Our Southwest Trip

Hello Everyone!

It's been quite hectic these couple of weeks after coming home from our 17 day trip to the Southwest. My husband, baby girl and I drove to Arizona (Sedona specifically), New Mexico, drove through Colorado and went to Utah to visit family. Compared to last year, the weather was awesome ... not too hot or too cold. I have to say, though, that this trip, besides our Italy trip 5 years ago, is one of the best. I LOVE New Mexico with its beautiful landscape, architecture, and the people are so easy going! We visited so many different areas and stayed to some nice bed and breakfast places. Here are just a couple of images that I'd like to share.

Beautiful Sedona, Arizona:






The Painted Desert at Petrified Forest (you have to actually see how magnificent this looks!)






Albuquerque, New Mexico...I love the red chilies!






Here are a couple of the bed and breakfast places that we stayed at:

Elaine's, New Mexico: http://www.elainesbnb.com/

Casa Escondida, Chimayo, New Mexico: http://www.casaescondida.com/

Til next time,
Raquel

2009 Color Trends

In my spare time, I do some research on colors and trends for weddings and the home!!

So, here's a little snippet of information from ezine articles. I'm glad our invitations are still hot and trendy with all the hot colors and tropical themes!

"Look out for big tropical colour schemes focusing around Turquoise and Bright Yellow Shades. Mix these colours in with a tropical wedding theme. Bold favour boxes trimmed with yellow and blue ribbons and co-ordinating place settings will give guests the illusion of the heady climes of the tropics! Ask your florist about introducing a splash of these colours into floral centrepieces and co-ordinate with wedding cake trims."

Some of our pieces that will coordinate well with that:



"Making a comeback this year will also be Bright Orange colour schemes. These will work really well when coupled with softer peach tones and the occasional shocking orange splash. You could dot bright orange cameras and bright orange petals about your reception tables for maximum effect. Tie peach favour boxes with bright orange ribbon and introduce Orange Gerberas or Tiger Lilies into bridal bouquets and floral centrepieces."

Ooooh, orange has been really popular this year and as said in this article next year too! Some beautiful invites from us...






"Pinks are always in fashion when it comes to wedding style, but as 2009 is all about making a statement, strong, luminous pinks are the shades to go for. As before, keep dresses and bridal party outfits classical and think about introducing the pink tones into reception decor. A great way to get bright luminous pink into your event is by having a cup-cake wedding cake. Each mini-cake can be tiered to give the effect of an all-encompassing wedding cake, yet a retro luminous pink icing and a fancy motif topping will give each cake a trendy feel. Mini cakes are also a massive hit with younger guests and some wedding cake specialists are able to make individual cakes to cater for various food intolerances which are worth knowing. Floral arrangements can be kept white and interspersed with bright pink feathers and co-ordinating ribbon."

Some beautiful pinks on our collection...






"So, whether you are having a tantalisingly tropical event, an outrageous orange occasion or a pretty pink affair, anyone who's anyone in 2009, will definitely be hosting a bright, bold, beautiful and full-of-colour wedding!"

Di Tullio's

Working at Passion Paper has been such a pleasure! We meet so many different people and have become friends with many of them around the country! We recently worked with Lisa and Philip's invitation and have been getting emails from "Di Tullio's Fine Neapolitan Foods"  newsletter. If you happen to be in San Francisco on Friday, September 12, try out Di Tullio's  wonderful treats at La Cocina.

What have we been working on? It's been quite hectic, as always! We've been working on Marina's regale gold and crystal invitations, something quite different here at Passion Paper. I do honestly love it! I love combining the different colors and textures of things!

We also just finished Camaleta's turquoise and orange Ocean Union Invites:



and our good friend, Gil's invitations too.



We're also finishing up Erica's and Tim's Pineapple invitations. I really like how these came out. They came to us a couple of months ago loving the Botanical Love invitations and pineapple artwork motif. Together in our one-on-one meeting at our studio, we came up with the look and feel of their invitations. I am just finishing up some small details to make them pop even more and loving it!

We're going to start working on another friend's daughter's Princess theme invitation. Her mom has been one of my good friends from way back in high school. We were inspired by their cake. I'll post images on those later!

Besides Passion Paper, I am also a Mom! We made Passion Paper a full time work for me, a couple of months after Renée was born. She is now a spirited 2 year old! So, if you hear a child screaming or saying "Mommy, mommy, mommy!" Don't mind it, it's just her!

Til next time!

Seashell Wreaths

Hello! I've been browsing the web a bit today and came across these beautiful wreaths from Beastropicaldesigns.com. Many people have been asking for some and here they are! Enjoy!!

View her work at: http://www.beastropicaldesigns.com

Images are from beastropicaldesigns.com

Busy Bee

We've been busy, busy, busy! That's why I haven't written for so long. I don't know where December went and now it's 2008! It was a great holiday. Though, it went by too fast. We had our celebration at the house. Renée, who is now 1-1/2, was so excited to have everyone over. When she gets excited, she forgets to eat and nap! She kept squealing with delight while running along with her cousin. They are so cute! Our New Year's was really mellow and decided to just stay home with the little one.

So now another year has passed. What are we currently working on? I was finishing up a watercolor artwork of falling leaves for Kara this afternoon. I will be continuing the other half of her artwork tomorrow. I just finished the Africa map and flower for Luanne. Doing lots of production right now, well, not now at this instant. A couple of days ago I finished up a series of beach chairs and some palm leaves. Those designs will soon be featured in the site.

What's happening with our little one? To my surprise today, she finally figured out her little ABCD and shape puzzles. I kept watching her and she seems to be figuring them out by color! After that achievement, she wanted every puzzle in her room, even the complicated ones. Her daddy started teaching her the complicated shape puzzle with triangles, octagons, ovals, etc. She loves playing with her brushes and chalk too, but she's a righty (I'm a lefty)...anyways, that's it.