Crazy For Design

2011 Recap: Wedding Designs

2012-01-06T09:45:00.025-05:00

Wow, didn't realize there would be this many sub categories of Recaps. I was going to gang some of the miscellaneous graphic design projects I've done with weddings but when I started getting into it I knew weddings would have to be on it's own. It's been a fun and crazy year, but I'm blessed, humbled and honored to have worked with such wonderful clients. Most of these designs I've printed and prepared. It's not what I usually do but I enjoy it on a limited basis. I have started 2012 off with a bang and I look forward to what craziness it will bring. Hope you'll join me for the ride. It's more enjoyable with company!

First, I must thank Laura and Megan of Events in the City DC. Most of these designs were for them. They and many of their clients put their trust in me to create the perfect design for their most special day!

Frank & Linde (click here for more info about their day)
I was so excited to recently find out that their wedding was featured in the Washingtonian Bride & Groom magazine, and listed us in the details! I'm in a magazine! :DThanks to timmesterphoto.com for the photo of the magazine!

Darby & Dave
To celebrate the Groom's English heritage, the reception tables were named after stops on the London Underground. I created the poster using the actual Underground Map that I edited and added the guests names to their respective tables.

Kristen & Brian
Alecia & Colin
This wedding was held at a Vineyard - love... instead of table numbers they used wine bottles! again I say ... love!
For more photos visit timmester photo

Meredith & Lewis
For more about their wedding click here. I printed and put together these straws/flags, stickers & cut out each of those apple tags! whew! Photos courtesy of timmester photo

Meredith & Matt
One of my favorite designs... *sigh*
The photography is pretty awesome as well! (see here for more.)

Brittany & Eric's Save the Dates

Damask Beach Reception - For full post click here

A bicycle theme for my cousin's beautiful wedding. Click here for my post.

2011 Recap: Blogs

2012-01-04T08:36:00.016-05:00

ON TO BLOGS!
2011 was HUGE for me in respect to blog design. Previously I'd only designed a header here and there and then customized my own blogs many times. I don't remember exactly how it happened but Jeannette of J at your service was willing to hire me to give her blogger page a makeover. It was a lot of fun, a lot of learning and I was excited at the possibility of doing this more often. So, when Maylene of Malu Boutiques asked me about hers - I began to think this could be something I offer! :D

It continued from there and I've designed for several now. I'm actually working on at least two more at this time. It's such a thrill and I hope to do a lot more! (Right now I design full Blogger pages, but I can design headers, backgrounds, buttons and icons for Wordpress or other blog hosting sites as well ... see below: Mixing Mavens and Project: Aimee - not to mention other things like profile photos/collages for other networking sites.)

Winter Design Winner:

2011 Recap: Logos

2012-01-03T11:27:00.002-05:00

On to the next recap! Logos!

I had the amazing privilege of working with some of the coolest businesses this year, helping them create either a new or renewed look for their business. I'm so excited to share these in one place (as many as I can remember) and stroll down logo lane with you! Enjoy! (And many, many thanks to those who allowed me to design for you!)

I have several more still in the works but I feel like I'm missing some ...

2011 Recap: Illustrations

2012-01-01T20:23:00.018-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR! It's Recap time!

I've decided to separate the recap into multiple posts for labeling sake (and length of posts!) In this post we'll be revisiting some of our Illustrations. While we're both designers and I've created some of the art below, my husband, David is the real illustrator/artist at Intrigue Design Studio. I'm so blessed and proud of my man. He blows me away with his talent and I'm excited to share these images with you. Due to my lack of blogging, a lot of these haven't been shown before (listed in no particular order.) Enjoy!

Engagement Sketch for Courtney of Pizzazzerie

Miss Piggy Silhouette for Lynlee's Petite Cakes

Sweet 16 Birthday Party Poster of Guest of Honor and her court

For Ebony of Sparkling Events & Designs

For GreyGrey Designs

For Fanciful Events

For Malu Boutiques

For Dolce Drive

For J at your Service

For Aimee of Project: Aimee

UM Mascot drawing for iPhone case
For Malu Boutiques

Glamping party Owl (originally created for a sweet spot: home)

We have more sketches but, like the owl above, they will be featured in some of our other recaps so I'll save them for those posts! :D Thanks for stopping by!

Customer Photos: Firetruck party

2011-12-14T19:23:00.005-05:00

Something fun popped into my inbox! I received an unexpected, but exciting email from my printables customer Leah. She used my Firetruck printables to create the cutest and really creative birthday party for her little boy!First, I think it's great that she framed the invitation... with matting! Love it.

Leah added little yellow "fireballs" to her red iced cupcakes too. Fire! Fire! :DI like how she wrapped the jars of snacks with a pattern and then added the firetruck label.Rather than punch holes in the banner Leah used little mini clothespins. Easy and fast!I see lots of fun things in these goodie bags!Thank you Leah for sharing these photos with me. I'm sure the birthday boy had a "blast!"

Christmasy decor around the house

2011-12-11T22:04:00.006-05:00

I think it's funny when commercials start popping up showing decor inspiration for ideas that have been around a while. I saw a Target commercial with a home decor expert showing a hostess how to add a little pizzazz to her table by adding ornaments to an apothecary vessel. (You know, the one where the hostess hides the expert in the closet when her guests arrive.) I love the idea, which is why I've been doing it for several years now. :D
I think it was from a Martha show many years ago that shared the idea of using a glass covered pedestal stand to house ornaments and then I thought they would look elegant in other items as well.This year I've combined blue and purple to create a color combo that isn't uncommon but what I am now completely in love with!

On my coffee table I used this large platter/bowl to hold some regular pinecones I had around from Thanksgiving along with some glittery silver ones! Underneath it all are small battery operated LED lights for a soft glow. Cozy!I also add small wreaths to the inside doors. I keep trying to find new places to hang things but I tend to go overboard with decor so this year I'm trying to hold back... It's getting very festive around here! I hope you're having a wonderfully decorated Christmas time as well!

Graphics: Design Update - Advertising

2011-12-08T08:24:00.013-05:00

Good morning! I have some more to show you! :D

Not that long ago, the holiday edition of Bird's Party Magazine hit the virtual shelves. You should really check out this little powerhouse of inspiration as it's full of holiday ideas! While scrolling through, you'll also see several of the advertisements I designed for many of the sweetest vendors out there! Here they are in one place and I'm so proud to have worked with each one.

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If you have an ad you need designed, virtual or for print, just let me know now! Contact me at michele(at)intriguedesignstudio.com

Big News...

2011-12-06T18:39:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. This post is a heavy-weight one for me. It's about something very personal to me and my family. You see, about 4 years ago my husband and I decided we wanted to grow our family by adding a little one. The only option was through adoption. We did lots of fundraising as the fees and paperwork are so expensive and 18 months later we brought into our family THE cutest little 19th month old boy from Russia. I tear up as I think about this as it's amazing how much has happened over these few years.

Well, we would like to grow our family once more and bring home a sibling for our son. But, once again, as money is limited and time is of the essence, we need some help financially. To be honest, I really don't like asking for help and I understand there are SO many outstretched hands, especially during the holidays, but we must ask. So, as I did before, I'll be selling cookies and other items to help fund our adoption expenses. I would love for you to consider purchasing some cookies to help us out a bit. I package them in decorative boxes so they make great gifts too.

Here is the link to the page about the fundraiser.

www.goodiesandgreetings.com

I'm trying to keep things simple, since I was a bit overwhelmed last time, so I haven't finished setting up the order form and cart yet. Please don't let that stop you from ordering. All you have to do is email me with what you'd like and I'll respond asap!

Thank you so much for your consideration. We wish you the best holiday season ever!

Monday greetings! Winner's Holiday Design!

2011-12-05T08:56:00.005-05:00

Happy Monday morning! I hope the weekend was good to you. For me, it was busy but wonderful! We were able to finally finish putting up lights around the house, buy and decorate our tree and we started 'decking' the house with holiday cuteness. Do you have a favorite holiday piece that you just love to pull out every year? I'd love to see it. Maybe you could hop over to my facebook page and upload a snapshot for me to see. :D Here is one of my favorites:
Meet Salty and Pepper. I found them at Target many, many (many) years ago. I can't find them this small and cute anymore so if one of these had an untimely death I think I would faint. LOL

• • •

So, as you might know I had a little contest for a holiday blog header. The winner was chosen at random and it was Staci of Lizard n Ladybug. I met Staci at a Dreamers Into Doers Sunshine State meet up last February as she is a fellow Floridian and she's so sweet. I was excited to get going on the design. She told me she likes candy canes and snowflakes, and wanted the colors to be red and blue. She also mentioned she loves pennant banners. So, I worked up a design and she loved it! (Side note: because her background was a little difficult to work with I went ahead and created a background pattern for her as well. Lovin' the wintery feel!) Here's the before and after, but you MUST head over to her blog (click here) to see it live and read all about Staci, her family and her wonderfully crafty things! You'll be inspired like crazy!If you'd like me to add some holiday jolliness to your blog header, shoot me an email and we'll chat! - michele (at) intriguedesignstudio.com

Thanks for stopping by. Come again soon (or sign up for email updates so you don't forget!)

Holiday Blog Header Giveaway!

2011-12-01T09:22:00.008-05:00

So it's December 1st - the countdown has begun!!! You decorate your home, right? So why not add some holiday cheer to your blog as well? I can help with that! :D

WINNER CHOSEN: CONGRATULATIONS TO STACI @ LIZARD N LADYBUG!!
email me and we'll chat about your prize! michele (at) intriguedesignstudio.com

It kills me to pick just one! *sniff* If you'd like me to add some cheer to your header, please email me!

Even better, because I love giving gifts, I'll give one lucky blogger a new holiday blog header design for the holidays! I'll take your current blog header and add some fun holiday extras (you'll tell me what you'd like) and then you can add it back to your layout. Easy Peasy!

To enter all you have to do is make one comment on this post telling me what your favorite holiday item or items are (mine are cute snowmen and snowflakes) and I'll choose a random winner tomorrow (Friday) at about 10pm (eastern time). Alrighty?

Oh, and if you don't win, just shoot me an email and we'll chat: michele (at) intriguedesignstudio.com

Wishing you the best holiday season ever! :D
(Don't forget to subscribe -top right- so you don't miss any posts! Oh, and become a facebook friend too!)

What's been happening!

2011-11-29T11:50:00.012-05:00

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. For once it was simple and quiet over here, celebrating with my parents at their home. We decided that since it was just the few of us ("4 and a half" as my dad said, who referenced my son as the half,) to grill fish instead of bake a turkey. It was delicious! We did have the usual sides such as marshmallow topped sweet potatoes and green bean and corn casseroles, but we also added fresh mozzarella/tomatoes & olives (drool) and caponata. Big Thanks to my mom for pulling so much of it off. I'll never stop learning from my parents!

I have a ton of things I'd like to show you. We've been working pretty steadily here over the past few months, thus the limited amount of posts. I'm about to start a marathon of sorts, preparing multiple posts sharing recent designs so I don't overwhelm you in one post. I'll also mix in some craft and party stuff for your inspiration. You might even recognize some of it as I've been posting some images on Facebook. (Click here to visit my facebook page.)

First up, my most recent, just unveiled today, blog design. As you know, I've been creating blogger designs for a little while now. My latest victim... I mean client is Brittany of GreyGrey Designs. She's a cool, modern yet traditional gal and she sets up really creative parties. Brittany loves chevron and used it for the background of her blog but she was concerned about it becoming too common and wanted something a bit less used. We went over some options and she came up with caning to which I created a pattern for her new background. It's sophisticated and simple and adds a subtle foundation to the overall design.

I'm really pleased with how it all turned out. Please head over to GreyGrey Designs. You'll notice she has posted about some of the other designs we created for her a little while back as well (such as her logo and adorable t-shirt illustration.) Here's the blog before... and after.
A big thanks to Brittany and best wishes as she continues to inspire us with her creative party designs.

Well, we're also gearing up for cookie season over here. If you've been following me for a couple of years you know that I go bazerk when making cookies at Christmas time. This year we'll be doing a little something different and it will be a benefit to you as well! I'll spill the beans about that in a few days.

I look forward to sharing my next post, coming soon. By the way, you can sign up to receive posts via email by entering your email address in the subscription area to the right, then confirming it when you receive the feedburner email. Don't miss another post!

Cookie Turkey Tutorial for Thanksgiving Treat!

2011-11-21T20:53:00.006-05:00

Hi all. I thought you might like to know how I put together the little cookie turkeys from last year's Thanksgiving table. I have been making these little guys for probably 10 years now. I'd bring a tray into work and they'd be gone fairly quickly. One year my boss thought they were so funny he kept it in his drawer until the next Thanksgiving... (I wouldn't recommend this.)

A friend of a friend made them for a get-together. She showed me how to make them and I was hooked. I thought you'd like to know as well in case you'd like to try something simple to add to your dessert menu or to each place setting, or just for fun! Easy job for little people too!
You'll need:
1) fudge stripe cookies (this year I found Keebler has an oatmeal version - yum.)
2) caramels
3) candy corn (perfect way to use leftovers from halloween)
4) chocolate kisses
5) honey

Ready for how easy this is?

Step 1: unwrap the kisses and the caramels
Step 2: push a caramel over the top of the chocolate kiss, being careful to not break the tip off the kiss (the plus side is that if it breaks the kiss must be eaten immediately)
Step 3: add a dab of honey to the top of the caramel and push a candy corn into the caramel

Step 4: Add a fairly decent amount of honey to the back of the caramel and lean the cookie against it, pressing from the front of the caramel and the back of the cookie to make good contact. These cookies are pretty fragile so be strategic in where you are pushing. Again, if the cookie breaks you must eat it. :DDepending on where you are, and what you'll be doing with these, the honey might not be 'strong' enough to keep the cookie attached. If you'll be bagging these I would suggest using royal or cookie icing to connect them.

Also, the caramels are so pliable that you could even make them into a sphere to resemble more of a bird body.

An assembly line of sorts is how I always go through the batch I put together. Gets them all done in a hurry!Easy, right!? Happy munching! In case you didn't know, you can also find me on facebook!

Thanksgiving Table Inspiration

2011-11-19T16:37:00.014-05:00

Thanksgiving... only a few days away. Wow. I remember last year when I set our homemade table outside to make it comfortable for the whole family to sit together. I love how it all turned out and the little cookie/candy turkeys are always fun! (see last year's post here)

This year a lot of our family will be elsewhere so we're keeping it super simple. That's not to say I didn't use the design I created last year for a table that might inspire you in your celebration this year. :D

Below are some photos of the table my mother and I put together for a contest we wanted to enter. It was so last minute but I love the little touches we added to the settings and especially the little rosettes to the chairs. We like simple and kept it that way, using burlap for the runner and a nontraditional lavender table cloth. Instead of the usual pumpkins we used pomegranates, pears and persimmons as the main items in the centerpiece. I hope some of it will help inspire you to do some crafty things at your table. Oh, and the "because we're family" printable design is available for next to nothing in my etsy shop. Feel free to hop on over there! (here)
I wish you and your family the best Thanksgiving yet.

Comments are always welcome!

Thanksgiving Classroom Gift

2011-11-16T20:01:00.006-05:00

As soon as I saw this adorable tutorial on "3 Four and Under" I knew I had to create these for my son's preschool class. They are having a Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow and I wanted to add to their goodie bags. My son needs lots of practice cutting so I had him help me with the turkey feathers. He was also a great help counting out the tootsie roll pops, holding the burlap while I tied the rope around each one and handing me the googly eyes. I can't wait to hear how his classmates react to these adorable little pilgrim pops!Thanks Trisha for the wonderful craft idea! Check out the tutorial here!

Lots to come...

2011-10-27T23:37:00.004-04:00

It's been crazy busy over here which means I have lots to share! Stay tuned, post marathon coming soon! :D

I'll just leave you with this little cutie...

Blogger Design: Lynlees Petite Cakes

2011-09-29T17:58:00.002-04:00

Super quick post - just thought I'd share the new blog design and etsy shop banner I designed for the fabulous Lynlee's Petite Cakes. When Lynlee contacted me about creating a new blog design for her I was pretty excited about it. Then she told me about the French/Paris style she was in love with and I was over the top thrilled. I love the feel of French cafe style art.

In creating the blog I suggested an awning but wanted it to look different than a storefront considering this was to feel more like a French cafe. I made it to come off the side and used black and white stripes that were consistent with Lynlee's logo. I drew the lamp post to give it some balance and created all the other accents along with the Parisian skyline for that extra touch. I just love how it all turned out and without further ado, here it is! Please take a moment to visit her blog as you'll be amazed at the talent she has with sugar and party styling. She's pretty incredible and so great to work with! (There's a $500 giveaway if you visit this week!) While you're at it, be sure to check out her etsy shop too.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Graphics: Design Update

2011-09-19T22:00:00.008-04:00

Hi there. I'm still working on PART 2 of the Watermark tutorial, should be up in a day or two. While you're waiting, I thought I'd share some designs I haven't posted yet.

One of my clients asked me to design a logo for a new restaurant. The name alone made it a fun project to work on. Here are some of the concepts I created. I hope it works out for them and look forward to seeing which they'll choose.I've been working on several different wedding designs recently and this is one that I finished a little more than a week ago. I am really happy with it's simplicity and elegance.Here's a snapshot of how the incredibly creative event planners set up the escort card table! Too cute.
Check out their blog post to get the whole wedding scoop! Click HERE.
Be back soon!

Tutorial: How I Watermark Photos in Photoshop >Part 1

2011-09-02T20:52:00.025-04:00

With all the ridiculousness on the internet these days of people "stealing" photos and claiming them as their own, I thought it might be helpful to share how to watermark your photos with your logo or text for a better chance at preventing them from being victimized. It's sad to HAVE to do this to your photos for fraud prevention because, in some cases, the watermark interferes with a photo’s message. On the positive side, if you like advertising your work, this is a great way to do just that.

If you browse the web for tutorials you'll notice there are many ways to add watermarks to your photos. I'm going to explain how to do one method I find extremely quick & useful: creating a Photoshop Brush. I love using this technique because I can change colors, opacity and especially the size of the watermark at the click of a button.

It seems I have trouble keeping things short and sweet therefore I have separated this Tutorial into two parts.

The easiest starting point, if using a logo, is to use a vector based image with a transparent background or you can use text as your watermark. If you have a logo in jpg format or another format that has a solid white or other color background it would probably be best to use text instead. I'll be using my logo in this post. In Part 2 I'll explain how to make a brush using text and I’ll hit on how to possibly get around the jpg or solid background problem. So, are you ready?

NOTE: I'm using a Macintosh computer but these steps should work on a PC as well. Let me know if you have any trouble.

1) We need to start by creating a silhouette of the logo (solid black image.) I'm going to assume you have a logo that is mostly solid colors. Open your .eps or .pdf image from within Photoshop.
2) Make sure your "layers" palette is visible (Window->Layers) and look to see if the layer is called "Layer 1", not "Background." If it says "Background" it's probably not transparent and that will add some steps to the process. I will hit on this in Part 2 of the tutorial.

3) While holding down the command key use the mouse to click on the thumbnail of the layer in the Layers palette. Your logo should now be surrounded by a marquee. (This will become your watermark.) If there is one big outline with no particular details picked out, you might need to adjust some of the colors before selecting the layer. Again, I'll show some examples of this later on.4) Press the letter 'D' so your foreground and background colors (shown in your Tools palette) revert to black and white. Hold down the option key while pressing the delete key (or Edit->Fill - Black) and the selection should become all black. Do not deselect the marquee. If the marquee disappears just bring it back using the command key + click on the layer's thumbnail again.5) In the Edit menu choose the option "Define Brush Preset..." It will ask what you'd like to name the brush. Choose "Save" and it should now be saved in your brush palette for future use.To confirm this select your "brush" tool from the Tools palette, open the brushes palette and scroll to the bottom of the brushes. You should see it in the last position. 6) Close this document, saving it if you think you might need it again another time.

7) Now for the fun (easy) part. Open the photo you'd like to watermark. Click on the brush tool, choose the watermark brush from the brushes palette. At this point you have many options. Would you like the watermark to be solid or see through? I like it at about 50% opacity, depending on where I'm using it. You can change this by either typing in numbers (5-0) or use the opacity box right below the menus. Do you need the watermark larger or smaller? You can use the left or right brackets: [ ] to make the 'brush' larger or smaller in order to fit the space you have. You can even choose a different color to use as you please (I like white if it's on a dark background, or black/grey if on a light background.) 'X' is the key command to toggle between the foreground and the background colors.

You may now SAVE your watermarked file in whatever format you wish.
Stay tuned for Part 2 where I'll show you how to make a brush out of text and more.

Graphics: In the works

2011-09-02T09:14:00.008-04:00

Today I'll be finishing up a couple of collateral pieces for 2 different weddings. Here are some of the ideas I've come up with according to the planner's themes. Elegant and snazzy are the two words I think of when looking over them. Changes are still being made but you get the idea. (Did I mention these weddings are next weekend and the following... rush rush!)I've also finished a design for a St. Louis Cardinals party for a 7 year old boy. I hope I get real photos of that party - gonna be a cute one!
Next up, besides the wedding stuff I have to print & cut, is a wrap for PomFlair, uploading and manipulating a blog design, business cards, a t-shirt design for a family involved in a charity run, a traveling food truck logo and many more things that make me wonder when I'll be able to stop and clean my house! (don't you think cleaning is overrated.. eh-hm. no I guess not. LOL)

I must say I LOVE my job, truly. Keep it comin'!

Oh and then there's the fun party design project I'm dreaming up that I'd like to tell you about but it's still in it's infancy so I better not. :)

Graphics: Design Update

2011-08-31T20:21:00.008-04:00

A while back I created a design for stickers that would be used on favor boxes at a wedding. (I have previously worked with this client on another circle sticker, see here. I must say Laura and Megan are great to work with.) I came up with several options using the direction they'd given me. For instance, they requested Aqua, Burnt Orange and Grey for colors. They were using several geometrical patterns and wanted a very modern font and style. I went through a few different options but in the end this is what was approved! (me like. :D)I think it's fabulous! And what other fun designs have I created with Laura and Megan? Here's a peak at a kids party photo shoot they styled with my printable design.

photo by Timmester Photography

It's so cute and creative! I can't wait to show you more!

Happy Monday! Playful Puppy Party Recipes

2011-08-29T10:09:00.012-04:00

As I promised in my Puppy shoot post (here), below are the recipes for making Kibble Cakes and Marshmallow Paw Prints. I hope you'll try them!

Kibble Cakes
4 tblsp Butter
10 oz. Marshmallows
1 tsp Vanilla
8 cups Reese's Puffs cereal
2 cups Rice Krispies cereal

It's basically the same method for making Rice Krispie treats. I made these in the microwave but you can also do this on the stove. Melt the Butter in a large bowl. Add Marshmallows, toss to coat. Put bowl back in microwave and melt marshmallows. I did this in small increments of 30 and then 15 seconds and then stirred quite a bit so I didn't burn the mallows. Once the marshmallows are melted add vanilla, stir, and add the Puffs cereal. Mix well and then add the Rice Krispies cereal. For traditional size treats spread in a greased 9x13 pan and let cool. For Kibble Cakes I used a cookie sheet so they would be a bit thinner.

I used a 3" circle cookie/biscuit cutter and it made about 20 treats.
(If you'd like to REALLY get peanut buttery, check this recipe out here!)

~•~

Paw Print Marshmallows
("Marshmallow for Piping" found via MarthaStewart.com)
Click here for original recipe
I used a smaller piping tip (no. 5) but you might want to make the prints bigger so simply use a larger tip.

1 package unflavored gelatin (2 1/2 teaspoons)
1/3 cup cold water, for gelatin, plus 1/4 cup for syrup
1 cup sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/3 cup cold water. Allow gelatin to soften, about 5 minutes.

In a small saucepan, combine 1/4 cup water and sugar, and stir over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring, and place a candy thermometer into sugar water; wipe sides of pan with a wet brush if sugar crystals have splattered up. Boil sugar until temperature reaches the soft-ball stage (238 degrees). Remove syrup from heat; add to softened gelatin. Using the whisk attachment of an electric mixer, hand-stir the mixture a few minutes to cool; place bowl on the mixer stand. Beat on medium high with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form and the marshmallow mixture holds shape, 8 to 10 minutes.

Transfer marshmallow mixture to a large (14-inch) pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch tip, and use immediately.

To create the print, I started piping the little toe prints in little tear drop shapes and then continued with a larger circle that connected to the 4 tear drops. I'm sure you'll want to experiment! Leave to dry/set for several hours.

Once marshmallow has set sprinkle powdered sugar on top (and on your fingers) and begin to peel the prints off of the paper. Make sure marshmallow has been fully covered in sugar so they won't stick to each other. Keep in air tight container.

My notes: First, when the directions say use immediately, believe it. Because this uses gelatin it sets very quickly. As this happens it becomes increasingly difficult to pipe. (ouch)
A second note, I couldn't find direction on where to put the piped marshmallow so at first I used a greased (sprayed with 'pam') piece of waxed paper since regular marshmallow squares require that for setting in a pan. This did NOT work for me. The little paws were sliding all over the place and looked like tiny tear drops. I found that piping onto a piece of ungreased parchment paper worked best and they released without much trouble (unlike the ungreased wax paper.)

Customer Photos: Yellow & Gray Bird Baby Shower

2011-08-26T19:45:00.017-04:00

I was on pinterest one day and one of my cousin's board's caught my eye. She was collecting inspiration for a baby shower I assumed she would be hosting. She lives in Texas and I'm in Florida but I offered to design some printables for the shower and she took me up on it.

She sent photos of the material the new parents would be using in the nursery, along with bird themed pieces she was adding to the mix. I used the material as the basis for my design and came up with this yellow and grey bird theme for buffet cards, wraps and a banner. I suggested she use a real branch on some of the buffet cards, and sent her this sample for a visual.The rest was up to her and look at what a great job she did. Looks beautiful!One of the shower guests is a professional photographer and she took some wonderful photos as well. Check them out here!

If you'd like to purchase these printables, they are currently for sale in my etsy shop. Check them out here!One last note, my cousin has an etsy shop with some great artwork for sale. Please check it out here!

Music Party "Jammin' with Jack"

2011-08-22T09:34:00.020-04:00

I'm just now recuperating from my son's 4th birthday party this past Saturday. It was a blast but it was also a lot of work for this DIY mom. (So worth it though!) Below are the photos I captured along with some of the party details.

About 2 months ago we had to finally make a decision on the theme for Jack's birthday party. It was REALLY difficult as Jack loves so many things. We gave him 3 choices and in the end he wanted his all-time favorite type of party - a music party. We're not the "Party like a Rock Star" type so it was a challenge to find party props that didn't have pointy electric guitars or tons of stars.

I began with creating his invitation and all the other designs were based off of these components. (If you've been on my Facebook page then you've probably seen the peek I posted.)
I then started on the other designs for the snack table, the craft table, and signs for the front door and above the gift area. It all came together so nicely. (If only I could create time I would have been able to finish everything I had planned... oh well!)
I assembled some accessories for creating a few musical instruments and when guests arrived they were given the opportunity to create their own personalized bongo drum, tambourine or shaker. We then had some free play time but soon it was on to the snacks and cakes. I created the large circle sign for the backdrop (I'm now seeing I forgot to add tape to the front connecting pieces) and then added black tablecloths for the side draping. The table featured a mini cake shaped like a drum, Musical Munchies (yogurt cranberries & nuts mix), Jam 'n Triangles, Guitar strings (string twizzlers), Kickin' Krispie Treats, POPcorn, Drum stick Pretzels and Eighth Note Brownie (pops). For beverages we had water bottles and Jazzy Juice (lime sherbert with ginger ale.) The kids got their own personalized Microphone Cups too!I wanted little drum cupcakes for the table but rather than use fondant around the whole little cake I opted for a cake wrap. I intended to use a white fondant circle on top of the black icing to create a flat drum surface but time limited me. The kids didn't know the difference though. (see picture... lol)
After snacks we grabbed our home made instruments and listened to my husband tell a fun story that had action words. Every time we heard the words "music party" everyone was supposed to sound their instruments. It was fun (and loud.) :) It was now time to head out to our stage area.

We asked everyone to keep their instruments and did a little "repeat my rhythm" game. My husband let Jack come up with what to match but that didn't work so well as Jack went right into a full length beat. It was pretty funny.

Next on the agenda was our Jam Session. My husband and I set up the patio with some drapery and my husband's drum set. Jack has been playing on his dad's drums for a while now so he knew what to do. I had invited our band leader to come and play his guitar for our little jam session and it was amazing to watch Jack just beam from his seat.It's Florida.. in the middle of the summer heat & humidity... so we did a couple of songs (really only one song two times) and we were all ready to head back into the A/C. That was fine by Jack because it was time to open presents! He loved everything and I love how expressive he can be. Of course, I am a bit biased. :)

As people started to leave they were asked to grab some of the sugar cookie notes I made and set up on a favor board. They also had a personalized bag to keep.
I decided to order special sugar cookies as a part of the favors and aren't they great? (Bees Knees Creative is one of the best so check them out!)The children got to take home their microphone cups, along with some other musical instruments and the adults got their special cookie along with a jar of 'jam'!
Lastly, I love this picture of Jack getting ready to blow out his candles (minus the bongos.) So magical... as was everything! I wonder what we'll do next year! :)
If you'd like to use this design for your next party, feel free to check my etsy shop as I'll be adding it soon!

Playful Puppy Party Inspiration

2011-08-12T14:17:00.002-04:00

Many, many thanks to Amy Atlas Events for featuring this party on her blog! Please visit her site as you'll be inspired by everything she shares!

Earlier this year I added a Puppy Party design to my etsy shop. In an effort to inspire ideas of how to use this party design I thought I'd create a little party of my own and invite some very special guests - my lovely little nieces! There are lots of photos here to satisfy your eye candy cravings! (click on the photos to view enlarged.)As a fan of cute & clever buffet titles I started figuring out the food items I'd have on the tables. I have closeups below of things like 'bath bubbles' and 'pillow stuffing'. After all, this is a "Playful Puppy" party and what playful puppy doesn't like getting into stuffing and out of the bath. I hope Jessica doesn't mind that I used her Pastry Pedestal to hold the TP the puppy got into! (sitting over little dog house on right) It can be used for so many things!
I made just about everything but you really don't have to. I bought rolled wafers for rawhides, storebought cotton candy took care of the pillow stuffing and yogurt covered raisins became bath bubbles. The flowers in the pots are just simple cookie jar butter cookies dunked in melted chocolate with an added popsicle stick. The cupcake toppers are little puppies getting into trouble, digging in the dirt to bury their "bones" (meringues.) I also added marshmallow paw prints. (Recipe in next post.)Kibble cakes were a favorite of mine. I made them exactly like rice krispie treats only I used mostly reeses puffs instead of all rice krispies. (Recipe to come in next post.)It seems I'm not the only one who liked the kibble cakes, there were -three- others who did too!

For savory food ideas we had mini corn dogs to which I added toppers, 'shoestring' french fries and chips that (to me) looked like rawhide chips. Of course, the plate holders were frisbees!For favors I made some sugar cookies and packaged them with a square tag on top but you can do anything you like. I had a customer who had their little guests go home with a plush puppy and an adoption certificate (included in package.)
Because I know there will be both boys and girls who would love a puppy party I went ahead and styled two color options with a girl puppy (little pink bow and collar) and a boy puppy.
I hope you've enjoyed this little inspiration shoot. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment. I had lots of fun snapping photos of my little cuties enjoying their treats. To purchase this design please visit my etsy store page here.
The package includes (pink or blue) Invitation, Thank you cards, Welcome Sign, Buffet cards, Bottle wraps, Placemats, Certificates, Squares, Favor tags, Favor sign, Cake Topper Puppies and Banner.

S'mores Bag Toppers

2011-08-10T15:02:00.007-04:00

I heard it was National S'mores Day today and remembered I had these toppers in my files from back around Father's Day when I made them for a friend. (see this post.)
Even though it's late in the day I thought you might enjoy a free download! Click on the picture below and have s'more fun!

Bicycle Theme Wedding + Design Photos

2011-08-01T11:49:00.025-04:00

Hello there! If you've been following this blog or my facebook page then you've seen a couple of sneak peeks into the wedding my family and I attended a little more than a week ago. I was privileged to help the family with graphic designs for their special day, and I felt honored that my ideas and advice on decor and planning were welcomed and well received. I thought about splitting this post into two parts but you wouldn't want to wait would you? ;) Grab a drink (coffee is always my choice) and enjoy!
Let's start at the beginning... A long while back the mother of the bride (my cousin's wife) let me know I was to be her wedding consultant when the time came for her daughter's wedding. I really had no idea it would be sooner rather than later. I got an email in March asking if I would be their "wedding designer, planner, creative genius, sounding board, etc." LOL Of course I would help as I could but I live 4 hours away! I got in contact with the bride and we went through some of the ideas she was throwing around, mainly bicycles as they like to be outdoors and the bike alluded to the new journey of marriage.

Aubrey emailed some images of bicycle themed stationery she liked, along with the colors they would have (a hot pink type and a teal-ish blue.) I remembered Jordan Ferney of Oh Happy Day posted the bicycle themed wedding she had been a part of so that was my first stop for inspiration. Aubrey also mentioned they would be having a brunch reception and wanted it to have a summery feel with flowers and bright colors.

Invitations...

I asked David to sketch a bicycle according to their description. I tweaked it, added some extras and threw in some floating hearts to see if they might like the 'movement.' (They did. yay.) With the graphic approved I suggested a vellum overlay to the invitation design and even an envelope liner. I thought about an address wrap but went with printing floating hearts on the front instead and used a clear return address label on the back flap (with the bicycle, of course.)
After sending Aubrey the printed invitations & envelopes I compiled my other decor and design ideas into a HUGE email, adding photos as they applied to what I was trying to describe. I'm sure it took a while for her to go through as it took me a while to write it! Here are a few of the main ideas.

Centerpieces

Aubrey and Vinnie both love to read (she is getting a Masters in Library Science) so I started putting all these pieces together. Bicycles, books, love of flowers, outdoors, brunch.. Well, I kept imagining that scene of a couple on top of a hill under a huge oak tree with a blanket spread out, picnic basket off to the side, one lying on the other reading a book and little flowers floating in the breeze. (Doesn't that make you want to relax?) I suggested just that (sort of) for the reception table centerpieces. I had a brainstorm and shared this with Aubrey: "maybe the centerpiece could be a stack of books sitting on a blue or pink little square of material (symbolize picnic) with a pot of grass on top of the books, maybe a tiny bike leaning against the pot or the books, and a stake in the grass with the table name sign."

I thought it would be really fun to give names to the tables even though there wouldn't be assigned seating. On the Table Name cards I suggested it describe something that guests might not know about the couple, those little things guests like to know... how'd he propose, what places have they been, etc. It's also a great conversation piece. I am so happy with how it all turned out. Here are just a few of them.

They also did a wonderful job adding draping and lighting to the hall. They wanted it to be 'magical' and I think it was accomplished!
Well Wishes and Advice cards

Again, back to the library thing - I thought it would be really cute to create well wishes cards to look like library book cards. They could then tie the card onto the bicycle that would be setup in the reception hall. They went beyond that for the prop area and enlarged the bicycle and verse onto a large banner backdrop with several other embellishments. It looked great!
Miscellaneous Design Pieces
Some of the other pieces I designed for them were programs, buffet cards, water bottle wraps and signs for things like the photo booth. I am so pleased with how wonderful everything looked.

Favors

As I said, Aubrey and Vinnie both love to read and her thoughts for a favor were more towards a bookmark with the bicycle on top and some quotes. I went a different direction and suggested something a bit more brunch related. Maybe a jar of jam or something homemade with a cute tag on it, something the guests could enjoy at their own breakfast or brunch. They found cute little honey jars with the honey dippers attached and I created the tags for them.

Aren't all the flowers gorgeous?! My favorite type of flowers!

Photobooth

I've been following lots of blogs and event planners' sites and it seems a photo booth has become very popular these days. It's understandable - they're really fun! So, I suggested they try something like that and it really was a big hit.

Here's a snapshot with my camera of me and my guys! I love it!
And look at this really fun touch they had in each of the restrooms! Bicycle soap and towels! CUTE!
Now, how could I end without sharing some photos of the beautiful ceremony & bride and groom? I love how they meshed the two theme colors in the lighting and wedding party attire. The backdrop is just lovely, no?
The top left picture is one of my favorites - the bride looking at her dad. So special.

Graphics: Design Update

2011-07-22T07:51:00.011-04:00

Happy Friday to everyone. It's been a fun week here. My son started preschool this week (3 days) and we've had some interesting design jobs running through our logs. I can't reveal them until they are completed but here's one that my husband finished a few weeks ago. As you might already know, David is a story board or comic book artist, an illustrator, not to mention aveery talented graphic designer (if I do say so myself, hehe.) His full time job is in management of an Advertising/Graphics department of a nationwide company. One of their vendors, knowing David's talent, asked if he would illustrate a t-shirt for their upcoming Tool Expo and I think it turned out AWESOME! Here is a screen shot and then a real shirt image. (My son included.)
An exciting piece of news, you might know the popular website sheknows.com?
They have featured a couple of my party printables in their summer themed party ideas article. It's really exciting being noticed by such a well known site! Click HERE to check it out (page 4 & 5.)

That's all for now folks. Stay tuned for photos from the wedding I'll be attending tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to seeing how all of my designs came together! Have a great weekend!

Graphics: Design Update

2011-07-15T09:03:00.011-04:00

Happy Friday everyone. How about a little Friday Design Update? (I know I should probably spread this out... maybe I'll get to post more often when my busy little boy starts preschool next week. *sniff*) This week I was able to finish a flyer for Malu Boutiques. I designed a new logo and blog for Maylene a while back and she asked if I would help with a design that she could hand out to new contacts. For this flyer I decided to incorporate some of the blog's awning design, and she would also need some photos that could explain in better detail what she offers. Feel free to jump over to her online shop, you might find something you can use for your next celebration!Another design I finished (last week) was a reference illustration for Pom Flair. Carmen has a knack for putting together all kinds of hanging party decor featuring Poms, Pommettes, and Tassels. Check out her shop (here) and grab something. Remember, Poms aren't just for parties but can be used as room decor too!
I've also completed the designs for the upcoming wedding. I printed most of the paper products, and cut them to size, including 150 4 single page programs. My paper cutter is getting a work out, for sure! I can't wait to share all of the fun details with you. It's only a week away! Here's a peek at one of the things they'll have at the reception. Aubrey asked me to use this poem she found online. Isn't it cute?
One more thing I'd like to share. Remember how I repurposed the Country Baby shower invitation for a 50th Birthday party? I have also changed it up for a Wedding shower. I love how it keeps evolving. I wonder what's next!
Until next time, I wish you the best!

Customer Photos: Firetruck party

2011-07-12T16:20:00.004-04:00

I spy some of my Firetruck printables at the cutest little one year old birthday party.

Our firetruck image (above) and badges (below.)

Snack boxes

To view the whole party hop on over to Capture Photography's website. While you're there, take a look around, she has quite the talent, not to mention a great name! ;)

(She also used some of TomKat studio's firetuck items. Cute!)

Graphics: Design Update

2011-07-07T13:04:00.011-04:00

Hello there. Here's a quick update on some of my more recent projects. I finally finished a website design for LaVonne at lfevents.com. LaVonne is following her passion for event planning and has opened her proverbial shop doors. Her logo was the inspiration for the elements of offset pencil lines and floating hearts along with the brown and pinks. I also used the hearts as roll-overs for the different link pages. :) If any of you need a wedding planner, she's great to work with! Check her out.

Another project that I have been pretty consumed with is a family wedding's reception decor, specifically, the paper elements. It's been a thrill to assist them with decor ideas and to create the art and design for this wedding as it is not the typical florals and damask. Aubrey has decided to go with the bicycle theme which has become more popular of late. The wedding is in a couple of weeks and I hope to share with you all of the 'extras' soon after. I'll leave you with this for now - the invitation and envelope. I used a vellum overlay that showcased the bicycle my husband drew. I also created a liner for the envelopes incorporating the floating hearts and printed the same style hearts on the outside.
Last thing (for now), I was happily surprised when the Country Baby Shower listing I have on Etsy was purchased recently. Why? They wanted to revise the invitation for a Surprise 50th Birthday! How fun is that!

Graphics: The Latest

2011-06-24T18:31:00.005-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I was hired to redesign a Completion Program brochure for Webber University. The size they required was 4 panels wide with a open size of 17"x11". I love how it turned out with the white gradients layered over the photos. Photos are always a necessity in a design like this and the ones shown are placeholders for the moment along with some of the content they provided.
If I can help you with a brochure, logo or design project of any kind, please let me know. You can reach me at michele (at) intriguedesignstudio (dot) com. I look forward to hearing from you!

Customer Party: Father's Day Table (and s'mores tags)

2011-06-22T10:13:00.010-04:00

So I have my list of upcoming posts growing and I've got to get going on them so you can see all the fun stuff I've been up to, and also to hopefully inspire you in some of your own crafts & parties! This post is about a party by my Event Planner friend LaVonne of lfevents.com. You might remember a while back I created an e-vite for her birthday (here) and she's asked me to come up with a few more designs.

LaVonne asked me to design some printables for the Father's day table she was creating for her husband. She needed chocolate kisses stickers, a banner, and 4 signs to frame. She gave me a few color preferences and some background pattern ideas and one of my first questions in return was "Is he a 'Ford Tough' kind of guy or the 'Preppy Office' type of guy?" Well, as you can see, it was more the Tough guy, which is where I focused my design. Here are some photos LaVonne sent me of the final table. I think her ideas were very creative and I am happy I was a part of it!
I will be creating a printables party using a similar 'tough guy' design so if you have an upcoming birthday for a tough guy, keep your eyes peeled (or email me.) You might have noticed that I created the free download (previous post) father's day card using this design as well. :)

The next design I made for LaVonne was a S'mores Bag Tag for her son's end of year class party. She emailed me asking if I had seen some tags for s'mores and after doing a quick search I decided to just sketch something for her and she was thrilled. She said the kids and the teacher loved them and they even had a microwave in the class! Yum!
I love seeing my artwork in action. If you've used any of my designs, please send me your photos. It just makes my day! (michele @ intriguedesignstudio .com)

Freebie Download: Tough Guy Fathers' Day Card

2011-06-15T12:32:00.002-04:00

While you're waiting for my next post, why not download this free Tough Guy Fathers' Day Card I created. It folds down to 5 1/2"x8 1/2" so use those larger invitation style envelopes. If you're interested in some other printable pieces that match this (buffet cards, banner, etc.) just let me know in the comments or on my facebook page!

(Click on the picture above to start download.)

BARbecue Party Photos + Printables

2011-06-09T19:44:00.024-04:00

I'm finally posting about the "Bar"becue we celebrated here last week. My husband's brother and his wife had birthdays on either side of Memorial day this year. The family decided it would work out well to celebrate them both with a birthday/holiday get-together. My mind started thinking "party" and of course I wanted to come up with something special and custom made just for them. I think it could work for anyone really, so if you like the design, let me know!

As I was looking through many fabulous blogs I came upon the idea of a French Fry Bar. That led me to a Sliders bar for some reason, which then led to an Ice Cream & Toppings bar. (Do you see where I'm headed?) I started designing little icons for the different 'bars' and thought - hey! BAR becue! I can't imagine I'm the first to come up with the idea but it was new to me and I went with it. Pink is the birthday girl's favorite color so I used that but offset it with a fun blue for my brother-in-law.

The front door logo (with some other ideas you might like for your own gathering)

I set up the tables with their respective signs (card stock with a scalloped edge, a dowel rod added to the top with crepe paper attached).First up - the Snack BAR. We were only a few so I tried to keep it light. Ranch pretzels that are a cinch to make but OOOOO so good. Plus, some fruit and veggies with ranch dip.Beverage BAR - "Gabby's Pink Punch" (birthday girl's favorite color) & "Mark's Caffe Frappe" (he's a coffee lover). This coffee punch is one of my absolute favorites - coffee, cream and Ice Cream!) I also included a "cotton candy" icee because I really wanted to try the cotton candy flavored syrup I found. I wish I had ice that was crushed finer but it did taste like cotton candy.Then came the main course. The Slider BAR and the French Fry BAR. I made buffet cards & circles using the little icons from their respective bars, though the little cups could be used for either.Finally, the Dessert BAR. Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream that churned during the earlier festivities. Toppings for it included my homemade caramel and my freshly made strawberry syrup. There were pigs' ears (puff pastry rolled with sugar & butter) and for the "birthday cake" I made s'mores cupcakes. I labeled sundae cups with our names (they were really plastic martini glasses but they fit the color scheme and were the size I needed - at the right price.)
A note about the decor. As I said, I didn't spend a lot of time planning the table before hand but I wanted to add something extra for height and fun. I ended up running white paper lunch bags through my printer and then filled each with a hurricane candle (didn't have foam) to hold the colorful candles and stars I cut out and attached to skewers.

Now, to be honest, I didn't have enough time to pull off all of the decor above. I did a lot of it, but it wasn't until after everyone had gone that I finished so I could take photos. (yes, I had enough food left to recreate everything.) I wanted you to see some ideas you might use should you want to try it on your own. And I wanted to show you how the little tags, wraps, signs & circles could look at your own gathering. Happy BARbecue-ing!

Party Design: Damask Reception Printables

2011-06-05T21:39:00.003-04:00

I mentioned I'd be sharing our BARbecue party & printables but I couldn't wait to show you these photos I received from a customer.

A design you'll soon find in my shop is one that I created for a recent wedding reception. A previous customer, Gina, contacted me again to work on some pieces for her brother's reception and I was glad to help! She sent me a snapshot of the damask patterned fabric she would be using for a backdrop and from there I created something very similar for the background of these different pieces.
I am thrilled to see my designs in action (not to mention the beautiful bride and groom). I especially love the feeling that comes with knowing I was, in some small way, a part of this couple's wedding day! How cool!

The groom took the logo I created and made shirts, hats and a banner that also had a line from the bride's favorite song.
I also created cards for guests to write a message to the couple that they rolled and put in a bottle. The wedding was on the beach so what a fitting touch - a "message in a bottle".

Below you'll notice the material backdrop with the pattern I sampled. I thought it was so cute when Gina told me that while setting up the material her dad said "hey, that matches the chip containers exactly!" and she told him "I had a great designer!". (me: blushing)
I created the buffet cards and also a little sign for the favors (above right) that said "thank you for taking the 'time' to celebrate with us...." The favors were cute champagne bottle kitchen timers.
I'm very excited to have been a part of this special occasion! Congratulations to the happy couple and thanks to Gina for hiring me! I look forward to working with you again!

I'm over on Facebook

2011-06-01T19:54:00.004-04:00

In the process of writing a new post but I'm often hanging out on Facebook sharing news and sneak design peeks so be sure you're a fan to be in the know! Be back very soon to share our family party & newest party printables design! (Here's the sneak peek I shared on facebook!)

Baby Sock Topiary Tutorial

2011-05-24T08:29:00.018-04:00

Back in February I created a Baby Sock Topiary in honor of the arrival of my niece. (See post here). I'm sure most of you know how you would put one of these together, but for those who don't, or if you'd like to see how I did it, I thought I'd share a little "how-to".
You'll need:
- 24 pairs of socks, from newborn to 0-6 mo.
- 1/2" dowel rod about 13" long
- 4" foam ball
- Small amount of tulle
- Glass Head Pins, Size 22 - 1-3/8" (35mm)
- 8" Cardboard Cake Round
- Colored or Designed Paper
- Hot glue
- Double sided Permanent tape
- optional: ribbon for dowel
- 3 baby bottles
- more ribbon to surround bottles
Several of these items can be swapped for something else, but this is what I used.

Here we go...
Now for the cute stuff. Fold and Roll as shown. For "D", wrap the ankle back around roll so the inside of the sock is showing, then flip back out and arrange to your liking. (use ruffle ankle socks for a really cute effect-but don't flip back out. make sense?)
You can disregard making the base above and just push the dowel into a foam filled planter, or continue as I did. I filled baby bottles with candy (for the new parents), put the sock ball in the center and tied it all together (really tightly) with ribbon. I hot glued the bottles to the base. This is relatively secure but I ended up adding a ribbon all the way around vertically, taping it underneath, just for my own sanity. Voila! (I wish I had found different colored bottles since the orange didn't really match, but oh well!)
And there you have it! A great hospital or baby shower gift! I'd love to hear (and see pics) if you've created one!

Graphics: The Latest

2011-05-22T22:42:00.004-04:00

Hi there. I thought I'd post a quick update on a little something fun I worked on at the end of last week. If you remember, I designed a logo for Malu Boutiques. I also created a blog header with the new logo and added it to her blog. A couple of weeks ago Maylene contacted me about creating an all together new design for her blog, making it 3 columns instead of two. I couldn't wait to get started as I already had some ideas to share!

Here's a snapshot of what she had before:
Considering her business name, I thought a boutique style awning and front window shop look would be the perfect fit and went about creating the scene for her. I finally uploaded the template on Friday and I'm happy to see it's working well! Here's a snapshot of the new design.
Feel free to hop on over to take a look at her design in action! And stay tuned, I think she'll be posting about party decor she created using the pink poodle we illustrated for her.

Thanks for stopping by!

Party Design: Winter Party coming soon to etsy shop

2011-05-18T08:47:00.003-04:00

A new item coming to the shop is this "pink winter" theme. It seems kind of odd to publish this at spring time here in the US, but there might be some across the world that are preparing for winter and I thought I'd help them out. ;) Or maybe you'd like to throw a "winter in the summer" party to cool things off a bit!
I created this design for the baby shower I co-hosted for my sister-in-law. I created it in pink but can see this being used in blue or any other color! This design would be great for birthdays or any other wintry celebration as well! Click here to see the original party post!

I have a wedding invitation & design package in the works, and I just finished up a cute pool party birthday theme! Oh!, I'm also working on setting up a photo shoot for one of the designs already in my shop! I've been collecting props for a while and I might finally get around to it very soon. I look forward to sharing the photos with you! :)

In my next post I'll share a wedding reception design I created recently. (If you're a fan on Facebook you've seen the sneak peek. Hop on over and join the fun!)

Customer Party photos + BBQ Printables

2011-05-13T14:23:00.006-04:00

A while back I mentioned working on some printables for a Volunteer Appreciate BBQ. With the focus on a "picnic" feel, and a list of what would be at the event, I created this group of printables using the red & white checkerboard tablecloth theme. The customer gave me her list of items that she'd need, like peanut bucket labels and centerpiece flags, along with the regular things such as buffet cards and banner. I am very happy with how things turned out and I heard the event went over very well. Here are some snapshots of the BBQ!

This is what you'll soon be finding in my etsy store. I can see this working for birthdays, family reunions, or even anniversaries. If you're interested, feel free to email me! (michele (at) intriguedesignstudio.com)
Have a great weekend!

Updated Blog Design

2011-05-06T18:01:00.012-04:00

It's been almost 2 years since my last blog design. I have been itching to change it and a while back I started sketching out a new one. Then came Jeannette and she let me design hers *cheers* (see a few posts ago) so I paused on mine. Well, I got it working and what you are now seeing is the "after". Snapshot below is the "before." (I love to document things. LOL)
It's not totally different but the colors didn't match my business colors and the brown sidebar was killin' me! I'm sure I'll be tweaking it some more but for now, I'm mostly content.

Currently I am working on another blog design for a crafty customer and a multi-page web design for an event planning starting out her business! Looking forward to sharing those sites when they're available!

If I can help with your blogger design, just shoot me an email at
michele (at) intriguedesignstudio.com

Feel free to grab my button if you'd like to share me. :) Thanks!

Mothers' Day memories

2011-05-04T09:07:00.011-04:00

Beginning in 2002, for 6 years (before becoming a mom) I hosted a Ladies Brunch on the Saturday before Mothers' day, for friends and some of the women of my church. It was so much fun coming up with the menu and decor though it was hard scaling things back to be manageable! I really do miss it and will probably start it up again soon. :)

I thought I'd take you on a little trip down (my) memory lane and maybe send some inspiration your way. (alert: the photos aren't the greatest, but who has time when things are being set up at the very last second!)

2007 Brunch: I used plant picks as buffet labels
Pre-party setup. Chocolate Cake plants.
2008 table setup. As I did the year before, I grew alfalfa and moved to these tin planters Target sells in the Spring and then added the skewered fruit. (You can always pick up a tray of grass if it's last minute.) The larger planters held cookies.I couldn't stand not having a dining table long enough to accommodate my whole extended family, plus the serving trays. We couldn't afford one we wanted and I had it in me to make one so I attempted it one year for Thanksgiving. Umm, still trying to set it up the morning before guests arrived was not one of my better ideas. Needless to say, we didn't end up using it.

May rolled around and I was determined to finish it so I wouldn't have to rent a table for the brunch. I tweaked the design and out came a 10+ foot long, 4+ foot wide table that can be dismantled when not in use. I think it's my favorite of all my woodworking exploits. :)
I also made the gazebo/arbor one year after one of our trees fell during a hurricane.Of course, the brunches always started off with fun invitations. See some that I posted a little while back: here. They also included a fun craft (like glass etching, or making paper flowers), and most definitely a fun game!

(my sis and sis-in-law being great sports!)

Thanks for coming along. I hope you have the most wonderful Mothers' Day!

Graphics: The Latest

2011-05-03T19:51:00.016-04:00

It feels like forever since I've written a new post and given an update on my latest projects. Where to start?

I've had some computer trouble over the last few months and had to finally give in to getting a new computer. (whoa is me -lol). A lot of my time has gone to getting the new one setup the way I like. I'm still fiddling with it but at least I can get some work done.

Let's start with the fresh look I created for J. at your service. She's a budding event planner and needed a new logo and look for her website. Even though I've done a few blog designs in the past, I spent a lot of time learning and figuring out blog coding and finally came up with something we both love. Check it out!
I created a logo and some other design elements for another wonderful online shop, "a sweet spot: home". Carrie wanted a really simple and clean logo with a relaxing color palette. They did a great job with their site, too. Really cute stuff there. Check her out!I've finally finished an 8 page brochure for the AV company. It took a while since the size changed from an original layout and pictures had to be swapped out... well, it came out pretty nice and the customer is happy.
Mixed in with that is the everyday design work. For instance, a grocery store flyer, church directory, stationery package, invoice forms, etc.

I've also been busy filling orders for a very popular theme this time of year - my golf/plaid party. Seems like a lot of guys who love golf are turning 30! It's been fun seeing what titles people create for the buffet items like "the wedge (veggies)" and "the 19th hole clubhouse (beverages)". Cute!

I'll have some party design updates in my next post - stay tuned!

Design: The Latest

2011-04-21T09:03:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone. Time is flying here and it's been hard to catch a breath. That's good though right, because I love everything I do! LOL Would you like to see what I've been up to? I'll have to wait for clearance to show some of the cute things I've done over the last week or so but following are some of the designs I can share. Hope you find some inspiration!

Antique Frame Buffet CardsParty Dreamz business card design
Logo & Business Card design for Vanessa Grant Events (front & back)
Pink Zebra birthday party items
Barbecue Invitation for Volunteer appreciation (the rest of the pieces for this party coming soon)
And of course, a craft item - a flame shaped cookie cutter that proved to be most challenging! I can't wait to show you some of the items I have in my project folders, such as a logo design for a gourmet burger restaurant!!!

Until next time...

Country Theme Baby Shower Revealed

2011-04-13T08:51:00.003-04:00

Remember the Country themed Baby shower I mentioned a while back? Well, I'm finally going to share the photos of the food and styling! (hooray!)

It started with the invitation. I used polished hemp rope for the little lasso thing, plus a brown brad for the "nail". me like. :)I had only 2 photos of the clubhouse where the shower was being held. I pictured where we could put the tables and accessories but once I got there and realized I didn't have an accurate vision of the room, it quickly changed. The room was very large and elegant, and had 2 areas made to look like living rooms. It was a bit challenging but the hostess and moms were a tremendous help in moving everything around. They combined all the sofas & chairs into a sort of circle, with the expectant mom in the middle-front. Overall it worked out well!

Some background on the prep. I ordered wood forks and mini pie tins. The forks looked a little odd on top of the tiny tins, which is where I wanted to rest some, so I sanded them down. I also stamped them with a rocking horse, which matched the theme. Here's the difference.
Due to the nature of the theme, I decided to use paper plates with the straw holders. I didn't realize those holders were seasonal (duh), so my mom saved the day with some plastic ones she had. I wish I had found more, and in the right tan color, but overall I think it worked. I stamped each plate with the rocking horse and stars (with red food coloring).
I had three tables, Sweet, Savory & Beverages. Here are pictures of each.

The sweets table menu included: mini pies, cheesecake pops, blueberry muffins, chocolate pretzel sticks, fresh strawberries, meringues, apple pie pops, cowboy cookies and caramel popcorn.

The savory table menu included: mini spicy quiche, veggies/dip, deviled eggs, chili mini bowls, boiled peanuts, and chips/salsa.
(I made the items in italics)

Backdrops were burlap and bandanna patterned bunting. I continued the burlap on to the tables as runners.

I designed wraps for the water bottles. The glass dispensers were going to hold red punch and sweet tea. In a setup accident, one of the dispensers cracked so we ended up using the sweet tea gallons we brought. The mason jar glasses were accented with more hemp rope and I used the red/white striped straws for a colorful accent.
Also, I created advice cards and hung them on rope above the beverages.I had a lot of fun putting together the buffet cards. I love how they came out, layered with rope and a punched star.
I found out I'd be styling the shower way back in November, so I had my eyes peeled for props whenever I was out and about. Some of the items I had from another western reception and most of the little items came from discount or craft stores. I tried my hardest to find old/vintage items at yard sales and flea markets, but it didn't work out very well.

One thing I found at a Goodwill was this wooden doll bassinet. I didn't know what I would use it for but it fit the bill on many levels. For $3.02, it was a steal. It ended up being a perfect prop for the caramel popcorn cones!
I used mini hay bales to hold the apple pie pops, and a bit larger ones for the mini pies. It worked. :)
(pie with fork/twine inspiration came from here!)

I just HAD to add the "dypa-rize" soap box. More closeups... Mini chili bowls went fast. Prep note: I hard boiled eggs and when it came time to peel - well, it wasn't pretty, so my husband went to our local grocery store right before I had to leave and got these. He also got the white meringues because I ran out of time to make the other thing I had planned for that spot... He's so great. :)
Cheesecake pops...I came up with party games for the hostess, including these baby bingo cards which were a big hit during the gift opening.For favors, I made a star shaped sugar cookie and paired it with a horse shoe shaped chocolate a friend of mine made for me, then tucked them into a burlap bag. I sewed the tags on each bag and bunched them in a metal basket filled with straw for guests to pick up as they left.
I will be adding these country party designs to my etsy store listing so check over there if you're intested!

Special thanks to my mom who came out to help and turned out to be (as usual) my hero. My photographer's wife also helped out greatly with table stocking & restocking. Thanks!!!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you've found some inspiration for your own party.

Credits:
Styling/Organizing: (me) Intrigue Design Studio/CrazyforDesign blog (crazyfordesign.blogspot.com)
Photography: Chad Oneil Myers Photography (blog)
Graphics/Partyware: (me) Intrigue Design Studio (etsy shop soon)
Red/White Straws: Bake it Pretty
Wood Forks: Webstaurantstore.com

Graphic Design: Past & Present

2011-04-07T22:01:00.011-04:00

Just a quick post. I found a card that I designed a couple of years ago to help spread the news about a fundraiser of mine. I thought the card came out nice, and the fact that it was square was fun too. I love "out of the norm" shaped cards, don't you?
In current news, here's the card design I promised you. I designed it for the purple pug. She's what I would consider a major crafting 'glitter artist' among other things. lol She was already using the paw print on her previous design, so I just moved things around and we found the perfect font for her logo. I'm really excited about the added glittery touch she does to every card-all by hand! Love it! Check out her blog, plus, her etsy shopping will have a bunch of new product soon! Take a look!
Last note, today is the final day to enter Children's Party Network's giveaway. The purpose of CPN is to connect industry professionals, gurus and ALL children's party planners. I'm the "giveaway girl" this week and I'll be giving away a business card design to the winner! Come and join the fun and enter the contest while you're there!

Graphic Design: The Latest

2011-04-05T10:45:00.001-04:00

Just a quick look into some of the things I designed for Maylene at Malu Boutiques.

A logo:
A business card:
A networking button:
An etsy shop banner:

A blog header:
And what I think are the cutest facebook and twitter buttons:
Didn't they come out great! I think she is happy with them and that makes me happy! (psst: her biz website is opening soon too.)

Some other things I've worked on recently:
A banner for a local Preschool:
Last but not least, some really fun looking stickers to match the customer's other partyware for an upcoming birthday party!I've got two more designs up my sleeve but one is waiting on approval, and the other I want to wait to show the finished product. Can't wait to share!

New Party Printables Design

2011-04-03T22:59:00.002-04:00

To start this week I'd like to introduce something very special to me. A new addition to my etsy shop for families who've adopted one or more children. Often parents will celebrate their child's "gotcha day" and while that works well for a single child family, other families choose to celebrate the day or time of year they became a family forever. My husband and I are among those who have a son through adoption and we feel it's important to remember and celebrate the day he became ours forever. If you know of a family who celebrates a Gotcha or Family day, be sure to share this great printable party! (In my etsy shop today!)

A note about my etsy shop: To consolidate the different business names I've had, I decided to change the name of my etsy shop from intriguedesigngroup to intriguedesignstudio to match the rest of my business designs. Unfortunately I couldn't just "change" the name in etsy, I had to open a whole new shop. SO, if you've "favorited" my original shop, please stop by my new shop (here) and add it to your favorites as well. I'll be adding even more designs in the near future so stay tuned!

Thanks!

Graphic Design: The Latest

2011-03-29T08:30:00.016-04:00

My life isn't all about designing cute party products or making cookies and cakes, or even setting up nice looking parties, (how cool would THAT be!) but my primary income as a WAHM is designing mostly for print brokers. This means business cards, logos, brochures, stationery, flyers, billboards, invoice forms, the every so often drum labels for hazardous chemicals, and anything else that a company or individual might need printed. Last week I did some work for a production company who specializes in setting up sound equipment and lighting for churches and events. They needed a freshly designed stationery package and my client (broker) explained the details to which I created some designs for her client (production co.) They already had a logo so I worked around it to create the business card first, to finalize the "look" they wanted, and then sent over the rest of the package items including letterhead, envelope and a pocket folder for proposals and presentations. Here's what I came up with for the style they prefer.
I DID get to design some cute stuff for Malu Boutiques recently and one design I can show you today is this adorable poodle. Isn't she sooo cute! I'm sure we'll be seeing her on a party design in the near future! *hint
I fell in love with it as soon as my husband handed me his ink sketch. (yep, you read it right - my husband is an illustrator and I asked him to draw the outline of this for me. We actually met working in a prepress shop. We are both graphic designers and he's got the magic touch when it comes to brush, pen & ink. I love the variation a brush adds to a design and he's got the talent to create amazing things. Check out his blog when you have a moment: davidpentecost.blogspot.com)

In a few days I will share the other things I've designed for Maylene of Malu Boutiques. I'll also share the business card I laid out for Kristy of The Purple Pug. It's too cute, especially with the extra touch she adds! You should really check out these chicks' websites too. Really great stuff.

In summary, I enjoy doing all kinds of design. Coming up on my to-do list, a custom order "pool party" printables package for a 1st birthday party to design, and I need to finish up a "Family Day" party design. Exciting!

Bridal Shower Confections + more

2011-03-26T16:41:00.000-04:00

A while back I shared photos of some of my dessert tables with a new friend. She mentioned needing bride and groom cookies for a bridal shower she was throwing. Sounded like fun! Last weekend I got the call asking if I could make 24 of each a bride and groom cookie along with a cake to feed 24 people and she needed them this weekend. I love doing sweets and it's been a little bit since I've done a cake so I was happy to accept.

I didn't have the cutters she wanted since the last time I did a bride/groom design I used a heart shape. She wanted the real gown and tux version. I found the gown at a local shop but the tux was only available online. I've made cutters before (here) so I opted to make one again. See, not too bad. :)I think the cookies came out great, no? I bagged each one separately and then tied them together adding a simple favor tag to the pair. My friend left the cake design up to me, and only requested it be something simple. How nice is that! Simple is always hard for me but I did it! The cake was really fun inside since I tried my hand at making a gradient to match the wedding colors. I couldn't cut into the real cake to show you but I made a mini one. Isn't it cute? To top the week off I decided to make some brownie pops for another friend's baby shower that I couldn't attend. These are yummy! Too bad we don't have any left!
So, it's been full but fun this week. I also did some graphic design work for an AV company plus a cute graphic for Malu Boutiques but I'll be sharing that with you in my next post. hehe I hope you had a good week too. Thanks for stopping by.

We have ANOTHER winner!

2011-03-20T00:31:00.000-04:00

We just made it to 200 fans on our Facebook page and it's time for another drawing! I went to Random.org and entered 1 -200 and the randomly selected number is: (drumroll).... 188-Corey Turner! I'll be contacting you about your prize. Thanks for becoming a fan!Now, before the rest of you say "aww, I never win anything" (again) there are more drawings to come. Whenever I hit another 100, I'll draw! You'll win a credit towards your choice of any one Complete Printable Party design in my etsy shop, good for the whole year of 2011! I'll soon be adding even more party designs to the shop - designs for children and adults - so keep an eye out.

Keep spreading the word - Become a Fan if you're not - and stay tuned for our next winner...
It Could Be You! :)

A big Thank you to so many who have helped spread the word. It means a TON! Thank you!

The Latest

2011-03-19T10:56:00.009-04:00

After a full week of house guests it's time to convert the "guest room" back to our studio. It's always so nice to have my husband's parents come for a visit. They are so helpful and quite the opposite of what usually comes to mind when one says "in-laws". LOL Now it's time to get back to the daily grind so we have to re-set up our equipment/furniture that we moved in order to give them enough room to breathe in there. :)

I did manage to get some work done. I finally finished printing and cutting 80 4" labels for a new customer. Laura Ritchie of EventsInTheCity asked for my candy shoppe design with customized text and color. I love the look of it in apple green. Laura's baby shower was recently featured on Hostess with the Mostess. It was SOOO lovely! She was such a pleasure to work with. I hope I get to do it again.
As you saw a few posts ago, I put together some mini cupcake stands and made some green cupcakes for St. Patrick's day. I have one more cupcake -who wants it? oops-too late..... LOL
I was also able to design a new logo for Malu Boutiques and I can't wait for the reveal. I love how it turned out! Stay tuned!

If you haven't seen the Pink Winter Baby shower post, please check it out (here). It was a lot of fun creating the designs and set up. I hope you can find some inspiration for a cool party as we're entering the warmer months!

It's been a wonderful, albeit tiring week. I hope you've had a great one as well!

Pink Winter Baby Shower Revealed!

2011-03-16T16:28:00.025-04:00

It's been a while but I'm finally posting the photos from the Pink Winter Baby Shower we did at the end of January. Everything turned out so lovely and the weather here in Florida cooperated that day as well, nice and chilly, perfect for a snowy winter themed pink shower!

(UPDATE: This design is in my etsy shop if you'd like it for your own party! Click here)

Here's the invitation I posted a while back. You'll notice some glitter on the pink snowflakes, most of the buffet cards, advice cards, and other little signs had glitter accents on them as well. Something so simple can add so much.I created all the paper products for this shower and I really had fun with it. Snowflakes make a great background pattern and if you add pink and some glitter it takes them to a new level! (If you're interested in this design please let me know as I'll be offering it in my etsy shop!)
This is the full dessert table. (quick note: I set up the table at home the night before the shower specifically to photograph since I had a feeling there wouldn't be time to take pictures right before the shower started.)About the backdrop, while I was shopping at Walmart, I took my routine "stroll" through the craft department. I usually look past the yarn as I have some and I don't usually have a use for more...usually. But, as soon as I spotted a roll of this lovely, soft, pink puffy yarn a picture just grew and grew in my mind of covering the backdrop with it. It looked so perfect for "baby". When I got to the task of adding it to the board I realized it would probably look better with a pattern of some kind on each side. I found this silver snowflake wrapping paper on clearance and voila! it was almost exactly as I imagined. (Yay!)

The dessert table consisted of white chocolate/strawberry mousse, lemon sandwich cookies, homemade marshmallows, cheesecake pops, chocolate covered pretzels, brownie pops, and cream puffs - all of which I made. The cupcakes and pizelle cookies shown above are ones I made as stand ins for this "night before" shoot. My sister-in-law replaced these cupcakes and chocolate covered pretzels with some tasty ones of her own! The other items we added were donut holes, caramel popcorn, chocolate kisses with stickers to match the theme and strawberry malt balls. (More about the "tree" later.)
I found clear acrylic plates on clearance and thought what better way to add my pattern paper and the Christmas glittered snowflakes. Perfect snowy touch under the sweets!
I saw the cutest cupcake accent in a party that was featured on the HostessBlog: royal icing snowflakes. I had to make them and instead of using them on cupcakes, I topped the mousse with them. Cute!
For favors, I found a great idea on the make and takes blog for Hot Chocolate on a Stick. Since this shower I've seen them everywhere and there's a good reason. They're fun and they're tasty! In this case, I made a white chocolate version to match the color scheme. mmmm

To accent the table we used a tree branch. I sprayed it with the snow in a can and then hung the favors on it.
Sarah, the (then) expectant mom (who happens to be my other sister-in-law) asked for a Gift Card shower so we used this great snowflake embossed basket for all the cards. We also had a Diaper Raffle and I made a little sign for that too. I created Advice cards in the wintry theme and used a small photo album to collect them all for Sarah. Room accents included little silver/glitter pinecones and studded cone trees. The shower was held at Sarah's mom's house and she lit the fireplace. What great ambiance!
We also had a savory table with veggies & dip, mini spicy quiche, chips/salsa, and spinach dip with Hawaiian bread rolls. For drinks we had punch and, of course, hot chocolate. I added rolled wafers to each mug for the straw/stirrer effect!
You may already know that Sarah delivered their little bundle of joy in the middle of February and everyone is doing great!

Customer Party: Wild Wings Surprise

2011-03-15T22:54:00.005-04:00

I had a wonderful customer contact me about creating printables for her husband's surprise 30th birthday party. I showed you the invitations a while back (here). Well, she just uploaded the pictures to her blog and the party looks soooo fun!
The printables look great in action as do all the tables and decor. Hop on over there and check it out (here). Whitney did a fantastic job and her husband Michael was really surprised! Yay! I love it!

Green Cupcakes

2011-03-13T22:00:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking about St. Patrick's day - haven't you? ;) It was about 10 years ago (wow) I found this recipe on BHG's site (here) for St. Patrick's Day cupcakes. I was looking for something "green" to bring to the office for my boss's birthday. His birthday falls on March 17th and guess what - he is of Irish decent. Funny hu? I made the cupcakes every year I was there, for the whole department, and they always went over really well. Well... I liked them! Moist and tasty, and a great color for this upcoming holiday! I hope you'll try them. Let me know if you do and how they turn out!I had fun taking some photos of this weekend's batch. I made a little shamrock accented mini cupcake stand for the "shoot" too. Fun-fun.

Check it out

2011-03-10T10:45:00.004-05:00

Be sure to check out this great post (here) from the newest contributor to the Hostess with the Mostess blog, Jessica Kirkland of Pen N' Paper Flowers blog. Jessica and I first met "online" when she commented on the cheesecake pops I made for the anniversary party I did some graphics for (here). She mentioned she could use "red cake pops" for her daughter's birthday and I was so happy to help out. She was so sweet to mention me in her blog post. I wanted you to see all the details of this party she's finally able to share. Jessica is one creative chick. I hope you'll check it out.
On a side note, Jessica and I officially met in person in Orlando a few weeks back for the Sunshine State Dreamers into Doers meet-n-greet. I can tell you she's just as fun and creative in person!

Etsy Shop Banner Design

2011-03-09T12:21:00.005-05:00

Melissa from Truly Chic Inspirations contacted me last week about designing a header for new etsy shop "Tag Me Chic" and I was happy to help. I love doing this type of design work. She explained that it was to be fun and flirty, similar to her blog style, and chic at the same time. Most off all - Pink with pink Gerber daisies! She also shared some other blog designs she really liked, to help me understand the look she was going for. I got to work and gave her a couple of ideas.

One design had a scroll type watermark background and another had a bit more of an edgy background with a larger tag design blended into the store name. Melissa told me she loved them both! (Not a horrible problem, hehe) But, she had to pick just one and here it is.
I hope you'll check out her blog while her store is being set up, and if you need a fun and chic tag in the near future, keep Melissa in mind!

Party E-vite & Sneak Peek

2011-03-08T10:11:00.005-05:00

Hello everyone. I've just come off of a busy weekend and I am heading into another one. I've got family coming in this Friday night for a week's stay so I'm trying to put the house back together after neglecting it due to last weekend's party. It's fun though, because then I get the nitty-gritty cleaning done in a hurry!

Speaking of the party, here's a peek at one of the items on the sweets table and a close up of the buffet cards I put together. I am very happy with how the little details turned out and I got a great response. More to come in another post, hopefully soon.
I've done a couple of other creative designs this week, and here's the first. It's an e-vite for a new friend's birthday party. I met LaVonne at the meet-n-greet in Orlando a few Saturdays ago and she's so sweet. Click here to visit her blog. She's turning 32 and it's the last of her "lucky" numbers. She described the party theme being all about her favorite things. I created the 'slot machine' for the lucky number part and then added some of her favorite things to the spinner things (not familiar with the correct terminology -sorry) above and below the "32". I thought it came out pretty cute! Happy Birthday LaVonne!

New Niece! & Welcome Gift

2011-02-26T21:23:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday, my sister-in-law delivered their second adorable little girl. Aubrey Jeanette was born happy and healthy and we can't wait to spend a ton of time with her. I crafted this little welcome gift for her mom and dad for their stay in the hospital.

It's a combination of items I've seen recently on the web. Frog Prince Paperie had this fabulous tutorial on creating pomander flower balls, and I also remembered seeing this tutorial on crepe paper rose balls on tatertots & jello. So, I decided to try using infant socks for rosettes and made a baby sock topiary! The parents aren't really into plants at the moment so rather than use a planter or vase for a base, I used candy filled bottles for the pick-me-ups that mom and dad will need due to being sleep deprived! (If I do this again, I will use a planter regardless because it would have been easier to hold the stand and fill with candy....shhh)

Unfortunately, my little topiary didn't make it to the hospital because my family and I have been quite sick this past week. I'm happy to report I am finally getting over it and will finally get to visit with the newest addition to our extended family in a day or two! woohoo!

(update: tutorial 'here')

Cowboy Cookies & Country Inspiration Board

2011-02-24T20:44:00.000-05:00

It's been a difficult week for me, being I have THE worst head cold. I'm usually over this kind of thing in a day or two, but it's going on 6 so I'm totally over it. My sister-in-law gave birth to their second baby girl and I've been dying to get over there but I don't want to spread germs. I also have a gift for them, but haven't been able to finish it because I can't bring myself to leave the house for more supplies! So, the next post will have the fun details about the gift I crafted. I hope you can find some inspiration in it as well so stay tuned. For now....

If you've been following then you already know I was hired to style and coordinate a country themed baby shower. It's been months now that I've been collecting country style things not to mention bookmarking everything I see that inspires me for this shower. I admit, my bookmark folder is about to explode. lol So, I've compiled a lot of those images and here's my inspiration board. All of these are fantastic examples of things I can draw inspiration from. So much talent out there...
Credits: 1-love and lavender; 2+3- seen on KarasPartyIdeas; 4-sharnell dollar designs; 5-mybridesstory; 6-joiedeviejewelry; 7-wildflowersphotography via stylemepretty; 8-Michelle Warren Photography via stylemepretty; 9+10-Beth Helmstetter Events via i-village ; 11-Scobey Photo via stylemepretty; 12-attention2detail; 13-Youkeun Oh Photography via IcingDesigns; 14-justabitedesserts; 15+17-hostesswiththemostess; 16-La Fleur Weddings via stylemepretty; 18-CountryLiving

In preparation for the sweets table, I've been testing recipes and I came across a cookie recipe in a cookbook I got for my birthday, "All Cakes Considered" by Melissa Gray. It's a really fun book, even if she says it's for beginners. I really appreciate the photography, layout and design. The cookies just so happened to be called "Cowboy Cookies" - how perfect! They're a mix between chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies. Yum!!!! I made them Monday night and they are really, really tasty, while a bit too crunchy for me, though I'm not sure it's such a problem. :)
So that's the latest. Stay tuned for more!

Dreamers into Doers-FL-Meet 'n Greet

2011-02-21T16:40:00.010-05:00

To say I had a great time this past Saturday would be an understatement. A while back I joined the Martha Stewart "Dreamers into Doers" online group. A sweetie from Orlando (Melissa of Truly Chic Inspirations) put out the word that there would be a meet-n-greet for all the Florida members and the rsvp list grew to about 18! I volunteered to create a "Sunshine State" logo for the gift bags that Melissa was gathering. I used components of the original logo and condensed it into a circular design.
Melissa set up a blogger swap so we could get to know a little more about who we'd be meeting. I decided to give a little something to everyone, in addition to my crafty swap partner (Amy - buggie and jellybean). I created a design for the covers of these composition books and attached some sweets to it with a tag I made.
For some others I added a wrapped chocolate bar and some pizzelles (Italian waffle cookies). I am really happy with how the wrappers came out. I started with printing a striped design on regular paper and wrapped the bar with it. Then I printed a flourish design onto vellum and wrapped it around the stripes. Finally, I attached ribbon and a personalized tag with the person's blog logo. I got a great response! Maybe I'll offer these in my shop! HA!
We gathered at Downtown Disney and over lunch shared our passions and joys and learned lots about each other. We also got goodies from other Dreamers Into Doers members from around the U.S. (thank you!) and even the Martha Stewart headquarters. When the time came to leave it seemed no one wanted to head out. I kind of felt it was a sort of reunion even though some of us had only met virtually prior to this. It was just so cool to meet all of these lovely entrepreneurs!

Here's a snapshot one of the ladies took of all of us gathered outside.
For more pictures and a great write up, visit Melinda's blog here.

Thank you Melissa, for putting this together and to all those who gave out goodies! And thanks to my blog swap partner Amy, for the cute wreath! I look forward to our next meeting!

Miniature Update

2011-02-14T21:35:00.003-05:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! With 2 birthday celebrations over the weekend and just life in general, things have been going at a fast pace. At the end of last week I had a last minute request for 40 heart shaped sugar cookies and I think they came out pretty cute.
I've been working steadily on small projects for the country themed baby shower along with some other table designs I'm trying to get together for a photo shoot.

I've also been working on a new design for my business cards. It's always hard to work on your own company's design but here they are and I'm pretty happy with them.
Well, I'm not too chatty tonight but I'm sure I'll have more to say soon. Have a wonderful day (or night, depending on when you're reading this.) I wish you well!

Design: Logo, Party design

2011-02-04T09:31:00.007-05:00

I've been working with a new customer this week. She is beginning a new venture in event planning and needed a logo for her business. Honey was very precise in what she was looking for and yet left me a little room to play. She sent me several samples of other logos and also had colors in mind. Having this information was extremely helpful and I was able to send her several options within the parameters she was looking. Here is the final design. I think it's elegant, simple, and doesn't come off too stuffy.
As soon as she gets her website up and running I'll link it here so you can check her out!

The next project I just finished was a modified version of my candy shoppe design. The customer sent me some pictures of a couple of vases from which she was pulling colors and theme. I was able to come up with something I think is so sweet & cute and she is very happy with it too! Yay!
The pieces she needed were a treat/popcorn box, favor tags, buffet cards, chocolate bar wraps and bottle wraps. I can't wait to see party photos! I bet it's going to be a really cute party!

Oh look, she just sent me a snapshot of the printables put together! Great Job Mickey!

Special Gifts for family

2011-02-02T00:30:00.004-05:00

A few years ago I made some t-shirts for my brother's children. If you've been following you might remember I made some more for them this past Christmas with their initials. Well, I found another little shirt in my "stash of stuff", just the size of one of my nieces and decided to make her a cute design. She loves the Disney Princesses so I came up with a little something reminiscent of that. I thought it came out pretty cute, though I'm no screen printer!
I also sent up a banner for my nephew's birthday. He is really into superheroes now (my husband's happy about that, hehe) so I used the little superhero David drew (and used on Valentines FREE printables here) to put this together. I also made some little sandwich cookies in orange to match the banner.
That's what I've been up to so far. I've been working on a new customer's company logo and hope to show it to you when I'm finished. Have a great day!

Design: Invitations

2011-01-31T22:27:00.005-05:00

Hello all! Thanks for stopping by. If you've been on my facebook or twitter page you've already seen the snapshot of the country baby shower invitation I created. I've been collecting and planning for the shower itself and can't wait to get it all rolling.
In the meantime, I've designed another invitation for a new etsy customer. This one is for a guy's 30th birthday. I was told he could live at the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant. His wife wanted to throw a Wild Wings birthday party for him so I created this simple design and she loved it.
For both of these designs I'll be working on other pieces such as boxes, food label cards and some other fun pieces. So, I hope you'll stick around and stay tuned! In the next day or two I'll be sharing a few photos of the banner and t-shirt design I created for my nephew and neice! What fun!

We have a Winner!

2011-01-26T21:43:00.005-05:00

We just made it to 100 fans on our Facebook page and it's time for a drawing! I went to Random.org and entered 1 -100 and the randomly selected number is: (drumroll).... 63-Kelle Alt! I'll be contacting you about your winning prize. Thanks for becoming a fan!

Now, before the rest of you say "aww, I never win anything" (which is what I always end up saying), there are more drawings to come. Whenever I hit another 100, I'll draw! You'll win a credit towards your choice of any one Complete Printable Party design in my etsy shop, good for the whole year of 2011!

So, keep spreading the word - Become a Fan if you're not - and stay tuned for our next winner...
It Could Be You! :)

Thank you!
(By the way, don't forget to download your freebie Superhero Valentine Cards below!)

Superhero Valentines Cards Freebie

2011-01-25T21:56:00.010-05:00

They're finally ready and you can have them for free! Our Superhero has come to save the day and is being featured on 4 Valentine's Day cards. This little guy is just too cute not to share! Feel free to spread the word and also visit our etsy store for our single, personalizable, print-it-yourself Valentines Day cards.
For best results print on white cardstock.
These will cut down to 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" so envelope size should be A2 (4 3/8" x 5 3/4")
Click on the image below to download.
Enjoy!

Graphics & Design by David & Michele Pentecost / Intrigue Design Studio ©Intrigue Design Studio

Sneak Peek: Freebie Valentines

2011-01-25T08:01:00.004-05:00

Sneak Peek at upcoming Freebie SuperHero Valentines!

Stay Tuned for more Adventures!

Designs to Inspire

2011-01-18T17:07:00.007-05:00

When it comes to design, I'm not one for keeping with the same old thing. I love trying new ways to do things, including card making. I really enjoy hearing or seeing the comments about it after someone opens up a box or a oddly shaped card. One year, for a bridal shower I was co-hosting - I made little rolled up scroll invitations and sent them out in little boxes with meringues for a princess theme. People love getting something unexpected! (Especially in the mail - I think.)

While working in an advertising and design department, someone once said there was nothing truly new in design. What they meant was that we get inspired by other designs and everything around us. I find that especially true when making printable pieces.

So, I thought it would be fun to share some of the invitations I made in my b.b. (before blogging) days to give some inspiration to think out of the box with your own cards or invitation. These are just a few examples from the last few years I hosted an annual Ladies or Mother's day Brunch.

I really like the concept of this design because it feels so unexpected. You pull out the "flowers" and there is the invitation information!
This next one is similar in that you have to pull out the card to get to the information. I used flowers again - being the occasion was Mothers' day. I printed on one side of the cardstock, folded it over and cut around the smaller flower. I used grommets on top and bottom to keep it from unfolding and used the different colors in the center of the flowers, without going through both sides. Then I tucked the information card inside. Fun!
By now you can see I like using grommets. :) This was my second favorite invitation of the 6 years I sent out brunch invitations. It spun and the text was kept simple. I used a circle cutter for these and once I got in a rhythm it went fairly quickly.
And now my all time favorite, I love the inside design. "French cafe/bistro" - Ahhh Just saying it makes me want to grab an espresso and relax. This was a fun pop up card I created. Took some manipulating but I finally got it to work (though it was hard taking the photo.) It folded down into the striped "pocket" and I added some glitter glue to the edge. When the card opened the bistro scene popped up and the inside card was a bit raised. The wavy edges were cut with craft scissors.
This next image is of an invitation I made for a second reception for my husband's brother and his wife. They had an out-of-town wedding and we threw them a party for local friends. My brother-in-law was a horse trainer at the time so the western theme seemed fitting. What a fun party that was for me to style! Hay bales, cowboy hats, red checkered tablecloths, bandanna wrapped utensils and cowboy boot vases. You'll notice more grommets in this invitation, tying the whole thing together, this one is more like a booklet with the postcard rsvp at the end.
I hope you've enjoyed my stroll down inspiration lane. Do you ever look back at some of the things you've done and say "I did that? Cool!" Well, anyway. Maybe I'll share some more bb stuff with you now and then, 'kay?

Thanks for visiting! Ya'll come back now, ya hear!
p.s. we're up to 84 fans - getting close to the first giveaway drawing! (see here for more details)

Feature week! LOL

2011-01-14T17:14:00.015-05:00

It's been such a thrilling week! On Wednesday my candy shop sweets table was featured on the queen of stylish sweets tables' blog (Amy Atlas) and then, this afternoon, my golf table was featured on another extremely well-known blog (Hostess with the Mostess)! I was trying to put into words how excited this makes me and it was really hard to find anything that really fits - beside myself; through the roof; ecstatic; but finally came up with "blood rushing to my face dizzy, can't think straight, over the top thrilled!" Does that make sense? LOL

Well, I hope you had an equally thrilling week and hope you stay tuned for more fun tables and graphic design projects coming soon. At this moment I'm trying to figure out a backdrop for our Pink Winter Baby shower. (well, ok, not at this very moment since I'm writing this post. haha) I also found some of my bb (before blogging) invitations and cards that I thought I'd share with you in (probably) my next post.

Oh, and don't forget to stay tuned for the winner of our facebook fans contest (see previous post below). We're creeping up - at this moment it's at 70! Spread the news for a quicker drawing!

Have a great weekend!

Challenge Giveaway!

2011-01-11T16:09:00.009-05:00

Want to win a printable party from my etsy store?

When I reach 100 facebook fans, I'll give away credit toward one Party Printable Theme package (winner's choice) from my etsy store. Winner will be chosen randomly. You can save your credit for use any time in 2011. Sound good?

How about more chances to win? When it reaches 200 and 300 fans, I'll give away another party package! All you have to do is jump over to my facebook fan page, "like" it and you're in the contest! Easy peasy right? TIP: Spreading the news makes the drawings happen even faster!

See you there!

UPDATE: We've reached 100 but let's go for more! (see here for winner) Make it to 200 and 300 and we'll draw again!

Pink Winter Baby Shower

2011-01-04T19:25:00.008-05:00

The baby shower brainstorming sessions have begun. My sister-in-law and I have teamed up to throw our other sister-in-law a baby shower. I gave you a sneak peak of the invitation a few posts ago, but here is the final layout with glitter accents and rounded corners.
I've been working on the additional printables like little Kisses stickers, favor tags, signs and food labels, just to name a few. I'm so excited about this design!

I also came across a few recipes that piqued my interest for the shower and tried them today. The pink and cream lemon sandwiches are reminiscent of macarons but are cookie not meringue. They have a hint of lemon and matched with the filling they're pretty tasty.
On the same blog that I found those lemon sandwich cookies (here) I found a savory cupcake recipe and boy is it good. Cheesy and full of herbs, these make the perfect bite site appetizer. I think I'm going to have to convince my SIL that we need to add these to the list! LOL Yum!
I'm also taking furious photo notes for the second baby shower I've been hired to coordinate and style. I've been collecting stuff as well and can't wait to show you some peeks into the styling of this one. Stay tuned!

Looking Forward into 2011

2011-01-01T17:55:00.008-05:00

I hope the year of 2011 has started well for you all! Over here it's been relaxing and challenging at the same time. Challenging in that I want to get our studio into shape before tomorrow - it's turning out to be a joke. Well, it's still a work in progress but progress is what I'm making and that's what counts, right?

So, what's in store for us in 2011? Who knows?! Right off the bat I'm having a milestone birthday which makes me think "I'm how old now?" Then I remember, I'm only as old as I feel - though that doesn't always help. HA.

I'm excited about being a part of the planning of two baby showers within these first two months. Of course there are birthday parties and anniversary parties to be had and cakes to be made. I'm looking forward to more graphic design work and I also have many party printables themes in the works to put in my etsy store - can't wait for you all to see my puppy party. I'm looking forward to being featured in some well known blogs this year too.

I hope to meet new people and make new friends. I hope to find myself doing things I've only dreamed of doing. Oh, I don't have a specific list of dreams for this year but I find myself excited as I look forward. Resolutions and all, it should be busy, fun, thrilling, inspiring and challenging to say the least!

So, as we move through this year together, I hope your dreams will come true and I wish the same exhilarating 2011 for you! Happy New Year!

Holiday 2010

2010-12-26T21:36:00.004-05:00

As I'm sure it was for you, this past week was a full one! Thankfully everything on the must-do list was checked off. All the cookies deliveries were made (hundreds of cookies), shopping and gift wrapping, and food was prepared for the Christmas day big family dinner. Whew!

The weekend couldn't have been more wonderful. The weather cooperated so nicely for typically warm Florida which helped when it came time to go outside. Everything tasted great and the desserts were even better. My parents have starting hosting Christmas dinner again for many of our out of town family. We ended up being 16 at the table this year. I remember growing up with more than 30 at our table (and it was typically very loud!) As is my custom, I pitched in with several different items - a couple of sides along with some desserts, I also designed the placecards (or in this case goody boxes), helped with decor, and set up Christmas trivia. Here are some photos I took to keep as momentos.

The desserts I brought were a pear/cranberry tart, a snowball tower, some fairy drop cookies (not shown), mini apple pies on puff pastry, and chocolate/peanut butter cake pops. My mom added a pumpkin roll and pecan pie to the table as well as fruit. Others brought goodies like chocolates and fruitcake!

This was probably my favorite part of the day being we snacked on these goodies while playing our family gift exchange! Gifts and Desserts - how can you go wrong!

I hope you had an equally wonderful time with family and friends and I wish you the best last week of 2010!

Christmas Week

2010-12-20T15:24:00.003-05:00

Happy Monday everyone. It's the Christmas week countdown and it's starting out great! I've finished most of the projects on my list and with only one major thing left, other than prep for Christmas dinner, I feel a bit relieved. Here's a picture of the finished flag cookies that were given out at last Saturday's party.
I also made some rosette barrettes for the first time and gave them to 2 of my nieces. It was a bit frustrating at first, and the hot glue "got" me a couple of times, but in the end I was pleased. I'm looking forward to trying different types of ribbon in the future!
I am still working on our Christmas cards, but I think they will end up being New Year cards. I actually like that thought a bit better anyway as our cards share a little bit of the past year's happenings. Not so much a newsletter, but a catch up for those we haven't seen or talked with much through the past year.

I have also started prepping and propping for a couple of parties early next year. Two baby showers, with the first being in the middle of January. The guest of honor requested a gift card shower so we've got our work cut out for us. :) It looks like the new year will start with a bang! Here's a peek at the invitation I made.
I'm sure I'll be 'seeing' you once more before Christmas but until then... "May your days be merry and bright..."

Busy Week Update

2010-12-16T20:14:00.004-05:00

Wow, I can't believe it's Thursday night! Where did the week go? It seems I was just mapping out the week and now it's almost over! Well, here's an update...

I baked, and baked, and baked. And crafted. and baked. :) First off, I finished part of the Christmas presents I will be mailing tomorrow.
I was able to make some cookie deliveries today (finished baking late last night). I ended up with 6 varieties - Pizzelles, Snowballs, Ossi (bones), Ginger Raisin rounds, Fairy drops and White Chocolate/Cherry Biscotti... whew!
Last but not least I finished the customer birthday candle cake and delivered it this evening! I'm pretty happy with how it came out!
I still have a few things to go... prepare packages to mail, another little craft, icing the flag sugar cookies tonight and designing Christmas card-yikes!... well, maybe I'll wait until the morning - I think the 2 and 3 am nights are catching up to me! :)

g'night!

Busy Week

2010-12-13T09:39:00.005-05:00

Wow, it's the week before the week of Christmas! I was looking at my to-do list for the week and it's a bit overwhelming but all good stuff! Thankfully I have a very supportive support system! (my DH is pretty cool.) First off, I have to finish icing 5 dozen sugar cookies for my Uncle's 80th birthday party this weekend. We are of Italian decent (he and my dad were born in Italy/Sicily) and the party theme is the Italian flag so that's what the cookies will have on top.

Next up I have baking of about 6 different varieties of traditional Italian Cookies I give out to about 25 friends, co-workers & clients. After that I have gifts to craft for my brother's children up north. Let's see... Thursday I have a birthday cake due for a new customer. It's for his wife who sells Partylite so I'll be shaping the cake to look like candles... new one for me.

Of course, throughout the week there is my regular design work, exercise, Christmas and everyday shopping and to top everything off I have to finish designing our Christmas Cards and get them in the mail! (yes, a bit late but oh well.) Oh, and all this with my very busy 3 year old cutie of a son. Whew!

I'll put up some photos as I get stuff done! I hope your week is full of wonderful to-dos!

Time for Cookies!

2010-12-09T23:28:00.003-05:00

Every year, like most, I bake cookies. Unlike many, I concentrate on making cookies that reflect my Italian heritage. Cookies like Pizzelles and Ossi dei Morti. This year is no different, though it will be much less baking than years past. Up to about 3 years ago I made 8-12 different types of cookies, days upon days of baking, giving them out to co-workers and clients throughout December. What changed 3 years ago? The process of the adoption of our son. Since then, as you might expect, I've not had the same amount of time to devote to baking as I used to. All the same, I enjoy every minute of my baking time and include my son in the process (and he loves it!)
Have you delved into your heritage to find out it's cookie traditions? Go for it!

Ringing the Bell

2010-12-08T09:03:00.003-05:00

This Christmas my husband and I decided it was time to get out of our comfort zone and do something out of our ordinary. We're not sure why we haven't volunteered for the bell before. It wasn't hard and our son Jack was very excited about our scheduled one hour slot to ring the Salvation Army bell in front of our local Walmart. It was quite eye-opening as so many people walked by without even a glance, and those were usually the gloomy folks. Jack's big smile and little 3 year old voice saying "Merry Christmas" seemed to brighten so many faces - so fun to watch. It turned out to be a really cold night so we all bundled up well - I even got out my "Russia" coat and we all stayed warm.If you can find a place to sign up - it's an experience I encourage everyone to have.
Merry Christmas!

Card Design Revealed

2010-12-07T15:52:00.006-05:00

You all are pretty good! The customer decided to go with design A. I tweaked the spacing a bit, she wanted to switch from blue to pink behind the tag line and voila! we have a completed business card! Thanks for your input!

Business Card Design

2010-12-06T21:38:00.004-05:00

I just finished working on a business card design for someone who purchased my Firetruck Party Printables through Etsy. Shelley needs some cards for a Bazaar she will be attending this coming weekend and sent me an image of some styles she likes. She's getting into the sweets business and wanted to hand out the cards for publicity. The designs aren't terribly different, but just enough to make it tough to choose a favorite! LOL If you had to choose, which one would it be? (I'll tell you tomorrow which one she picked!)

Western Baby Shower Cake

2010-12-04T21:24:00.005-05:00

A friend of my sister-in-law's needed a baby shower cake at relatively the last minute and asked if I could help. OF COURSE! So on Wednesday, after hearing her ideas, I got to work putting together a sketch of what I could do. The theme was western and she had a bandanna design in mind.

I decided to go with buttercream icing instead of covering the cake with fondant due to my time constraint. I did, however, use fondant for the extras that went on top of the base cake. Those extras included a cow and pig head, a chick, wood fence, rope, barbed wire, lasso, welcome sign, lots of wild flowers, cowboy hat & boots, horseshoe and of course baby stuff!

It was all very fun and I did burn the late night oil (or is there an early morning oil?) but in the end I got a great review from my customer. She said her guests took lots of pictures and didn't want to cut into it! Thanks so much! (And thanks to Gabby, my sister-in-law, for recommending me!)

Pink Pajama Party Pops (and graphics)

2010-12-03T09:30:00.003-05:00

Well, it was rush-rush trying to get out the package I promised my neice for her Pajama birthday party! I created a cupcake topper and banner design. I also wanted to send up some sweets but got a little behind with all the holiday/family stuff. eek! So, early in this week when the lollipop marshmallows didn't exactly work the way I wanted (though they were tasty) I went ahead and made pink brownie pops. They came out really cute and of course I had to try one of the extras-YUM!
I hope you have a fabulous party little miss Isabella!

Thankful Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T19:42:00.002-05:00

This year's Thanksgiving was extra special. My in-laws moved (far) away earlier this year. They were able to fly down and we've enjoyed their company all week. On Thanksgiving day my parents also joined us and we had a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner!

I did the turkey and started with brining it the day before. That made it juicy and delicious! Everyone else brought over sides and desserts. (sorry no pics, we dug into it really fast!)
Since the weather was reasonably nice we decided outside is where we would set up the tables I made a few years back. The table was set with some mini pumpkins (we needed as much room for the food as possible), my annual cookie turkeys, and this year the name tags went on the glasses - which helped keep track of who's glass belonged to who once dinner was over. I also added a trivia card to every place setting. We've enjoyed playing trivia over the years as I think we're all a bit competitive! lol
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving as well!

Red Pops

2010-11-24T16:36:00.005-05:00

While preparing for our Thanksgiving Family Dinner, I added an extra line to my to-do list for what I thought would be a simple non-Thanksgiving related project. A new acquaintance mentioned she could use some red cake pops for her daughter's birthday party. I really wanted to help her out and so I went ahead and made the cake and tried the pops.

Well, what I thought would be a little something extra turned into an experiment of sorts. The first batch of pops were way too soggy and I wouldn't even serve them to my family much less send them away. I also had trouble with the casing cracking. The second batch went much, much easier and even though I still had some cracking, I was able to get a few more than necessary out of it.
Unfortunately I didn't get to mail them until today so I don't really know if they'll make it to her party and there's always the concern of what condition they will arrive in... (eek).

UPDATE: They DID arrive in time and click here to see the birthday girl with one!

All in all, it was a learning experience for me and I hope to try again with more cake recipes. Now onto brining the bird for tomorrow!

Sweets Delivery!

2010-11-17T23:13:00.003-05:00

What a thrill to finally finish the 40 dozen cookies order I had for a bat mitzvah. We decided I'd make 1 dozen each of snowballs and biscotti for each of the 20 boxes. The snowballs were a breeze but the biscotti took forever. It take 40 minutes per batch of about 2 dozen cookies, for a total of 20 dozen... Long night!

In the middle of that I had an order for a dozen brownie pops for a thoughtful "thank you" package. I wasn't thrilled with the base pop but with the pink embellishments I think they're really cute (and look better in person)! I hope the recipient is surprised!

Golfer 30th Birthday Party

2010-11-12T23:31:00.007-05:00

Tonight we celebrated my brother-in-law's 30th birthday. He likes playing golf so I used that as the theme for the dessert table decor. Green and plaid tans were the color scheme. I tried to come up with some funny food descriptions as well. I think the "water hazard" berry jello is my favorite.
I made the cake and a couple of the desserts. I really like how clean and simple the table looks. It was fun and not complicated, which was a plus.
I'll probably add this graphic design to my etsy shop so if you like it, email me or keep an eye out for the store listing. Here are some closeups!

Cheesecake Pops almost out the door!

2010-11-10T15:51:00.005-05:00

I finished the pops this morning and I'm so happy with how they turned out. I covered half of them in white chocolate and the other half in regular chocolate. The client provided gold sugar sprinkles to add to them and that made them really sparkle. I packaged them in gold cups and voila! Elegant little jewels.

Of course I had to test one! Tasted yummy too!

I had a great time creating several items for this anniversary party. I can't wait to see pictures!

Menus Finished!

2010-11-07T21:26:00.005-05:00

Finally finished printing, cutting, tying and sticking the menus together. All 55 of them! The most tedious part were the tiny bows, but don't they make them look nice?!

Next project for the party - 40 gold embellished chocolate covered Cheesecake Pops! They will be individually packaged with ribbon and an elegant tag. Pictures to come by Wednesday!

Thanksgiving Place Card in Etsy Store

2010-11-06T23:29:00.006-04:00

I just added the newest item for sale in my etsy.com shop. I created this design a while back (for this) and only now finished tweaking it for the store. I have a few more products to create using this design - napkin wraps and a door sign. I'm open to other ideas of items I should create for a family get-together. I don't know if people would use cupcake toppers. I was also thinking maybe something for the kids? Any ideas you'd like to share?

More 50th Anniversary pieces

2010-11-05T09:08:00.007-04:00

Just finished the table numbers for the Anniversary party products I'm working on. Working on finishing the menus and a couple other pieces. Next week I get to create Cheesecake Pops too!

update: finished the seating chart candles. Print is on vellum and will be wrapped around a candle. I added the ribbon and gem, but the client might do something a little different.

Logo Design - YouTrim

2010-10-28T16:27:00.006-04:00

A previous co-worker of my husband's recently got in touch with me about creating a logo for their new business venture. I was happy to help and provided her with several different options for her "weight loss supplement" product according to the direction she provided. It turns out the very first one I put together was the one they liked best, with a few tweaks.

They were great customers and I hope to work with them again on their next project!

Cookies for Soldiers update: Instead of collecting the requested 563 dozen cookies, the church received over 2000 dozen cookies!!! Each soldier will get a lot more cookies than originally planned, plus there will be much set up in the mess hall for the rest of those there. Yay!

Cookies for Soldiers

2010-10-23T21:27:00.005-04:00

Our church has planned a "cookies for soldiers" event for the soldiers of Battalion 2-116 FAR. 95% of these soldiers are from the county in which we live. Each soldier will receive 1-1/2 dozen homemade cookies. Cool! This evening I made several dozen cookies and I'll be bringing them tomorrow, along with hopefully many others, to fulfill the request for 563 dozen cookies! That's a lot of sugar! lol

I didn't want to make the typical chocolate chip cookie because I feared a lot of others might. Rather, I made what might be the second most common (or would it be sugar cookies?) - Oatmeal Raisin. In fact, these soft little sweeties are probably my favorite kind of cookie!

The cookies were only supposed to be 2" wide (really tough), packaged in cling wrap & foil in groups of 6 with a label indicating the type of cookie. No one gets just one dozen out of a batch of cookies, so I ended up packaging 3 dozen (with more left over). It's such an honor to be a part of this and I'm sure the soldiers will 'gobble' them up! (thanksgiving pun...lol)

Party projects

2010-10-16T23:19:00.008-04:00

I'm currently working on three different party projects simultaneously. Mostly design work. I've almost finished a puppy party invite for a little boy's 2nd birthday and I'll be adding party elements once it's finalized.
Also working on my sister's birthday party. I'm actually styling for this one, not just the party designs. Lovin' the creative process!
Working on menus, table numbers, seating cards and even cheesecake pops with tags for the 50th anniversary party using the bottle labels I created a while back.

(no pic just yet)

There's another project on the horizon as well. In about a month I'll be baking lots of cookies for the Bat Mitzvah I made a logo for a while back.
yay for fun projects!

Figs!

2010-10-04T18:03:00.005-04:00

I'm not really known for having a good track record with gardens. I tend to go full speed ahead with great intentions and then stall when it's time for maintenance.

I was really hoping this time would be different and so far - victory! Figs are a huge part of my Italian up bringing. Especially the fresh ones! So delicious. In the early spring I saw a plant for sale at a local market and I had to get it - despite the "you know how you are" looks from my husband! I've been waiting all summer and finally I see these little fruit buds. YAY! I'm anxiously awaiting the ripening of these yummy sweet treats, though I'm a little disappointed with the leaf rust but I'm working on it!
There was a baby lizard on one of the leaves, I could resist snapping it's picture! :)

because we're Family

2010-10-02T11:50:00.009-04:00

As usual, my mind started going many miles a minute when it was decided we would have family over for dinner and dessert last night. I thought - what a great opportunity to try out some new desserts and maybe even put together a dessert table!

Well, I designed little table cards that said "because we're Family" and even a backdrop sign, decided on the dinner & dessert menu, but by the time I got the weekly cleaning done and the desserts made, I had no time left to set up the table design. boohoo. Regardless, I wanted it to look appealing and everyone waited patiently while I found the right serveware and set things up. I snapped many photos (hoping the lighting, or lack of, wouldn't cause me too much trouble) so I could share the fun with you!We had Chocolate Mousse and Espresso Creme Brulee (marthastewart.com), Cream Cornets (Julia Child), Cheesecake Balls, Pumpkin Tartlets, plus a few chocolate cupcakes I had in the freezer for photo session props. I am happy with how each dessert came out and most everything got good reviews. Yay!

Pumpkin Tartlettes

2010-09-25T21:23:00.007-04:00

I had a hankerin' for some pumpkin pie! I had my parents over for dinner tonight and decided tonight was the night for pumpkin pie - but why not make it a bit more interesting? Soooo, I had these little brioche type tartlette tins and thought they might jazz things up and voila! They did! The pie was pretty good too!

Sure hit the spot! The perfect ratio of crust to pie... yum!

To make dessert course even better, my mom brought over cannoli. Oh My!

(Pumpkin pie was the simple pie in a can that I had on hand from last year. Ahh, memories.)

Autumn

2010-09-23T18:40:00.009-04:00

Ever since I was a little girl I felt the need to rearrange. My bedroom was arranged and rearranged more times than I can remember. My parents worried I would hurt myself because I moved things all by myself. (Picture me underneath my canopy bed lifting it with my back like I was a turtle.) I just wanted to get the most out of my room, and sharing it with a little sister often made that difficult. (thankfully she didn't mind.) None the less, I tried - over and over.

I've never gotten over that desire to rearrange. Like many others, it's amplified during the change in season. Today is the beginning of Autumn. I recruited my 3 year old, we've put up the Fall decor and I am ready to find some new and fun projects to add to my Autumn collection.

What decor items do you typically put up? Pine cones, bales of hay, pumpkins? Let me know!

Tutorial - Tissue Paper Eyelet Fringe

2010-09-18T13:16:00.011-04:00

Hello everyone. I've completed the tutorial I promised. I'm sure there are tutorials out there that show how to fringe a sign with tissue paper, but I hadn't found any that used a punch to make a finished edge. I learned some things while doing this for my sister-in-law's baby shower and I thought I'd share my findings.

First, cut a 2" wide strip from the length of a piece of tissue paper. (Folding the tissue paper a couple of times, and then cutting makes it easier)
Second, fold the length in half, and then again. (not too many folds since it will be put through an edge puncher)
Take a sheet of copy or printer paper and match it to the long edge of the folded strip of tissue paper. Add another piece of paper to the bottom side, sandwiching the tissue in between.
Using an edge punch of your choice punch through all layers while keeping a firm grip so the "sandwich" doesn't shift apart, continue until you've punched the length of the tissue paper. (I use the copy paper when punching because the tissue paper gets stuck in the punch. The paper helps add weight and protects the tissue paper from tearing as well.)
Set aside the copy paper (it can be used for next strip) and unfold the tissue paper and lay the skinny side in front of you with the length moving away from you.
Gradually fold the paper in a fan style, up and down, in about half inch increments until the whole piece is creased.
Take the sign, or piece that you are adding this fringe to, and put double sided tape on the back of it, close to the edge.
Start connecting the tissue paper at one point and pinch paper together as you go along. (One strip of tissue paper might not be long enough to cover your entire piece so repeat all steps with as many strips as necessary.)
There you have it... An enhanced tissue paper fringe!
Hope you try this yourself and add a touch of fun to your next piece! Send me your feedback!
-michele

Facebook & Twitter

2010-09-11T21:27:00.009-04:00

Well, my Facebook Fan page and Twitter page are up and running. If you get a chance, feel free to hop over there and 'like' or 'follow' me! The more the merrier!
See you there!