Susan's Bridal Shower Invite = Hello Nebraska!

I was super excited when I received a call from Gayle, a woman who had attended the last bridal shower that I designed an invite for, who wanted me to design an invite for a bridal shower that is to be held in Nebraska. That's right folks, Purple Paisley has ventured to Nebraska! Who would've thought? My most recent projects have all came about via word of mouth & I'm very grateful for those who are out there spreading the word!

Gayle told me the bride was using an aqua blue and Gerber daisies along with the colors associated with them & she wanted the invite to reflect that theme. I LOVE the way these turned out! I have had so much fun with bright & vivid colors lately.

May

Another raffle reminder for my department at work. I realize these "reminders" aren't super exciting and rather simple, but I really loved the colors in this one & thought they appropriately fit the "anything summer" theme. Besides, I enjoy any excuse to design. Big or small, extravagant or simple!

Josh

Josh was torn between a blue or green background so we went with a little of both on his proofs. I loved the fact the he included a photo of himself as a kid on his announcement, I thought that was a fun idea & wished I had thought of that when I had mine done back in the day. :0) Thanks for letting me help out with your announcements Josh & best of luck to you in the future!

Cupcake Topiary

I know this is a "design" blog, but I've recently taken a liking to cupcake decorating and after finishing this most recent project I really wanted to post it on here. Besides...who said that you can't "design" with cupcakes & frosting? If you have ever seen the show "Cake Boss" on TLC, you definitely know what I'm talking about. Buddy designs some of the coolest cakes I've ever seen.

I saw this project in a magazine a while ago and have been dying to give it a whirl. I started by gluing a cute ribbon on the trim of the clay pot, stuffed a Styrofoam ball in it, then used a glue gun to attach some of that mossy-grass stuff. I then stuck toothpicks in the ball (2 per cupcake) and slid the cupcakes onto them, before decorating them. I chose to make buttercream hydrangea flowers and created a pink and a red frosting that were just slightly different in value which really gave the flowers depth & helped make them look realistic (It also gave them a hint of shimmer, bonus!)
So, here's the finished project. I used a yellow cake and flavored the buttercream with a yummy amaretto flavoring.

Curtis

When Curtis said he wanted to use bright greens, blues, oranges & yellows on his announcements I was super excited! It's not very often you get to play with such fun colors & they seemed to spark something fun & funky in the announcements without being too "in your face." I also really liked the idea that Curtis wanted to include on the announcement that he would be attending Snow College in the fall, I thought that was such a neat idea. Thanks for allowing me to do your announcements Curtis, and I wish you the best of luck as you move on and attend college this fall. Congrats!

Online Portfolio

In addition to this blog and the tags at the bottom of each post that will navigate you to specific categories of my designs, I now have a brief online portfolio. It's not much and still needs some work, but it's a start. Check it out at http://purplepaisleydesigns.carbonmade.com/

McKenzie

McKenzie wanted a turquoise and black theme for her graduation announcement. I love that she chose to "showcase" a few of her senior year accomplishments through her photos she chose, such as her reign as Miss Santaquin and making the Payson High Dance Company team. Congrats McKenzie, on all of your accomplishments and your graduation! Best wishes and good luck as you head to Miss Utah this June, you're very talented and I know you'll do great! Thanks for the opportunity to design your announcement!