Monday, January 31, 2011

Unexpected Inspiration


Happy Monday!! I hope everyone had a FABULOUS weekend. Thank you so much for the super nice compliments on the last two posts. I have to say, I turned bright red reading them. You gals are simply too sweet!!

Last week while I was at Huntington Gardens with the baby, I took a few pictures to share with you. The desert garden there is considered to be one of the top ten inspirational places for many internationally acclaimed designers, and it is not hard to see why...

The composition of the gardens is beautiful...

Many times, perfect choices were made to layer the plants so that a feeling of structure is offset by a beautiful chaos...

In some areas, low lying plants are juxtaposed against tall ones, to create an obvious focal point...

And in other areas, the interest lies in the beautiful formality of sameness and shape repetition...

There are interesting textures...

And amazing vibrant colors...

As well as gorgeous studies in limited palettes...

I know that we usually gather here to discuss the glory of the "party",  so what does all this have to do that? Well, there are many parallels. Beautiful composition and inspirational palettes transcend their native origin. Some of the most interesting table designs come from layering smaller objects with larger pieces. Tons of visual interested can be gained through object repetition, such as a beautiful sea of identical cookies or cupcakes or favors. And, of course, a gorgeous and unexpected palette pulls everyone in immediately. 

Inspiration is everywhere! Where do you find yours?

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Points To Jump From

In the past week or so I have had the privilege to work with some fabulous women on invitations for their upcoming parties. When someone contacts me about custom work, the first thing I ask is for them to send me anything that they might have come across that they like. It could be piece of ribbon or a picture or sometimes it's just as general as, "I would like it to have pinecones in it."

When I first started working with Sabrina on her son's Little Bear party, she sent some fabulous photographs of the park to help me get a feel for the place where the party will be taking place. She wanted that feeling to come across in her invitation and party items.

Here is one of the photos...

And here is how the invitation turned out...

I also had the pleasure of working with Monique recently. She had requisitioned a piece of art that she wasn't completely happy with...

She wanted something a little more modern but still with a vintage feel. I came up with a couple options for her...

And last but not least,  I was thrilled to be contacted by Brittany to help with an invitation for her sister's Sweet Sixteen party. They sent me this lovely photo of Abigail and asked that I incorporate it into a 50's themed invitation...

And I worked with them to come up with this...

It was all so much fun!!! And I can't wait to hear how all the parties go. I'm sure they will all be fabulous with such lovely women at the helm!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

{New In The Shop} Be Mine, Valentine! Collection



Recently, I had a shoot for my "Be Mine, Valentine!" printables collection. When I styled the table, I wanted it to be reminiscent of the crafty Valentine's Days of my childhood. As I've mentioned before my mother is a very crafty woman and we always made all our party invitations,  May Day baskets (does anyone still deliver these any more??), decorations, etc. with heaps of construction paper, glitter, scissors and glue. To me, Valentine's Day has always meant "make-it-yourself." (Maybe it was my mother's way of rebelling against the greeting card aspect of it.) And, I wanted capture that feeling, more so than a simple elegance, with this collection.


I created the collection around three primary paper designs that I came up with. And I used those papers, along with some coordinating scrapbooking paper, to create the heart strings (that's a bad play on words, sorry) backdrop...

 the lollipop pinwheels...

 the Be Mine heart-flower centerpiece...

 and the cake bunting...

For favors, I found the cutest little mailboxes at Michael's and I designed candy bar wrappers to look like envelopes!

And one of the best parts of this table?? 


I did it all for under $80!!  And that's with purchasing all the baked goods. (I know, I know some people get their "bake" on a little sooner after childbirth. But, alas, not me. It coming... but probably not for another month or two.)


In this collection you get SO MUCH fun stuff...

- 1 Fill-In Invitation Design 
- 4 two inch Party Circle Designs for cupcakes, napkin wraps, decorative tags and much more!
- 4 Water Bottle Wrap Designs
- 3 Table Label designs
- 2 Favor Tag designs
- 4 Mini Candy Bar Wrap designs
- 2 Large Candy Bar Wrap designs
- 1 "Be Mine, Valentine" Banner
- 3 Decorative Paper Designs

What fun craftiness are you all up to this holiday? I'd love hear and be inspired!!! 

If you have a fun holiday project going on on your blog this month, please leave a link in the comment section so we can all check it out.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

{Winner} Kids Parties!

Hello! Hello everyone!! As you have probably gathered from my general lack of blogging, the baby had a crazy week. Let's just say that gas is not his friend. (Or mine, for that matter!) But, we'll work through this. Yesterday the doctor had some suggestions that we'll be trying in the very near future. I've also been working on a lot of custom party items, which I'm really excited about, and I hope I'll have a chance to share with you later in the week!

But today, is the day that I announce the WINNER of our latest give away!! Drum roll, please....

And the lucky winner of William Sonoma's Kids Parties is...


... number 17!!


Amy from The Preppy Strawberry and Lillian Aerin and Co.!!! Congratulations Amy!!!

Please contact me at GwynnWassonDesigns (a) gmail.com to claim your prize.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

{Give Away} Kids Parties!!

Happy Wednesday!! How's your week going? Well, I hope! Mine's been a little hectic. I'm still struggling with the fact that 7 week old babies really don't understand the concept of "schedule". How this fact escaped my consciousness after having been through this once before, is beyond me. But, I think that's how nature gets ya! Things like the pain of childbirth and the lack of sleep, etc. that come with newborns just drift off and are beautifully replaced with the smiley, giggly, happy memories of new motherhood. (Or is it the sleep deprivation that just erases them?!)

So, anywho, this was meant to be a Monday morning give away and it has instead become a Hump Day give away. But who doesn't like free stuff, no matter what day of the week it is??!! So, for anyone out there having a rough week and who is just eeking over that hump, or for anyone who just really would like some fabulous inspiration, I now present to you, without further adieu, The William Sonoma "Kids Parties" book Give Away!!!

If you haven't checked out this book yet, you are definitely missing out!


It has crafts...

And recipes...

And just a lot of creative, but not difficult to execute, ideas!!

If you're hooked and are asking how you can get your hands on a copy, just read on and I will tell you...

Simply leave a comment on this post by the end of the day Monday. The winner will be selected by random.org Tuesday morning!!

And, here's a little sneak peek of what I've been up to...

It's my Valentine's Day collection! (Now available in the shop and soon to be on television!! But more about that later...) Many, many more fun pink-tastic pics from the shoot to come soon! 

p.s. The winner must claim their prize within 24 hours by emailing me or you will forfeit it.

THIS GIVE AWAY HAS NOW ENDED

Thursday, January 13, 2011

{New In The Shop} Cute Woodland Animal Collection

Just before the holidays I was asked to do a collection with some adorable woodland creatures for a beautiful little boy's first birthday. His parents adore camping and the outdoors and wanted the theme of his party to reflect their love of nature. I just got around to getting it into the shop, so I wanted to share it with you...


Tuesday, January 11, 2011

{Projects} Big Boy Bedroom

We recently bought Dashell a big boy bed. We were a little worried about the transition, since we made the change just days before the baby was born. But that time we spent worrying was definitely wasted energy. Dashell LOVES it!!

Instead of transitioning through the toddler bed phase in a year or two, we decided to save a little money and go right to a twin size bed. I bought sheets and a duvet cover that I felt could grow up with him so we wouldn't have to pour more money into decorating again in a couple years. And I think it turned out pretty good. Here's a little peek...

BEFORE

AFTER

As far as my progress on the nursery, well... I'm still working on that.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Weather.... or not


Happy New Year everyone!!! I hope you all had wonderful holidays! Sorry for my long absence, but we've hit that point in newborn-dom where we (and by "we" I mean the baby) are awake A LOT more often. And, unfortunately just like my first, my second likes to be held (and comforted) almost all the time. (And by "all the time" I mean when he's awake AND when he's asleep!) Some of you might understand this. Other's of you who have those delightful little bundles of joy that just like to lie in the bouncy seat and coo cutely until they drift off quietly to sleep will not understand my particular predicament. And don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't love, love, LOVE him to death. But, let's just say that in the last week or so I've been lucky if I've had two hands available to type with (or to eat with or to fold laundry with) for a continuous 10 minute stretch.

A lot of it has to do with the fact that our latest edition is wrestling with an extreme gas situation. At first his gas was only just amusing as we enjoyed his five octave, Mariah Carey challenging, range. But as his discomfort grew, things became a little less amusing and a little more harried around here. But now we seem to have gotten it a little more under control and peace (and a little more calm) has come to our neck of the woods. So... I'm back! (for now.)

As I mentioned both my boys are/were big into being comforted as babies. But as I reflect back on Dashell's first six weeks, I realize that the two of them are actually very different (just as it should be) all the way down to the fact that they were born on exactly (almost to the day) opposite sides of the year. Dashell was a born at the end of May and our latest was born at the end November. And, as we spent the holidays out here in California for the first time in years (usually we're off visiting the family in other parts of the country) I realized that the weather this time of year is very unpredictable. In May, it is usually cloudy and sometimes cold, but almost never rainy. So, I've haven't had to worry yet about hosting an indoor birthday party at my house. But, it began to come clearly into focus as we experienced day after day of driving rain during this holiday season, that I'm might have to have an indoor backup plan for our new son's first birthday party next year! And I longed for the finished basements of my childhood. A childhood spent on the East Coast and the Mid-West. Unfortunately out here in California, basements are an extreme rarity.

So unlike Dashell's virtual coronation (it was a triple birthday party with 3 babies and about 100 people), I think I will have to scale down a little for this one. But, I also want to be careful that he doesn't look back at the pictures and feel that he got slighted. Especially since his birthday is right on top of Thanksgiving! Having a birthday close to Christmas, myself, (actually today is my birthday, yikes!) I know that sometimes it gets a little less consideration than birthdays that don't fall as close to a holiday. So I really need to make sure that he doesn't think he got the dreaded second child treatment! Consequently, I'm going to have think hard over the next year about how to make his first birthday party feel very special, yet be on a much (much) smaller scale. Hmmm... I believe it's time to break out that thinking cap!