Canopy Tree Services

Well for those of you that think I was too busy to do anything creative this summer, you're very much mistaken. I may not have been "crafting" but I had/have many creative projects on the go still.

Here is another that I'm finally getting around to sharing... Canopy Tree Services.

I was approached to do a logo for a local Tree Service company earlier this year. A long time family friend has been at this successfully for a few of years now and finally decided to get a logo done. As usual, my response to being asked to help is "Of course. I'd love too."

If you have never watched a Tree Service company work, you really should. This is crazy work! I will recommend Grant to anyone who needs help with trees in their yard or property. It is fascinating to watch, totally dangerous and with the heat we had this summer, exhausting work. But Grant is passionate, knows his #$%&, always smiling and just one of the kindest people I know.

When he approached me to do work on this he really wanted a tall tree with a canopy depicted in the logo. The problem I had with that was that every tree service company seems to use the same silhouette of a guy climbing a tall tree. I wanted Grant's logo to be different.

A couple of back and forth emails and here is the final product.

Oh, and being that I had a few trees that needed trimming and a few that needed removing, I had that done too! Charlie, my Dad and I got to be honorary employees for the day...

Megan and Brandon - Wedding Invitations

Well this project was a fun! Not only did I get to play with all sorts of really cool papers (awesome), but I sort of rekindled an old friendship if you will.

It starts like this: Megan is my God-sister. My sister (Melanie) and I grew up doing many things with Megan and her older sister (Katie). Our parents are best friends you see. So, us four gals swam all Summer in each others pools, did Girl Guides, spent time at their Sand Lake cottage, got the same dogs (Buddy and Molly - Bichon Frises), even celebrated a Christmas together in Florida once. But, as life goes on, you hit highschool and everyone goes their separate ways and indulges in their own interests. And of course from there off to College/University. Megan, the youngest of the four of us, trekked across country to British Columbia for school and many years passed that we didn't see each other. The occasional session with our Moms probably filled us in on each others lives.

Eventually Megan moved back to Ontario and in a nutshell, met Brandon, fell madly in love and got engaged. As time went on, I learned Megan and I had another connection through a mutual Yoga friend. Our paths crossed a few times and it was fun running into her and briefly catching up. Last year when I moved into my new house, Megan wasted no time coming over to visit Charlie and I. We got lost in our chatter and it was so fun getting to know her again. She is such a bright and positive spirit, it is very contagious. She took me out for my birthday last year to a guided mediation/yoga class. We sat and cried listening to each others readings and spent hours in the car talking some more. Not long after that, she asked me if I would be interested in designing her wedding invitations. I jumped at the opportunity.

Of course after our initial consultation, I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into. I’ve never worked with a Bride with such complicated invitation dreams. Not from a design standpoint- from an assembly standpoint. I've cut, pasted, tied, taped, glued and bedazzled more than my share of wedding invitations, but these invites were probably going to double that! lol. Pocketed folding cards with sparkle paper, shimmer paper, monograms and of course ribbon and lace and pennies. I wish I could take credit for some of the awesome ideas, but this all came from Megan.

Here is a sampling of her wish list:
- Classy
- Cream/Taupe/Rose with Red??
- Canada Day - hints of it
- Pocket folder
- Lace? Ribbon?
- Initials
- Layered inserts
- Particular Fonts
- Kitchen sink (kidding. sort of.)
- What do you think of a Penny??
- Love this red envelope
She had her heart set on a few things which I love to see. But struggled to make decisions on others. This is overwhelming for most Brides as there are really no limits.

I was excited and trying to contain myself. Fancy paper is like candy to me. I want to touch it and smell it. My mind races about the possibilities as I move them around to find combos I like. But, alas, this was not my wedding and I was there to listen to her wishes and guide her in the decision making process.

Between talking and paper samples, it took two more sit downs over tea and cupcakes to finalize the design and put together a plan to assemble them. The plan: get our Moms to drink champagne and tape paper for a few hours. After all, they wanted to help. Right?
So here we are, 4 hours of taping, laughing, ,drinking, eye-rolling, taping some more, drinking some more, gluing and stuffing envelopes.

I am happy to have people help assemble. But I cut everything.

Cheers!

The final result was pretty awesome I think we hit just about everything on her wish list. The penny is the icing on the cake for me. So cool!!

As a little side project in keeping with the Canadiana theme, she asked for tags she hang on the wedding favors - Maple Syrup of course. She hoped to use a line for the National Anthem as well, “with glowing hearts”. Does this get any more clever?!

These were attached to little bottles of maple syrup.

So the wedding is over and I know that Megan and Brandon will live happily ever after. I’m honoured to have been able to help and witness them celebrate their day. More importantly, I’m excited to have recreated a friendship with someone I have known my whole life. It’s been a great year getting to know her again and support each other in these new ventures.

Congratulations Megan and Brandon.