Recent Work: Cash's Birth Announcements

As you can imagine, it was SO hard for me to narrow down the design of my own sons birth announcements. I was getting too flustered with ideas, that I almost ordered announcements from one of those template design dot coms. I'm glad I didn't because I really wanted to give Cash his own custom design.

My concept for his announcements were mostly driven by typography, then driven by photography, & then followed by a pop of color. If I sound kind of scatter brained, then welcome to my world... hahaha! I get so many ideas flying through my brain that I create so many design layouts, then ask my husband for his opinion to help narrow down the options. Thank goodness for my better half to help me focus. Life of a designer I suppose...

When I saw that the Johnny Cash stamps were for sale via U.S. Postal Service, I immediately bought a billion of them while I was pregnant with Cash, knowing that I would use them for this particular project. Yes... yes... Cash's name was derived from the famous Johnny Cash, however we wanted to honor our dad's by naming our son John or Johnny, but since John & Johnny are such popular names, we fell in love with the name Cash to pay homage to his grandfather's as well as the great musician.

I designed the announcements on a bright white linen paper stock to give the look an organic touch & to compliment the hand written typeface. I've been obsessed with the color orange, so I went with that color to feature on the announcement. And my husband chose a deeper navy blue envelope to compliment. I was able to find a bronzed colored ink pad for our return address stamp & then I hand wrote the addressee's with a bronze Sharpie marker. I just absolutely LOVE how they turned out!

I've got to say that I had so much fun photographing this little guy. At the time of the shoot, Cash was about 5 weeks old & was so comfortable laying on his tummy. I captured some awesome pics that I will for sure cherish forever. Here were a few other pic options I was deciding on.

All Photos by: Tawny Doan

Weekend Wrap Up: i heart themed parties!

Happy Holidays friends! It's that time of season where holiday parties are constant & the sweeter things in life are of abundance. What better way to celebrate the Holidays than to throw a cookie exchange party! I'm a huge fan of themed parties..... to think of it, ever since we have moved into our house, we've thrown about half a dozen crazy themed ones. This one in particular was our most successful. Our guests really came out to support our cookie cause & we are SO THANKFUL for everyones contribution & help. A few highlights below of the party & our makeshift Holiday photobooth. I think our parents really enjoyed the photobooth...haha! 

Invitation design: Tawny Doan Art & Design

Home baked goods made by my fabulous friends!

Peanut Butter Balls were a huge hit!

Holiday party success!

Photos by: Tawny Doan Art & Design

Engagement Party: Brittany+Grant

I'm SO excited to post this particular engagement....... you know why???...... Cuz my sister-in-law & soon-to-be brother-in-law are ENGAGED to be married. Yaaahooo! Oh happy day! Their engagement party was a success - many thanks to the brides parents (uhhh-hemm... my in-laws) for hosting a fantastic afternoon celebration.

Here are a few snapshots of the absolutely adorable couple & the bridal party, which they so graciously announced at the party. They also described each of the bridal party members and how much each person means to the couple. 

Engagement invitation (designed by: yours truly!)

Lots of smooches.

Bridal Party

Phew... snuck in just in time. Bridesmaid....whut whut!

Invitation Design: Brent's Grad Invitations

I'm so proud of my husband for graduating with his Master of Business Administration earlier this year. His year & a half in the graduate program flew by super fast. I'm sure he was just as happy to finally finish his graduate degree. After many late nights of typing reports, reviewing case studies & meeting up with fellow classmates for group projects, Brent was able to complete his degree with one of the highest GPA's in his graduating class. Way to go babe! You're a Master now =D

Here are the invitations I created for his special day. Instead of an image of him, like traditional grad announcements, I made him into a cartoon! We celebrated with close friends & family after the commencement at one of our fave burger joints, Eureka! Burger.

Invitation Design: Bunco & Beer Bonanza

B-U-N-C-O...... pronounced like bunk-co. 

It's a known as a suburban elder lady dice game played with her fellow elder lady friends. Kind of like the Red Hat Society.....but without the red hats.

I've played bunco a few times before this & had a blast. I always forget the how to play, but when you start to play, the game gets intense AND insanely loud!! My husband gave me the O.K. to throw a bunco party. I.... being the clever gal that I am..... themed the party Bunco AND Beer Bonanza! I must admit, the beer sampling played a huge role at our party. By the end of the evening, the name of the game was changed to Drunko!!

We invited our family & close friends to join us & play. Everyone was skeptical about the game, knowing it was an "old lady" game. However, like I said earlier, the beer thing really kept things interesting. 

Overall, I think (hope) the party was a success. Everyone who had attended the party are already asking when the next Bunco & Beer Bonanza will be. I guess we will see.... hahaha!

Here are shots of the invitations I mailed out to my guests. We used an air horn to start & stop each round. Big mistake... the head table was thoroughly enjoying blowing that darn thing. I hope our neighbors didn't get too annoyed. Oh well.

By the end of the 3 games & when the tally marks were counted, we had to have a roll off to determine who would win a prize. Our long-time friend Josh won the roll off & was a runner up for the most bunco's. And the girl who won it all, was our good friend Adrianna, who by the way I am designing their wedding invites for their October wedding (soon to come). =)

 

 

 

Graduation Announcements: Brittany D.

I'm sorry that I haven't posted a blog in a while. I have been incredibly busy lately. No excuses... I know! But better late than never.... Here is a post about a quick graduation announcement project I did for my beautiful & wonderful sister-in-law, Brittany Doan.

Graduating with your Bachelors degree is an accomplishment. Graduating with your Masters degree is an accomplishment too, but on a LARGER scale of accomplishments. My sister-in-law just graduated with her Masters in Education with a concentration in Special Education. I am such a proud sister-in-law!

Brittany has worked her bum off for this degree.... I know.... I heard all about it =) I'm a huge supporter of higher education. My family & friends are such S-M-A-R-T-y pants. I am blessed to be surrounded by motivated, go-getter kind of peoples. It also motivates me to reach beyond what I know.

I offered to design her graduation announcements. She could have gone with the bleh, ivory, linen-frayed, gold sealed, envelope within an envelope, plastered with the Cal Poly's school logo on it kind of graduation announcement instead..... but we talked & came up with this announcement that screamed Miss Brittany Doan!

Brit loves a pair of sassy boots.... so we added an image of a sassy graduating girl with boots! Brit loves the color turquoise. Why go with the forced boring school colors when you can opt for a poppy hue! I tried to design the announcement with as much "Brittany" in mind. I sent her the announcements & she LOVED the way they turned out. Of course I loved them too!

Congratulations Miss Brittany Doan on accomplishing her Masters degree. She deserves a HOORAY! Big pat on the back & a hug & a kiss from your sister-in-law!

XOXO,
Tawny

Miki & Friends

"Care for a spot of tea?" (said with an English accent).

Afternoon tea at The Langham Hotel in Pasadena, CA, was a nice way to spend a slightly chilly, sunny, & beautiful Saturday. The girls arrived one by one, dropped off by there parents & began to congregate in the lush & serene hotel courtyard. Tea length dresses, rosy cheeks, & a little bit of lip gloss. These tweens were ready to celebrate my cousin, Miki's 12th birthday in style.

Oh..... to be 12 years of age once again (insert *sigh here). I remember when I was 12. I was a spunky little gymnast without a care in the world. Traveling to gymnastic competitions all over the region, winning & losing some medals. Trying to be "cool" by putting glitter in my hair to make sure I literally sparkled while I tumbled & flipped through the air to impress the judges. Hey.... don't judge me.... I aimed to impress, even at age 12. Being 12 was such an easy age. I really appreciate my parents for putting up with my hectic competition schedule. They did not really get a weekend. I was there weekend. Now as an adult, the weekend is my down time from the crazy work week. I LOVE weekends & wish weekends were at least a day longer. Thanks mom & dad for motivating me to be a good athlete & for being my ride to my competitions. I really did love each moment I spent flipping, tumbling, twisting, turning, falling, & crying. It made me a stronger person to deal with daily life challenges.

Enough reminiscing for now. I know Miki was super appreciative of her mom & family for planning a lovely afternoon with her closest friends. She got all dolled up for the occasion & looked so beautiful, like the young lady she is growing up to be. Man she makes me feel old! They grow so fast.

I was invited to share in her special day & was able to document the afternoon. I designed this invitation for her party to play up the "Tea Time" theme. I wanted to make sure each guest got the point of the Tea party theme by designing the invitation to look like a tea bag itself. I had so much fun designing this cutesy themed invitation for my beloved cousin Mikayla.

Detail below.

Little Ladies.

Delish scones & to die for desserts.

Front of the Hotel.

So youthful.

Funny face or Smile?!?!

Happy Happy 12th Birthday Mikayla!!

I hope you enjoyed your special day.