Color of the Week - Ballet Pink

This week's color is Ballet Pink - a pastel pink perfect for adding a sweet, calming touch to any bright color!

For a typical Parisian or Ballet-inspired color scheme, pair ballet pink with white and black or a dark navy blue.

Fun facts about Ballet Pink:

1. The color's name comes from the typical pink shade of ballet tutus, leotards, and slippers worn by female ballet dancers. Traditionally, male dancers wear white or black ballet shoes, though many modern ballerinas of both genders wear nude-colored slippers to give the illusion of dancing barefoot.

2. The art of ballet originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, eventually becoming very popular in France and Russia.

3. Many flowers come in ballet pink shades, including carnations, roses, tulips, orchids, daisies, hydrangeas, and dahlias, as well as the blossoms of many flowering fruit trees.

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Fancy/Funky Friday: Patterns Bernadette & Poppy

Here are two more patterns - one fancy, one funky - to start your weekend off right!

First, the "fancy": Pattern Bernadette

Why it's "fancy": Thin, calligraphic lines loop and crisscross to make a beautiful argyle & lace-like pattern.

Why it's great: I love the long, swooping arcs on the top of each lowercase-k letterform!


And now, the "funky": Pattern Poppy

Why it's "funky": Instead of calligraphic lines that vary in thickness, each of these whimsical curves is exactly the same line weight, making the pattern feel less refined and more childish.

Why it's great: I love the swirls! This pattern would be great for wallpapering a child's bedroom or play room.

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Color of the Week - Sky Blue

This week's color is Sky Blue - a pastel shade of blue that's calming, cool, and refreshing!

Pair it with another pastel or a light neutral (like silver or ivory) for a chilly color scheme beautiful for winter and spring, or add a pop of bright color for summertime!

Fun facts about Sky Blue:

1. The name "sky blue" has been used since at least 1728 to refer to the pale blue of the sky.

2. Many current professional sports teams use the color, including the Uruguay national football (soccer) team, whose team nickname is La Celeste (The Sky Blue One).

3. In contemporary culture, pale blue colors like sky blue are often associated with baby boys (though prior to the 1940s, baby boys were actually associated with pale pink, while baby girls were associated with pale blue).

 

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Sunday Sample Spotlight: "The Elephant in the Room"

This stationery set is perfect for any carnival or circus themed event, including weddings, child birthday parties, and baby showers!

"The Elephant in the Room" Invitation Duo (invite & reply card)

The invitation uses a bright red envelope, while the reply card opts for yellow. Both are printed on pure white cardstock and mounted on textured yellow cardstock.

The two fonts are very carnival-inspired and fun, while the simplified illustrations add extra pops of the yellow and red color scheme without getting too literal. There are no animals or carnival rides or games - just balloons and banners in yellow and red.

 

 
Next week's Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Strawberry Swing"


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Sunday Sample Spotlight: "The Only Exception"

This stationery set uses a funky bubble font great for whimsical events!

"The Only Exception" Invitation Duo (invite & reply card)

The neutral color scheme keeps this curly font from feeling too strange; there's just a hint of peach in the pattern, while the envelopes are ivory and brown to match the brown font and ivory cardstock.

The pattern fades into the ivory cardstock; because there's no crisp edge, it softens the design and makes it less jarring.

While the font certainly isn't for everyone, it would would great for any casual wedding or child's birthday party!

 
Next week's Sunday Sample Spotlight: A carnival-themed invitation set!


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Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Plum Major"

I just love this stationery set. It's colorful and whimsical, with fun flowers that look child-drawn and carefree. It's a great design for any spring or summer outdoor event, especially a more casual, family affair, or a hippie- or pagan-inspired event (including May Day and Renaissance Festivals)!

"Plum Major" Invitation Duo (invite & reply card)

For this stationery set, I started with a scrapbook paper I really liked. The paper had a scratched-texture purple and blue background, with colorful stems of flowers vertically aligned into stripes.

I used the same colors found on those flowers for each line of text on the invitation and reply card, and found a purple petal envelope and green outside and reply card envelopes to match the purple and green colors found in the scrapbook paper.

I also scanned in the scrapbook paper and included a strip of it on each side of the invitation and the left side of the reply card, to further tie everything together.

I love the petal folding envelopes because they mimic the same flower shapes from the scrapbook paper - and if you fold in two adjacent sides, the envelope looks like a heart!

 
Next week's Sunday Sample Spotlight: "The Only Exception"


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Shameless Plug Time: Love this invitation (or others featured on this blog)? Want something similar (or something completely custom) designed for your event? Visit Invites by Andrea to view more samples, download a catalogue pdf, or fill out a design request form. Or shoot me an email to ask me your questions or learn more information.

Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Waking Up in Vegas"

Turquoise and red is a great fun color scheme for spring and summer!

"Waking Up in Vegas" Invitation Duo (invite & reply card)

The invitation is printed on white cardstock and mounted to a bright cherry red petal folding envelope which has been lined with turquoise polka dot scrapbook paper. The reply card has a matching red envelope and can easy tuck into the petal envelope for mailing.

This stationery set is very modern in its design - from the thick bold serif fond, the large scale simple pattern, and the fun polka dots!

This design would also be great for a children's birthday party, baby shower, or other funky spring/summer event!

Next week's Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Orange Creamsicle"


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Shameless Plug Time: Love this invitation (or others featured on this blog)? Want something similar (or something completely custom) designed for your event? Visit Invites by Andrea to view more samples, download a catalogue pdf, or fill out a design request form. Or shoot me an email to ask me your questions or learn more information.

Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Manors & Etiquette"

This romantic invitation has a beautiful yellow and purple color scheme.

An elegant yellow pattern lines the top of this baby shower invitation; an identical stripe cuts the remaining white background into two, acting as both a design element and a way to feature the most important text of the invitation - the day, time, and location of the event. I love how the second pattern stripe acts like a fancy yellow highlighter!

Though this example is for a baby shower, this design could work for almost any traditional or elegant event, including weddings and spring holidays.


Next week's Sunday Sample Spotlight: A bold red & turquoise color scheme!


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Shameless Plug Time: Love this invitation (or others featured on this blog)? Want something similar (or something completely custom) designed for your event? Visit Invites by Andrea to view more samples, download a catalogue pdf, or fill out a design request form. Or shoot me an email to ask me your questions or learn more information.

Fun Bandana Decor

I love bandanas - they're colorful and cute, and they're useful for so much more than just wearing. They're so carefree and summery, they're perfect decor for this time of year!

1. Use bandanas to jazz up your patriotic Memorial Day, Fourth of July, or Labor Day party or picnic!

2. Bandanas come in other colors, too! Use them for outdoor parties, office picnics, children's birthday parties, and decorating your house (especially kids' bedrooms or nurseries)!

Bandanas are perfect alternatives for cloth napkins, make great flags, banners, tablecloths, and table runners, and easily roll up for utensil holders or clever nut/popcorn carriers!

And bandanas aren't limited to just summer, either - orange and black bandanas are great for Halloween and other autumn events!

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Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Time to Pretend"

I absolutely adore this stationery set! It's perfect for spring!

"Time to Pretend" - Invitation Duo (invite & reply card)

I started with a metallic pale pink folding envelope, which I decorated with beautiful pale yellow scrapbook paper featuring a yellow/white/pale pink/sky blue floral design.

Up close (and tilted into the light), the pale rose-pink metallic envelopes really shine - and the scrapbook paper boasts an implied linen texture (though the paper is actually totally smooth). I very subtly mimicked this texture with pale yellow lines in the background of the printed invitation and reply card (it's so subtle, you can't even see it in these pictures!), and I incorporated the same blue, pink, and slate gray colors from the scrapbook paper for the images and text.

I recreated the linear floral design with Adobe Illustrator's pen tool so I could print it on the invitation. and seamlessly connect the digital printouts to the scrapbook-lined envelopes.

On the reply card, I only printed half of that flower form, poking down from the top edge of the paper. Because I didn't scale the image down (just cropped it), if you lay the RSVP on top of the invitation, the flowers line up exactly!

Because of its pastel colors, this design would work great for any spring event, as well as baby showers, birth announcements, and cutesy/feminine holidays like Easter and Valentine's Day!

Next week's Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Manors & Etiquette"


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Shameless Plug Time: Love this invitation (or others featured on this blog)? Want something similar (or something completely custom) designed for your event? Visit Invites by Andrea to view more samples, download a catalogue pdf, or fill out a design request form. Or shoot me an email to ask me your questions or learn more information.

Sunday Sample Spotlight: "The First Twitter"

What's cuter for a baby shower invitation or birth announcement than illustrations of chirping baby birds?

"The First Twitter" Invitation

Fluffy and fun, these little birds stand on a tree branch not far from the nest where their future younger siblings lay sleeping in their eggs. I designed this image in Adobe Illustrator; it would be easy to create a custom illustration to reflect an actual family - perhaps a mommy and daddy bird, an older brother or sister baby bird, and a nested egg to represent the new addition to the family. :)

This design could also work for any spring event - especially Easter celebrations!


Next week's Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Creatively Cultivated"


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Shameless Plug Time: Love this invitation (or others featured on this blog)? Want something similar (or something completely custom) designed for your event? Visit Invites by Andrea to view more samples, download a catalogue pdf, or fill out a design request form. Or shoot me an email to ask me your questions or learn more information.

Children's Birthday Party Theme Ideas - Part 2

Still need some inspiration for a child's birthday party, even after last week's post? Here are three more fresh, fun ideas!

1. Obstacle Course Party

Turn your backyard into an obstacle course for kids! Divide them into teams and have each team wear a different color shirt (or a different color bandana). Weave string in between trees for them to duck under or step over or crawl through and use old tires or draw hopscotch squares on your sidewalk with chalk for them to skip through. Include non-athletic "stations" in the obstacle course as well, such as solving math problems, "name that tune," blowing bubbles, balancing eggs on spoons or books on their heads, reciting the alphabet backwards, Pictionary, shaping things out of clay, bouncing balls into plastic cups, etc.

In the end, everyone wins! Distribute gold-medal shaped cookies and hand out awards - "Most Spirited," "Fastest," "Most Artistic," "Best Team Player," "Most Encouraging," etc.

2. Dr. Seuss Party

Set up a photo booth with Dr. Seuss props like crazy wigs, comically big sunglasses, and feather boas. Serve green eggs and ham, and a Dr. Seuss themed birthday cake. Watch a Dr. Seuss movie or cartoon, or read one (or several) of his books.

3. Safari Scavenger Hunt

Distribute cheap plastic binoculars, cameras, and butterfly nets or small picnic baskets and set them off to find everything on their scavenger hunt list. Some items to consider - scraps of fabric or felt with animals on them (like giraffes, elephants, etc.) or prints like zebra stripes or cheetah spots, school supplies (such as cute animal-themed notepads or paperclips), pencil erasers in the shapes of safari animals, rubber or plastic toy insects, and fake plants (such as ivy and other plastic leaves and vines). To eat, serve animal crackers!

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Color of the week - Powder Blue

This week's color is Powder Blue - a light blue-gray perfect for winter, spring, and summer!

Paired with a bright hue (like blood orange - see this color board from last month!), powder blue can almost act as a neutral - or juxtapose it against neutrals (like seashell or slate gray) to let it shine as the star!

Fun facts about Powder Blue: 

1. The name powder blue was first used in the 1700s and can also refer to smalt, a dark cobalt-blue crushed-glass product used in dyeing.

2. Powder Blue is also the name of a 2009 drama film starring Jessica Biel, Forest Whitaker, and Patrick Swayze (in his last film role).

3. In Western culture, powder blue (and other light tints of blue) are often associated with baby boys (particularly in clothing, linens, and nursery decoration), while pale pinks are paired with baby girls - but before the 1940s, this convention was exactly the opposite.

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Children's Birthday Party Theme Ideas - Part 1

Need some inspiration for a child's birthday party? Here are some fresh, fun ideas!

1. Messy Party 

The idea of this party is just what it sounds like - to make a giant mess. Throw out the idea that decor has to be just-so and the food has to look perfect - you know those excited children will just make a mess of all your effort anyway!

Serve messy or gross-looking foods (Jell-O, gummy worms, cupcakes splattered with food coloring, etc.). Fill a pinata with an unexpectedly messy surprise (like cooked spaghetti). Cover your lawn or driveway with plastic sheets and let the kids go crazy with (washable) fingerpaints or paint-filled water balloons. Or fill a kiddie pool with potting soil and water to make your very own mud pit. On the invitations, request that everyone come dressed for a mess (i.e. bathing suits), and spray everyone down with a hose before they go home. Hand out towels as party favors on their way out the door!

2. Superhero Party

Serve food with primary colors (like a superhero-themed cake, and all-American red, white, and blue Jell-O parfaits) and label glasses of juice with different superpowers (invisibility, super strength, the ability to fly, the ability to read minds, inhuman speed, etc.) - whatever drink each kid chooses will be their superpower for the rest of the party! Decorate with campy "POW!" and "WHAM!" signage, and end the party with a fun superhero movie and buckets of popcorn.

3. Tiny Party

Give the kids the experience of following Alice down the rabbit hole by making everything at the party tiny, from the decorations (use Tootsie pops for balloons, make tiny flower arrangements out of paper or fabric, etc.) to the food (make cakes the size of cupcakes, and serve food like Pizza Bites or mini hamburger sliders). Play tiny board games (travel games are great, and often use miniature pieces or versions of the typical size board games), and hand out tiny party favors (sample-size mini tubes of lip gloss or nail polish, Hot Wheels cars, Polly Pockets, M&M minis, etc.).


Check back next week for three more ideas!

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Sunday Sample Spotlight: "What Lips My Lips Have Kissed"

This baby girl birth announcement is the perfect mixture of classic elegance and modern fun. 

"What Lips My Lips Have Kissed" Birth Announcement

The fun: The hot pink metallic petal-fold envelope is lined with semi-circles of scrapbook paper featuring large-scale pink polka dots.

The elegance: The printed announcement features a calligraphic font and hints of curly patterns in each corner.

But my favorite detail is the baby's head. Traced from an old photograph of myself as a baby, I turned a picture into a graphic illustration that's fun and modern, while still being realistic and photographic. Given photographs of your child (or engagement photos for wedding announcements), I can similarly turn one of your personal images into a fun illustration for use in whatever type of stationery you desire!

Next week's Sunday Sample Spotlight: "Ever the Same"


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Shameless Plug Time: Love this invitation (or others featured on this blog)? Want something similar (or something completely custom) designed for your event? Visit Invites by Andrea to view more samples, download a catalogue pdf, or fill out a design request form. Or shoot me an email to ask me your questions or learn more information.

Supersize Pastel Inspiration Board

As March draws to an end, I leave you with this - an oversized inspiration board featuring this season's beautiful pastel color palette!

Within this inspiration board are ideas for everything:

- Easter decor (ornate eggs, pastel balloons!)
- Spring fashion (pastel lips, jewelry, clothes, hair!)
- Interior design (a pretty mint green sunroom, and floral wallpaper!)
- Party refreshments (gelato-colored candies and cupcakes!)

- And, of course, spring wedding decor (painted mason jars, bouquets, centerpieces, dresses!)

If you're planning a baby shower, child's birthday party, Easter gathering, or spring wedding, this board is for you. :)

Enjoy!

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Spring Color Combo: Lavender & Salmon Pink

Pastels are always beautiful for spring events, and today's color scheme of lavender and pale salmon is another great example!

Give out fabric satchels of lavender as guest favors at a fancy event like a wedding or dinner party. I just love the small salmon pink pocket tied with twine in the middle of the second row. 

Versatile and calming, this color scheme is also great for everyday fashion, and easily lends itself to makeup (lavender purple eyes and pale pink lips are always classic). These colors would also be gorgeous for a baby shower, baby announcements, or to decorate a child's bedroom or nursery. And don't forget spring holidays. The soft colors and pink accents work great for Valentine's Day and Easter!


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Spring Color Combo: Mint & Coral

Candy-colored pastels are super stylish this season - so why not use this beautiful mint and coral color scheme for your upcoming event? (These colors work for almost any springtime event, from weddings to Valentine's Day and birthday parties!)

These colors work because they're near-complements on the color wheel and because they're both tints (light hues of deep, saturated colors).

Play with a few different shades of coral (from brighter red-orange shades to pale pinks) and tie it all together with the cool consistency of mint green - a classic color with a vintage feel.

This color scheme would also work great for a child's bedroom or nursery!

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Valentine's Day Color Combo #2 - Cherry Red & Aqua

I've featured a red and aqua inspiration board on this blog before - and I've even featured a red and aqua stationery set for a "Sunday Sample Spotlight" post - but the color scheme is so versatile and exciting that it bears repeating.

Today's inspiration board is different from the one I posted last March because it specifically focuses on Valentine's Day decor:

I love the idea of scrapbook-paper "fortune cookies" (the first three pictures on the left of the first row), as well as the fabric patchwork-like banner that spells out l-o-v-e in different red and aqua fabrics. Valentine's Day is the perfect time to emphasize cute, so don't be afraid to don a fun aqua dress dotted with bright red cherries - or keep things romantic and simple by decorating a two-person "sweetheart" table with a centerpiece of classic red roses tucked into aqua-blue glass jars and bottles.

Just like yesterday's Valentine's Day color scheme of ballet pink and black, red and aqua also makes a great color combo for birthdays, children's bedrooms, or nurseries!


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Valentine's Day Color Combo #1 - Ballet Pink & Black

Pale pink and black is a classic color scheme for Valentine's Day because it's become associated with two very romantic things - the unitards and tutus of ballet costumes, and the City of Love, Paris. (Just try to find a cutesy notebook adorned with the Eiffel tower and French poodles that doesn't use this color scheme - I dare you!)

This color combo brings out the little girl in all of us, reminding us of our childish dreams of becoming a ballerina (or princess) when we "grew-up." Play up this nostalgia with feather boas, flowers, bows, and polka-dots - or take this color scheme into a new, grown-up level of sophistication with sexy black lace, damask patterns, or forever-stylish "French bistro" white and black stripes, and then inject calculated doses of hot pink to liven the mood.

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