Planes, Trains, and Automobiles 2nd Birthday Party

February 15, 2020

Last week, our little man turned two, so we invited some family over to celebrate with a small backyard party.

Jackson is about all things transportation right now. So I thought it fitting to have a Planes, Trains and Automobiles themed birthday party.

I started with a digital invitation and let that set the look and feel of the party.

I thought it would be fun to incorporate one of those balloon arches as a backdrop, but with wanting to keep the budget real low this year, I decided to try my hand at creating one on my own. 120 hand pumped balloons later, here is how it turned out.

I’m used to creating my own banners and menu signs, but this was the first time I decided to do a DIY food station as well. One of Jackson’s favorite dishes is my spaghetti, so I decided to do a Pasta Station.

And of course no party, big or small, is complete without a dessert table spread.

Freshly baked homemade cookies and other sweet treats made up the dessert station.

A big thanks to my sister for, yet again, baking the delicious cupcakes!

The driveway was decorated with a little road and other sidewalk chalk creations so Jackson and the other little kids could drive around in his little car and motorcycle toys.

Happy 2nd Birthday Jackson Danny!

LCAD’s 30th Anniversary Collector’s Choice Gala + Live Auction

December 4, 2019

I have been under the weather this past month, which is unfortunate, because it’s delayed me sharing this exciting project I worked on for Laguna College of Art + Design (LCAD) these past couple of months.

I had the pleasure of designing the invitations for their 30th Anniversary Collector’s Choice Gala + Live Auction, which took place on Saturday, November 9th at the Montage Laguna Beach.

This is LCAD‘s premier annual fundraising event in support of their talented students and their award-winning programs. The event plays an integral role in raising funds for the $2.5 million awarded annually to their students’ merit scholarships.

For their 30th Anniversary, they celebrated with a diamonds and pearls theme to incorporate both the traditional and modern symbols.

The accordion folded invitation and response card was digitally printed on a pearlescent paper, paired with matching pearlescent envelopes, all packaged up with a vellum wrap and sealed with a custom foil embossed seal.

A photo of LCAD circa 1964 juxtaposed with LCAD today was also incorporated into the invitation, which again played off the more traditional Fine Art Drawing + Painting classes to the now modern courses offered of Extended Reality Design (XRD).

I also got to design the event program, various event signage and the guest keepsakes, which were these ceramic coasters that included of the artworks being auctioned off that night, by LCAD’s President, Jonathan Burke.

The program played tribute to all the years past and all the amazing people that have played an integral role to LCAD and this fundraising event by showcasing several photo collages.

Slideshows I designed were displayed throughout the night showcasing the different artwork being auctioned off as well people that were being honored and showcased.

It was such an honor to attend this event and get the opportunity to see my final designs in person. The event itself was so much fun and being a part of a live auction for the first time was an experience in itself. It was pretty amazing to see the incredible amount of people that gave so generously throughout the night to support the students of LCAD.

Jackson Danny Turns ONE

February 18, 2019

I still can’t believe a year went by already and we celebrated my baby boy, Jackson Danny turning ONE last week. Here’s a look into the custom invitation I designed for him and a few images from the party showcasing the party details. The theme was a mixture of a black & white monochromatic color scheme with pops of blue green, with a wild one, tribal, outdoorsy adventure feel.

I always love the idea of sending out invites that act as small little gifts for guests to unwrap.

Jackson’s monogram logo, which I created for the Baby Shower, was used again on the invite and as a part of the party’s decor.

I thought it would be fun to make his invite open up into something bigger like his birth announcement.

The invite opened up to monthly photos I took throughout the year along with details of some of Jackson’s firsts and favorites.

So taking care of Jackson 24/7 requires me to be very creative with my time. So when baby boy was playing in his room, I took the opportunity to assemble the invites in the rocking chair, using the foot rest as my table.

We had a teepee set up outside for his gifts. Although I got the teepee with the party in mind, I also knew it would make for a great play space for either indoor or outdoor use, which Jackson has done already.

I also wanted to make sure there were fun creative activities for both the kids and adults to enjoy. If you follow me on Instagram you’ll see that one of our nightly routines is reading a book (or two) before Jackson’s bedtime. For the bookmarks, I printed out a few different images I found online for guests to color.

On the backside is a quote from Jackson’s favorite book,
Whoever You Are by Mem Fox
“Joys are the same,
and love is the same.
Pain is the same,
and blood is the same.
Smiles are the same,
and hearts are just the same-
wherever they are,
wherever you are,
wherever we are,
all over the world.”

The second activity was to create your own dreamcatcher. I found these cute little dreamcatcher kits online and loved that they were individually packaged with everything you need to create the dreamcatcher, including the instructions. It worked out perfectly because I was able to send the little kits home with people that didn’t have a chance to make one at the party.

I took the decorated 1 from his invite and created a custom shirt for Jackson to wear.

For the cake topper, I used leftover material from his invites. The paper straws were leftover from my Baby Shower. All the amazing cakes & cupcakes were once again baked by my sister, Ilona.

Guests were sent home with homemade trail mix.

*“THANK YOU*
*Please take some trail mix to fuel your future adventures.”*

I found this fun S’mores Trail Mix recipe, here. I couldn’t resist packaging them up in these kraft tin tie bags and topping each one with a little thank you sticker.

I kept the decor pretty simple by using wooden dowels to create little teepees with feather decorated mason jars.

The highlight of Jackson’s birthday party for me was definitely his cake smash. I knew his personality would come out the minute the cake was placed in front of him. I LOVE his initial reaction to the cake. PRICELESS!

I specifically asked my sister to place blueberries on top as I knew he’d eat them one by one first before even touching the rest of the cake.

It was funny to see him bypass most of the actual cake to just get to the berries hidden within each layer.

Everyone told me how fast the time goes and how quickly Jackson would grow, but I didn’t realize it would be as fast as a blink of an eye. He has brought so much more joy, laughter and love to our family this past year. I am in constant awe at how smart he already is. I love seeing him reveal his sweet and silly personality each and every day. And I am so proud of the kindness he already possess.

ina+tee : wedding details

April 22, 2015

the whole wedding was very personal to us. from the person we chose to officiate the ceremony, down to the font chosen for the wedding invite. it was also really important that we incorporated each of our crafts into the wedding. you all know when it came to the stationery items, that was all me. well, something that is very tee, is vinyl decals. tee has an Etsy shop, Put’em in the Wall, dedicated to selling his vinyl decal designs. so for his craft, we showcased it in the form of a fun vinyl decal application on an old window pane for our guest seating chart.

here are a few shots of some of the wedding details… (and even more desk embossing fun!!!)

a big thank you to my Uncle Wil for helping apply the vinyl decal onto this window pane in the very difficult humid Costa Rica weather! you really were “MacGyver” that day!

name change ALERT!!! 🙂

photo credit: christine chang photography