There are Zombies - Patti's Recap Part IV

Well, it's a holiday Monday here for me today, but we've been working away like crazy! New paint in the kitchen, fresh paint on the door, sanding, sanding our stuccoed cabinet doors (who stuccos cabinet doors? Gross!) and painting them, and making a painting for the living room! We're nothing if not ambitious.

So, Pickle (our feathered child), is sitting on my shoulder, more than a little mad that he's been cooped up in the office for a latex-free quarantine while we did the work, and I thought I'd get back to the recap!


The last few months of 2011 were kinda crazy. There were some family things going on that required a lot of time and attention, and life as I knew it was kind of flipped up-side down. We did manage to throw our annual Hallowe'en soireé!

The guy and I have never really done a 'couples' costume before, but the year prior, theGuy declared that from that Hallowe'en on, he was only going to dress as John Goodman in different roles. I was super stoked to hear that because, no matter how organized I try to be for Hallowe'en, and no matter how hard I try to get him sorted out for his costume (he hates all of my ideas), it's always like, the day or weekend before the party, when he's all "I don't know what to be... " and I have to decide for him.  I couldn't understand why he was so enthusiastic about having me be a part of it until I realized that he wanted me to dress up as Roseanne! Really!?

If Hallowe'en is a chance to be anyone you want to be, even the least vain of us would doubtfully choose to be Roseanne. Really, dude?

I'm nothing, if not creative, so I convinced him that Fred and Wilma would be a better match. I rolled up my sleeves and learned how to sew - a skirt for me as Wilma, and his bright orange Fred costume.

Wilma Flintstone, Scary Witch, Medusa & a Nerd.
(Sorry - this photo is a screencap from my phone)

 I don't have a photo of us because we always seem to be at other sides of the house when we host a party, so that photo will have to do!

The party was a blast and got me excited to plan our wedding, booked for July 21, 2012. I knew that we had to wait until after the Christmas rush to really get into things, but I was getting excited and was very much aware that there was a lot to do. I decided I really wanted to have a "Do It Yourself" wedding. TheGuy and I had been together for so long and were clearly committed, so we wanted to throw a party that was more about our guests than us (although it was still clearly about the two of us). I figured if we made it as D-I-Y as possible, the guests would get a sense that we put effort into ensuring that they understood how much we cared for them and appreciated them.

I don't think I had any idea what I was getting into.

Haunted by Halloween!

Oh yeah. I have been meaning to post the logo I created for the Townhouse of Terror, which is what we branded our Hallowe'en party with, but I kept forgetting to.

Life's been busy!

So here's a low res version of the logo this year. It was a blast!

It was a great turn out, with tons of great conversations and it was a great mix of people. I think we're growing up, it was almost a cocktail party! With crazy costumes, that is. I went as a clairvoyant this year. Contacts are a riot.

My mind has been completely filled with everything social networking and beyond lately. It's incredible how much things have changed in this new digital age, and how many opportunities there are to reach out to audiences if you want to put the effort into it. My gears are turning and the creativity is flowing; I hope to have more to share with you soon!

This is Hallowe'en, Everybody scream!

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. My daily design challenges have become very un-daily, but I am definitely working on getting some time to myself to it again. Or at least once a week!

I've got some stuff in motion, because Hallowe'en approaches, and we're excited to be hosting the "Townhouse of Terrors" at our place this year!

So.. here we go - branding, invitations, etc. I'm getting very excited about all the ideas that I am waiting to put into motion.. let's see what we can accomplish this year.

Dollar store, here we COME!

Halloweenie

A reason to do fun make-up? Yes, please!

I'm a Halloweenie.

Really, I am.

I love Hallowe'en! There is something about the spooktacular holiday that brings me back to my childhood and gets me excited (possibly all that candy!). My goal this year was to throw a party with as many photo ops as possible. Through lots of searching online, the Guy and I found a whole bunch of do-it-yourself projects that were begging for our attention. Specimen jars, heads in bottles, witch finger cookies, toe tags, murder mysteries, IV bags, monster eyeballs... there were so many things to do! Even though I started in September, it was still a rush as the countdown to Hallowe'en got shorter. My mind was racing with new ideas of what to do next!

The party turned out awesome; our friends looked amazing; everyone really stepped up to the challenge! The photo above is myself as "Little Dead Riding Hood" being attacked by a Zombie Bob Ross. Could life get any better?

Anyway, thought I'd share with you my very favourite project; the potion jars. I made about 15 potions; from the labels to the contents and couldn't have been happier with how they turned out.

And voila!



Happy November!

Tingling Teeth

Old news - this package was designed in 2007, and in my last gig as a drugstore sales clerk, I drooled over the gorgeous details of the latest Rembrandt packaging.

The simplicity of this package works - with a flooded market of whitening toothpastes, all claiming the same thing, Rembrandt, an already established brand, had an opportunity to simplify their package in an elegant and clean way - creating visual relief on the shelves. Any merchandising clerk can tell you that the Rembrandt packaging was actually satisfying to stock on the shelves - the clean, streamlined and simple design really commanded attention and had presence on the shelf as a high-end item. It was designed by Little Fury and I think they did a great job.

I posted about this package because finally, after two years of shy appreciation of the package, I picked some up yesterday. Just because it looked so nice and I decided that I would treat myself. I don't know what it means when one of the highlights of your week is that you purchased toothpaste with pretty packaging, packaging that you recycle as soon as you discard the cardboard box (although the stand-alone tube is also an elegant and well-thought out package, the glory is in the cardboard sleeve)... I do lead an interesting life, I swear!

Speaking of interesting life - happy Turkey Day! I was lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving with my family this year, and let me say - there is something very nurturing about turkey and family!

Now - gearing up for Hallowe'en. Throwing another party this year, I hope it is bigger and better than last year. I feel myself falling into a tizzy of unorganized chaos. Sometimes my ideas are more grand than the time I have on my hands to implement them. Hopefully I will have pictures to share!

If you are throwing a Hallowe'en party - check out Dave Lowe's blog
. He's got a bunch of awesome tutorials and ideas.. I'm doing the Monster Eye this year - hopefully it'll freak out the chillies!!! Oh man, I really have to get going - so many ideas,so little time!