A New Year!

Last month proved to be busier than expected so there was not a lot of time for posting, but here is a quick rundown of highlights from December:

Babar. Drawing Babar: Early Watercolors and Drawings, The Morgan Library & Museum (September 19, 2008 - January 4, 2009).


This exhibition has already ended, but you can still view items from the exhibition on the Morgan Library's website, www.themorgan.org, including the original maquette for Histoire de Babar.

(Image above from the Morgan Library's website: Jean de Brunhoff , "The elephants carried Babar, Arthur, and Celeste in triumph," study for Histoire de Babar, le petit éléphant, 1931, watercolor, The Morgan Library & Museum. Gift of Laurent, Mathieu, and Thierry de Brunhoff, and purchased with the assistance of The Florence Gould Foundation and the Acquisitions Fund, Fellows Endowment Fund, Gordon N. Ray Fund, and Heineman Fund, 2004.)

Holiday windows at Bergdorf Goodman. This year the Four Seasons were rendered in magical winter white. You can view all the holiday windows on the Bergdorf Goodman website, www.bergdorfgoodman.com.)


Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona. A trip to see my parents gave me the oportunity to visit Frank Lloyd Wright's amazing "camp" in the desert. (For tour information, visit www.franklloydwright.org.)


This year's Christmas Tree. Not as elaborate as anything in Midtown, but it is our tallest one yet and was fun to decorate (Whistler helped).


And of course, some beautiful new print jobs! Like the Rococo invitation set below that was printed in a custom sage green colorway.

Elizabeth Peyton at the New Museum

There are so many interesting exhibitions throughout the city this Fall and if you have some free time over the holidays I would definitely recommend heading downtown to see the Elizabeth Peyton exhibition at the New Museum. Her portraits have a wonderful intimacy (often despite their subjects) and I was deeply impressed by her unique way of working with oil - which does not always come across in reproduction. Plus, in person the colors positively vibrate off the wall.

Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton (through January 11, 2009). Exhibition website.

(Image above via the New Museum website: Elizabeth Peyton, Piotr on Couch, 1996. Oil on board, 9 x 12 in (23 x 30.5 cm). Courtesy the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise)

New Museum
235 Bowery
New York, NY 10002
www.newmuseum.org

Blue Ribbon for Wedding Paper Divas

In addition to creating designs for my own line of letterpress stationery, I also design for other stationery companies, including Tiny Prints and Wedding Paper Divas. Below are photos from a small collection of offset printed wedding and party invitations that were designed exclusively for Wedding Paper Divas. (To purchase, please visit weddingpaperdivas.com.)

Celebration Stripes Party Invitations (additional colors available)

Antique Floral Wedding Invitations (shown in "ballet", "ash" and "chambord" colorways)

Antique Floral Wedding Invitation, Reply Card and Reception Card (shown in "ash" colorway)

Radiant Rosebuds Shower Invitation

Blue Ribbon in New York Weddings

More exciting news (for me at least)! Blue Ribbon's Printemps Save the Date is included in the current issue of New York Weddings. The sample that's shown in the magazine is printed in a custom yellow and chocolate brown colorway, but this design looks amazing in just about any color and also works well as a one-color design.

Pronovias Bridal & Prudence Designs

Last night, I made a quick stop at the BRIDES Magazine Bitten by Love event at the Pronovias showroom in midtown. Pronovias has a stunning selection of ultra-feminine and glamorous gowns and I was particularly taken with all the stylized rosettes incorporated into the dresses and accessories, like the amazing veil/headpiece below:

There were also a select group of vendors showing their work throughout the showroom's five floors, so I took the opportunity to check out the work of New York City florist Prudence Designs.

I had first noticed their arrangements in domino. They use the loveliest vessels and I think their work is perfect for a classic bride who appreciates sleek simplicity. Their work is just as charming in person as it is on the website and the floral designers couldn't be nicer - they are definitely worth adding to your list if you are researching city florists.

Images: "Valdemar" gown from the Manuel Mota Costura Collection at Provonias (photo via www.provonias.com); A screen shot of the Prudence Designs website, www.prudencedesigns.net.

Customizing Letterpress Imprintables

Here's another pretty invitation set with a Victorian theme. This set was done for one of my favorite retailers, Pearl Beach Paperie in Orlando, and I think it is an excellent example of how letterpress imprintables can be combined with offset printed pieces to create a unique invitation set.

Only the yellow border on the invitation is letterpress printed. Everything else, including the custom designed reply postcard, is offset printed. Love it.

(The imprintable design used above is called "Victorian Stencil" and is available in buttercup and strawberry.)

Blue Ribbon in Town & Country Weddings

I am very excited to have some of my custom work included in the Fall/Winter issue of Town & Country Weddings. And it is one of my favorite patterns too - Vintage Tribeca. Below is a close up of the handmade favor box that was included in the shoot. I'm very proud of these - they are the perfect size for two petite macarons or a handful of something delightfully old-fashioned, like sugared almonds or candied violets.

Paris/New York: Design Fashion Culture 1925-1940

Art Deco is just everywhere this fall. I'm going to check out this exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York this evening. Hopefully there will be some inspiring imagery!

Paris/New York: Design Fashion Culture 1925-1940
October 3 through Feb 22
Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd St.
New York, NY 10029
212.534.1672
www.mcny.org

Image above via the City of New York Website: Paris/New York: Design Fashion Culture 1925-1940. Poster depicting Josephine Baker (detail), designed by Jean Chassaing, 1931. Image courtesy Posters Please, Inc., NYC.

Ceremony Programs

Here's another shot of the front and back of the ceremony programs. I love that the couple chose to print an excerpt from Walt Whitman's "Song of the Open Road" on the back cover.

Fall Weddings

I finally got a new lens for my camera so now I can actually take photos of some of letterpress pieces I've designed recently - like this elegant invitation package that was done for a wedding that took place over Columbus Day weekend. So pretty! More to come...

Art Deco Design: Rhythm and Verve

Definitely check out the exhibition Art Deco Design: Rhythm and Verve at the New York Public Library. It's a tiny show, but it gives a nice overview of the pochoir printing process and includes several examples of pochoir fashion and textile plates. The exhibition runs through January 11, 2009. www.nypl.org

(Above: The cover of the exhibition brochure)

Pop Art Inspired Packaging at Ladurée

As if their delicious macarons weren't reason enough for a visit, Ladurée always seems to have the most interesting packaging. In addition to the classic "Ladurée green" boxes, they often have limited edition boxes available. The pop art inspired boxes above are their latest offering.

If you enjoy traditional French sweets and their packaging as much as I do, you must check out the blog Paris Breakfasts.

As seen in Lucky!

It was very exciting to see my Art Deco inspired notes included in the October issue of Lucky! The Moderne Flowers card shown below is also available in pink.

French Stationery

I spotted these lovely pieces while walking past Olivier De Sercey's shop on Rue de Bac. I love the restraint and old-world elegance of engraved invitations and would like to see the return of traditional formats (like the book fold invitations shown below), but in letterpress of course!

Below are some samples of old-school correspondence and calling cards. Aren't these just stunning in their simplicity?

Olivier De Sercey
96 Rue du Bac, 75007 PARIS
www.olivierdesercey.com

La Belle France

I love the formal gardens of France; there's something about the symmetry and order of a well designed (and meticulously maintained) landscape that makes me feel balanced and inspired. One of my new favorites is the garden of the Hôtel Biron at the Musée Rodin. The contrast of Rodin's raw and emotionally wrought figures and the restrained elegance of the surrounding gardens made iconic works such as The Gates of Hell and The Burghers of Calais seem much more alive and interesting (to me at least!).


Musée Rodin
www.musee-rodin.fr
77, Rue Varenne
75007 Paris, France
+33 1 44 18 61 10

(The image at top is from the Musée Rodin Website. After Jean-François Blondel, Plan of the courts and gardens of the Hôtel Biron, after 1752, Pen and water colour with traces of graphite.)

Back in the Studio

Well, after a nice little break, I'm back in the studio. I have some interesting tidbits to share from Croatia and France as well as some new projects to announce, so stay tunned...

Roses from the Union Square Greenmarket

I happened to be in Union Square this morning and since it is a market day, I stopped to buy some roses from one of my favorite vendors. Even though I've been buying roses from them for some time now, I'm embarrassed to admit that I do not know the name of the grower! They are always in the same spot, on the Northwest corner of the park, and their flowers are definitely worth a special trip.

Monograms & Initials

Incorporating your initials into your invitations is a simple and elegant way to personalize a design. And using a monogram based on your married name for thank you notes or favors is the perfect way to let everyone know if you've changed your name. Here are a few of my recent favorites:

(All stationery by Blue Ribbon Design. Second photo from bottom by Bella Pictures)

Pretty Window at Fragments

I really like this fanciful window display currently on view at Fragments in SoHo.

This Victorian fairy-fantasy reminds me a bit of fashion photographer Tim Walker's work, which (happily) seems to be everywhere these days...

The TimWalker photo above is from the teNeues website. Visit Thomas Treuhaf for a wonderful slide show of Walker's work.

Calligraphy by Sarah Hanna

The calligraphy above is by the wonderfully talented (and wonderfully nice!) Sarah Hanna. Sarah addressed these particular envelopes for a bride who ordered Blue Ribbon's Rococo wedding invitations and I think her florid script complements the design perfectly. Visit Sarah's website (www.sarahhanna.com) to view additional samples of her work and to read her tips and suggestions for working with a professional calligrapher.

Historical Invitations

This summer I've been enjoying the new Edith Wharton biography by Hermione Lee. One of my favorite tidbits so far has been this reprint of Wharton's wedding invitation, issued by her widowed mother on the occasion of her marriage to Edward "Teddy" Wharton.

Isn't the script beautiful? I especially like the look of the superior lowercase characters used for "Mrs." and "Mr." I wish the author had included more information regarding what format the invitation was issued in. I'm not sure if the style of the times called for a flat card, a single-fold card, or a double-fold card...

Edith Wharton's wedding invitation as reproduced in Edith Wharton, by Hermione Lee (Vintage Books, 2007)

Newport Pairings

I love to design invitations for weddings at historic homes. It's especially nice if there are lots of decorative details on site to reference in the design. So in keeping with my Gilded Age theme, I've paired Blue Ribbon's wedding stationery with some of Newport's Beaux-Arts mansions.

Rococo's delicate florals would be perfect for a wedding at Rosecliff.

Vintage Tribeca's ornate ironwork design would work well for a celebration at The Elms.

North Moore flats (used as menus) would be an elegant choice for dinner reception at Marble House.

And Floral Frieze would make an excellent choice for the invitations.

Photo of Rosecliff via the Newport Historical Society, www.newportmansions.org; All other photos by Blue Ribbon. Mansions from top to bottom are Rosecliff, The Elms, Marble House (front view), and Marble House (back view).

Newport

I was in Newport over the holiday weekend, taking a break and doing a little research on popular wedding venues in the area. If I were having a Gilded Age style wedding, I would most certainly have hand-written menu cards for each of my guests - similar to the ones on display at Marble House (pictured above).

(Photos: Back view of Marble House (top), Menus on display in the kitchens at Marble House)

Pink, pink & more pink

Here's a preview of our newest note cards and stationery - I hope everyone likes pink!

"Unveiling the Best" at Kate's Paperie

Last week I attended the "Unveiling the Best" event at Kate's Paperie on the UES. It was a lovely event, with gorgeous floral & tabletop displays by Michelle Rago, delicious hors d'oeuvres from Laurence Craig Catering, and to top it off, Darcy Miller was on hand to greet brides-to-be. My photo does not do it justice, but here is small segment of one of the colorful tabletop displays from the event. As you can see, chartreuse remains a strong trend!

Since I've been obsessed with early twentieth-century art recently -- if you are having a wedding at an art gallery or museum, I think this abstract rose petal design would be a lovely choice:


("Cote d'Azur" offset-printed invitation ©2008 Blue Ribbon Design; contact Blue Ribbon for ordering information and pricing.)

Matisse & Picasso

The lithographs downstairs have me dreaming of the South of France and revisiting some of my visual memories from the 2005 exhibition, Matisse: The Fabric of Dreams - His Art and His Textiles. Matisse's palette seems extremely fresh right now and I'm entranced by the artist's ability to capture the essence of both form and pattern in an elegant and idiosyncratic way. Funny how certain things take a while to resonate.


Images above via Adrian Searle's review of the exhibition while at London's Royal Academy for The Guardian: Odalisque with a Screen, oil on canvas, 1923, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, © Succession H Matisse/DACS 2004; Odalisque with Yellow Persian Robe and Anemones, oil on canvas, 1937, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, © Succession H Matisse/DACS 2004.

Along the same line, this iconic Robert Capa photograph of Picasso and Françoise Gilot in the South of France recently popped into my head. Despite what we know about Picasso as a companion, isn't it a lovely image; so glamorous in a truly bohemian way. I wonder what type of stationery they wrote to each other on during during their romance...


Above image via the New York Times ("A 1948 gelatin silver print of Pablo Picasso and Françoise Gilot in France by Robert Capa, a part of the I.C.P.'s collection.")

New Inspiration

Philip Williams Posters is a vintage poster dealer two doors down from our new space and there is always an eye catching assortment on display in the windows facing Chambers street. Right now I'm drawn to these small format exhibition posters for the work of Miró, Picasso, and others.

(Photo of the current window display at Phillip Williams Posters, located at 122 Chambers Street.)