Philippians 1:27 Inspirational Download

I designed this "mirror" reminder for myself and thought I'd share for whoever may also need an inspirational quote to start the day. Click on the image above or click here to download the 8"x10" image.

My new favorite font: Phateon, and a Quinceañera invitation

I fell in love with this font when I saw this carnival-inspired invitation set designed by 45 Wall Design. It inspired me to use it for my sister's Quinceañera invitation. I couldn't wait to share it~ it's one of my favorite invitation designs I've done yet! And the party is going to be a-ma-zing!

Other fonts and elements I used:
Rosewood
Adobe Wood Type Ornaments
Twine brush {designed by me, free brush download available for Adobe Illustrator, too}

*If you ever have any questions about a design I post, please let me know. I'm still learning, but I love to share my findings!

Sheky's 2nd Birthday Party Banner Invitation

I have a lot of catching up to do on posting the many graphic design jobs I've done lately. Wedding season and Spring birthdays are upon us! I wanted to photograph each one, printed out and with their envelopes, but I probably won't get to do that until after our move in July. So, meantime, here's an invitation I did for my niece. I loved her birthday party--there was a cotton candy machine!

Photoshoot: Kids in swimsuits

Here I am pretending to be a photographer again. This time it was easy because the models were just that: perfect models! I snapped away while these kids pretty much posed themselves, and soon enough I was left with these shots:

We shot at a park, so the "sand" pictures needed a little photoshop love to take out the cement blocks around them. But they rocked it like it was a real beach!


*one other note: i'm going for the more "natural" look in my photos, so most of these are very minimally edited, but I was playing around with some photoshop actions from Florabella, rain and london, and liked the feel of them. Otherwise, I'm trying to steer away from the vintage, cross-processed look. It won't be trendy for much longer and I want a more classic look to my photos. Agree? Do you like the cross-processed look?

Franco's grad announcement

He did it! Franco graduated last weekend. It was a perfect, perfect day. I'm so proud of him. He's going to be a terrific doctor.

Fun trampoline family photo

Doesn't this family look like they're having so much fun? They're so acrobatic! I had a blast taking their family photos.

p.s. yes, this was photoshopped. =)

N + E's photoshoot at the park

This is the first of many shoots I will share in the near future, but I wanted to start off with one of my favorites of Naomi and Ethan. Just look at the plays on emotion from one photo to the next--pure joy, timidity, puzzlement, playfulness, love, and seriousness. I could look at these pictures over and over and find something new each time.

Newborn photo shoot: Lil J

I'm by no means a professional photographer, but a friend asked me to take pictures of her baby J last month. We had to have a couple of shoots because the most horrible thing that can happen to a photographer happened after the first shoot: I lost 90% of the images. Long story, but they were irrecoverable so gratefully my friends forgave me and were willing to do it again. And here are some of the results! Welcome to the world, Baby J! {Yes, he was awake for most of the shoot, but we did get him to sleep in a cozy crocheted coccoon~ I'll share those soon, you'll die of cuteness.}

Graduation Party Plan: tissue paper decorations

My husband Franco is graduating in less than three weeks! I haven't even finished mailing out the invitations yet! Ahh! I am, however, carefully planning the decorations. So even if no one shows up because they didn't get the invitation on time, the decorations are going to be so rad.

I'm going economical + d.i.y. and using a lot of tissue paper. First up, the garlands: (credits linked below their respective photos)

fringed tissue garlands + fringe layers

d.i.y. confetti system garland + glitter letter garland {mine's going to say "congrats!"}

These are made using crepe paper, but they're so simple, I can't wait to make them!

zig zag accordion streamers d.i.y.

Newborn Photography Tips

Allongée dans l'herbe: Photoshoot with my nieces

 

 

 

 

Last weekend was kind of cloudy, but it didn't keep me from having this little photoshoot with my nieces, Aaliyah and Shekendra, and sisters in law, Iris and Mayra. We went to a lemon orchard in Iris' backyard and turns out it makes for a great backdrop for Spring photos! The girls sucked on lemons and played hide and seek between the long aisles of citrus trees.

Aaliyah, who will be three next week {in the flowered top}, was so funny. We told her to run around in the grass, and she would, but then she'd suddenly stop and twirl with her arms outstretched, her smiling face looking up at the sky, which is what she's doing in the montage above. We thought it was cute, but we didn't know why she was doing it. It wasn't until while we were watching the princess movie Tangled later that night that Iris said, "That's why she would twirl with her arms wide open--she's copying Rapunzel from the movie!" And it was so true! She's princess Aaliyah, even in a lemon orchard. Ah, to be three again!

**allongée dans l'herbe: loosely-translated french for "frolicking in the meadow."
©acastrejon design, 2011. all rights reserved.

My favoritest salad recipe download

Today I want to share my favorite salad recipe to-date: the Spinach, Apple, & Avocado salad. Yum. It's truly the dressing that makes the salad, a perfect mixture of sweet and tangy that cause your taste buds to go all a-flurry. Plus it doesn't hurt that it includes avocado, which I can eat (and have eaten) alone with a spoon. Sorry if that's gross.

The original recipe I found was from Real Simple, but I made some modifications. Click on the image below to download the printable pdf of my favorite recipe. It may become yours, too!

Salad Ingredients:

2 Gala apples, cored, and diced
2 tablespoons lemon juice (you'll need more for the dressing)
2 (5-ounce packages (8 cups) fresh baby spinach leaves (I bought a large bag at Trader Joe's for $1.99)
1 firm-ripe avocado, peeled and diced
4 strips of cooked turkey bacon, crumbled
1/4 cup red onion, sliced into thin pieces
Optional:
To add a little more sweet to the sour, add a handful of dried cranberries
To add a little more sour to the sweet, add a handful of crumbled goat or feta cheese


Salad Dressing:

2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
Ground pepper to taste


Directions:
1. Toss apples with 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice. Place spinach in a large bowl; remove long stems and bruised leaves. Chop loosely. Toss spinach with apples, bacon, and onion (and other optional ingredients except avocado and cheese).
2. Make dressing: In a small container with lid, mix together the 2 tablespoons lemon, oil, honey, pepper and vinegar. Be careful with the vinegar--add it little by little. I put too much in the first time and the dressing was very bitter. It's supposed to be more sweet than sour, unless you want it to taste sour. Close the lid firmly on the container and shake it to combine all the ingredients.

3. Toss the salad ingredients with the dressing. Divide between four bowls. Top with the avocado and cheese.

Relief Society Birthday Celebration balloon invitation

A balloon invitation I designed for my church's women's organization, the Relief Society. I love the whimsical, retro-look of the tangelo, mint, and gray color palette. My inspiration: these Zara Picken's illustrations.

Chalkboard lettering by Dana Tanamachi

A chalkboard + Dana Tanamachi + brilliant design & typography = swoon.

I Love You, Deeply: Free Valentine's Day Card Printable

Hi luvs! Today I was inspired by Mr. Derek Weathersbee's brilliant font, Franchise, so much, that I wanted to make a little something that you can enjoy, too! {He even inspired the "ad-like" design below, similar to his own ad for his font.}

Here's a honeysuckle-colored "I Love You" card for you to use for Valentine's Day, an anniversary, a birthday, or any day of the year you feel like telling someone you love them. There are two files, one for the outside and one for the inside, you'll probably have to play around with your printer settings to print it out right. I made it the size of a regular sheet of paper, 8 1/2 x 11 so it should be pretty simple. Wouldn't it look great on some thick, texture-y cardstock? Can't wait to share my love in a pretty card! Happy weekend!

Click on each link below to download the PDFs:

As always, please do not use for commercial purposes. Thank you!