Design Elements

At times, I am asked not to create an entire design, but rather a design element, or motif, that will tie a design together. Whether it is a decorative border to surround a picture, or a rustic graphic to adorn the top of an invitation, these elements are extremely fun for me to create. I get to tap into the fine-art side of myself. Sometimes in graphic design, I am so reliant on the computer that I forget that there are times when creating art by hand is much more successful and satisfying. These design elements allow me to do that. Some of these graphics I drew by hand and then scanned into the computer to complete, and some I drew in illustrator. Either way, they are all 100% original.

Custom motifs like those you see above are a great way to personalize any stationery or invitation! 

Beachy

My cousin is getting married at the beach in a few weeks and I am SO excited about it! We used to go on beach trips with my dad's side of the family fairly often growing up, but it has been many many years since then. So I am really looking forward to some quality family time, and getting James into a pool for the first time!

My mom and sister are throwing the bridesmaid's brunch, and asked me to design the invitations. It is a casual brunch at a local restaurant, so I wanted it to be fun and beachy. I like square invitations from time to time just because they are different, but a little harder to work with design-wise. To make this design work, I decided to create a wave-like graphic along the left side of the card to give me more of a rectangle to work with for the lettering. I think it turned out great!

Planning a wedding, party, or event? Impress your guests by sending out custom-designed invitations! Contact me for more information.

Baby Love

Since even before we had James, I had designing for babies on the brain. Maybe I already had baby fever and this was my way of coping with my lack of a baby - ha! But either way, to design things for babies and children is so much FUN! It is colorful, silly, playful - and it just can't help but put me in a good mood. I started my baby designs with an alphabet for my nephew. Since then I have designed a number of other pieces as wall decor for a nursery, and I love them all.

Most recently, I was donating some items to an auction here in town. Last year, I donated a framed nursery piece and 2 sets of stationery. I decided to do the same thing this year but with a new design. I don't know where the inspiration came from but nursery rhymes came into my head and I wanted to go with that. Nursery rhymes are timeless, and appeal to all children, boys and girls. I love animals for baby's rooms, so I thought of "Hey, Diddle Diddle," because it has a variety of animals in it. My favorite is the cow. And thus, this design was created:

The top left is the flat note, front and back, and the top right is the folded note. I am working on matching pieces using the other animals in the nursery rhyme - the cat and the fiddle, the little dog laughing, and the dish running away with the spoon! I think they are so fun!