Recent Project: An Art Deco Holiday Party Invitation

I love working with this client.  Carol is a dream to work with.  She knows what she wants, so when she sees it, we're done!  No wishy washy indecisiveness here.  I also designed their last holiday party invitation (click here.)  But I love this year's so much more!  They decided to go all out on the budget and went with black raised text, gold embossed letters, and a beveled edge.  It turned out spectacularly!  She asked for an Art Deco feel to go along with their new party venue, The Drake Hotel.  So this is what I came up with!

Paper Goods from a Paper Doll Birthday

Here are the rest of the paper decorations that I designed for Charlotte's 1st birthday:

Real Parties: A Paper Doll 1st Birthday

I first posted about this adorable, shabby-chic birthday invitation I designed here. My client, Pauline, did a fabulous job planning Charlotte's birthday party. She had a professional photographer from Elizabeth + Rich Photography document her baby girl's big day. A cake designer from The Ultimate Cake Off show designed the cake based off of my invitation! Doesn't the cake look awesome?! She also had custom cookies made in the shape of the paper dolls. Here are a few photos from the party:

On being away...

The husband and I are finally beginning a new chapter in our life. We have been waiting (not always so patiently on my part) to start a family. There was a lot of disappointment and sadness, but now I can gladly put that all behind us. Although we knew there was a good chance, we were shocked to learn we were expecting twins. We are both so happy, but equally worried/scared/freaked out by what's to come. Most of our friends have children so we've been exposed to the many sides of parenthood.

It's been a rough few months with the endless migraines and all-day sickness. I'm hoping that with the end of the 1st trimester, I'll be feeling better soon. I've been trying to take weekly pictures of my baby bump, but it's been hard. I don't know how those fashion bloggers do it...especially with taking self-pictures!

I'm Heading Out to Texas, Ya'll!

Bye-bye, chilly Chicago! I'm saying "howdy" to the 90 degree weather in Dallas this weekend. My entire extended family is gathering together for my cousin, Lani's wedding. I had the honor of designing her wedding invitations. She chose to use an existing design I had made for Sue + Mike. So I just switched the color palette and swapped out the info. Easy peasy! :) Hope ya'll enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

Recent Project: A Paper Doll 1st Birthday

So sorry for the lack of posts! It's been crazy hectic this week with helping my parents remodel their kitchen to a close friend having their first baby. Congrats, Christine + Will! (Pics of their little man to come.)

Anyway, here's the invitation I created for Pauline and her baby's 1st birthday party. I also designed the menus, favor tags, and raffle tickets, as well as, a few other paper goods for the dohl. She had a professional photographer at the event, so I can't wait to see their photos!

Christine's Bow-Tie Baby Shower (Part III)

Here's the last of the photos from Christine's baby shower! I made some goody bags filled with hand-dipped chocolate pretzels and tied it with a coordinated ribbon and tag. In lieu of shower games, we had the guests fill out these cards with sage advice and well wishes. They were then inserted into this Kolo album and given to the guest-of-honor as a keepsake. I hope you enjoyed this series of posts. Have a great weekend!

Christine's Bow-Tie Baby Shower (Part II: The Spread)

[Decorated the light fixture w/ a mini garland of Japanese washi tape and
covered my existing wall art with color coordinated tissue paper and washi tape]

[Christine, the new mom-to-be]

[I wrapped boxes w/ kraft and tissue paper to add height to the spread.]

[Garlic Ginger Honey Wings–recipe from Week of Menus]

[Bruschetta made easy with Costco's crunchy Panetini]

Christine's Bow-Tie Baby Shower (Part I: Desserts)

I threw my friend, Christine, a baby shower last weekend. We had an intimate gathering of 13 wonderful ladies. I made all of the paper decorations and most of the food. I wish I could say I also made the desserts, but they were store-bought. :) The mini chocolate and vanilla cupcakes were from Molly's Cupcakes, and the adorable bow-tie sugar cookies were from Sarah's Pastries. The light and airy white chocolate mousse cake was from Whole Foods (mmm...that cake is to die for!) The shower was a success...thanks to Grace H. and Rosa for the desserts and helping me set up!

Recent Project: A Peaceful Dragon Birth Announcement

Gayle (my favorite client who got me this!) asked me to design a birth announcement for her 2nd son, Jaxson. Baby Jaxon's middle name, Seiryuu, is Japanese for peaceful dragon. Gayle named him that b/c her first son, Peyton, is so noisy! Don't you love names with meanings behind them? (Click here to see Peyton's birthday invitation.)

I had a super busy weekend with planning/hosting my friend's baby shower. I'll be posting pics of the shower soon! Did you do anything fun and exciting this weekend?

**By the way, does anyone know what kind of flowers these are? They're super hardy and long-lasting. My husband got me a bouquet of a variety of flowers for V-day. These white ones lasted over a month!

A Whale of a Birthday

Here are a few photos of the paper goods I made for a friend's 1st birthday party. Caritas did a phenomenal job of putting the party together. With her great attention to detail, each table was thoughtfully laid out, and everything was perfectly color coordinated. Don't you love the goldfish cracker on each of her homemade cupcakes? Brilliant idea!

Forget pharmacy! I think you have a big future in event planning/design, Caritas!

A Whale-y Cute 1st Birthday

A friend asked me to design her son's 1st birthday party invitation. Hello Naomi's super adorable whale cake inspired us to go with a whale theme. I'll be posting more on the other paper goods after the party!

Recent Project: A Farm Fresh Logo

I designed this logo for Christine Chitnis; who is a writer, photographer and environmental educator. She recently redesigned her website to coincide with the release of her first book. Since her blog header was going to feature photos from her book, Christine wanted a logo that incorporated farm imagery, as well as, flourishes for a feminine touch. Visit her website here.

Christine's Little Man

I thought the bow-time/little man theme would be perfect for my friend, Christine's, shower. She's referred to her little bun in the oven as the "little man" before. So here's the invitation that I designed for her shower...

All You Need is Love!

The husband and I are trying something different this year. I'll let you know what it is later this week! What are (or were) your plans for Valentine's Day?

Recent Project: Holiday Party Invitations

Here are some of the other designs I created for the Jump Trading holiday party invitations. You can see the design the client chose here.





I'm signing off for the weekend. Have a safe and happy new year! I can't believe it's going to be 2011. Yikes! The husband and I are just going to our friends' house for a low-key shindig. :) Any big (or small) plans for the holiday?

A Sweet & Thoughtful Client

Gayle is the sweetest and most thoughtful client EVER! I designed this dinosaur party invitation for her son's 1st birthday. Since she was thrilled with the invitations, she asked me to design a few more paper goods for her. I'll be showing those in the near future. As a thank you, she sent me this care package all the way from Hawaii! Isn't she so sweet?? She sent me her favorite honey glazed macadamia nuts along with some chocolate covered ones and 2 bags of Hawaiian coffee!. Mmm...I can't wait to try everything! You're too kind, Gayle!

To all of my girlfriends turning the BIG 3-0...

Just a little birthday card I made for a couple of my lovely, sweet-toothed girlfriends
for their big, BIG birthdays. Happy birthday!! Hope it was a sweet one!

Real Parties: A Very Hungry Caterpillar

I love seeing how my designs look at a real party! Thanks for sending me these photos, Sunny! I designed various signage, tags and raffle tickets for Owen's 1st birthday party. Don't you just love the Hungry Caterpillar theme Sunny chose for the party?

(Photos c/o Frenzi Visuals)