A TUTU FABULOUS....birthday!

I think its fair to say that kid's parties have come a long way from just cake, ice cream and possibly getting to make your own pizza at Papa Gino's while all your friends watched. I am not complaining because now that kids parties are on a whole new level it allows me to do what I do! Nancy called me about doing invitations for her daughter Isabelle's upcoming 6th birthday. She would be holding it at home, there of course would be cake and ice cream but you would also be making your own TUTU.......seriously that is so super creative. If you live in my area and have a daughter chances are you have heard of The Bow Fairy owner Donna Cabral makes custom bows and so much more, so Nancy is having Donna come to show all the girls how to make their own tutu....LOVE THIS!

Now for the invitation....I didn't even meet with Nancy to look at card stocks or discuss design, the only thing she told me was to have it purple and hot pink........oh and plenty of GLITTER too! I love when hot pink is involved it's my favorite glitter color to use. I decided the design would be vertical, using three layers of card stock. For the main backing card I went with Majestic which had a slight shimmer to it, the second layer was a bold pink called fashionista.......this is one of my new favorites. The invitation text was printed on white linen using two colors of ink.  This was the first invitation I have ever done for a tutu party and I think it is just TUTU CUTE!

PUMPKIN and A Baby Shower!!!!!!!!

I received a message from Hilary Larson a few weeks ago that she was in need of some invitations for her friend Ali's upcoming baby shower. I was told the color scheme was hot pink and orange, she's having a girl and there would need to be a pumpkin somewhere too because the baby shower had a fall theme to it. I've done plenty of baby shower invites before but this was different because it didn't have your "A" typical theme.......this would require some major thinking outside the box!

As I headed to my meeting with Hilary I honestly had no idea how this invitation was going to work. Every time I pictured a pumpkin all I could think about was Halloween or Thanksgiving. As I sat with Hilary and the ever so ADORABLE Charlie she too was wondering how this theme was going to play out. After seeing what Ali had chosen for the baby's bedding I had a really good sense of her personal style.  Next up...OPERATION PUMPKIN, we talked about putting the pumpkin in a stroller.......but then I didn't want Ali to look at her invite and think "oh so my kid is going to look like a pumpkin." As we continued to brainstorm I noticed Hilary was sketching out her vision and the more she did the more I was able to visualize it in my head.  I truly believe that great things can happen when you put two creative people and one really good baby in a room! I took that piece of paper home with me and stuck it to my computer as I created all the artwork for this invitation.

Picking the card stock was easy, we decided the main backing card would be Fashionista, the invite would be printed on First Snow and the envelope would be TANGELO......love that name! The invitation would not be complete without some glitter.......I used hot pink for the baby's bow and crystal clear for the pumpkin and vines.

Once the invites were done I was off to deliver them to Hilary and was so excited to find out that one, Ali would be there and two I could finally have some of Hilary's famous cupcakes! It was so nice to see the look on both their faces when they saw the finished product. I only wish Hilary could've seen the look on my face as I ate one of her pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.....SO YUMMY!

The Art of Inspiration

It doesn't matter what type of designer you are, if you're creative then most often than not something inspired you to create. I openly state at the top of my blog that "it's the people I meet along way that inspire how I design" which is true, but by nature I am a visual designer so when I create a piece of artwork I usually start by finding something that inspires me.

About a year and a half ago was the first time I met Hilary Larson owner of Eat Cake in Newburyport. Liz White of Mason and Madison had asked me if I would design some glittered cards up to be placed in front of the cupcakes she was serving at her grand opening. My FIRST stop for inspiration was Eat Cake's website it was also my LAST.......there was no need to look any further. I have been a fan of Hilary's creativity since I first saw her work and to this day one of my favorite cake designs that she created was that of a PIN CUSHION, if you click the link you will see exactly what I mean.

 

I recently met with Hilary to discuss design options for invitations she would be needing for her friends up coming baby shower. During our meeting I showed her some of my recent work one being a farming birthday invitation. I was pleasantly surprised when I received an email from her tonight with a photo of a cake she designed telling me that my farming invite was the inspiration.....I can't even tell you how happy and flattered I felt that one of my designs created inspiration for someone else.


As you know I always talk about who is behind a design, so I emailed Hilary asking what the cake was for? It's actually a celebration cake, the Uptons had recently grown by two feet and it was time for Kellan to meet some of Daddy's family out in Western Massachusetts. What a fabulous idea....I don't know anyone that doesn't love to EAT CAKE!!!!!!!!!!!