Details, Details

Custom work is my favorite. I love it when a bride knows what she wants and this bride definitely did. Natalie was great to work with and it was fun working to create her vision for each piece for her wedding.

To start with, she had these Save the Dates that featured one of their engagement photos. Such a great way to announce your day.

In lieu of the traditional program, Natalie opted for fans. The doodled wedding party on one side of the fan is so unique! On the flip side, the events for the evening.



Natalie took photos from their big day and turned them into her thank you notes. These were a flat card that had this on one side and the other was blank for the written note. What a great idea?


All are creative ideas that could be used for your special occasion. Even if these are not exactly what you have in mind, maybe they will spark an idea or your own.

Fun Day at the Zoo

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day here in Alabama, so we decided to take full advantage of the day and spend it outdoors. Although I have lived in Birmingham for over 4 years, I had never been to the zoo...so we went! We had a lot of fun and I got some cool shots of some of the creatures living inside.




Visit my Flickr site to view more photos from my zoo adventure!

My Latest Creative Project

In the past weeks (or months) the biggest creative project in my life has been the nursery of our soon-to-be baby girl. As of yesterday, I'm considering it done! It has been so much fun getting it all together, but it has also been a ton of work. Here are some photos of where our little angel will rest her head.

Here's her crib. The art on the wall is a decal from a fellow Etsy artist, Chuck E. Byrd. The design went perfect with the look I was going for in the room.



We got the valance to go with the bedding set. I am not one for "matchy matchy" rooms so I was unsure as to whether or not I would use it. After adding it on top of the curtains...I still wasn't sold. Well, after adding the sassy fringe and hot pink fuzzy balls to the base of it, I was definite that this was a perfect touch to the room. My very artistic, jack of all trades mother graciously added this touch for me!


The butterflies might be my favorite detail! The air vent in the room is close to them so they just lightly flutter around in the corner. I love them.


A painting to add some orange to the room. Painted by yours truly.


Hopefully as our little girl grows she will like her room as much as we do!

April Showers Bring May Flowers Part 2

I've been extremely busy in the past few weeks and have been neglecting my blog! Although, during this time, my flowers have continued to grow and bloom and make my garden more beautiful each day. How can you not love this time of year?

April Showers Bring May Flowers

We have had an extremely wet Spring here in the South. I have hardly even had to water my garden this year, with many thanks to Mother Nature. So many pretty flowers have started to bloom and it is just the beginning. Check out what we have so far...

Hibiscus in my backyard soaking in the rain.

Purple Clematis climbing our fence. This is always one of my favorites!

Double Knockout Roses line the front of our house and are blooming like crazy.

As more beauties begin to bloom, I will definitely share more photos.

Blog Construction

As most of you could probably tell, I have been making some changes to the layout of this blog. Please excuse the mess as I am doing this... I plan to finish within the next few days. Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Modern Elegant Save the Date

Last week, my internet was down for multiple days in a row, which in turn inspired me to create some new designs. One of the new designs is this Modern Elegant Pattern Save the Date. It is shown here in both white and ivory papers with red, black and brown ink, however this design translates beautifully to any color ink or paper.


Click here for more details on this design.

Custom Save the Date

Customization of any card is always something that is fun to do. I like to take each design and tweak it a little to make it perfect for each person.


This is one that I finished this week. I think the colors this bride chose look great with the design!

Spring is Blooming

Green has been showing everywhere for weeks now, but just over the weekend blooms are now everywhere as well. Spring is such a beautiful time of year. There has been an abundance of rain here lately, so I hope that only makes it that much more colorful this year!

The Snapdragons in my garden are more beautiful than ever!

New Ad Design

Last week, I finished designing a couple of new ads for Blissful Heights Integrative Medicine. Blissful Heights has been a client of mine for a while and they have made some major changes to the program. They are now offering many more therapies and services.

This is the new ad that will be running in the publications around town to promote the changes.

Wedding Invitation Package

The Elegant Lily Designer Wedding Invitation has been a popular choice for brides this season. I just finished up a 10 piece package for a bride that was shipped out earlier this week. I think the set came out lovely and hope she is pleased with the final result!


Interested in the set for yourself or someone you know? Here's the link to the listing for more details Elegant Lily Designer Wedding Invitation. You can also contact me directly for questions.

Girls, Inc Auction

This past Friday evening, Girls Inc. of Central Alabama held their fund raising event, "Glam and Golf" at Gus Mayer, in Birmingham, where there were silent auction items, store discounts, food, cocktails and more all benefiting this great organization. Girls Incorporated is a national nonprofit youth organization dedicated to inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold.

Claire Eye Design took part in the event by donating a variety of stationery items that were part of the silent auction. Below is a photo that was taken and sent to me of the set up at the event. I was honored to be able to be part of such a great event!

Baby Shower Invitation

This cute baby shower invitation is one that I did for a client a couple of weeks ago. The design is one of my favorites. I really like how the stroller is artistic and a little abstract. This invitation is perfect for a girl or a boy and can be customized in any color.


These can be purchased in my Etsy shop. Click here to access the direct link. You can also contact me directly for your custom order!

Atlanta Getaway

This weekend my husband and I decided to get away for a night and do something new. We headed a couple of hours to Atlanta and although we had both been to Atlanta many times, we did a few things that neither of us had ever done.

First, we went to the Georgia Aquarium, which I highly recommend if you have never been. You are sure to see something you have never seen. We saw Beluga Whales, Whale Sharks, Sea Otters and much more. I especially loved the Sea Otters. They were so cool! I'd like to have one as a pet. We were highly entertained while watching them. My favorite photo was of this Pacific Sea Nettle. I don't think I would want to come across this jellyfish while walking on the beach!

After enjoying the aquarium and a nice walk through Centennial Park, we decided to drive out to an Atlanta suburb called Lilburn, GA, to see the BAPS Swaminarayan Hindu Temple. It was amazing! I have never been inside of a Hindu temple before, so that in itself was quite an experience for me. The beauty of the temple and carvings were breathtaking. This is the largest traditional Vedic Hindu Temple of stone and marble to be constructed in the United States. We were only allowed to take photos outside. I guess you will have to go visit yourself to see inside! I have to say, it is worth the trip. Here are two photos of the outside. Isn't it beautiful?

Party Invitation

These fun invitations are perfect for any party being thrown for someone hitting a monumental birthday! This surprise party was for a 30th birthday celebration, although I think they work even better for those hitting higher marks. This design can also but used for any event or occasion to suit your needs. Contact me for your custom design.

Baby Announcement

It's a Boy! This is a custom designed baby announcement that I did a few weeks ago for a friend. Clay is such a cutie and complements this design well. These are not currently listed in my shop, but if you are interested in this design, just send me a email or message and I can get them worked up just for you!

Blueberries

As Spring is definitely showing it's face here in the south, my flower beds are slowly covering themselves in new green growth. Yay! Even better, I noticed that my blueberry plant is sprouting buds again this year! I'm so excited and can not wait to have fresh grown fruit. I got some shots on a rainy day and I think these photos really capture the beauty in the blooms.

Tree in Hawaii

I'm currently working on a positive thinking website for a client. In the process, I have been searching for photos I've taken in the past of trees for inspiration. I found this one. I took this in Maui, HI on a bike ride down Haleakala Canyon. It was at the end of the ride and I remember stopping just to get a shot of this tree. I still love this photo. Nature is quite inspiring for me.

Snow?!?!

After hanging out at a party last night, I realized word was out that it was supposed to snow. I have to admit, that after a week of weather in the 70's, many years of false snow predictions and the fact that it has not snowed since I have lived here in the past 4 years...I was a little skeptical. Although, this morning when I woke up to let Kona out for her morning ritual, there was indeed snow and it was still snowing!

This was Kona's first experience with snow. After testing things out, and realizing she didn't like to get her paws in the snow for more than a few minutes, I think she had a lot of fun playing in the new, cold, white, fluffy substance that was covering not only the grass but spring sprouts in the gardens as well.

Below are some photos of her playing.

Another Beautiful Painting

While checking on my ArtFire shop (which you can access by this link http://www.claireeyedesignartfire.com) I came across these very cool and extremely unique paintings.

These were painted by Lena Kotliarker. If you like these, there are many more where they came from...Click here to check out this wonderful artist's shop on ArtFire.

Birthday Invitation

The newest birthday invitation to leave the printer of Claire Eye Design, is this simple but cute invitation for my beautiful grandmother who will be turning 95 on Saturday! NINETY FIVE!!! I sure hope I live such a wonderful life and am lucky enough to be 95, healthy and as strong as she. Just try to do anything for this woman and she will definitely tell you that she is fully capable of doing it herself! I'm so looking forward to seeing all of my very large family at her birthday party next weekend.

Flamenco Dancer

A few weeks ago, my husband and I went to see Riverdance as part of the farewell tour. I had been wanting to see it for years and it took me knowing that it was on its way out for us to finally buy the tickets and go see it. We were blown away. I had no idea there would be so many types of dancing other than the traditional Irish dance.

One of the other dancers was a beautiful flamenco dancer who took part in both acts. This was the first time I had ever seen authentic flamenco dancing in person. I fell in love with the movements and the way she moved her dress with her feet. It was absolutely stunning! If you have never seen Riverdance live, I highly recommend going while it is on its last tour. The experience is well worth the money you will spend on the tickets.

While looking through some paintings on Etsy, I came across this one that made me think of the show and the dancer my husband and I found to be so beautiful.

What a great painting? I especially like the representation of movement in the dancer's dress. If you are interested in this painting or others by this artist. Carlos Ruiz was born in Madrid Spain but spent most of his life in France. You can click here to access the site where it is listed on Etsy.

Almost Spring

The weather here today is absolutely beautiful. There is not a cloud in the sky and it's a cool 70 degrees. Needless to say, I have had a hard time dragging myself indoors for any amount of time today. After a long walk in the park downtown and watching Kona (my adorable doggie) run wild and make many new friends, I came home and decided to clean out the dead brush in my flower beds. To my surprise, I found that my day lilies are sprouting!!! I can't believe it. I guess Spring in closer than we think. Look! Green is start to peek out everywhere. I can't wait to see everything begin to bloom.

The first two photos were taken in my back yard. These are Stella Doras that were planted before we moved in to the house. I probably need to break these up and move some of them to a different spot in the garden. As you can tell, there are a ton of them. Day lillies definitely like to multiply. One reason why I love them so much.



This photo was taken in my front flower bed. I planted these last year. They are a different variety of the ones in the back. The Stella Doras are bright yellow. These are fuschia and white. So pretty and I can not wait to see how these turn out for year number two!

Brief Vacation

Last week, I took a brief vacation to Chicago to visit my brother. It was a very low key trip but I managed to take a few photos of the snow that continued to fall the entire time I was there. The weather has been beautiful here in Alabama, and though I can not complain, it was nice to have a touch of Winter...even if only for a few days. These were taken out of the window of my brother's apartment one day while watching the snow fall.

Save the Date

As wedding season is approaching, I have decided to get busy on new invitation and save the date designs. Here is my newest design and I love it. I just added it to my Etsy shop yesterday. What do you think?