Jenny's Shower {a RECAP}

throwing a shower for my dear and darling friend Jenny with one of my all-time best friends Anna was truly an absolute DREAM.  it was a lot of work pulling together all the little details from cities over 100 miles apart, but the turnout was great and i know Jenny had a wonderful day {that is REALLY the only thing that matters, RIGHT?!?!!} Jenny's LOVES black, white and pink - so we made that our theme and built around it {it might be the EASIEST color combo to find things in!!!}.  We invited over 80 guests to attend the afternoon soiree, so we stuck to homemade desserts, fresh squeezed lemonade, iced tea, and coffee.  we didn't play any "games" per say but did have a question and answer time with the bride and groom and then a special time of prayer and devotion as well.  it was a WONDERFUL afternoon and i could not be happier for my sweet friend!  there are MANY a shower and wedding event still to come...but i believe my hosting duties are done! Congratulations Jenny and Josh! LOVEYOU! 

Happy Birthday TO ME!!

on SATURDAY, march 12, i turned 26 and decided it was means to CELEBRATE! i invited a few of my nearest and dearest friends over and we had a lovely brunch including a build-your-own waffle bar, fruit served in martini glasses, and a Swope Family Christmas Morning Classic: sausage balls! SO FUN! because i was hosting a very PINK bridal shower for Jenny Leigh the following weekend, I decided to prep for her shower and use the decor for my party! WHAT a smart idea! it turned out SUPER cute and it was WONDERFUL celebrating another year with great friends!

birthday brunch

my birthday is JUST AROUND THE CORNER and i love any occassion to celebrate, so it seemed only appropriate to host a birthday bash.  rarely does my birthday fall on a saturday - so i decided to do something a bit out of the ordinary and host a birthday brunch...we are going to have SO MUCH FUN!  every good breakfast starts with a mimosa and my birthday brunch will be NO exception.  there will also be a build-you-own waffle bar, fruit served in martini glasses and perhaps a few other surprises. i am SO excited!

this was my first attempt sewing on paper and let me just say - AMAZINGLY easy and such a fun touch! SO GLAD mom & dad got me a sewing machine for Christmas...it has served me well thus far!  these invites were super easy and i love the way they turned out.  they're a bit more pink than i would usually pick...but we're going with it! pictures of the party coming up soon...

b is for baby

one of my nearest and dearest friends (shalina truglio) hosted a bridal shower for one of her nearest and dearest kristine and i was lucky enough to be asked to make the invitation.  the shower turned out ABSOLUTELY darling (amazing work girls!) and kristine and junior felt so blessed.  i think my favorite part of designing is knowing that i have somehow contributed (in a small way) to someone else's joy. it is SO gratifying! baby boy ulit is coming SOON - and i'm SURE he'll be cuter than ANY invitation!!

oh, i made the little favor tags too - SO CUTE! i love when everything goes together! it's FAVORITE for sure!

WEDDING INVITE - Adri & Erwin

Adri-Anne was my roommate for just about 2 years before she moved back to Canada (shortly after which she received a diamond engagement ring) to procure a finance visa and eventually marry Erwin here in California. Their official wedding will take place in Victoria, BC after which they will honeymoon on the road home and have a courthouse wedding in the states (I am hoping to throw a major shin-dig in celebration of THAT day!). Adri asked me to help design their wedding invitations and I've been holding out on the big reveal to make sure they were sent to the appropriate individuals first - but the time has come. Adri & Erwin are both musical and wanted their invitation to reflect a ticket vibe incorporating their colors: turquoise and orange.

I also created a wrap around address label. The A&E portion of the label wrapped around and adheared to the backside of the turquoise envelope. I love that there is a touch of sophistication in the ampersand mixed with the bold contrasting font.

Designing the wedding invites was a bit intense - I felt a lot of (self-imposed) pressure - but I'm happy with the overall turn out and SO HAPPY for my friends! Congrats Adri & Erwin!

Bridal Shower Address Suite

We decided to keep things relatively simple as far as envelope labels are concerned - so I created a border that mimicks the invitation and a seal that is in the same color family and could be PUNCHED and adheared to the right hand side of the envelope flap.  They turned out pretty cute and hopefully we won't have any returned invites! We'll just have to wait and see...

Bridal Shower Invite - Jenny Holden

I had 2 best friends growing up: Anna Powell & Jenny Holden.  We did EVERYTHING together and had a BLAST doing it all!  Well Jenny is getting married and Anna and I have the privledge of throwing her church family bridal shower.  It is a LARGE gathering (we're anticipating approximately 80 guests) so we have to keep things relatively simple.  I created the invitation suite and they went out in the mail yesterday.  Hopefully no one will see it here before it arrives at her house (who am I kidding - no one reads this blog - except maybe Anna - and she's already seen it SEVERAL times!)