Stacy & Michael’s Lil’ Monkey Turns 1

Stacy & Michael’s lil’ monkey turned 1. So it made sense to have a monkey themed birthday party to celebrate the little guy’s milestone.  Here’s a peek into the invitation design and matching thank you notes.

lil-monkey_invite&thanku_image2

Both invitation and thank you note is a flat card, printed full color on both sides, paired with fun, cheerful yellow envelopes.

lil-monkey_invite&thanku_image1

If you are interested in this design, or other custom invitations for your next event, please contact us.

Stacy & Michael hired a caricature artist for the party so all the guests went home with a fun keepsake.  Such a fun and original idea!

ina_tee_bee_caricature

thanksgiving greetings & gratitude…

bee_happy_thanksgiving

a quote by: William Arthur Ward

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”

so thankful to each and every person in my life for making me feel gratitude on a daily basis… my husband, my pup, my family, my friends, my yoga instructors, my clients, and even the people i walk by on the street that simply just smile and say hi.

happy thanksgiving today & every day!
xo, ina & bumble bee

dutch style inspired birthday invitation

For Ms. Lana’s 75th Birthday Celebration, her kids wanted to go with a Dutch inspired theme to play tribute to something that their Mom really loves.  So I suggested the idea of doing a delftware tile inspired invitation.

dutch_style_invite1

The blue and white design paired real nicely with a bright yellow square envelope, which is Ms. Lana’s favorite color.

dutch_style_invite2

To mimic the look at feel of tile, I printed on a thick, smooth, silky paper stock with a spot varnish on the printed pattern.

dutch_style_invite3

And for party favors we recreated a mini 2″ style tile magnet using the same design from the front of the invitation so guests had a little something to take home and remember Ms. Lana’s celebration.

dutch_style_party_favor

“Dank u” means thank you in Dutch.

If you’re interested in ordering something similar to this invite, party favor or would like to have something printed with a spot varnish treatment, feel free to contact me for more details.

ina+tee : wedding jewelry by april kawaoka

so much of our wedding that i have shared so far has been stationery related.  however, today, i want to showcase something a little different.  the jewelry and the amazing woman behind them, my best girlfriend and partner in crime, april kawaoka.

tee and i have known april for 15 years.  she’s been there since the start of it all and we knew that she would be “the one” to create our wedding bands.

ak_jewelry_image1

i always like to pick up a piece of jewelry when i travel as my little souvenir.  when tee and i traveled to Costa Rica for the first time 10 years ago, i bought a sterling silver ring.  i told april that it would be pretty cool if we could incorporate the design of my Costa Rica ring into my wedding band.  so that was the inspiration behind my ring.  the curve in the design lent itself real nicely to mold with the shape of my vintage engangement ring.  it’s almost as if the two ring designs we’re made for each other.

ak_jewelry_image3

tee was pretty excited when he knew that he could have april make pretty much anything for him in the form of a ring.  only problem with that is, it left tee with endless possibilities!  in the end, tee decided on a two tone brushed ring in the form of white and yellow gold, with a high polish look on the inside.

ak_jewelry_image5

i think it’s rare that wedding bands can have as much meaning behind them as ours and to have someone that means so much to us hand make them, makes them priceless.

ak_jewelry_image8

we also asked april to make our entire wedding party thank you gifts, which we presented to them at our rehearsal dinner.

ak_jewelry_image7

ak_jewelry_image6

bracelets for the ladies and tie clips for the gents.

ak_jewelry_image4

each bracelet and tie clip was also hand stamped on the back side and personalized for each person.

ak_jewelry_image9

ak_jewelry_image10

for mine, we customized it a bit more by doing a gold chain with the sterling silver so that it would be a little different from the rest.  i love that april uses such unique jewelry box packaging as well!

ak_jewelry_image2

april will be at Unique L.A. May 9th & 10th.  come by and visit her if you’re free.  or if you prefer to shop at home, you can visit her Etsy shop.

p.s. may 10th is mother’s day so you can always swing by and pick up a piece of jewelry for the mamas in your life!

photo credit: christine chang photography & april kawaoka

1 2 3 4 5 6 … 12