Carnival Party Invite

 

Here are the invitations for the 24.com end of year party!
The theme for this year's event was "Carnival Celebration" so I designed the invitations styling them as a carnival entry ticket. Can't wait to show you the images from the event!

For all of you that are going on holiday today: Have an awesome time!!! I hope you enjoy every single swim, sleep, tan, nap, party and day of it... and see you next year! For the ones that are still working through this end of year, remember: it's all about attitude so just put a smile on your face and enjoy... You'll see that working while everyone is having fun, will pay off very soon.

Happy Friday everyone!!!

Sneak Peak: Carnival Party

Once again the team from 24.com asked me to help them with the design, style and coordination of their end of year staff party. This is just the e-save the date.
Stay tuned for the next post on the invites, stationery and event itself!

Petra and Maarten Navy Blue Invites

My first wedding invitation in Afrikaans... yeayy!!!
I've designed many invitations in English and Spanish but this one is my first one in Afrikaans which feels like such an achievement. Everyone knows English is not my first language, but still many brides and grooms trust me to work on their invitations.

Petra and Maarten are the first Afrikaans speaking couple that ask me to design their wedding invitations which was a great honor! I must admit, we had a lot of fun with Petra working on their wedding invitations... Every time we met, we would have a laugh exchanging words in Afrikaans and Spanish. Dankie Petra & Maarten...

Here are the final invitations for their wedding. An elegant suite in Navy Blue and Champagne that includes a sleeve with belly band and inside 3 cards -Main card, Receptions details and a Polaroid style picture of the couple with magnet for their guests to place on their fridges.

I hope you like... ♥

Sue and Philip Classic Invitations

Today I would like to share with you Sue and Philip's invitations. The Southafrican couple, now residing in UK wanted a clean and elegant one-card invitation. The colors for their wedding are soft pink and navy blue so we included these in the invite. The little map on the back of the card and the printed guest details on the envelope, finishes off this elegant and timeless invitation. I hope you also like...

Dean's Surprise 30's Birthday

Our friend Dean, (my fiance's best friend) turned 30 this year and his girlfriend Hanna organized a terrific surprise party  for him. And that is not all she organized... Instead of each family member and friend buying a small gift for the birthday boy, she asked everyone to contribute some cash towards a special present for Dean: a trip to Senegal!!!

Dean loves traveling for fun and for work, he literally travels all the time, at least 2 times a month to a different country and continent... but the one place he has never been to and really dreams of going is Senegal.  So now that he turned 30 he will finally get to go there.

Hanna, asked me if I could help her designing a little card for Dean to everyone sign on it... Of course I said yes and took the idea of the card a little bit further... Here Dean 30's Birthday Suitcase card!

Continuing with the travel theme and using an old suitcase that belonged to Dean's grand-father, I made this unusual card including:

- Suitcase with stickers of some of the countries Dean visited

- "Dean's World Map". An infographic style life summary and a world map signed by all his friends and family.

- A travel diary

- Some of his everyday clothes

- Pictures and notes from friends in Polaroid style

- Hand written letter by her parents and another one from his girlfriend

- Flight ticket - voucher valid for a trip to by all his friends and family

- A sticker with the flag so once he visits the country he can stick it onto the suitcase

 Oh, did I forget to tell you that he didn't know about what was the gift about until he saw the flight ticker voucher "valid for a trip to from your friends and family"?. Dean doesn't like showing much emotion but he couldn't stop crying of happiness when he opened the suitcase...

A week later after his birthday, he proposed to Hanna. They are planning in getting married in 2015 but she has already started planning and booked the venue....

Tam and Brad's Infographic Save the Date

Tam and Brad asked me to design the save the date for their wedding.  This young and trendy couple said that they wanted something fun and modern that somehow could incorporate a little story about their relationship. Did I mention they like bright colors? Oh well, I knew straight away that this was going be an awesome project to work in...

And here it is: Tam and Brad's infographic Save the Date! I hope you like it...

The jpg that was embed on the email had a link to an online RSVP form for their guests to complete that of course had the heading and styling as per the STD design.  

I must admit I had a lot of fun designing this piece. Can't wait to start working on their invitations...

Claire and Tyron's Winter Wedding

I'm not sure if you remember Claire and Tyron's wedding invitations that I posted some time ago...

This young and beautiful couple decided to have a winter wedding... And ohh boy, how beautiful are these pictures?

Here is a selection of some of the amazing images that Moira West captured on their special day.

Congratulations Claire and Tyron: I hope you have an amazing life together!

And for the rest of you, enjoy these pretties!

I am monster

Iam monster from Mocho Loco on Vimeo.

A few months ago I received an invitation to join a group of Creative Girls in Cape Town: Sweet and Soutie.

My friend Tanielle from ForgetMeKnot gave the organizers (teachers at AAA school of advertising) my details and they wrote me to invite me to a lunch.

I went without knowing what was all about.... and I must say: I loved it!!! After a delicious lunch at Woodlands Eatery, I left to go back home to work with a big smile and so happy to have met such amazing girls  with whom I got to share great tips and experiences... It was so nice to find out that there are other people working in the same field that struggle with the same things as me, like for instance setting prices: it's sooo difficult to set a price for something that I love doing, heheh... I'm sure my friend Leila from Bow Peep is laughing while reading this... "we love what we do but we also must make a living out of it"... Good lesson...

Anyway, you must check out Sweet and Soutie blog and read about what all these girls do... I'm very impressed...

And meeting for lunch and chatting is not all Sweet and Soutie is about... They have many projects like for instance the "Laundry Monsters - Exquisite Creature Corpse"  initiative in partnership with ilovemylaundry. The idea is to use that lonely sock that has lost her partner, those little ziplock baggies of buttons that you get with a new jacket, the once white dress that is now streaked in pink thanks to housemate sport t-shirt that "somehow" got mixed with your delicates... Then add a little sewing, knitting , crocheting, and "hey, you have a creaaature!!!" Ilovemylaundry will host an auction where all the monsters will be sold and the proceeds will go to a charity that supports babies and kiddies...

I took home this nameless creature that I completely fell in love with.. I actually wanted to keep him and not give it back, heheh... I just added eyes and a little pink spot on his tummy... I like to call him "I am monster" because I think he is so cute that no-one thinks he is a monster so needs to go in life telling people: "I am monster... I am monster"... hehe

Jo and Corey's Nautical Invitations

Jo and Corey must be one of my most favorite couples that I've worked with so far. I haven't met them yet because they live overseas but I'm really looking forward to doing so. Jo is South African and Corey Australian. They met working on a cruise yacht a few years ago and in March next year they are getting married.

You should have seen the pictures of how Corey proposed. When they came to South Africa to meet Jo's family, they went on a safari in hot air balloons. Corey printed a huge sign saying "Marry me Jo"... I wish I could have seen Jo's face when she spotted the sign on the ground. The game ranger then organized champagne and snacks for them to celebrate.... Isn't that such an original way of proposing? Love it..

For their wedding invites they wanted something that represented who they are: sailors, surfers and sea lovers :) Jo's favorite color is yellow so the invites included this color besides navy blue and aqua green... They also asked me to include their emblem, which both have tattooed on their bodies, and which I'm sure we'll use throughout their wedding stationery. The emblem of Camargue, a very special place in France for the bridal couple. compromises a cross, heart and anchor and stands for faith, love and hope. 
The 3 card suit was tight with a rustic, marine ribbon and packed in an envelope with their guest details printed and the emblem stamped on the front.

I hope you like them too! I can't wait to start working on the stationery for their wedding day :)

Asking my bridesmaids...

Dime con quien te juntas y te dire quien eres... | Tell me who is your friend and I'll tell you who you are..

When Arri and I  decided  to  have  the  wedding  in  South  Africa  I  knew  I  wanted  to  have   bridesmaids  (a  tradition  we  don’t  have  were  I  come  from  and  that  I  only  knew   from  movies  but  that  I  completely  love).    

I’m  so  thankful  to  my  best  friends  because  without  them  I  wouldn’t  be  who  I  am.   My  bestest  friends  from  childhood  with  whom  I  shared  wonderful  stories  and  I   know  I  can  count  with  no  matter  where  we  are...  and  my  bestest  friends  from   South  Africa;  without  them  I  would  have  never  been  able  to  cope  with  moving  to   a  new  country  with  such  different  language,  ways  and  culture.  

I  always  told  myself  whenever  dating  “Friends  always  first”  So  it’s  still  today  that   my  friends  come  first  –of  course  the  day  I  say  “yes”  he  will  become  family  and   that  will  be  different...  but  for  now,  my  girls  have  priority!  

So  I  wanted  the  “proposal”  to  be  something  more  special  than  just  a  phone  call,   sms  or  email.  I  saw  long  time  ago  in  a  wedding  blog  a  great  idea  a  girl  did  to  ask   her  bridesmaids.  She  made  a  box  and  inside  a  card  and  some  goodies...  I  knew   my  girls  didn’t  deserve  anything  less  than  that...  

So  I  made  these  6  wooden  suitcases    that  I  named  “Friendship  road  trip  through   life” with the cover inspired by an original illustration that  tallented Amelia from The Sometimes Zoo did for Sarah and Warren.  

I made  3  bigger  boxes for the  girls  that  live  in  SA and smaller  ones  for  the  girls   in  Argentina  so  I  could  post  them  with  no  problem.  For  the  girls  in  South  Africa  I  organized  a  picnic...  We  were  meant  to  hike  my   favorite  route  of  Table  Mountain  but  the  day  couldn’t  have  been  worst...  So  we   ended  up  having  the  picnic  inside  the  dog’s  house...  it’s  more  like  a  tree  house   and  I  was  surprised  we  all  fitted  in  comfortably.  For  the  girls  in  Argentina  I  had   some  help  from  my  mom  who  couldn’t  be  more  cute.  She  invited  them  all  to  her   place  for  tea  and  gave  them  the  boxes.  

Thankfully  all  of  them  said  yes  straight  away!  Would  have  been  quite   disappointing  otherwise.  

Inside  the  boxes  I  included:  

.  A  set  of  cards  with  info  about  the  wedding  and  the  bridesmaids  duties  (feel   beautiful,  hold  some  gorgeous  flowers  and  wipe  away  my  happy  tears).
.  A  handkerchief  with  inspiring  friendship  phrases  that  I  hand­‐made  myself   (sewing  and  printing).  

.  A  calendar  with  pictures  that  I  took  through  last  year  that  represent  love  in   some  way.  

.  A  hand-­‐written  card  telling  each  of  them  why  they  are  so  special  to  me.
.  A  letter­‐block  from  an  old  letter  press  with  their  first  initial.  
.  Color  swatches  that  I  like  for  the  wedding.  

Preparing  each  of  the  boxes  took  me  some  time  (of  course  there  was  an  English   version  and  a  Spanish  version)  but  I  must  admit  I  enjoyed  every  little  bit  of  the   making...  Besides  my  friends  deserve  that  and  a  lot  more.