Christmas Gift Guide, Personalized and Unique Presents Handmade with Love for Your Friends and Family
I don't know about you but I LOVE to give gifts. And usually when the gift is SO GOOD, I can hardly wait until that special day arrives so that I can see their face as they open their present. I am usually so excited that I start to cry myself when so much heart has gone into that special gift, a present that has so much emotional ties running through it. This is my heart for giving gifts and I can only hope to share that with you through this gift guide as I help you give one-of-a-kind and memorable gifts. 1. Watercolor Family Portrait A watercolor painting turns your photos into works of art! Whether you want to use a professional photo or snapshot from your phone, using a photo that you love puts more emphasis on the sentimental bond of love between the people featured in the painting. These watercolor portraits are always a hit! I am completely blown away with how beautifully our family portrait came out. Watercolor is such a unique way to display our family of five on our walls; personalized art is such a great conversation piece! To say I’m happy with the way it
Sam Allen Creates: April thru June 2019
The month of April focused almost fully on Mother's Day preparations! Which I love because as a mama myself, I just love to celebrate mom's of all kinds! The latter half of this quarter then went back to focusing on the summer wedding season! April There's a lot to cover this month, so let's get started! Mother's Day gifts For this year's Mother's Day promotions, I created this card as a freebie for orders of watercolor portraits and papercut silhouettes! It was such a hit! One of my most popular products for Mother's Day is always my papercut silhouettes. I love drawing out these sweet profiles, their noses and eyelashes or maybe even their fur! This year, I included a Buy 1, Get 1 Free promotion. It was such a great way to buy a set for grandma but then get to keep one for mama too! My watercolor portraits didn't launch until summer last year so this was their first Mother's Day season! Each of these were gifts from the mamas to the grandmas
Courtney & Josh’s Travel Themed Wedding in Scottsdale, Arizona
Courtney first got in touch with me over an order of wedding day cards for her bridal party. I loved working on them for her, having no idea all the fun projects she would later have me work on for her gorgeous wedding in sunny Arizona! My dusty rose paint and I were on very friendly terms by the time I completed her escort tent cards, placecards, table numbers and signs! I'll let Courtney take it from here
Flatlay Inspiration with Selycia Yang
Last fall I was overjoyed when Selycia Yang allowed me to join her creative team for a styled shoot in Savannah, Georgia at the Wormsloe Historic Site. It's such a stunning location and I had fun experimenting with different techniques to create an illustration of the famous Spanish moss covered gate and entrance. I love the elements Selycia used in her flatlays, like that vintage silver wax seal stamper! Selycia then asked me to create an alternate invitation suite to give variety for the photographers that were attending the shoot. I had been wanting to work on a watercolor crest for awhile so I took my chance to create one for the shoot. While the first suite included pointed pen calligraphy, it was a fun challenge to use the same color scheme but with watercolor. The result were two very different suites! A few more items were created for the shoot and for fun like this bouquet recipe shot! I loved making these items for Selycia to style and photograph! So many details! View more of Selycia's work on her website and Instagram!
8 Ways to Make your Reception Table As Unique as You!
I'm so excited to be sharing these photos by Stephanie Weber Photography, showcasing my wedding day watercolor stationery product line. My goal was to create an immersive set of paper goods where a bride's reception table would be complete with table numbers, menus, and placecards all done in matching watercolor! Before I show you the galleries, please take note of these amazing ladies who made this possible: Photography: Stephanie Weber Photography Florist: Bloom Theory DesignTabletop Rentals: Rustic Peony CoCalligraphy: Sam Allen Creates From our photographer and stylist: Putting together this tablescape session was a dream! It was all about the details, and who doesn’t love that. It is not often that I get to photograph these intricate details that go into table settings. In fact, I feel that this is often overlooked in weddings. Some of my advice to my brides is to not skimp on these details, they make all the difference. It is what your guest will remember. Where they sit for most of their time on your day. This is a space to introduce to your guest to what you love, a space to let them know a little bit more about you. My brand is soft, romantic
Purple Florals Contrasted with Industrials, Brick at Liberty Station Wedding Styled Shoot
Jaymee Lynn Photography Coming in to the New Year I was excited to get back to work after Christmas break and this was the first suite up! Here we are 8 months later and it's still one of my favorites! Take a scroll and reminisce with me over this glorious purple lavender shoot that was mixed with silver galvanized metals at Brick 828 at Liberty Station in San Diego. The venue is so named as you are surrounded by the rich red bricks, giving the event such a warm light! I received so many glorious galleries from the many photographeres at the shoot, but I narrowed it down to two ladies' images to share with you today! Take a look! Jaymee Lynn Photography Jaymee Lynn PhotographyJaymee Lynn Photography Stormy Peterson Photography Stormy Peterson Photography I loved this welcome table set up with the seating chart displayed on galvanized metal sheets! They were stunning in person but challenging to photograph! Stormy Peterson PhotographyJaymee Lynn PhotographyStormy Peterson PhotographyJaymee Lynn PhotographyJaymee Lynn PhotographyJaymee Lynn PhotographyStormy Peterson Photography Stormy Peterson Photography As always, Kristin Smith of KS Floral Concepts brought the most amazing florals! I'm in love with her bouquets and installations! Stormy Peterson Photography Jaymee Lynn PhotographyJaymee Lynn PhotographyJaymee Lynn PhotographyJaymee Lynn PhotographyJaymee Lynn PhotographyJaymee
Whimsical Alice In Wonderland Garden Wedding Inspiration
When Stephanie Weber and Melissa Fe Chapman reached out to me about working on an Alice in Wonderland styled shoot, I enthusiastically responded, "YES!!" I love all things Disney so when I get to combine that passion with my love of paper and design, I just get giddy! The mood board for the shoot was primarily a garden wedding, so I while I designed the invite, I thought about ways to make the invitation classy like a garden wedding but whimsical for Alice's topsy turvy world. I wrapped the invite in a sheet of vellum printed with vines, but with a unique cut for that touch of whimsy, but my favorite part was the wax seal, impressed with a key! These elements combined to give that "through the looking glass" feel as you enter into Wonderland. Once the guest opened up their invitation, they were greeted with a simple invite with draping vines. A pop of color was added through the blush pink envelope and large handpainted flowers! My next project was creating matching vow books and a quote from Alice: Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures. Alright! Enough about the paper details, let's get to
Gabrielle + Cole’s Dusty Blue + White Spring Wedding at Callawassie Island. Photographed by Dana Cubbage.
Last fall, Gabrielle reached out to me about a painting of Avett Brothers lyrics for signage at her spring wedding
Sam Allen Creates: January thru March 2019
This was an unusual start to the year for me! My shop usually gets busy in January but this year it was rather slow which left me plenty of time to focus on some 2019 goals
White Floral Boho Styled Shoot at Lot 8, San Diego
While this shoot was well over a year ago, it was the first shoot I attended with multiple photographers. Whenever I can attend a shoot in person, I leap at the chance. The connections made while at a shoot are unforgettable and for this homebody who would rather stay in her pajamas working behind a desk, I really need these opportunities to force myself outside because I never regret it! All photos taken by Carsten Tice Photography There were so many talented photographers there, but I decided to just use one gallery here for a cohesive post. Take a look at my Instagram for some more imagery from other photographers who attended. As always, I like to start any wedding post off with the invitation! As I worked with the organizer, Katie Hammond, she requested a wood welcome sign. After some emailing, we decided to do this quote instead and then on the day of the shoot, the florist and designer loved it so much that they used it as a focal point for the reception area. Needless to say, I was overjoyed to see them use it in this way! The Lot 8 venue is so open while having such great