An Anniversary Map

My parents recently celebrated their anniversary and I decided that it would be a unique gift for me to create a relationship map for them documenting some of the big parts of their relationship and life together including their kids.






I know that my parents liked it and I couldn't have been happier.

A Cape Cod Wedding

I recently worked on a wedding map for a wedding taking place near Cape Cod. I love learning about the different character and places of interest in the towns that I'm capturing in my illustrations.

(Names and information have been changed)

I think I know where I want to go on my summer vacation now. Crab cakes anyone?

Beautiful Blogger

Well, well looky we what have here:


The lovely Caiti at Caitidid Designs nominated Wonderland Papers for this cute little blog award.

Time to play by the Blogger rules and in order for me to accept the award I have to share 7 random facts about myself and then nominate 7 bloggers.

1. I create wedding maps for lots of lovely brides-to-be but before my own wedding I really could not have cared less about weddings. I didn't spend time dreaming about my wedding when I was little. I spent it organizing crayons and trying to find ways to keep them sharp but that is a whole other story. Now I would love to throw a second wedding for myself (keep the groom the same) just because I know so much more about weddings and have so many amazing wedding paper ideas.

2. I'm terribly afraid of snakes. Moving to St. Louis and living in the metro area means that the odds of me running into one has gone down drastically. This is one fear that I have no interest in trying to overcome. Self preservation and all that jazz.

3. I'm a print designer by education. Even though I know that graphic design is rushing towards web I just don't get on board with it. Web and me just don't seem to mix well. I love paper. I've worked in print medium my whole design career in magazine, newspaper and promotional marketing materials. I keep trying to fight the good fight for paper.

4. I don't like the movie the Wizard of Oz. I can still remember the nightmare I had as a kid about the movie and it has forever left a bad taste in my mouth for the movie. The book Wicked on the other hand was really good.

5. I'm a total Disney nut. I grew up in Florida and of course believed that being an animator for Disney was my birth right. Not being close to the Magic Kingdom is one of the things I miss the most about not living in Florida anymore.

6. Being inspired is one of the best feelings on earth. The surge of excitement when a new idea is forming is a great rush.

7. I love all things Southern. Sweet tea, grits, Steel Magnolias, pearls, college football, Paula Deen, "Yes M'am and "No Sir".

And now I pass it along...

junghwa by amy stewart
Lovely Clusters
That's My Cat
In Honor of Design
Skooks Playground
Slim Arts Girl
Landlocked Bride

Life in the O.C.

I had a couple that needed a map made for their wedding that was happening in California. The cool thing about this map was that it started out in one form and ended up different but in a better way.




The original map was the map directly above that was focused more on the area where the wedding was taking place. Then as things progressed we moved into it being a bit larger to include more of California.


I'm a total Disney nut so it was fun having a map with Disneyland on it. I also have a very corny sense of humor and I'm appreciative that the bride liked my John Wayne Airport with a plane wearing a cowboy hat idea.

I'm really happy with how the map turned out and find myself wanting to visit California in the future.

Boston to LA

First off I have to say that I love my clients. Sometimes they can come up with the coolest and most creative ideas and I'm so excited and honored that they would trust me to execute those ideas. One such project came up recently. I had a client contact me about making a map of sorts for her uncle who was going to be traveling across the country from Boston to L.A. Fun idea, right? Well it gets better. On top of that her husband had written a fun little poem that they wanted to include in the map. It was a great collaborative effort and I know that she was really pleased with the final results.


As you can see there is no poem on the map. I didn't want to post it since her husband wrote it and I don't know if he wants it all over the interwebs. You will just have to trust me that it was perfectly appropriate for this project and very witty.

One of my favorite parts of creating my map projects is checking out different places across the country and the special landmarks and locations that make it special.

In my world a dream office would look like...

The husband and I were wandering around Best Buy the other night and after he had gotten his fill of all the funky gadgets I told him that I needed a moment with Apple. I stood in front of the glorious 27 inch screen and just basked in its glow. Sigh.

Yes, I pet the Apple monitors much like I do my cat. I just can't help myself and I promise I'm harmless :)

I use to work for a place where they loved their Apple products as much as I did and I was lucky enough to get two gorgeous Apple monitors on my desk. I was one spoiled graphic designer.

As I walked away from the Apple display I started thinking about what I would have in my perfect office. My ideal dream location to let all the creative juices flow. And this is what I came up with:

1. Every office needs some art work and every artist needs some inspiration. I would love to have some Mary Blair prints to provide decoration and inspiration for me. I love her use of colors.

2. Hydrangea. My favorite flower and sure to brighten up the "office".

3. Copic markers. These aren't your average kiddie markers. Big girl markers for big on color projects.

4. Pens. I'm kinda picky when it comes to pens. For me they need to be rollerball pens and the bigger the pen the better. See Jane Work

5. Cat tape dispenser and animal staplers. All I can say is, yes please! See Jane Work

6. Stackable animal erasers. In case a little creative block happens you can always stack multi-colored animals until the fog lifts from your brain. Uncommon Goods

7. Pantone color mug. Because designers are a funny kind and we love our design world so much that we need it on our mugs too. Biggest decision, what color am I? Processed or Unprocessed?

8. Letter boxes. I am always aspiring for better organization, and with these pretty boxes I'm sure that would become more possible. See Jane Work

9. MyAgenda. I have one of these now and I love it. It's the first organizer that I have actually stuck with past January 5th. Super chic. MyAgenda

10. Life.doc binders. These are great for organizing a ton of different kinds of information. Necessary for keeping track of orders, passwords and other office information. Life.doc

11. Apple 27 inch monitors. 2 please! This would be the star of the "dream office", besides all the great work that I can create with it of course!

What would your dream office look like?

GPOYW = Gratuitous Picture Of Yourself Wednesday!

According to the urban dictionary, GPOYW = Gratuitous Picture Of Yourself Wednesday!

This can take on a whole new spin with me. The little monster in my life, my cat Wednesday, can't really post gratuitous pictures of herself so I guess that is where I come in.

Even though around here it would be Gratuitous Picture Of Yourself, Wednesday!

I just become a word nerd and a cat woman all in one sentence. A least I have a cute little furball to amuse you with.

Like the booster seat? I'm trying to make amends with her since I brought her to a city and we live in the metro area and there really aren't any birds or wildlife for her to check out. So now she has a cozy place to hunt for animals for her to yell and chirp at. Wednesday is my favorite day of the week, what about you?

Thanks to Caitidid Designs for the inspiration!)