Pretty fabrics by Laura Gunn

With less than three months to go, wedding planning has officially kicked into high gear.  As part of a wedding-related project (it's a secret, so I can't describe it in detail!), I've been browsing through fabrics on Etsy and came across these gorgeous designs by Laura Gunn.  Aren't they beautiful?  It's almost enough to make me want a sewing machine...

Images via Etsy.

Etsy pick: evapaul

A couple weeks ago, I was browsing wedding invitations on Etsy and fell in love with the work of evapaul (a super cute husband and wife team, Nic and Kirsten, who work together to design wedding invitations and such).

After emailing them some questions and receiving an incredibly thorough and friendly response, I decided to have evapaul design my wedding invitations and programs. If there are any brides to be out there, take note: evapaul has been an absolute dream to work with. Super responsive and professional. And I just adore their fresh, modern style that's cute without being cutesy. Let's have a look...

(This is the design we chose.)

If you're in the market for pretty save-the-dates, invitations, programs, etc., I super duper 100% times a million recommend evapaul!

P.S. For more evapaul awesomeness, check out their fun blog or follow them on twitter!

All images via evapaul.

New year, new look

Happy Friday dear readers! I'm really excited today because something I've eagerly awaited for the past three months has come to fruition: a new look for Tulips & Tea! If you're reading this in a feed reader such as Google Reader, be sure to hop on over to the actual site today to check out the new design.

For a while now, I've been contemplating a redesign of the site. I wanted a look more visually reflective of both my personal style and the blog's content. While researching designers, I happened upon Tabitha Emma, the designer behind the beautiful Department of the Interior blog. After perusing Tabitha's website, blog, and Etsy shop, I knew I'd hit gold. Her sweet + whimsical yet uncluttered aesthetic was exactly what I had in mind. If any of you are thinking about a blog redesign or otherwise need the services of a designer/illustrator, I highly recommend Tabitha Emma. She was able to translate my somewhat abstract ideas into a cohesive look, and she made the process easy and simple to boot.

It might sound silly, but the redesign makes me even more excited to blog - sort of how a new hairdo or great outfit puts a little swing in your step!

Two things

1. I am really excited to be the featured Design Insider interview on DC Ladies today! I had a blast answering interview questions for my friend, the fabulous Jenn who writes the always-stylish Department of the Interior blog. (Seriously, isn't her blog so pretty?) This interview was especially fun because it reminded me of everything I love about living in the DC area. If you have a chance (*get ready for shameless plug in 3, 2, 1...*), check it out!

2. I'm having one of those super busy weeks (busy in a good way, though), so please be patient with me if things get a little quiet around here for a couple days. I hope to be back at it soon!

Image via Ronnie R.

Bruce Mau's Incomplete Manifesto for Growth

Do you ever come across words so electric that a little jolt of adrenaline actually rushes through your veins? I recently discovered Bruce Mau's powerful and stunningly lucid Incomplete Manifesto for Growth (via the archives of the equally electrifying Danielle LaPorte, whose brilliance deserves and will get its own post here soon).

For those unfamiliar, Bruce Mau is a world-renowned visionary designer and innovator, whose creative genius spans interdisciplinary projects as far-reaching as creating a new visual identify for MoMA; incorporating a vision for global sustainability into the culture and business of Coca-Cola; and launching The Massive Change Project, a movement to "explore the legacy and potential, the promise and power of design in improving the welfare of humanity."

In short, Bruce embodies the sort of forward-thinking creative thinker who will pretty much rule the world in the not-too-distant future, and his Incomplete Manifesto for Growth is a compendium of the principles and beliefs that fuel his approach. Whether applied to design, business, or life, his words ring true and fierce.

It's well worth reading the whole list, but here are some of my personal favorites (all taken verbatim from right here):

Allow events to change you. You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.

Forget about good.

Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth.

Capture accidents. The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.

Begin anywhere. John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.

Collaborate. The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.

Take field trips. The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic–simulated environment.

Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms. Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces – what Dr. Seuss calls "the waiting place." Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference – the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals – but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.

For those of you who have read the list (seriously go read it right now!), what do you think? Which are your favorites? Are there any that you disagree with or that make you uncomfortable? I'm super curious to hear your thoughts.

Image via Bruce Mau Design.