{recent custom work}

I have had quite a few custom orders through my Etsy shop recently and I thought I would share photos from events for two of those clients here!


BHLDN Chicago asked me to create a custom "Bubbly" glitter sign along with one of my "Cheers" and "Sweets" signs for their Bourbon, Bowties, Baubles & Bubbles holiday event this past December.  The event was part of a trunk show for jewelry design, Melissa Joy Manning, and included an array of baubles for customers to try on as well as a selection of bowties and bourbon for the guys!  All images courtesy of the lovely Stoffer Pohotographers:

 {large custom "Sweets" sign alongside an array of delicious treats from Sugar Chic}

 {BHLDN's array of short wedding styles}

 {custom "Bubbly" sign adorning the cutest bar cart ever}

 {cheese "cakes" created by Sugar Chic- these were a real hit at the party and what a great alternative to a traditional dessert table!}

 {the bow tie set up with florals by Pistil & Vine}

 {my custom "Cheers" sign hanging above the bourbon tasting area provided by FEW Spirits}

I was also recently contacted by Oh It's Perfect in Australia to create some printables for an upcoming engagement party they were planning.  We first modified the "Sequins & Bowties" invite to be sent to all the guests and then I created some smaller paper good items for the dessert spread.  I absolutely love their color scheme of yellow, black, white and gold!  All images via Oh It's Perfect:

 {what a perfect credenza to use for this party scheme!}

{You might recognize those cake stands from Lauren of A Fabulous Fete's Etsy shop} 

{the custom chocolate wrappers I created to celebrate Maddy & Sum's engagement}

{glitter letter banner}

So here's the thing...some people are really good are free hand drawing letters and I just so happen to not be one of those people.  So here's a little tutorial on how you can make a glittered letter banner for yourself without agonizing over horribly hand-drawn letters.  I will warn you that this is certainly not a quick project, but it is rather simple and quite honestly I haven't found a better way to achieve letters like this (if you have please let me know)!!

I have spotted quite of few of these glittered letter banners around (like this or this or these), but haven't really got around to trying my hand at one until now.  I figured if I was going to spend the time making one that I should make a phrase which I could get some use out of in the future so I decided to make a gold glitter "happy birthday" banner for the upcoming Champagne & Desserts party.  Since I know some other people who have birthdays, I can't imagine this will be the last time this banner gets used.

The method is similar to what we used for our wedding signs (see that tutorial here) except this time the letters you are printing are to be used as stencils.

what you need:

• 12" by 12" glitter cardstock (you wanna get the reaaaaally thick stuff so that the letters hold up once they are cut) you can generally get about four to five 5 inch tall letters on each piece so plan accordingly
• regular copy paper
• scissors
• exacto knife
• cutting mat
• hole punch
• 1/4" wide ribbon 

1. Using a simple Microsoft Word document, print out all the letters you will need for your phrase. For my letters which are about 5 inches tall, I used the "bebas neue" font at size 600. In order to save ink, I also changed the letters to an outline rather than a full fill. 
2. cut out each letter using an exacto knife to get the interior areas.
3. trace letters onto the back of your gold glitter cardstock making sure to reverse letters that require it.  (one of the best parts about the Bebas font is that many letters that normally would need to be reversed will not require it! yay saving time!)
4. cut out each glitter letter and use exacto knife for interior areas
5. using a hole punch, punch out two holes about an inch apart at the top of each letter. For some letters you can punch one hole in each part of the letter like the Y or H.
6. string your ribbon through each set of hole punches.
7. enjoy!

{champagne & desserts party inspiration}

Moving to Chicago was and still is a big transition for me, but one thing that makes the whole situation a million times easier is that we were lucky to move here along with two of our best friends, Josh & Heather,  who happened to get into the same MBA program as Chris!  Heather's birthday is coming up in a few weeks and being that she is one of the girliest girls that I know, I thought a champagne and desserts themed ladies night would be the perfect way to celebrate.  

Here's a little inspiration board I put together for the upcoming fete:

More details from the party to follow- including some yummy champagne cocktail recipes!