LaProvidencia - Childrens Hospital Los Angeles

This is the fifth year that I have had the pleasure of working with this amazing nonprofit organization. La Providencia is made up of a wonderful philanthropic group of women that raise money through a local thrift store and charity events for the Childerens Hospital of Los Angeles. This Save the Date card is for their annual cotillion, their formal ball. Using a Habana theme for their event, we had fun putting together this savvy card to mark the occasion. I designed it as a 4x6 postcard to keep the costs low (postage for postcards is only $.26!). We love staying involved with the local community!!

Martha Stewart Lip Smacking Cootie Catcher

A fun party favor and a way to let your guard down all in one! The new Martha Stewart magazine features this old school "cootie catcher" game, bringing the past to the present in a timeless party favor. In my version I labeled each front panel, 'Who, Would, You, Kiss', instead of the common "Kiss" in four languages. Inside you will find eight numbers. Once a number is picked, you would open and close it that many times, then pick which ever number is shown to reveal who you will kiss! The choices I placed inside are Bride, Groom, Best man, Bartender, Etc. Such a fun idea that could work for numerous events. My favorite would be a bachelorette party where the choices could be, guy to your left, next blond who walks in, etc. Get crafty and make yourself one, they're lots of fun!!

A Family Wedding

The pressure is certainly on when someone in my family is getting married. Of course, they turn to me to design their intimate event and I'm happy to do it! This 5x7 "Save the Date" postcard I created for my niece Shannon and her beau Jason. I'll post more images as we approach the big day!

Robin Manno Photography

Robin Manno is a young, edgy, and very cool photographer that specializes in head shots and just recently began doing baby photography. I hired her to do one of my children's graduation photos and they turned out absolutely amazing. My other daughter cannot wait for her turn in front of the camera! Creating her business collateral was a fun process, where I first started by designing a business card utilizing both sides of the card with samples of her work as well as including her contact information on the front. I also created her logo that she will be using on her website and with all of her future marketing materials. Seen below is an example of her photography and my design in 4x6 marketing postcards that we created that express her stylish sense of photography in a simple and effective look. If ever you are in need of a photographer, hire her, she's great!!

What is a Hand Canceled Envelope?

An antiquated style of stamping envelopes remains to be a better way to send mail. I always tell the brides to ask the Post Master at the Post Office to "hand cancel" their invitations. Most of the time the post office personal will have no problem doing so. To keep your invitation clean and free of those pesky and ugly barcodes and skid marks when it's sent through a machine, this stamp is absolutely necessary. Not to mention, if the envelope is too thick with all of your custom designed accoutrement (invites, RSVP, etc.) they attach a nasty bar code sticker right on that beautifully shiny envelope. As you can see above, this image is of a "hand cancel" stamp, nicely placed on or next to the original stamp. Clean, beautiful and it maintains that original look that was initially designed.

Mark The Date - The First Stages

I work with many brides that are referred to me by Inger Miller and Jill Hawkins of
MHP Events. It's wonderful to have the opportunity to work with these ladies. They are event producers with an amazing track record of excellence, including: Pasadena Magazine's "Top 40 under 40", and "2009 California Small Business of the Year". Recently they brought Rupa and Kurt to my studio to discuss designs for their three day traditional Indian wedding with roughly 400 guests. Modern yet traditional, we went with a dark red and ivory color theme with an elephant motif. The first piece we created is the "mark the date" card, which is a nice change from the traditional "save the date". Also, shown below are the beginning stages of production on their actual invitations. As you can see, it's going to be a HUGE wedding!! I'll be sure to post more images as we progress!

The Beverly Hills Hotel Wedding Extravaganza!

When Justin and Karina first came to my studio, I knew that they would end up being more than just another couple simply looking for invitations. This was an extraordinary couple, and Justin quickly appeared to me to be one who "lives out loud". He gravitates towards anything and everything GRAND! So, of course the Beverly Hills Hotel is the venue where this lovely couple decided to have their celebrations. We came up with the idea to use the hotel as inspiration for the motif and signature of the event. We designed the invitation incorporating a palm motif representing the hotel, while the bride and groom brought a bit of elegance and personal style to the design by creating a family crest that was then used on all of the wedding materials. A variation of the crest was even used on the wax seal closing each invitation.
It's all in the details!

This couple have become wonderful returning clients. We even used their crest for holiday cards that I designed for them. I cannot wait to make their baby announcements when that time comes, I'm sure they will be GRAND!!