Z

What do you get a guy who is almost 15? I dunno. Well, at least I didn't know at first thought. When I discovered that his travel cup was on the last leg of its journey, that's when the idea struck. You can see here how I solved the Christmas present connundrum!

Felt & Wire

It is exciting for me to tell you that I have been selected to offer my calligraphy and products at Felt & Wire, a curated shop. Stop by and take a look when you have a minute or two. My passion is custom lettering and design so if you have an idea brewing, for a personal monogram or stationery for example, please don't hesitate to contact me to see what we can accomplish together. I am looking forward to my new venture as a shopkeeper!

Love and Kisses

When I was asked to make some signs for Elizabeth Messina's A Lovely Workshop this past year I was quite delighted to say the least. Ever gracious, she sent me some of the photographs she took of my work. I will share a few images today, and will post some more as time goes on.

Pirates

This past weekend I was going through an old hard drive and found the original scans of my lettering for Pirates of the Carribben II. I wrote in walnut ink on Arches Textwove with a pointed pen. The scan is kind of funky but I hope you'll like looking at it anyway!

Joy!

It's not easy to feel joyful with a sore throat and fever, but because I am a bit under the weather today I gave in to some time for play. On this little 2.5" x 3.5" canvas I daubed and painted and brush lettered (even though it's not my strongest lettering skill) but now that it's done, I made a little Joy after all!

The Bride & Bloom

Last year, I was asked by the lovely Lisa Vorce of Oh, How Charming! to help make special a destination wedding, and since she wanted lots of flourishes I couldn't say no! Photographer extraordinaire Aaron Delesie beautifully captured my work and a couple of shots appeared in the latest issue of The Bride & Bloom. All of these photos did not appear in the magazine, but I was fortunate to have received a few that didn't make the pages, so I can to share them with you here.

Birthday Gift Book

A dear friend, who is a talented artist and is always making lovely things, recently had a birthday. For a while now I have been working too much (a boring mantra, for sure) and although my lettering gets better from all the practice, it's hard to find time to do fun and artistic things. So, since I received a beautiful handmade book for my birthday from her one year I wanted to reciprocate with a handmade gift. The cover was made using some paste paper that I painted. The project took longer than I had expected but it was fun finding the ribbons, sentiments and embellishments. Happy Birthday, Lisa!

Gestural Writing

Two weekends ago I had the great fortune to study with my new calligraphic hero, Yves Leterme. He is a wonderful teacher, so organized and helpful in his critique. It was a lot of work but so rewarding, and I had a blast! Most days my work requires that I mainly write pretty script letters and pull swashy flourishes for a wedding something-or-other. Yves, however, had us thinking outside the box (one of my favourite things to do). Here are some of what I consider to be my best words of the weekend...

That Guy

Here's the Helzberg Diamond television commercial that features my calligraphy. Any work that I had done for film prior to this was done alone in my studio, so it was fun to be on site to do the lettering, and on camera, too! Well, at least the pen on the other side of my hand was....

The Getty

At the beginning of this month, my husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. Playing hooky from work we went to the Getty and enjoyed some time away from real life.


This shot was taken out of the front window of the driverless tram that takes visitors up to the museum from the parking area below.


I loved how the sunlight looked on this painting. It was an unusual moment to see any painting there splashed with light as the shutters on the roof (shown below) close when the automatic sensors detect the heat of the sun passing in front of them.



                        There is such simple gorgeousness everywhere . . .


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        As we were leaving the sun came out ... love the lavender trellis!

Wedding Program Fans

These sweet fans and menus were created for Shea Curry and Justin Levy's wedding a couple of years ago. Their wedding was planned by Lisa Gorjestani of Details Event Planning and was an InStyle Weddings feature. The wedding was held at the fabulous Rancho del Cielo in Malibu which has a view of the ocean that goes on forever ... in fact I think you can see the curve of the earth from there! Everything looked fantastic ... the flowers, the tables, the decorations ... all hot pink, glowing orange and a little green thrown in for even more excitement. Isabel Lawrence Photographers were lovely and generous to provide these photos so that I could share them here – thank you!

                            Photos : © Isabel Lawrence Photographers

Chocolate Love

You must admit, chocolate is popular, and here is a stamp to prove it! They are available for purchase on Zazzle today. Feel free to contact me if you want a colour to coordinate or complement your event (a variety will be offered in the near future).

Always & Forever

This was one of my favourite weddings for may reasons but here are just three ... it was a complete joy working with the bride and her mother, Rosalie; the event planner, Linda Howard, is the consummate professional, and I love flourishing! Inside Weddings magazine also liked the wedding of Randie Rubaum and Alan Kleinman as it was featured in their Summer 2008 issue and an image, showing the monogram I created, is still used as an image in the flash frame on their website. Here are some images of my contribution to the festivities, courtesy of and with many thanks to John Solano Photography.

                                           Photos : © John Solano

Chandelier "Seating" Crystals

Making beautiful letters on paper is one thing, but making them on chandelier crystals brings calligraphy to a whole new dimension! From a 2007 wedding that was planned by Lisa Gorjestani of Details Event Planning, these crystals were presented on a chandelier for guests to find their seating assignment.

Fresh From The Archives

Just yesterday I found a wicker basket tucked away that held a couple of cute little dishes I was asked to hand letter on a few years ago. They were originally for a layout in Brides magazine and were later published in Maria McBride-Mellinger's book The Perfect Wedding Details. Here they are filled with confetti, but what would you fill them with to make the perfect wedding favour for your guests?

                                           Containers : Industrial Plastics

Happy May Day!

One of my fondest memories of when I was a child is May Day. My mum and I gathered flowers from our garden, wrapped them in a paper cone and tied them with a pretty ribbon. When we were done we took them round to our friends. Since I was little and quick it was my task to hang the posies on their front door, ring the bell and run!

Although that time is now gone, here is my May Day bouquet for you with wishes for a lovely day!

Papyrus Wedding Event

This past weekend I was able to participate in a Wedding Event hosted by Papyrus. I enjoyed meeting some very nice people while providing their names in calligraphy.

At the Studio City location the first thing I saw upon entering the store was a terrific floral arrangement provided by DellaRobbia. Todd Johnson displayed some innovative photography, Donna Wisdom showed some great tablescape options. There was a lovely cake and darling cupcakes from Big Sugar Bake Shop, and my chocoholic husband said the mini cupcake I brought home to him was delicious.

Sunday at the Topanga Plaza store, there was an equally gorgeous arrangement on display at the store entrance, provided by Mr. B's Flowers. Photographs by Christopher Glenn were on display, many in Papyrus frames that are classic and elegant to contemporary and fun. For most of the day we were serenaded by a classical guitarist, and there were three girls modeling some absolutely beautiful wedding gowns. Cake samples were provided by Doan's Bakery and the White Chocolate Coconut was scrumptious!

My favourite part, however, was the small world meeting that I had with the catering company Someone's in the Kitchen. Although we have never worked together, as it happens, we both did work for Nicole and Michael who were married last October in Malibu. The event was organized by Sasha Souza and you can check out a tiny bit of my work on the table number and seating cards for this wedding.

                                      Click on image for a larger view.

Thank You to The Bride's Nest

A mere thank you doesn't seem to adequately express my appreciation to Rosemary Hattenbach of The Bride's Nest for her overwhelmingly wonderful comments about my work. Thank you SO VERY MUCH Rosemary!
                                            Photo :: Elizabeth Messina

The Rhythm of Writing

It was an honour to have been asked to create the logo for this year's IAMPETH convention.  James Ivey, the guild's webmaster, spiffed it up wonderfully with colour and a drop shadow....

Hey Mr. Postman!

You've gotta love that we mere mortals now have the power to make postage stamps. Here is a set I created for the black-and-white themed wedding of Stacey Gardner and Mardy Fish. You can purchase these on Zazzle or, if you think you'd like a different colour combo, just drop me a note!


  

A Different Angle

After seeing an invitation layout similar to this in a bridal magazine, Julie had me create calligraphy for her invitation. Isn't this fun?!

Stylish and Green

Last year I had the opportunity to design an invitation and the reception pieces for Kaitlin Olson and Rob McElhenney's wedding in September. The couple star in the FX Channel's show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It was important to them to keep their wedding as "green" as possible.

Here are a few photos of some of the items which were generously provided by the wedding photographer Red Loft Studios. I must send a shout out to Jenny Stafford for taking the time and making a special effort to send a CD with images so I could post them on my new blog!

Lisa Gorjestani of Details Event Planning once again created an outstandingly elegant event. Over the six years we have worked together she has had me write on everything from rocks to chandelier crystals! (I'll post pics of the crystals another day.) For this wedding I hand lettered the menus on chalkboards that were placed on each table as well as signs that were used at each buffet station. The seating card rounds were hung from a manzanita branch tree, the base of which was covered with beautiful moss. The favours were made in the style of a seed packet and inside the glassine envelope was a note to their guests honoring them by planting a tree in a National Forest.

The wedding was featured in the Spring 2009 issue of InStyle Weddings and is online at the InStyle Weddings website. You can also see some additional pictures and a nice description of the wedding at Green Wedding Shoes.