. daily daydreams . a blog by love ardently design studio

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How lovely are those invitation by Erin Jang! I’m all for whimsical illustrations and this one is just so charming. The couple is getting married at Smog Shoppe, a green exotic urban space with a lot of succulents and hanging gardens, from which Erin was inspired.

I’ve been enjoying those video submissions over at Etsy.tv for the past couple of days. For those of you who don’t know, Etsy is holding a video contest with the theme: “Handmade Moment”. If you are a videographer, home video maker, and an Etsy fan, you should check this out.

This is my favorite video submission so far created by two brilliant illustrators, Andy Musser and Kit Seaton. I just love everything from the style, the storyline, the soundtrack…. It makes me want to draw and make something now. :)

DIY Letterpress? What, what? Is it possible at all? Yes, yes!

I have been DYING to learn how to letterpress. I’ve been trying to find a local class here in Dallas but have not been successful. While I am still so interested in learning about the real deal, I was *so* excited to read this post at the DIY Bride blog about this new baby!!! This DIY Letterpress machine is soon to be released this coming Fall by Lifestyle Craft. The whole kit looks among the same group like Yudu and all those Cricut machines.

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This is one of the premade printing plate.

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So, at $149.99 retail, the whole kit comes with everything you need to start letterpress printing right away:

• Epic Six Letterpress and Die-cutting Tool
• Letterpress
• Clear Packing Mat with Grid
• Paper Placement Guides
• Ink Base
• Brayer
• Ten A2 flat cards
• Nine Printing Plates
• Tube of Black Ink
• Circle Cutting Dies

Of course as graphic designer, my first and foremost question would be, “Can we make anything we want with it? Can we make our own “pre-made templates”?” See, I bought a Cuttlebug machine back then and it was just left alone under my living room sofa unopened. I thought I was going to use it for several projects but everytime, I always need something custom, not just taking whatever they have on the premade templates.

To answer my first question, it was said that they are going to have some kind of “custom program”. Now, I AM BEYOND EXCITED. Not sure how customized would this be, but Michelle from Lifestyle Crafts actually mentioned that we can create our own words, phrases, and designs. I’m sure there will be limitation, like the ink colors that we can use, booo… :(. All in all, though, this would still be one cool machine to own. I’ll be looking out for that “custom program” announcement.

Let see… Now, I’m considering to get either this or a new Wacom Tablet. Maybe Wacom for Christmas and this for my birthday, haha *winks at the husband* :)

Last Spring, we created this invitation suite for a chic, fun and contemporary wedding at a gorgeous city club in the heart of Atlanta! Nita and Edward shared the same last name initial, which makes a fun monogram. The invitation is a combination of the bride’s fondness of “French-ish” decorative elements and the couple’s modern city wedding style.

Custom monogram, custom map, embossed hard-cover invitation, custom die-cut envelopes. It was such a fun project!

{More of Nita & Edward’s invitation…}

Nita and Edward (Edo) happened to be our very-very good friend and we attended the wedding last Spring. The wedding was so beautiful, intimate, touching, yet so fun. The wedding was shot by the oh-so-talented Lifebox Studio. See it for yourself!

And more jaw-dropping photos…

{More Nita & Edward’s wedding photos…}

Who would’ve thought that plates would look exceptionally good on the wall? I’m in love with how those white china stand out against the grey-ish background.

{More of this gorgeus wedding by Jessica Claire}

I’m thinking on a way of incorporating those type of decoration in my future “yet-to-be” house. Some designers did similar things at the HGTV Design Star white room challenge last week. One of the designer, Lonnie, was not succesfull at attempting to stick glass cups on the wall, but another designer, Dan, was very-very succesful with apples, adding an eclectic touch to his white room.

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Quite a while ago, I went to an adorable pastry boutique, Tart, per Dian‘s recommendation. I was going to get a gift card for a friend’s birthday and of course a couple of macarons for myself. This place was so cute and adorable, I couldn’t help to take pictures while waiting for my macarons! I haven’t tried their cakes yet, but if you are planning a wedding in Dallas, you should at least do a cake testing here. Or, you can even do a fun macarons croquembouche as a wedding cake, which I would definitely do if I were to repeat my wedding all over again! :)

Loved their chocolate and pistachio macarons! Crunchy on the outside and delicate on the inside.

It seems like fabric flowers are everywhere. I was smitten by fabric flowers from J Crew earlier this year. Now, you can pretty much see them everywhere, including your neighborhood’s Target, the stores at Etsy, and even MarthaStewart.com. This trend almost bored me actually, just because it’s everywhere. I don’t usually like things that has been done and used over and over again, but I just can’t help to love this one. It’s irresistable!

This is a fabric flower hair pin that I made about 3 months ago to match my dress at a friend’s wedding.