12/31/14

goodbye 2014… hello 2015!

Hello there and happy new year's eve! I want to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you for all the love & support The Spotted Olive received this year. I'm excited about some new upcoming adventures and partnerships for 2015. I wish each and every one of you a happy and beautiful new year. Be safe out there tonight as we say hello to 2015! XOXO


12/28/14

cool wedding trend: underwater engagement photos

Hello there! I hope you are having a marvelous holiday weekend. I was just catching up on my blog reading and came across this cool wedding trend on several of them—underwater engagement photos. What a fun, creative and unique idea for an engagement photo. Aren't these pictures stunning?

Photo by leah vis photography


Photo by David Hebble Photography + Film



Photo by Phoebe Joy Photogrqaphy

Photo by sphynge photography

Photo by elle g photography

12/23/14

scheana marie of vanderpump rules wedding invitations designed by the spotted olive

Hello there and happy Christmas Eve Eve! I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season. I am super excited to announce that I just discovered that Scheana Marie of the reality show Vanderpump Rules used one of my designs for her wedding invitations. She customized the invitations by changing the typeface used in the body copy of the design and gluing actual crystals to each invitation to make them sparkle! How cool is that?!

Glitter Look Confetti Wedding Invitation design by The Spotted Olive.

Below is an image of the personalized invitation from the Bravo TV Vanderpump Rules blog (the RSVP cards are not from The Spotted Olive™):

Image from the Bravo TV Vanderpump Rules blog.


You can see Scheana's personalized invitations from The Spotted Olive™ in the Vanderpump Rules episode entitled "Mind the Jax" which aired last night on Bravo TV as well as on the Bravo TV Vanderpump Rules blog.

A snapshot of the invitation on the television screen taken by my friend Lori of CiaoBellaLtd.

12/4/14

pantone's color of the year: marsala

Hello there! I hope you are having a great Thursday. Today Pantone announced that the color of the year for 2015 is Marsala. I really love this color (a similar shade has been a part of my brand since I started The Spotted Olive and the walls in my studio are even painted a similar shade!). It's bold, modern and ultra chic!

Images via Pantone
Color experts at Pantone believe this robust and earthy wine red tone will be popular in fashion, graphic design, home decorating and industrial design trends. I will definitely be incorporating this rich, gorgeous color into stationery designs for 2015 so stay tuned!


11/27/14

black friday / cyber weekend sale at the spotted olive on etsy

‘Tis the season to get your holiday cards and save big with The Spotted Olive on Etsy's Black Friday / Cyber Weekend Sale! Save 15% on holiday cards now through Tuesday, December 2, 2014. This includes DIY Printable Files for printing on your own and Printed Holiday Cards. Just use coupon code: BFHOLIDAY15 at checkout. Shop now at www.thespottedolive.etsy.com.





black friday sale on zazzle

Hello there and Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are having a wonderful day, didn't eat too much and are enjoying spending time with your loved ones. I have never been one to go out and brave the crowds to get a deal especially on Thanksgiving Day when everyone should be taking the day off and enjoying the company of their family and friends. But for those diehard deal getters, Zazzle just announced early VIP access to their Black Friday Sale. Up to 65% off on customizable products including holiday cards, ornaments and gifts. And since it's an online sale, there are no crowds to fight. Have a great night and remember to be grateful for all the amazing things in your life.



Coupon Code: ZAZBLACKDEAL 
Offer expires 11:59 PM PST on 11/28/14
…………………………………………………………………………………………………


Shop The Spotted Olive on Zazzle for great deals on holidays cards & more! Be sure to use coupon code ZAZBLACKDEAL at checkout. Offer expires 11:59 PM PST on 11/28/14.




happy thanksgiving

Wishing you and your loved ones a wonderful Thanksgiving.


11/13/14

#InspireTheInternet

Hello there! I hope you are having a fabulous day. Today, after all the buzz over a celebrity's magazine cover that was deemed to "break the internet," I started to feel sad about how superficial and shallow the world has become. (I mean no disrespect to the celebrity.) Then I thought instead of letting it bring me down, why not become inspired. Why break the internet when you can inspire the internet! There are so many amazing women out there doing incredible things, why not celebrate and give them the attention that they so deserve. And so I decided that I would start giving shout outs via social media to the incredible women that inspire me on a daily basis. I hope you all with join me and #InspireTheInternet by giving shout outs to the women who inspire you! Be sure to hashtag #InspireTheInternet.





10/16/14

the spotted olive menu, save the date and thank you card designs featured on the love and lavender blog!

Hello there! I hope you are having an amazing day. I am super excited to share that some of my designs for The Spotted Olive were featured in a styled photoshoot for Durga-Kali (gorgeous gowns & bridesmaid dresses!) on the Love and Lavender blog! Please stop by and check out the Glitz & Glam of New York City: Styled Shoot post.



The designs that were featured from The Spotted Olive were my Glitter Look Menu design, Glitter Look Save the Date and Glitter Look Thank You Cards in silver on white. It was a beautiful shoot and The Spotted Olive was thrilled to be a part of it!

10/14/14

typeface love tuesday: aleo

Hello there! I hope you are having a wonderful Tuesday.

Lately I've found myself using the typeface Aleo quite a bit in my designs. I has a very retro modern feel to me with its slab serif structure and semi-rounded details. It's bold and sleek with great readability.




The Aleo font family was release under the SIL Open Font License so it is available for free for both personal and commercial use! You can download it here.


10/13/14

chalkboard & glitter look boo! halloween decoration banner & sign printables

Hello there! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. We got our fist snow of the season on Sunday. It usually comes on Halloween, but this year it decided to be a few weeks early!

Speaking of Halloween, below are some super cute Chalkboard and Glitter Look Halloween decoration sign and banner printables that I designed. Both items are now available at The Spotted Olive on Etsy.





10/11/14

happy weekend!

Hello there! It's a gorgeous fall day in Colorado. The leaves are turning and you can feel the crispness in the air. Cheers to a wonderful and relaxing weekend.




10/7/14

apple iphone 6 case review & $25 zazzle gift certificate giveaway-CLOSED

Hello there! I hope you are having a fabulous day.

I recently got back from vacation (a post on my vacation to follow soon!) and an iPhone 6 case from my shop on Zazzle was waiting for me when I arrived home! Since I am kind of accident prone, I decided on the Tough Xtreme case for it's added protections, particularly the bumper around the case.


The printing of my design on the case is beautiful and vibrant, and I even personalized my design by adding the company logo for The Spotted Olive™. As a designer, I love seeing my designs in person on quality products and it's especially nice when they are reproduced as envisioned.


The case has a rubberized liner backing (DouFlex) on the inside for the phone to rest on, a built-in plastic screen protector and the bumper around the case is hefty with accessibility to all ports. 


I love it. It's a beautiful accessory with a good amount of protection for the phone which is very important to me. 

Speaking of iPhone 6 protection, here's a cute little video from Zazzle. Remember it's always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your iPhone 6!



The recent Apple iPhone 6 launch on September 19th broke previous records with over 10 million sold within three days after the launch. I know many people who have already upgraded or will soon. And with the holidays right around the corner, an iPhone 6 case would be the perfect gift! You can shop for iPhone 6 cases at The Spotted Olive™ on Zazzle or for even more variety in design choices, the Zazzle marketplace.

And now for a giveaway! 

Zazzle has kindly offered the winner of this giveaway a $25 gift certificate to purchase anything on their site. Simply use the widget below to enter. There are a variety of options for entering and earning more points. Good luck! XOXO

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Open to US residents only. Must be 18 years or older to enter. Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM MST on 10/14/14. Winner will be announced by 10/20/14.

Please note this was a sponsored post by Zazzle and the case was provided for free. Zazzle also sponsored the giveaway by providing a $25 gift certificate. This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own.



9/28/14

personalized gold polka dots iphone 6 case

Hello there! I hope you are enjoying a nice day. I love polka dots! It's such a fun and classic pattern that combines whimsy and sophistication. I recently designed some cases for the new iPhone 6 and one of my favorites is this simple gold polka dots design.


Available for purchase at The Spotted Olive on Zazzle.


9/26/14

elegant vintage southern magnolia wedding invitation & rsvp card set

Hello there and happy Friday! The weekend is here. One of my favorite wedding sets that I have designed for my shop, The Spotted Olive™, is the Elegant Vintage Southern Magnolia Wedding Invitation & RSVP Card set. It is especially beautiful when printed on the white felt paper. In this design, I paired a vintage illustration of a magnolia blossom with a rustic leather background and added gold accents and text. I think the design came out looking very classic and elegant. Perfect for a southern wedding. I love when my customers order this design because it is absolutely stunning in person.


This design is available as a personalized DIY Printable file or as printed invitations from The Spotted Olive on Etsy.

9/24/14

eiffel tower bridal shower invitations

Hello there! I hope you are having a great day. I recently shipped a printed order of these stylish Eiffel Tower Bridal Shower invitations to an Etsy customer in Pennsylvania. Perfect for a Parisian themed bridal shower. This design looks beautiful printed on the white felt paper and the customer was very pleased and gave me nice review on Etsy. 



"The invitations arrived right away and the recipients commented on how pretty they were. Debbie was so easy to work with. She answered all of our questions and provided great advice. Excellent! Thank you!" ~Karen

This design is available for purchase at The Spotted Olive on Etsy as a personalized DIY Printable File for printing on your own or as printed invitations. If ordering the printed invitations, I highly recommend the white felt paper. It's luxurious texture really adds a beautiful detail to this design.



9/22/14

chalkboard merry christmas holiday card

Hello there! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Today I'd like to showcase one of the cards from The Spotted Olive's 2014 Holiday Collection. This fun Christmas card design features a rustic chalkboard background, a place for your photo and the words "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" set in fun typefaces. I really love how charming and warm chalkboard designs can be.


Available as a personalized DIY Printable File for printing on your own or as printed invitations from The Spotted Olive on Etsy. Printed invitations in this design are also available at The Spotted Olive on Zazzle.


9/20/14

will you be my bridesmaid, maid of honor and flower girl cards

Hello there! I hope you are having a fabulous day. I have been getting quite a few requests for "Will You Be My Bridesmaid?" cards and I'm happy to say I have a few different designs available at The Spotted Olive's Etsy and Zazzle shops. I have also created them to read "Will you be my maid of honor?" "Will you be my matron of honor?" and "Will you be my flower girl?"

The cards in the image below are currently available in my Zazzle shop and coming soon to my shop on Etsy.























Sized at 5.6" x 4" and printed on ultra-heavyweight (120 lb.) card stock with a gloss finish. Each card comes with a white envelope. Click on the links below to purchase each card:

9/19/14

glitter look bridal shower invitations & matching thank you cards

Hello there and happy Friday! I recently shipped these lovely bridal shower invitations and matching thank you cards to an Etsy customer in California. They turned out beautiful and were absolutely stunning printed on the ice pearl paper stock so I had to share a quick snapshot. My customer loved them so much she came back to my shop and ordered some more! It always makes me so happy when I know my customers are pleased with their orders. Enjoy your weekend!



9/10/14

hey big spender! the apple iphone 6 by BRIKK is now available for pre-order

Hello there! I hope you are having a fabulous Wednesday. Yesterday Apple announced the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus but did you know that you could get an official BRIKK Apple iPhone 6 in 24K Rose Gold Plating with the Apple Logo in diamonds? If you've got a spare $8,595 available, darling, the BRIKK iPhone 6 is for you!

You can get it with or without the diamond Apple logo, in plating options including 24K Yellow Gold, 24K Rose Gold, and 950 Platinum or with no plating in Black or Silver, with 64 or 128 capacity and the phone color with a black or white front. Pricing varies by option chosen. How fabulous is that?




ABOUT THE BRIKK iPHONES
Brikk carefully takes apart each phone by hand utilizing skilled engineers. Each case is then polished to a mirror finish before being plated by 5 layers of various metals. Finally, 2 layers of 24k gold or 950 platinum are coated on the aluminium case. The same engineers reassemble the phone and complete a 38 point testing process. Brikk's 2.0 micron coating of pure gold or platinum is amongst the thickest and most generous in the industry. 

Apple logo totals 96 diamonds, over one carat (1.08 carats) of Color D/E (Colorless) and Clarity VVS1 (Very, Very Slightly Included) brilliant diamonds are set with a microscope in a custom machined bezel in the shape of the Apple logo.


WANT ONE? You can customize with the available options and pre-order purchase at Zazzle by clicking here.


9/8/14

the pantone fashion color report spring 2015 is now available!

Hello there! I hope you had a great weekend and a productive Monday. I just discovered that the Pantone® Fashion Color Report for Spring 2015 is now available. I am really loving the Scuba Blue, Strawberry Ice, Lucite Green, Titanium and Lavender Herb colors at the moment. What are your favorites?


9/6/14

gilded merry & bright christmas card by the spotted olive

Hello there and happy Saturday. I hope you are enjoying a nice weekend full of relaxation and fun. Today I'm sharing one of the cards from The Spotted Olive's 2014 Holiday Card Collection. The Gilded Merry & Bright Christmas Holiday Card design features a weathered chalkboard look background with gold confetti dots and the words "May Your Holidays Be Merry & Bright" set in stylish typefaces. Personalize with your family and individual names and your photo.


I think this is one of my favorite cards that I've designed for the 2014 holiday season. Available for purchase in my Zazzle or Etsy shop.


8/29/14

pre-order your iphone 6 case on zazzle

Hello there! I hope you are having a great Friday and are ready for some holiday weekend fun.

Fans of Apple products already know the iPhone 6 is expected to launch on September 9th, but did you know that you can pre-order cases for the iPhone 6 on Zazzle.com? It's true! You can already find a great selection of designs to dress up and protect your new iPhone 6 in the Zazzle marketplace including designs by The Spotted Olive™ or if you prefer, you can create a case with your own design.

Image: Zazzle

Zazzle currently offers four different case types for the iPhone 6—Slim, Shell, Tough and Wood Bumper.

The Slim Case is a form-fitting lightweight case that features an impact resistant, durable hard plastic with glossy finish, lay-flat bezel to protect your screen from direct contact with surfaces and access to all ports, controls and sensors.

Image: Zazzle


Image: Zazzle

The Shell Case is contoured to precisely fit the iPhone 6 and offers a hard shell, impact resistant plastic exterior with a glossy finish, a shock absorbing liner to protect your device, a lay-flat bezel to protect the screen from direct contact with surfaces and access to all posts, controls and sensors.

Image: Zazzle
The Tough Case offers military-grade protection with rugged style. This extra durable case features an impact resistant exterior with shock-absorbing liner, a built in screen protector to prevent scratches and cracking, a protective covering on all ports, controls and sensors and a glossy finish.

Image: Zazzle




Image: Zazzle


The Wood Bumper Case by Carved is individually handmade by artisans in the USA using domestically and sustainably harvested natural wood. This beautifully crafted case features an impact resistant full wrap bumper incasing with real wood inlay covered in two coats of durable protective finish, access to all ports, controls and sensors, textured sides for added grip and is available in Maple, Cherry or Walnut finishes. Please note that images are printed on the wood.


Images: Zazzle



It's super easy to pre-order your iPhone 6 case from Zazzle. Just choose your design and the style of case you would like from the available types, easily personalize it if you wish and then purchase it. Once Zazzle's manufacturing partners are ready to begin production, your designed case will be created and shipped to you. Zazzle's scheduled shipping on the iPhone 6 cases is currently estimated by 9/26/14. Standard shipping times apply.

I'm getting ready to pre-order an iPhone 6 case. Since I'm accident prone I'm thinking about getting one of the Tough Cases or the Wood Bumper Cases for the added protection although I do love the sleek look of the Slim Cases and Shell Cases. When I receive the case, I will share some pictures and a review of it when it arrives.

Be sure to stay tuned for a giveaway coming soon!


8/24/14

holiday card collection 2014: gilded may your holidays sparkle & shine

Hello there! I hope you are having a nice weekend. It's been beautiful and sunny here so I've been outside enjoying the nice weather. I also managed to get some photos taken of some of the new holiday cards I have designed for The Spotted Olive's 2014 Holiday Collection. I will be sharing come of the photos here on the blog! Today's featured card is the "Gilded May Your Holidays Sparkle & Shine." This design features a black and gold herringbone background and the words "May Your Holidays Sparkle & Shine" stylishly typeset and filled with images of glitter and gold. Easily personalize with your family name or text and photo. Very modern and trendy!


Please note there is no real glitter or gold used in this design; just images of each. It is a flat printed design with no embellishments. Available for purchase herehttp://bit.ly/1BSMy43.

8/22/14

have a great weekend!

Hello there and happy Friday! The weekend is here. Do you have any big plans?


8/17/14

hooray! the spotted olive receives 2nd place in the fine stationery + celebrations 2014 holiday design contest

Hello there! I hope you are having a lovely Sunday. I'm so excited to share that The Spotted Olive™ came in 2nd Place in the Fine Stationery + Celebrations 2014 Design Contest. Hooray! Below is the winning design.




A big thank you to every who voted for The Spotted Olive™! Your support is very much appreciated.

7/21/14

minted challenge: trim up the tree! holiday ornament cards

Hello there! I hope you had a nice weekend. I've been very busy lately getting ready for the holiday season. I know it's only July, but this year I have decided to be proactive and actually get some new designs created far in advance of the season.

I also decided to give the Minted Challenges another try. It's definitely a tough venue with stiff competition and some intimidating design work, but I'll certainly never have a chance if I don't even enter! So I did. I entered four designs in the Trim Up The Tree! Holiday Ornament Card Challenge. But, I need your help! I would be so grateful and appreciative if you would take a few moments to rate my designs. The links to rate each design are as follows (just click on each image or the link below each image to go to the design page for rating):










Thanks so much! Have a nice week.