Wedding Expo this weekend!

If you're in the mood for some fun wedding hoopla, come by the Hawaii Convention Center this weekend and check out the Hawaii World Class Wedding Expo! I've got some fun new things to unveil at my booth...honestly, I've been waiting MONTHS for this big reveal. If you're reading this before the show starts, I'll reward you with two hints.

HINT #1 - there's bling...or no bling...whatever you prefer.

HINT #2 - there's fabric...super luxe fabric.

Things with bling are second nature to me. Bling adds sparkle. Bling adds pizzazz. Bling adds the WOW factor that makes people go "oooh" and "aaah."

Things with fabric are a new thing for me. My medium of choice is generally paper, so dabbling into fabric is all the more fun. I've got bigger plans down the road, but I'm just dipping my toes in the water for now. Come dip with me, the water's fine.

Here's the who, what, when, where, how...

Hawaii World Class Wedding Expo
Hawaii Convention Center
1801 Kalakaua Avenue
Honolulu, HI  96815

Friday, 10/25 | 6:00pm - 10:00pm
Saturday, 10/26 | 11:00am - 5:00pm

Tickets are $8.00 at the door.

Hope to see you there!

Updated sample book (at long last)

I'm so SO happy that my updated sample book is done and on the shelf at The Wedding Cafe! It's way overdue and checking this off my to-do list feels great!

The hardest part about assembling this book was selecting only a precious few stationery samples to showcase. With the help of my assistant, I think I covered some of Emi Ink's most popular designs and in addition to invitations, there's a wide array of ceremony and reception pieces, too!

The next best thing to scheduling an in-person consultation or visiting me at a wedding expo is stopping by The Wedding Cafe and flipping through these samples. I think you'll get a good feel for my design style!

When paper meets cute

I love seeing my custom stationery out in the "real world"...it makes me feel a bit like a proud mama. This photo, for example, just made my heart sing. I designed a custom pennant banner in Journey's favorite colors of yellow and purple and finished it with touches of bling.

When you have a cool name like "Journey," chances are you won't find too many off-the-shelf knick knacks with your name emblazoned on them. No plastic license plates to screw on the back of your bicycle seat, no souvenir magnets to stick on the fridge, no snowflake ornaments to hang on the Christmas tree.

See, I had that problem as a kid. I would spin display racks round and round to find the correct spelling of my name. I always found S-T-A-C-Y and S-T-A-C-I-E, but rarely S-T-A-C-E-Y. To this day, I will casually, but pointedly, search for S-T-A-C-E-Y whenever I see a rack of anything with pre-printed names. I may or may not do a little fist pump when I spot my name. Small victories count, people.

So, this pennant banner was made with L-O-V-E for J-O-U-R-N-E-Y from her Aunty S-T-A-C-E-Y.

A tasty collaboration

When I'm asked about great sources of inspiration, I sound a bit like a broken record. I want to shout this from the rooftops because I truly believe it - "You can find inspiration ANYWHERE!"

A few weeks ago I was meandering the aisles of Target and stopped dead in my tracks when I spotted this über cool collection of kitchen appliances. My stainless-steel-loving husband did not share my enthusiasm, but I was over the moon at seeing these French Bull designs up close and personal! 

I think this is what's been missing in my life...and how much fun would it be to have an explosion of color like this on wedding stationery???

 

Sweet scallops

There's almost nothing sweeter than scalloped edges. And recently, for some reason unbeknownst to me, I've had lots of requests for stationery with this charming detail. This is a recent stationery order designed for a wedding coordinated by Seasons of Life Events.

Behold, the scalloped edge:

The menu cards were inspired by the bride + groom's invitation design with soft pink roses in each corner, names typeset in a slight arch, and the lovely scalloped edge...all the more impressive when stacked together.

The sweet, romantic style was carried over to their "I Spy" cards. Don't know what an "I Spy" card is? Well, it's only a fantastically fun way to get the ball rolling with those disposable cameras that you leave out on your guest tables! I may have cracked a smile or two (hundred) while designing these cards.

And a final piece designed for this sweet wedding (sans scallops)...a pretty little drink ticket.

Orange You Glad I Like Corny Titles?

This is a stationery set that I designed for a fun couple last year. Cymbidium orchids and a vibrant color scheme of Tiffany blue and tangerine meshed seamlessly to create an island feel for this destination wedding! The 2012 Pantone Color of the Year was, in fact, Tangerine Tango...so this stationery suite was not only fitting of the locale but most definitely in vogue.

The thing is, although we are well into 2013 (and Emerald Green should be reigning supreme this year), bright, vivid oranges and soft coral tones are still holding strong. Perhaps it's because the islands are full of natural beauty and vibrant colors, perhaps it's because orange, when used alone or paired with another color, screams FUN.

These are reception programs that I just produced for a wedding last weekend:

Truth be told, the inspiration behind the orange in this wedding was not the island's tropical flowers, but by the Chicago Bears team colors. With rich navy blue linen on their guest tables, the reception programs in their sweet little pockets provided a nice pop of color at each place setting.

And a bonus pic from one of their enclosure cards that was mailed with their invitations - we created a somewhat chic looking pattern from the Chicago Bears' logo:

Stump-endous

You've heard people say that a stump is a stump is a stump, right? No? Well, it doesn't matter because it's not true, especially if it's a super cute Heart Stump Wood Container by Shop Toast.

This is a (very) short story about how the adorable printed stump shown above came to be.

I designed wedding invitations for my recently married bride, Wendy (actually, she adopted the "newlywed" moniker only a couple of days ago!)

She loved the finished invitations! She was also equally in love with Shop Toast's wood containers and wanted to use them as her favors.

Light bulb moment ensued.

I communicated with the ever-accommodating Jeremy of Shop Toast about file format, artwork specs, what his favorite sushi places were, and we were good to go.

<< cue triumphant fanfare >>

Wendy was kind enough to gift me with a sample stump and I absolutely L-O-V-E it!

Easiest client/vendor/vendor collaboration I've ever had the pleasure of working on.

Congratulations Wendy and David!

Rockin' with Pat

Interesting self-discovery moment occurred in the car this morning.

I realized that I know every lyric to Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot."

I may or may not have been listening to an "oldies" station on the radio.

In no way does this date me...at least that's what I keep telling myself.

That is all.

Emi Ink on Instagram

I'm "officially" on Instagram. With real pictures. That I'm purposefully posting. 

I actually signed up for my Instagram account ages ago, and unbeknownst to me I had posted a single, obscure photo of my TV. It was a random shot snapped from the comfort of my sofa; probably a test photo to see how my app worked. Apparently it worked so well, and so seamlessly, that I didn't even know that this raw, unfiltered, blurry-as-hell photo of my TV was exposed for all to see. Thank goodness that my assistants brought this to my attention, albeit months later, so I could delete it. Ahhh, the joys of technology and an inept user.

Anyway, I'm back and trying to post stuff daily. Since I was already in the habit of photographing anything and everything that I find even remotely inspiring, Instagram is surprisingly perfect match for me. Another little window into my world...at least until I pull the shades down!

That vintage island feel

A few months back I worked with a wonderful Aussie bride who was planning her destination wedding in Hawaii. She wanted her custom stationery to reflect the beautiful locale and we weaved images of palm trees throughout the printed pieces. About halfway through the design process, I found out that she had purchased a set of vintage-style Hawaiian postcards to use as table numbers...the only problem was, we had to figure out how to do it. She mailed the postcards to me and we decided to do a double-layered, double-sided card with the number printed in front, and the postcard image featured on the back. I rounded the corners on the printed table number cards to match the postcards, and voila! A successful collaboration between client and designer resulting in a beautiful and unique set of cards to adorn her tables!

Pretty and Pocket-Sized

I introduced this pocket-sized invitation at a wedding expo last year, and I've been pleasantly surprised at the amount of interest it's garnered since then! This accordion-fold layout with a perforated response postcard is not only compact and convenient, but it's a money-saver as well! The postage required for the response postcard is less than a regular 1-ounce stamp, and the overall weight of this 4.25" x 5.5" invitation is substantially less than its full-sized cousins (5" x 7", 4" x 9", 6" x 6", you get the picture). And custom designs are available!

First birthday fabulousness

While most of my Emi Ink world revolves around weddings, occasionally I'm able to squeeze in some design work for other milestone events. One of favorite non-wedding events? First birthdays.

I worked with a wonderful client last year who was planning a very special celebration for her daughter's first birthday. When this sweet mama shared some of the event photos with me, I gushed with excitement. Now I don't make it a habit of "gushing" but seeing how all the little details came together so perfectly was just amazing.

The "sweets" table!

Quite possibly the loveliest flowers ever?

Tented table number cards happy pink and yellow flowers

Table number card + floral centerpiece = perfect pair!

Guests were invited to write a special wish for the birthday girl

And wishes were hung from a tree

I dream my painting and I paint my dream...

Aside from working with great clients, one of the best perks of my job is working with awesome vendors! I had the honor of collaborating with the very talented Kristin Kato of A Cake Life and Naomi Lee of Les Saisons to create last month's display at The Wedding Cafe.

Our inspiration was an artist's studio, hence the paint-stained tarp that served as our table linen and paint cans, brushes and easels that completed the look.

(Photo by Kricia Morris Photography)

Some of my favorite elements from the display:

Seating charts displayed on an artist's easel (Photo by Kricia Morris Photography)

Invitation with ombre watercolor heart pattern (Photo by Kricia Morris Photography)

Watercolor escort cards (Photo by Kricia Morris Photography)

Hand-painted cake by A Cake Life (Photo by Kricia Morris Photography)

Each window's "art installation" was given a title (Photo by Kricia Morris Photography)

This particular quote struck a chord with all of us! (Photo by Kricia Morris Photography)

Gold painted cake with lovebirds by A Cake Life (Photo by Kricia Morris Photography)

The fringe! (Photo by Kricia Morris Photography)

The back story on "the fringe"... I had wanted to create this crepe paper fringe for a loooong time and was so happy to finally get the chance to bring it to life! My original plan was to create this stunning backdrop for my booth at the wedding expo. And after seeing how it looked hanging in The Wedding Cafe, I knew that a repeat performance was necessary:

Emi Ink booth at the Hawaii World Class Wedding Expo

And a final note on the display... While the worn tarp with paint splatters is atypical of Les Saisons' gorgeous linen offerings, the real benefit of collaborating with someone like Naomi is her eye for design. I consider myself a designer, but I work on a very macro level. My canvas of choice is usually no bigger than 5" x 7". That works in my favor since people hire me to master the details of their stationery, but that skill is not very handy when you need to stage something larger than a breadbox. Watching Naomi work is really like watching an artist in action. She created something from nothing and designed these gorgeous vignettes to showcase my stationery and Kristin's beautiful cakes. That's talent, I tell you.

For Kristin's take on the display, including fun details on her stunning cakes, check out her blog here.

Broaching the subject of brooches

Pretty brooches add impact! (Photo by Kris Labang Photography)

I have long been a fan of bling, although that wasn't always the case. When I launched Emi Ink in 2005, my tastes weren't necessarily simple, they just weren't sparkly in any way. But I quickly realized that a single crystal could provide that WOW factor to any invitation. Small touch, big impact.

A few years ago during a consultation, a bride told me that she wanted a beautiful, elegant invitation with my signature crystals added to it. Signature? Me? I don't know how it happened...maybe it was the fact that I always made a big deal of whipping out my big crystal chart during client meetings or my frequent admissions that crystal application was like meditation for me (it really is)...but somewhere along the road, people started associating me with the blingiest of bling. I was surprised at first but then I thought about how my design style had evolved over the years. Wow, they were right...and oh how I've embraced the bling since then.

I recently added some SUPER BLING to my product line-up and have fallen head over heels for vintage-style brooches. Their super power is transforming any piece (invitation, favor box, menu card) from blah to beautiful! Crystals, pearls, crystals AND pearls...so much gorgeousness!

Full disclosure: adding this type of embellishment to invitations will pose a few extra challenges for mailing. You'd need to mail your invitations in a lovely box or padded envelope. If that's not really your cup of tea, consider adding a brooch to your favor boxes, table number cards or menu cards...it would instantly allow your stationery to perform double duty as beautiful accents to your table decor!

A banner year

Photo by Kris Labang Photography | Drop dead gorgeous linen by Les Saisons

2013 has been a banner year for Emi Ink in many ways. For one, my fear of social media has gone from crippling and paralyzing to moderately anxiety-inducing (note the pretty new links to Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest). I've managed to actually squeeze in a couple of much-needed getaways (working from the road wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be). Oh, and the other reason it's been a banner year? I make banners now.

So many options, too! Custom text, different fonts, oodles of ink colors, cool card stock, bling(yay), no bling (boo), pretty ribbon ties, rustic twine. I know people are visual creatures so I'm working on creating some samples that I can show at the next wedding expo.

And what would you do with a custom-printed banner? I'm so glad you asked. This is my top 10 list in no particular order (and just so you know, I'm writing these on-the-fly)...here we go:

1. "LOVE IS SWEET" - hang it above your dessert table or candy buffet!
2. "OH HAPPY DAY" - hang it in front of the head table
3. "MR. AND MRS." - cutest ever photo prop!
4. "THANK YOU" - ask your photographer to snap a shot of you and your newly betrothed holding this banner and print up sweet thank you cards
5. "MAHALO" - see #4 (I swear I'm not getting lazy..."Mahalo" is just too important to leave out)
6. "BRIDE'S NAME *heart* GROOM'S NAME" - another photo prop (and no extra charge for printing your real names)
7. "HAPPILY EVER AFTER" - my personal favorite! head table, registration table, photo prop!
8. "HERE" + "COMES" + "THE BRIDE" - cute little ring bearers and flower girls sometimes steal the show, and you can make them even cuter with their own little banners to hold
9. "JUST MARRIED" - perfect for the head table or for photos!
10. "DO NOT DISTURB" - for the bridal suite door! Just kidding. Or maybe not? Either way, I'll throw in #11 as a bonus suggestion. 
11. "12.10.14" - a great way to commemorate your special date in photos

Like I said, it's a banner year! 

A True (and Silly) Story

First, the story I'm about to tell is 100% true. No stretching of the truth or taking creative liberties for humor's sake here. Second, I pushed to get permission to write this story because I thought it was an important story to tell. Finally, I'm going to let the story unfold at the very end because that's the funniest part...and if you don't make it to the end of the post you won't be missing out on anything.

The End:

Temporary art installation on my newly painted wall ("Not So Silly String")

The Middle:
I spotted a big ol' cockroach in the hallway, right outside our bedroom door and there was absolutely no way that I was going to turn in for the night knowing that HE was lurking around outside. I called to my husband, and he said, "Quick, get me the can!" He ran downstairs to get a broom (my fancy, expensive broom with the ergonomic handle) and I ran to get his can.

Most people would assume that I grabbed the can of roach spray...oh, how I envy those people with common sense and deductive reasoning. No, my husband was asking for his can of silly string that was sitting on the nightstand.

He returned with the broom and I handed him the silly string. His plan was to encapsulate the roach in a cocoon of silly string, thus rendering it helpless and motionless. My plan was to stand back, watch my husband channel "Spiderman", and try not to say "I told you so" when the roach escaped from his bubblegum pink web.

Surprisingly (not really) my husband's plan failed while my plan went off without a hitch.

The Beginning:
One might think that using silly string on a B52-sized cockroach was a spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment decision. Yeah, one might be dead wrong. This was a well thought-out action sequence by my sweet husband. He had bought the silly string weeks earlier and was waiting ever so patiently to "unleash the terror." In his defense, it was not well-executed since his original plan was to use 3-4 cans of silly string simultaneously and attack the roach from various angles. I believe that this would have worked. I also believe in unicorns and the tooth fairy.

But my husband humors me all the time when I have silly ideas and crazy whims, so who am I to judge?

Color coordinated

A recent home improvement project renewed my secret love for the hardware store, specifically the paint department. I can spend an unhealthy amount of time pulling out, comparing, and matching paint chips. I also take photos of the paint chip wall because, well, I can't resist. So many colors, so little time!

I've also bookmarked many a crafty project involving paint chips, but never feel comfortable going home with more than just one or two chips at a time. I just can't get past the guilt. I mean, if I removed a handful of paint chips from the store, someone at Benjamin Moore would KNOW...of this, I am convinced.

On the other hand, I have no problem recommending that my clients grab their own paint chips to communicate their wedding colors to other vendors. No guilt by association there...my conscience is clear.

Let It Snow!

Snowflake installation! (Photo by Derek Wong Photography)

Less than a week before Erin and Matt's wedding, we added a huge project to our plate - creating a hanging snowflake installation for their ceremony site! I accepted the job before I figured out exactly how I was going to produce it (not an uncommon thing for me). Without much time for experimentation, I quickly mapped out a plan to string 50 strands of clear and iridescent snowflakes, add some sparkle to catch the light, and weight each strand with a teardrop crystal. 

I'll be honest, this was a monstrous task that took a lot of helping hands to create, pack, deliver and install (stationers are not equipped to climb ladders and thankfully I left that up to the talented crew at Vignette). I was happy just to have completed the job on time but it wasn't until I saw photos of the snowflakes by candlelight, against the gorgeous draping, and hanging above Erin and Matt that I was really able to appreciate what we had created.

Exchanging vows... (Photo by Derek Wong Photography)

Monogram - Two Ways

Custom gobo (Photo by Derek Wong Photography)

A simple but stunning way to to personalize your reception space is to create a custom gobo that projects a beautiful image onto the wall, dance floor, ceiling, etc. For Erin and Matt, we designed a simple monogram with their initials and wedding date. And performing double duty, the same monogram was printed on their custom aisle runner.

Monogrammed aisle runner (Photo by Derek Wong Photography)

Naughty or Nice?

"Naughty" favor boxes (Photo by Derek Wong Photography)

"Nice" favor boxes (Photo by Derek Wong Photography)

Continuing on with Erin and Matt's holiday-inspired wedding extravaganza...

They presented their guests with a choice of "Naughty" or "Nice" gourmet chocolates packaged in red and white pillow boxes. We designed corresponding tags and a framed sign that invited guests to make their selection at the end of the evening. Love bringing clients' creative ideas to life!

Holiday-Inspired Invitation...the nose knows

Holiday-inspired invitation (Photo by Derek Wong Photography)

If only my blog came with a scratch-n-sniff feature.

This invitation was for a winter wedding back in December. There were so many fun elements to this wedding, that I decided to cover them all in multiple posts. (When you've taken a break from writing as long as I have, you gotta ease back into a little at a time. I don't want to sprain a muscle or anything.)

So, back to the invitation shown above. My clients, Erin and Matt, wanted a festive piece that tied in with their Christmas themed extravaganza. (I refer to it as an "extravaganza" because, well, you'll see why after I'm done writing about it.) A color scheme of red and white and touches of silver worked seamlessly with the printed Christmas ornaments that festooned the invitation and response card. The outside of the invitation was wrapped with a red and white striped paper band and a little "no peeking 'til Christmas" sign...the "no" was crossed out, so technically it was a "NO no peeking 'til Christmas" sign which gets a little confusing when you think about it too long. So don't think about it too long.

The hidden gem of the invitation, though, was the scent. Yes, I said scent. Erin and Matt's uber creative wedding coordinator, Mona Hirata from Weddings by Grace and Mona, suggested that we add a holiday scent to the invitation to drum up even more excitement for their guests. Why not? I love trying new things and scent was definitely a new thing.

Erin and Matt's scent of choice was pine. Great! Little did I know that finding pine-scented anything in the month of August was near impossible. Sure, I could order something online but without the benefit of sniffing something firsthand (first nose?), online shopping was my last resort. I decided to hit up some local stores in search of essential oils. Bingo. The very first store I visited had pine...too bad it was too earthy. (It actually smelled like a rotting tree, but I think "earthy" sounds classier.) The second store I visited also had pine...well, they had an empty slot reserved for pine but they were sold out. Lots of other tree scents like sandalwood and eucalyptus were perched in their slots, but no pine.

Out of desperation, my husband and I took a spin by an auto parts store. Yes, the idea of shredding the hanging Christmas tree car fresheners sounded ridiculous, but how awesome would it be if that worked? IT DID NOT WORK. IT WAS NOT AWESOME. Lesson #1: Christmas trees that dangle from your rear view mirror do not smell anything like Christmas trees. Lesson #2: Don't tear open the package of Christmas tree air fresheners in a confined space (like your car) unless you're prepared to go rogue and toss it out of the window while driving down the highway (for the record, I didn't litter...but I did hang my arm out of the window the whole ride home).

Scarred from the whole pine fiasco, I suggested to my clients that we go with a peppermint scent. A nice, refreshing, easy-to-find peppermint scent. This was my first custom invitation that smelled as good as it looked.

Island beauty

I apologize for the amount of metaphors I'm about to use.

Sometimes, creating custom stationery is like blindly throwing darts. You throw out a bunch of darts (aka design concepts) and hope one of them hits the target (aka matches up with what the client wants).

Other times, creating custom stationery is like a fire drill. A last-minute request comes in and you need to stop whatever you're doing and tend to the fire ASAP.

And still other times, creating custom stationery is like Iron Chef. You know the mystery ingredient (aka theme of the event) and have a general idea of what you want to cook (aka design), but it's not until your food is plated and sitting in front of the judges that you'll know if everything worked (aka presented to the client).

Ok, that's enough bad metaphors for one day.

The menu card shown above was designed for the Ko'olau Ballrooms open house event held in late 2012. The direction I got was exactly as follows: vintage/Hawaiian/earthy + moss green/brown + textural. With only a couple of days to pull this together, the design ended up being a 3-layered card with the bottom layer faintly resembling tightly woven lauhala, a middle layer of chocolate brown, and the top ivory layer accented with a pair of ferns. All in all, a successful dart-throwing, fire drill-inspired, Iron Chef presentation...and I couldn't be happier with the way the table was staged!

(Photo by Kris Labang Photography)

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Seabert!

 

 I love it when my clients are quick to respond to emails. I love it when they are kind and unassuming. I love it when they appreciate the little details just as much as I do.

And I am over the moon when I have clients who encompass all those things and so much more. Meet Michele and Chris Seabert...newlyweds (aka awesome clients)!

Interesting fact...my "relationship" with Michele and Chris came down to this:

5 months + 1 in-person consultation + 107 email messages = 1 happy couple and 1 happy designer

Because of busy work schedules and challenging logistics, we relied heavily on email communication to get everything done quickly and efficiently: ideas exchanged, proposals sent and accepted, proofs reviewed and approved, delivery and pick-up times scheduled. 107 emails sounds like a lot, but it really wasn't considering how much we got accomplished. Michele and Chris ordered invitations, table number cards, favor tags, thank you cards...

For their "fall romance" wedding, I incorporated a spray of phalaenopsis orchids, an antique gold backing clear Swarovski crystal accents, and rich purple pocket fold.

Pocket fold invitation with phalaenopsis orchids

The response and outer envelopes were a pale metallic gold.

Printed return address on back flap

And a bonus photo of Michele's gorgeous bouquet...just because

Thank you to Michele and Chris for allowing me to be a part of your special day!

Photo credit: T. Goda Media