{Real Business} St. Clair Events

Whitney approached me with ideas of a modern, yet elegant and chic business card for her event planning business. We went through a few branding options as well as modern/pop colors to compliment the design. 

 Here is her final choice! 

{Giveaway} End of Summer

The studio is having a giveaway to celebrate summer. Though the end is drawing near, we LOVE summer here in Seattle. On sunny days (which are very limited), everyone is out and about, enjoying the beautiful blue skies and the feel of the hot sun on our skin. 

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Listed by popular demand in the shop- Muchas Gracias

Now in a savory, Spanish color palette: coral + teal. All matched up with curry yellow envelopes, in quantities of 6/set. If you're feeling lucky, you can enter our giveaway for a chance to win a set of these delightful thank you notes! See below for details.

  

For entries to this fantastic giveaway:

* Leave a comment on my {blog} to enter the giveaway. Leave your link so I can contact you! (1 entry)

*Follow my {facebook page} I will leave a post on my wall about this giveaway. Leave a comment there (2 entries)

*Let's be virtual friends! Follow and chat with me on {Twitter}

 You can use the below tweet:

Just entered @BlushingPearl 's SUMMER #giveaway for letterpress printed thank you notes! Details here- http://ow.ly/63QTm

don't forget to mention @BlushingPearl so I can count your entry. (1 entry)

 *Check out the shop. Don't forget to add me to your circle or as your favorite!

**Winner will be picked at random on August 21, 2011 

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

{Real Wedding} Tamiyah and An

 It has been awhile since I've blogged. Ever since the birth of our Little Pearl, it has just been a whirl wind of sleepless nights and sweet baby moments! I appreciate your patience and never ending support.

I wanted to re-post this because the beautiful bride, Tamiyah, was kind enough to send me some photos of her and An's wedding in Moab, Utah. I wanted to share their intimate moment  with you!

*jason liu photography

The colors of this spring season are found in this {wedding invitation suite} brights, pop colors, and a blind print. Tamiyah and An approached me with ideas for their September wedding in Moab, Utah. They wanted the colors to represent An's Asian culture, reminiscent of the exotic dragon fruit and Tamiyah's French-Creole culture will be represented in their thank you notes. The initial theme for their save the dates were designed by BDC Designs. Tamiyah and An wanted me to continue this theme into their wedding invitation suite. Their colors were Chartreuse, Fuchsia, Yellow, and Gray. I loved the colors of this suite, it made a simple, modern design look stunning! Congratulations love birds!

1. The Gourmet Mama 2. Graham and Green 3. Source 4. Martha Stewart 

5.Crate and Barrel 6. Decor8

*Blushing Pearl is now offering custom wedding invitation suite services through "Bliss". If you are interested, contact me  get started!

{Real Business} Nicole Palmer

I have had the pleasure of working with Nicole, of Gordon Palmer Design. She is an interior designer specializing in the Hollywood Regency style {very luxurious, vintage glamour}. Nicole requested a business card design that fully captured the style of Gordon Palmer, with initial color preferences of pink/black. I decided to show her a few other colors that I found prominent in the Hollywood Regency style, including pop pink, aqua, bright yellow, contrasted by a deep gray and black. Patterns and a sense of ornate decor are also found in this type of style.

Though I have a preference for the modern pop yellow/grey colors, Nicole chose a fog grey/black color combo with acanthus leaves, one of her favorite elements.

Philatelic

 Do you know what a Philatelic is? It is a person who collects and studies postage stamps; stamp collecting. I have been collecting stamps since I was 10 years old and have a cigar box full of stamps waiting for me to sift through. Whenever we would get international mail, my mom would save the stamps for me. What I like about postage stamps is that they have so much story to tell in such little space. I love the colors, illustrations, various flora and fauna. So much inspiration for a little thing. The above photos were purely experimental, as I was trying to find the best way to photograph with misty, gray skies and minimal sunlight.

The USPS Philatelic catalog just came in the mail and I nearly had a heart attack :) There are a few stamps being issued this year that are just stunning!  

*If you know anyone or can direct me to an online shop that sells vintage stamps, please send me an email!

Flickr Update

I like to make it a habit to take my camera with me when exploring the city and take photos of textures, doorways, street art, and my pup. I've updated my Flickr set Surroundings with some photos of the Fremont Outdoor Market. Hopefully some of my photos will inspire something creative in you?

Concrete and Honey

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I have been lucky to have met Nicola, of Concrete and Honey. She purchased a few cards from my shop and posted a little shout out on her blog (thanks Nicola!). If you have a chance, take a peek at her blog and photos- I immediately fell in love with her photographs of peonies, magnolias, and roses. Nicola is from Australia, and right now the sun is still shining at 7pm. She makes use of the daylight in her photos, which makes for a very clean, bright,  and fresh photograph. I am envious of those of you with sunshine :( Having moved from sunny Los Angeles to Seattle, the weather has been lacking in the sunshine department for the last 4 months!

The Spanish Adalia

Here is a little preview of wedding invitations designed and letterpress printed for Kim and Kenneth. They are celebrating their special day at a beautiful venue in San Clemente, California with a hint of Spanish flair. Kim's wedding colors are a deep plum (love this color!) with a dash of sage green. Congratulations Kim and Kenneth!

1 and 3} My Sweet and Saucy  

2} Adalia Wedding Invitation by Blushing Pearl (yours truly!). Logo submitted by bride. 

4} Betsy White

Dangerously In Love

With Valentine's Day coming up, I've been inspired by all the romance and colors...and not just red, pink, white- but shades of plum, black, blush pink, vintage lace, and chocolate! I've put together a few things that caught my eye.

1.}  DIY Martha Stewart: decorate your own candy or craft box, print your own lace wrapping paper.

2.} Vintage Retro V-day Cards 

3.} Plum Pretty Sugar: romantic, whispy loungerie...who needs a Valentine to bring sexy back?

4.} DIY Martha Stewart: sweet surprises (write sweet nothings under each piece of chocolate), re-wrap chocolate with a love note..awwww!

5.} Vintage Opulence: recycled, hand dyed, deconstructed vintage clothing. utterly romantic!

Bringing in the New Year

With the new year approaching, I have been thinking what it would be like to reinvent myself, style, or a room in the house. A business card project in the Studio got me researching the Hollywood Regency interior decorating style--something I am not too familiar with. Now that I have seen what exactly this style is, I realized that I may have already favored it and just didn't know it!

*Skona Hem Photography

What attracts me to this style is the use of all sorts of pattern, pop colors, furnishings with different silhouettes...and in some way, it all fits together. It is pretty eclectic in taste and definitely keeps my eye wandering around the space. A kind of "Alice in Wonderland" feeling!

*Trista Lerit Photography

 *Julian Chichester

Maybe I'll start of with a few signature pieces like these sweet looking chairs!

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 *Woodson and Rummerfield's House of Design

Published by Chronicle Books, High Style is a book I have put on my wish list! The question is, is the world ready for all of what this style has to offer? I found a lot of interior designers in Europe have got this style down, but is it too forward for the United States?

Oh Hello, Sugar Plum!

Just in time for the holidays! Bejeweled has been featured in an Etsy Treasury by My Shining Star Designs. A beautiful array of jewel toned shades of plums, teals, greens!

The Adonay Wedding {Los Angeles}

Marichelle and Dwight approached me with ideas of having a city-themed wedding invite custom designed using a skyline of their hometown (and mine!), Los Angeles. The couple chose jewel-toned colors for their wedding with a bright chartreuse color to pop. With the wedding location to be at the Spring Arts Tower in downtown, I decided to incorporate the vintage, art deco style of the venue with modern city flairs through colors of plum and teal.

 

#1,4- Ruffled Blog

#2 The Spring Arts Tower

#3, 6 Chicago Wedding Bridal

#5 We Heart It

{Visual Delights}

As I am catching up with posts, I've realized how much I am drawn to Graham & Green's UK site. In a previous post, I fell in love with Graham & Green's use of Pop color.

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 Anthropologie never fails in the creative inspiration department.

 

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I came across the textile and wood work of Sanna Annukka and fell in love with her  graphic patterns and intricacy.

Be Inspired!

Sofia's Baby Shower

This weekend I flew back to Los Angeles to celebrate my sister Carissa's baby shower. It was a very colorful, fun, summery event put together with love by her good friend Fatimah and our 2 other sisters, Alyssa and Raquel. I was surprised Carissa stuck with her theme of safari animals and monkeys, at first using gender neutral colors such as chocolate brown, chartreuse. She later added fuchsia when she found out she was having a girl. 

I letterpress printed her invitations and thank you notes. From there the girls played off of the colors and theme for the rest of the baby shower decorations!

I was the designated photographer for the day! I had loads of fun catching guests in the moment. We had tables set up with various activities for guests to participate in... including a onesie decorating table, scrapbooking table for the celebrants, and a few guessing games. 

Instead of a traditional cake, Fatimah made a diaper cake, made solely out of baby diapers. We also had cake sticks- in the shape of monkey and tiger heads. They were divine! Made of moist red velvet cake and chocolate these cake sticks were a must have.

Carissa has been craving strawberries throughout her pregnancy- a favorite fruit of hers since we were kids. I found this adorable knitted hat at Seattle's Pike's Place. If you are ever in the area, be sure to stop by Little Hat Shop's booth. They are all handmade knitted/crocheted items and are very unique. I also knitted a sweater and baby booties for little Sofia!

I can't believe in a few more months I will have a little neice! I can't wait to see her in all the cute little outfits. Speaking of outfits, Missy, my sister's chihuahua/mini pincsher was all dressed up in her aloha dress for the baby shower. She's so festive :)

{Visual Delights}

A few posts back, I was inspired by things that go "pop". More often than I would like, I get a stuck in a creative rut and am in need of something of interest to keep the motivation going. Ideally, I would love to blindly pick a place on a world map, stay there for a month, and absorb the new curiousities and cultures. I would pack light, bringing only the bare minimum and my camera.

 *photo credit: we heart it

 In reality, I usually just surf the internet when I have a few hours to spare and see what visual delights are out there. My artwork is greatly influenced by textiles, color palettes (brights, bold, delicate), textures, the mood of the photo, patterns, fashion. Every week, I am going to TRY to keep my promise in posting pieces that inspire and motivate my creativity...Hopefully it will have sparked something in you?

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In the Summer Mood

*photo credit: Sarah Lee

 With temperatures in the high 90s, summer has finally made its way to Seattle! I came across this picture via Lovely Clusters and realized how much I missed the surf, sun, and white sand between my toes. If you have a chance, check out Sarah Lee's portfolio. Browsing her work made me long for a tropical vacation surrounded by fragrant pikake and plumeria, wearing nothing but my bathing suit, sunblock, and flip-flops. I am not sure how long this weather is going to last, but I hope it sticks around just a little while longer!

 *photo credit: Sarah Lee

 

Imaginarium Aquarium

My parents and grandma have been in town for the week and I have been exploring Seattle with them for the past few days. I experienced my first rainy and cold 4th of July :( But now it is "summer" weather with the blazing sun shining amongst clear skies. Lucky for us there is a cool breeze...otherwise we would be scorching hot like our friends over on the East coast! *eeks*

I visited the Seattle Aquarium for the first time. I've been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California. My favorite exhibits are the Sea Otters and 30 ft. salt water tanks. Ever since I moved to Washington, under constant cloud and cover, I instantly became inspired by the colorful sea life and sea creatures they have exhibited at the Seattle Aquarium. I took over 75 photos! Here's a taste... coral oranges, neon, and bright purples caught my eye. Don't be surprised if you see these colors in a few of my up coming pieces!

*You can view more pictures for creative inspiration... Just click on the pink link to the right that says "Flickr".