Martha Stewart Weddings Spring 2011 ~ Written By Hand

I am absolutely thrilled to be a part of this featured story,

Written by Hand, in the Spring 2011 issue of

Martha Stewart Weddings.

My work was featured, along with some of my favorite calligraphers - both friends and teachers, in an article on the many ways to incorporate hand-lettering into everything from your stationery and vows to the favors and food at your reception.

I was also asked to pen the title of the opening page (above) to the main stories in the magazine.

The 8-page article is a must see/read for anyone planning a wedding or an event.

It is a really beautiful article and I am so honored to be among such spectacular company!

photos Martha Stewart Weddings



For now ~ D is for Daffodil

Because sometimes real life gets in the way ~

the D in my Alphabet Project will be Delinquent until

later next week.

I had several rush orders to get out,

thus the D in Delay.

For now, I leave you with D is for Daffodil ~

which are two illustrations I did, as a gift, for a wonderful client

when their little dog Daffodil died, unexpectedly, last year.

(yes, I did my typical 'two takes' on it,

using two different papers)

...and actually my daffodils are starting to bloom.

It is beginning to look a lot like Spring!

~~~

~Merry Christmas~

Wishing you all things Merry and Bright

... with a little sparkle too!

***



photo The Ginger Parasol

Invitation Suite ~ A-Z

This is an older invitation suite that is still a favorite and a style that will never be dated.  It incorporates all the rich things I love ~ handmade paper, double-sided velvet ribbon, my favorite colors (green and white), engraving, embossing and some hand-lettering ... although I would have preferred it be all calligraphed.  There are so many fonts that now look very similar to calligraphy and handwriting, but as this client discovered, there are some things a font and computer cannot do - for example, create an intricate monogram.  So I took the first letters of the bride and groom's name to created a monogram and included a custom illustration.  We used this on everything from the save the dates to the programs.  ...and of course, I calligraphed the envelopes to match the font since it is a no-no to address your formal invitations with a computer/font ~ so as I see it, handwriting is never out-of-fashion, but always in style.

~~Have a beautiful week!~~

Something New

This is a sneak peek of something new I may be offering to my clients in the future.  It is my very first "portrait" ~ I say that loosely, as I am still refining.  It is also a sneak peek of her wedding, which I will be posting in the months to come.  This will be a gift to the bride.  She was so precious to work with ~ truly a dream client! and I am most grateful she is allowing me to "practice" on her as I develop my technique (I have another of her in the works). It originally started out that I was going to do a loose sketch of her gown...then I attended a watercolor class on portraits...

When I took my first watercolor portrait class from Janet Rogers a few months ago, I never dreamed how much I would enjoy it.  I painted this bridal portrait, when I returned home, with Janet's encouragement, after showing her some of the sketches I had done of the bride and the gown.  Janet is one of the most amazing and inspiring teachers I have ever had!!  I highly recommend her. I originally signed up for the class because it was florals and portraits, and I was really only interested in the floral portion ...until we got started ~ now I love faces.  I was most afraid to paint the eyes, as there is so much of the personality there, so I started with the eyes looking down on this one, but now I love painting eyes!  My goal is for my next portrait to be a lot looser and livelier.

So, more to come on this later, as well as some exciting classes I have signed up for next year.

Spooky Couture

The dark, whimsical charisma of Tim Burton is captured by photograher, Tim Walker in this quirky photo shoot for last year's October issue of Harper's Bazaar ~ Magical Fashion. "In anticipation of his retrospective at New York's Museum of Modern Art, filmmaker Tim Burton reimagines the season's dark delight." Harper's Bazaar

Tim Walker is my all time favorite fashion photographer. He creates magic, combining the conventional with the adsurd.  His photography is among the most imaginative that I have ever seen.  He has inspired many of my shop's store front windows ~ only dreaming I could create his lavish sense of style.

I thought it would be fun to show the collaboration of the these two brilliant and creative minds again this weekend ~ as every day is probably like Halloween for these artists.

 

~~Have a magical, fashionable Halloween~~

Silhouette Seating Chart

Last year I was asked to create a seating chart for a bride that would incorporate the couples' silhouette and the feathery theme she was using throughout her wedding. The bride did wear feathers in her headpiece, but I saw no parrots flitting around the groom. 

It was one of the most unique weddings I have ever been asked to work on.

I started with the draft above, using the photo the bride sent to me below.

The bride is an artist and was a student at Parson's School of Design at the time we were working on this and had a very strong idea of what she wanted, so I was ecstatic when my sketch was approved! It is so hard working for another artist; trying to imagine what they visualize ~ but this bride was fantastic!

...and voilà ~ here is the final piece.

It was such a fun and lively wedding! As soon as I receive some of her wedding photos, I will do a featured wedding and tell you all about it, post her invitation suite ~ which was one of my all time favorites and show you the large, oversized menu I designed.