Sycamore Street Press :: Heart on Sleeve

Lovely Heart on Sleeve letterpress poster by Sycamore Street Press. (via poppytalk handmade)

BROOKLYNrehab :: Custom Napkin Rings

Customized napkin rings by BROOKLYrehab would make a great gift! (via poppytalk handmade)

Yes, it IS better together!

As much as I enjoy the freedom, flexibility and independence of being a solo-preneur, I definitely miss connecting with other creatives and business-savvy people on a regular basis. One thing engage!09 really inspired me to do is not wait for someone else to create what I'm looking for, but to just go out and make it happen! I decided to organize a get-together of a few "small shop" wedding pros I knew in the Orlando area and last Friday was our first "official" meet up. The lovely and super talented Anna Bond of Rifle Design kindly offered her brand new studio space to host our first get together.


Some of Anna's gorgeous work:


Here's who came: Anna of Rifle Design | Sarah and Lisa of Orange Blossom Ink | Fiona of Anavi Ink | Grace of Grace Edmands Calligraphy | Becka of Studio 222 Photography | Ashley of Ashley Brooke Designs | Monica of BoomBox Bindery

photo via orange blossom ink

Cute nametags courtesy of Sarah and Lisa of Orange Blossom Ink:

Nick of Mama's Sauce Print Shop, right next door, treated us with coffee and delicious baked goods from Davis Bakery. If you've been on the hunt for a local letterpress resources, definitely contact Nick. They have a full screenprinting set up as well.

He also gave us tour of the shop which included running one of their letterpresses and giving us a fresh off the press souvenir designed by Anna (yes, that is some s-weet hand drawn type by Anna).

Hopefully this is just the start of many inspiring meet-ups to come!

Bin Wine :: "cheeky" concept

I'm a big fan of wit and humor in design. . .and when clever concepts get turned into real projects. Love the story behind Bin Wine over at the dieline. (image via the dieline)

Happy 4th of July!

image via blink+

The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. . .usually celebrated by an entire day with friends and family, lots of comfort foods and topped off with fireworks. And no Independence Day grill out {in my humble opinion} is quite complete without homemade ice cream. Below is a recipe for what I call "Eays Chocolate Mint Mint Ice cream, chocolate ice cream mixed with Andes mints AND mint Oreos. . .need I say more?

Easy Chocolate Mint Mint Ice Cream

5 eggs (or equivalent in egg beaters of you prefer not to use raw eggs)
1 cup sugar
1-2 tablespoons of mint extract (or creme de menthe)
2 cans evaporated milk
1 can condensed milk
1 small box of instant chocolate pudding
4 cups chocolate milk
1 package Mint Oreos (I like Newman-O's Hint o' Mint), roughly chopped
1 package Andes mints, roughly chopped

Using an electric mixer, combine eggs, sugar, mint extract, evaporated and condensed milk in a large bowl. Slowly add chocolate pudding until well mixed, then add milk. Chill mixture for at least one hour, then pour mixture into ice cream maker. Add mint Oreos and Andes mints in at the last 5 minutes. Enjoy chocolate mint mint heaven!

This ice cream is definitely decadent on its own, but for tomorrow's festivities I'm taking it over the top by serving them in Oreo ice cream cones. Promise to take a pic of my creation tomorrow and add it to the post. Also, this recipe was based on one I found over on allrecipes.com, but their site has been down all day today and will posted the link as soon as they are back up.

Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday, see you back here next week!

engage!09 :: something blue | recap, part 2 | top 9 highlights

I'm a big fan of making lists, so I thought a fun way to recap engage!09 was to pick 9 highlights from the event. So, in no particular order, here they are. . .enjoy!

1. Staying at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman and being a 2-minute walk to 7-mile beach.


2. Working the registration desk and basically meeting every single attendee {that's me on the right and my "partner-in-crime" Jennyfer from The Sugar Suite on the left}

photo by Stacey Kane

3. Incredible Welcome Beach Party designed by Michelle Rago, complete with fireworks!

photo by Stacey Kane

4. Hearing Darcy Miller speak--and meeting her!--for the first time. {The Martha Stewart magazines have always been such a huge source of design inspiration for me as a graphic designer. When I was planning my wedding over 6 years ago, there certainly was not the plethora of blogs or even wedding mags that exist today and Martha Stewart Weddings was my staple!}

photo by Stacey Kane

5. Being at the VIP dinner dine-around with Sean Low, Liene Stevens, Harmony Walton, Alison Hotchkiss and Thayer Allyson Gowdy and 16 attendees {"party bus"!} at the delicious Ristorante Pappagallos.

photo by me

6. Sylvia Weinstock & Randy Fenoli getting down {you MUST watch the video taken by bee kim}

photo by Stacey Kane

7. Dancing the night away at the Something Blue Celebration {gorgeous decor by Celebrations, Ltd}

photo by Stacey Kane

9. Working with the fabulous event team and hosts, Rebecca Grinnals and Kathryn Arce.

photos by Stacey Kane

8. Connecting with old friends and making many new ones {perhaps for another post}!