Product Feature: New York City Wedding Theme

I may live on the West Coast, but I love NY, like almost everyone who has ever been there!

The NYC Wedding product line was the very first city collection hubs and I designed and it remains my most popular. Many of the icons in my collection were drawn from scratch by my hubs so you won't see them anywhere else :)

It starts with my table numbers, you choose the icons from over 30 available icons. You choose from my extensive fonts and color options...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/157386131/nyc-table-number-wedding-decor-single?ref=shop_home_active_1

Then you can add Place Cards.....

https://www.etsy.com/listing/82913892/nyc-place-card-escort-black-handmade?ref=shop_home_active_3

And Menus....

https://www.etsy.com/listing/71645313/new-york-city-menu-cards-skyline-wedding?ref=shop_home_active_4

and even Ceremony Programs....

https://www.etsy.com/listing/161312497/new-york-city-ceremony-program-wedding?ref=shop_home_active_5

Pop on by and check out the other cities I offer :)
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShannaMicheleDesigns

DIY Fruit Table Card Holders put the fresh in your wedding...

OK so today a customer (shout out to Katherine!) asked me if I could make my Love in New York Table Cards at a size that would fit into a lime....at first I though OMG are you kidding me that is totally adorable....then I thought OMG I could totally do that. So I did. Now I am gonna show you how easy it is friends...

So first thing you need to do is get some fruit. I am gonna show you a lime and an apple but you could do lemons, starfruit, artichokes, eggplants, fennel bulbs....wowzers I am blowing my own mind right now, I have to stop. So anyway, I headed over to my neighborhood fruit stand and picked up a bag of limes and a bag of avocados and a bunch of other stuff as seen here. It was quite a haul. I love California.

After washing and de-stemming a mess of strawberries for the kids' snack, it was time to get down to business. First I recommend cutting a small slice off the bottom of the fruit (not the apple- they have built in stabalizer feet) to make a flat non-rolling surface.

Next, just cut a slit about 1/2 an inch or so into the top of the fruit where you will stick the Table Number Card. I highly recommend you let the fruit dry out a bit before you go sticking the papers in...the apple especially made the paper pretty wet- they would be fine if you run short on time and don't have time to dry them but I did I let them sit over an hour and they were pretty dry without being wrinkly or gross.

Now you have the perfect place to put one of my Love in New York Table Number Cards (I can customize for many other cities too, I realize people don't only fall in love in New York, you sillies)....

Think about the possibilities...you can plop these on the plate to hold your guests name, you can put them on the buffet line so people know what they are scooping onto their plate, you can have have them hold your menu cards....ask me and I can do it...just head on over and see me at my etsy shop (you can click the apple below to get there)

Love In New York Line on etsy.com

Love in The City

Oh well hello there! You asked for it (ok ya didn't but still) so I am gonna give you a little peek at how one of my handmade invitations gets made. This mess of pics is from an order I have been working on from my Love in the City line for a bride getting married in Battery Park later this year. *sigh* I know...it's totally romantic, isn't it...so anyways, here goes...



Firstly, I handstamp my logo on the back of each invitation. Here I have used paper that is 100% recycled material (20% post-consumer).

The graphics on this particular invitation were all computer illustrated by my husband...he's like, a totally professional web designer and he does my work for freeeee! Well, I gotta make him dinner and do his laundry so it all works out. I take these files to the printer along with stacks of paper and they print these out for me on their super awesome machines that print waaaay better than my $20 desk top printer (go figure).



Then I come home and the magic happens. By magic I, of course, mean paper cuts and sore palms from tearing paper...once it is torn, the edges are inked then they are glued into their proper places....most of the time. Depends on how much coffee I have had and how often the cats jump on the counter and knock the neat piles of paper over or how many times I spin around to see what the kids are doing, knocking the scrap paper box (which all gets recycled of course) across the kitchen.


I may or may not have glued a papers into a card upside down once but the important thing to remember here is I have excellent quality control...always done right after a cup of coffee, in a dry and catless room :)

Pocketsessssssss

Have you ever thought about just how great pockets are? I mean really, really thought about it. They are for sure one of the best inventions ever. You can put money in them, you can put your keys in them....if you have cargo pants you have like 4 extra pockets you can put your phone in there or if you are 10 you can put bugs and rocks in there. Often you forget what is in there...then later you rummage around in your pocket and you're like whoa...I forgot I put a ponytail holder and a nickel in there! If you are a stay-at-home parent like me, you end up with pretty full pockets by the end of the day...I pick stuff up all day and throw it in my pockets. This is why I do not wear cargo shorts. Ok it's only one small reason I don't wear cargo shorts but its a pretty good one.

Here are things with pockets...click the images to be whisked away to etsy where you can buy these fab things!

Let's get shameless self promo out of the way first, K? These are wedding invitations I make that have a little pocket on the front for a "Save The Date" Card or for a little tag with directions etc.


Now here is my very favorite pocketed thing I recently discovered on etsy. It is genius I tell ya! Apiecebydenise on etsy sells this...

This is just super fun. So many aprons on etsy but this one stood out to me. Maybe its because I am a recent vegetarian convert and I'd like to think my salad is just this saucy...snapshop on etsy sells this cutie....


Now for gawds sake....don't forget about your pockets....no one likes finding that ink pen in the washing machine!

Spring is a Renewal but I just want some eggs

Spring is a renewal....one of the symbols common during this time is the egg. Its poetic and all but mostly it makes me want a fritatta you know? Here are some excellent items sure to get my quiche craving all riled up (just click the picture to be whisked away to purchase it!)


Nothing says spring to me like watching the baby chicks hatch at my parents house. We'd always argue about which ones were the roosters and which were the hens. We pretty much had no idea how to properly sex them (oh my lol) so we'd just watch as they grew to see who had to go (you can only have one rooster!) Linda has all kinds of funs art....she paints on old ceiling tiles, gourds and barn wood http://www.etsy.com/shop/lindakellyart?ref=seller_info


Now you can only have so many chickens, especially if you don't actually eat them....so my parents would mostly collect the eggs for eating instead of letting them hatch. Nothing like free range eggs. This is a handy little basket that you can collect them in, then pop them in the fridge. Plus, c'mon it is adorable! Check out all the "Eggsential Totes" and country fresh aprons in this shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/thedizzybobbin?ref=seller_info

Well this makes me feel all sunny....there is such hope in this pan...such a glow around it that says hey, eggs make everything better! This is a new shop on etsy full of beautiful paintings, be sure to check Ricks art out http://www.etsy.com/shop/FrequentPaintings?ref=pr_shop_more

So what are your favorite Spring symbols? Bunnies? Chocolate? OMG Chocolate Bunnies?!

Studio Peek

Sooooo....you wanna see behind the curtain do you? You wanna see "where the magic happens"? I dunno...can you handle this much excitement?














Ok....I'll give you a peek into my design....ummmm....let's call it a studio. It's really a table in the guest bedroom in my current temporary house but I pack a lot of creatin' into this little nook.


I took these pictures while I was working on a big custom baby shower invitation order. Look how sad my beads look in their boxes! They must be jealous of all the time I spend with my new friends paper and ink. Wow, this is sounding a little kooky...I blame the sushi high I am on.....mmmm....crunch rolls....







So that was just a little peek into the process....you get to see some of my tools, the table my in-laws let me borrow that is now mysteriously covered in ink, my husbands guitar amp that also serves as a spot to throw a tarp to spray my glitter inks all over the place and if you look close enough, you can see all kinds of little paper bits working their way into the (ink stained) carpet....don't worry...my in-laws told me they want new carpet anyways!

New Line of Custom Baby Shower Invitations

I am having so much fun with my new custom invitation line that I have just launched in my etsy shop!

These invitations combine handmade crafty beauty on the front with fully customizable insert for all your party details. All the papers are torn, distressed and inked in my signature style. I use stamps to create the designs and then I color in the designs with markers, chalk or glitter. I accent them with ribbons, rhinestones and brads.

The inside is a fully custom...I can use pretty much any font (thanks graphic designer husband lol), you tell me what you want it to say or I can help you out with the wording and I even add a hand stamped design as well. I have three options in my Baby Shower line that I will feature here right now and am working on a few new designs for other types of celebrations too, let me know what I can do for your event!




I also have gift tags that match with each of these designs so you can have a totally coordinated event. I can also make menu cards, place cards or name cards :)