NCGD Meetup in Encinitas Wednesday, August 17, 2011

North County San Diego Designers: Please join us Wednesday, August 17, 2011

8 am - 9 am at E Street Café in Encinitas, California

Kick off the day on a positive note with other North County graphic designers. No major agenda, just say hello and get to know each other and share some great coffee. If you’re really not a morning person or are just plain cranky until the caffeine kicks in [ahem… me], then just “nod” and take time to adjust to the morning sunshine. We look forward to seeing you! 

R.s.v.p. by leaving a comment on this blog (or on the LinkedIn thread or email Kathy or I directly). To join our LinkedIn group: do a GROUPS search for “North County Graphic Designers” on LinkedIn to join.

Hope to see you all there. All creatives welcome.

NCGD co-founded by Delphine and KMG. Artwork by Kathy McGraw.

NCGD EVENT Thursday, August 25 2011

Please join North County Graphic Designers (NCGD) Thursday, August 25, 2011 at Clients & Profits (4775 Oceanside Blvd. Suite 200 Oceanside, CA 92056) for our first social event of the summer: UNDER CONSTRUCTION and INBOUND MARKETING FOR DESIGNERS

UNDER CONSTRUCTION is a chance to share your latest work in progress. Please bring a printout of a project you’re working on, and we can swap stories about the projects & get some constructive criticism. 

Bekka Palmer will discuss INBOUND MARKETING FOR DESIGNERS: How a little sweat equity can bring well suited clients knocking at your door. Help yourself get found for what people are already looking for. Thousands of people are online looking for designers everyday, learn tactics to get yourself on their screens.

Bekka has been in the SEO & online marketing industry for three years. She specializes in technical SEO and content strategy. She was chosen by SEOmoz as an industry expert to contribute to their search engine ranking factors for 2011. She also does freelance graphic design and runs a design blog:www.mintedcondition.com.

RSVP by leaving a comment on this blog (or in the LinkedIn thread) so we are sure to have enough snacks & refreshments for everyone.

To join the NCGD LinkedIn Group do a GROUPS search for “North County Graphic Designers” on LinkedIn to request membership.

All creatives welcome. This is a free event, sponsored by Clients & Profits.  NCGD co-founded by Delphine and KMG. Artwork by Bekka Palmer.

bekka's yard sale tomorrow

Hey San Diego peeps! Bekka is getting rid of nearly everything she owns to start fresh in the Big Apple, so if you are in the San Diego area this Saturday August 6 swing by her yard sale. For sale: clothes (sizes small and medium or 4), shoes (women’s 9), kitchen items (dishes, small appliances), decor, ALL of her craft supplies and art supplies, books and much more. There will be a few small furniture pieces as well. If you are interested please email hello [at] mintedcondition [dot] com for the address! Starts Saturday at 8am.

inspired by lovely lace + big partnership news!

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.

DETAILS: //1// California rustic wedding, photo by Wildflower Photography via Style Me Pretty   //2// Lace doily “Soothing Crcles” wedding invitation by yours truly, Delphine, for Wedding Paper Divas   //3// Stunning lace dress by Lela Rose   //4// Cotton and antique lace dress by Sestra Moja  //5// Picture perfect lace wedding cake by Sweet and Saucy   //6// Rustic salvaged wood tiered serving tray from Restoration Hardware   //7// Queen Anne’s Lace necklace from BHLDN   //8// Lace dancing shoes by Badgley Mischka from Nordstrom

sneak peek: new lace, carnival and watercolor wedding invitation designs

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. 

august

It’s really hard to believe it’s August already. The summer is flying by! There are quite a few summer activities that I haven’t quite gotten to yet:

— A hike along the beach

— A swim in the Pacific

— A summer matinee movie date with my son (including popcorn for lunch)

— A run through the sprinklers

— A petanque tournament with my family

What’s on your must do list before the end of summer? 

couldn't resist the packaging

I simply could not resist the packaging and had to buy this super cute chocolate toffee bar from Trader Joe’s. I’m glad I did, too, because it’s delicious! 

amazing treehouses

photos: TreeHouse Workshop

Photos: Barbara Butler

For Father’s day, my dad got a new chainsaw. Having trimmed all the bushes and trees on the property, he decided to move on to a fun new project: building a treehouse for my son! John and my dad put in the floor over the weekend, built a rope ladder, and the all-imporant dumbwaiter (for loading snacks up to the fort). 

I’m feeling inspired by these beautiful treehouses by TreeHouse Workshop and Barbara Butler. After seeing these, I think we may need to revisit the original blueprint for the treehouse:

Alexander drew a plan for his treehouse. Note the fun slide! 

photo: Erika Firm

haute off the press: sullivan butterfly cocktail napkin

Haute off the press: a cute SULLIVAN butterfly cocktail napkin. White and turquoise look so nice together. Perfect for a summer event.

summer yard sale at bixby & ball

Bixby & Ball is having a summer yard sale this weekend at their Solana Beach, Ca shop. They’re cleaning house to make room for a bunch of new goodies. See you there!

sneak peek: new succulent wedding invitation design

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.

backyard flower arrangements

// photos: Erika Firm

A few floral arrangements my mom made for the house this week. Top: purple artichoke blooms from the neighborhood. Middle: roses from Mémé Delphine’s rose garden. Bottom: arrangement of roses, mimosa, tea roses and various backyard blooms. I love summer flower arrangements.

color palette: wild purple artichoke flowers

// photo: Erika Firm

Last weekend my family went on an adventure to gather wild artichoke blooms. We snipped an entire wagonload of the wild purple artichoke flowers, and I just love the color palette. Leave it up to Mother Nature to take my least favorite color, purple, and make it look fabulous. Who knew that mixing shades of purple, from lilac to deep aubergine, pairing it with artichoke green would be so beautiful? I’d love to see an interior designer take this palette and apply it to a dramatic dining room. It’s hard to show on screen, but the purple of the soft flowers is super bright—almost fluorescent. Bumblebees love them (spot one in the photo!). Mom is working on some arrangements using the blooms and I’ll share them with you soon. 

july

//photo ©Delphine  //styling by Caleb Jones for Delphine //calendar by Delphine

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. 

sneak peek: the new delphine wedding invitation album

I know, I know … I’ve been MIA. Though technically this is our off season, I’m busier than ever. Since returning from NSS it has just been project after meeting after project after rush job after photoshoot after quick trip after project! On top of it all, we’ve had lots of house guest this Spring and Summer, which makes me extremely happy, but something had to give: the blog. Sorry, everyone! Thought I’d sneak in a super quick post, though, to show you a sneak peek at our brand new wedding album. It is a ton of work to put one of these babies together. To start, I designed about a dozen new suites! In less than 6 weeks! Now we’re in the assembly stage, which is exciting. If you’re thinking of ordering an album now is the time!