the midas touch

This invitation was created for a casual post-wedding brunch. Inspired by slightly moroccan/moorish designs, and a soft yet sophisticated palette with a modern edge, these invites are among my favorites. On her wedding day, the bride wore gold shoes; a little detail that I decided to carry through with hand-applied gold leaf dots on the front and backs of the invitation, in addition to the return-address labels... just a touch of luminous surprise.

the envelope liner features the newlywed's initials as well as a reverse of the color palette

the back of the invitation has one small quadrefoil in the center with the couple's initials.
some of the dots around the edge are the hand-applied gold leaf.

the ensemble.

my superhero

My youngest son's birthday is in July so many of his classmates cannot usually attend. This year was the last year they would all be together in preschool, so we decided to take advantage of a random half day to have his school buddies over BEFORE the school year ended for festivities at the end of the shortened day.

My rambuctious almost-five year old is obsessed with superheroes so that was the theme. We had a super-hero castle moonbounce, pizza, popsicles, ice cream, cake, a spiderman piñata, a superhero tatoo station, pin the cape on the superhero, and I also provided real capes and arm bands for each little guest. I bought bathing-suit fabric in primary colors and gold (doesn't fray when you cut it, so no sewing required) and cut the capes for each child. With a little fabric paint and some stencils, I managed to write their names on the back of their capes. Again, I spent more time having fun at the celebration than taking pictures, so here are a few pics of the invite and my two littlest ones modeling their capes.

party details

vanilla cupcakes and frosting made pink with beet juice!

 A few posts ago I showed the invite for my daughter's second bday family party. Below are some pics of little handmade details that were part of the celebration itself. Unfortunately, I did not manage to take pictures during the party and missed out on showing everything I would have liked. Next time!

chocolate cupcakes baked in cute cups from shopsweetlulu.com

three dimensional glittering cupcake topper detail front

a detail from the invite that inspired the cupcake toppers

cupcake topper detail back

be blushing

I recently updated a logo and banner that I created for a fellow blogger; beblushing.com — a fabulous beauty blog from a witty, very knowledgeable self-proclaimed 'product-junkie'! Her blog was originally just called 'blushing' and I just redid the logo to match her domain. Be sure to visit her site for the latest tips, trends, tricks and advice... you'll be glad you did!

april showers

paper parasol ceiling fixture

canopy of butterflies

This May my daughter will be turning two and I've just sent out the invites I designed for her small family-only celebration. I took inspiration from this year's lovely spring season as well as the decor in her room. I've posted two pictures of her nursery as it was before she was born so you can take a peek at the little details that I've carried through to the invite; a painted paper parasol as her ceiling fixture,  cheery turquoisey-blue walls, the cherry blossom and geisha-girl bedding, butterflies. The invite's piéce de resistance is the gorgeous photo of my gal among this spring's cherry blossom trees, taken by my talented friend at three tulips photography. I used a z-fold format that allows the invitation to reveal itself slowly as one opens it.  Needless to say, the party has not happened yet, but I have many design elements planned for all the little details that I will include in another post. Happy bday my little may flower!

front detail

little details on the back

more than just invitations

Although my blog mostly features the invitations I create, I've decided to show a logo that has been keeping me busy as of late. It is for three tulips photography, my friend Alison's company. She is a wonderful photographer who takes the most exquisite pictures — whimsical, fresh, simple and modern yet soft and engaging with the most breathtaking sense of personality somehow captured in each picture. I am in the midst of creating an invitation for my daughter's second birthday that is graced with one of her gorgeous photos that I promise to post soon. Enjoy the logo for three tulips photography — and be sure to click to her site to see for yourself the gorgeous work that you too should commission from Alison!

stephen & meredith

These are gatefold invitations I designed for a bridal shower. My client, the groom's mother, wanted to include two adorable childhood photos of her son and soon-to-be daughter in law and created rhyming text to link the images with the invite. Since the shower is to be held at the beginning of spring, I decided to adorn the card with flowering trees and 'love-birds' perched within the branches. I housed the photos within chinoiserie-inspired pagoda 'bird cages' and used vibrant yet sophisticated spring colors. The centers of the flowers on the exterior of the card have a touch of hand-applied glitter for an extra sparkly touch. The invitations were printed on linen-finish paper to complete the chinoiserie look and feel.