As promised, here are a couple of photos of a recent custom design I did for a dear friend of mine. I won’t go into to much detail, as I’m not even sure these have been sent out yet, so for now the photos will have to tell the story (I apologize for the photo quality…I am trying to get better at using my camera, I swear)!
The couple wanted to go with a plum and gold color palette, and a modern, sleek monogram.
And they chose moss green envelopes:
I had fun with the meal selections on the RSVP card!
It was a fun project and I love the way they turned out!
If you are interested in hiring me to design custom stationery for your event, please contact me at: info{at}eksquisitedesign.com
p.s. My Etsy shop is back up and running. Yay!
Sorry to my loyal readers (AKA mom) that I have been absent for awhile. My computer has been giving me some trouble, but I seem to have that worked out now (I got a new one). All of the computer troubles forced me to close down my Etsy shop for about a week, but I am back in business now! I will be adding some new designs to the shop this summer; and sharing a recent custom invitation suite this week. I hope you stick around to see where Eksquisite Design is going next!
I made some pillows for my home office over the last couple of days using leftover burlap from our wedding table runners. I love projects that reuse things you already have, and in this case I had both the fabric and the pillow inserts…yay! All I needed was the fabric paint and the stencils, which I found at JoAnn’s.
First I measured my pillows and cut out 4 squares of both a basic white cotton I had on hand (for a liner), and the burlap. My pillows were 15,” so I cut the liner squares to that measurement. I find in doing that you get a fluffier, more stuffed-looking pillow. The burlap I cut a smidge larger (15.5″), since the frayed edges can be difficult to work with. Here’s one of my burlap squares with my stencil layed out in place:
I quickly realized that I was limited to four letter words given the size of my pillows and stencils, so I decided on ‘work’ and ‘rest.’ Once my stencil was where I wanted it, I used some removeable Artist’s tape to secure them in place:
Next up was paint. I used Tulip black fabric paint:
Next, I colored in the lines! I wasn’t really all that careful or precise, since burlap is so texured:
Yeah, um, I probably could have been a little more precise, as evidenced by the smudge I tried to get rid of with nail polish remover, which didn’t work so hot 
I wasn’t crazy about the gaps between the letters from the stencils, so I just filled them in freehand-style:
Much better, right?!
After letting the paint dry overnight, I sewed the pieces together using a tight zigzag stitch on my sewing machine and some heavy-duty thread. I’m pretty happy with how they turned out! I love anything that combines the rustic look with typography (and the smudge isn’t that noticeable). I also like that I can switch them up depending on my mood: productive vs. relaxed 
Remember this chair that I found next to a dumpster in downtown Sacramento?
I loved the lines and I even liked the color. Unfortunately, the Naugahyde had seen better days and was beyond repair. I found some fabric that I liked and enlisted the help of my mother to sew a new chair cover since my sewing machine is not hard-core enough. Thanks, mom! She ended up sewing both pieces which was OK by me because she did a great job. She mentioned that it was “fun”…which is great news because I have another chair I want to re-do! Here is what my little office chair from 1974 looks like now:
Here’s a close-up of the cushion – kinda makes your eyes hurt, huh? I think it’s fun and I felt like I needed a strong graphic pattern in this room for balance:
See that little side table sitting next to it? It’s a beautiful piece that my mom was getting rid of, and it’s currently in the process of getting a makeover, so stay tuned for that!
I just added a new invitation suite to my Etsy shop. The Delilah invitation is preppy and modern, perfect for for the sophisticated couple that loves to play! I think this suite would be perfect for a library or book themed wedding – the back of the invite is a word search, and the back of the RSVP is Mad Libs. Check out the listing on Etsy for more photos.
