Happy Holidays from SMD!! Thanks to all of you for a great year! More amazing projects and one major announcement to come in 2011, so stay tuned!!

Chicky Baby Shower!

A few months ago I designed a Baby Shower invitation with a rustic baby chicky theme to honor baby Juliana. I also designed a matching sticker that was used on clear plastic bags for the candy buffet. Baby Juliana is due any day now and I know that Nancy and Mike cannot wait for her to get here. Congratulations, guys!!


To purchase a baby shower invitation similar to
this one, visit my online store!
Sheila Mari Design on Etsy

20% OFF ALL SMD orders!

After Thanksgiving sale at the Sheila Mari Design ETSY store.
20% Off everything until Dec. 1!

Shop now!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sheilamaridesign

Ella's Candyland!

Other than designing for weddings, I also design for baby showers! I just finished up designing an invitation and thank you stickers for baby Ella and her Candyland theme!

Check out the photos from the shower:

Custom Thank You Card for Gloria & Cole

Remember Gloria & Cole's adorable wedding invitations? Well, I just designed their matching Thank You card to finish out their custom wedding stationary. Designing Thank You cards for my brides can be so bittersweet... sweet because all of the hard work is done but sad that I don't get to work with my bride anymore, Gloria included. :(

Maybe baby announcements next?!?! What do you think, Gloria? Haha ;)

2011 Calenders by SMD!

It's that time of year again... when the air starts getting crisp and you start wondering how the heck the year has flown by so fast!! My 2011 desk calendars are back, new and improved of course. :)

These puppies are now on sale in my Etsy store, I also sell these in bulk orders for perfect holiday gifts!

Custom Save The Dates!

Carrie Beth had an inspiration board of images she liked for her Save The Dates, but she wasn't quite sure how to tie everything together. That's when she came to me with a great idea that needed executing! Her and Brent are getting married in Atlanta, Georgia and wanted to somehow tie Atlanta's skyline with images that portrayed the urban feel for the city. But at the same time they wanted it to be super modern and chic!

Inspiration:


I was able to tie in all of their inspiration elements into one cohesive design that also shows their fun loving personalities!

Their Finished Post Card:

Invitations by Ajalon - Letterpress Special!

So you may have noticed that I am a sucker for all things letterpress lately and I would probably create my own letter-pressed pieces if it didn't require such a massive piece of metal machinery to create them! :) Luckily there are a lot of really great print shops available online to choose from. Lucky for you, I have found a sweet deal being offered at Ajalon Printing for 100 invitations and RSVP post cards for under $500! This is a pretty good deal considering letterpress invitations could run up to $650 plus.

They have a wide selection of designs to choose from and the best part is you can send them your own designs for no additional charge! Don't see anything you like? Let me know! SMD can definitely help you come up with the perfect design. :)

My personal picks:

Lalita

Beginnings


On a side note- I will be going down to Islamorada, Florida this weekend for a destination beach wedding for my friend Lauren. Remember her wedding website I created for her? Probably not so click here for a refresh. Can't wait to see what she has in store...

And one last photo just because it makes me happy...

SMD 2011 Relaunch

Custom Wedding Invitations

Gloria and her fiancé, Cole are getting married next Saturday and she came to me in need of wedding invitations. Her concept was cute and simple, which is what I love about how the invitations came out! She wanted simple character illustrations that would represent her and her groom. Along with the characters, I also designed a custom logo of two birds sitting on a branch that she was able to use on her programs and wedding signs.

Gloria and Cole's Invitation Suite: Invitation Card with Information Insert that is then wrapped with a belly band.



Custom Map on back of Information Insert:




Custom Logo: Two birds sitting in a tree.... K-I-S-S-I-N-G ;)



To get more use out of their cutest little characters, I also helped them create little magnets for their party favors. Gloria was able to find little yellow organza bags that will be used to hold these 3 adorable little magnets for her guests. I was not able to take a photo of it but I am telling you that they are just the cutest little things!

Gloria found her magnet and button favor vendor on Etsy, check out her Etsy store called MINEPRESS for more cute ideas!

Character Magnet Party Favors:

Plantable Wedding Invitations

I recently got a wedding invitation in the mail that was 100% plantable. Yes, plantable! How cool is that? You know I had to do a little investigating and was able to find a few print studios who specialize in this new form of paper invitation. Now you can plant, grow and enjoy your invitations all over again in its new form!

This is great for eco conscious couples who want to have give back to the planet. Check out these sites for more information:

Porridge Paper - Specializes in letterpress plantable invitations
http://www.porridgepapers.com

Swallow Tail Farms - Specializes in plantable wedding favors
http://www.swallowtailfarms.com

Botanical Paper Works
http://www.botanicalpaperworks.com/

Paperless Post for the Budget Conscious Bride!

Just discovered an awesome site for online invitations or save the dates for those tech-saavy brides. Check out PaperlessPost.com if you want to send something more personal than a simple email or an awkward PDF. After sending, you can then monitor as guests receive and reply to their invitations.

The great thing about this website is that is actually sends an animated version of an actual invitation. They have a lot of cute designs that you can fully customize and even add a picture.


Check it Out! Paperlesspost.com

Custom Wedding Monograms

Just wanted to share a few more wedding monograms I’ve created for a few more wonderful brides. :)

Maria & Ben
Maria and Ben getting marred in Sarasota, Florida next year and their reception will be in a botanical garden. For their logo, she and Ben wanted something that would fit in with the reception venue. Because they are using calla lilies she wanted to show case the flower in the design.



Shelley and William
Shelley and William had an elegant traditional wedding this fall and her colors are brown and orange. They wanted something elegant that would match the theme and colors of their wedding.



Our inspiration:

A Perfect Pair - Fuchsia & Navy

One of my invitation suites has made it into it's first Treasury on Etsy! Not familiar with Treasuries? Treasuries are Etsy's ever-changing, member-curated shopping gallery to help cunsumers find coordinates for specific colors they are looking for.

Check out "A Perfect Pair - Fuchsia & Navy" now for coordinating pieces in fuchsia and navy.

Wedding Photography Contest!!

If you are getting married next year, be sure to enter into this contest. If you are already on Twitter than you are already one step closer to winning! :)

Check out the contest details at EsvyPhoto.com.



What’s included in the Wedding Package:
* Full Day of Coverage, anywhere within the contiguous United States.
* All photos on a CD/DVD
* 1 10×10 “Coffee Table” style album
* 2 7×7 “Coffee Table” style album (for your parents)

Package totaling over $5000!

Custom Thank You Cards

A few months ago I attended the Su'e wedding (I blogged about it here) and designed some wine labels for the couple. They have also asked me to design them a custom Thank You card using the photography from their wedding. I don't think they could have taken a more perfect photo for their design concept! Check it out below:

Wedding Invitation Suites

So for the past few months my life has been all about designing, creating, assembling, printing (!!!) wedding invitation suites. But I am now proud to unveil another segment of Sheila Mari Design, Ready-to-Order Wedding Invitation Suites! My blood, sweat and tears have gone into designing 12 new suites that I am proud to share with you all!

I have started selling some in my Etsy Store, but I also keep a complete listing in my online store here.

Enjoy!! :)

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Custom Wedding Website - Destination Weddings

A few months ago Lauren and Brian came to me wanting a unique website that showcased their personalities as well as the theme of their wedding, "Where the Forest Meets the Sea". They are getting married in the Florida Keys (Islamorada) but didn't want your typical "beach" theme destination wedding. Lauren wanted an "earthy and organic" feel using elements like driftwood and moss, so I took that concept and ran with it! I loved the idea of creating a beach themed destination wedding and turning that into something totally unexpected. I was able to blend the "earthy" elements with all of the awesome photos of the couple on the beach to give it a beach-like laid back feel. I love how the website turned out and I am so glad that Lauren and Brian loved it as much as I did! Congratulations, guys!


View website here


Being the forest fairy that she is, Lauren also designs and creates beautiful jewelry with some of the elements she finds in nature. Check out her Etsy store:
GREEN FOREST JEWELS

Real Weddings: Homaira and Adam

One of my brides wedding was featured on the wedding blog "Lucky Me!" Take a look at their amazing photography and check out my "Vintage Hollywood" table cards on their homepage!

Click here to view blog entry on Lucky Me!

Custom Wine Labels and Doughnuts!!

I love going to weddings and I especially love going to a wedding and seeing something totally new and unique that separates that wedding from others. Such was the case when I attended the Su'e wedding over the weekend and was impressed with what the bride and groom had in store.

As soon as you walk in to the reception you are greeted with their "wedding cake," a table overflowing with doughnuts! Doughnuts were provided by the popular Sublime Doughnut shop in Atlanta, Ga. Their "cake" was so yummy that I had two pieces! The A-Town Cream doughnut was as good as it looks and I totally did not regret eating two of them! :)

Along with the quirky wedding cake we were also treated with some Samoan wedding traditions such as the Samoan wedding dance... sort of like the "Money Train" dance that is accustomed by my culture (Philippines). But instead of pinning money neatly onto the bride and grooms clothing the guests just throw it at you as the bride and groom dance separately... talk about making it rain!

Another great thing about the wedding is that I actually got to see one of my designs in action! I work with brides all over the country so it is rare that I actually see one of my designs in person. Nicole came to me a few months ago in need of some custom wine labels. She wanted to create two designs, one for red wine and one for white wine. Each label was designed to have two passages that describe their love for each other. The red wine label has a passage that describes the groom's love for his bride and the white wine label has the bride's message to her groom.

It was a beautiful wedding and I am glad I was able to share this moment with them, congratulations guys!!





Posing with the bride

Wedding Photobooth Video

I've been working with my dear bridal client, Homaira, for the past few months now and I have been oogling over her fabulous wedding photos. It's not often that I get blown away by wedding photography but I absolutely loved her photos as well as a really cute and fun video that was made for them. The concept is so simple but so insanely unique at the same time... I haven't seen anything like it. I love it!

View video here, you won't be disappointed!


Photography by: Anika London
Video by: Josh Green

Handwritten Calligraphy

I found this website a few weeks ago and fell in love with all of the handwritten calligraphy this girl can do. So beautiful!! Check out her website if you are looking to have handwritten envelopes and such for your wedding invitations.


View Paperfinger.com

DIY Crafting Tools - My Must-Haves

I love finding tools that make crafting life easier, these are on my short list of must-haves:

1. JIGster from Envelopments $69.95
A versatile production tool that allows you to mount layers of Envelopments card stocks and papers consistently, accurately and quickly. I absolutely NEED this! :) My biggest pet peeve is when things are not aligned perfectly, so this is an awesome product.



2. Letterpress Machine from Paper Source $149
A table top unit that allows you to create homemade letterpress cards and crafts. I am dying to try this out, if it weren't for the hefty price tag! I love letterpress cards, so simple and beautiful.



3. Envelopments® Mini Deck $20.00
References the complete Envelopments collection of premium colors, patterns and textures. I love the Envelopments line for their wide selection of pocketfolds. Great quality and so sturdy! Great reference tool and I also just love metallic paper...



4. Paper Source Swatchbook $5.00
Every Paper Source paper color in the palm of your hand. I love everything Paper Source! Beautiful envelopes and inserts and comes in every color imaginable. Great reference tool for creating color stories. :)

Custom Google Map Envelope Liners

Pretty sweet website that allows you to print custom envelopes lined with your Google Maps location. I thought this was perfect for a Save the Date envelope or just for any party invitation envelope.

Make your own custom envelope liners, here.

Affordable Fashion Finds

A friend of mine has just launched a new site featuring juniors apparel and accessories! Check Candy Threads out here. They have some really cute tops and dresses, perfect for spring.

If you also live in the north Jersey/New York area you can host a Private Party. They bring a large selection of merchandise to your home to display and cater to all your friends. Great idea for a Bridal or Bachelorette parties... or even just for a Girls Night Out. Best part is you get free merchandise!

Really cute accessories... if you know me then you know I love my accessories! Few of my favorites:





For more visit, Candy Threads here.

Birth Announcements!

So what happens after a wedding?? Babies of course!! So naturally I have started designing birth announcements. :)

I designed a few last year after a couple friends of mine had babies and I have finally gotten around to designing my own to sell in my Etsy store. This one is my favorite so far, I think the owl is so cute!

View this in my Etsy store

A co-worker of mine also turned me to an awesome website while she was looking for things to decorate her son's room with, called Blik Wall Decals. I LOVE their stuff! It's funny because some of their wall decals match a lot of what is in my Etsy store. I believe you can also create your own customized wall decals... pretty sweeet.

DIY Custom Wedding Invitation - Modern Dandelion Flower Design

I love, love, love my new bright and fun invitation set. This is the first one that i've created that has a wrap and bow element to it. Enjoy!

Check out my listing here:

View Invitation set on Etsy

Matching Save the Date card on Etsy