Linthicum Wedding Programs

The programs for Jenny's wedding probably took the most time - I decided to print them on tabloid sized cardstock 3-up, then cut them, etc. I wanted them FULL BLEED which took a lot of time...but TOTALLY worth it in the end - they were definitely one of my favorite aspects of her day. Classy and sophisticated but still a lot of whimsy and FUN!

If you look closely, you can see that rather than labeling the "bridesmaids" and "groomsmen" I went with "the lovely ladies" and "the massive men" ha! CLASSIC! Josh (the groom) is 6'10" and SOMEHOW we HAD to address the giraffe in the room!

I still kind of can't believe they're married...it was just so long in the coming...

Linthicum Wedding Table Numbers & Placecards

My childhood best friend Jenny Holden got married YESTERDAY an is now (even on facebook) officially Jennifer Leigh Linthicum. She and her hubs Josh are headed to FiJi and I'm excited to FINALLY be showing off some of the design work I did for her big day! Jenny planned for over a year, so we had PLENTY of time to be creative. We decided to play up the "travel" theme... throughout the entirety of their relationship (minus the one summer when Josh stayed in California) Josh lived in Illinois while Jenny lived in California meaning that they flew back and forth MANY a time. Now that they are married, Josh is moving to California and they will live TOGETHER happily ever after...but that definitely wasn't ALWAYS the case. We coined the phrase: "LINTHICUM AIRWAYS" and it all took off (haha pun intended) from there. I think they turned out well and definitely added a quirky touch to the reception.

Mr. and Mrs. Craig Truglio...

On July 23, 2010 (exactly one year ago TODAY), Shalina and Craig became husband and wife. Shalina started as my roommate but quickly became one of my closest friends. I had the joy of coordinating her big day and helping her with a lot of the paper goods. AND let me just say, coordinating a wedding is WAY easier when you live with the bride...I knew just about every detail of the day WITHOUT having to hold many formal meetings to dicuss family dynamics, etc. PERFECTION. 

The wedding was purple and orange - a color combination that surprised me with its beauty. I didn't know how truly striking it would be. Everything came together BEAUTIFULLY and it was an INCREDIBLE day.   

Happy Anniversary dear friends!

Hope you have a total blast on your anniversary trip!

LOVEYOU!

HGTV design star...

HGTV design star is BACK and you should set your DVR (for Monday nights at 9:00pm) because outside of Secrets from a Stylist, it is definitely one of the most decoration inspiration packed shows on television! LOVE IT! This season my favorites are Kellie...she's just stinking CUTE...and Karl who is inventive and ingenious...and my least favorite (thus far) is Cathy.  Are you watching? Are you rooting for anyone in particular??

Mr. and Mrs. Wygant

On July 9, 2011 I coordinated my first wedding of the summer for long-time family friends Kristin & Marshall. Kristin and I have known each other for literally as long as I can remember...we sang in Children's Choir together, went beach camping together, and did a LOT of playing in the backyard together. Many a childhood memory includes the Sampson family.

Kristin married Marshall at Marina Village on a perfect day...the sun was blazing, but there was a glorious breeze and the palm trees could not have looked any more stunning against the piercing blue sky. Kristin was GLOWING and Marshall looked as excited as he was. Their wedding was simple and classy and overflowing with love from friends and family. It was a great kick-off to a wedding filled summer and it was truly my honor to coordinate for them.

Their photographer was Arleth and she was incredible! I heard LOTS of compliments regarding her ability to be discreet especially throughout the ceremony. She got amazing photos without being a distraction! PERFECT! She just posted their pictures on her blog, head over and check them out...it will be SO worth your time!

Congratulations again Kristin & Marshall...I pray you have a RICH marriage and that the years ahead overflow with joy.

Secrets from a Stylist

did you hear, did you hear?? Secrets from a Stylist Season 2 starts SATURDAY (as in not tomorrow but the next day!) YAY! if you don't already watch it, you should, it is an inspiration explosion! and Emily is SUPER fun! Check her out, you won't regret it! OH, and read her blog too...she's bascially HYSTERICAL! alright, there's my plug! now set your DVR!

Carrie Wright Wedding Invite...

i once had a roommate named Carrie...but soon she's gonna be married...so she's not so much my roommate anymore! ha! Carrie is a FUN bride.  she has a LOT of personality and a TON of spunk. she loves with her whole heart and shares joy with all she encounters while seeking wisdom and having a true desire to grow. Carrie and Joe are getting married August 20, at Ev. Free Fullerton - they're having a simple ceremony and reception, including a homemade photobooth!! and it should be really fun!

Carrie wanted her invitation to be grey, yellow and cute...that is a wide range and allowed for a LOT of creative interpretation, but ultimately we came up with something that encapsulates her personality and has a touch of class...and i've already gotten several compliments, so apparently they went over well!

Carrie has a TON of DIY ideas for her wedding, so there will be a LOT more posts to come...YAY! i love summers filled with weddings! LOVE THEM!!

Mina's Guestbook...

Source: etsy.com via Shelly on Pinterest

My friend Emily lives in Springfield, Missouri and I went to visit her earlier this year (January to be exact). When I got off the plane, I immediately walked towards baggage claim overwhelmed with excitement about seeing my Emy. She was just as enthusiastic about my arrival, and actually brought her friend Mina with her. John had JUST proposed and Mina was just beaming. We didn't spend much time together at all, but in those quick minutes, I could tell she was just a dear. Mina and John aren't getting married until summer 2012, but she is already dreaming. She mentioned on facebook that she had spent (way too long) a while browsing my pinterest and fell in LOVE with the tandem bicycle thumbprint guestbook idea...so I whipped one up for her. It doesn't have the cutie little basket on the front, but I think it turned out well and MINA loves it...

SUPPORT KYLE OSBORN

My friend Kyle Osborn is a missionary with Campus Crusade and works in college ministries in San Francisco, CA. At the beginning of each academic year, one of his responsibilities includes renewing his support team and being fully funded...which in these economic times is no easy task. He asked me to help him with his support postcard. It is much harder to design for a guy than a girl - but with his mad photography skills and a little typography, we created a product that exceeded his expectations!

congratulations graduate...

on Saturday, one of my best friends graduated from Cal State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor of Arts. she is an INCREDIBLE artist and is basically going straight into the credentialing program with hopes of investing in art education throughout her future.  Rach and i met in the spring of 2008 when i had been living in Orange County for approximately 7 months and had virtually no friends (that is a slight exaggeration - but you get the point). on March 30th i moved into a super sketchy house in Stanton and met Rach - my new roommate (she had the master suite, and YES i was jealous! that room was SERIOUSLY huge!). anyway...we only lived together for about 6 months, but it was the perfect foundation for an amazing friendship that we are confident will last a lifetime. i am poor and still paying off my student loans (i'm probably going to be saying that until i'm 40, so get used to it!), so i needed to get a little creative with my gift. i framed an "R" print for her and then created a card listing 25 reasons i love her and included a $25 check. i think she like it and appreciated the effort (although i am sure it doesn't even begin to compare to the diamond necklace iPad or massage...someday i'll be able to give that kind of gift, right?!?!!).   

find your seat...

every once in a while I get to do a project for an "unknown bride" - somehow producing for a client i have never met makes me feel SO MUCH MORE LEGIT! ha! meghan is one of Amber's brides and she had a last minute design need - so with some direction on color and general style, i created this seating arrangement for the nuptuals that will take place on Saturday! we are still working out final details on size, etc. but with that much text on a single page, simple and clean is my motto and i definitely think i accomplished that.

Congratulations Graduate!

one of my best friends in the ENTIRE world is graduating from MED SCHOOL next month! i know, insane right! who graduates from Med School? smart people. smart people with a WHOLE lot of determination. Anna definitely falls into that category. she has worked SO VERY HARD for this and it is time for us to celebrate this INCREDIBLE ACCOMPLISHMENT in her life. I personally will be attending the actual graduation ceremony in addition to the festivities...and i cannot wait! i was at Anna's graduation from Jr. High and High School (we graduated together from Grossmont High in 2003) so it seems only appropriate to watch her walk across the stage to receive her doctorate. WOWZA. Anna Rae Garcia, MD. sounds FABULOUS!

this announcement was printed on crisp white paper and some black and crystal jewel embellishments were added. i also created coordinating address labels and return address seals to create a seamless package. Anna was happy with the outcome AND it saved her a TON of money (i cannot believe how much they charge for graduation announcements - RIDICULOUS!)...now it's time for mexican food and LOTS of gifts! 

SO MANY CONGRATULATIONS my dear friend. iloveyou endlessly!

Trustee Board Dinner...

i have mentioned my actual job here on the blog more lately than usual - BUT - i promise i'm still working on fun side jobs...more on those coming SOON! yesterday i sent out the "trustee board dinner" invitation. i work at a church - so there are boards - and each year members go off the board and new members come on the board and we have a dinner. back in the good days, it was a catered meal and everyone really enjoyed it. now it is backyard picnic potluck style and everybody still enjoys it (everyone except probably the people bringing main dishes - or people who have already worked all day at their real jobs...you know...most of us!). i didn't have much time to pull it together - i got the request for an invitation when i arrived at work (aka approximately 8am) and the host wanted the invitation out by afternoon. sounds like a lot of time - but i had about 10 projects in line in front of it AND a 2 hour meeting to attend. SO it may not be my ALL-TIME BEST WORK - but overall it's alright and definitely WAY better than the typical church potluck invite!

hawaiian retirement...

my boss Kathy is retiring after over 30 years working at Ev. Free Fulellerton. she is an ICON around here and undoubtedly one of the most amazing women i have ever had the privledge of working alongside.  she has invested in me and has been such a huge support and encouragement to me throughout the past 3 years...she is a faithful leader and a dear friend.  she is having a plethora of retirement celebrations and then heading on perhaps the most AMAZING cruise ever...including several stops in Europe {jealous!!} but i have the honor of hosting a gathering for all the administrative assistants along with Leslie Green - the previous admin in my position.  we are throwing a simple and sweet hawaiian themed lunch and sincerely hope it will be a time Kathy treasures. 

busy weekend in the bow world...

this weekend 3 MAJOR things happened...

1. Ashley and Curtis officially became Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. Their venue was SPECTACULAR

They both looked AMAZINGLY happy

The favor boxes added a FUN POP with that black and white polka dot ribbon to each placesetting  

And the candy bar looked SPECTACULAR thanks to Kirsten Lockhart - gifted aunt of the bride! She took my designs and made them look like an expensive affair!

From what I heard, the wedding was gorgeous and everybody had a really great time! So happy for Ashley and hope she and the hubs have a WONDERFUL honeymoon in Hawaii! (I might be jealous!)

2. My dear World Changers teammate and friend Emily hosted a bridal shower for her roommate Sara Ellis (soon to be Mrs. Sara Swope - marrying Tyler Swope - and no we're not related - but YES I do have a first cousin named Tyler Swope - did you get all that?).  She used e-vite  to create her invitation but needed a few extra design pieces to pull it all together. Her invitation had a funky spring flower vibe to it and Sara's wedding is navy blue and yellow - so I combined the two concepts and created some printables for Em. They are nothing spectacular, but the bingo board was pretty cute!

3. Finally, my BEST childhood friend Anna who is graduating from medical school in less than a month now officially mailed her custom designed graduation announcements...and then promptly boarded a plane and is now enjoying a {several years late} honeymoon in Italy. Ahhhh so jealous! The graduation announcement deserves a post of it's own...but my oh my a lot got done this weekend in the bow world! AND it all happened while I sat on my couch and watched trashy television. It does NOT get better than that!

Lollis...

You've seen LOTS and LOTS of the pieces for Ashley's wedding over the past few weeks - but Ashley and Chazz are getting married TOMORROW so their wedding bliss is nearly behind us.  Earlier this morning the girls were getting massages and now they're probably moments away from the rehearsal dinner...they are SO close to being Mr. and Mrs. Wilson!

Here is the final touch of wedding wonder I created for their big day...labels for the lollipops in their candy bar.

I promise I'll show you professional photographs of the wedding as soon as they're available - but it could be a LONG time - so savor this final sweet treat!

Certificates of Achievement

every once in a while i do a design project for my actual job (you know, the one i work full-time, in an office) and yesterday was one such day.  i work at a church and my boss is in charge of the Stewardship ministry here. yesterday was CROWN graduation and (as every good graduation does) the students needed certificates. SO...i quickly created some that matched the overall design scheme we used for Crown this spring (the ones Crown provided were painfully boring). I think these have just enough pop!

a wine bottle guestbook...

ashley and chazz (aka curtis) are getting married THIS weekend, and we are still pulling together all the little details to make her day spectacular! yesterday we finished the "wine bottle guestbook" - ashley is of the opinion that guestbooks have absolutely no purpose, so etsy inspired her to create a guestbook with more lasting value.  ashley and chazz are having their guests sign wine bottles that they will open on their anniversaries in years to come. darling idea - and i think it turned out REALLY cute!

a pillow for Shalina...

several weeks ago (sometime in March to be specific) i hosted a bridal shower for my friend Adri-Anne who is getting married THIS MONTH! AHhhhhhh! yay! her wedding colors are orange and turquoise, so it seemed only appropriate to decorate the shower in the same palette. HOWEVER, orange and turquoise are NOT my colors, so i knew the investment in decor was for the shower only. Shalina saw these napkin squares which I used as a runner and fell in love claiming the napkins as HERS! she decided she wanted a pillow for her couch, and I happily obliged.

i think it turned out really cute AND i realized how INCREDIBLY EASY it is to make pillows...now if only i could find some really cute napkin squares in a fabric that I LOVE...we'd be off to the races with new pillows for me!!

WANTED for WAY too much pep in their step...

The month of April is winding down, so I decided to show you one last design.  This weekend, the La Habra High School Cheerleaders are gathering for their banquet and I got to be IN on the designs behind the event.  I had intended to save the BIG REVEAL until after the photographs of the actual banquet are delivered to my hot little hands (all of the paper goods were printed on KRAFT - so the actual effect of this invitation is MUCH BETTER than the computer image can portray) - but alas, I just can't keep you in suspense! This design is a bit outside my "ordinary" context - but I LOVE IT! So fun getting to dabble in all kinds of different events! AND these cheerleaders are in for QUITE the banquet - between the rootbeer bottles and sheriff badges, they're SURE to have a great time!

Happy Easter, love Aunt Shell

Easter has always been a really special holiday - it is the day on which we celebrate the joy of our salvation - and the incredible gift given graciously by our Savior, Jesus Christ.  However, Easter has gotten a little more fun now that there is a little person in the family again.  I have made it my personal quest to be "favorite aunt" and therefore absolutely HAD to provide a fun little Easter basket (pail) for my sweet M-girl. It was FAIRLY simple - I used a "crop-a-dile" to punch a hole in the tin pail and added the "M", tied on a PINK polka dot bow, and stuffed it with all kinds of princess paraphanelia! She got some glitter crayons to go with her sticker book, a wand (her favorite item FOR SURE), and some little girl sparkly and shiny lipgloss! She was a happy camper - AND she looked ridiculously cute! SO FUN spoiling my miss!

"hearts on fire"

Lynne Saine is related to several previous clients of mine and recently asked me to create a logo for her group of independent demonstrators at Gold Canyon. She came up with the name "hearts on fire" to reference the group's passion and I created the coordinating logo. She is THRILLED with how they turned out and her team seems to love it as well! I hope it serves them well!

belated Christmas cards = HAPPY EASTER!

Dee Maltby used to be the receptionist at the First Evangelical Free Church - AND throughout our time working together, we became friends.  A few weeks ago she contacted me asking questions about creating a shutterfly Easter card since she never got around to sending Christmas cards. WELL, the conversation quickly became a design request - and I happily obliged! I think their card turned out super cute - and it was my JOY to create a CHASDAN (the new grandbaby) inspired greeting to all their loved ones!   

Introducing AM events

my friend Amber (I coordinated her wedding last May) is working on launching her own event planning/styling business and last week I got an EMERGENT call...you see, start-up businesses are not usually profitable right away, so currently Amber is employed by Pottery Barn AND recently she had the opportunity to promote her company at one of their sponsored events.  Unfortunately for Amber (but SUPER fortunately for me!) she didn't have a business card yet...so...OF COURSE that is where I came in...in literally a matter of hours I whipped up a design for her, make a few tweaks and changes, and she sent it off to the printer. AND I got a call yesterday announcing that she had already booked a wedding! YES! ALWAYS thankful for success! (i guess that means I should go ahead and sent that invoice!) 

monograms {for lauren sanders}

a LONG time ago, i spent a summer in Puerto Rico working with World Changers and Student Volunteer Mobilization.  Kevin Sanders was one of my teammates and he became a very good friend.  WELL, his sweet wife Lauren contacted me early last week asking me to create some monograms for a wedding she is coordinting THIS WEEKEND, so i whipped them up and sent them over! hope the wedding is GORGEOUS!

a bridal shower {for ashley}

over the weekend, my friend Kirsten threw a BEAUTIFUL bridal shower soiree for her niece Ashley and i was honored to provide most of the graphics for the event.  it all started with a french theme and chandelier inspired invitation...but Kirsten definitely took it to the next level. she's a girl after my own heart for sure! She wanted matching tags for the MANY gifts she used as decor that ash got to take home at the end of the shower, and each lovely lady in attendance was given a chandelier compact including the darling "merci" tag as a favor.  she created pin-on flowers as napkin holders and embellished them with matching placecard tags as well.  perhaps my favorite element of the day was the chanel perfume bottle inspired centerpieces. OH MY GOODNESS the flowers are GORGEOUS.  it was SO MUCH FUN working with Kirsten and i sincerely hope Ashley had a LOVELY day!

a bridal shower {for adri}

march has been a CRAZY month for parties...from my birthday party to jenny's shower to adri's shower, i hosted a pretty major shin-dig each weekend! WOWZA!!! this weekend i'm off to palm springs to rest and recooperate...but i thought i'd bring you ONE MORE shower before i go!  adri and i were roommates for almost 2 years before she moved back to canada in hopes of securing a fiance visa and eventually marrying her love, Erwin.  her visa is still in process, but their wedding date is set for May 28th (see their wedding invite here).  adri is in town {briefly} for a wedding, so we throught we'd throw a bridal shower into her plans!  i was BLESSED to host with 3 FABULOUS ladies: Shalina, Grace, & Kristine and the shower was a TOTAL success!!  Adri's wedding colors are turquoise and orange, so we stuck to HER theme...she is also sensitive to many a food...so our options reflected her eating needs {we're so generous that way!}. Adri & Erwin, we can't wait for you to be back in the states, happily married, and LEGAL!! THAT will be a MAJOR event and i can't wait to plan it with you! MUCH LOVE!