Happy Cupcake Friday

Sweet treats by Sweet Art!
Happy Cupcake Friday and weekend everyone!

Reflections on Illy

I love these collector espresso and cappucino sets by artist William Kentridge for Illy. If you take a close look, he has illustrated the effect of the images "reflecting" from cup to saucer!

Shop Friend: M. Clifford Bags

I had some emails requesting more images from the M. Clifford line when we posted up our Tuesday Threads yesterday. Here are a few more of their handbags...all in lush leathers!

Tuesday Threads: M.Clifford Handbags

Good patent leather can make a girl go weak in the knees. We just got in some M.Clifford handbags made of gorgeous leathers. My favorite happens to be this purple gem so we've elected it for our Tuesday Threads!

above: M. Clifford purple patent leather purse $360. Available at Cat Seto.

above: coat with pockets by SDII $89, black jersey tunic $59 on sale
copper bow/charm necklace $36.50. Available at Cat Seto.

Cadenza: "I'd swing this bag over a great patterned coat and comfortable tunic for one of those days I want to look effortlessly chic, and at the same time secretly as comfortable as can be!"

Julie: "This matte shiny leather bag makes almost everything you wear look hip. I matched it with this comfortable jewel enhanced top with different shades of purple and grey fleece jacket. It feels just like it looks; Fun and Comfortable!"

Tien and David: Recap!

You may have remembered a couple I posted about who had the sweetest story about how they had known each other since grade school. Tien and David sat side by side in their grade school pictures but it wasn't until much later (after they'd graduated from college) that David rang Tien up by phone and asked her out. The rest was history, and they planned a school house themed wedding to celebrate their love story. Click here to see the post, as well as the post of Minhee at Paper + Cup (whose own school house wedding was featured in Martha Stewart Weddings) helping out with some creative tips and ideas for their wedding.


I asked them to catch me and the team up with their newlywed life and they sent over these pics of their wedding. I gave a huge awwwww...when I saw those "Giving Tree" programs. So perfect!


And here is what Tien wrote to me about their newlywed life:
"Life post Wedding Day has really passed by in a flash--every once in a while, as I'm sure any newly hitched couple will tell you, you sort of catch your breath looking down at his hand or yours, seeing a ring and wondering in amazement: "holy moly, we're Married!" You feel overwhelmed with this rush of adulthood, all heady and heavy but still just as exciting as the first day you got behind the wheel."

above: the honeymooners in Bali

I am so lucky to meet couples that grace our Paper Studio with such connected spirits. Congratulations to you Tien and David, we wish you only the best!

Happy Cupcake Friday

Some "Bollywood" chocolate cupcakes from Off My Cake

Have a Happy Cupcake Friday and weekend everyone!

Midweek Hump

Anyone having one of these weeks...running around like mad but can't seem to make heads or tails of what was exactly finished? I bookmarked this beautiful installation by Tim Knowles and Catherine Morland for just such a week. Willows with pens, writing in serenity of their own time and accord! A nice visual for the weekday hump...

Sophie Nova

I saw Sophie Berge's work in Domino and the recent issue of House Beautiful featuring her butter soft, lambskin bookends. What a genius idea! Her company, Sophie Nova, uses exquisite metallic leathers in the most beautiful shades (my favorites are the coral and silver).

Tuesday Threads

above: purple jersey dress, $83 available at our Cat Seto boutique.

My team and I thought it'd be fun to introduce a new series of posts called Tuesday Threads, where we pick "threads" in the boutique and get some of the team to style them in different ways. If you pass by our shop, you have probably noticed this purple, silky jersey dress on the mannequin in the window. All by itself it's worthy enough to wear to a wedding and has a sexy little strap in the back. But Cadenza and Julie prove this is a 3-in-1 kind of dress which can triple not only as an event dress, but one for date and one for work!

above: Cardigan by Kersh, feather necklace: $29, faux-lizard envelope clutch
w/ chain strap: $43. All available at Cat Seto.

Cadenza: "This is a great dinner-date dress. I'd drape this cozy, fitted grey wrap cardigan and let the dress ruching show off in front. To add a special touch to this classic look I'd add this fun feather necklace and finish off with a smart clutch."

above: Charcoal sweater, on sale for only $69.50. Gold and
Wood bangle: $19 available at Cat Seto.

Ready for Friday dress
Julie: For early spring weather like this, it is nice to keep yourself warm in the office with this charcoal grey sweater while still revealing some color and design. After work, off with the sweater and it can be a girls' night out dinner and drinks dress matched with the gold and wooden bangle to add a little sparkle.

Cat Seto: Our New Website!

It was a labor of love and a big team effort, but we are happy to say that our new Cat Seto website it up! You can glimpse more of our wedding invitations as well as our boxed stationery and calendars. Click here to go to our website!

Happy Cupcake Friday

From Debbie Does Cakes in Oakland.

What a perfect way to end the week and to toast Valentine's Day! Just take a look at this cupcake...it's not your ordinary palm sized sweet. It just happens to be the scrumptious, magnificent and GIGANTIC wedding cake from Leah & David's wedding. When Leah said her colors were gold, indigo and a "touch of pink" she wasn't kidding!

Have a Happy Cupcake Friday and V Day everyone!

Paper Flowers: Chanel Spring Show

I am late in posting this, but the Chanel '09 Spring show in Paris looked ever enchanting and dazzling. Of course, my eyes zeroed straight in on the paper flower backgrounds made of their signature camelias. I would love to paper one wall of my office with that!

Sachin Babi for Ankasa

If you love the Ankasa textiles (I go nuts over their pillows), then have you seen their new Sachin Babi for Ankasa ready to wear collection? The husband and wife team have created beautifully embroidered and lightly textured pieces that evoke travel and their love of pattern.

Leah & David: San Francisco dream wedding cont'd...

So here we are...swooning from their romantic ceremony. What a trip for guests to trolley over to the very tony, 30's inspired Bix restaurant in the financial district of the city. The interior of the restaurant was inspired during the time of luxury liners like Cunard and if you've ever been, then you know it mixes glamour and speakeasy all into one.

above: Their colors were indigo and gold with a touch of pink.

above: a twirl on the dance floor (just love that little brooch on Leah's train).
They danced to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Leah says that David calls her his "Princess of Sparkles" so how appropriate to end the night by lighting two foot sparklers outside of the restaurant!

Thank you so much Leah for sharing your beautiful story and wedding. We wish you and David continued verve, laughter and love!

Leah & David : A San Francisco dream wedding

If you got a peek into Leah & David's newlywed pad last week, then you got a good feel for their personality and spirit as a couple. Well...as promised, their wedding was not only an undeniable ode to them, but what I feel is a San Francisco city wedding in its truest form....done with panache, wit, depth and an effervescent sense of celebration and joy.

Their story starts with a wish:

"We started dating in October of 2005. By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, we were on the verge of breaking up. Sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with my family in NC, my father offered to let me pull the wishbone for him. As I pulled, I made the wish "I hope David and I are able to make it work." I got the bigger piece and saved it. Things improved between us to the point where I told David the story and gave him the wishbone, telling him my wish had really come true. He promptly put it in his coat pocket over his heart and has carried it there ever since.
I snuck it out before the wedding and had them dangle it from my bouquet...

"The theme of our wedding was actually expressing the way David makes me feel: beautiful, fun, full of verve + elan, vibrant, elated to be alive!"

above: Leah's gorgeous "rum pink" gown is by Alvina Valenta.

hair by Stas at Metamorphosis Salon, makeup Priscilla at Shu Uemura

"I have had a love affair with peacocks ever since I was a little girl--while my parents were at work, I stayed with my nanny on her farm in Texas. She raised peacocks and I have very vivid memories of chasing them, trying to pull the feathers from their tails..."

"Our 3 year old niece Mia was adopted from Japan, hence her origami flower bouquet!"

above: their beautiful ceremony was held at Hotel Monaco.
Photography by John Griffin. Flowers by Loop Design.

"We had friends read selected poems during our ceremony, including an excerpt from Plato's The Symposium--a nod to our fervent support of gay marriage."

Ready to attend the reception? Hop on the trolley (where guests were transported to their posh, sparkly reception at Bix) and stay tuned as I post up pics for tomorrow!

Happy Cupcake Friday

above: by We Heart It

Wow, a smores keyboard complete with marshmallow keys... Now that's a way to end the week!
Happy Cupcake Friday and weekend everyone!

Newlywed Nest

I love getting a chance to catch up with our brides after their weddings. And I was so thrilled when Leah and I met and she shared with me the glorious photos of her wedding (which you must stayed tuned for when I post them up next week!).

I was equally as floored when I saw photos of their newlywed nest because every detail spells out the story of why they belong together. When you first meet Leah and David, they are fun, eclectic, playful. But they also have a soulful connection that reaches down to the depths. Below is their dining room and if you look closely at the wallpaper that their interior designer Lawanna (of Lawanna Cathleen Designs) found, there are tiny monkeys that symbolize their love embedded within.


This is pure "Leah and David" to me. Wit, boldness, charm with a twist of classic modern all at the same time. A graffiti mural painted by Eustinof spells out "SexyM***F***." Now that's a pretty awesome newlywed nest. Be sure to check out their wedding story and photos next week!

February Spells Getaway

above, clockwise: personal stationery with faux croc envelopes, Miu Miu wallet,
Alexander Mcqueen Skull scarf, Carrera aviator sunglasses

Winter Blues getting to you? February always means getaway to me. My father is escaping the frigid Midwest and is touring bazaars and the Blue Mosque in Istanbul right now. My cousin is planning her getaway to Argentina. I'm getting postcards and tales of exile from friends in Hawaii, Mexico, Australia... If you're one of those darn lucky escapees, then be sure to have your essentials in tow including enviable stationery or postcards to send to working stiffs like me. And if you can't peel yourself away, indulge your nest with something special. A client told me she just treated herself to something underfoot, a velvety, luxurious croc pattern rug (above) as her antidote for chasing the winter blues away!

Jenny Packham Bride

If you ask me for my top five favorite wedding designers, Jenny Packham is most definitely one of them. And if you happen to know about our custom invitation line (where we offer brides the option to embellish their invitations with crystals), then you'll probably be able to figure out why. I go gaga over her designs which always offer embellishment, but just a touch or so here and there. Enough to melt me...and I'm sure any guest (and the lucky groom!) who watches the bride walking down the aisle.

Lauren K. Roberts

There's nothing like starting off your Monday with something refreshing like a piece of jewelry over your most comfy and favorite knit. These pieces by Lauren K Roberts make beautiful statement pieces!