For the kid's table

With a little extra planning and details, having children over at your wedding reception can result in family fun!

All you would need is to plan a few activities to keep them entertained, and either hire or designate a few of your teenage relatives to coordinate an evening of fun and supervision for the little ones.

You can start by designating a seating area for the little ones. This seating area should appeal to the little ones to prevent them from running around. Provide a kid-friendly menu and interactive centerpieces that will keep them entertained as the adults enjoy their meals and mingle.

With summer around the corner, and many beach weddings taking place, I wanted to share this cute centerpiece I found featured in WeddingChannel.com Weddingbells Magazine.

It consists of a pail decorated with fish, marshmallow lollipops stuck in a foam ball, covered with pink candy. The final touch was sailboat shaped votives!

It's not too interactive, but definitely cute and delicious!

Featured Designer: May Clee-Cadman

Unfortunately for us US residents, Maisie Fantasie is a wedding cake design company based in London. But it doesn't mean we can't applaud May Clee-Cadman for her talent, as we find inspiration in her designs and dream about our next special event. I, for instance, fell in love with this gorgeous rose cake. It's definitely something I would like to incorporate into my mom's birthday celebration.


I also thought these mini-cakes were too cute! Perfect for a bridal shower!

Citrus Inspiration

I wanted to create a couple new Save the Date design options for my DIY gallery this week, so I decided to browse the 'net for inspiration. During my search, I came across this beautiful cake by Maisie Fantasie - it was perfect! Inspiration was found.

I see this cake and I immediately think "Palm Springs". I love the colors, so fresh and lively, and I am also drawn to the the modern square design of the cake.

Very inspiring, indeed.

After getting over my craving for lemon cake, I proceeded to create the two citrus-colored, modern stationery designs below. Yummy!

Dan and Dorian's Wedding Logo

Dan and Dorian contacted me last summer requesting an invitation design for their vows renewal which would take place in the fall at the Mission Inn, Riverside.
Their invitations featurned a custom designed logo that reflected their style, location and faith.










Below are a couple of images I used as inspiration for the logo.

Their invitations incorporated their color scheme of ivory, brown and gold, and the design consisted of using the logo as a focal point for all pieces.


The final product looks stunning! The invitation has one layer backing in shimmer Bronze card stock, and the text was printed on Diamond shimmer ivory card stock. We used brown ink with a thermography finish, which made the design look very clean, modern and elegant.

Puppy love and miracles

Hi everyone,

I haven't had to chance to post anything recently. With kids on Spring break visiting over at our house, a wedding in the family and my little 5 month old puppy getting sick with parvo, I've been quite...well, emotional.

She started last Wednesday, we took her to the vet on Thursday and came back with medication to treat her with. I've been giving her shots, nausea medicine, giving her pedialite and an IV. It hasn't been easy, I don't like needles, and I feel her pain each time we treat her, but I know it's for her own good.

Yesterday (Sunday) was such an emotional day. At 10am I text my mother and sisters to let them I wouldn't be going to church with them because Paisley looked like she wasn't going to make it. She laid in bed lifeless, I kept cuddling her so she knew I was with her till the end. Amazingly enough by 12 noon, she stood up and weakly walked around for a bit. I was amazed and happy to see the sudden change. Later I started getting text messages from friends and family saying they've been praying for her. Wow! She went from lying in bed lifeless, with her temperature dropping and her eyes going back (so I only saw the white part) to getting a kick of life all of a sudden!

She's now stable once again. I just wanted to say thank you to all my friends and family who have kept us in their hearts with prayers and good wishes - it's working!

Love,
Dio & Paisley

New Logo Design: Paisley in Paris™

Introducing my latest project and logo design...Paisley In Paris™!

I'm so happy with the way the logo turned out! The paisley pattern inside the Eiffel Tower is my original artwork created using oil pastels. I scanned it, then I drew the outline of Eiffel Tower and masked the paisley pattern inside of it.

As a final touch I added a silhouette of my pet Chihuahua, who's name is Paisley. She and my desire to travel one day inspired this new logo and new name for my collection of greeting cards. So it's bye-bye Pepper Kittymonkey™ hello Paisley In Paris™!

Oh, and I should share my new tag-line too! It tells the story behind the name and it's worded in a way that will hopefully bring a chuckle out of you:

"Paisley is my pet Chihuahua. She has never been to Paris. If she had, I'd be jealous!"