in the press: stationery trends first interactive issue

I may be a print designer, but I LOVE interactive magazines. I was super thrilled to be included in Stationery Trends’ very first interactive issue (Early Spring 2011/Pre-NSS). Many thanks to editor Sarah Schwartz and to author Abby Heugel for the cover story: an interview and profile with Delphine designer Erika Firm (moi). Merci, ladies! My story starts on page 26, but the whole issue is packed with paper goodness.

in the press: bridal insider

The Royal Wedding approaches! I hadn’t thought much about it until Eventity asked me to participate in an inspiration shoot with A Royal Wedding theme in San Diego. I whipped up some pretty menus using our Wonderland motif. Now I’m super curious to see what the paper goods at the “real” royal wedding look like. My gut tells me that Kate is going to look stunning, but the paper goods are going to be a bit stale and crazy traditional, if it’s anything like their uninspired wedding invitation. Where’s the drama??

Anyhoo, I’m officially on board for watching the Royal Wedding. Anyone planning a viewing party? Believe it or not, we don’t have a decent television in our house! 

Many thanks to Eventity for including us in this inspiration shoot, and to Kristina Chartier Photography for shooting such lovely photos. Hop on over to Bridal Insider to see the lovely champagne, ivory and gold tablescape in all its glory.

in the press: weddings by the ritz-carlton magazine

Did you know The Ritz-Carlton has its own wedding magazine? It’s beautiful (and no, I’m not just saying that because our monogram wedding invitation was featured in the latest issue). If you’re planning a wedding on the formal side, Weddings by The Ritz-Carlton is full of fabulous, elegant ideas.

I really have warm fuzzy feelings for The Ritz-Carlton, because John and I stayed at their hotel in Palm Springs once (in the middle of summer — HOT!!!) and it was there that I realized I was sharing a fancy umbrella drink with the man I would marry.

Merci beaucoup to everyone at the Ritz for including Delphine in Weddings by The Ritz-Carlton magazine! (issue: January - June 2011).

Photos: Erika Firm 

in the press: ceremony magazine

Ahem … not to brag or anything, but we were featured FOUR TIMES in the 2011 issue of Ceremony magazine. Woot. Many thanks to Adrianne Smith, fleuriste extraordinaire, who included our invitations in two of her tabletop shoots, including the pretty robin’s egg turquoise and purple cover shoot!

in the press: uppercase magazine letterpress issue

I was an Uppercase fan before, but when I found out they were doing an issue about letterpress I was over the moon. Then they contacted us here at the Delphine studio for inclusion in the article! Fantabulous.

Each featured studio donated a stack of prints, which were inserted in the issue for subscribers. That’s our limited edition Valentine at the bottom left of the page. I hope they didn’t give that particular one out—- it was the “makeready” or mistake one used to protect the rest of the stack. If you look closely you’ll see it is printed twice. Oh, well.

in the press: stationery trends names Erika Firm one of "10 designers to watch"

It’s such an honor to be named one of the “Ten Designers to Watch” in 2011 by Stationery Trends!  It’s truly a thrill for me personally, and for everyone at Delphine, to be amongst such great company as Ashley Woodman, Sara Hicks and Jonathan Adler. Many thanks to Sarah an the entire staff for their support. Click here to read the article and learn a little bit about what inspires me, my current design obsession, and my favorite indulgence.

photos by Delphine. Winter 2011 issue of Stationery Trends magazine.

haute off the press: rose design

Stationery Photos ©Delphine

Photo by Ryan Ray Photography

Here’s a peek at one of our newest wedding invitation designs, ROSE. It’s not yet live on the site, but you can order it by request. Shown here in jet black, sand and cantaloupe ink. We printed these for Janelle and Scott’s wedding, which was featured today on The Wedding Chicks. J’adore the black and coral color scheme at the wedding, so we used a jet black background on the invitations.

Many thanks to B&K Designs, Krista Jon Couture Designs and Archive Vintage Rentals for asking me to be a part of this fantastic day. And special thanks to For Your Party for printing all the fab party goodies for us! Please visit The Wedding Chicks to see more of this gorgeous wedding!

blog love: creature comforts

Have you seen Ez’s new column on Creature Comforts, “How Do I Wear…”? I have a sequins top hanging patiently in my closet, but was completely stumped for new ideas on how to wear it. Inspired by her “chic for cheap” column, I emailed Ez for suggestions and voila, a new column was born. Many thanks to Ez for giving me two new outfit ideas! I’ll be wearing one of them this weekend at my first holiday party of the season.

Oh, and if you haven’t already visited, check out her fabulous new magazine, Gifted, for lots of great gift (and packaging) ideas. I promise it will help you finish up your holiday shopping in no time.

in the press: sunset magazine

Before I moved to California I had never read Sunset magazine. Now that I'm a "local" it's one of my favorite reads each month. For those of you who know me, it may come as a shock, but I was quoted in the magazine for something I said on FACEBOOK. That's right. Me, who logs in every 10 months. I promise I'm getting better. I've even started a Delphine Facebook page -- yay!

Anyway, the editors at Sunset asked about post-Thanksgiving meal traditions, and I told them about ours: after dessert everyone gathers a sheet of paper (or a handful of sheets, in some cases ... you know who you are) and writes out their wish list for Santa. This is a serious event. It takes us nearly an hour to get it all down on paper. Some of us (ahem) bring a glue stick and attach visual aides for Santa. The fun part is that we include all the crazy out there things we'd love to have (Mom asks for a vintage Rolls Royce and an around-the-world plane ticket each year) as well as practical things that we need (John asks for socks every year) and things that we would love to have but probably wouldn't buy for ourselves (ummm, Santa, if you're listening ... iPad for moi, pretty please). After everyone is done we nominate someone to read all the lists aloud. It's sooo much fun.

This tradition sparked the idea to print and sell our Dear Santa lists, complete with check boxes, which are for sale here. Happy holidays!

in the press: stroller traffic

Many thanks to Stroller Traffic for asking me to take part in an interview about the top trends this season in holiday cards. Click on over to StrollerTraffic.com to read what I have to say about the top 10 holiday card trends for 2010.

Which reminds me ... have you ordered your holiday cards yet? It's November now, and even though it was literally over 100 degrees at the studio yesterday, we are in the holiday spirit! We have lots of fun new holiday designs on our website, including Reindeer in Houndstooth, designed by Plaid Design for Delphine:

photo by Courtney Yee for Delphine

in the press: a fun vintage tailgate reception

Many thanks to Abby and the Style Me Pretty team for posting our vintage tailgate reception inspiration shoot today. Seeing the photos brought back a ton of fun memories. To see more photos and read all about the inspiration behind the photos, please visit Style Me Pretty.

I had a blast working with Adrianne and Jen on this. Special props to darling Julie, who was extraordinarily patient and kind while we dressed her up and had her running all over the yard in a pink crinoline and heels! The super fun vintage lawn games and most of the "furniture" is courtesy of Jennifer at SoLo. The very best part of this shoot: sipping the champagne and devouring delicous Cupcake Love "props" with the team after the wrap!

Delphine's Anemone invitation, in anemone pink and black.

Credits: EVENT DESIGN and STYLING: Adrianne Smith and Erika Firm PHOTOGRAPHY: Jennifer Dery, CUPCAKES: Cupcake Love,   FLOWERS: Adrianne Smith Floral Design,   INVITATIONS and PARTY FAVORS: Delphine,    MODEL: Julie Rais,  VINTAGE FURNITURE, GAMES and TOYS: Jennifer Price at SoLo.

in the press: martha stewart weddings fall 2010

I am so so so (soooooo) happy (insert squeal) to share that Delphine was featured in the beautiful Fall 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings magazine. It should be hitting news stands any minute now, so I can finally share my preview copy with you:

Here's our page. We created our "Charleston Stitch" wedding invitation for this issue. It was a lot of fun working with the editorial team at the magazine. Kind of like a dream come true. I really love how the letterpress turned out. We also adapted the same design for flat printing, which is really affordable. The design was inspired by hand stitched couture wedding gowns. I think it's a lovely invitation choice for a modern and chic wedding. I'd love to see it printed in navy and hot pink (like anemones), or in two shades of ocean blue. This design is brand new on the site, so nobody has ordered it just yet. Can't wait to see what the first order looks like!

All photos in this post by Erika Firm.

in the press: a casual italian inspired reception

Many thanks to Weddings Unveiled for posting all about the Italian-inspired "Vino e Formaggio" shoot that Adrianne Smith and I designed (and captured stunningly by Jennifer Dery). Please head over to Completely Unveiled by Weddings Unveiled blog to read all about it. Meanwhile, here are a few of my favorite photos from the day.

That's my kitty, Ajax, checking to see if the cheese is ripe.

Stunning floral arrangement by Adrianne Smith Floral Design. Featuring the star of the show: gorgeous café au lait dahlias, garden roses, and oranges fresh from our backyard.

Grazie to everyone who helped with the photo shoot. You know who you are ... big big hugs to each and every one of you. xoxoxo.

The Scoop: EVENT DESIGN and STYLING: Adrianne Smith (www.asmithfloral.com) and Erika Firm (www.delphinepress.com)

PHOTOGRAPHY: Jennifer Dery, www.jenniferdery.com

CHEESE and CATERING: Dolce Pane & Vino, www.dolcepaneevino.com  

FLOWERS: Adrianne Smith Floral Design, www.asmithfloral.com

MENUS and PARTY FAVORS: Delphine, www.delphinepress.com 

VINTAGE PROPS: Sainte Béatrice, www.etsy.com/shop/saintebeatrice

in the press: classic tea party bridal shower

Many thanks to sweet Cyd for posting all about the classic tea party bridal shower that Adrianne Smith and I designed (beautifully shot by Jennifer Dery Photography). Please pop over to The Sweetest Occasion to read about our little adventure.

I used our new Charleston Stitch design for the invitations in our mai tai and dull silver inks.

Our sweet stir sticks add a pop of color to the table. And mmmm, those Cupcake Love cupcakes were so pretty and delicious.

I love the sweet tendrils in the centerpiece Adrianne Smith designed. So romantic, the dahlias and roses mixed together!

You can see loads more photos and read all about the inspiration on The Sweetest Occasion.

Special thanks to everyone who helped make this shoot possible. Especially Jennifer Dery, who was able to capture the romantic spirit so perfectly with her amazing eye.

CREDITS

EVENT DESIGN and STYLING: Adrianne Smith (www.asmithfloral.com) and Erika Firm (www.delphinepress.com)

PHOTOGRAPHY: Jennifer Dery, www.jenniferdery.com

CUPCAKES: Cupcake Love, www.cupcake-love.com

FLOWERS: Adrianne Smith Floral Design, www.asmithfloral.com

GIFTS: Dreamy, www.shopdreamy.com

INVITATIONS and PAPER GOODS: Delphine, www.delphinepress.com 

PARTY FAVORS: Delphine, www.delphinepress.com

VINTAGE PROPS: Sainte Béatrice, www.etsy.com/shop/saintebeatrice

sneak peek: martha stewart weddings

Happy Friday, lovelies. I hope you enjoy a fabulous weekend with friends and family. I'll leave you with a sneak peek at a letterpress project I did for Martha Stewart Weddings. It will be in the Fall 2010 issue : )