy!

PS. Please print these as many times for yourself - print out a bunch and give them as gifts. But please don't resell!!

Polka Dot Thank You Notes

First up are polka dot thank you notes that I created for my daughter's first birthday. It was a Polka Dot Party complete with a pink and brown polka dot cake!

Just click this link:
Download Polka Dot Thank Yous

I recommend printing the note cards on 110lb cardstock - you can find this at most office supply stores. The envelopes can be printed on regular printer paper - have fun experimenting with different colors! Both pages are set up to be printed on standard letter sized paper(8.5 x 11 inches)

If you would prefer to have solid colored envelopes, this particular design matches the Strawberry A2 envelopes from Paper Source.

The envelope has instructions on the page for how to cut and fold. The cards should be cut straight down the middle from both directions. (A little additional trimming may be necessary).

If you want this design customized for you, your name rather than "Thank You", - just send me an email at bigblueeyespress [at] gmail [dot] com.

Enjoy!

PS. Please print these as many times for yourself - print out a bunch and give them as gifts. But please don't resell!!

Welcome

Welcome to Big Blue Eyes Press.

I have started this blog for a couple of reasons:

1. I am a self proclaimed blog addict. My Google Reader is chock full of beautiful blogs that are updated daily. This provides (much to my husband's mocking) hours of entertainment for me. In an effort to contribute and give something back to the blog community, I have started Big Blue Eyes Press.

2. I have so many ideas and designs in my head that are bursting to get out. I have this streak of creative energy that, as hard as I try, I just can't supress. I spend so much time dreaming about what I will do with that energy, that I knew it was time to start something. I would like this blog to be my place to channel that energy into something meaningful.

My goal for this blog is to share with you, over time, a collection of printable note cards, tags, invitations, and recipe cards that you can keep on your hard drive to access whenever you need them. I will also share the articles, tutorials, projects, etc that I find interesting on the web.

Why "Big Blue Eyes Press"? Because I look at a set of big blue eyes a lot.




my 1 yr. old daughter, c