adventures in design

Valentines Week: Cute Cards

It's valentines week! Yay! And here in TN the weather is amazing. It's the kind of day for a picnic in February, if for no other reason than to have a picnic in the middle of winter.

To celebrate the love, I've made a few cute cards for Valentines day. They're sweet and simple, and that's how I like my v-day cards. Sometimes, saying "i love you" is the simple, easiest, and truest way to let someone know you care.

All the way from Japan...

I am happy to announce that Brocade has a new member of its family!!

It's a Gocco!

I have been waiting a long time to bring the art of the Gocco into my invitation & graphic  design products, so I am sure you can imagine my delight when after several long weeks of waiting my shipment came in from Japan! There was dancing in the street, cartwheels, and even a few fireworks.

According to Wiki, 1/3 of all households have a Print Gocco system in their households-- the name "Gocco" is loosely translated to "make believe play." While the machines are no longer being manufactured and shipped, you can still buy the materials through the Riso company. I was really happy to find my machine in great condition.

Photo from Wikipedia

To see some of the amazing creations made by Goccos, check out the Wurst gallery here, or check out the GoccoPress website

I can't wait to start making cool Gocco creations!

Holiday Cards

While working on the Brocade holiday card for this wonderful Holiday season, I came up with a few permutations that I decided to launch in my etsy store. I absolutely love Etsy, and have been lurking on Etsy awhile, waiting for the time to be right to feature some of my designs-- so be sure to check them out. I'll talk about them here on my blog.

These cards are multi-purpose: they can either be used as an e-card, delivered via your email, housed on your website or blog, or featured on your social networking profile, or I also have high-resolution versions that are suitable for printing. You can buy the individual files and print them at your personal preferred printer, or I can take care of that for you. The cards can either be used as a flat card or can be converted into a folded holiday card-- your choice.

And now, drumroll please, the 2008 Brocade Holiday Card Line:

"Snowdreams"

This blue and white themed card has an ice and snowflake theme with "let it snow" in artistic block lettering

"Deck the Halls"


This whimsical card features hand-drawn elements of ornaments and lettering. I love the shade of red for this-- I really kind of fell head over heels with it. I like how this card is whimsical and fun.

"Santa's hat"


Is that you.... Santa Claus? There's something about the santa hat that says "Holidays" in a way that makes it so you don't have to really say anything else.

Seasons Greeting **

Stars and Snowflakes in shades of green and blue make for a seasonal greeting that's modern and fresh.

merry, merry


Crooked canes, hot pink presents, and a green, green tree make for a truly happy holiday

Brr! Holiday Card

Cut out ice-crystals hang suspended from the side of this card, a chilly reminder of the icy holiday season with a wish for warmth during the yuletide.

If you'd like to purchase one of these cards, visit my etsy shop!

A Greecian Affair

Nikeisha & Adrian were married on October 4 at the beautiful War Memorial Plaza in Downtown Nashville. Brocade provided event design, coordination, and the floral design for the event.

Today's blog will feature some of the design elements for the wedding that we've been planning together since last January, when I met Nikeisha & Adrian at a Starbucks in Antioch. Their theme: Greek and Roman inspired design, at War Memorial, with a cocktail party theme. Since we had the setting-- the gorgeous War Memorial, we had a lot of inspiration there to begin with. I took Don out to snap some photos of the War Memorial--

I love the above picture-- it was such a beautiful day!

Along with the invites, I made these cool coaster sized invitation inserts that clued guests into the fact that the reception was a cocktail party theme. The design mixed different style fonts to create a look that was both elegant and fun at the same time. Cut to cocktail coaster size, these made for an inspirational insert:

When throwing any type of themed party, in this case, one that was a cocktail party theme-- it's important that you reflect that to your guests and make sure they know what your concept for your party is, that way, they come prepared!

The week of the wedding, Brocade designed these cool "Wedding Newsletters" to go out to the bride & groom's family and friends, complete with an illustrated timeline of the event schedule:

The couples colors were black & white, and this design reflected their design concept, and also captured some fun images for the guests on the timeline.



I designed these cool cyllinder luminaries with the couple's names & wedding date to coordinate with the black & white color scheme.

More photos from this great wedding to come in Wednesday's Blog!

 

Magnet Save-The-Dates

A "sticking" (ok couldn't help the pun!) trend in Save-the-Dates is the magnet save the dates. I love them because they are a constant reminder for your guests that your big day is coming up.

I have been working on a few cute save the date ideas for some couples using magnets-- I am running a special on magnet-save-the dates this month (if you're interested, email me!) and I thought I'd share a few of my favorites:

For a spring wedding, this magnet is a mix of vivid shades with a fresh design:

 
This next design features a tree motif that echoes throughout all the wedding stationery while simultaneously reflecting the season:

 

And finally, an elegant grey and yellow combination that uses the wedding colors with a lovely bit of scrollwork

 

It's the middle of September-- remember to enter our cocktail contest giveaway!

Customize EVERYTHING

I have a penchant for making stuff my own, a trait that started early on in life. From making my own christmas cards & ornaments (stay tuned for the holiday 08 collection that will debut in November!) to paintings on my wall, I love making anything custom. So, when I heard about Lill studios from Ashleys Bride Guide -- a place where I could make my own custom handbag-- I was super psyched. Of all the things I can do (paint, draw, flowers, graphic designs, cook, garden, etc) I cannot sew. I can pin like nobody's business, but when it comes to sewing--let's just say I'm challenged. So making my own clothes & handbags is out (darn!). Thankfully, the ladies at Lill let me feel like I'm my own fashion designer. I went to their site and started to design. It's super fun because you pick out the style of bag you want (I needed a new, cute tote) and then you get to customize EVERYTHING. Brides, you can even get 20% off in August for your own cute customized pieces. The little clutches are adorable & the perfect gift for your bridesmaids or maid of honor-- especially when you can go custom with your wedding colors!

A few of my creations...

The adrienne with Wanaque Paisley & pretty pink piping-- the interior?  A delightful shade called Strawberry Daquiri:

And for my tote?

& because I think I need a new journal...

Wow. I think I'm in love...aren't you?