Work in Progress | Strawberry Party Invitation

Rough draft … a little something I’m working on. I think it would work great as a certain someone’s birthday party invitation! Ahem, RKR … your strawberry cocktail awaits!

Rough draft … a little something I’m working on. I think it would work great as a certain someone’s birthday party invitation! Ahem, RKR … your strawberry cocktail awaits!
GIVEAWAY TIME!!!! We’re giving away a set of 100 business/calling cards from the Delphine collection of personal stationery to FIVE lucky bloggers!
I’m slowly recovering from Alt Summit envy, but now SXSW envy, Blissdom envy and the rest are setting in. There are so many amazing events coming up for bloggers! Even though I’d love to be a conference junkie, my calendar is already overflowing with projects and deadlines. There is just no possible way for me to attend everything I want to attend.
I’m going to stalk conference attendees on Twitter live vicariously through all you bloggers who are living the dream & attending fun conferences. Near the very top of my “to pack” list for conferences, right next to comfy flats, cool new pen, and aspirin, is “big stack of business cards.” So I’ve decided to give 5 winners sets of 100 business cards from the Delphine collection of personal stationery.
Here are the rules: Use the handy “Rafflecopter” widget to enter. Leave a comment with the conference you’re attending this year, your favorite Delphine business card design (check them all out here), and the ink colors you’d choose (play with our exclusive customizer to pick your faves). Using our fun customizer, you’ll be able to see what your cards will look like ahead of time. (Don’t worry, if you win you can always change your mind and order something different). Of course also leave your name, name of your blog and email so we can get in touch with the winners. Deadline to enter is February 4, 2012 at midnight (Pacific time). Winners will be chosen randomly and announced on February 5, 2012.
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It’s true, I can’t get enough chevrons. John thinks I’m slightly obsessed. I’m certain one of these days I’ll tire of the classic zig zag pattern, but for now I’m in love. Here’s a letterpress wedding invitation in cantaloupe melon and dull gold inks. Note the pretty edge painted place cards, too. Yummy color combo … one of my faves. (Just don’t call it peach and we can pretend it’s not part of the 80s revival).
photo: Delphine
In my house, the sure sign that the holidays are around the corner is the release of the new Delphine 2012 desktop calendar.
This year’s (well, I guess technically it’s “next” year’s) calendar is our most colorful Delphine calendar yet!
I sort of got carried away with color and pattern, so the back of each month is also full color. Major change from last year is the paper upgrade: it’s now printed on yummy 100 percent cotton paper.
I think it makes a super stocking stuffer. Yes, I just said that. But it’s true, not marketing speak! We sourced some awesome black metal easels this year. If you already have one of our old easels you can buy just the refill pages — we stuck with the same size (4.25in x 5.5in).
Feeling inspired, I ordered our personal family Christmas card today. Friends & family note that this year my goal is to actually get them in the mail before Valentine’s Day!
Dr. Naples, an Austin, Texas based oral and maxillofacial surgeon, wanted to update the logo and identity of his practice, in preparation for his expansion and move to his new oral surgery center. He loved the “N” in a box element from his old logo, so kept that … but ditched everything else (including the 80s era parchment paper and gold lettering). Eeek.
What do you want from your oral surgeon? Clean, professional, trustyworthy, strong … so I chose a nice, solid and strong blue for the brand. I kept all the lines square, clean and sharp, and I used lots and lots of white space.
To keep things super clean, I chose a very bright white stock (everything is offset printed on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White). I kept the same blue and white, with accents of black, color palette throughout all of the branded identity: business cards, appointment cards, we’ve moved cards, letterhead, business envelopes and stickers.
Every dental and surgical office goes through lots of appointment cards, so we printed a ton of them. There is lots of white space on the back, for additional notes.
The main business card has a crisp, clean look. I used the band/stripe as a design element throughout the entire identity package. Dr. Naples is moving to the new building in a few months, and there will be many more elements printed to celebrate the new location! Congratulations, Dr. Naples, on the incredible growth of your business!
I picked up these three rolls of 25 cent tickets (the green ones are my favorite) at the local grocery store because I knew someday I’d use them in a photoshoot. I left them in my studio for a few months, and when the sun faded them to the perfect patina I finally was inspired to use them as props for our new Candy Shop wedding invitation.
One of our newest wedding invitation designs, Candy Shop, is available in stores now. It’s shown here letterpressed in peacock and gray inks.
//photos Erika Firm
Sullivan’s Island is one of my favorite floral wedding invitation designs. It’s not one of our most popular, but I still love it. I was inspired by the sweet butterflies and pretty wild flowers along the sand dunes. Every time someone orders it I am reminded of walks along the beach on the South Carolina coast, where I consider home.

I just can’t get enough of the zig-zag o-riffic CHEVRON trend. I am counting down the days and saving my pennies for the Missoni for Target collection next month. I call dibs on any tote bags at the Encinitas store!
DETAILS: //1//Blue Chevron wedding invitation by Delphine for Wedding Paper Divas //2//Gray chevron bedding from Urban Outfitters //3//Blue herringbone glass from Artedona //4//M Missoni chrochet knit dress //5//”This Side of Paradise,” by Fitzgerald //6//Missoni tote bag //7// Customizable yellow chevron iPhone case //8// Yellow herringbone glass from Artedona //9// Yellow Chevron wedding invitation by Delphine for Wedding Paper Divas.
A few reasons for the radio silence around here: We’re finishing up the new Delphine wedding invitation album — working on assembling the dealer decks now (hitting stores any day now), and we’re busy taking photos of our new designs, including Carnival, Lace, and Watercolor Stripes.

Here’s a sneak peek at one of our newest designs: our SUCCULENT wedding invitation suite. It’s one of a dozen brand new designs in our new Delphine Signature Collection wedding album. We took inspiration from the aloe plants, agave plants and other succulents growing in the Delphine studio courtyard. I love how it looks in blues and greens. For some extra pop, it looks fun with a black backround.
These seed packet packaging designs were one of my favorite projects of all time. Pretty flowers, spring colors, clean design, interesting type (all in Danish) and the most lovely client you could imagine all combined! So far I’ve designed 22 varieties. They’re available in Isabella Smith Country Store shops and catalog, and on the Isabella Smith website.
Seed packages designed by Erika Firm of Delphine for Isabella Smith.
UPDATE: Isabella just sent over this photo from their latest photo shoot for their Spring catalog:
image courtesy Isabella Smith
Reminder: you can click on just about any image on this blog to see it larger.
It’s such an honor to be named one of the “Ten Designers to Watch” in 2011 by Stationery Trends! It’s truly a thrill for me personally, and for everyone at Delphine, to be amongst such great company as Ashley Woodman, Sara Hicks and Jonathan Adler. Many thanks to Sarah an the entire staff for their support. Click here to read the article and learn a little bit about what inspires me, my current design obsession, and my favorite indulgence.
photos by Delphine. Winter 2011 issue of Stationery Trends magazine.
Thought you’d like a peek at some of the projects I have worked on this year. These were all designed for one of my all time favorite (and my only Danish) clients: Isabella Smith. I designed that cute (if I do say so myself) logo for her Isabella Smith Country Store, too. The logo is a sketch of the building where she works. How lucky is she to work in such an amazing environment?!?!! A couple of my favorite projects haven’t made it into the photo studio just yet (dozens of seed packets) or into production yet (eco-friendly cleaning products, a series of pretty mugs, some café au lait bowls …) but I’ll post photos as soon as everything gets wrapped up.
reminder: you can click on just about any photo on the blog to see it larger.
Just launched: postage stamps by Delphine for Zazzle to match Delphine custom invitation and holiday card designs. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Leave a comment and I’ll post a stamp for you.
I’m super excited for co-owners Melissa Anderson and Betsy Bracken, co-owners of the fabulous new shop Bixby & Ball, in Solana Beach, California. The shop is all about the Coastal Lifestyle. They’re celebrating the grand opening of the store this weekend, so if you’re in the neighborhood (the Cedros Design District) stop by for some awesome shopping!
Here’s a peek at some of the goodies I designed for them. We chose a really “East Coast” dark navy and green color combo, perfect for the tone of the store, along with a classic vintage font and a modern ampersand (that sort of reminds me of an anchor … and has little balls on the ends, like the “Ball” in the name of the shop). I hope you like it, too.
My favorite part of their branded look is the big sign above the door (I was so excited to see it that I totally forgot to take a photo). I’ll remember to bring my camera when I visit later today, so I’ll post photos of the shop next week : )