Invites, invites, invites!

So I've already posted some screen shots of these before, but I wanted to feature some of the invites I've created recently in their full glory (not screenshots from InDesign). I have a second Etsy shop in the works right now for designing invitations, so I'm trying to spread the word a little. I'm finishing up compiling some example invites for my shop, so if you have ideas for some that you think would be fun to see, or if you need an invite for an upcoming event let me know and we could work out a deal (pretty much you just help me advertise :)) since I'm trying to build up my portfolio (it's a lot more fun and easy to make example invites when they're actually for real events!). Basically for my shop I'll be consulting with customers to make custom designs, or customizing existing designs I've created for customers. I'll be selling PDFs, not prints, so customers will be purchasing the PDF then printing the invites locally themselves. Essentially all the extra shipping and handling costs are cut out, yay! People can also use the PDFs for E-invites, which is really popular and convenient now-a-days. Anyway, I have a couple names in mind for my shop, but if any of you have some mind-blowing ideas, let me know and maybe you could get an invite or two if I pick that name. 

Have a wonderful night y'all! 

{Love is a Journey}: One of my childhood best friends got married a couple weeks ago, so my other best friend (Madie) and I threw her (Andrea) a bridal shower! Andrea wanted something nice and classy, and she travels a LOT (we're talking going to China every other year since high school), so Madie and I decided on throwing a travel-themed shower with the title "love is a journey". For this invite I used a picture of Andrea and her fiancé (now husband!) during one of their travels and made the photo look vintage and rustic. I created the stamp image which includes the actual shower date and time in it. I also found a Chinese stamp image to use for a final touch. 

{Ahoy! It's a Boy!}: My sister and her friend threw one of their childhood best friends a baby shower for her future baby boy. The theme was obviously nautical. They wanted it to be the perfect shade of red and blue (no 4th of July!), while incorporating a nautical feel. I think it turned out pretty well!

 Our adorable niece has a birthday coming up and she is having her party at a local waterpark in Hawaii. For this invite I tried to keep it childish but not immature (we've all seen invites that are too cheesy for most people's taste). The waterpark's logo has splashes coming out from it so I tried to keep that theme as well. My niece loves pink so I tried to incorporate that as much as possible without it being overbearing (let's be honest though I personally could never have enough pink!)

I recently blogged about my friend Lauren's wedding. She asked me to do her invite and I was thrilled. Here is a close-up of the invite. The invites were printed on specialty paper which is why there is no specific background or anything. Lauren wanted super classy, traditional, formal, and simple.

Below is one of my favorite parts of Lauren's invites. Lauren had a lot of inserts because she had a lot of events going on, but this one was one of the best I think. She had the same layout below for inviting close family and friends to the wedding ceremony inside the temple, but she also wanted to make those who could not go inside the temple to be a part of the day and feel included. We camp up with the design below to invite people to welcome them out of the temple and to take photos. 

Sealing invitation: 

Dinner invitation: 

I love feedback, so if you have some give me!! :) Also, if you're interested in working with me on an invite before the shop is open, email me at kelseybhibbs@gmail.com! 

**All invites were altered to protect the privacy of clients :) 

Hibbs Halloween 2012

Happy November, friends!

Today's post is dedicated to Halloween 2012! We had such a fun Halloween this year, especially because it was our first married Halloween together! We dressed up last year....but we accomplished a failed attempt to correctly portray what we were (tooth fairy and a cavity...yeah, it was a stretch. haha). Taylor came to me this year with the idea for us to be Charlie Brown and Lucy. I thought it was a cute idea, but of course that meant that I had to figure out how to dress us up without spending a fortune (because you know that when you just go buy a licensed character costume you spend so much money!)

Creating a Charlie Brown shirt for Tay seemed pretty simple, but I had no idea where to begin with the non-fitted, kind of frumpy-but-still-cute Lucy dress...they don't exactly just sell those all over. I decided to start with two extra-large t-shirts and turn them into a dress. Here is the creation of our costumes: 

Started out with two of these super big shirts, one for the bodice, and one for the skirt. 

I found a little tunic-y dress I have that goes about mid-thigh, which is about the length of the top part of Lucy's dress. 

Traced and pinned it 

Cut 

I also cut off the sleeves in hopes to make the sleeves a little shorter and slightly more feminine-looking. 

(I didn't photograph this part too well..oops) I cut the second shirt in half horizontally, getting rid of the neck line and the sleeves. I then had two big circular pieces. I cut the ends, leaving me with four long rectangle pieces. I sewed them all into one big long piece so I could gather it for the skirt. 

(please excuse our messy house...it was Halloween week!) Here is the skirt and top part sewn together. 

Sewed on four buttons. 

I didn't document the sleeves...it wasn't that interesting/I forgot. I was wanting to make a ruffle on the neckline and sleeves, but I didn't have time. I plan to do that in a few years the next time we use this. Basically long story short it was really fun trying to be creative creating a dress out of two large shirts! 

Cute Charlie Brown (just sewed a zig-zag and sewed it on his shirt :)

Finished product! Nothing professional, but I think it turned out pretty well!

Side note: We bought a wig for me since Lucy has front curly bangs...but it was hideous. I ended up rolling a big portion of my bangs under and bobby pin and hairsprayed it a ton to get the frilly-little-girl-bang look :) I was also happy about making a matching bow :)

We went to our ward Trunk-or-Treat that night, which was SUPER fun! Neither of us had ever been to one, so we didn't know what to expect. Our ward was awesome and provided a variety of soups and rolls for dinner. I was sad, however, to find that people decorated their trunk super cute and Halloween-like...which we didn't know was a part of trunk-or-treating. I'll make sure to go all out next year with our trunk! 

                                      Here are a few of my favorite kid costumes of the night:

Well I hope you also had a wonderful Halloween! I'm excited for the other upcoming holidays! 

the post with no title

Hey friends :)

         I didn't know what to title this post...hence the title I gave it. Life has been SO busy lately, but it's been so great! Taylor and I pretty much stick to a strict schedule every day--which is new for someone who is free-spirited and has A.D.D. like myself :) I've been doing student teaching with a 7-year-old girls dance class as part of my Methods of Teaching Children Creative Dance class I'm in at BYU. I never thought I'd really like teaching anything...but I LOVE teaching little kids dance. I'm thinking about opening a small after school program (probably for free for the first bit) after I graduate. We'll see :). I've LOVED having my Etsy shop open (sorry if that's a lot of what you see from me right now... :). With being really busy with school and work, it's fun to take just a little time to be crafty and do things that I like to help keep me sane. As mentioned before, I injured my back this past April, and I really haven't danced (minus the student teaching) since then. It's been a lot harder than I thought it would be to kind of give up a big part of who I am for the sake of keeping good health. I've noticed I really have to be careful with what I eat, what I do, and basically just how I take care of my body without having dance to keep me active in my life. However, my friend Holly's sister Emily asked me to choreograph a dance for her to use for her MDT (Music Dance Theater) major audition next month. I've absolutely loved it because it reminds me that even though I can't dance full out right no, I still am a dancer :). I'll see if Emily will let me post her final performance of it to show you.

         This weekend Lydia and her friend Lauren did a little mini photo shoot with my bows and earrings. It's been so fun to see them look pretty legit (the right camera does wonders). My friend Lizzy from Lizzy Jean Photography  is also going to use some of my bows and earrings in some of her photo sessions, so Lydia's mini shoot made me extra excited to see and use Lizzy's photos as well! Lizzy is so talented :)

         I've been doing some fun things with bows lately--some of them for Halloween costumes so you'll have to wait to see those :) I just started making baby bow headbands. I am mostly going to be making these to order, but here's a photo of just a few random ones I made:

         Also, a while back I entered my blog in a little contest on thecutestblogontheblock.com. The contest wasn't for a prize, but just for fun. They just turned it into a contest for a prize so they set everyone's votes to zero and the contest goes until November. The contest started yesterday and I was surprised and happy to see that my blog is up at the top, but I still need more votes! The top three winners get money (which we could really use :), so if you have time please vote for 'I just like the 'B'' on the link below! I will warn you that it takes more than just a second because it's kind of set up like a tournament where they give you two blogs to pick between, and you just continue to do so for however long you want. You have to pick a winner for each two and you'll just have to wait until mine pops up. But if you have time I'd appreciate it :) 

click here to vote!

Well I hope you all have a great week! I can't believe it's kind of snowing here today. We'll see how the Hawaiian I live with deals with that :)

Fall Favorites

Hey everyone! There's been lots of craziness with politics and other controversies in the world right now...so I just wanted to have post dedicated to HAPPY things. Wahoo! I don't know what has come over me because I've ALWAYS been a summer girl...but guys, I've fallen in love. With fall. I'm obsessed with the yummy smelling fall candles everywhere, comfy clothes, being cozy when it's cold outside, cute decorations, etc. So I'm curious, what are your favorite fall things? Here's a few of mine/here are some updates of late:

Crafts!!! 

So I made the candy corns last year (thank you Pinterest). I like to think my crafting skills have improved since then so I did some minor touch-ups. I wanted to have another Halloween craft, and since we're a poor married couple I wanted to make one using things we already have (yes, we randomly have little googly eyes sitting around...?). So here I introduce you to Mr. mouthless pumpkin :) 

I also wanted to make a fall decoration that I could keep up for Thanksgiving as well, but only using what we already have. They don't look that cool just chillin on this table, but I'll post a pic of them on our wall. I love fall colors so I liked tying that in with some fall leaves as well :) 

FOOD! (of course) 

My mom and I had a little girls night during the Priesthood session of General Conference. My mom made a really good sweet potato chowder. I don't know why but this fall I've been OBSESSED with chowders, soups, curry, etc.! 

That night my mom and I also made this pumpkin spice bread. SOOOO good. message me if you want the recipe! 

Halloween cake pops! Okay I won't lie. I didn't make these, nor have I ever made them before. But one day last week I was just having a really rough day and (of course) one of my visiting teachers just "happened" to stop by with this cute Halloween cake pops! I'm sure she was inspired to stop by. I was very grateful for her thinking of me...and for the pick-me-up treat! 

COUNT CHOCULA!!!! mmmmm. OH my gosh. This cereal is amazing and it only comes out at Halloween time! My sister loves it too (she may or may not stock up every October to hold her over for the year...I just might do that this year!)

Again with the soup. Unfortunately Taylor and I have been sick lately, so one day at school I had the sniffles so I had this yummy chicken noodle soup at school from the Wilk. 

Football! Okay, I won't lie, I haven't always been a crazy football fan. Football was big at my high school so I've always watched games, but I haven't always understood everything (basically my family all dances....football wasn't a big deal growing up). This year Taylor and I got sports passes so we can go to every game. It's been fun to watch our friend Kane (#82) play, and it's been fun to understand football a lot more!

What are your fall favorites? If you have any fun recipes or traditions (or costume ideas!) I want to hear them! 

On another note: I've been loving having my Etsy shop. It's been fun to keep up with! I just started making some baby bow headbands. Basically I'm selling baby headbands (stretchy kind) that come with a small bow on a clip. Then I'm also selling baby-sized bows so you can switch the bows out on the headbands! Here's a picture of one. I'm having pictures taken of more tomorrow, so be sure to keep up with the site! I seriously can't believe all the support and love I've gotten from this, so thank YOU for all your support and for spreading the word! 

A big thank you!!!

Hey friends!

Wow! I just have to say thank you for all the love and support I've received as I opened my shop on Etsy! It's a really scary thing to sort of put yourself out there with something like this, but I just thought it'd be a fun thing to try. Plus, since it's football season, it's kind of fun to have something to do with all the football that's turned on in our house right now! So I just wanted to say thanks again for all the kind words, compliments, purchases, etc. that I've gotten this week.

As far as some updates go, say hello to the Sunshine Bow!

I also have another pattern that I'll be featuring on my shop probably later today so be sure to keep checking my shop for more updates!

Coming soon: baby/toddler size bows and patterns!

Thanks for all the love everyone, please spread the word if you like what you see!

Love you guys. And that's all. :)

Just Buttons and Bows---Now open!

Hello!

This is an exciting post for me! You all know that I have a small obsession with sewing, crafting, etc. I've finally decided to take it a step further! I just barely (as in fifteen minutes ago) opened up my first ever "shop" on Etsy! I'm selling fabric hair bows and fabric-covered button earrings! Go here to see my shop! Let me know what you think! Over time I may add some other products, but for now it's Just Buttons and Bows. And that's all :)

Ya know what? I think to celebrate I'll give you all a promo code valid until next Friday, September 28 (Happy Birthday, Lydia!), and you can get 20% off your purchase from my shop! The promo code is "justtheb". Love you all! Happy Buttons & Bows!

*If you like what you see at my shop, please share with friends/family!!!
**You can click the link at the beginning of this post, or you can go to etsy.com and search "justbuttonsandbows" (no spaces). :)

Have a wonderful night :)

Comfy Comfy's & Mowgli hair {updates}

Hey everyone, I'm working on posting the rest of our summer trip, my birthday, etc. For today, however, I just have some quick catching up to do. Taylor just got a job doing security at the MTC (Missionary Training Center for LDS missionaries :), and I just had an interview for a new job today, but I won't hear back for a few weeks. We'll see! Today I bought a pattern for a quilt so that I can make use of all the scraps I have from different sewing projects. I sure hope it actually turns out. We'll see how that goes! I'm also working on some cute drapes for our living room. I am having a hard time knowing what to do now that we're not traveling like crazy, but it's nice to have some time to catch up on cleaning, laundry, and especially crafts!

Hopefully soon (ish) I'll be able to show you a picture of a lovely quilt made out of allll these scraps.

Real quick. Yesterday was July 24. We had a lot of fun at the Orem Owlz game with friends. I wasn't able to see fireworks live (we watched them on TV haha) for the fourth of July, so when I found out there would be fireworks after the Owlz game, we just had to go. 

 There was some wind and rain, which inspired some cozy male bonding {above}, as well as a makeshift tent with an extra blanket we had {below}.

This is Andrea and Bo. They are some of my best friends. And oh, so cute together :)

Yesterday was also an important day in my life---not having anything to do with pioneers, though. A year ago yesterday, Taylor came over to my apartment to do 'laundry'. His apartment didn't have a washer and dryer, so I would often let him use my apartment's. While yes, he did do laundry that day, soon after he arrived I found that he had an alternative motive. My young girl (ha ha, okay it was only a year ago, but 'young girl' makes it sound more romantic) dream of having Taylor come and confess his love for me came true! Although, he didn't tell me he loved me (obviously, that'd be a little bit creep status----too fast), and he didn't exactly tell me his feelings in a traditional way. You see, I often joke about my appearance when my hair is unkempt and a little crazy for whatever reason. I did this a lot during SOAR because we didn't always have time to get as 'ready' as we'd like because we had early mornings and late nights as counselors. During my freshman year of college I earned the nickname Mowgli (yes, as in the little orphaned, shirtless boy in the Jungle Book) because I used to dance with my hair down in class (when my hair was not as long as it is now) and it would get messy. Hence, I looked like a little boy who climbed trees with messy hair and sang about the 'bare necessities' of life with a large, friendly bear. Anyway, the other important information for this story is that if you know me you know (if you don't, you know now) that I love my 'comfy comfy's'. AKA sweats. My sophomore year of college I was dancing ALL the time at school so when I got home nothing sounded better than putting on a very large pair of sweats and just being 'comfy'. However, the name 'comfy comfy's' was a better name to me than just 'comfy'. 

Me wearing some comfy comfy's {above} and an example of Mowgli hair {below}

                                    {This was on a hike up the 'Y' mountain during SOAR}

 

So instead of telling me, "Kelsey, I like you. I want to date you." Taylor told me--as he referred to me in third person-- that he liked a girl who rocked Mowgli hair and who liked to wear comfy comfy's. And it's all history after that. 

It's just crazy to think how life can be so different after only a year. A year ago I would never had thought that on July 25, 2012--one year later-- I'd be sitting in my apartment {one that I share with a boy instead of the usual girls I lived with}, blogging about my married life adventures, and taking care of wife duties. While I may not have expect these things to happen, I sure am glad that they did. And that's all. :)