"Kickoff" by Checkerboard, Ltd.

To order this invitation, visit Festival at eInvite, here.

Cirque Du Noir Inspiration

{image via vogue italia and fotografiademoda}

{image via vogue italia and tom and lorenzo}

{image of prada via vogue italia and tom and lorenzo}

{image of mcqueen via vogue italia and tom and lorenzo}

Half the reason Cirque Du Noir came to be was my love for fashion, black clothing and celebrations. Until the event I will be posting images for inspiration here on Festival Creative. The event is special in the way that although it is all black attire and assuming everyone has something black, the space gets filled with either costumes or elegant people rocking their black. Another wonderful thing about the event is that it attracts a very diverse crowd to come and either people watch or indulge in the fascination of the live art fusion, the delicious food, or the ethereal music. Sounds of an elegant deep violin and world rhythms help to invigorate curious appetites. If you have not attended before, I have to say, it is a very different kind of event for Worcester.

Taking the talents of local artists and watching them create amazing works of art in front of you is intimate and really fascinating. Watching their faces, the nuance of how they sketch and watching them complete each piece is pretty incredible. All this while listening to really great music. The different groups that come together all for a night of celebrating together is what energized me and prompted me to really think outside the box and get this started. My house was too small to continue on there.

That really motivated me was the fact that at almost 40 years old, I had been waiting for things like this to happen in Worcester. I wanted to go out in the city and experience something artistic, edgy, captivating that transcended all the barriers. Worcester seems to have pockets of people, places and things. In my mind I wanted to intrigue people...to come out and give them something that would highlight what Worcester has to offer. Since my circle is full of creatives, I really wanted to celebrate the incredible artistic talents here in town. I also did not belong to any artists groups, I was not involved myself in any of the artistic communities here in town. My fault. Without knowing much about anything in event planning and execution, I set out to find out that there were many people willing to make it happen. Especially, Andreea Waters of Kai and Gipsy, a creative herself that could really see where I was going with Cirque Du Noir, and jumped in right away. She is my partner in crime on this. Together we spin crazy ideas into reality. I love when that happens.

That was 3 years ago. Today we look forward to working hard to bring another, bigger more magical event to Worcester. If you think it's not for you, think again. This may be just what you have been waiting for! Museum goers, art admirers, art buyers, voyeurs, lovers, foodies, music lovers, curious, adventurous, zombies, politicians, teachers, lovers of fun...if you want to take a night to experience art and music in a new way, treat yourself to this elegant evening of eye candy, yummy food, creative people, and a fabulous night out in town.

The bonus? All proceeds go to the Worcester County Food Bank, just in time to feed so many Worcester families for the holidays. Tickets will be up online soon. They will be $25 in advance and the same at the door.

Big thanks today to:

Checkerboard Ltd. (the company I design for) in advance for the wonderful invitations they are about to print.

Niche Hospitality and the staff at The Citizen/Speakeasy for their incredible and accomodating support.

Cathy Walsh from Sprout, who always brings the fun on!

I also want to thank in advance the artists and musicians who make the event really super cool. Worcester is overflowing with outrageous talent. Come see what they can do!

Anyone new artists would like to be a part of the art auction, please contact me pronto! If anyone would like to donate a piece of art, please include a little bio piece with your donation, so our curator can tell the buyers about you and your work.

You can reach me at mlhiggs2{at}yahoo.com.

Expose yourself...

Take a peek... {click}

Unveiled: another sneak peek

{ Unveiled images courtesy of Checkerboard}

Just released and currently available nationwide, Unveiled is an exciting line of new wedding invitations from Checkerboard. We are based in West Boylston, Massachusetts where all of our invitations are handcrafted, actually all of our manufacturing is done locally. Images above also feature a vintage map and hot air balloon envelope liners, called Mediterranean and Montisi. These envelope liners are imported from one of the finest paper mills in the world, Magnani on the Pescia River in Italy. Our paper merchant had just returned from a European trip and brought in these amazing papers.

If you would like more information about Unveiled, contact your local stationer or you can call Checkerboard customer service {1.800.735.2475 or e-mail at info@checkernet.com} to find a vendor in your community that carries Unveiled.

If you happened upon the previous post, I was designing this book as Laura Niemi Young was preparing for her show in Salem. This last invitation suite is called "Cirque", which is inspired by many things in my life. I was "uplifted" and surprised to walk into the Gulu-Gulu Cafe and see Laura's painting. You see, Laura is a former colleague and worked off site. She was not familiar with the work I was doing day to day...this just took me up, up and away!

Couture from Unveiled

{collage board for Couture, Suite #12 from Unveiled by Checkerboard}

Images for this collage are provided by Michele M. Waite Photography and Cookie Creatives. The invitation shown is a 3 layer invite with a blush ribbon and a black moire envelope liner.

Invitation Inspiration: Unveiled

{images of new Unveiled invitations by Checkerboard}

When choosing wedding invitations, think about what your guest will feel like when they see it in their stack of mail. The envelope should stand out from all the others. Right? The addressing should be special, and when they open the envelope the design and the weight of the paper really makes a big difference. Even if you choose the simplest design, presentation and weight make all the difference. I love designing with our papers. Since I source most of them, because I am inspired by them, our designs begin with really wonderful papers that look and feel really good. When designing, I like to keep the potential couples in mind, thinking about what can make each invitation special and personal.

Keep your guests in mind when you choose your papers and envelopes, your invitation is a little gift to each guest actually. Inviting is a gift in itself. Expressing yourself with your invitation is easy when you start with a company that feels the same way! I am pretty lucky to work for a company that knows how important this is. It makes my job so much more fun.

Finally, Unveiled

{new Checkerboard wedding product from the Unveiled, an "inspired wedding" collection}

Do you want to know where I have been? Maybe you just stumbled here, but I have been a little absent from blogging for a while. It's hard balancing family, work and fun with time spent connected to the keyboard, so I took a little break to try to find that balance.

About a year ago, I started designing for this new project, that was "unveiled" in May at the National Stationery Show in New York City. It has been a pretty exciting year. This collection and it's presentation of invitations is very different from anything that is on the market today. {so cool!} We do all our trends research ourselves, watching fashion, design, decor, furniture, and color. My eyes are always open to translating fashion into paper. Created and inspired by couples that want to share their personalities with their guests, this collection of innovative invitations and imported Italian papers is finally on the market. It is so exciting hearing all of the feedback and wonderful comments. I hope this book, presented with full color inspiration boards, kicks up the heels of brides and grooms all over. The inspiration boards were a collaboration of amazing talent. Images from the incredible Michele M. Waite Photography of Washington State actually inspired the boards. She was a major contributor of images and time, as well as Jennifer Burkhart of Cookie Creatives, award winning cake designer Michelle Bohigian of Something Sweet by Michelle, Cathy Walsh of Sprout, Erin Wolczik and fantastic product shots by Adoniram Sides of Checkerboard.

{Unveiled inspiration board from Suite # 1, Presidio, featuring a new luxury envelope}

**The Unveiled Collection is hot off the press and not currently available online. You can call Checkerboard customer service {1.800.735.2475 or e-mail us at info@checkernet.com} to find a vendor in your community that carries Unveiled. Or, you can contact me if you are in Central Massachusetts!

Brides Mag featuring 2 of my designs!

{image if gold palm and yellow floral invite/table card via Brides Jan. 2010}

Available online at our partner site:
Bianco, by Checkerboard gold palm motif on Corinthian textured paper, available with a matching website!

Buttercup, (shown below) featuring hand painted flowers on rich cream paper, layered to sunshiny yellow, printed in thermography. These next invites are exclusive to our partner site.



Also in this watercolor collection, Pink Orchid, special pricing right now for under $1.68 each! These are also printed on 130# heavyweight paper!


{images of product captured by Adoniram Sides}

I love the work I do, and our sense of value. You can't beat getting custom invites, (not digital) that are handpainted and on this heavyweight paper. There is something so wonderful to hold fine paper in your hand and to feel and see the raised printing. Thank you to our friends at Neenah for making us this custom paper. I have THE best job!

Wait 'til they see what we are cooking up next!

instyle featured one of my designs

Bottoms up...

{skeleton invite for Checkerboard designed by moi}

A little Halloween inspiration for you. In the spirit of this crispy fall day in New England, listening to Loreena McKennitt with some yummy dark roasted coffee, I am officially planning our annual apple picking adventure for tomorrow at Tougas Farm in Northboro.

Invitation Inspiration

Here are a few of my new designs. By Michelle May for Checkerboard, photographed by Adoniram Sides for our Paper Bouquet Wedding Collection.

Depending on your personal style, you can find the most unique and exciting invitations.

Invitation Inspiration

{designs by michelle may for checkerboard and photographed by adoniram sides}

For over 10 years I have been designing invitations for Checkerboard, here in the Worcester area. If you are planning an event, no matter how big or small, and would like some rocking invitations or announcements, I can help you out. No matter what your budget is, we can find the perfect choice for your event. I will work with you from concept to completion if you would like something completely custom, or we can choose something simple and elegant and have it to you within a few business days. We use the finest heavy weight papers and have award winning design and typography.

{image inspiration board by checkerboard}

Working with some pretty outstanding designers, many of which have been featured here (links to their personal art over on the right) in itself is inspirational. I love to go to work everyday and create with paper and imagination. Some of my designs have been chosen by personalities including The Rolling Stones, David Baldacci, Princess Firyal of Jordan and Lionel Pincus, Queen Rania of Jordan, Robert Cray, and President Clinton.

If you are thinking of printing invitations yourself, for the same price that you may spend on papers and inks and trying to design your own, I can find a you a better solution that will save you time and effort...and will not go over your budget. I look forward to creating amazing invitations every day, and I would love to make them for you and create excitement for every guest you invite to your event!

{image inspiration board by checkerboard}

Wedding, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Sweet 16, Corporate Events, birth announcements, first birthdays, graduation, holiday...whatever your event may be.

cheers {noroc},
Michelle

If you are interested in finding out more, please email me: mlhiggs2@yahoo.com
and if you are not in the local area (MA) and still wish to find out more about invitations, feel free to inquire. If I can't assist you from here, I will help you find someone in your area that can!

An Unbelievable Day

Sparing no detail, Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts put together an incredible evening reception at their home the night before our first day. There is a fine art to hosting and treating guests to moments of open candor and unforgettable magic. This is the stuff of life. This is living in the moments, in a world out of the box while being aware of every single second. This is what Zentangle teaches, "One Stroke at a Time". This is the very essence of who, what and how the art of Zentangle was concieved. You see, not only have I been inspired by Zentangle, but I am a huge fan of this dynamic duo, since working on The Folios of M. Thomas a few years ago, and a stationery album released in 2008 called Escargot, both for Checkerboard.

a collection of tiles by Scott Boilard...(amazing)

a mosaic of all participant's tiles after the first segment of the presentation

Today I headed out to Whitinsville, Massachusetts to attend the Zentangle Certification Seminar. Among a group of 50 really cool and diverse attendees, the day got started off with a bang. I was late (of course) and the group unanimously encouraged me to climb under a table to get to my closed off seat. People were laughing, Maria and Rick began the "encouragement" and it just got better from there.

When you are in the presence of these originators of Zentangle, you are truly in for a treat. Not like a scoop of vanilla after dinner or an amuse bouche to start, but a full on, blow your mind taste of the universe. Not only are they down to earth and witty as hell...BUT they are the most original, nonconformist, uninhibited duo to "tangle" with! Telling creative stories about the origins of concepts and the consumption of wine during brainstorming sessions is only one facet of their ying/yang style. The two of them are as connected and electric as two people can get. To watch them present is a joy in itself. Ultimately, there is the content of the Zentangle seminar too. From basic design techniques to the philosophical and meditative values, Zentangle is worth trying. It's like a sip of fine Rioja, a taste of the Belgian chocolate, an outerbody experience. Umm...the minutes following really good sex.

You get the picture. The best part is anyone can do it. Anyone can create a work of art in 15 minutes. Oh, I can't wait for tomorrow.

Let me tell you, I must have been transformed and reconnected with the cooking universe while tangling with my zen. I made the most insane eggplant parm for dinner tonight...fresh basil and parsley with chopped garlic and lemon zest. Ooh, and a bit of the juice squeezed over the first layer of roasted melanzane. You should have been here! The wine was pretty fantastic too. Thank you Payal for the decadent bottle of Cote du Rhone. I may have to have another sippy.

You live this life once.
enjoy dinner.
enjoy the laughter.
enjoy the pleasure of your 16 year old daughter doing those dishes.

***
(Don't forget.)