southernafternoon.com

Happy Halloween!  And have we got a treat for you…a SALE!

We want to help you get a jump start on your holiday preparations and gifts by offering our personalized self-inking stamps for just $30 instead of the usual $40!  These stamps are a great way to add some flair and style to your personal stationery and belongings.  Maybe even to your wedding favors?

The stamps offer the same beauty, grace, whimsy, and quality you’ve come to expect from Paperwhites. It’s an affordable luxury that will streamline your holiday cards, put your mark on handmade gifts, and add some beauty to the everyday.  Each stamp comes with an additional ink cartridge which will allow approximately 10,000 total impressions.  An economical, custom alternative to sticky address labels and aching fingers.

They make great gifts, too!

For your Mom, the cookbook fiend:

For your Dad, the bookworm:

For your Niece, the tween queen:

For you, for being such a good girl this year:

You can check out the full line and the particulars for each design on our website. Ordering time is 2-3 weeks, so think about checking this to do off your list!

There is rain in the forecast for Cary this weekend.  Fitting for Halloween, not so much for any weddings planned.  Though I hear from that it’s good luck to be married on a rainy day.  Fortunately, there are ways to bring the sunshine with you everywhere you go.

This palette is bright, cheerful, bold, and an ideal way to make any day the sunniest ever, no matter what the actual weather is like.  Gerber daisies are one of my favorite flowers with their combination of casual shape and amped up color.  The lilies, dahlias and everything else bring warmth and happiness with their riot of color.  Just the right way to guarantee the sun no matter what the weather opts to do.

More sources and inspiration to brighten up any day on our Pinterest board

I’m so excited to do our first post featuring one of our own creations! We have more on the horizon, but were so giddy had to share.

These table numbers are so cute, so sweet, such a great idea!  Chalkboards are showing up all over the place and in all kinds of ways.  These are a slight twist on the classic slate, but instead of just written they are HAND-PAINTED by a local artist! No smudges, no smears, no bratty cousins or enterprising young bachelors switching things around.  Bonus?  The colors, while still subtle, are clear and true.  Everything from the font to the details in the corners is just right to compliment your special day.

Want to see more of Courtney and Zandy’s wedding? Visit DJ Joe Bunn’s blog to see some awesome details including a 50′s style soda fountain.

Want to see some more of our creations?  Check out our Paperwhites Wedding Goodies on Pinterest.

You know how really good chocolate and butter can make transcendentally good brownies?  Or how a perfect fabric makes a skirt drape just right?  The way using the right elements can make something lovely into something spectacular?  That’s how I feel about these necklaces.   Name necklaces are always sweet and charming, but when you pair them with this amazing calligraphy, you get something fantastic.

Good calligraphy makes all the difference here and on an invitation.  These necklaces from Brevity. are lettered by one of our favorite typographers/calligraphers, Crystal Kluge.  Classic, with a twist of whimsy.  The ultimate bridesmaid gift, perfect for the wedding day, perfect for later, perfect for yourself.  Just perfect.

Picture courtesy of Brevity. (check out their chevrons, too!)
Calligraphy by Crystal Kluge,
Check out our Pinterest Retail Therapy board for other great finds.

There are some color combinations that serve as a backdrop for your wedding.  They’re lovely and classic and always appropriate…and not the right choice for everyone.   Some brides prefer unusual color combinations, following the most current trends, adding a dash of drama. For example, the pool & cherry from yesterday and now the mustard and orchid of today.  It’s bold, it’s intense and it’s a little bit of awesome.

Mustard is everywhere right now.  The deep yellow is great in the everyday, but when you pair it with that gorgeous orchid color it takes on a femininity and grace that it doesn’t hold on its own.  The combo reflects the natural palette of a rich and exotic orchid, bringing a bit of the exotic to your wedding day.  From the pop of color in the boutonniere, to the cheeky fascinator in place of a veil, it’s a look that feels beyond modern, beyond cool, beyond the typical.  And just right for someone out there.

Mustard and orchid intriguing to you?  Check out the sources and more ideas on our Pinterest board.

Monday has arrived and with it comes a week full of excitement.  It’s such a great time of year!  Lots of amazing things shipping out, big doings in the studio (photo session!), gearing up for all those big and important days on the horizon.  I love that feeling of being at the start of something big–I suppose that’s a lot of what the stationery business is about.

But for now, onto our amazing ideas of the day!  And, oh, how I love this combination!  That cool blue and the cherry red always make me happy.  It’s bright and cheerful and fresh.  We’ve seen a similar combo for the holidays, but this works brilliantly for late in the springtime, too.  The pool blue is clean, clear and a bit more saturated than the winter shade.  The red has a bit of coolness to it that softens it just slightly.  Everything from the broach bouquet to the yummy looking slushy makes this a perfect palette.

Sources for all these pics, along with lots of other pool and cherry spottings on our Pinterest Board.

Of all the trends I’ve been seeing lately, this is one that I think has the most versitility and use beyond your wedding day.  The bright colors with white zig zag stripes of a chevron pattern look contemporary and hip, but can easily be added to just about any decor.  A rug, a runner,a chair adds that really great graphic *pop* that you didn’t even know you were missing.

Lots more chevrons and sources for these super cool pics at Pinterest.

What once was the foundation of most of my 4th grade artwork is now sophisticated, cool and high style.   I’ve started to see rainbows everywhere (and not in the slightly trippy, double rainbow kind of way) and for all varieties of weddings and unions.  And, really, what’s not to love?  The colors range from cheerful primaries to sweet pastels.  It sets a mood of fun and whimsy.  It’s just happy and hopeful.  What a great concept for the start of a new life together!

A element here and there will keep your wedding from veering into crazy Skittles commercial territory, but you may want to make it a bold element so that the theme isn’t lost in the riot of color.  That cake comes to mind (SOOO COOOOOL!!), as does that dress.   Then move on to a few, small accents and you end up with a beautiful compliment to the couple’s enduring love.

Sources and a full spectrum of other rainbow ideas can be found on our Pinterest Board!

Attention all bibliophiles–this one’s for you!! This collection of ideas makes me smile all the way to my toes.  I’m more than a little enamored with the idea of a cardigan with a wedding dress.  I get a little weak-kneed at the discarded book art and paper flowers.  And if you ever wanted to see the mythical bridesmaid dress you can wear again, this is it!

Overall, what this theme brings to mind is that what’s important in planning your wedding is not so much the latest trend, but bringing yourself and your loves to the table.  There are a million great ideas out there, but if you choose concepts that aren’t “you” it will feel like you stepped into the wedding of a  stranger.  So if you are a glitter fan, go with it!  And if you’re more the quiet library lover, make that part of your day.

Lots more Library love and sources for these images on our Pinterest board!

Though we still harbor deep and unabiding love for them, the cupcake trend is on the wane. There’s been much written about what will take the crown. A clear front runner is emerging…Macarons.

Macarons aren’t the yummy little pyramids of coconut (that one has two “oo”s–macaroon). These are delicate puffs of finely ground nuts in merengu, sandwiching buttercream. The array of flavors and colors guarantees there is one to match your festivities. And while they aren’t impossible to make at home, most people leave macaron making to the pros, which makes them all the more special. My favorite so far was a pale green pistachio with raspberry, but every one has been delicious. Have you tried them? Will they be part of a special day in your future?


For more pretty macaron pictures, as well as a link to a great DIY, check out our pinterest board.