adrianne smith floral design branding by delphine

 

I absolutely loved designing the branding for Adrianne Smith Floral Design. Adrianne is one of the sweetest people around. When she came over to pick up her new business cards she brought homemade pesto, made from basil and peppery arugula. From her own garden, no less. Mmmm.

To match the natural style of her floral designs, I went with a toned down green, brown and taupe color palette and pulled in some linen and canvas textures. Another reason we went with green and brown is that the natural palette will complement all photos of her work.

Adrianne picked out the gorgeous 18th century botanical illustration, which adds a bit of romance and drama to the design. We wanted to keep the entire look and feel on the casual side (A is a “no foofy stuff” kind of gal), so the typographic logo has a hand stamped look, inspired by the markings on wood wine crates.

Still to come: her ad materials, updating her blog, tweaking the website, avatars, postcards, and other fun goodies. 

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. 

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? 

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.

coveted: a little bit of luxury

Although I appreciate posh things, my life is anything but. Lately, I’ve been craving a bit of luxury.

No. 1: Green handbag by Cole Haan, perfect for toteing files and swatches around town  No. 2: Pretty white pen from Sam Flax South, lovely for writing up orders   No. 3:  Chic champagne coupe from Kate Spade, for sipping my favorite champagne cocktails  No. 4: Dark chocolate from Vosges, because it has the most interesting and delicious flavors  No. 5: A bottle of Taittinger, because it reminds me of our wedding day   No. 6: Men’s fragrance from Chanel, so sexy.

root beer kegger part 6: 7th birthday party!

Our son just turned 7 and we had a Root Beer Kegger! See part 1 for the inspiration; part 2 for the color palette; part 3 for party decorations/inspiration; part 4 for root beer kegger food ideas; and part 5 for root beer party prep.

The Root Beer Kegger was super fun! The kids got all sugared up, played Legos until the entire city was destroyed (all in good fun), ran around the house like maniacs and had a great time. Of course I did the typical party host thing, and totally forgot to take photos. Many thanks to all our guests, who picked up my camera and snapped nearly all of these shots for me!

I know it sounds a little nutso, but we made two cakes. The chocolate frosted one at left is a gluten free vanilla cake with fresh strawberry filling (several of the guests have wheat allergies); the Bûche de Noël at right is my mom’s masterpiece. She used Grand Marnier to flavor the mascarpone frosting. Delicious!

The buffet table. The big empty plate at front is where the Paninis were placed. It’s crazy, but all of these props (the wood stump boxes, the cardboard 3-d stars, the owl, the acorns, the faux moss) I already had in my collection, props from my trade show days.

Favors for the kids: I found cute glass mugs, filled them with root beer barrel candies, and also gave each kid a bottle of root beer to take home. I tied a green and white striped paper straw, with their initial on the tag. Tip when preparing candy bags for kids: make sure each bag has EXACTLY the same number of candies in each bag, or tears may ensue. Photo at right is my breakfast treat day after the party: a root beer float. I was so busy chatting at the party I forgot to make myself one!

I created these custom root beer kegger birthday party invitations, along with the matching coasters, tags, place cards, flags, cake toppers, stickers, favor bag labels, etc. Lets just say I get carried away with paper stuff. Of course I forgot to take photos of most of these things! Whoopsie!

The kids, getting a heavy dose of sugar with root beer floats, before tackling the cake.

Morning after the kegger, he had the breakfast of champions: leftover root beer from the keg, and day old cake.

Overall, it was a great party. A few problems: invites got lost in the mail, took us a while to figure out how to operate the keg (stop snickering… it’s different from the ones we had in college. I swear), and I totally forgot to take photos. But everyone had a good time, especially the birthday boy, so this root beer kegger was a smashing success!

wish list: outfit for a zen workout

I’m not a New Year’s Resolution type of girl. Never have been. However, January really does feel like a good time to re-dedicate myself to one of my true loves: working out. My very first job, where I actually got a paycheck, was at a gym. I feel really comfortable at a gym. I’m not one of those gym rats, who hang out all day and chit chat. In fact, I’ve been going to my current gym for about six months and have yet to say more than about 10 words to anyone. I like solitude in my workouts. One of the things that annoys me the most in life is people who talk during workout classes. My favorite workout used to be swimming (go figure) but these days I just don’t have the time. My mom introduced me to spin classes, and I’m hooked. Although it’s a class environment, it’s truly a solitary type of feeling I get in that class. I usually close my eyes during much of the workout, so it’s peaceful, like swimming.

Here are a few items on my wish list … things that would make my workout a little more chic, a little more comfy, a little more cool: Green jacket from Athleta; Shimano cycle shoes from Zappos; cute graphic grey tank top from Old Navy; capri workout pants from Old Navy; ta ta tamer bra from lululemon; and a pretty AND functional water bottle with filter right in it by Bobble (designed by Karim Rashid) from A+R Store.

root beer kegger part 3: party decorations

Our son is turning 7 and we’re having a Root Beer Kegger! See part 1 for the inspiration and part 2 for the color palette.

As promised, here are some of the things that have inspired me as I pull together the plans and decorations for our son’s Root Beer Kegger.

1. The main inspiration: Virgil’s Root Beer Keg (BevMo)   2. Root Beer Barrel candies (CandyWarehouse.com)  3. Green Balloons (EZPartyZone)  4. Root Beer Float (Dandy Dons Ice Cream)  5. Green and white striped paper straws (Emerald+Ella)  6. Cappucino brown and white bakers twine (The Twinery)   7. Green party cups (EZPartyZone)  8. Wood Grain rubber stamp   9. Custom wood grain root beer kegger kids party invitation by Delphine.

haute off the press: darlington letterpress invitations

Sometimes a wedding invitation rolls off the letterpress here at the Delphine studio that makes me want to crash the wedding. This letterpress DARLINGTON invitation, pressed in palm green and jet black inks on off-white 100 percent cotton paper is one of them. A wedding at someplace called The Primrose Cottage? Yes, please.

The invitation design, DARLINGTON, is one of my all time favorites (it started as a mistake … I was designing a vintage victorian-inspired invitation and a modern polka-dot invitation and accidentally layered them together). This invitation has been modified slightly from the original Darlington design, to make it a more traditional 5x7 size. Don’t you just love the classic green and black wedding color scheme? If I still lived in Georgia I would definitley be peeking my nose in to sneak a peek at this wedding. I’d love to see how Gigi incorporates the chic, dramatic colors into her reception. Gigi, if you’re reading this … send photos : )

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.

"green" logos by Delphine

I was just finishing up the logo I designed for Little Green Beans (we have yet to finalize the shade of green, but the mark is done) and realized I have designed logos for three companies with the word “Green” in their name. Just another reason why green is my very favorite color.

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.

branded by delphine: bixby and ball

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 : )

color palette: backyard romance

Today I'm working on new holiday designs (yes, holiday) and am feeling inspired by these romantic backyard hues. We'll see how they translate to jolly elves and boughs of holly ...

real wedding: pacific beach bloom save the dates

I love seeing how clients make our designs their own. Above: two versions of Pacific Beach Bloom save the date design. Coming very soon ... 15 new save the date designs, plus some other fun party goodies.