Merry Christmas to All

A joyful occasion, yes, but it was hard to choose just one photo for our card so we went the "montage" route...

May your fireside be warm. May your eggnog be cold.
May your stocking be filled with a little lump of gold!
I mean... may this Christmas be your very best
And may your brand new year be prosperous and blessed!

Oh Christmas Cards, Oh Christmas Cards!

We love to get them in the mail. (You're singing it, right?) December brings anticipation each afternoon as I approach our mailbox. I hope this client's friends get a big grin on their faces when they find this fun "twist" card in their boxes. A silly family pose on one side and a classic yet playful quote on the flip side!

A Ticket Invitation with a Christmas Theme

"Blessings with a Bow" was the name of this fun and very girlie event. There were gifts galore for bidding on during the auction but the hitch was that you couldn't use real money, only the "Blessing Dollars" that each woman was given at the beginning of the evening. I was asked to create the ticket which had a perforated stub where each attendee wrote her name and placed it in the raffle box. Many gifts were raffled off instead of auctioned off, and some raffle winners got even more Blessing Dollars. And can I just say that it's sort of fun to print money!!

Christmas Cookie Exchange Invitations

Time to pull out your festive aprons and start baking! Sprinkled with just a touch of red glitter here and there, these very girlie invitations to a cookie exchange party say "fun is in store"! A red silk ribbon helps pull the invitation out of its end flap envelope, like removing a tray of cookies from the oven. The sugar cookie paper is a new one from Paper Source for this Christmas season. I just added some specks of glue and red glitter on it to add some sparkle and to resemble sugar sprinkles. What can I say? Sprinkles are the best!

A School Calendar Save the Date

Calendars are a perfect way to get the "Save the Date" point across, especially when the wedding date happens to coincide with another special date or holiday. This fun engaged couple is getting married on Father's Day in 2012 so we thought this calendar idea would be the perfect Save the Date for them. And the school theme? Well, they met at school (college), they both work at schools and the wedding will take place at an old school! I'm already finding school ideas for their reception. They are not "too cool for school"!

Here Ye! Here Ye! Princess Party Invitation!

Hi Pinterest Friends! I now have a similar invitation in my Etsy shop. But if you want this invitation with all the fancy trimmings please send me an email and I'll create something special just for you.








Will a Princess themed party ever be out of style? I say NEVER! Pink and purple, ribbons and fancy trims, and a couple medieval phrases and the mood is set. I delighted so much in creating this invitation that I started imagining all the things I would do if it was my party. I could go overboard very quickly, like hanging a knight's shield on the front door, having a castle backdrop photo booth and putting my dog in an appropriate costume! (Did you see this dog at the bottom making the rounds in your emails this week?) No, that's not my sweet boy but isn't that hysterical? Well this little one year old Princess will be celebrated in style!

Halloween Dinner Party & Pumpkin Carving

Yikes! It's time to start the planning another spooktacular party. Actually, I'm not into the scary stuff. I just like that Halloween-time is an excuse for a party. A pumpkin carving party is a casual, no-costume-required affair but that doesn't mean that the cute details are forgotten. No! One must have drink tags, favor bag tags, and maybe a bit of bunting to direct your party-goers to the treats (dessert table)! These details coordinate with the invitations that I designed a couple years ago. I've got a little something else up my sleeve for this year. I'll be back!

The Woodsy Wedding on Ruffled!

When my daughter and her new husband found out from their fabulous photographer, Braedon Flynn, that their wedding would be featured on Ruffled blog they were beyond thrilled. They truly loved their wedding day because everything about it was so completely them, and to have others think it's big-time blog-worthy is certainly flattering. And nothing could make this MOB, paper goods creator and co-event designer (there were a few creative brains at work) happier! Go on over to Ruffled and check out the whole post and gallery. And if you haven't seen the invitations in a previous post check them out here.

Autumn Personalized with Pumpkins!

This is my trial year for scarring pumpkins. Last year while visiting a barn that is a venue for weddings I saw a pumpkin that had "Here Comes the Bride" across it and it fascinated me. I said, "How on earth does one do this?" and the owner gave me a few pointers and I went from there. I've had fun watching them grow and see which scarring tools worked the best. I decided some classic Halloween words would be fun as well as friends' names and a couple wedding related ones too. Next year I'm really going crazy. Yikes!

Tailgate Party on the Eve of the Big Game - Ticket Invitations!

They are Notre Dame fans and super fun clients of mine and they are having yet another sure-to-be-fabulous party. On the eve of the Maryland vs. Notre Dame football game the party is at their house. And if their friends don't have tickets to the game they at least have tickets to the Tailgate Party!


And the gold paper clips? It just seemed like the perfect little detail. Whenever my husband and I are given tickets for an event they are paper-clipped together and put in a simple little envelope. And both of the teams share gold as a school color.



Sometimes a client has a style or theme in mind, and sometimes I just come up with something that I hope will peak the interest of the recipient. This time when I asked my client if she had an idea of what she wanted she said "a ticket, maybe?". So a bunch of tickets is what she got! Since this party was actually auctioned off of at a school fund raiser I decided that along with some silly "fine print" I should add a thank you to the bidders as well on the backside of the tickets. If you're going to a tailgate party don't forget your pom poms!

Beverage Label Save the Date

Well, the clients liked the label the best so I made some final tweaks and they are out the door tomorrow! Having dark envelopes meant a coordinating mail label was needed. It's certainly not the standard fare that is found when one opens their mailbox so this save the date should be fun even before it is opened!

Engagement Party with Decorations in Hand

The wine? A "Special Engagement Reserve" in honor of the newly engaged couple.

A special "Diamond Ale" beer!

The super fun thing about custom labels on party beverages is your guests help set the theme of the party by carrying around the decorations. Let the party begin!

Destination Save the Date, Save the Week!

Planning ahead big time! This 50th birthday celebration is set for January of 2013. Yes, 2013. It might seem a bit early to send these out but the celebration will be in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and will last an entire week! Not only do the friends and family have to save the date but also save the week, the time off, the money, make sure their passports are up to date and so on.

So, will my client choose the calendar style or the beer label style? And as you can see I've already been playing around with a raffia palapa for a possible final invitation!

Getting Down to Business Logos, and Business Cards

With color requests, a company name, and a tag line (the definition of starboard) I started to work on a logo/business card. These are a few ideas I came up with so far. Now for feedback... I'll be back with the final design later!

Ceremony in the Woods

I know. I haven't posted in absolutely forever! I've been just a bit busy in final prep and then enjoying our daughter's woodsy wedding in Sunriver, Oregon. The bride and groom wanted to have the ceremony in a wooded, magical location. It turned out to be just what they dreamed. More photos later!