Design Inspiration: In Progress (Plus New Cards!)

This Christmas season is FLYNG by! But it may be that it already feels like Christmas has come and gone (even though it hasn't).

I started working on my Christmas card line in September, and that meant listening to Christmas carols and all around getting into the Christmas mood. So it's been a few months, and I can say that I do eventually get tired of hearing those songs over and over ;)

Then, we celebrated with my side of the family this past weekend and so it already seems like we're done! I'm still looking forward to Christmas day, but it will be the first year we are traveling for the actual holiday, and it feels different.

Since we already had one celebration, that means I already got some gifts! Yay for art supplies! I shared Saturday's haul on instagram, and one of the gifts I was most excited for was In Progress by Jessica Hische!


I've had it on my wish list since it was on pre-order, and my sister got it for me. To say it's inspiring seems like a disservice! That lady is so ridiculously talented, it makes me want to cry ;) but she also works so, so hard! It's very encouraging to see how far someone can get with a whole lot of hard work.

Aside from some great technical info and a step by step of Jessica's work-flow, there are a ton of beautiful pictures of art and advertising work. Some of them were ones I had seen, but didn't know she had done!


I definitely recommend it to any other letterers or designers out there. Even though the type of work we do is a little different (I'm not a freelancer), it helped me realize where some of the holes are in my own process!

But even if you're not a designer, it's still nice to have a book around that's filled with great examples of beautiful type! You can find it here on Amazon.

In other news, I rolled out some new (and one re-vamped) designs at the Hip Holiday Craft Market a couple weeks ago, and I will be listing them in the shop after the new year! I'm super excited about these, and I have a feeling the bacon one will be a good seller for Valentine's day ;)





Well, that's all of my exciting news for around here. I hope you all have very happy and safe holiday weekend, and spend lots of time with loved ones! Thanks for stopping by!

Thankful...


Is it just me, or does it seem like November has just flown by??

It seems like Christmas is around the corner, but it's nice to take a minute and think about all of the things I'm thankful for as we come up to this holiday weekend.

I'm thankful for my sweet, caring husband, a roof over our heads, family (and vehicles to take us to visit!), friends, and that most of those close to us have good health and happiness! I know that we are very, very blessed.

And thank you to each and every one of you who take the time to read my little ol' blog and support my little business. I really and truly appreciate it!

I hope you all have a very wonderful Thanksgiving, and a great weekend to follow! Eat tons of food, take long naps, and have a safe and happy time shopping too, if that's what you end up doing :)

We will be spending time with all of our family this weekend, and so I won't be around too much. If you want to, you can catch me over on Instagram for the next week. There's a pretty big chance I'll be sharing some sweet deals for stuff in the shop ;)

And don't forget, if you want to order anything, use the code THANKFUL15 from Friday through Monday to get free shipping on everything in the shop.

Again, I hope everyone has a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Gifts for the Kiddos

A couple weeks ago, my niece and nephew celebrated their birthdays, and in true Amy-fashion, their gifts were super late!

Luckily for me, the kids enjoyed them more for the fact that they didn't expect them, and it was more of a surprise ;)

The cause for late-ness was the fact that I decided to make my niece a hop-scotch, and I should know better by now than to think I can make a gift in any decent amount of time! I was so stressed last Christmas because I wanted all of my gifts to be home made, and I should have learned my lesson.

Oh well, they always get done eventually....

Anyway, here are some pictures of the hop-scotch!




It wasn't too hard to make, just time consuming. Hand sewing is just something I don't have as much patience for as I would like! But all it takes to make this is some embroidery thread, scissors, and felt squares from the craft store. They're only 25 cents a piece, so it's very inexpensive! 

Our nephew is twelve this year, and I honestly don't have a clue what to buy a twelve year old boy. It's that awkward stage between kid and adult and I have a hard enough buying for guys in general. So, since Dane didn't really have time to go get something, I sent a box full of cash filled balloons!




I figured it would be great gift at any age, because A) cash and B) balloons! Who wouldn't want to get that in the mail?

Their cards I just slapped together, but I had a little bit of fun playing around with gouache and Photoshop to make them. I wasn't thrilled enough with them to offer them in the shop, but I thought they turned out pretty cute.


What do you do for your kids/nieces and nephews? Would they appreciate a home-made gift, or is it store bought all the way?

Thanks for stopping by!

It's Christmas Time in the Brightly Done Shop!

I know it's only the beginning of November, but when you're in the greeting card game, that means getting Christmas cards up and going!

I've been working like crazy lately on my new holiday line, and today I listed a bunch of new products!

Yesterday marked my shop's one year birthday, and I feel like I've grown a lot in this last year. I love being able to see improvement in my stuff, and I'm hoping for a successful holiday season!

Here are a few of my favorites that I listed today.







Isn't it amazing what a year's time can do?

I'm so excited with how everything turned out, and I have even more stuff to list in the next week or two, so keep an eye out for that. I also feel like maybe a giveaway is in order in the near future ;)

For right now, as a little gift for all of my awesome blog readers, here's a 15% off coupon for anything in my shop for the next two weeks! Just use the code EARLYBIRD15 at checkout.

To see everything else in the shop, check it out here! Or click on the shop tab above.

And I'm curious, what's your favorite new product so far? Let me know!

Now I'm off to make dinner and maybe change out of my sweats. The life of a designer really is so glamorous ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Afternoon Sessions Vol. 7: New Things are Coming!

You guys! This is a very exciting week :) (even though I've been down with a nasty cold!)

I know that Halloween is this weekend, but honestly, this year I have jumped right past that. I'm in Christmas mode already! But, November is only three days away, so I don't feel too guilty. 

I finished my Christmas cards a couple days ago, and I'm working on/almost done with several other new products for the shop. I will have things ready to list in the shop at the beginning of next week! EEEK!!

I have loved being able to look back and see how much my stuff has changed from last year to this. I feel like I have learned a lot, and I can see a lot of improvement. I'm hoping for a successful holiday season this year!

So, here's a little sneak peak of some stuff I'll be listing soon...



Also, as I mentioned last week, I have another big piece of news! There's an upcoming craft market that I get to sell at this year!

Saturday, December 5th I will be at the Hip-Holiday Craft Market at the Flying M Coffee Garage in Nampa. My mom and I got a space together, and we will have Christmas decor, knit goods, bags, and of course, all of my paper goods :)

I tried to do this show last year, but it filled up fast! And in hind-sight, I think I probably wasn't really prepared for it anyway. 

I would love to see you all there, and if you want more information, you can check out their website here.

I am so excited to be rolling out some new products, and I hope they're well received! It's been a lot of work, but it's been a lot of fun too. It's way past due that I expand my product line, and some of my old favorites will also be getting a face lift :)

So that's enough of the shop talk, here's some more of what I've been up to this week!

Reading: This tutorial on how to make a floor pillow. I'm going to make a doggie bed for my little fur baby!

Drinking: Some chai tea this week. Sometimes it's nice to change things up a little. I am thinking about trying to find some good loose leaf chai. Those who know me best know that I'm a bit of a coffee nerd. I tend to only buy organic whole bean coffee (which I then grind at home myself) and the only coffee makers I own are a Chemex and a French press! But when it comes to tea, I always just buy Lipton or some other pre-bagged stuff. Not that it tastes bad, but I'm sure I could find better! With as much as I enjoy a good cuppa chai, I can only imagine how much I would love a really good loose chai blend!

Listening: To the Home Alone soundtrack on Spotify. It's one of my favorite Christmas movies, and I'm trying to save it for the first snow day! So in the meantime, I'm making do with the music. Also, um, you must be living under a rock if you haven't heard Adele's new single! It's amazing :)

Loving: On my little Lemon of course. Even though she's coming into that crazy puppy energy! We still get in lots of cuddle time, and she's been a sweet little snuggle buddy since I've been sick. Also, the fact that my in-laws got to come and stay with us last weekend! We don't get to see them often enough, and I'm glad we got to spend some time with them.

That's what's been happening around here lately, what about you? Are you geared up for Halloween or are you ready to be past it like I am? Let me know! :)

And as always, thanks for stopping by!


Afternoon Sessions Vol. 6: Little Lemon and a Shop Announcement!

So, I realized today that I haven't shared some exciting news that happened a few weeks ago...


Meet little Lemon, the newest little member of the family!

She's a miniature schnoodle, and as sweet as can be. I have been on the look out for a puppy for a while now, and she was a bit of an early Christmas present for me! When I went to look at her litter, I had a different puppy picked out, but when I saw her, my heart literally just melted!


She has been such a fun little addition to the family, and she pretty much steals the heart of everyone she meets!


I named her Lemon, after Liz Lemon from 30 Rock, but mostly I call her Little Lemon, Baby Lemon, Little Bean, or Little Lemon Bean. She seems to tolerate the ridiculous nick-names pretty well I think ;)

Another exciting thing around here lately is that the shop getting a huge boost! I registered my business name with the state, got a P.O. box, got accepted to sell at a very cool local Christmas market (more on that later) and I have a ton of new products that will be launching in the near future! :) :) :)

I will have Christmas cards, updated versions of some of my old favorite greeting cards, and some brand new products that I can't wait to share with you all! Christmas cards should be up by the end of the month, with the rest to follow soon!


Here's some of the other things my afternoons (and mornings, and evenings) have consisted of.

Reading- Lots of articles on puppy care tips and grooming tips! I don't think I've ever done so much research on an animal before!

Drinking- Coffee, coffee, coffee. But also, I've been doing better with drinking water :) I also had my first peppermint mocha of the season! I'm definitely more of a peppermint mocha kinda girl, than a psl one ;)

Listening- To the Ultimate Christmas Playlist on Spotify! It really helps get the juices flowing for Christmas card designs!

Loving- Cinnamon-Vanilla popcorn, my own recipe! Also, this China Glaze nail polish in Ravishing Darling that I bought at Sally Beauty Supply, and this perfect fall sweater from Maurices!

Our 7 Year Anniversary Weekend


It's well into October, but I forgot to mention that last month we celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary!

<3 <3 <3

I can't believe it's been that long already. I still remember when we started dating like it was yesterday! But, seven great years it has been, and I can't wait for the many more to come. Every day I know I am so blessed to have the amazing husband I do, and I still consider myself the luckiest girl in the world!

This year we decided to spend a night away, but not too far away. We drove about an hour-ish from where we live to Idaho City. It's a cute, tiny little town that has been described as a living ghost town! It is full of so much history, and at one point in it's gold rush hey-day, it was bigger than Portland! (though you wouldn't know it now).

There are a lot of very cool historic buildings there, and we had a great time walking around the town and looking at them.



For the evening, we went to a hot springs that has been built into a spa and resort, and we spent the night in an adorable little cabin!


As those of you who have been following this blog for a while know, I love to do special things for our anniversary weekends, and this definitely fit the bill!

And if you're ever in the Boise area (or if you live here already) I definitely recommend taking the drive up to Idaho City and checking it out!

Afternoon Sessions Vol. 5: Busy as Bees


Phew! This month has been a busy one!

We kicked it off by going out of town for Labor Day weekend to see our friends and family in Oregon, we came home and work got crazy, we had to gear up to plant our back lawn, we celebrated and went out of town for our seven (!) year anniversary, and then came back and planted said lawn!

I have such a hard time getting back on schedule when I've been going so much, and I'm trying to get back into my routine.

And on top of that, I have a list of projects and to-dos ten miles long! However, most of it is really exciting stuff that I will be sharing in the weeks to come :)

So for today, I will just give you a little update, first and foremost on our yard!

Here is what it looked like a few weeks after we moved in, by the time we were able to give it any sort of attention! After pulling so many weeds, and mowing it all down, we realized there was almost no grass in it. It became clear very quickly that we were going to need to replant it this year, so we've been working on it a ton for the last month.


Can you see Dane in there picking weeds somewhere?? Haha!

And here is it now! Granted, there was an in between when we were mowing everything down, but bare dirt still seems like an improvement over that. Now grass seed is down, and as long as I can keep from killing it, we will have a decent lawn to enjoy next summer :D


We are so excited, and it's a pretty big item off the to-do list for the house.

Now, on to the rest of what I've been up to the last few weeks!

Reading- A knitting pattern! I know, technically that's not really the same as reading a book, but I'm still pretty excited about it, and I can't wait to share what I'm making with you all! Although, if you follow me on Instagram, you already know what it is. If you don't follow me on Instagram, why not?? ;)

Drinking- Too much coffee again, and cherry-lime La Croix!

Listening- To this cover of Bad Blood by Megan Davies. It's so pretty that I decided I had to learn it. I've never really gotten the hang of finger picking on the guitar, but I think I finally got this one down!

Loving- That the first day of fall is tomorrow!! Whoop! And I bought some pretty new plaid scarves to get me through my most favorite season, and they are so cozy it's ridiculous. Also, I busted out my fall decor yesterday! It's a good week for Amy ;)

I'll be back later this week to share some of our anniversary pictures with you, and fill you in on some of the exciting things coming up!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy (almost) fall to y'all!

Recipe of the Month: Chicken with Honey-Beer Sauce


As part of my 26 before 26 list, I wanted to try a new recipe every month for the next year!

I have so many recipes pinned on my Pinterest boards, and yet I still end up making the same things over and over again. Being in a food rut is such a hard thing to get out of, so I'm hoping that I will find some new favorites to add to my repertoire!

I tend to cook with chicken a lot, so I decided to make this first month a little easier by picking a chicken dish. This one is anything but typical though, and it was so full of flavor!

It's called chicken with honey-beer sauce, and what really drew me in (besides the beer...and the shallots) was the fact that the sauce also includes mustard!


I am a huge, HUGE mustard fan! So any recipe that incorporates that is a winner in my book.

Dane and I both really enjoyed this dish, and I think it has made it onto the roster!

So if you're looking for a way to jazz up your chicken, I recommend trying out this recipe. Check it out over at So How's It Taste? and give it a whirl :)


Thanks for stopping by!

Afternoon Sessions Vol. 4: Blog Updates

This afternoon, you may have noticed that the blog looks a little different!

I was so tired of how it looked, and I've been in the process of re-desgning my logo and brand all summer. With other projects, house renovations, and work, it's been a slow one! So, I decided to go ahead and make some of the changes now that were a little easier to do, and when I do get my new logo done,  I will update my header here on the blog :)

Also, I made my August recipe of the month last week, as part of my 26 before 26 list! So I should be sharing that later this week. It was a good one!


Reading- About some of the cutest little doggies over at Wit & Whistle, and highlights from the NYNOW Stationary Show over at Oh So Beautiful Paper! Such great inspiration :)

Drinking- Water! So, so much water!

Listening- Nothing really this week. I keep thinking I should put on A Fine Frenzy though! Her music always makes me think of fall :)

Loving- This sweater from Target! I've been (over) wearing it so much lately, but it's definitely my new favorite! I bought it in green, but they have it in several colors and I want to go buy another one. Also, the fact that we started tilling up our backyard this week! We should get to plant in a couple of weeks, which will be super awesome! It's been a weed patch all summer, and having actual grass will be nice.

Bridal Shower Invitations: Raechel's Italian Shower!

I just recently remembered another invitation project I got the privilege of designing a couple of months ago, and I had intended on sharing them sooner!

Better late than never though, I always say ;)

These were a fun one for me, in part because they were such a challenge!


My friend Amber contacted me to design these invites for her best friend's bridal shower, and since it was at a pizzeria, she wanted the theme to be Italian. I'll be honest, when I think of Italian, I don't think of bridal shower, but she was picturing a cute little bistro with red checkered table clothes, and so I went from there!

After some Pinterest searches for inspiration, I felt like I got it nailed down, and I was very happy with how they turned out!

Sometimes it's nice to get outside of your comfort zone once in a while!



I really like when an invitation has an interesting background, whether it's a color, print, or pattern, so I wanted to incorporate the red checkers all the way onto the back. It's just a nice point of interest that can give an invite that little extra something!

These were a fun one for me, and I'm looking forward to seeing what other kinds of requests I might get to push me a little bit.

Do you ever get satisfaction from a project that took you out of your comfort zone? Or is it just me? Let me know! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Afternoon Sessions Vol 3: Pick Me Ups


The last couple weeks have been a blur of slump-y-ness for me. (Yes, I know that's not a real word, haha!)

Every afternoon it seems I am sluggish and tired. I've been getting head aches, and just feeling blah.
I decided that it's because I'm in almost the worst shape of my life! It's been years since I have been this inactive, and it's taking it's toll.

With so much going on with the house and work, I've been too busy to make too much of an effort in the working out department. So, I'm making it a goal to start walking more, and utilizing my gym membership (oops!).

But, my gym doesn't offer one thing that I really used to love doing, and that's yoga!

I got started with a very cool yoga program on Youtube from Yoga with Adriene a few months ago (recommended by my awesome s-i-l Emily! Hi Emily!), and then life got busy. So I have just started back in and it is just the boost I needed!

So now when I get into my afternoon slump, I just get in my yoga session and I feel much better!

She has a Thirty Days of Yoga program that is a great place to start for anyone wanting to get into it as well :)

I also decided to give a leeetle bit more structure to these afternoon session posts of mine, like I used to back in the day, so here goes!


Reading- Lots of blog posts! (That's all I read these days ;) ) Gorgeous floral sketches from Shannon Kirsten, Emma Chapman's house buying story over at A Beautiful Mess (which I totally understand, since we just went through the whole process ourselves!) and all things branding related from Elle & Co. Also, I can't forget to shout out to my friend Toni and her new blog, Home Sweetly Home! She posts a lot of great recipes and tips (plus beautiful pictures of her house!) so you should definitely check it out!

Drinking- Iced lattes. Yum! And La Croix, to try to break my diet soda habit!

Listening- To Lullatone. I heard of them from Amanda at Wit & Whistle (she uses their songs in her videos!), and they are so relaxing!

Loving- That the weather is cooling down. Fall is on it's way, I can feel it! I've already been busting out my sweaters! Also, those little succulents pictured above that I bought for my kitchen! I may move some of them to my office, but until it's a little more organized, they'll stay put. And can I let you in on a dirty little secret?.....They're fake! I bought them at hobby lobby because, you know, brown thumb and all.

What have your afternoons consisted of lately? Do you ever get into slumps, and what do you do to perk yourself up? Let me know! I'd love to hear :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Baby Shower Invitation: Allison and Baby Brielle

A couple months ago I had the pleasure of doing some adorable baby shower invitations!

A friend of mine reached out for me to design the shower invitations for her best friend and the little girl she is having soon.

The theme was gold and coral, which is such a gorgeous, feminine choice and just perfect for a baby girl! I love pretty much all things gold, so I was very excited about that.



I was even asked to calligraph the envelopes which was very cool. I hadn't ever done that for someone else (only my own personal projects), so it was a great experience, and I enjoyed the practice! I may even list it as an add on option in the shop soon for future potential orders.

I love doing invitations so hopefully you will be seeing more of them featured here in the future!

Thanks for stopping by!

Afternoon Sessions Vol 2: Brush Brush Brush

No this isn't a post about brushing your teeth, but that's what I thought of as soon as I wrote that post title! This afternoon session focus is on brush lettering!

This week I've been practicing a lot with my water colors and trying to get a handle on this whole brush letter thing. I just love the look of it, and I've been wanting to incorporate it a lot more into some of my new designs

I feel like I am making some progress, and it's feeling more natural all the time! I'm by no means anywhere close to where I want to be though, so more practice, here I come.

I think I'm going to need more paper though...

Here's a few shots of my progress (some of you may have seen some of them on instagram!).




I'm having a lot of fun with this, and hopefully I will be adding some new stuff to the shop soon!

I'm also gearing up for tomorrow night. We're going to be seeing Brandi Carlile and Iron and Wine in concert! Brandi has been one of my favorites for a long time, and this will be the fourth time I've seen her in concert. Plus, she has a penchant for touring with some of Dane's favorite singers (a few years ago we saw her with Ray LaMontagne) and he has been wanting to see I&W for a long time.

It's the first concert of the summer for us, and we're pretty excited!

Now I have to go, because this afternoon also includes my oven getting repaired. I've been without it for two and a half weeks, and I'm so ready to have it fixed!

Thanks for stopping by!



Afternoon Sessions: New Carpet, New Office!

Welcome to a new little series I plan on doing here on the blog!

It's called Afternoon Sessions, and basically it will be a once a week update on what I'm currently doing. Kind of like the older currently link-ups I used to do, but less structure and more ramble-y ;)

And this afternoon I really wish I could be sleeping!

For some reason lately I have been burning out and feeling like a little siesta late afternoon, which is odd because I'm not a napper. I usually end up waking feeling sick and out of sorts, so I try to avoid them, but it makes it hard when I all I want to do is doze off!

As a trade off, I'm relaxing and sketching on our new sofa in my new office that has new carpet! Yes, we finally got our carpet installed, and it has made such a huge difference. Being able to be off of (most) of the nasty, dirty particle board floors is amazing, and we are really loving it!

Now I can get started on setting up my office, and the most fun part, decorating!!

Here's a little mood board I made to get me started.
It's been a while since I've been able to totally decorate a room from scratch, so I'm pretty excited!

That's all I'm up to this afternoon, how about you? Anything fun, new, or exciting taking up your afternoons currently? Let me know!

Thanks for stopping by!

Copper Mugs!


Here's the first completed item off of my twenty-six before twenty-six list! Copper mugs, check! I've been wanting more copper things in my kitchen, and these mugs have been on my mind for a while now. Then my friend found some on clearance and I just had to go for it! They are so cute, and super fun to drink out of. I just want to drink everything out of them from now on!



Copper mugs: Walmart, similar.

Thanks for stopping by!

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