Little photo shoot... Go take a Gander!

Hey Everyone,
I posted a fun little shoot I did this last week over on our Erin Hearts Court Blog! Go take a peek! Here is a pic to entice you to see it all....

Death to the E-Mac

The Day finally came.... 7 years it has been my work horse. I know you all are thinking an E-Mac... circa 2002... you run a business and do modern designs on that!!! Are you crazy! Yes and No! We also have a new I-Mac and a Mac book. However, I do all my emailing, designing, and some printing from that computer. So when it decided to completely shut down with no hope of ever coming back to life, the only way to save all my work (lucky for me I back up everything!) from the last 3 days of emails and design changes were not backed up was to take the whole thing apart! So My Super husband came to the rescue and completely tore it to pieces, retrieved the Hard drive and saved all my work from the last 3 days!!! YAY for super Husband!!! Since nothing important was lost (at least what I can tell right now) we had a little fun with it. For now I will have to use the laptop for most of my work and when I do major designing or printing I will have to rock, paper, scissors with my husband to use the I-mac (that is technically his computer but he has to learn to share!) :) Come summer when we have paid off the other 2 computers I can get a new one and I am excited for that day! As frustrating as it is I am happy I am good at backing up my work. So for those of you that are wondering why I haven't been very good emailing lately this is why!



Here is my super husband inside the emac casing pretending to be a spaceball!:)

Breathless: The Modern Table Top

I love being asked to do table top designs from emily at ONCE WED, it really gets my creative juices flowing. I get a budget of $200 to try and create a table that would give inspiration to all brides. I did all 3 of my recent tables, The Frida seen here and here, this Modern inspired table, and the next to come the Vintage Study {see sneak peek here}, with the base of a round table, white table clothe, basic dishes, white napkins or black napkins, all of which are the usual items given to brides at venues. I wanted to challenge myself to turn them into nothing short of fabulous. I usually end up going over the budget a smidgen but I made sure this table stayed right on target.
My inspiration for this table was based on the Movie "Breathless" by Jean Luc-Godard. I pictured roaming the streets of paris during the 60's surrounded by the mid century modern lifestyle, stumbling upon a street fair, stopping by the local record shop, photographing the Eiffel tower, sitting in a cafe, and finishing the day with a martini at the local beatnik bar listening to poetry readings. I had to include balloons, black and white stripes, a vintage camera, some records, and of course candy cigarettes. I wanted the yellow to be very subtle so I used just some yellow freesia and imagine the martini glasses already filled with lemon drops when your guests sit down.
I tore strips of fabric to make runners for the table. The records are all gathered from thrift stores, and the vintage camera is my own...
I added the hint of a paris cafe by placing flowers in small espresso cups. I was trying to make the table a little more on the "girly" side so I added pink vintage style plates from Anthropologie, to soften up the static geometric shapes of the vases, from ikea.
You can see the invitation I designed surrounding the theme here. The escort cards are tied to small 5 inch balloons for your guests to enjoy.
Go over to ONCE WED and take a look at the table and her gorgeous website filled with inspiration.
All photos are by my husband and myself. So without further ado Breathless-The Modern Table Top....

Didn't want to, but I did.....

I made a page in facebook. So far Erin and I are the only fans... Although I am not a big fan of my own work, for humility reasons and hard on myself, I was more just trying to figure the thing out. I figured the more I can show up around the web the better. Still haven't started to tweet or flick... Have to draw the line somewhere or I would be on the frickin' computer all day!
Nothing much on my facebook page but go take a look!

WAITING.....

I am waiting for a few things to happen around the blog world so I can post all my new work... I also have ideas that I want to produce soooooooo bad but just can't at the moment, as I have 2 printing jobs taking up all my tiempo for the rest of the month... and well no extra moola to do them with. GRRRR........ well I guess I will have 2 print jobs to show at the end of the month. that's good. :) Sorry!

Breezes, Butterflies & Boats

I just finished this beautiful invite for a lovely couple in IRELAND. She wanted a elegant but relaxed invitation that really showcased the couples love for sailing and the ease of enjoying life but with out looking like a nautical themed invite. Flowing flowers and sailboats in the breeze. Their colors are mainly blues with her bridesmaids dresses being 3 shades of blue. So we chose to mix 3 shades of blue thread to tie it all together. This is the first invite I printed using POLYMER plates! I just finally made the switch from magnesium mounted on wood. I was pleasantly surprised by the ease of the transition and the fun it brought back to printing for me.
It started to drizzle just as I was taking the pics so I didn't get too many but hopefully you can see it's simple lovliness. I also have one other invite I just finished last week that was to be photographed as well but the rain killed that shot! :)

My Photo Studio {a wooden chest}

I found this old WWII chest on the side of the road. It sits right at my front door and is what I use to take all {well, 90% of} my photos of my invitations and projects on. This little setup can provide the perfect spot for almost all my invitation designs. It has started to take it's toll in the rain but I love it. Since most of my designs have a soft vintage feel and rustic organic charm, what better place to prop them up then on an old wooden chest filled with history! I usually add a few flowers or something that represents the theme of the invite. Ladies and Gents... The Chest.