Washington Post Home & Garden Section

Blue Ribbon Design's Merci and Thinking of You greeting cards were featured in the Washigton Post's Home & Garden section on Thursday!

Photo credit: Julia Ewan for the Washington Post

Rehearsal Dinner: Paris Theme

This particular couple got engaged in Paris and wanted to share a little Parisian elegance with their rehearsal dinner guests. They chose Blue Ribbon's Trellis imprintables for the invitations and I used a simple combination of typefaces and a subdued color palette to evoke modern Paris on one of it's romantically grey and misty days.

A word about imprintables: Imprintables are wonderful for more casual wedding events like showers, rehearsal dinners and brunches. Only the border pattern is letterpress printed and the invitation text is printed at a later date using either a laser or ink jet printer. Because they are a stock item, imprintables are significantly less-expensive than custom invitations and can be easily customized for any occasion.

For the favors, I used matching Trellis hang tags to dress up a plain cello candy bag. Each tiny pyramid contains a miniature Eiffel Tower made of dark chocolate; a plum-colored ribbon tops things off with flair. A calligrapher wrote out a special message from the couple on the inside of each hang tag.

All photos, invitations and favors by Blue Ribbon Design.

Different Shades of Yellow

I thought it would be fun to show a sampling of three different colorways that have recently been used for our Chinoiserie style invitation. Even though each invitation uses yellow for the chrysanthemum floral pattern, it is always amazing to me how different a design can look simply by tweeking the colorway.

All invitations above by Blue Ribbon Design. The colorways shown are (left to right): custom yellow/espresso, marigold/persimmon, marigold/espresso.

Best in Bridal

Thanks to Tara and Meredith of BFF Bridal for organizing a such a beautiful event! I was so busy chatting with all the brides-to-be about their upcoming weddings that I didn't take too many pictures. Thankfully Brooklyn Bride was in attendence and has posted some wonderful photos.

(The gift tag above was made especially for the event. The tag features calligraphy by Bernard Maisner and was designed and letterpress printed by Blue Ribbon Design.)

Milly Designer Michelle Smith's Apartment in Elle Decor

I love the way that pattern is used in this apartment; the mix of geometric and organic patterns is unexpected, but subtle and balanced. I guess this should not be a surprise given that Smith is one of the few ready-to-wear designers whose patterns magically manage to not overwhelm.

I've developed a new found interest in animal prints, especially when they appear in unexpected colorways such as the yellow and white zebra print used on the chairs above - I absolutely love these chairs.

This jewel box of a dining room evokes chinoiserie for me. I love the sheen of the Asuka floral wall covering and the lattice style pocket doors that frame the view into the room, This particular combination of metallic elements (silver, gold, brass, and glass) and dark wood radiates glamour.

Just a glimpse of subtly metallic Hicks Hexagon wallpaper as seen in the entrance hall.

(All photos from Elle Decor, October 2007)

Blue Ribbon Design Featured in Modern Bride

Blue Ribbon Design's Printemps save the date card is featured in the Oct/Nov 2007 issue of Modern Bride. Very exciting!We printed this save the date card in a yellow and brown colorway especially for Modern Bride. I particularly love this design for it's versatility; it works extremely well as both a one-color or two-color design and can be used for both formal and informal occasions depending on the combination of typefaces.

(Photo of Printemps Save the Date byBlue Ribbon Design)

New from Blue Ribbon: Letterpress Hang Tags

I just added our new collection of letterpress hang tags to the website. I specifically designed these rectangular tags to hang around the neck of a bottle of wine (my husband makes his own, so we give a lot of gifts), but they look just as pretty on wrapped presents and wedding favors. A bride-to-be recently purchased the purple Kimono tags (lower right) to adorne the purple gift bags given away at her bridal tea - how lovely!

BFF Bridal Event at the St. Regis

Browse through Blue Ribbon's beautiful line of letterpress wedding stationery and have all your wedding reception questions answered by New York's finest wedding professionals (including yours truly) at BFF Bridal's Best in Bridal event on Tuesday, September 25 (6:00-9:00 pm).

Simple Silhouettes

Over the last month I have had the pleasure of accompanying a friend on a series of bridal gown fittings at Simple Silhouette's showroom in SoHo. The showroom is situated in a true loft space (showroom in the front, sewing room in the back) that is casually elegant and wonderfully streamlined (just like the designs) with rack upon rack of gorgeous dresses and tons of natural light streaming in through the huge windows facing Broadway.

Even though Simple Silhouettes has a fantastic website that allows you to place your order online, if you live in the metro area, I strongly recommend visiting the showroom in person. The sales staff is incredibly sweet (thanks, Michelle!), and not only can you try on all the dresses, but you can also browse through the accessories, including vintage flower pins, jewelry, and Simple Silhouette's very own line of (ridiculously affordable) shoes.

FYI All of the photography for Simple Silhouettes is done by ThussFarrell.

(images from the Simple Silhouettes website)

The Mount: Edith Wharton's Estate and Gardens

Lenox, MA • The newly renovated house and gardens offer insight into Wharton's personal philosophy on how to decorate, dwell, work, and entertain with grace and style. Unlike other "cottages" I have visited in Newport, Wharton's house is grand, but completely livable. After strolling the grounds be sure to enjoy a glass of wine at the café on the terrace.

From top: The Mount, Edith Wharton's estate and gardens in the Berkshires; The gardens; Restoration staff hangs reproduction curtains in Edith Wharton's boudoir (images from edithwharton.org).

Poiret: King of Fashion

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York • on view through August 5, 2007 • www.metmuseum.org

New York, NY • I have always loved the Iribe and Lepape renderings of Poiret's ensembles, so it was a treat to see the actual gowns - with all their beautiful draping - in person. Many of the dresses on display were designed for Poiret's wife, Denise, and the exhibition explores her role as muse. Additionally, the exhibition makes the case for Poiret as a "prophet of modernity" not only because of his revolutionary approach to dressmaking, but his ability to successfully market his brand simultaneously across the realms of fashion, interior design and fragrance. The hand-painted perfume flasks for his Parfums de Rosine were a delightful surprise.



Left: to right Georges Lepape (French, 1887-1971), Hand-Colored Pochoir from Les choses de Paul Poiret, 1911; Georges Lepape (French, 1887–1971)"Serais-je en avance?" from Gazette du bon ton, 1912, gouache on paper (images from metmuseum.org).

On a related note, the Poiret inspired spread photographed by Steven Meisel in the May 2007 issue of American Vogue was utterly stunning.




Above: Steven Meisel, "Vogue: Fashioning the Century," Vogue (May 2007).