Signature Style

My heart is so full of inspiration, humbleness, motivation and energy after the amazing weekend I spent with 21 of the most talented women I know. I will forever be grateful for the experience of attending and speaking at The Stationery Academy, an intensive for stationers just like me. For any of you out there contemplating a career in stationery design, I highly recommend you to go next year. I was asked to speak about Signature Style and Visual Branding. Excitedly, I shared my experience, story and journey to find my own signature style. My brand has evolved and so has my style. I feel like I truly know myself now and know exactly what I want out of life, business and personal growth. It takes time for everyone to get there - you just have to take the steps in finding out WHY you want to be YOU. It has harder than it sounds, but once you can determine the values, fears, strengths and inspiration at your CORE, it is possible to truly discover who you are as a designer or business owner. BE YOURSELF - not anyone else.

Signature style is any representation of yourself - what defines you and what makes you unique.

Have the confidence to design what you love, everyone will follow. Some of the most successful designers in the style and paper industry have made a conscious decision to design against the norm and it proved to be successful.

DESIGN WHAT YOU LOVE, NOT WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING.

Like what you like, design how you want to design and you'll always be authentic.

Stationery Academy

What is Stationery Academy you ask? It is a comprehensive workshop experience for stationers alike and will be hosted this year by Whitney English Kolb and Natalie Chang. I am so excited to be attending and plan on soaking up every bit of motivation, experience and ounce of paper loving peeps I can take in. Spending 4 days with passionate designers like myself will be so wonderful and inspirational. Anyone can attend and you can visit the website here to sign up. Spaces are filling up fast so book now to guarantee a spot! Hope to see you there!

The excitement builds...

The days are drawing near that we will finally meet our baby boy, Rhett. 

We received word today that the day is sooner than expected so we are mere days, perhaps hours of embarking in this new and exciting chapter in our life. I am so incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful and supportive family, group of friends and loving husband. Going on 6 years married, 9 years together - we couldn't be more excited about this new journey. Our little family is about to grow and completely change for the better. We know it will be hard, we know it will be challenging, but we also know how incredibly rewarding it will be to hold this precious child in our arms. Please keep us in your prayers as we welcome Rhett into our world. Until February, emma j design will be closed so that I can focus on this new delivery. I hope you enjoy the holiday season and I look forward to working with you in 2012!

A sneak peek of what's to come:

To Rhett With Love

{ stylish snippets from the new life }

a website dedicated to this new life of motherhood, babies and the little moments in between.

Our custom Christmas Cards!

I wanted to do something simple yet fun this year for our holiday cards since we will soon be sending out Rhett's beautiful letterpress birth announcements. My wonderful friend, Sarah Buck from Sarah Buck Photography, photographed us with baby bump and so we featured one of our favorite shots on the front. Of course, Dallas and Bailey had to adorn the back along with a special present wrapped for Rhett. I mailed them in charcoal grey envelopes with red liners and addressed them in white. Enjoy! 

Baby Rhett's Custom Nursery

We've been hard at work on baby Rhett's nursery! I can officially say that we are finally finished - just days away from our little delivery making his appearance into the world! We have poured our heart and soul into creating an inspirational environment for this little guy and hope he grows to love his room as much as we do. We both wanted a room that wasn't too babyish or themey, but yet sophisticated, timeliness and full of unique touches only his room would have above all others.

Lots of credit goes to the loved ones that made such beautiful pieces for the room and the hard work of The Classy Crib for the bedding. Photos are below with brief descriptions about our choice on song lyrics, quotes and sentimental items throughout the room. We hope you love it!

Window Treatments and Pendant Light from RHBaby & Child in which I added border. Crib handmade by my father-in-law out of Caribbean Rosewood, Giraffe from Melissa and Doug. 

Rocking Horse made for my husband as a child by his father. Dresser belonged to my grandparents, Lil and Jack. Mirror by Ralph Lauren. Striped paint color : Crystalline by Benjamin Moore. Changing pad cover by RH Baby & Child. Changing pad holder made by my father-in-law.

Frank Sinatra song lyric from 1981 - the year we were both born.
To purchase print, click here

My childhood Bib, Rhett's custom pattern design and our childhood cameos with birthdates.
To order a custom cameo combo, click here.

Bow tie artwork from my friend over at Be True Designs. She designed my wonderful baby shower invitation!

My favorite quote from my grandmother, Lil. To purchase a print, click here.

My husband's baby bib, photo of him pitching in college, Christopher Columbus Quote.
Click here to order.

Bow ties worn by my husband as a child and his uncles.

  

Song lyric chosen by my husband for the nursery. "Make Your Mama Proud" by The Blue Dogs 

"Moon River" Song lyric - my father and I danced to this at our wedding.

"How to Tie a Bow Tie like a Gentleman." Watercolor by Me.

"How to Throw a Fast Ball like his Daddy." Watercolor by me.

"How to Tie a Square Knot like an Angler." Watercolor by me.

"How to Shag like your Mommy and Daddy." Watercolor by me.

Mr. Geronimo The Giraffe with this Tie (Baby gift for Rhett)

Cross stitch of the Irish Blessing that hung in my grandmother's house.

Custom pattern design for Rhett's bedding. The pattern features interlocking "R"s in a sea foam blue color.
Bedding made by The Classy Crib.

Custom pattern design for Rhett's bedding. The pattern features interlocking "R"s in a sea foam blue color.
Bedding made by The Classy Crib.

Glider by Little Castle

Table from Nadeau

Custom handmade diaper bag by Satchel.

Rhett's First Christmas Tree

Custom-made Baby Book available through La Paperie

Wonderful painting by a dear friend of mom's, Aunt Larcie!

Sign given to us by my grandmother years ago, Silver Mariposa Baseball Spoon from Grandma, Black and white photo of my husband's great grandfather, Simeon. 

New Twist Paper Blog Feature : Emily Loves...

Fall is in the air and Thanksgiving aromas are starting to fill up our home. We have a few new features up our sleeve over at Twist Paper and first up, "Emily Loves..." - my favorite inspirations for your fall table. Add the Twist Blog to your readers so you can stay up to day with our favorite entertaining and decor ideas! Lifestyle with a Twist!

Blog Love : Collect V

Just wanted to introduce my friend's fabulous blog : Collect V! It's the perfect mix of chic interiors, savvy style and everything in between! Check it out - I was the lucky winner of this wonderful clutch! xo

I am Thankful.

I'm feeling so blessed these days being surrounded by love for this little man inside of me. Not only have my friends and family come together to throw us the most amazing baby showers, but my wonderful husband has just gone above and beyond to help me through this journey. I am thankful for our new home that has lots of room to grow and build our family. I am thankful for my loving mother who gives me words of wisdom everyday as I grow to understand her love for me as I become a mother myself. I am thankful for my wonderful business and the ability to make my dreams come true. I am often reminded of a pinterest favorite. I did for sure. After this bundle of joy arrives, I will be figuring out the ropes of being a working mother. Wish me luck! I am thankful for my husband who motivates me everyday in my personal life and professional life. He has never discouraged me and has always listened to my struggles and bumps along the way. After 5 1/2 years of marriage - I could not ask for more. Today, I am thankful for the 2 handmade CDs of lullaby music sent from my childhood dentist. Since I have relocated to Savannah, I no longer get to see his smiling face every 6 months. He hasn't forgotten about little ole' me because he sent the most precious gift for Rhett. His hobby of growing his music collection has paid off and we have the most wonderful collection of eclectic music to play in the nursery. Pandora was traded for lullabies today in the office and this gem played recently. I love this song to pieces and it's been years since I heard it on my playlist. In typical artist fashion, I found it necessary to design yet another piece of artwork for the nursery.

I am also thankful for my bible study group. One of the girls just recently emailed us this quote and I found it so inspiring. This now sits in our bedroom as we start and end each day.

Personalized Letterpress Stationery for me!

It's about time! Time for me to finally design and decide on my own letterpress stationery. I just received a beautiful package of custom letterpressed stationery from my wonderful printer (Fireside Printing) and I could not be more thrilled with the results. The wardrobe is 2 pieces: A7 Flat Notes with a fretwork board and EM interlocking letters in addition to a small 4Bar Flat Card with my name in calligraphy by the talented Bride Whelan. I plan to use the larger cards for longer notes and correspondence and the smaller cards for quick notes and enclosure cards. We printed the wardrobe in my signature seaglass blue color on 220lb double weight Crane Lettra. Let me know if you are interested in placing an order for custom letterpress stationery for yourself - it is the ultimate treat! emily@emmajdesign.com

custom fabric design for Rhett's Nursery

Rhett Patrick McCarthy. That's the name of my future (probably redheaded) southern gentleman. Yes, it's true, 23 weeks and counting to our Christmas delivery. We are over the moon excited for this little bundle of joy to arrive!

I've been toying around with multiple options for my husband and I to decide on for the nursery. You have to imagine trying to mix geometric modern with traditional outdoors- that's us. In an attempt to compromise somewhere in the middle, I have proposed two different patterns to my hubby to make the final decision. We have scoured the internet and local shops looking for a bedding option we love and no luck of the irish here. I finally decided that it would be strange to use a fabric I did not design myself - what kind of designer would I be?  To the computer I went and designed the patterns below.

We have an old cross stitch of the Irish blessing which has the light blue and touches of Irish green in addition to the desire to have an accent wall covered in Savannah River Maps (excuse the mockup below). Feel free to visit my pinterest board here for some of the inspirational photos. This is not exactly the end result of course, but something to work from at least. The window treatments and light fixture have been ordered from RHBaby&Child setting the color palette of Silver Sage/Seafoam and Irish Bright Green. I'm adding an inset white chippendale border to the valances on the window treatments. For the walls, we plan to choose individual song lyrics that we love, inspirational quotes, cameos of our own baby portraits and vintage photos from our families. In addition, I plan to watercolor 4 prints (How to Tie a Bowtie like a Gentleman, How to Throw a Curve Ball like Daddy, How to Shag like my Parents, How to Tie a Square Knot like a good Fisherman). These will adorn the walls and be something he can use in his room for years to come.

Mockup of Nursery

White Glider soon to arrive from Little Castle, 5' Giraffe from Melissa and Doug. 

We are so grateful to have my talented father-in-law who is making a beautiful handmade crib out of Caribbean Rosewood - can't wait to see this beauty! The white dresser is an original from my grandparents house in which the hubby has applied a whitewashed finish. 

Fabric Option #1:

This fabric was created by using individual R's (for Rhett!) - see if you can find them!

Fabric Option #2:

It's a play on irish knots using an "R" - can you find it?

Other Accessories:

Fashion's Night Out Savannah!

I am SO excited to be participating in such a prestigious and new event for Savannah! This is a worldwide event that began with Vogue Magazine in NYC. Now, the event is held in over 100 cities - and now...Savannah, Georgia. What an honor to be chosen and approved to host this colorful event and what a great way to support our local retailers and designers! My role was to design the 'Savannah' portion of the logo and design our website. Check out the live website here and follow the event on facebook for the latest happenings and events.