: the VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR party :

the order - invites, doodle books + TQ tags.
the theme - Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

my interpretation of this was to use bright colours, something festive and something to represent the caterpillar. using the flag bunting took care of the festive element that are birthday parties. the general nature and shape of buntings, to me, resembles a caterpillar.
colourful flag buntings then summed up (hungry) caterpillars.

enjoy the photos.

: the invites :

: the lot together - TQ tags to adorn favour bags (purchased separately by client) + the doodle books :

: doodle book design 1 - (the flag buntings make the letter Z, birthday girl's initial) :

: doodle book, design 2 :

thank you Ms Z's mum. once again, thanks for believing in my work. an honour indeed to be able to dress up your kid(s) parties. :-)

*party date - August '10

: we LOVE naufal :

i seem to take on party orders mostly for 1 year olds. my designs, i'm quite certain are very likely too simple to garner interest beyond the 1 year olds. ;-) on the other hand, i could see it as a great honour to mark the child's 1st birthday with my pieces of planned design + happy accidents (often, the best ideas come to me at the last minute of planning stage and/or after suggesting a couple or so ideas and themes). to all those moms who've placed their trust and patience in me, i thank you all.

my latest project was for a childhood neighbour's youngest. he turned 1 earlier this month.
the theme was "We LOVE Naufal", in the colour palette of yellow and white. below, photos of the items i made - favour bags (for adults + kids), thank you tags and notepads.

"so typically Izmet"

the Zs' Daddy turned 32 recently.

it was a low-key birthday celebration of sorts. dinner with the immediate family at his favourite place. i came up with the idea of having a "typically him" sort of birthday. no frills, just food + family. things + people he's familiar with. he's not the most adventurous of souls, so anything that's been tried and tested (by him) like a million times sits happily at the top of the list of his favourite things.

with this in mind, i decided to make cupcake toppers with his most typical phrases. the colour palette serves three ways - it matches the interior of the restaurant we were to dine in, it's a reflection of his love for coffee + chocolate, and it's my interpretation of autumn colours (we met + started dating back in autumn '99).

below, photos of the "so typically Izmet" cupcake toppers then.

"Cotton Candy Swirls" ...

... for a girl who turned 4 recently.
hope this little piece would sit/hang prettily in her new bedroom.

: a TWOty FRUITtea party for our little gift :

this little girl turned TWO last week.

this little girl has filled our home with plenty of laughter + chaos all the same. this little girl is like no other (honestly, you'll need to spend at least a whole morning or an afternoon with her at home to know this). this little girl, in many ways is very much her own unique self ... just like her insisting on wearing the pink tank over her stripey dress in the above photo, nevermind that it was a crazy hot day.

...................................

we hosted a small birthday party for her last weekend.

the theme was 'TWOty FRUITtea', honouring her age and her love for all Vitagen (fruit) flavours, plus her liking every new fruit introduced to her thus far.

below, some photos of the party and pre-party (the mad last-minute preparation done by yours truly).

: the theme palette :

: personalized placemats :

: little handbags for the girls :

: little cups for the boys :

: the non-hanging 'birthday garland' :

: the little fruit stall - guests were invited to mix their own bags of fruits as part of party favours :

: the birthday 'cake' - fruit loops cereal bars :

: fun pinwheels in fruity hues :

: our lil diva! :

: thank you for all your birthday wishes + gifts :

: painted 'flashcards' - baby Harez :

another little painting for another little guy.

this time, a friend bought this for her new nephew. i do hope they like the piece.

: celebrating with fairies :

worked on these invites for a girl turning three.


birthday girl's mom has great party ideas herself, i can only imagine a fun-filled pretty party to be had by their guests this coming weekend.

happy 3rd, hanna!


**two days before the party, birthday girl's mommy ordered some thank you tags.
made just over 50 of these lil fairies ...

: taming the wild - PINK ELLIES and GREEN HIPPOS :

this next party order was for a little girl turning one.

currently living in the United States, the girl and her parents came home for a short holiday to celebrate her first birthday with the girl's mom's family. the theme was pink ellies + green hippos. i thoroughly enjoyed working on this order. it always helps too when your client is very easy to work with.

this one's for Zadie! and Zadie's mom and dad.
thanks much for your support, and for bringing the pink ellies + green hippos all the way back to the States, for Zadie's second party with the American family and friends.

some pictures of the items ...

: memory game cards as part of party favours :

: thank you tags :

: favour bags :

: personalized art for her nursery :

closing a chapter, welcoming the new ...

i made these as thank you and farewell gifts for Z's classmates and teachers. he's bid his preschool years a fond farewell, and will be starting the big school next month.

: the CRAYON BOX collection - as take-along calendars for Z's teachers :

: the STENCIL collection - for the classmates to colour in + decorate each month's initial :

: the WORDS collection - for the classmates to search for hidden month names :


as we close the chapter that is 2009, we usher in and welcome a new one ... may 2010 bring us better days through bigger hopes, dreams + happy endings.

for calendar orders, kindly drop me an email at mika.haj@gmail.com