Avalanche of paper

Who else but a good friend would help you sort out paper for five hours on a beautiful Saturday afternoon? Lucky me, I had two good friends who were up for the challenge and pitched in with this enormous task, spurred on by the promise of a free lunch. The nice photo above with the organized stacks of paper? That's a teeny, tiny drop in the bucket compared to the mountains of cardstock that I had amassed in the last four years. Next step is to package everything up...one of my friends has already secured some "pre-sales" of miscellaneous scrap packs on reserve for her crafty coworkers.

The biggest, most heartfelt thank you goes out to my girlfriends who realized firsthand my true obsession with paper. I owe you another lunch...and my first born child.

Love the LOVE!

This is the new LOVE stamp that was issued by the USPS last month! Isn't it fantastic? The King and Queen of Hearts tops my all-time list of favorite LOVE stamp designs. I'm kind of inspired to design an invitation set around this lovely design...hmm...

Remember the time...

Got up extra early this morning to get a headstart on my day, but immediately got sucked into the VH1 Michael Jackson video retrospective.

My parents won't remember this, but they turned me onto Michael Jackson tunes by way of a cassette tape that they gave me on my birthday way back when. It was "Thriller" and it was awesome. I played it over and over and over again...partially because it was the first tape that was my very own (aka no sharing with my older brothers) and partially because it was so addicting. Putting socks on my feet and teaching myself to moonwalk on the linoleum floor of our kitchen soon followed although I was never confident enough to break out THAT move at the quarterly "jam sessions" held at my elementary school.

Ok, gotta go...getting sucked back into the videos again.

Putting my iTunes on hold

Have you Pandora'd yet? I can't remember how or when I first visited the Pandora site, but all I know is it was love at first listen. For those not in the know, Pandora is an internet radio. That's the most basic of explanations. But the cool part for me is that I create stations based on artists that I like and the Pandora wizard (I'm envisioning an all powerful man dressed in robes who lives in Oz) plays music by other artists that you'll probably like. If Pandora plays something not to your liking, just give the tune a thumbs down and the site promises never to play it again. Ever.

On this sunny, breezy Aloha Friday, I'm tuning into my Coldplay station featuring Coldplay (surprise!) and other Coldplay-esque bands like The Fray and Third Eye Blind. Ahhh, perfect.

Don't look directly into the light...

Twice a year, The Wedding Cafe hosts a popular series of workshops that attracts hundreds of brides and grooms. I participate in the Invitation Showcase, naturally, and love meeting everyone and catching up with my fellow invitation designers. At the end of each workshop, we have a Q&A session and today I'm sharing my favorite tip.

Possible snafu: Even the most well-meaning guests could forget to write in their names on the response cards before mailing them in.

Easy fix: Before sending your invitations out, write a tiny number in the corner of your response cards that corresponds to your numbered guest list. Example: Aunt Fran is #3 on your Excel spreadsheet....write in "#3" on the back of her response card. If forgetful Aunt Fran mails back a blank card, you'll know who it's from!

Better fix: If the thought of a hand-scribbled number on your pristine response cards makes your stomach turn, enter the UV SECURITY MARKING SYSTEM -- aka, the SPY PEN. This pen uses an invisible ink of sorts that is only revealed with a UV light. Useful, relevant, and its cool factor is through the roof!

Here's a shot of the packaging:

The UV light:

The pen:

The test: I scribbled a "secret message" on the corner of my glossy business card.

The big reveal:

Look for this cool gadget at your local office supply store...it'll be in the same section as those pens that detect counterfeit bills. For local O'ahu girls, check out Fisher Hawaii on Cooke St. I saw a handful of them in stock about a month ago!

Sweeeeet!

The wedding of my "cupcake clients" hasn't even happened yet and I'm already anxious to see their photos! Over the past couple of weeks, I've been immersed in all things SWEEEEET in prepping all the custom stationery for the reception. The sweetfest kicked off with recipe card invitations (photo coming soon!) and wedding guests will be rewarded with a celebration fit for Willy Wonka himself.

One of my favorite projects is shown above - a hanging sign with blinged out letters and giant cupcakes. Everything was trimmed by hand - sprinkles and all! Loved seeing the bride's reaction when she saw it for the first time.

Hope to have great photos to share from this delectable wedding!

Carisse + Todd

I adore my clients. I really do. And it's such a great feeling when my clients are inspired by my design aesthetic and see all the possibilities of using wedding stationery as an important element of decor. My clients, Carisse and Todd, are a great example of the perfect marriage that takes place between client + designer when a clear, shared vision becomes reality.

I started working with Carisse back in May 2008 after she spotted my work at the Wedding Expo. What transpired after that brief meeting was a wonderful collaboration of ideas and designs that resulted in a laundry list of custom stationery pieces. For this destination wedding couple, I created:

Luggage tag inserts
Save the dates
Engagement party invitations
Wedding invitations

Bridal shower thank you cards
Itineraries for welcome baskets

Flip-flop tags
Table number cards
Escort cards
Programs
Menu cards

Reserved seating cards
Restroom signs
Restroom basket signs
At-home reception invitations

And I'm wrapping up this lovely paper journey with a scrapbook that the couple will be displaying at their at-home receptions in a couple of weeks. I haven't had a chance to photograph all the pieces that I created for them yet, so thank goodness for the gorgeous photos by Chrissy Lambert Photography! Check out some of the photos at styleschool (the cool wedding blog by InStyle Weddings) and on the cakelava blog (check out their insane cake here).

All that sparkles

It's been two years since hubby and I tied the knot and I still find myself looking at my bedazzled left hand and thinking back to our special day. But this post isn't about our wedded bliss. It's not even about the gorgeous rings we got from The Diamond Specialists. It's about a great blog that The Diamond Specialists started recently that answers common questions and offers helpful advice on everything jewelry-related.

I just browsed through Jewelry 411 and zoomed in on two questions right away: "How do I clean my ring?" and "What the heck is palladium?" (I'm paraphrasing, of course). I don't habitually clean my rings and I've been thinking of switching the band on my e-ring to palladium. Bingo, questions answered.

If you already know everything there is to know about jewelry, check out The Diamond Specialists other blog for heart-warming proposal stories. So sweet!

Expo moments

Today's post is short...but sweet.

Favorite moment from the expo:
I was chatting with a bride and her mom about invitations while they were sampling a bit of bread pudding from the Koolau Ballrooms booth (stationed across the aisle from me). I asked them how it was and they said, "Really good!" Next thing I know, the sweet mother-of-the-bride disappears for a minute and comes back with a serving just for me. Awwww....

Favorite line heard at the expo:
A happy couple was flipping through my sample book and got to the Pocketfold-style invitations. The groom folds open the pocket and checks out the response card and response envelope neatly tucked into the pocket and exclaims, "Wow, this is bitchin!"

These are a few of my favorite things...

Wedding Expo - check!

Happy Monday! It was a busy but fun weekend for me! The Wedding Expo went smoothly and and I got the chance to chat with so many happy couples and catch up with some wedding industry friends. My only regret is not being able to walk around the show floor - no time! -- to see the other booths. So I can't do a vendor wrap-up for you, but I can share a few pics from the Emi Ink booth. (Wish I could cue the Wrestlemania-type voiceover for the dramatic introduction, but some things are better left unsaid!)


This is my wall of invitations. Each piece is mounted between two acrylic squares and hung with an intricate (not really) series of chains and hooks. This display always attracts curious little hands that love to grab and pull and shake. Yeah, 'nuff said!

I redesigned this display board a few days ago on a whim and was thrilled by the response! I showcased some of the stationery pieces that were created for recent clients and wanted to inspire people to start thinking about not only invitations, but ceremony and reception stationery as well. Oftentimes, you wouldn't think about stationery as an integral part of your table decor, but with the right design elements the possibilities are endless! Oh, and I should give a little shout-out to my husband who suggested that I mount all those paper swatches to the center of the board. It took me a long time to put it together, but it was definitely worth it!

A little damask never hurt anyone. I love damask. I love people who love damask. This mini display and the black and white color combo got a lot of attention.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth! I'll be updating my online gallery soon with photos of recent projects, so check back soon!