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Aquatic, Easter, Gold, Hot Pink, Papertopias, Seahorse, Watercolor
31 Sunday Mar 2013
Posted Ruth Irving, Paper Artist
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Aquatic, Easter, Gold, Hot Pink, Papertopias, Seahorse, Watercolor
15 Friday Feb 2013
Hello and Happy Wednesday! I asked Kesley of Mistu Company to create something special for our winter readers, and she designed a beautifully illustrated invitation suite and matching cocktail for you to sip on while enjoying this bit of winter wonderland here in Brooklyn.
Kelsey is an graphic designer, living and working from Brooklyn, NY. She works under the guise of Mistu Company and designs custom wedding invitations and party goods. Beyond invitations she is an aspiring sign painter and avid cocktail enthusiast.
Invitations set the mood & style for what people will expect at your event, but nothing sets the tone for your party like a delicious signature cocktail. The style for this couple’s invitation suite was inspired by the backs of old cabinet card photos, which they had collected throughout the years. The wedding was set in a restored Art Deco bank lobby, which was styled with floral arrangements on stacks old books, along with cabinet card photos and other collected vintage elements. To follow along with the theme, we came up with a signature cocktail reminiscent of the classic Manhattan cocktail. We named the cocktail “La Cerisse,” french for The Cherry. The spices in this cocktail remind me of the holidays and the rye whisky can warm up even the coldest of winter days. Cheers!
“La Cerisse”
2 oz. Rye Whisky
3/4 oz. Heering Cherry Liquer
1/2 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 Honey Syrup
1/4 St Elizabeth Allspice Dram
Makes 1 cocktail
Equipment:
Cocktail Shaker
Jigger (or other measuring tool of the liquid ounce nature)
Ice
Lemon peel (for garnish)
Honey Syrup: Mix Equal parts hot water and honey. This will allow the honey to be easily mix into the cocktail. Refrigerate- keep for as long the sell by date on the container.
For the Cocktail:
1. Make honey syrup, let cool to room temperature.
2. Add ice to cocktail shaker and add all ingredients listed
3. Give the contents a few good, hard shakes
4. Strain and serve up in desired cocktail glass. Here we used my grandmother crystal wine glasses, she’s a classy lady.
5. Garnish with a lemon peel and Enjoy!
sidenote: If you can’t find Cherry Heering at your local liquor store any generic brand of Cherry Liquor will do. St. Elizabeth Allspice dram may be a hard one to find. In case of this you can steep whole allspice berries in hot water (about 10 minutes), then use that water to make the honey syrup. In this instance use 3/4 oz of allspice-honey syrup.
All liquor ingredients can be found here: Astorwines.com
xo
Ruth
14 Thursday Feb 2013
Posted Ruth Irving, Paper Artist
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04 Thursday Oct 2012
With fall approaching, I wanted to dig up one of my favorite weddings from last fall that took place at the Prospect Park Boathouse. I was thrilled to hear from this “off beat” sort of bride. She was looking to me to conjure up some super interesting elements for her fall wedding that incorporated vintage and steampunk elements.
To start the bride wanted to make sure of two things. 1) Use lots of orange, and 2) Use dried Chinese lanterns. The task was on! For the centerpieces, we decided to use my serpentine vases that snaked in a semi circle on the tables that have a combination of Chinese Lanterns and fiddle head ferns. On either side of the serpentine snake, we had a mini bronze urns that had deep red Black Baccara roses, Orange Protea, Scabiosa pods, Dahlias, and berries. We chose a finely woven jute table cloth to neutralize the bright oranges, but, keep it warm. Another personal touch for the table tops were the table numbers. The bride talked with Ruth to create a separate design for each table number with cogs, keys and gears all taken from the bride‘s beautiful full piece back tattoo.
The bride’s bouquet was one of my favorites. We went with a super rich and over saturated color palette to contrast her gorgeous vintage-inspired lace dress. Her girls were in gorgeous lace and copper satin dresses and also held a rich, autumnal bouquet of flowers.
Her card table was super fun! We decided to use my vintage tool organizer for the card table display. Each of us spent time collecting old clock keys that became the anchor for the name tags created by the super talented Ruth Irving of Papertopias. Each key was nestled in a cubby hole, resting on top of a vintage napkin. Next to the tool organizer was my gorgeous vintage type writer from the 1920’s that was used as the guest book. The paper was also hand crafted by Ruth Irving featuring a customized monogram to signify their special day.
28 Friday Sep 2012
Q: What is the difference between an escort card and a name tag?
Escort cards and name tags are both ways of helping your guests find their place to sit at your wedding. These elements can add a lovely personal touch to the overall aesthetic and feeling of the day.
Escort tags vary greatly in design, but hold the same essential information: the guest’s name and table. You can write multiple guests’ names together on one escort card for a couple or family. The escort cards are then displayed together before the guests enter the dining area, typically in alphabetical order. A tree, box of lollipops, chalkboard or antique shelves are a few ways of displaying escort cards.
Name tags are usually found at the table in front of a seat. They can be displayed on the table, held by succulents, toys, or placed on top of the menu or napkin on the plate. The largest difference when thinking about what option you want to go with is that with escort cards your guests find their own seats at a chosen table. With name tags, you decide in which seats your guests will sit at a chosen table.
xo, Ruth31 Friday Aug 2012
Posted Ruth Irving, Paper Artist
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Last week Rebecca, Carissa, Anni and I worked on a beautiful, rustic wedding at the Brooklyn Winery. There will be a full blog post to show the all the amazing paper, flower and lighting details soon!
When the couple, Kelly and Jason, and I got together to talk about their design needs and ideas, they described their united love of exploring music, food and tasty beverages together. They decided celebrating this would be the focus of their wedding illustrations. One of the elements used to depict this was a custom alphabet designed to help their guests find their names among the escort cards. Kelly and Jason used Rebecca’s beautiful old shutters to display the cards. It was a total blast to create. I hope you enjoy!
xo,
Ruth