WEDDING INVITATION SUITE: anna pate vanderbleek

Here is a recent wedding project for a sweet bride's "destination" wedding in Santa Rosa Beach. She wanted a vintage, rustic vibe so we used kraft paper envelopes, twine, quirky calligraphy, and shades of gray with cream. The wedding suite is very simple, but pretty using hand-written calligraphy to focus on the couple's important day. I designed an invitation, response card, and direction card - all bound by a self-addressed belly band with twine to replace an inner envelope. This is the second wedding suite I have designed a belly band for and it is such a fun and unique addition to a traditional suite. Here are some pictures of the final design.

The suite was printed on Mohawk's Loop Feltmark in natural white by Communication Arts, Inc. in Birmingham.

If you are interested in custom design services, please feel free to contact me!

BABY COLE

See, this is how late I am on photographing my design work -- I just posted pics of the baby shower invitation and the baby was actually born last Friday, June 8th!! But none the less, I am super excited to share with you my first nephew, Coleman (Cole) Allen Shirley! He was born at about 10 in the morning weighing 7 lbs 5 oz and measuring 21.5 inches. He is such a doll and I just couldn't get enough time with him over the weekend. I am beyond excited for my brother and his wife and he is such a blessing to us all. Congrats Allen and Taten! Here are some pictures I snapped of him!

When I first arrived at the hospital, Cole had just been born and Taten was in recovery. I immediately got to see his precious face through the nursery window and it just made my day!

They put this sweet little crocheted hat on him that was donated for the new babies.

My first time holding him!

My brother, Allen, holding Cole.

I can't get enough of him in this adorable hat with ears! 

My Mom and Dad

Three generations of Shirley's - My Dad, My Brother, and Baby Cole.

My little bundle of joy!

Cole loves his Uncle B all ready!

 You can tell Allen was exhausted after being up all night!

 My two favorite boys ... wink, wink!

BABY SHOWER INVITATION: taten coleman shirley

I finally made another round of photographing some recent design projects and I am going to try to share those over the next few weeks. First up, is one dear to my heart - a baby shower invitation for my sister-in-law, Taten. I designed the invitation based off of the bedding she chose for the nursery. It has the sweetest forrest animal pattern - foxes, hedgehogs, owls, and raccoons - with shades of brown and green and nature elements. Perfect for a precious baby boy! Here is the invitation I designed:

Along with the invitation, I designed matching onesies to hang for decoration and as a gift for the mommy to be. I designed 3 options and ironed them onto six onesies - front and booty. For an iron on, I was so pleased with how they turned out and I think they will get some good use out of them. 

The onesies were a big hit and I can't wait to see sweet baby Cole in some of them! Please feel free to contact me for any custom design work.

BACKYARD PROJECT: update #1

We are a little over a week into Melrose's backyard project and we have made a good bit of progress, so I thought it was a good time to share the first update! To refresh your memory of the before pictures or the big picture goal, click here. 


Our landscapers started on the fireplace first and boy is it beautiful! If you refer to my inspiration, you can you see how I developed the design by combining all three fireplaces. The mason said he had never built a fireplace of this design but he did a great job and I couldn't be happier! 

 It's finished! Can't wait to build a fire in it!

They wrapped the stairs in the flagstone - no more ugly, broken concrete!

Lining up the rock for the flower beds. 

That's it for now! They are currently still working on the flower beds and starting construction on the pergola. I'll share more as the progression continues. What do you think so far!?

ATTACK OF THE BLACK

Black is continuing to be a huge trend in home decor and it is really making me want to take the plunge. Have you? Now, I just have to figure out where amongst all of Melrose's stark, white walls it could live. I posted a while back about my love for it on the walls, and then a huge trend hit of painting your doors black (which is just as amazing and dramatic), and now it seems that it has taken over window trims. Every room I have seen with black window frames is so intriguing and I am drawn immediately to the bold color. With curtains, or without, the black adds the perfect amount of BAM to the room. What do you think? If you aren't ready to dive in head first, trimming your windows with black could help you test the waters. I think you would be pleased!

simple room ... white walls, minimal furniture and decor, sheer curtains ... the black trim adds so much interest to this beautiful space

 one of my favorite dining spaces ... the bronze pendants aren't bad either

 via lonny mag

 via high street market

 so open and airy ... the black trim draws your attention in

 I would love, love, love to bath in this gorgeous bathroom. Really, I would just like to own this bathroom and stare at it everyday. 

via

via lonny mag

 Jenna Lyon's office via Oh Happy Day

 Joanna Goddard's bedroom decorated by Little Green Notebook

via lonny mag

What do you think? Where do you prefer to apply your coat of black? 

Check out more on my pinterest board