You may have noticed that all has been pretty quiet on the blog front here at L&P. Not only are we in the midst of our most busy wedding season yet (yay!), we've also been madly designing, photographing and prepping our online shop re-launch (double yay!)!

I'm thrilled to unveil four papergoods suites: Archetto, Classico, Geometrica and Petalo! Each suite is comprised of a multitude of matching elements for everyday (notecards, business cards, notepads, announcements) and party (invitations, coasters, wrapping paper, gift tags)! Want to know the best part? Everything is personalizable and you can get 20% off with the coupon code "HOORAY"!! (Offer expires October 31, 2014) 

Here's a little peek into the design inspiration behind the new items in our shop:

ARCHETTO
A twist on the very popular chevron pattern, the Archetto papergoods suite features a bright color palette paired with very clean sans serif typography. 

CLASSICO
This papergoods suite is very near and dear to our hearts since its inspiration is derived from our very own L&P logo! This clean, minimalist suite features the serif font and a red, white and soft grey palette. The couples version of this suite features a twist on the ampersand/heart from our logo! 

GEOMETRICA
Our most popular suite to date, the Geometrica suite (inspired by our collab with Chandra of Oh Lovely Day!) is now expanded to include party decor and gift tags!

PETALO
The swoopy, swirly script pairs with a clean sans serif, hand drawn flower motif and mint green, buttercup and charcoal palette to create this modern yet sweet suite! Even the banner on the back has space for a personalized message too!

And that's not all — we have big plans for the shop in the coming weeks! Shortly we'll be releasing designs for holiday which will include personalizable photo and non-photo holiday cards, gift wrap and gift tags. Shortly after that our 2015 calendar will be unveiled and ready for purchase too! It's popular for holiday hostess gifts, stocking stuffers and office gifts too! And then in the new year, we'll be releasing wedding suites and heaps more so stay tuned!

After months of biting my lip and resisting the urge to Instagram, blog, post and tweet, I'm beyond excited and so incredibly thrilled to announce that my wedding has been published in The Knot magazine!!! If you can't wait to get to the newsstand, there are a few photos from our nuptials on The Knot's website too! Phew — so glad to get that out!!!

I’m one lucky gal! Not only one but TWO bridal showers are being thrown for me in celebration of our upcoming June nuptials! I’m headed back east this weekend because two of my sister-in-laws are hosting the second bridal shower near where I grew up in Pennsylvania. In contrast to our Jack & Jill shower back in February, this shower is going to be just us gals! How does that translate to the invitation design? A pastel color palette with a pop of metallic gold and a font with lots of swoops and swirls!

This invitation design started with the ombré background (hand drawn by yours truly!). It provided some color and texture upon which the slate grey typography was set. The swirly, curly and very girly Carolyna font is balanced by the clean lines of two sans serif fonts: Bebas Neue (outlined) and Nobel. (Psst, Bebas Neue is a free font download!) The modernity of the sans serif font is carried over to the color of the envelope and the clean lines of the gold herringbone paper used for the envelope liner. The liners were hand cut using Paper Source’s envelope liner template. For a quick refresher on how to line envelopes, check out my DIY video!

Looking forward to sipping some bubbly, noshing cupcakes and catching up with all the gals!

When Robin and Sarah from GATHER Events asked me to be a part of their rehearsal dinner styled photo shoot, I was excited. When they explained their concept to me, I was ecstatic! Basically they handed me this inspiration board:

I was immediately in love with the textures — grainy sand, thick cable knit blanket, smooth marshmallow-y desserts. Then I was enraptured by the colors — creamy white, hazy smoke from the fire against the gradient of the sunset. It felt sumptuous yet cozy, casual and inviting. Needless to say,  I was incredibly inspired!

The cable knit from the inspiration board lead to the hand-drawn envelope liner which is contrasted with a graphic interpretation of the sunset gradient on the invitation. Yarn from the cable knit is also referenced with the twirl-y flourishes that accent the text on both the invitation and the mailing address. The color palette includes warm tones on the invitation which is then placed into the smokey grey envelope.

The typographic elements and graphic sunset gradient featured on the invitation were echoed in the menu design. Drinks were skillfully concocted by Pharmacie and pizzas were baked in Urban Pie‘s mobile (yes, mobile!!) wood burning oven.

Given that we were on a beach, it only seemed natural for the guest book to take the form of a “message in a bottle”. We tweaked it slightly and called it “wisdom in a bottle” encouraging guests to give some words of advice to the soon-to-be-wed couple. To make it a little more authentic, Robin and Sarah burned the edges of the sign hanging on the glass jug to give it texture and lend a little bit of a smokey quality to it.

The favors — delicious “Pigments” by Petite Pig — are in a glass jar sealed with a cork and a tag that reads “Mint to be”.

Check out the entire shoot from this talented team assembled by GATHER Events and featured on 100 Layer Cake!
Photography: Heather Kincaid // Concept, Event Design, Florals, Production, Styling: GATHER Events // Furniture, Custom Napkins, Pillows, Styling: Borrowed Blu // Hair & Makeup: Tara Dowburd-Luftman // Pizza: Urban Pie // Favors: Petite Pig // Cocktails: Pharmacie

Ciao Amici!

It’s a big year! Not only am I starting this blog… I am also getting married in June! (So excited!!) Between all of the gown shopping, venue hunting and cake tastings, I am designing all of the papergoods for the entire affair. And by “all” I mean e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g! First up? Our Jack & Jill shower invitations. A few weekends ago my fiancé, Jason, and I were lucky enough have a Jack & Jill shower thrown for us at Mozza here in LA. Because the party was scheduled for a Friday evening and both guys and girls were invited, I wanted to design something that would evoke the convivial spirit of the evening while not getting too “girly”.

The first design element that popped into my head was the font Birmingham. I downloaded this font (for free!) months ago and have been eager for the opportunity to design with it. This quirky serif font with extra wide W’s, M’s and A’s embodies a sweet, handwritten quality that fit the vibe of the evening: casual elegance with a bit of personality. Complementary to the font, a hand drawn frame and illustrations of hearts and arrows are integrated with the typography to define the space. Lastly, to make sure everyone knew who the “Mr. & Mrs. to be” was, Jason and I did silhouette drawings that I then scanned and placed into the layout. As for the color palette — a pop of persimmon on an otherwise monochromatic invitation is carried over to the envelope color and punctuated with the heart and arrow strategically placed on the envelope liner.

And so begins the parade of papergoods that I will be creating in the upcoming months for our wedding…