I like to consider the first of March the start of spring. It helps to convince me that winter is almost over! And that’s when most of us start to really clean up our lives and get organized…or at least we try to. I love to make lists when I’m getting organized and it’s the only way I can remember everything I need to get done! So I’m sharing my love of lists with you in this free printable notepad set.

Download Remember Notes (211)

The instructions are on the printable but I’ll type them out here too:

1/ print 30-ish copies

2/ cut to size with paper cutter

3/ cut a piece of cardboard backing (I used a cereal box)

4/ hold all sheets & backing together with binder clips

5/ use a silicone compound to paint the top edges and let dry!

 Now go make those spring cleaning to-do lists!

You are my heart-smitten blog designs (9613)

Our last couple of printable valentines are here and ready to use! Designed by two of our talented designers, Jacquelinne and Arianne. Above: “You Are My Heart” trendy print Valentine’s cards-prints 6 per sheet. Below: “Have a Happy Valentine’s Day” classic Valentine’s Day goodie bag toppers-prints 2 per sheet with a blank back to fold over and fits standard snack and sandwich bags. Enjoy and Happy Valentine’s Day!

Have a Happy Valentine's Day-Bag Toppers-Smitten Blog Designs (192)

All my love, Valentine--by Smitten Blog Designs (231)

Looking for unique valentine cards to hand out this year? Here they are! We put together these cards using cute little pixie girls custom illustrated by our very own, Heather. They are super easy–really, you just download/print/cut/give! There’s 4 Valentine’s per sheet.

Here are a few ideas for use: Tape to the front of a candy hearts box. Staple to a fun-size candy bag. Punch a hole in the corner and tie with ribbon around a baggie of candy. Have fun with these!

Heart-Filled Valentine Print-Smitten Blog Designs (126)

 My preschool-aged daughter is not happy with the lack of Valentine’s Day decorations at our house! So I collaborated on this simple print with our designer, Brooke, to frame for my daughter’s room. Just download, print, frame and voila! It looks very cute sitting on the shelf and now she’s satisfied with our holiday decor–at least until St. Patrick’s Day. Enjoy!

Valentine’s Day always seems to just jump out of nowhere and all of a sudden you’ve got parties, goodies, and 20+ valentine’s cards to make! We’ve done a few Valentine’s Day printables in the past and I’ve reposted our most popular one below as well as our brand new, modern Valentine party bags. They are all really easy to make and turn out very pretty when you have your whole stack of them waiting to be handed out! So here they are:

I'm tied up in knots over you. (133)

Our “Owl’s On A Branch” Valentine Cards (which can also be found on our printables page):

Owls on a Branch Valentines (3985)

It’s January.  While walking the aisles of the store searching for any remaining Christmas clearance items, I find it’s all been replaced with rows of containers, baskets and storage bins. . . and I drool!  This is the time of year when I get the itch to organize every aspect of my life. It might have to do with the fact that no one in my household had any semblance of a normal routine for the month of December!

Whatever it is, it’s a January thing and it comes every year.  At the top of my list is getting back into a regular meal planning/grocery shopping schedule.  A friend of mine had a great idea for a shopping/menu planning page, so I created three different coordinating versions because we might as well be stylish while wheeling through the grocery store with screaming children, right?!

Shopping List Meal Planning Made Pretty-green stripe (805)

Shopping List Meal Planning Made Pretty-blue chevron (902)

Shopping List Meal Planning Made Pretty-orange floral (680)

The top half of the notepad has three separate boxes to write a shopping list for each store you go to and you can use the bottom as your menu plan.

Just print and make your notepad using the instructions on the printable. You can even cut a piece of cardboard from a cereal box for the notepad backing and attach a magnet to hang it on the fridge. Too bad I can’t make cleaning out the “junk drawer” in my kitchen this easy! (You can view all of our other free printables HERE).

Trends are crazy because they come and go so fast. Each year our blog designs seem to evolve into what the latest trends are. There are a few stores I am constantly getting inspiration and direction on what’s new from. Here’s a few:

Target has really become a trendsetter–mostly for those of us who don’t want to spend a lot on our wardrobe. And fashion is very much tied to design. So here’s the Missoni for Target collection (which sold out within hours I hear):

We’ve actually used a lot of these patterns and color schemes in our blog designs. Personally I like it better in a blog design than on clothes, but blogs are more my department anyways!

They’ve also got a new Neiman Marcus collection and although it supposedly flopped (hello, we shop at Target for a reason $$$) their ads really had some cool graphic inspiration. They caught my attention anyways:

IMAGE VIA TARGET

Another place I like to go to for a source of design inspiration is Kate Spade. They use bright colors and bold patterns that look great together:

IMAGE VIA KATE SPADE

Interior designers use all the latest patterns and colors and one of my favorite sites for this is Little Green Notebook. Jenny is an amazing interior designer and I’ve been following her blog for years now. I love to get ideas for blog backgrounds and colors schemes from the decor collages she does. Here’s one below with some gold/orange/blue–we’ve used a lot of gold lately in our designs.

IMAGE VIA LITTLE GREEN NOTEBOOK

So here are a few of the recent custom designs we’ve done that include a lot of these trends. Of course you can always see much more in our portfolio here!

Every year Pantone comes out with their official “Color of the Year.” This is the color that the art/fashion/design/wedding world waits for so they can get planning. So this year the color is Emerald but while I love the color pictured above, I don’t think of that as Emerald. It has a little too much blue in it, right? Whatever you want to call it, though, I guess we’re going to be seeing a lot of it this year! So keep it in mind as you have us design your new logo, business card or blog!

What do you think of the 2013 color of the year?

Have a Happy New Year!

-The Smitten Design Team

Yes it is and we are taking a short break for the holidays. We will be back afterwards with some great posts for you though: blogging tips, fun finds, and of course, some free printables because what’s a Smitten post without those? Our custom design queue is now scheduling for January 7th so hold your spot now by emailing us at smittenblogdesigns@gmail.com. We hope all our readers are taking a break and spending time with loved ones! Merry Christmas!

-Smitten Design Team

In keeping up with our holiday printables posts, we’ve rounded up the rest of our free holiday printables from last Christmas! We have a variety of designs for three different uses. The first is a sheet of holiday gift tags from last Christmas. These really make a gift look classy without much effort!

Pretty Press Holiday Tags (1047)

We’ve also got a bright and cheerful “subway art” print. It prints out in a 5×7 size, easy for framing for decor or to give to a friend! See in our past post or download below.

Christmas Tree Subway Art (1072)

Lastly, but one of my personal favorites, is our free digital scrapbooking kit. It’s very modern and versatile (you could use most of the papers for non-Christmas layouts too).

CHRISTMAS DIGITAL KIT-ELEMENTS (3894)

CHRISTMAS DIGITAL KIT-PAPERS1 (10122)

CHRISTMAS DIGITAL KIT-PAPERS2 (4190)

CHRISTMAS DIGITAL KIT PAPERS 3 (887)