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Year in Review: July thru December 2017

Last month I shared the first part of the 2017 Review, and finally below you can read the rest. I just love looking back on all these amazing projects that got to cross my desk. So much good stuff!


July

The start of July was spent wrapping up the beautiful Kara’s wedding which I blogged about earlier this year…

Amongst other Southern California summer weddings, like this one (images by Vacay Photo):

Sam Allen Creates Handwritten Name Tag placecards, photo by vacay photoSam Allen Creates signage for cards gifts by vacay photo

And then finally, without knowing what was to come, I painted this fanart for Disney’s Alice in Wonderland’s anniversary… the painting that planted the seed for many more watercolor floral letters.

Sam Allen Creates Original Watercolor Florals Painting - Disneys Alice in Wonderland Fan Art


August

August continued with even more paintings! Not only were individual letters created, I also created a brand new theme using evergreen branches for a last name sign, celebrating my aunt and uncle’s 50th wedding anniversary!

Sam Allen Creates Family Name Sign Evergreen Winter Painting

And another new theme was created for a unique commission, celebrating a couple who got married in Key West, Florida!

Sam Allen Creates Family Last Name Sign Beach Theme Watercolor painting

And then my first—of many—floral family name signs! Eeek!

Sam Allen Creates Family Name Sign Watercolor painting

And to close the month, one more floral painting!

Sam Allen Creates Custom Watercolor Painting Quote


September

September was one very busy month! It started with painting up a bridal shower invitation and envelopes…

Sam Allen Creates Watercolor Succulent Cacti Bridal Shower Invitation

In the middle of September, Andy and I celebrated our TEN year wedding anniversary. So of course I had to paint out our own personal vows before we left for a short weekend getaway.

Sam Allen Creates Personal Wedding Vows Artwork on fabulous Fancy Pants paper

Not only did I paint my own vows, but I also worked on this giant pair of 16×20 wedding vows that have now made their home in Ireland!

Sam Allen Creates Handwritten Watercolor Vows 16x20

And not only did these large paintings of vows cross the Atlantic but so did this last name sign!

More watercolor floral letters were made too of course, this is one of my all time favorites!

Also included this month, to celebrate my friend’s new home, we worked on this handpainted family sign! Congrats Jess!

Sam Allen Creates - Family Established Wood Sign

The month ended with the biggest, loudest and craziest party ever!


October

The month started with this GORGEOUS wedding in northern California. I loved getting to create these tags for each guest with gold watercolor paint! See more of this beautiful wedding here, photographed by Kirsten Wiemer.

A HUGE highlight of the year was getting to work on my first styled wedding shoot! The creativity was surging throughout the Estate on Second venue in Santa Ana, California! I am only posting this one single sneak peek, taken by Harper and Grace Photography, but please checkout the full shoot here.

Sam Allen Creates Wedding Invitation Suite on Handmade Paper with Marbling - Image by Harper & Grace Photography

Before going to the shoot though, I finally created business cards for myself!

Sam Allen Creates - Watercolor Calligraphy Logo and Business Cards

The month also started with some day of details created for a Charleston wedding which I also got to create the lettering for their letterpress invitations. It was my first time seeing my work printed with letterpress and I was SUPER excited to receive their invite in the mail! photos by Kaitlin Scott Photography

We ended the month going on a trip for my hubby’s BBQ competition team to Tennessee, but before we left… I painted #allthethings! Take a peek at some below:

The cacti bridal shower (see invite below) also took place at the end of the month for which I painted all these handpainted floral table runners!


November

This month was just pure and utter CRAZINESS! The month started off with some agate Thanksgiving placecards!

November also included the launch of my watercolor lyrics and vows on Etsy! To celebrate, I hosted a series of giveaways… here are some of the results:

Sam Allen Creates Handwritten Tolkien Quote Watercolor Painting

At the end of the month, over the Black Friday weekend, I hosted some BIG sales. One of which was for my handdrawn papercut silhouettes. These made the perfect Christmas gifts, I just love all their sweet little faces!

And one last note, the month included the launch of my Facebook page! It’s a bit neglected but it’s finally up and LIVE! Take a look!!


December

The month of December meant the finishing up and sending of all these Christmas cards!

The month also started with this painting of Psalms 23 full of bright yellow sunflowers!

Sam Allen Creates - Psalm 23 Sunflower Watercolor Painting

And of course, the month also included lots and lots of tags made for Christmas dinner and Christmas gifting!

Sam Allen Creates - Handwritten Calligraphy Christmas Gift Tags

Speaking of Christmas gifts! Several paintings were made to be given as gifts from me and commissioned by others for gifting too!

Another Christmas gift I got to help with was the painting of these reclaimed wood signs! They have such a lovely backstory too… this family just moved out of their home that they had for almost 30 years. They used the wood from a shed in the backyard to make each of their daughter’s a sign with and had me paint a cute family saying of theirs! I just love getting to make art such as this, so close to the heart!

Sam Allen Creates - Handpainted Sign on Reclaimed Wood

Lastly, what is Christmas without ornaments! This year I just couldn’t decide between these two ideas so I just went with a few of each! Plus finishing up the ornaments made from my son’s first Christmas tree in 2016!

 

 

I believe in magic. I believe in the power of true love. I believe in fairy tales and happy endings. And I live to create stationery and art for the young at heart to allow my fellow dreamers to treasure all of life’s most wondrous moments!

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