I saw Dsign

Barnes & Noble Classics

It’s safe to say that I want to be just like Jessica Hische.  Some of you may recall my blog post dedicated to her a while ago.  She is just an amazing talent that I am pretty much insanely jealous of.  I mean, she is based out of Brooklyn, I can’t live there for the life of me (I’ve tried every year now without avail).  She is an amazing calligrapher, I only attempt to scribble on notepads at work.  AND she got to design the covers of classic books for Barnes & Noble!  My new last name is Noble, does that get me anywhere???  NO!

Take a look at her amazing work that reinvents these classic novels.  Am I the only one jealous here??

What am I doing with my life….not this!!

Vintage Inspired Wedding Invitations

It has been a long time since my last post….I’ve been very busy with a new job that keeps me from blogging (boo!).  So needless to say, this post is way overdue.  

I returned to Alder Manor right after our honeymoon to pick up a few items we left behind.  I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take some more photos of our invitations!  I hope to put these images up on my website soon…I hope it won’t take another 6 months!

The inspiration for my invitations was really the venue (Alder Manor) with a dash of 1920s Art Nouveau.  I know the roaring 20s is pretty popular these days, so I wanted them to be 20s but not so 20s.  One thing that I didn’t want my wedding to be was “trendy”.  I tried to go more towards “timeless”.  

I letter-pressed pretty much everything (which the help of my slave, Tim).  To save money, I printed the Save the Dates and programs from my home printer.  I used a gold metallic ink for my letter-pressed goods and hand-glued decorative paper on the back of each invitation.  Then I used craft paper to make envelope liners and belly bands!

The process took quite a long time.  I even hand-sewed all of the programs together, tea stained the lavender bags and stamped each one too!  My slave was very helpful throughout the whole process.  Not many people can trust their husbands with these sorts of tasks.  But Tim is very good at being precise and accurate…and I’m sure he appreciates me calling him my slave!

Take a look at the rest of the photos and let me know what you think!  Let me know if you would like anything for your wedding/bat-mitzvah/baby shower/tumbling class!

Savage Beast!

This weekend I spent about 6 hours of my Sunday at the Metropolitan Museum waiting in line.  I just decided to get in line, fully aware of how long I would have to wait, but without a book, headphones, water or cash.  I don’t know what I was thinking!  Probably nothing at all.  Luckily my good friend, Susan, came by to supply me with a bottle of aqua and some cash to buy a knish!  Again, I don’t know why I thought that I wouldn’t need water or food for 6 straight hours in the sun.  But whateves.  

The result….a spectacular show that honored the life and work of Alexander McQueen!  I can’t believe that I almost didn’t go to this.  Furthermore, I can’t believe that I waited until the last day to go!!  Again, I wasn’t thinking clearly.

This was one of the most fabulous exhibits I’ve ever been to.  The only other fashion exhibit comparable was AngloMania in 2006.  

I can’t even describe how beautiful everything was.  The pictures do not even do it justice.  I’m so lucky to have had the chance to get up-close and personal with these pieces of art.  I honestly can’t even call it clothes.  Here are some photos of the pieces displayed at the exhibit.  I wish that everyone could have seen this in person!  Sadly, the show closed yesterday and will probably never be on display anywhere else again…

Long live McQueen!

The gold duck feathered dress was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.  Just beautiful!  Here is a closer look…

This accessories room was probably my favorite part of the exhibit.  Those fashion shows he put on were more like performance art.  

This dress was made from real and silk flowers!

Look at those shoes!!  Made from individually placed paillettes!!  Oh the craftsmanship!!

Bolsa wood!!  AHHH!!!!  It’s getting crazy!!

Is this Spinal Tap?

Resin vulture skulls as shoulder pads!

Japanese inspired!  She seems so anime!  Like a Japanese superhero ready to kick but with a pair of chopsticks, no?

From the same Japanese inspired collection.  Dress made from oyster shells.

Razor clams!  It feels like I’m at FIT again…except wayyyy better.

Glass beads and horse hair.  HORSE HAIR!!

Dyed ostrich features…just beautiful. 

Amazing….I know I keep saying it.  Everything was just absolutely stunning.  I also want to give props to the MET and whoever designed the exhibit.  From everything to the faux antiqued mirrors to the music, the whole exhibit was just flawless.

Congrats to all involved for one of the most spectacular fashion exhibits ever and one of the top 10 shows ever visited at the MET.

(Photos from the MET website)

Handmade Guestbook

After our wedding was featured in Green Wedding Shoes, I received a request to design a similar wedding guestbook for a bride getting married in the fall!  After shopping around Strand for the perfect vintage book to rebind, I found this one.  It was an old book about Greek gods or something.  I hope that it was appropriate enough for a wedding, but the design was so pretty that it doesn’t even matter to me.  

Sumner provided me with some fonts and birds to design her title page with to match her existing invitations.  I brought it all together and designed this….

I hand-bound the whole book and added the decorative paper to finish it off.  Here are some additional photos of the book!  Let me know if you have any requests!  I love doing this kind of thing.

Are you FAUX real??

Yesterday, I decided to start a second blog.  Why?!  Cause it’s easier to be mean and cynical than fluffy and sweet.  I hope to keep both blogs updated, but with my track record…we will see about that.

areyoufauxreal.tumblr.com

Are You Faux Real is a blog dedicated to all things crazy, silly and flat out stupid.  I plan to call out all things fashion, political, famous or anything else that will leave you asking…are you faux real?

Enjoy!!

Club Monaco

This week, the Club Monaco sample sale is going down!  I went yesterday for what was suppose to be employee’s only.  I sadly got there a little later than 1 pm when they decided to open it to the public via post-it note!  Lame.  

Anyway, I love Club Monaco!!  It is probably my favorite store to go to and cry because I can’t afford everything I want.  They have such sophisticated, simple designs that are elegant yet modern.  Most people don’t know that Ralph Lauren owns the brand.  It seems as if they don’t relate to each other at all.   But if you look closely, there are some similarities and trends that run through both brands each season.

Here are some photos from their upcoming lookbook!  I just wanted to comment on how lovely the photography is and how cool the place looks!  I wonder where it is…

My wedding exit dress was from Club Monaco!!  Sparkly…

White House

I love the look of all white homes.  It looks so crisp and pristine, yet can be used in so many ways!  It can be used to look sterile, homey or down-right dingy.  Whenever you have a terrible piece of furniture that you don’t really know what do with…paint it white!  It will go with almost any kind of decor you have.

Every type of white home has it’s place.  I personally like it a little weathered.  It’s almost contradictory to it’s purpose of existence.  

White homes can be elegant and sophisticated…

weathered and antiqued…

cozy and comfortable…

distressed and worn down…

clean, yet ornate…

whimsical and romantic…

eclectic and well-travelled…

simple yet bold…

or modern and industrial.

My love for Red Hook!

This past weekend, I visited Red Hook with Tim and my sister-in-law, Laurel.  The main point for our trip was to buy dreadful furniture from IKEA then take a little grocery trip to Fairway.  I LOVE RED HOOK!  I mean, it’s not exactly convenient but it has some of the best little shops around!  It’s like it’s own little town of treasures.

We started our day off at IKEA.  No news there, we bought a cheap wardrobe that has uneven door handles and wiggles as you walk by it.  

Then we went to Fairway, no news there either.

Then we had cupcakes at Baked!!  We got our wedding cakes from here.  They were delicious, or least I was told.  I never really had a chance to eat anything.  But we had all of their flavors at the tasting!  My favorite is the Pistachio cupcake.  Get it! Here are some great images from their website.

Whenever you are in Red Hook, definitely stop by Saipua.  They make the most beautiful flower arrangements.  They were the inspiration for my bouquet that my friend LeeAnne designed.  I can’t afford Saipua…

And last by not least, go visit Erie Basin.  I’ve never been, actually.  But I drool over their antiques on their blog.  If I were to get engaged again, I would go here for for a ring and maybe some accessories.  Again, I can’t afford to buy everything I want from here.

This would go perfectly with my gun/knife necklace!

I love the gold!  You don’t see that too often with this kind of ring.

So if any of you want to go to Red Hook, let me know!  I’ll go with you!!

Illustrated Stationary

Ah!  It’s been so long since my last post.  My friend Perryn informed me of my negligence to this blog.  Although the real reason for that may be laziness, I told her that I only want post things of value.  No one wants a mediocre blog post, right?!

Here are list of reasons why I haven’t kept up…tired, lazy, just moved, gardening, work, newly wed, freelance projects and lack of cool things researched.  I solemnly promise to keep up as much as possible.

On the bright side…I have picked up a lot of freelance gigs!  After being featured on Green Wedding Shoes, I have had a few people ask for my “expertise”.  A lovely bride-to-be contacted me about binding a guestbook for her wedding in the fall!  I will also be designing the wedding paper goods for my friends Kova and Allison! I will post photos of my new creations soon.  My dreams of designing invitations full-time are slowly becoming a reality!!

In the meantime, I have had a new desire to illustrate.  I am terrible at hand drawing.  I think it is a lack of patience and practice.  My computer illustrations skills are much better.  I came across the work of Darling Clementine and thought her illustrations were adorable and fun!  I would really love to be able to illustrate like this one day.  It would definitely help my non-existent stationary company.  What do you think?!

so clever!!