The Wizard of Oz is a wonderful birthday theme… And these little gems are the way to get it started. LOVE the way it all came together.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road…
Once upon a time…
Once upon a time… a sweet, young woman contacted me after seeing my princess castle invitations that I did a few years back for a first birthday. She and her fiancé wanted something unique and special to share with family and friends. I was excited to take on this project and give them a personalized wedding invitation that shared their incredibly romantic and unique story. 75 invitations, over 2,000 hand applied gems and pearls, 75+ hours ~ serious labors of love and I truly feel honored to have been a part of it all. I’d love for you to take a moment to read their “Once upon a time…”
75 works of art
An Invitation to the North Pole
Tis the season – I was in the spirit months ago when I created these sweet pieces.
Each guest received this house – which the host wanted to be a representation of what she feels Santa’s workshop would look like – sweets and treats and loveliness. The front door opened to reveal a sweet reindeer proclaiming “you’re invited”. The chimney pulled up and out to reveal the party information on one side and on the reverse, a pocket held entrance tickets to visit the North Pole. Some tickets were for “new visitors” (or guests who have never attend one of my clients’ parties before) or “past visitors” (or guests who attended last years party) with different “clearance” and “stamps” for where they move-up to. We attended to every detail to make each guest feel special and set the tone for the party ahead. So much fun!
A West Coast Happily Ever After
I was contacted this past Spring to do a custom wedding invitation for a lovely lady and her sweet, soon-to-be hubby after they saw my Mackinac Island themed invitations. They live on the West coast and the Mackinac Bridge reminded them of their bridge – so away I went designing…
The custom belly band was made with things important to the couple; music and the ocean. I incorporated the two to make an elegant piece that would hold the invitation all together. Colors, patterns, and lots of details went into this unique invitation. I just LOVE love!
Tri-fold oversized invitation
Custom cut pieces
Custom colors and patterns
Custom made envelopes
shimmer and shine
shimmering elegance
response information
Notice the treble clef for the ampersand…
all together
piano keys are incorporated into the band
Glowing at Eleven
So neon seems to be all the rage these days. I’m not saying I’m not “hip” and “into it” but sometimes it is a bit much. Being the center of attention has never been my sort-of-thing so I wouldn’t be caught wearing some of these bright, crazy colors. But eleven year old girls, well they love it!
The invites were modeled after the box card style that many scrappers have been using to make unique greeting cards. Why not an invitation? I love making interactive invites that people love to open and close or shake and move. This one was a big hit with all of the guests!
Here’s my take on a Glow themed party…
Glow sticks in balloons hanging from the ceiling, black lights, streamers and paper chains, glow stick bracelets, necklaces, and wands from the local dollar store, and neon painting on white t-shirts for the girls to keep. We also used glow sticks that we broke open and dumped the liquid into water – our spur-of-the-moment centerpiece that turned out so cool! The glowing liquid made blobs in the water that glowed for most of the evening.
*** This was last year’s theme – some how I missed posting. ***
Party Like an ALL STAR!
Yup, my little one is a pre-teen! And she collects shoes (just like her Mama) so why not celebrate with her favorite – CONVERSE!
The event was kicked into “go mode” with a custom Converse style shoe invitation – complete with shoe box. I wanted the shoe to be interactive so I designed the tongue to lift up, like a real shoe would when it’s unlaced, and printed the party information on the underside. It was interesting hearing from the girls, and even my own daughter, that lacing the shoe back up wasn’t something they knew how to do. So I provided a life lesson with the invitation as well – hmmm – who knew!
We delivered the invitations to each of the recipients as we feared the shoe box would have been damaged being sent via USPS. Not to mention it was fun getting the girls reactions to them (and helping them to lace it back up🙂
Each box had a customized barcode tag with the girls names and unique numbers about the birthday girl. The little “priceless” tag was even perforated like a real label. LOVE paying attention details!
For the party, I decorated a simple table as the girls would be eating and crafting together there. The cake was the centerpiece and not one of my proudest baking moments but the girls loved it. (Note to self – always make your own frosting from scratch – don’t try to doctor a store bought – unless you know what you are doing!)
Each guest received a custom made shoe box that had a mini converse shoe on a key chain and a mini white converse shoe key chain that they would decorate later. Their were compartments for each to take home a cupcake, gum, shoe sucker and other treats. The designs and colors were all repeated from the invitation only on a larger scale. Custom water bottle wraps, custom straw flags, and custom napkin wraps added to the simple table scape.
Each guest also received an initial chipboard letter that they then decorated. It was so great to see the girls use their creativity and create little works of art.
The guests signed the canvas pieces creating an art piece and keepsake for the birthday girl to hang in her room.
Happy, Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!
She said “Yes!”
Love is in the air – well it has been during the four weeks of planning this special event…
My dear friend, Karen, shared the news that her daughter, Rachael, said “yes” to the marriage proposal from long time love, Gregg. Naturally, Valentine’s Day was the perfect “love” weekend to throw an Engagement Party to congratulate and celebrate the soon to be Mr. & Mrs.
Even though it was Valentine’s Eve, the traditional Valentine theme just wouldn’t do. We kept it to white with a touch of red – no pink here. Sophisticated, delicate, and lovely. We were inspired from a dessert table found online (see link below) and the simple elements that were used. The paper products featured on that site are no longer available so I did my best to replicate them. The garland was our base and we built from there. The venue for the party was a multi-level club-house and the stair railings were the perfect place to dress up with yards and yards of custom cut hearts sewn together into an elegant and delicate garland. Please note the “hap-hazard” way it was hung was done on purpose… elegant yet whimsical – fancy but not stuffy.
Karen had the brilliant idea of a kissing booth but to be used more like a photo booth so that guests could have photo memories and fun with their Valentine. Her giving heart wanted to be sure guests were still able to enjoy their Valentine being that the event took time from their weekend. The crape paper backdrop was created to cover an 8′ door wall. The event was at night and the wall of glass behind the booth turns into reflective mirror and wouldn’t make for good photography. The booth was a big hit!
The backdrop for the dessert table was needed to cover an interior window. The venue was full of window and mirrors so creative and inexpensive backdrops were needed. The envelope wall was the perfect fit. “Sweet Hearts” was our tag line and we felt fit the envelopes well.
Karen made all of the cookies – working for hours to get them just right. The edible stamps on the love letter cookies were so cute and each cookie carefully tied with twine. Karen’s brother made the amazing cupcakes and cake and I did the chocolate covered strawberries. Licorice was tied in knots, Oreo’s covered in white chocolate, and red velvet cheesecake brownie “love bites” finished the table. (Karen did the Oreos and brownies too – she hasn’t slept for weeks!)
Thank you to everyone who helped with the set-up, food, desserts, and clean-up. So many helped to make this event a huge success.
I hope LOVE has found you this February and will continue to do so all year through.
red velvet cheesecake brownies
Oreo’s covered in white chocolate
yummy cupcakes
centerpieces – simple frames with tissue flowers.
custom garland
custom signs
photo props
red pillows for the furniture – no detail left undone.
custom photo booth
what a sweetie
Lovely Ladies
my Valentine
Karen – She did it again!
http://justcallmemarthaa.blogspot.com/2011/02/happy-valentines-day.html
