Last updated on July 13th, 2018 at 01:06 pm
Amy Locurto is a DIY Lifestyle blogger, graphic designer and mom from Dallas, Texas.
Hi I’m Amy! I believe we all need a LOT more happiness in our world. My mission is to share fun and simple ideas to help you live a more creative life!
What started in July 2008 as a blog about creative things I did at home with my kids, Living Locurto has since turned into a popular lifestyle food, party and travel blog! Today, you will find delicious recipes, party ideas, crafts, home decor and travel tips.
New here? Click here to see 20 of my favorite party ideas and click here to join my email list to get free gifts!
I was born in Missouri, but grew up in the small town of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. After college, I moved to Texas where I met my husband and started a family. We now have a teenage son, tween daughter and a very fat cat! My son actually shares a lot of content on my Facebook page. He’s known as Jack, the snarky teenage summer intern and nicknamed “Mr. Spinach” by one of my favorite readers. Ha!
More Recipes and Party Ideas
More about me though… With a Fine Arts Degree in Graphic Design, I worked for various companies in Dallas as an art director and in 1999 took a huge leap to open my own graphic design firm. My new company grew quickly! It was exciting, but I was working very long hours while also trying to raise two small children. Deadlines were tough, clients demanding, life was hectic and sleep was scarce! I started a blog as a creative outlet to save my sanity.
Over the years since starting Living Locurto (finely named after my love of Ricky Martin’s song Livin’ La Vida Loca aka “Living La Vida Locurto“), I gave up ALL design clients but one and have never been happier! With only one design client, I can focus more on providing them great service and create amazing blog content as well! I enjoy traveling, creating products, speaking and doing freelance creative work for brands and publications.
My current and past products include:
The Living Locurto Fun Club ~ A private membership with access to creative printable designs.
The Elf Ideas Shop ~ Cute printable designs for your sneaky Christmas elf!
Printables By Amy ~ Stylish digital party designs.
Party with Amy Locurto ~ A line of papers and embellishments designed for American Crafts.
Travel Passion
A few years ago, I promised to take my kids to a new U.S. city each year. With my travel passion, that one city has turned into dozens! We travel all over the place now making life one fun adventure! I’m a HUGE Outlander fan, so one of our most recent family trips was to Scotland. What an amazing journey!
Find me on social media: Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Google+
Interested in working with me on a creative job or speaking event? Please visit the PR Inquiry page.
Get to know me by listening to my interview on the Blogger Genius Podcast.
Follow our travels on the Travel Fun Adventures Instagram Feed.
Beyond Living Locurto
Besides the traveling, managing this blog and my design firm, I also enjoy creating products! You can join the Living Locurto Fun Club to get access to an exclusive printable library of goodies.
Find my printable party collections in the shop, Printables by Amy, and a signature line of paper products, Party with Amy Locurto, through American Crafts.
You can also find me sharing all things about chickens over on my Chickens are Fun Facebook page!
Contact Us
Have a question? Please scroll down to see the FAQ’s before emailing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What paper do you use?
My favorite paper is Red River Paper, they specialize in ink jet papers. The 60lb Polar Matte is awesome, it produces really bright images.
I also really like double sided matte paper for when I print on both sides. Epson and Staples brands are both good. You can always find several packages of sticker paper on my shelves as well.
What were you doing when you decided to create your own business?
I started my career as an Art Director for Fossil in the early ’90s. I was in charge of photography styling and design for the catalog, designed watches, belt buckles, key fobs, and packaging, and even worked on some design for the retail stores. Then the internet boom came, so I moved into a career focused mainly on internet design and marketing materials for large businesses.
How do you do all that you do?
I don’t sleep much! Seriously… I only get about 5-6 hours of shut eye a night. My husband helps out a lot too:-) Now that my kids are older, I have them working for me as much as possible. But that is getting harder and harder to do with their busy schedules.
What is your favorite pastime besides arts and crafts?
I love to travel, photography, reading, yoga, and tennis (used to play, not anymore!). Hip Hop dance class is a blast too. Love to read too? Find me here on Goodreads.com.
How do you make your printables? Are they original drawings or stock? How can I do what you do myself?
All of my designs but a few are original and usually hand drawn, then scanned and traced in Adobe Illustrator. I have gotten pretty good with drawing directly in Illustrator, so some designs I whip out pretty quickly.
Unless you’re a professional designer, you don’t need Illustrator. I’m on the hunt for affordable drawing programs because I get this question so much. Right now, I have been recommending Photoshop Elements. You can download free trials of Adobe programs at Adobe.com.
How do you stay so organized?
I AM NOT an organized person! I have good intentions of staying organized, but never follow through:-) It’s the artist in me that works best in clutter I guess. I do love this personal planner though, it’s a life saver!!
Phyllis says
I would like to mention and post a picture from your site. Just checking, is that legal? Do I need a written permission. All credit would be mentioned and linked to your site. Please advise. I have never done a grouping of ideas and pictures from others before.
Thanks for your advise,
Please respond to my email. Thanks!
Amy Locurto says
I have my permission and photo terms in my sidebar and also here: https://www.livinglocurto.com/advertise/copyright-terms-of-use/
Overall it’s best to get permission from someone to use their photo if they don’t state their terms on their website. Thanks!
Monique says
Thank you for all that you share..I just downloaded some Easter things and Birthday..I may decorate some things for my husband’s birthday..and would take my own photos for my own blog..
I would of course thank you on my blog..and refer to your site..But..I am unsure how to fill out your form as they would be my photos..?
Thank you..Don’t want to do anything wrong..
Monique
Amy Locurto says
As long as you link back to my site for the free printables you’re fine:-) My terms say you cannot upload a pdf to your site, but must send people back to LivingLocurto.com. I would love to see your photos when you get them. I like to feature people who use my designs. Thanks!
Cyndee says
I am trying to print the Hunger games printable on my mac and cannot seem to get it done. Each time I click on the link it pulls up a blank page…ideas? I love it and want them so much!!
Kate says
Couldn’t seem to leave a comment on the New Year free printable site, but wanted to thank you for all the wonderful ideas you have given all of us this past year. You are an inspiration and very talented.
Thanks, Kate
Amy Locurto says
Thanks Kate! Have a Happy New Year.
Amy @ Frugal Mama says
Hi Amy,
Just wanted to say it was great to hear from you on my blog about the business side of blogging. I have admired your site and printables for a long time, so it was an honor. I already have a hold at the library on the book you recommend.
Thanks again for stopping by and saying hello,
Amy
Kay says
Is there anyway that the cardboard box barn can be purchased? I am not a creative person…
miranda bisschop-lindeman says
can you please send me an invitation
greats miranda from the netherlands
Brenda Ragan says
Question, do you have any ideas on how to reuse a child’s train table? My son has outgrown his and I keep looking at it trying to think of a way to reuse it? First, I thought about a mini loveseat? I don’t know?? Any ideas?
Michelle says
I turned mine into a Lego workstation :o)
Samantha says
Living Locurto: Father’s Day Card & Coupons.
Please help, I’m experiencing difficulties with trouble downloading the Father’s Day Coupons. It seems to download 3/4 of it and then just takes forever…. doesn’t continue downloading. Have done this twice…. so far with the same result! The email says that after 3 times the link expires…. A little help please as I would really like my download. Any suggestions?? Thanking you for your time in advance.
Amy says
@Samantha,
Please email directly along with attaching with your order number if you have problems. I can email it to you again. You can find my email at the top of this page or in my shop. Thanks!
Teresia Bellamy says
Hi Amy,
Love love love your stuff!! I won the gift certificate for Autism on Funky Faith Girl’s site. I have 2 parties coming up in June and need to know how to order using it. Will you be sending to me in snail mail or e-mail? Thanks, Teresia
Jenifer says
I mentioned your website on my website
http://www.wishesandwhimsy.com/blogs-i-love/
Shannon says
I am planning my daughter a mermaid party next month. I love the mermaid tails you made for your daughter. Can you please give me instructions on how to make them? I printed out your drawing but I think I need a little more details if possible.
Tiffany Bell says
Just wanted to drop you a line and tell you how much I love your site! I found your adorable valentine’s cards on pinterest back in February to use. We used the rock n roll ones for my son and the adorable owl ones for my daughter since we are the Reed Owls it was perfect!! Your website is now my go to site for crafty ideas and printables!
I just discovered today that you are in the Dallas area!! I grew up in Dallas and now live in Allen!
Thank you again for sharing your fun and creative ideas with those of us that love the look but don’t have the talent!! 😉
Amy says
@Tiffany Bell,
Thanks so much for stopping by to leave such a nice comment Tiffany! I’m glad you enjoy my blog:-)
Mira Curtis says
I love your free printables and especially got a kick out of the mustaches and smoochie lips. Is there any way I can download the smiling lips as well? Thanks!
Amanda B says
Hi Amy! I want to thank you for sharing all of your creativity, I feel like I’m always on your site! I do have a quick question for you, though. Are the Free Star Wars Graduation Tags still available, and if so, what is the password needed to access them? My nephew is a HUGE Star Wars fan, and will be graduating from kindergarten in the spring, so naturally when I saw those, I thought they’d be perfect! Thank you again for all that you do!
DeafSpeak says
Trying to find flip-flop/slipper ideas for BOYS. Any ideas?
Heather says
Hi Amy!
Just wanted to write in and tell you how much I ADORE your owl valentines! They are so adorable! I hope you don’t mind, but I just had to share with my friends on my blog, http://www.popheartpress.blogspot.com! I will definitely be using these for my sons’ first Valentine party!
Patti says
My sons’ high school graduation is coming. See all your great ideas for kids’ parties..anything for graduation?? thanks
Benzien says
Hi
I purchased your printable and I am having a hard time opening the file.
In your FAQ it says to have acrobat reader, which I do have. However your file name has no program extension name. Please advice how I can open my purchased printable. Time is of the essence for my daughter’s birthday party.
Thank you
Emily says
Hello,
I love your lego party idea, my son is super excited for his party. I downloaded the printables for that, but I was wondering how to get that awesome t-shirt made? Thanks.
liann h says
Hi there,
I am trying to find the printables to download or buy that you did for your fantastic 40th birthday… in the delicious colors of pink, orange and purple! How fun. I would like to get these, and have searched, but to no avail.
Thank You!
Nancy says
Hello! I found your printable Star Wars mask and I tried to print them for my son who is a big Star Wars fan. Every time I clicked on the picture it send me to Star Wars.com and says that the requested page could not be found..
Thank you,
Nancy
Matt Walker says
Hello,
You have very beautiful blog(livinglocurto.com) and the content quality is great. I liked your blog and want to contribute to it by being a guest blogger if you can allow. I promise you that the content quality will be excellent else you can reject my articles.
It would be great if you give me an author login or else I can mail you my write-ups. It’s all up to you how you want?
Please think seriously, I am looking for a long term relationship.
Kindly respond, I am eager to hear you.
Thanks and regards,
Matt Walker
Ani.B says
Hey I was one of those FUN MOMS too! My house was the bane of the neighborhood and all the other Moms were mad because everyone came to my house to color on the walls! LOL!
The rooms were their bedrooms only, by the way, and in the huge old Victorian house, no one but the kids saw the upstairs, so who cares?
Donna Garner says
i just wanted to share with you a little praise and tell you how I have enjoyed your little haven here. I do a lot of the same things you do from photography, design inside and out…commercial and residential….I also juggle writing children’s books and doing parent /teacher/kid themes and crafts. I used some of your ideas and shared them with a group I am a member of at colourlovers.com. This is a free online (can purchase a membership but don’t have to) color tool. You have the ability to match colors in palette 5 color display. Create Vector drawings, and color them. It might be something you really could find entertaining. But beware it’s addictive and I spend hours creating ideas and using their option of forums to host them at this time.
i use the screen name “glindathegoodwitch” and you should really play with it. I found it through twitter and the designs are featured on twitter through the app themelon (?). Many of the designs are featured as the backgrounds twitter folk use. I posted your napkin wreath idea and the snow man party theme just this week and wanted to let you know I did that and also that I linked them back to your page here. I figured that since they were in the free printable section it would be fine. I gave your site all the credit for it, of course. But thought you might like to see the links for reference.
both the snowman and the zebra wreath idea is posted here..posted by Glindathegoodwitch.
http://www.colourlovers.com/home/blog/2011/12/12/wreath-the-holiday-season-in-colors-galor#comment-17031
Really hope you don’t mind. Check it out …..i also think you will like the site if you have the time ever to just play with it.
Jackie says
hi! i am planning a star wars lego birthday party for my son and i love the printables you have on here for the star wars graduation. i thought some of them would work perfectly for a birthday also. but every time i try to download them, it says i need a password. i tried to enter the one i received when i subscribed to the email list, but it didn’t work. could you help please? i’d love to use these! thank you so much!
Tami Johnson says
I just have to say i LOVE your site. You have so many great ideas and I really appreciate you sharing them. Also, yes…I spent many summers at Falls Creek. Makes me wish I still lived in the area so that my own kids could share the experience. 🙂 Thanks again!!
camilla Cohn says
I was trying to customise the Lego Star wars luggage tags and I cannot get rid of the little + at the bottom right corner of the text box…perhaps it’s an adobe thing i don’t know about….please advise
You are very creative….great site – very user friendly
cassie {hi sugarplum!} says
Hi Amy!! Love your stuff…included it in my Valentine Round-Up today…thanks for sharing your talents!!
your fellow Dallas blogger!
xo. Cassie
Is@Pashmina says
Love your blog. Looks like you’re keeping busy…. 5 hours sleep a night, really? I couldn’t survive on that 🙂
Kathy says
We are having a toy drive on December 6 and I was wondering if you would be able to use the toys that we collect? I know your website says November 30. If not that is fine, there are many other places to donate. Your website just caught my eye.
Thank you,
Karen says
We are getting ready for back-to-school time. I need to make some girl tags for lunch boxes and backpacks. I loved your Lego Star Wars tags for boys a while back, but do you have any suggestion for girls? Free or paid?
Thanks!!
Amy says
@Karen,
In my free printables section, I have an entire section with back to school freebies.
Kendall says
Hey Amy! I’m going to order a laptop sticker on SticViews since it comes so highly recommended by you! What size template do you use? (I usually work in photoshop) to make sure that the image is the right size?
Thanks for any advice you can give on how to make sure I get a good looking skin!
Kendall
Amy says
@Kendall,
it depends on the size of your laptop. I just measure mine and make it that size. I’m sure they have standard sizes on their site. I’ve made mine a 300 dpi jpg in photoshop. The higher resolution, the better quality. If you have questions, just email or twitter them. They are very helpful:-)
Tanya Peila says
Hi Amy,
LOVE you site! Just wanted to know if I can share some of your stuff with my readers, giving credit and links of course back to you?
Nathaniel Fisher says
Amy,
I love your blog and want to know how I can get my website mentioned.
http://www.StickyLife.com went live in July and has all kinds of cool products available for customers to design and personalized.
We have been trying to build awareness and improve our search engine ranking.
Your feedback would be much appreciated.
Best Regards –
Nathaniel Fisher
StickyLife.com
1.800.356.8904
John says
Amy WOW this site is awsome, im not really sure how i got hear but i must say again WOW!!! i could have used stuff like this when i was raising my kids 10 years ago. the meals alone would have save me a lot of work. i would say good luck but i dont think luck had anything to do with this wonderful site! Thanks You.
Amy says
I somehow stumbled upon your blog and I love it 🙂 I love photography and I love graphic design – although I’m not good at either… yet! Haha.
Lori@Did I Just Say That? says
I was wondering what part of Texas you’re in? I’m just a few files outside of Houston.
SwoxiaAmamillaWab says
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Wendy says
I love your blog. I think I could spend hours looking at your work. Got her through Just Something I Made! You creative ladies are fabulous! Your home is beautiful as well and I’m so jealous you are able to spend full time on your creative work. I dabble a little on the side when I have time from mommie duties and my full-time job!
KARI CAREY says
I ALWAYS KNEW YOU WOLD BLOW US ALL AWAY SOME DAY & YOU HAVE! LOVE THE SITE & ALL YOU HAVE DONE!
Katy says
Love your site. So happy that I came across it. I found you through a comment that you left on the Inspired Room. I’m from Ok and currently live in Oklahoma as well. Will be visiting you more often for sure. I am a crafty person myself, but don’t get to doing the crafty stuff that I’d like to be doing. I really need to make that more of a priority though.
Beth says
Hi Amy, I saw your ‘Gifts of Grace’ program and thought I’d let you know that I am the owner of a Toy company called Kidlink, Inc.. We produce “Fundoodies” card games for kids and we are partnered with CARE.org in order to raise money for families sufferring from poverty around the globe. Please check out the site and see if you’d like to link up with me. I’d be happy to exchange links with you and support your mission since it is congruent with my own. Thanks and have a super day! You can reach me on my cell anytime after 2:00 today @ 715-417-2470. Beth Fischer
erika chapman says
I found you off Whittaker Woman. Great idea for the minnie pumpkin! I was coordinator of our MOPS group in Florence, SC for a couple of years. What city are you in? Am I allowed to ask that? Also when was your perfect summer on HH? I grew up there so I was wondering if it was working there in college during a summer.
Sharon Russell says
Hi Amy! Finally looking at your website. It’s awesome! Seems like you stay very busy and your kids are gorgeous!! Does Rocky need a girlfriend? I know of a very lovely tabby named Mia who is looking for love…..
Janet and Brooke says
Where are we with our spouses on the celebrity couples that would be fun to hang out with???!!!! We would rock your world girlfriend!!!!!!!!!!! Miss you! P.S. Happy Belated Bday!!!!!!!!!!!!
Xavier's Mom says
Well Ms. L, I am impressed. No wonder I haven’t seen you on the tennis court! Sounds like you’ve been a busy bee. S has grown since I saw her playing baby Jesus. In the words of Gayle King, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your blog. Take care!
ladyravenna says
Hello Amy,
I found your blog via WordPress.com. I find that your blog looks quite interesting especially with your creative mind to make your home look much lovely. I am in the same shoe that one of my goal is to make my home look more modern and lovely. I have saved your blog in my favorites.
I also have home businesses, which I take care of. I am a single mother to a 4 years old boy, who is a preschooler.
Just a thought to leave a comment to let you know that I stopped by your blog. You are also welcome to check my blog out and let me know what you think.
Kirstin says
Found you via Donna’s blog. I just got my first Mac…someone gave me their year old laptop….I’m loving it. I need to still buy a few programs…trying to decide between Microsoft office 2008 for mac or imac….what are your thoughts on that?
dharmendra parmar says
You seem very cheerful, and a creative person, happy go lucky.
ur blogs r superb