my dear friend & fellow recent mommy melody with sweet and saucy shop introduced me to this fabulous collection of modern baby books. now i will admit, when melody said “have you gotten your baby book yet?” i made an “ew” face and thought “no way, they are much to cheesy for me!”. then she showed me her book from ruby love. WOW, i was instantly impressed by how fresh and modern it was. everything from the chic, grey, patterned fabric, to the super cute page details, even the colorful milestone stickers. i knew then that i NEEDED one too!!

so i contacted ruby love, and julie created an amazing aqua blue, with grey and orange interior book for baby james. it matches the nursery completely, and i don’t feel like i have lost my sense of personal style with those outdated babybooks that you find at michael’s. bleh!!! i even told julie that my book is so beautiful that i am afraid to even write in it and mess it up. good thing she sells replacement pages in case i do…because i’m a perfectionist like that!!

here is a bit more information about ruby love from julie…

- what inspired you to start your baby book collection?
i’ve been a graphic designer for over ten years and when my son was born almost 5 years ago, i searched for a cute, modern baby book. sadly, all I found were cheesy, ugly, tacky books that had very little relevant info for moms of today! so… with the encouragement of my husband, i designed my own and the ruby love baby book came to be!

- how many various fabric options do people have?
we have over 150 different album cover fabrics to choose from. we have solid colors, floral, paisley, mod circle and geometric, stripes, dots, organic cottons, damask, chevron, novelty prints, and even animal prints… each book is handmade and there is a fabric for everyone!

- what is your most popular design?
our most popular album is our dwell studio blue animals print. it’s a dwell studio print, so it’s beautiful and trendy but the animals keep it classic!

- what turnaround should people expect when ordering?
if you see an album on our website or in our etsy shop we have it in stock and ready to ship! so you can expect to have your baby book in hand within a week or two (depending on where you live!)

it’s super, super easy to get started…check out julie’s handmade books on etsy, or you can also build your book on her website. to keep up with what’s new, be sure to follow her blog!

all i know is i have now found my gift of choice for my girlfriend’s future baby showers!

congratulations to both christina and her hubby james, such an amazing gift for two very incredible people!!!

xoxo,
kerisa

(credit: orange dress, cover magazine may 2011 issue; record invite-etsy; globe-clayton austin photography; travel lettering-etsy; hanging records-emily porter photography; postcards-clayton austin photography)

so i wanted to share with you a peek into our world of baby prep and inspiration!! yes…i am that crazy planner that not only created a design board for our baby’s nursery, i also did a space plan layout for the room furniture, closet plans, and art wall. so so grateful to james for allowing me to be a “nutty nester”, and take on all these projects. that guy is insanely talented!!

for the room, we wanted to created a clean, modern and fun space that was inspired by things important to us. so immediately we decided to pull inspiration from music and travel…which are both huge parts of our lives!! we gravitated towards a palette of aqua blue, crisp white, and shades of grey as our base colors (of course!!). since we weren’t initially planning to find out if luvbug (baby’s nickname) was a boy or girl, i figured these colors would allow us a neutral base to build in fun accent colors later on. we ended up having a gender reveal baby shower to share in the excitement with our family and friends. so now that we know luvbug is a boy (who we are naming james v, since my husband is james iv) i added pops of bright tangerines to keep that fun, modern look in his space!

below is the inspiration board i created, which gives you a glimpse into the fun little world we are creating for j5 (james’s nickname)!!

also for fun, i wanted to share these chill maternity photos my beautifully talented friend candice with mark brooke photographers captured of us just being us…in our home, nesting & relaxing!! for more, check out their blog!

my dream vacation spot includes all of my favorite things together in one place: elephants, nature, massages, and romantic dinners. what more could a girl ask for?! at the four seasons in thailand they offer visits to baby elephant camps, spa treatments, and mahout training and trekking. a perfect option for a honeymoon or for anyone looking for a destination wedding.

oh and here’s an interesting thai legend…that a marriage is like an elephant: the husband is the front legs, that choose the direction, the wife the back legs, providing the power. love how you need both for a strong marriage!

now that i’ve shared my dream vacation spot what’s yours?

xoxo,
kerisa

here’s a colorful designboard i cooked up that was inspired by her collection!!

(credit: invitation suite-cheree berry; cake-martha stewart weddings; refreshments-martha stewart weddings; hot-air balloon-jose villa photography; tablescape-martha stewart weddings; fashion-love made visible)

so you had to go and make me fall in love with you even more with your upcoming wedding collection? waiting till next month for the launch seems SOOO far away, but our smw brides and i will be excitedly waiting!

we love your trendsetting awesomeness!!!!

this week in my business communications class i learned some interesting facts about the way that men and woman communicate with each other. on average a man uses only 700 words a day. a woman on the other hand uses 3300 words a day. that is nearly 5 times more than a man. so sometimes when we sit and ponder why our man is being quiet and we interpret this as being “distant” or something wrong we need to do our best to remember that men are different than us. they may not have a million things running through their heads at one time, or could be that they’ve already used up most of their words for the day and are enjoying the sweetness of thinking about nothing. oh how i wish i was able to just turn off my brain and stop thinking for once!!!

so my advice to couples this valentine’s day season is to stop the thinking and explaining in full detail and keep it simple. everything important can be said in 3 syllables, 8 letters, and 3 words…. i love you. plain and simple but more meaningful than any other combination of 3 words.

just keep it simple and tell your loved one how you feel, “i love you”. simply perfect. hope you all had a happy valentine’s day…

love love love
kate

(credit: i-urban outfitters; love-justine smith; u-etsy)

now i’m older and have less patience to craft, but i’m always getting inspired by the fabulous craftiness of others. of course my obsession with pinterest makes me feel like i can find that little kid in me again!!! here are some projects that i am adoring for tomorrow’s valentine’s day celebration.

i also LOVE how you can utilize many of these fun crafts into your wedding design and decor!!

(credits: coffee cup holder-eat drink chic; rice krispy treats-babies paper song; heart straws-the knotty bride; wax paper hearts-martha stewart; paint chip valentine-country living; movie night invitation-eat drink chic; valentine’s macarons-chudleigh weddings)

my team and i love it when we run across lovely little bits of inspiration. home decor & fashion is one of the things that inspires us the most! so imagine my delight when i saw this beautifully designed home on coco+kelley. it’s fun, with crazy girly pinks, reds, and hearts (neither are typically my faves)…but infused with cool modern pieces and graphics that make me say AMAZING!!!

hope you all have a beautiful weekend with the loves in your life!!

coolhaus
sweet lucies
fry girl
in-n-out
pinkberry
krispy kreme

or for anyone thinking of throwing a little get together martha stewart’s website has some amazing recipes and tips. i love this mini lobster roll for a new england inspired fête!

xoxo,
kerisa

(credit: corndogs-food network; milk & cookies-style me pretty; tacos & patron-readyluck photography; tomato soup & grilled cheese-brides; ice cream-inspired by this; sliders)