Color Inspiration from a DIY Gift Tag

Monday Hues: In honor spring, today's color inspiration comes from a flower I drew on scrap paper, and eventually turned into a gift tag. One of the things I like to do, is find the hidden colors within an image, rather than gravitating towards the obvious, which in this case would have been pink, blue green and yellow. Instead, we ended up with a palette which consists of plum, orange, mint green and chartreuse.

DIY Doodle Gift Tags
*Please note, affiliate links to some of my favorite drawing supplies are provided in the paragraphs below  

Supplies - below is a list of the supplies I used o create the gift tag:
• Black Sharpie Pen*
• 2"x3.5" piece of scrap card stock
• Metallic*, Moonlight* and Glaze* Sakura gel pens
• Washi Tape*

The Process
First I drew the flower with a black sharpie pen*, then I added color to it with different types of gel pens. While the pink Moonlight pen* is what gave the drawing the flat pink strong color, the yellow Glaze pen* gave the image its highlights with a bit of dimension and shine. The ink from the Glaze pens tends to dry raised and shiny, making your piece look as if it were embossed or treated with thermography - I love that! As a final touch, I trimmed the bottom edge with washi tape*, then punched a hole at the top to draw a string. And just like that, with a bit of scrap paper in hand, gel pens, and washi tape, I was able to create a gift tag AND draw color inspiration from it for future projects.

Happy Monday, my friends!

~Dio

St. Paddy's Day Color Inspiration

I am LOVING the retro cereal boxes by General Mills. I know they're totally marketing to my age group, and you know what? I don't mind one bit! I almost, almost, bought a box of Lucky Charms last week just because the retro design took me back to my grade school years at first glance. Good job, marketeers! You got my attention by bringing back cherished memories of the days when I had no cares in the world. My only worries were wondering what mom was going to make for dinner that night. Those were the days...

Which box design do you like best?
I was roaming the Target aisles with my daughter when I first spotted the retro cereal boxes, and being the observant person that she is, she immediately noticed my excitement as I held these two boxes in my hands. "Which one do you like best?" she asked. Without hesitation, I told her I preferred the retro design. She disagreed and voted for the other. I do realize I am biased, but trust me, as a designer, there are definitely other factors influencing my preference.

• Cuteness: If you follow me on my Paisley In Paris blog or Instagram, you know I'm an avid doodler and I enjoy creating cute illustrations that are suitable for kid parties and just about anything else baby/toddler/child related. I am naturally drawn to anything cute and cutesie, and in my opinion, the retro leprechaun dude is way, waaaay cuter than the creepy 3D guy on the current box design. 

• Simplicity: I also prefer the simplicity of the retro or "throwback" design as they call it. It's almost minimalistic, compared to the current one. The latter is just so busy, my eyes feel like they're going to explode. There are tons of colors in a variety of shades, big marshmallows, sparkles, tons of text and a 3D creepy looking dude...which you already knew about...because I mentioned him and his creepiness in the above paragraph. 

• Type: There is so much more type in the current design and not only is there a lot of it, but it is also warped and outlined, and shadowed, AND to make things worse, there are so many fonts in so many different sizes. Again, waaay too much going on. So much, I'm feeling a bit of  anxiety just writing about it. No, I'm not crazy, just overwhelmed. 

So there you have it! Today's Monday Hues and graphic design tips were inspired by cereal boxes found and photographed by me, in the Target aisles. I'd also like to note that I picked today's inspiration source and color scheme in honor of St. Patricks Day, so enjoy your greens and golds and remember, inspiration is everywhere.

Happy Monday!

~ Dio

Dog Theme Baby Shower Invitations

Hi there! I'm very excited to share my newest baby shower collection with you today. It had been a long time since I was able to add an entire setto my shop for a themed event, and after many, many months and a bit of determination I finally did it.
My new "Bandana Doggy" stationery theme was actually born last summer as I doodled away in my office while taking a break to do a little creative exercise. I kept the little piece of scrap paper I doodled on pinned to my bulletin board for several months - that little guy was just too cute to discard!
It wasn't until some time last month in February that I finally had the chance to transform my doodle into a digital illustration and begin the process of creating this set, complete with invitations, custom postage, party favor stickers, address labels and thank you cards - all available in my shop at PaisleyInParis.com

~ Dio

Succulent Monday Hues

Happy Monday! Today we are beating the Monday blues with a beautiful color inspiration palette pulled from a picture I took in the summer of 2014 at Sea World, San Diego. Here's only a glimpse of the beautiful succulent and floral gardens you'll find throughout the park.

~ Dio

I'm back and I'm covered in color!

One thing I've learned is that if there is one thing that is constant, it is change! Yep. In the fall of 2010 I closed the doors to my invitations design studio and went back to the corporate world. I often thought about deleting this blog, but due to the traffic still coming through, I left it up thinking the old content would probably still inspire visitors one way or another.

Currently, my life is a constant juggling act, with the biggest chunk of my day spent at my 9-5 job, my daily half hour commute in each direction, grocery shopping, taking my daughter to her Tae Kwon Do practice, walking the dog, and cooking for my family. The word busy doesn't even begin to describe my days.

Despite my busy schedule, I always carve out a few minutes of "me" time for the sake of my sanity and that of my family. I doodle a lot, sometimes during my breaks at work or right before bedtime. There is one creative aspect I miss though, and that is writing, sharing and documenting things that I find inspiring and projects I am working on that I hope others will find inspiration from.

One thing I really miss are the "Monday Hues" I started back in the summer of 2010. I would post color inspirations early Monday mornings to get you through the Monday blues and change those pouty faces into smiles by greeting you with a bit of color inspiration.

If I have no time to write about anything else from here on, I hope to at least be able to keep this category of my blog fresh with weekly posts. One thing I'll do different this time around, is that instead of browsing the internet for images, I will pull colors and post from my own photo galleries. Because inspiration is all around us, in our daily lives. We just need to look.

Today's Monday Hues are taken from last year's 5k Color Run at Indio Polo Grounds, on February 2014. That's me in the bunny ears and my two sisters to the right. It was a BLAST! I had a great time and was especially proud of my sister (in the orange shorts) who participated while she was close to 7 months pregnant. I would have totally ran again this year, but unfortunately, I'm allergic to pollen and dust. Yep, the next day after the run, I thought my sinuses were going to explode and I wanted to die just to ease the pain. Things start blooming around the desert this time of year (February, March) and sinus infections abound for the locals once the winds pick up. Combine that with a bunch of colorful dust thrown at you and you've got yourself 3 days of sinus pains and headaches.
I haven't given up hope though. I might try it again sometime in another city that is not as dry as it is here, and I will try wearing a dust mask. I'll let you know how that goes, when I do...if I live to tell - ha!

Happy Monday, y'all!

Cute Beach Wedding Paper Napkins

Loving these paper napkins by JINAIJI. Perfect for a beach theme wedding or engagement party!

Wine Cork Place Card Holders

It's been a while that I didn't add anything to my Etsy shop, but I came across a few wine corks which make great place card holders for your vineyard wedding reception or other special occasion. You can either purchase the place cards already made or buy a few hundred corks from me to make your own.

Take a look at www.PaisleyInParis.etsy.com

Nautical Baby Shower Invitations

I'm really liking these Nautical Baby Shower Invitations by Gallery Designs. You can customize them choose from a variety of papers to print them on, and even change the shape of the card to add rounded colors or other finishes. 

Pair them with these cute stickers from DLR Designs and you've got yourself a wonderful nautical party for all to "sea" and enjoy!