The Thrill of Touching Paper

Inspiration for invitations sometimes comes from wandering through a paper store. I love to touch and feel different papers and that's how the creative thoughts for a birthday party invitation came to me. Not only the invitation but a direction for the yet to be decided menu as well.

While wandering through Paper Source I came upon one of their Japanese papers that made me think of the beautiful flowering pear trees in our yard which are sadly finished blooming. Nevertheless, the hostess for this birthday dinner party has a wonderful variety of dishes (pottery, china, porcelain, earthenware...) and I recalled a set that would go quite nicely with this paper so that sealed my decision. I was already envisioning the place cards on the table. One thought always leads to another and in this case it went like this - Japanese paper... Hawaii... Hawaii became a state 50 years ago... the birthday girl was born 50 years ago... skinny strips of paper look like chop sticks... Pacific Rim cuisine for dinner!

Thanks Marsha for letting me design my own dinner party invite! No I'm not really turning 50, I'm just telling people that so we can have parties. (Fingers crossed behind my back.) And I love parties!

Showering a Bride

My daughter's best friend recently got married. That's about the best excuse for a party EVER! A boudior shower seemed appropriate so when it came to the invitation I knew some lace must be included somehow, somewhere. And black lace led me to sangria, of course! That's just the way my mind works. Then I found the cute hanger graphic and that led to making padded hangers as favors that were hung on each chair thus becoming the placecard for each guest.



Capturing the evening was the bride's aunt, my friend and photographer Sissel Byington. Check out more photos from the shower at What's black and white and green all over? Ahhhh, what a night!

And the Oscar goes to...

The perfect excuse for a party is the evening of the Academy Awards. And oh the fun I've had creating those invitations! Theme options abound! Start planning your party now because the show is coming up next weekend!

One year we did "Grant's Chinese Theater" (instead of Grauman's, the famous one on Hollywood Blvd.) and decorations included paper lanterns, Asian inspired florals and Chinese take out for the dinner! Another year it was pure "Hollywood" with recreations of famous intersection signs in Hollywood, the "Spago" sign and Wofgang Puck's pizza. Maybe the most fun part that year was our own Walk of Fame with our guests' names on stars glued to the walkway leading to the front door. Every guest is a star in our minds!

Each year we have movie popcorn as one of the appetizers and movie candy for dessert. Custom printed popcorn bags and custom-made wine glass IDs are fun details. Movie posters from the past and the official Oscar poster for the year are also a must.

I always include a ballot with the invitation that must be filled in and submitted before showtime. Prizes for those that have guessed most closely to the actual results are something to vie for here. Sometimes the prizes are themed as well, sometimes not, but always the prize for the worst guesser is a box of Milk Duds, for picking all the duds of course!

Identity Crisis!

I'm having an identity crisis. Or maybe I have multiple personalities, in a completely sane sort of way of course.

Identity.. the business card that says who you are, what you do, what your style is. Nailing that is more difficult for oneself than for others. I can design your business card, but can I decide on my own? And then some words of wisdom from a dear friend.. "Oh I change my card every few months." So I probably will do the same. But I still want input from others so don't be shy about commenting.

Labor of Love

While pawing through my Valentine file I found an article from the February 1998 Food & Wine magazine that I had saved. It was written by the famous chef Julia Child. In 1948 Julia and her husband Paul began a tradition of sending personalized Valentine's Day cards to their friends. After a move to Paris the prior December they knew they wouldn't make the Christmas card deadline so Paul suggested "Why not send out Valentines?" And so for the next 25 years Paul produced a new card to send to their friends. No great surprise... Julia was in charge of the special Valentine's Day dinner!

I don't know if this will become a tradition for me, but I thought it would be a great way to let friends know I've started something new.