color palette: summer's end yellow green & white

// photo: Beatrice Firm

The rich, saturated color palette here reminds me that summer’s end is around the corner. There is something overripe and sticky hot sweet about this photo. Maybe it’s just that the deep forest, white and freesia yellows remind me of magnolia blossoms and sticky hot Charleston summers. My mom snapped the photo a few weeks ago at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. 

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. 

color palette: moody luxe inspired by alexander mcQueen

In just a few days I’ll be in New York! Of course I’m looking forward to all the trade shows and seeing a ton of great designs (and designers); but I admit that I’m most looking forward to a visit to the Met with a dear friend to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit. 

color palette: secret succulent garden

Mom planted a bunch of succulent cuttings in this pretty Italian wall well we had around the house. Who knows where we pick up all this stuff?!?? Love the color palette: verdant green, spring, rhubarb, stone and flame.

color palette: bright and bejeweled inspired by gwyneth paltrow's oscar 2011 look

I missed most of the Academy Awards this year because I was working on a deadline. But I did manage to catch a glimpse here and there, and I loved Gwyneth Paltrow’s dress and brooch. The stark silvery white background, with an unexpected pop of bright color is such a happy color palette. 

No. 1 Gwyneth Paltrow’s dress at the Oscars 2011 inspired this colorful palette (photo by Adriana M. Barraza/WENN.com)    No. 2. I love using the Kendra Scott color bar — I created these colorful earrings to mimic the look of Gwyneth’s jeweled brooch   No. 3 A fun fondue set from Crate & Barrel — would be fun for a screening party   No. 4 White couch with bright chairs by Roche Bobois   No. 5 Gwyneth Paltrow’s brooch at the Oscars 2011   No. 6. Delphine’s Ava and Amelie wedding invitations — our most popular invitation designs have been printed in just about any color combo you can imagine. I especially like them in bright colors like yellow and pink   No. 7 Alice in Wonderland — love the colors in this Walt Disney cartoon classic  No. 8 Pink and Orange china by William Yeoward from Michael C. Fina — I think they’d look fabulous as a mix and match set. 

At the Pantone color trend seminar I attended last month, “black and white with pops of bright colors” was one of the color palettes discussed as being important for 2011 and 2012 product design. I like what I see so far!

color palette: dark teals inspired by girl with dragon tattoo film

Screen captures from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I love watching movies on my laptop while I’m working on tedious repetitive projects. Usually I have the movie showing in a little box in the corner of my screen. However 5 minutes into The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and my work file was forgotten and the film was full screen! The story is thrilling (after seeing this I went to the library so I could read all three books in the trilogy). But the visuals of this film are what really hooked me. The set design is truly stunning.

The color palette of this film, which is a dark thriller set in Sweden during winter, is a moody mix of cool dark blue greens and near-blacks: teal, verdigris, slate, stone and nightmare black. There were also some ochres and sepias in some of the interior shots. 

So far this year, a turquoise, sky blue, mimosa yellow and lemon yellow color palette has been the best-selling ink colors for spring and summer wedding invitations. I predict the palette will darken a bit into darker versions of those same colors (like shown above) for fall and winter weddings. In the film the colors were dark and moody, but for a wedding I think they work really well, too. There’s something quite romantic about this color palette, don’t you think? I love the giant house in the top left corner. Wouldn’t you love to attend a wedding there? Sweden is now on my list of places I’d love to visit.

Screen captures from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo  • REMINDER: you can click on just about any picture on this blog to see it larger.

behind the scenes: wedding invitation photo shoot

I spent nearly all day last Friday prepping for Saturday morning’s wedding invitation photo shoot. The light is best in our home kitchen (we love to shoot in natural light), so we have to transport everything from the studio on boards.

Unfortunately, we had a very rare rainy day on Saturday, so the light wasn’t that great. We had to pull in lights to get the shoot finished. Normally, we’d just postpone the shoot, but our friend Adrianne Smith delivered some amazing flowers and special boutonnieres, and we wanted to use them before they wilted away. 

Here are a couple of quick peeks. I’m still sifting through the hundreds of photos to find the handful that will end up on our website.Our WONDERLAND invitation, shown flat printed in a truly classic black and pink wedding invitation color combo. Adrianne made a beautiful classic white anemone boutonniere for us, and I think they complement each other perfectly.

Our PACIFIC BEACH invitation, shown flat printed in one of my all time favorite color combinations for wedding invitations: yellow and gray. Adrianne made a charming yellow feverfew boutonniere for us. Isn’t it darling? I love boutonnieres. I tried to convince John to wear it around the house after the shoot was complete, but he said it didn’t go with his holey sweatshirt.

color palette: romantic spring blossoms

The fruit trees in our backyard are blooming. There’s something magical about a pretty blossom on a leafless branch. I love the stark contrast. The colors in this photo may be one of the all time classic color combinations for weddings: soft, romantic blush pinks, with creamy off white, gray, and a pop of brighter pink. The palette of a bouquet of pink and white peonies, or a ballerina. 

invitation color palette: mimosa yellow and sky blue

Early 2011 wedding invitation color combination trend report: blue and yellow! Yay!

In 2010 we printed purple wedding invitation after lavender wedding invitation after aubergine wedding invitation after lilac wedding invitation … I am the first to admit that purple is not my favorite color, so I have to say that I am thrilled to see this purple color trend starting to die down.

Last year we printed a ton of purple for wedding, like this Meeting Street invitation.

So what is replacing it, you may ask? Well, I think it’s a little too early to identify a sure wedding color trend, but we getting more than a few sample kit requests for yellow and blue combos. I love this combination — it’s just so HAPPY and perfect for a summer wedding.

Our HIBISCUS wedding invitation, letterpressed in blue and mimosa inks.

Yellow also looks great paired with charcoal grey, doesn’t it? This is our Etienne save the date with a freesia yellow background.

We’re also seeing lots of light pink and muted metallic sample requests, which I think is just the dreamiest, most romantic color combo for a wedding. We’re working on getting a photo shoot together, so I promise more photos of these new trends in wedding invitation color combos very soon!

root beer kegger part 2: color

Our son’s 7th birthday party is coming up (see part 1 for the inspiration), and we’re having a Root Beer Kegger!

Here’s a little inspiration board I have pulled together as I plan the root beer kegger party. I started with the Virgil’s Root Beer Keg as the main inspiration, then came up with a color palette: dark green, root beer brown, vanilla, white; and some textures: wood grain, burlap and foam.

color palette: mountain café

For most people, the book on holidays is shut, done, over. But for those of us who design wholesale products, the holidays are never over! In fact, I’m thinking about my next Christmas holiday collection already. I’m taking inspiration from this photograph I shot last week near Angeles State Forest of a cute café. I think the color palette of faded turquoise and reddish-pinkish-orange will be lovely for a series of holiday cards. Peppermint, spruce, cinnamon, ginger and marshmallow — the perfect wintery color palette. I can see the snowflakes, candy canes, cups of steaming cocoa, and gingerbread men dancing across cards already.

pantone color of the year 2011: honeysuckle pink

When Pantone announced Honeysuckle as its pick for Color of the Year 2011 I will admit I was shocked. I was expecting either a pretty distressed metallic or a soft, romantic pink. Not 1980s rose. I am the first to say I am NOT a pink person, so I’m hoping 2011 goes by quickly if this is the dominant hue to come.

From the Pantone press release: “In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going – perfect to ward off the blues,” explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®.

I say, bring back blue!

Eiseman goes on to say that Honeysuckle “may bring a wave of nostalgia” for spring and summer.

Personally, I think it brings a wave of mustiness — reminiscent of the dusty rose couch and tapestry pillows from the 80s in Mom & Dad’s basement, where you may be forced to live because you can’t find a job. Rather than being a nice escape from stress, like 2010’s pretty Turquoise (daydreams of beach vacays and escape from everyday woes), Honeysuckle brings you right back down to earth — or the basement apartment.

I don’t want to poo-poo the color entirely. It can look nice if paired with crisp palm or apple green — kind of a retro preppy vibe made modern by lots of white accents. I also see it paired with warm, romantic apricot, or a lovely soft metallic like champagne. For a cheerier look, pair it with beach glass turquoise. It would look pretty with navy blue, like one of my favorite flowers, the Anemone. But please, for me, PLEASE don’t pair it with forest green, mauve, cream, lace, rose patterns, or anything that reminds you of 1985. I don’t think I can take it.

color palette: puppy love

I pulled inspiration for this soothing autumnal color palette (full of soft taupes, pinks and greens) from one of my favorite photos of all time: a portrait of a toddler with her puppy. Photo by the extraordinarily talented kids photographer Jessica Davis Photography.

statement necklace

Mémé Delphine's favorite store is Talbots. (She pronounces it "Tal-bo," which makes it sound so chic). So I have spent many hours sitting in the "husband" chair waiting for her. But next time I'm in there I am going to head over to the accessories department, because I see that they have some very cool, hip necklaces, like the pretty one shown above. I like the understated hues, paired with not-too-shiny gold. It's chunky, but not crazy heavy looking.

Choosing a statement piece of jewelry for your wedding day is tricky -- look for something that reflects your personality, isn't too trendy, and will stand the test of time. I particularly like something that you can dress down, and wear with a white shirt and jeans. Every time I wear my wedding day necklace I think of the first time I wore it, and how amazing that day was.

renovation: e+j bedroom

Yes, I know we are in the middle of renovating our son's room (just purchased the flooring last night ... install to take place this weekend ... yikes!) but I just couldn't resist tackling our own bedroom as well.

As I have lamented before, our bedroom looks like the inside of a Dijon mustard jar. I love Dijon mustard, don't get me wrong. Just not on my walls. Even worse: the ceiling. I have no idea what the previous homeowners were thinking when they picked this paint. Perhaps, "this sandwich could use some mustard" was running through their mind as they sat over lunch perusing swatches. All I know is "barf" is what runs through my head every morning as I open my eyes and see this icky color.

What I would love my room to be is a restful, peaceful, calming place. The colors that do that for me are celedon, watery blues and greens of any kind, greys and taupes. I'm taking inspiration from my favorite pieces of artwork and the sea as I build the color palette for our bedroom.

Each time I go to Home Depot (which feels like every five minutes) I have the lovely paint peeps mix up a new test jar of paint for me.

So far three have made it onto the wall: 1. Light French Grey (Behr 720E-2); 2. Pensive Sky (Behr 710E-2); and 3. Sea Anemone (Martha Stewart MSL087).

The verdict: French Grey is too blue; Pensive Sky is too boring; Sea Anemone is too chalky. Looks like we're headed back to The Home Depot ...