I have been asked many questions as to how I constructed the paper chain tree for Willow’s Christmas services. I thought I would show a few pictures of the construction process. The tree was constructed using cardstock and fishing wire. The top tier was suspended from the ceiling, then each tier attached to the tier above it. Each branch was attached to a 20 foot frame that surrounded the whole tree, in order to give the curve to each limb. The last step was to attach the letters that I cut out of foam board. The whole tree took two days to construct and shoot.

Now that is a lot of fishing wire!

Once we captured the final shot I had a lot of work to do in photoshop to get rid of the background and all the wire  lines that showed up in the photo. After a lot of work and a new background the tree was ready to be placed on all the promotional materials.

Below is the invitation for the Christmas services. The tree punched out of the invite to make an ornament for your Christmas tree.

Road Signs that were placed at the entrances of Willow to advertise the services.

Poster advertising at a shopping center.

Billboard advertising on the freeway.

Here is a picture from the Christmas service. You can see all the paper chains that the tree was inspired by.

At the end of the service the audience made paper chains full of prayers and passed them up to the stage, where they were hung together to make this paper chain wall.

I just finished the packaging design for Chicago-based Mayana Chocolate. I have so enjoyed working on this project, and have been eating way too much chocolate lately! Seriously, this is the best chocolate I have ever tasted. You must try it to understand what I am talking about. I promise you have never had chocolate like this before.

Mayana Chocolate was founded in 2008 by chocolatier and chef, Daniel Herskovic. He is extremely talented at creating unique and innovative chocolates. My favorite piece is the Fleur De Sel Caramel which features handmade caramel using the finest of all sea salts, harvested on the coasts of Brittany, France. Maybe that’s why its my favorite! I visited the bakery yesterday, where Daniel creates these masterpieces. It was so great to see the process that goes into making the chocolate, while getting to taste a few of his new creations.

Below are the two final designs that we still need to narrow down to one. Which one do you like best?

1. Traditional Square Box with white ribbon

2. Modern Rectangle Box without ribbon

Winter Hats

Hats are a necessity, especially here in Chicago. My favorite are the faux fur trimmed bomber hats. So cute but also has major functionality… keeping your ears warm on a blustery day! Also, the knit headbands with flowers are so fun and so chic.

Carmel Brulee Latte

This scrumptious Starbucks treat is sure to warm your soul on a chilly day. Starbucks espresso and steamed milk with a rich toffee caramel sauce, topped with whipped cream and shimmery pieces of caramel topping. This holiday drink is so delicious. Try it next time you stop by Sbux.

The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole

This is a classic. You must have this to accompany your Christmas celebrations. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire… jack frost nipping at your nose… yuletide carols being sung by a choir… and folks dressed up like Eskimos!

It’s A Wonderful Life

My favorite Christmastime movie! George Bailey spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. After a series of discouraging events George becomes despairingly frustrated and contemplates taking his life. An angel helps this compassionate but discouraged businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never been born.

Matt and I saw a radio-play of the film this past weekend at the legendary Biograph Theater. I would highly recommend it! The actors were so talented, and I was amazed by the talent of the sound effects guy. Recreating a 1940s-era radio broadcast complete with on-air commercials was a unique way to tell the story. And milk and cookies for the entire audience after the show. A fun, holiday event to attend.

So those are my holiday favorites. What are some of yours?

I have had so much fun working on this project the past few months. I just finished up all the promotional materials for Willow Creek’s Christmas services titled God With Us. It will be a warm, home-grown service that highlights the power of story. The set has a warm, handmade, organic feel, and has a focal point of handmade paper chains.

For the promotional materials I wanted to incorporate this handmade paper chain idea. Hence the crazy idea to build an 8 foot Christmas tree out of paper chains and then photograph it. It was challenging to figure out how to turn paper chain links into a Christmas tree, but I think we pulled it off really well. Thanks to Alex for help building the tree, and to Lisa and Kristin for your help making the chain links. You guys are the best!

The promotional materials include: invitations, programs, posters, road signs, Metra station posters, a billboard, various banners, and a website.

I will be updating this post more when I get some photos taken of all the different materials. My favorite is the invitation (the God With Us tree punches out to make an ornament for your tree). But for now, here is a poster that is advertising the service in a shopping center.

I had a blast taking a few wedding photos of newlyweds Ali and Joshua. They got married in San Diego this past summer, and they had a second reception in Chicago a few months back. Ali’s parents house, an awesome red and white Chevrolet, and Stonebridge Country Club were the backdrops for this shoot.

For the past 3 months, I have had the amazing opportunity to work for Willow Creek Community Church located in South Barrington, IL. Willow is an amazing church that is making an impact locally and globally. They recently celebrated their 34th anniversary and I designed all the materials for the celebratory weekend.

Willow has 6 campuses, and this was the first time they all met in one place for weekend services. Willow wanted to specifically welcome each regional campus as they walked through the doors, so I applied a treatment to various photos of people from each campus. These were then used for the rest of the campaign: banners, membership book, location brochure, postcards, web banners, and other promotional materials.

Chicago Campus

McHenry County Campus

DuPage and Casa De Luz Campuses

South Barrington Campus

For the weekend I also designed a Membership Book, that everyone went through the week following the anniversary celebration.

Here is a picture of some of the banners that hung in the lobby area.

And lastly, a photo from one of the anniversary services. This was at the end of the service. Such a moving moment, when everyone who had been baptized this year was invited to join pastor Bill Hybels on stage.