Murphy's Manic Monday (...on Thursday)

If you can believe that our lives were turned upside down for the past four weeks believe it. It wasn't a stressful time (well not all of it) but it has been very busy. Going here, being there, seeing them, helping her, calling him, yada yada yada. So in that busy time, especially this last week, I hadn't taken many pictures of Murphy and the times when I needed to- like when he got into the faux moss at the base of a tree and dragged it all out into the living room or when he would go into our closet and drag out my shoes one at a time- I wasn't thinking about taking a picture I was thinking about teaching a lesson.

However we have had a major growth spurt... Murphy's ears are getting to be huge and because they are not proportionate to his head they easily get flipped inside out. The first time I saw this I took a picture with my Blackberry and when he was sleeping the other day I took these two pictures. We're not sure if he realizes they are like this or if he does realize but doesn't care... that's totally Murph.

He is so cute sleeping, and still cute when he is awake but if you wake him up or disturb him from his rest he snorts like a little piglet! Notice the ear!


This was a few minutes later when he woke up, that ear is still flipped out! But so cute!!


And if you can't tell already by the scenery around him during most of these pictures he loves our mud room area with the cool tile floor. In this picture he couldn't decide whether to chew on the carpet we have down as a rug or my flip flops... did I tell you he ate through a pair of those cheapy Old Navy ones!


I'll take more pictures this weekend as we venture out. I'm debating on bringing him to the farmers market on Saturday for a little Socialization Field Trip.

Murphy's Manic Monday's

I love the 80's! So in true 80's child fashion, Murphy's weekly blog is inspired by his not-so-calm demeanor at 7:00 in the morning and a great 80's girl band, The Bangles.

I made a promise to blog about him every week so here we go! Welcome to MurphyLand!!

Last week I caught this picture of our little guy just waking up. The look on his face is priceless, "come on mom, are you taking another picture?"


For a brief instant last night we had a rainbow after a quick shower. There wasn't an end to the rainbow but if there would have been I think we could have seen the pot of gold.


Kyle was outside checking some mortar he set yesterday and the little mountain lion decided to attack his hat while scaling the rock ledge. I must say Murph has good taste- get that Spartan!


After rock climbing he decided to take a break for a minute and he let me get really close with a camera. Normally when I get this close he jumps up to play tug with my camera strap. You can really see how much he's growing compared to when he first came home.


Shortly after his little portrait session he went nuts and decided to pounce on Kyle. Murph may look little but he's quite fast- watch out for those fingers!!


We have lots of day lilies around the house and for some reason Murphy loves the flowers and the seed pods that are left after they bloom. He'll sneak up real quite and then jump on them. We've lost a few blossoms but this little Simba thinks he's the king of the garden jungle!


I thought the garden ambush was cute but Kyle not so much. Poor Murphy got in trouble.


... stay tuned for more of Murphy's Manic Monday's!!

Designing Graphically

For Nick and Mel's wedding I had a blast graphic designing their wedding stationary- escort cards, table names, wedding program and menu cards. There is this creepy sort of feeling that I get when I see how all the little details intertwine to compliment the vision as a whole. Even though I did not design their invite it was the muse, along with Melissa, for the rest of the ensemble.

I can't tell you how much I love iStock photo. Okay, I can, but it may be creepy too! I've learned that you can find almost anything on that site, especially vector images that are all completed and royalty free. (In other words it may take me a little time to locate just exactly what I am looking for but it can save oodles of time compared to creating the file.) With that last statement in mind, trying to find just the right graphic for the Erikson's was a gong show. Almost 8 hours into my search over multiple days I finally found it... should I have known how long this would have taken me I would have created the file but oh well.

So back to the point of this entry... once I found the graphic I fell in love with the typeface Helinda Rook. Since my early scrapbooking days fonts have been a passion and combined with the right weight, kerning and size you can work magic. When you pair Helinda with Garamond (my favorite font in the world) it's like a childrens choir singing at St. Paul's cathedral in London... too carried away? Sorry! But Mel and Nick chose Futura for their invite and that sick feeling I have told me to "make it work." Thus their wedding monogram/logo was developed and Futura is now a close second to Garamond.

Once the graphic and fonts were chosen I had to develop colors and layout. This is where my fun truly begins. I'm all for traditional engraving and black ink but why not throw a splash of color and offset the centered? Now I've never had any formal training, unless you count the hours I've watched my dad and now my husband create, so be kind. However as my first truly custom design for ADIM clients I was exceptionally pleased. Enjoy!!

This is the cover to the program. The programs themselves were printed on a Natural VIA paper with smooth texture and they were bound in the upper left corner with varied ribbons.


The them if you will was a vintage romance which you will see in the photos Jen took on her blog and the floral silhouette provided just enough femininity for the bold monogram.

The first page of the program was an invitation to the guests and throughout the program the floral motif was used in various locations, sizes and rotations to carry the theme through. Even though I believe design elements should be carried through all pieces the floral graphic was different. A marriage ceremony is sacred and personal. I did not use the floral graphic anywhere else in order to signify the importance of the ceremony and how honored we were to be invited as witnessed to Nick and Melissa's love and commitment to one another.


On the wedding invitation, bachelorette party invite, wedding cake, pie stands and menu card was a polka dot theme in chocolate brown. I loved the simplicity of the design and how sophisticated it was.


For the table names and escort cards Mel and Nick came up with important locations/memories to them with a story and photo. Each table card was 8x8 and spray mounted to foam core with a green stock background and were rested on glossy chocolate brown table easles. Each image was printed on glossy photo paper and sprayed to withstand humidity.


The escort cards coordinated to the tables and guests were allowed to choose their individual seats. The table cards were a great way for Nick and Mel to tell parts of their story to their guests and tied into the vintage theme excellently.

The Newlyweds

Here they are... the new Mr. & Mrs. Nick and Melissa Erikson!



Thanks to Jen Kroll for the amazing portrait and stay tuned for more!!

He's getting so big!

As promised I'd continue to share Murphy's adventures with you all. He's now been with us for just over two weeks and today he is ten weeks old. He's eating much more and learning to clean his plate and that when we go outside in the early morning it's for potty only- not play!

Even though I will be traveling a just two days this week it's still hard leaving him behind.

The next few posts will be about Melissa's fabulous wedding weekend. But here is Murphy with his girlfriend Lola (Christina's new pug) playing like crazy!


This is Murphy with the stuffed Murphy puppy Christina gave me for Christmas last year to hold me over until the real Murphy arrived!


Murph giving dad kisses and biting his nose!


He's finding new hiding places. This time the laundry room in between the hanging rack, plastic container and steamer.


And here is the little yoda waking up from his nap :)

Nichols-Howe Wedding

On August 23rd I had the pleasure of assisting Laura Nichols and Michael Howe with the final details of their wedding. Laura and I began working together back in July to help with some design and planning concepts and I think they all turned out smashingly! Here are just a couple photos of the day. When I have more from the photographer I'll post them!

Congratulations Laura and Mike! You were both great to work with and I wish you all the best!

Since the bride is from Traverse City, chocolate covered cherries were the perfect wedding favor.


One of her two styles of centerpieces from Flowers by Marla Courtney Woods.


The second centerpiece- simply elegant with the painted granite rocks from Whitefish Point on Lake Superior.


And the cake, picture perfect by the window.


Reception: The Homestead Resort, Glen Arbor
Flowers: Flowers by Marla Courtney Woods
Entertainment: Mac Daddy
Cake: Robin Smith

Here's Murphy!

I couldn't keep it a secret any longer. Please welcome our newest addition to the Caldecott house, Murphy our 8 week old golden retriever!!

I was trying to hold out until guests started to arrive for Melissa's wedding but he's growing so much and he changes every single day. Murphy was born on July 1st and was welcomed into the world with 4 other brothers and 2 sisters. And by a promise made by my husband, Chris and Tina you can vouch to that conversation at our condo in Colorado, I could have a "Golden on my Golden Birthday." Thus, Murph is here :)

These are a few pictures of him since he came home. He successfully has multiple nicknames already the most commonly used is Murphenstein then Murphffles, Murphenshiz, Small Fry and Superman. The last name is because he already loves to leap off our bed which is quite a drop for someone that small.

The house looks slightly like a miniature prison but each day he is better and better with behavior. His favorite tug is still mom's ponytail! In honor of our new baby I'll feature a post a week, or many more :), on Murph and his adventures. He is very excited to meet his friends Gus and Moose and to play more with Isabelle and Lola. And he loves his playdates with his cousin Hudson and Uncle Cayman at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Day one sleeping in the hallway.


Day two playing in the backyard.


Day three checking out the garden, which he loves, especially the tomato plants.


Day four sleeping upside down.


Day five mom was traveling and didn't take a picture, bad mom!

Day six taking a break from eating mom's shoes to check out her camera that's been in his face all week.


Day seven posing with mom who was squinting in the sun


So there he is everyone, our newest love Murphy.