Darn Computers~

Ahh, Life funny how it just happens. Here I am busy with holiday decorating, which is going extremely smoothly, getting ready for our busiest week of holiday decorating and I'm thinking to myself, WOW this is going really well this year..................... HA!!

Last Saturday I sit down at my computer before leaving for work after only having 5 hours of sleep; I turn on my computer and am greeted by the message "OPERATING SYSTEM NOT FOUND"...............so I re-start because obviously this must be a mistake, this really couldn't be happening to me.......again that awful message NOW WHAT!

I spend the next couple of days randomly turning on the computer hoping by some miracle that it was all just a bad dream, but no such luck.

But I felt confident, that all I really needed to do was get to a computer store and buy a new computer, because I have been good..........I have been backing up my quickbooks, and backing up on an external hard drive and recently I copied everything onto cds so I felt confident.

I go to the computer store and purchase a new computer, a very nice one lots of power and storage, a large monitor :) and I proceed to tell the computer salesman how confident I feel and of all things he says........ IF YOU BACKED IT UP RIGHT ...... OH NOOOOOOOOO! My stomach drops and I can feel the tingling of shingles returning (which I had the pleasure of getting right before holiday decorating).

But after a very stressfull ride home, thinking about all the things I probably would have to re-create..............................turns out COMPUTER GUY WAS WRONG!!!!! Us girls are not as dumb as they think we are! I did lose bookmarks and lots of email addresses and email folders but nothing that was really that awful.

I highly recommend that you invest in online back up services and an external hard drive, both are PRICELESS!

Happy Thanksgiving~

Best wishes to everyone for a wonderfully Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for so many things in my life and am looking forward to sitting down with my family and enjoying a meal tomorrow; albeit at a restaurant. Thanksgiving is not about the meal but those that you are surrounded with and I am sticking to that........

I try to remind myself often during the year of all the things that I am grateful for and try not to dwell on those things that I am not grateful for. I truly believe that it is the bad things that make us appreciate the good more. That doesn't mean that the pain or disappointment of the bad things is not painful, it just makes the good that much better. {I hope that made sense, I am only running on about 5 hours of sleep these days}

I am Grateful For...............
My Family, Shane, Jessica & Chase
A marriage that has lasted 17 years and that is still going strong
Parents who are always there for me and who are my biggest fans
Old friends and new friends
A business that allows me to be creative, and bring joy to others
The opportunities I have been given

As I get older I realize that the most important things in life are who I have with me and not what I have. While I do enjoy the finer things in life they are only made finer because of those you are able to enjoy them with! Sounds cliche but is so true.

Thank you to everyone that has touched my life and who have allowed me to touch theirs. It is an honor and a privilege to do what I do, and that is never lost on me. Best wishes again for a wonderful Thanksgiving, may you be surrounded by family and friends and be able to enjoy all your blessings!

Happy Halloween~

I hope you have a wonderful Halloween and get lots of treats and not too many tricks! Its a little strange here since my children are grown they are off doing their own things, really doesn't feel like Halloween, maybe it will later when the little ones start knocking on the door~

A Picture Says It All~

This is a little bit of what the beginnings of holiday decorating feels like, and probably looks like! Standing around, walking around and wondering.......

Do I have everything?
Did I forget something?
Where is it all going to go?
Is that truck going to be big enough?
Is there going to be enough time?
Do you have 500 of these?
Where was that supposed to be?
WHAT color combination did you want?
How many hours are there in a day again?
How early is early?

As much as holiday decorating is intense I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love holiday decorating, it is non-stop action, creativity, thinking on your feet, fun and breathtaking.......it is what I live for this time of year! Rising to the challenges that I have been given and chosen.

The last few years as we have grown I have done less decorating and more directing.........but this year I plan on decorating more and can't wait. Don't get me wrong directing is just as important as decorating, because holiday decorating is a dance of coordination, organization, time management, trouble shooting and creativity and without excellent directing skills holiday decorating could not be accomplished; not to mention a huge traveling disaster!

I love me a scissor lift and/or a cherry picker!

Spiderman Party~

Here are just a few glimpses of a Spiderman party we recently did. This party was a lot of fun and the birthday boy couldn't have been sweeter and more appreciative as were all the children at the party. I can't show you too much of this party to protect the client's privacy.

Custom Spiderman Cake~

It seems like lately I have been on a run of custom parties with only two weeks notice, which has not left a lot of time for blogging, so please accept my apologies. This adorable Spiderman cake was from a recent party and was no exception. With only 3 days notice my favorite bakery Rossmoor Pastries pulled it off for me, like they always do. I am often asked by my clients to design and bring the cake or have it delivered to the party. Sometimes it comes from the bakery and sometimes we transport it, I must say I have become an expert on cake transportation and handling. Ordering and designing these cakes can often be nerve wracking, since these are custom cakes and not in-expensive to say the least, I am always nervous that the client will love them.

I love designing the cakes and Rossmoor Pastries is so great about working with me, especially last minute. Dianne is my go to girl at Rossmoor and she is an absolute pleasure to work with. I believe telepathically we are on the same page when it comes to designing my cakes. She is great at helping me to create my visions and this Spiderman cake was no exception. A few of the cakes we have designed are in the order book at Rossmoor and some have been ordered by customers as they sit in the fridge waiting for me to pick them up, which is always such a huge compliment to me.

If you are ever in need of a great looking and best of all great tasting cake I highly recommend Rossmoor Pastries, you won't be disappointed.

Thank you, Kori Clark Designs & Paper & Pigtails~

I recently had the pleasure of working with Kori Clark of Kori Clark Designs and Paper & Pigtails and what a pleasure it was. Kori was referred to me by the wonderful Kate Landers. As an event planner it seems like I never have more than 2 weeks notice to pull a party together which leaves little time for me to collaborate with some of the awesome talent out there.

Last weekend I had a very large, very last minute event and while I was talking to Kate about the short amount of time I had and how I wished I could use someone for table signs, gift tags and more she was more than happy to offer to contact some of the designers she has used in the past; two hours later I had an email from Kori and she was all that Kate said she was and more. I am used to working under pressure and Kori was able to work right along with me. It was like she read my mind and I didn't have to explain myself too much she just ran with it and scored a touch down. Not only did she come up with two great designs for table signs, gift tags, candy table signs, buffet signs, napkin wraps and staff name tags she printed them for me, embellished them with jewels and rushed them to me all this with a few days notice. They were awesome!! Unfortunately, I cannot share that party with you yet, but I can't wait until I can. Kori was sweet, professional and easy to work with and most important the quality of her designs are top notch! I would highly recommend Kori to anyone and look forward to working with her again in the future. I consider Kori my new party planning secret weapon and friend.

Just a few of the awesome styles available at Paper& Pigtails and if you need custom work done check out Kori Clark Designs .

{Images courtesy of Paper & Pigtails}

Thank you again Kori for such an awesome job and to you Kate for such an awesome referral!!

Sweet Gems Cakes~

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting Grace from Sweet Gems Cakes. She made this adorable cake for my client's daughter Devon's birthday. It was an American Girl theme party and all the girls brought their American Girls. Grace created the figure on the cake to look like Devon's American Girl doll, all the way down to the accessories. So very cute and yummy as well.

Grace is very talented and her work has been shown on Platinum Weddings and the Food Network. I look forward to working with her again.

Our New Website~

Our website is born! After several months of thinking and planning and thinking it is finally finished. It wasn't just a case of re-doing one website I had to figure out how to make 7 different websites more cohesive and that was the tricky part, but if I do say myself I think it came out quite well. Thank you to my daughter for her Photo Shop skills because without her it wouldn't look nearly as nice.

I think the site is a good representation of the work we do and the different types of work we do, which is always tricky when you do so many different things. So please take a look and let me know what you think, I'm sure there are some tweaks that I will have to work out but nothing that will keep me up at night, hopefully. www.chscreativeproductions.com

Happy Birthday Devon~

We had the pleasure of assisting with Devon's 7th Birthday this weekend at the Black Gold Golf Club. Even though I have "kind of" officially taken the day off I just wanted to give you a sneak peek of the event. I can't wait to see all the photos myself. Will probably be a few days before I can get more of the details up, but it was a wonderful party, fabulous clients and an all round terrific end to an event whose decor changed completely within 96 hours of the party all for the better. I couldn't be more pleased! Stay tuned for more.

G. Harvey Private Showing~

We had the pleasure the other evening of working with Whistle Pik Galleries of Fredericksburg, Texas for a
private showing of G. Harvey's new 2010 collection of artwork. It was a wonderful evening; the showing was held in a private home in Laguna Beach that was just amazingly stunning and such a wonderful back drop
for Mr. Harveys breathtaking work. It was a pleasure to meet Mr. Harvey and the wonderful staff of Whistle Pik Gallery. This painting is called Dreams Of A Nation and the photo does not do the artwork justice, just
one of my many favorites that I had the pleasure to view.~

Thank you again Whistle Pik Galleries for choosing CHS Creative Productions.

Diva'Licious Parties~

Looking for a great party theme for your girly girls next birthday? Our Diva'Licious party decor will be sure to please. We offer Diva'Licious party packages as well as Diva'Licious Spa Parties. From our floor length table linens, custom animal print overlays, ostrich feather centerpieces and all the glitter and glam any girly girl would love, our Diva inspired parties are one of a kind FABULOUS!

Getting Things Done~

I just love this book and it was a godsend last December! As a small business owner my life can often be overwhelming with so much to remember on so many different levels. I had been trying to figure out what other technical tool I needed to buy to make all my other technical tools work together better, and was having no luck. I had even reminisced back to my days as a legal secretary and the old school tickler system, but couldn't find anything like it out there either. I knew that I was missing something but couldn't figure out what it was. After the completely hectic business of holiday decorating I was overwhelmed, frustrated and just wore out. I had let a few personal responsibilities fall through the cracks and was just at my wits end with myself and my systems. How was I going to grow my business when I was struggling where I was at currently?

On a visit with my brother commiserating about all the problems of owning your own business and all the responsibilities I had told him that I felt like my head was going to explode. I used to take pride in the fact that I could remember EVERYTHING but not any more, there was just too much too remember. He started to tell me about the book/system Getting Things Done, I was hooked and definitely interested, I made a note on a piece of paper because I knew my head could not take another thing and vowed to buy it the next day. But then the sweetest gesture was given to me, after my brother left he went to a book store, bought the book and brought it back to me. I was so surprised and grateful, so I began reading it that night and never stopped until I was finished. I must say I am notorious for purchasing self help things and picking through them to find the parts that I like, but this book I made the effort to read it from front to back, because I knew I was at my wits end and had to find something that would make sense. Well it did, I read the book implemented the system and am now able to relax, really relax and be in the moment of everything. I can even have a day off and not be worrying about what I'm not doing because I know it is where it should be. I see the whole picture and am not constantly being sideswiped by last minute things that I should have remembered. I have the open mind to creatively think about how I want to expand my business and what direction I want to move forward in in all aspects of my life.

I am now reading Ready For Anything, and love it too. David Allen does a great job of helping you clear the decks of your mind so that you can operate from a place of knowing and seeing the big picture no matter what type of business you run or job you have. I am a devout fan and am singing the praises of the system constantly. I wish I had known about the system and books sooner, but I was just too busy being busy, how ironic.

If you are feeling the same way or feel like you could just use some free space in your mind I highly suggest his books. Read them, implement them and move forward with your dreams because everything else is where it should be!!

{FYI all you need is a lot of index cards and hanging file folders in your file cabinet, a label maker and a real calendar and you are good to go! Book=Free, Supplies=$30.00, Reward=Priceless }

Ceiling Decor~

Ahhhhh Ceiling Decor, I love it! Anytime you can decorate above an event the better, it just adds a whole new dimension to the space. However, it comes with its own set of difficulties. Now that party season is warming up I get a lot of calls for ceiling decor and people asking for a basic price quote. Which there is no such thing. Ceilings involve so many different requirements, but the most important requirement is how long do you have the space for. We require a minimum of 4 hrs. before any other vendor sets up in the space to install the decor. Which in most venues means committing to paying for the space longer than your event time. If your venue tells you that having the venue earlier should be no problem, GET IT IN WRITING, we require it.

Make sure when you are hiring a company that they have the insurance coverage required to work at the venue and are able to provide proof to your venue and list them as an additional insured. Don't make the mistake of thinking that because they have a business they have the proper insurance coverage. Not only is business insurance required but also workers comp insurance at most venues. You would hate to find out that on the day of installation out of the blue they were required to show proof and were unable to do so.

Ceiling decor is a great use of the space but can also be costly, but it is important that you use a company that is experienced in installing ceiling decor, will do a great job and most of all install it safely, because after all it is going above your guest's heads.

Above & Beyond!~

Still going through holiday photos while working on the new website design, sheesh its beginning to feel like deja vu this whole website thing. But it is getting there and I am quite happy with how its turning out.

Looking at these photos makes me smile, I remember the fun times and how great my staff are that they go above and beyond to get the job done! They are the BEST!!!!

Holiday Cheer~

We are finally getting through all our holiday decorating photos and since I'm playing blog catch up I thought I'd share some of my holiday favorites with you. This was Commerce Casino for the 2009 holiday season, if I must say so myself it turned out fabulous this year. It is always great when the vision is only exceeded by the end result.

We spent the 5 days before Thanksgiving executing this installation. We decorated 15 large Christmas trees, 1,000's of feet of garland, 45 large wreaths, centerpieces and lets not forget all the packages that were wrapped so beautifully. It doesn't seem like much if you say it fast, except for the fact that every ornament, ribbon and flower is wired on; that's a lot of wiring.

We also time lapsed the installation of a large tree and I'm hoping that I will have it back to share with you, I can't wait to see it.

I hope you have a great Monday and a wonderful week.

Winter Themed Memorial Dinner~

Last month we had the pleasure of creating winter themed decor for a memorial dinner. We used manzanita trees for the table centerpieces. They were spray painted silver and we added glittered snowflakes and jewels to hang from the branches. For the base we added the most beautiful Kito white roses with greenery, snowflakes and jewels. They really made quite the statement.

On top of creating these wonderful manzanita trees the client requested sugared fruit trays, something I had never done before but was up for a challenge (or so I thought). The photos of the fruit did not come out so good, but let me tell you it was not an easy task. We sugared over 600 pieces of whole fruit from pineapples to limes and everything in between. They were placed on platters along the center of the main table. They looked fabulous but again what a job. We coated each piece of fruit in egg white and then sugared it with white sugar, they then had to dry, but you can only do it no more than 2 days before the event otherwise the sugar will begin to crack and fall off since it was whole fruit. Then you have to transport it there and put it on the platters all the while crossing your fingers that all the sugar doesn't crack off. So my tip of the day to all you creative people is~ If someone, family, friends, client asks you to sugar fruit, run like heck the other way LOL!

Happy St. Patricks Day~

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Sweet 16 Party Ceiling Decor~

A few months ago we had the pleasure of creating a pink and white ceiling swags for Ashley's Sweet 16 birthday party. The client was using a large space and needed something over the dance floor to pop and to also cohesively bring the two sides of the room together, she opted for a ceiling swag with crystals. I think it was just what the room needed and matched the other decor wonderfully.

For more great photos visit the photo gallery.

Moments Like These~

Moments like these is why I love what I do! I love making my clients happy, I love seeing the end result, but most of all I love moments like these! This is why I love owning my own business, I get to work with my family and have moments like this. This is me and my daughter at an event between set up and party start time sharing a moment. I don't remember what we were laughing about, but seeing these photos makes me smile and on a Monday that smile is priceless.

I hope you have a great week and take time to enjoy the moments, or if nothing else I hope there is a photographer around to take photos of those moments for you to look back on.