If you have a moment, and love to look at stationery, you should check out the Trendy Awards that are being put on by Stationery Trends Magazine. The voting process is much like Grand Rapid’s ArtPrize with a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” option to narrow down the entries. The first round of voting goes until March 12th, then you will be able to vote for one of the top 10 to be the grand winner.

Syd Design submitted in two categories. We submitted a flowery pochette invite in bridal and one of the designs from our “Naughty Midwest” line in greeting cards.

The naughty greeting card is available on our new online shop to purchase!

I know it seems like we’ve been inundated with bridal shows here in West Michigan (which, even vendors agree, we have), but I must share with you what looks to be one of the most unique shows this season!

It’s called The Wedding Experience, and instead of being in a big hall with rows of seemingly unrelated booths, it will be held at the Amway Grand Plaza with a host of superb vendors! (including myself!!)

The show is taking over all of the main ballrooms and the foyer. Attendees will get the experience of a real wedding set up in these separate rooms where vendors will be scattered around.

Also fun ~ GP Sports has special discounts on food & drinks (great for grooms & dads!), plus attendees are welcome to tour the Amway’s Honeymoon Suites.

If you aren’t bridal-showed out yet, or just recently got engaged, I highly suggest attending this unique show. If you do attend, I look forward to meeting you! I will be handing out Syd Design goodies in The Gerald R. Ford Ballroom.

Save the date for the show: Sunday, March 7th, 2010 {12pm - 5pm}

“Up North” is a common saying around Michigan which translates to skiing, snowshoeing & ice fishing in the winter; lilacs, wine tours & a Mackinac Island bike ride in the spring; beaches, boating & salmon fishing in the summer; and of course deer hunting & color tours in the fall.

For this couple, Christina & Duncan, it means a vow of marriage. The couple was wed at one of my very favorite places, Boyne Highlands in Harbor Springs. Their guests actually had to ride the chair lift up to the top of the mountain where the ceremony took place at a quaint log cabin chapel called Graham Chapel. The celebration continued back down the mountain at the lodge. Boyne hosts weddings all year round and can provide various settings for every type of wedding style.

The couples stationery reflected the location with a mountain landscape, a chair life “seal” and best of all a chair lift ticket. The lift tickets were made with a real wicket and sent out with the invitations. The tickets had different times and served the purpose of keep the line at the ski lift flowing smoothly. I loved working on their details and creating fun ski-related design concepts!

My husband and I visit Boyne Highlands at least a couple times a year and never tire of it’s beauty & scenery, plus the staff is accommodating and very pleasant. I highly recommend this location for any Up North wedding, and hope I can work with more Boyne brides in the future!

I am so excited to share Meghan & Brad’s wedding with you! The couple came to me looking for something swanky that included their silhouettes & colors. Using images from their engagement session, I created their silhouettes and they chose a damask pattern to finish the design.

It was all in the details for this bride, as we worked together to create escort cards, place cards, programs, favor tags, a wish book, rehearsal invites, thank you cards and even cute bridesmaid notes that she sent along with their dresses! This was a truly inspirational couple to work with and I’m happy to have their beautiful silhouettes forever in my portfolio.

These amazing images are by Grant & Leandra from Grant Isaac Studios. I especially loved the kiss on the dance floor - adorable!

This weekend I was honored to host (along with friends!) a baby shower for a very special girl friend. The mom-to-be is having a baby girl and has decorated the nursery with a Tiffany Blue and Chocolate Brown, inspired by Restoration Baby’s nursery gallery.

The shower was held at The Tea Cozy in downtown Indianapolis. Our very pleasant tea mistress walked us through tea time with some tea history, games, three yummy pots of tea and a tier of pastries. It was a unique and special experience - I would highly recommend Tea Cozy if you are looking for a private party venue around Indy or if you are just looking for some stellar tea.

I must point out that the cute little cupcakes came from Crumbles Cupcakery in Grand Rapids. They were a chocolate-orange flavored cake and received raving reviews from all the guests!

I was delighted to create the invites, game cards, baby memory book, dotted decor, cootie catchers and cupcake flags. Thank you, Zoe, for being preggers so we could shower you!

I would like to share with you an August wedding that I was happy to design for. This wedding was located at the Laketown Golf & Conference Center in Saugatuck and photographed by Andrew & Tiffany of Marc Photography. The dark berry and lime green colors made me feel like I was designing a fairytale invitation. Yet, their very real wedding was a beautifully elegant event with small splashes of those very vibrant colors. Carefully selected details, like spider mums, escort cards, chair shashes and ties brought the color of this wedding to life. My favorite part of Leah & Brian’s big day is that they had a coldstone ice cream station in lue of cake!

More images from Marc Photography’s Blog.

Back to orange & fuchsia
I am so excited to show you this vibrant August wedding. Not only does it look like a beautiful event, but the couple was fortunate to have Kelly Sweet Photography there to capture these amazing images, from the brightly-colored decor to the fun, beautiful couple! Thank you for working with me, Jennifer & Jason! I truly enjoyed exploring in your fantastic color combo!!

UICA Holiday Artist’s Market ‘09

Thank you, UICA for accepting me into your market this year. I had a very nice time, meeting customers and highly talented local artists! I very much look forward to next year’s market at the new building, The Gallery!!

Here are just a few of my favorite vendors at the show:

Beth B Fowler (painter & sister-in-law!)
Alynn Guerra (lovely & fun printmaking)
Robyn Kane (sleek metal jewelry)
Jacquelyn Kroll (yay for beautiful stationery!)
Jane Kropewnicki (hats & dolls from recycled sweaters)
Jason Rood (fun, unique illustrations in a modern display)