Small Business Spotlight

When I was a child I was given a Christmas gift of a couple pounds of homemade Peanut Brittle. Being a child with no self-control, I ate so much I made myself sick. It took me about 20-some years before I could indulge once again in the salty-sweety goodness of Brittle. Just in time for me to savor a few of the unique and delectible flavors of "Artisan Brittle" created by our friend Max of Morning Glory Confections. (I love having friends making delicious things!) I have to say, as one who enjoys spicy, the "New Mexico Chili & Pumkin Seed" is my ultimate favorite, but honestly they all are delicious.  Send a sampler box to a loved one and it includes a lovely letterpress card, printed by yours truly. 

I heart collaborations.

Another wonderful project, this time wedding invitations.  Designed by the Bride, Carrie Smith. Her design is one that I appreciate, classy and elegant yet contemporary. It's an elaborate creation without being tacky. She's good. And I was honored to help create these beauties. The Invite is a large piece of 100% cotton paper, blind embossed on the back, 3 color printed (orange, charcoal, blind emboss) on the front, folded twice and glued to make a pocket, then finished off with a little letterpress seal! Oh I just love the look of blind emboss! 

Photos.

I've finally found the time and energy to post some of the wonderful photos taken by my friend Mike Underwood of Underwood pics. It is really satisfying to finally have some professional photos taken of my work. {These photos and more, soon to be making an appearance on our new website.} 

The background is provided by our kitchen table. 

Fascinators!

Looking for a unique way to adorn your head? Or an alternative to a traditional bridal veil? Perhaps a Fascinator is your answer. Fascinators range from demure creations of silk flowers, to elaborate ensembles of feathers, bobbles and beads.

SmittenXOXO offers a wide range of beautiful, well-crafted headpieces at an extremely reasonable price.  In a month or less, she will fashion you a custom fascinator using her amazing skills in color and composition. (Note: Buy one to wear on your dress too.)

{Above images: SmittenXOXO}

Fascinators also serve as a way to anchor your traditional or retro veil. Unveiled Bridal Designs offer a variety of fascinator and veil combos that you can customize to your liking. I just adore these eye length wedge veils, so chic! 

{Above images: Unveiled Bridal Designs}

826LA Collaboration

Flora and Fauna had the honor of teaming up with designer Amy Martin to Create 826LA's Holiday Cards. They can be purchase via their website, or stop by the Echo Park Travel Mart if you are in the L.A. area. All proceeds go toward funding 826LA.  

Invites, Birds, Cake

I had the pleasure of designing invitations for my friends' wedding in Austin, TX. Andrea, the bride, is a lover of all animals especially birds, so I drew her a couple of little sparrows and incorporated them into the invites. (I'm also proud of my hand-drawn map, complete with drawings of the church, the country club, UT, and the TX capitol.)

The happy couple then gave my bird designs to the cake maker extraordinaire at Coco Paloma Desserts. She translated my bird designs into fondant beauty! Furthermore, the cake was amazing, with a chocolate layer AND a vanilla layer. I will confess I had a slice of each. 

Flora and Fauna Press 2009 Calendars

Finally...after many months of design and printing, our 2009 letterpress calendars are here. 

These quarterly calendars consist of 4 designs, each inspired by a season and printed in three colors (a true test of our registration skills). The best part is, we've provided dotted trim lines, so you can have 4 little prints to frame when the year is over. 

(click thumbnail for larger image)

Treat Yourself...

It's October... the time of year we are all tempted by little Halloween size candies and chocolates sitting around in dishes everywhere. My suggestion is to forgo all the store-bought, partially hydrogenated candies and go for a quality treat. Purchase one at your local bakery, or make one yourself. 

MUMMY & GHOST CUPCAKES- cookie jar bakery

HALLOWEEN CAKE- bleeding heart bakery

VAMPIRE CUPCAKE & FRANKENSTEIN CAKE- both from horrorgourmet

Miniature Posts Series: Tiny House Blog

There's something attractive about the idea of cutting down your possessions and moving the essentials into a 15" x 15" space. That being said, there is also something terrifying about it. While most of us will never do this - outside of an apartment building, that is - we can still read about those who do on Tiny House Blog. We thought it would be a good idea to buy three of these tiny houses to constitute one normal-sized house, with a garden between the three. That would never be inconvenient!

Hello, Wedding Toppers!

What is the most important part of a wedding? The dress? The flowers? The stationary (well...)? The bride and/or groom? Or is it the one thing that the wedding couldn't be considered a proper wedding without... the cake toppers? Those little representations of you and your beloved are, in some worlds, the most vital of all wedding components (This is probably not true, but let's pretend for the sake of this epic blog post). While it is all fine and good to go the traditional route and stick two plastic people on top of your cake, we at Flora and Fauna would like to encourage a more enlightened approach. An approach which includes animals, zombies, complete strangers and robots. 

A custom topper might be the most exciting, but you shouldn't limit yourself to the traditional looks-like-us toppers. Instead, why not get a custom looks-like-us-craving-brains Zombie topper from Bear Eats Bunny, or a looks-like-us-if-we-were-an-endearingly-molded-godzilla-and-cat topper from Zebra 1684 Creations? (Seriously, is this the best thing ever? If not, it certainly sits high in the ranks.)

If you prefer something cleaner and more collected, why not employ the services of CornflakeGirl and get a custom bird couple? And even if you have perfect eyesight, why not have bird-you wear those awesome glasses?

If nerd-chic appeals to you, perhaps these Elegant Robot toppers from Builders Studio are right for you. There's something very Art Deco and recollective of Metropolis about them.

If nothing here strikes your fancy, perhaps you would find excitement in my favorite option: wedding toppers that are not you. If you don't have the budget to go custom, this option is the easiest, and if you do have the ability to send away for your dream toppers, this option could be the most creative. The idea is, in a nutshell, to attempt to find or make a couple that is so distant from your own physical appearance that it becomes something entirely memorable. For example, you could order this custom wedding topper from Sophia's Workshop, which depicts two happy strangers dressed as Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Are you a nice, dark-haired Armenian couple that would never, in a million years, flounce around in Disney garb? Then this topper is perfect for you. It will not go forgotten.