Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. Case in point: this letterpress wedding invitation, typeset in black ink with no motif. Don’t call it plain, though! It has gorgeous (if I do say so myself) shiny gold edge painted sides. Letterpress edge painting is an extra touch that is always worth the extra effort.
I’ve been invited to a wedding industry party with a “wear something white” dress code. Thus, my search for the perfect little WHITE dress. I need something that works for fall, must be comfortable, not too short, preferably with shoulders covered (I get chilly). And it has to be fashionable enough for the Big Apple. So far I’ve rounded up five little white dresses:
1. White dress with black embroidered bodice from Anthropologie 2. White belted tank dress from J. Crew 3. White long sleeve lace dress from Banana Republic 4. White and taupe striped long sleeve shift dress from H&M 5. White cap sleeve lace cocktail dress from H&M.
I love the simplicity of these sweet custom “a perfect match” wedding match boxes we did for Lindsay and Derek. It’s the little details that really make the look and feel of an event come together.
When Steven and Casey approached Delphine for a brand refresh for their professional organizing business, Organizer Guys, I knew their project would be a dream. There is nothing I like better than a perfectly organized drawer, books aligned just so on a shelf, and spotless supply closets. I was totally right: Steven and Casey are dream clients. They love white space, simplicity and clean lines, and have a less is more philosophy. A match made in heaven!
While the business of professional organizing sounds a little — dare I say it — boring, these guys are anything but!!! So in order to pull their joie de vivre into the brand we used a fun color palette (tangerine, turquoise, crisp black and lots of white), retro fonts with a hint of industrial solidity, and infused a cheeky tone to all the messaging (“your junk drawers can’t scare us”).
The design is restrained and contained … we used lots of rule lines, boxes, and borders so everything is arranged just so, without looking stuffy. The fun colors and cheeky tone are balanced with strong fonts, sober black, and nice bright clean white space.
Read about what makes them cool, who their celebrity doppelgangers are, words they live by, who has slept outside for more than 500 nights (!!) and what makes them laugh. I’d trust these guys to organize my home or business in a heart beat. Right now Organizer Guys is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, but they have big plans to take over the world. Guys … open a satellite office in Charleston, pretty please? My junk drawer(s) need some taming!
A few weeks ago I went to the Gem Faire in Del Mar, California with my mom. Mom, among her many talents, is a jewelry designer. I scored a pile of natural crystals and Mom turned them into this gorgeous statement necklace. It’s made of real rock crystals, so it’s quite heavy, but totally worth the neck strain. Merci, Maman!
I had so much fun styling Jessica Davis‘s holiday party dessert bar. She thought I was crazy when I asked her to empty out her hutch so I could use it for displaying the dessert goodies (usually it’s full of baby blankets and other kids photography photo shoot props).
The candy bar had a pale blue, white and silver theme. Of course there aren’t too many foods out there that are blue, so most everything was white. We made an exception to the color palette rule for chocolate! I used lots of white candy dishes, bowls and plates to create different heights and layers. Then I threw in some turquoise, white and silver Christmas ornaments and glittery props. Everything shown is from Jessica, her fiancé, or my personal collection.
The party was a great success. Jessica raised well over $1,000 for OMO CHILD, and I am so happy to say that the raffle prizes were a hit. My son won the iPad! He hasn’t put it down since!
I really need (okay, want) a new office chair. I sit at my computer all damn day and my butt is getting sore from sitting on a hard chair (I currently rock No. 7 in pale blue — a piece of plywood from Ikea). I started looking around for a new chair and HELLO, can you say crazypants prices? The new Eames Executive from DWR (No. 5) fits all my criteria except one. It is decidedly not cheap at just over $3k! And it’s not even leather!
I took a look at office supply stores but all I could find are ugly black chairs that look like they belong in a cubicle. Ick. I do like white, but am super concerned about a white chair getting disgustingly dirty in my studio, since it will get a ton of use. I am leaning toward a green, gray or yellow chair.
At the top of my list is No. 1, a replica of the famous Eames chair — gotta love that Pistachio color! But I’m a little nervous to commit. Will I like having arms on my chair? Will it be too soft? Will the light color get destroyed immediately by rogue Sharpie marks? What should I do????
Like I mentioned yesterday, John and I are finally getting around to decorating our bedroom (we only moved in, oh, 7 1/2 years ago). Out with the gross dijon mustard and in with clean light gray, white, and sunny yellow. With some light greens and turquoises, too.
A few weeks ago, just before school started, John and I invited the neighborhood kids (and their parents) over for a S’mores Party. It was a hot sticky mess, but also a ridiculous amount of fun.
I designed fun brown and white S’mores party invitations, as well as a few party accessories like brown cocktail napkins, but that’s as fancy as it got — overall the party was super low key. My dad made brats and we had a wagon full of beer, the kids ran around the yard playing tag, and patiently waited for dark so we could make s’mores. One of our neighbors brought over homemade marshmallows drizzled with caramel (we ate most of them before the fire was hot!).
Some s’mores party tips: 1. Buy cheap wood dowels at the hardware store for disposable s’mores sticks. 2. Keep a box of wet wipes nearby to help little ones get “unsticky.” 3. Put each ingredient in its own big jar with wide mouth, for easy access. 4. If you want to try something a little fancy: replace the Hershey’s bar with a Reese’s Cup. Trust me on this one.
I’m in awe of the delicate detail in these pieces of jewelry. Melbourne paper cutting artist, Emma van Leest, drew inspiration from explorer’s dreams of paradise. Aussie jeweler Polli tanslated the paper cut art into fantastic stainless steel jewelry. I like the idea of wearing a fantasy around your neck: when navigating real life is a little rough, touch your necklace and dream of what could be.
Earlier this summer my dear friend Cyd came to visit. Technically, her visit was supposed to be purely vacation, but we managed to sneak in a quick photo shoot/picnic. You can see the Backyard Picnic photos on her blog.
A lot of styled photo shoots you see on blogs are just for show, but we wanted to actually have a little picnic party to introduce Cyd to my SoCal friends. The second Jennifer Dery was done snapping photos we all dug into the yummy food. When it got dark we moved the party over to the fire pit and made s’mores. The evening was truly one of the biggest highlights of my summer.
Orange salad with mint and onions
One of my favorite things to serve for summer picnics is Orange Salad. We’re super lucky to have orange trees in our backyard, so we make it a lot. It’s refreshing and delicious for summer get togethers.
DIRECTIONS: Slice oranges into small wedges (use a paring knife to remove all rind and membrane). Slice onion into very thin ribbons. Put in bowl and add salt. Toss gently. Sprinkle fresh mint leaves on top. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
Some behind the scenes shots from the Backyard Picnic photo shoot, which was inspired by one of our newest wedding invitation designs, Chevron, the color blue, Bixby & Ball, and summertime:
Delphine intern, Marissa Cool, and her sweetie enjoy blueberry coconut cocktails between shots and lounge on cute pillows from Bixby & Ball.
Stylist Cyd Converse of The Sweetest Occasion, the brains and inspiring force behind the scenes.
We’re planning a little backyard get together this Saturday for the neighborhood kids … just ‘cause. S’mores will be the star ingredient to the shindig. When I told my 7yo he got so excited he started clapping his hands and jumping up and down with pure joy in his eyes.
Lately I’ve been exploring softer, more romantic designs. A random paper doily found in the bottom of a kitchen drawer inspired the new romantic lace doily wedding invitation I designed for Wedding Paper Divas.
That’s right! In addition to all the new designs we’re releasing this month in our new Delphine wedding album, we’re also launching a partnership with Tiny Prints and Wedding Paper Divas! I’m super excited about this new partnership. We worked with the Tiny Prints folks to help design a new hybrid letterpress-digital wedding invitation.
What does that mean? Well, the design-y part (in this case, the doily motif) is letterpressed on pretty cotton paper, and the text (the part you customize) is printed flat/digitally. My collection of Delphine for Wedding Paper Divas wedding invitations launched with a few designs last month. Check back often, as the collection will be filling out soon.
We’re a little more than a week into July and it’s really starting to feel like summer. We have the luxury of a pool at our place, and I’m taking full advantage this year. I even picked up a pair of floats with drinkholders and attached squirt guns, for some fierce battles.
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. Case in point: this letterpress wedding invitation, typeset in black ink with no motif. Don’t call it plain, though! It has gorgeous (if I do say so myself) shiny gold edge painted sides. Letterpress edge painting is an extra touch that is always worth the extra effort.
photos // Delphine
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