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.

branded by delphine: sweet paper

I'm thrilled for sisters Julie O'Brien and Theresa Anderson, as they celebrate the opening of their fabulous new stationery store, Sweet Paper, in La Jolla, California.

Coming up with the logo turned out to be the easy part. One part sweet (but not saccharine), one part strong (but not tough), one part frame (but not heavy) ... established in 2010. Done.

The difficult part was agreeing on a color palette fit for a darling stationery shop a few blocks from the beach. After long discussions and lots of ideas (lilac! aqua! turquoise! navy! yellow!) we landed on beautiful melon and warm sandy grey for the color palette. I absolutely love how it turned out. I'd love to hear what you think. And I'd also love it if you would visit their store in La Jolla when you're in the neighborhood. You won't be sorry!

We letterpressed all of the business cards and stationery (of course) in beautiful melon and grey inks, and added a signature pattern to the back of the business cards. To finish off the look, all the corners were rounded. Sweet, don't you agree?

all design and photos ©Delphine

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 ...

wish list: bedding by dwell studios for target

It's a certain someone's birthday (ahem) next week, and this chic lemon yellow and grey Mandala bedding by Dwell Studios for Target is near the tippy-top of my list (along with sunglasses, a flatter stomach, a new car, and an iPad). I actually tried to buy the bedding for myself as a gift, but our local Targets seem to be out of it, and it's unavailable online. Boo. So I guess I'm not getting it. But I do love it, don't you? I think it's perfect summer bedding. Our down comforter is way too hot and it's not even June yet.

color palette: first impressions of ohio

These are the colors I have seen in Ohio so far. We arrived at dusk yesterday to the Columbus, Ohio airport. It was a gloomy, dreary day. The airport there is pretty much a concrete box, and smelled of stale smoke. Blech. Then the parking garage where the rental cars are was even darker and drearier. Our 5yr old asked "why is it so boring?" ... he is used to a lot of color and action in SoCal I guess! It was drizzling a little and he wondered aloud why nobody was outside enjoying the rain (it rains so seldomly at home that we rejoice with every raindrop). He couldn't wrap his head around the idea that it rains a lot here.

The red in the color palette represents all the Ohio State sweatshirts we saw during our brief visit to Columbus. It also represents the pit stop we took for pumpkin pie at Bob Evans (so many fond memories of Bob Evans ... it's the Denny's or Waffle House of the Midwest).

The purple and pink (color! yay!) represent all the fun princess stuff in my niece's rooms in their new home in Athens, Ohio. Today I'm hoping for blue sky to best illuminate all the beautiful fall foliage ... and I predict a lot of OU green, too.

color and mood

As you have probably noticed, I love playing with color. I recently digitally printed these two samples of our Julian design in two different color combos. It's amazing how simply changing ink colors can completely change the tone of an invitation, isn't it? The top sample is printed in lilac and limonade inks; the bottom in red and cloud inks.

color palette: mai tai and grey

Great color combo: mai tai (creamy pinkish coral) and cloudy grey. So dreamy. Photo of the Delphine Ava design.

inspiration: urban infrastructure

I snapped this picture under a bridge in New York City (New Yorkers, can you tell me which it is?). I love grey and pattern; I think the infrastructure of the city is beautiful!

wish list: green scarf

I loooooove this scarf from banana republic.

inspiration: factory orange and yellow

A recent visit to my dad's factory (top images) inspired the factory orange and steel grey color scheme for a project I'm working on now for Strathmore (bottom images). When I was a kid I loved visiting my dad at his factories and walking the floor with him. I inherited an appreciation for mechanical equipment, which, I think, is the reason I was drawn to the craft of letterpress.

custom "swirly" bar mitzvah invitation

Just shipped ... a custom "swirly" Bar Mitzvah invitation for sweet Sacha! We letterpressed this postcard on double thick 100 percent cotton paper in grey and marine blue inks. Can't wait to start on the invitation!

client (and store) we love: orange & pear

all gifts shown available at orangeandpear.com

When Jennifer came to me asking for help with a logo for her new business I was intrigued. She promised a "fresh perspective on gift giving." Interesting, but possible?. She said her favorite colors are green and orange. Yes, yes. My favorite, too. Go on. Please add shades of grey, she said. No more brown ... happy dance. She said it would be the END of boring hostess gifts. Hmmm. Really? She was so sincere, so lovely, so darn NICE. So I spent hours sketching and playing with type, tweaking and improving, until I designed a fun, sweet, colorful logo for her. I had a blast working on this logo with her ... all the while I had yet to see nary a peek at her website, which was still in the works.

But guess what? She delivered!!! Not a one ordinary gift to be found on her site-- everything is carefully curated. Perfectly wonderful. It's the end of boring hostess gifts for real! Yay! Congratulations, Jennifer, on the successful launch of your shop: Orange and Pear.

party goodies

photos and cards: delphine; party goodies: foryourparty.com

We are so happy to be working with www.ForYourParty.com ... we've designed coasters, napkins, stir sticks, goodie bags, match boxes, etc. for FYP to go with many of our letterpress wedding invitations. Shown here: our favorite MIMOSA design in our favorite chic color combo: mimosa yellow and grey.

Trend: grey is the new brown

rug and photo: West Elm

At the National Stationery Show last month, Joan and Vanessa from Green Paper Company declared: Grey is the New Brown. Agreed.

dwell studio at target

photo: Dwell Studio for Target

I spotted these Dwell Studio pillows at ICFF last month ... and I was at Target yesterday and spotted them again. I am loving the grey/yellow combo (and the Target price).