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Exciting news here at Kim Bensing Design. Lancôme Paris recently asked me to design a luxurious little book to help re-launch their 1967 vintage fragrance, Climat, named for the novel by french author, André Maurois.
The sought after fragrance will be unveiled exclusively at Saks Fifth Avenue, New York, tomorrow! The perfumes of the original collection were released in elegant, transparent bottles designed in the early 1960’s by one of the founders of the house of Lancôme, George Delhomme. Saks Fifth Avenue has a very close relationship to this fragrance and it’s original debut, explaining the exclusivity.
The elegant sales tool, below, romantically illustrates the essence of the fragrance and also educates the Lancôme Team about it’s history. Page through the book design here. Or scroll down to see each individual page.
Contact Kim Bensing Design to help “unveil” your business or product to the world.
Imagine designing your life-changing event around a bird, albeit a gorgeous fowl. These two cuties did.
Nicole Ponist and Devon Simmons met their junior year in high school at Central Bucks East. It’s fortunate that they met because they had so much in common, sort of.
The couple approached Heirloom to design their 2013 “Peacock Inspired” wedding suite. Heirloom took the challenge. Since we had the dear bird for reference, colors were easy. Jewel-tones print very well, but we needed a concept. How does a designer take two similar but drastically different personalities and combine them into one compelling STORY of Love?
I began by pointing our their similarities, I mean differences, with little bubble pages and bound and entitled them…Birds of a Feather, a glorious tale of Nicole and Devon.
This is the cover of their 8-page wedding invitation book.
Inside, I tell the tale of how they met, why they love and on the last page, invite guests to their “flocking”, or ceremony of marriage. Dating images and jewel-toned bubbles convey their messages of loves & likes.
Giant Polka-dot Programs rounded out their suite and little hand-made round guest tablets and peacock pens made interesting Sand Castle Winery Placecards and Favors- all in one.
Even the funky response cards prove rsvp’s should never be dull.
I enjoyed the simple but very nice “peacockish” touch created with the little polka-dot table numbers. This is a great example of creativity ruling over cost!
The very simple bold confidence of their cake, really impressed me.
Feathers off to Nicole and Devon. Wedding well done.
Contact Kim at Heirloom for help designing your next life-changing event!
The countdown is on for Valentines day, my second favorite holiday of the year. So in honour of St. Valentine, I am sharing inspirations, tales, ideas, and images of My True Loves. Soak them in & celebrate these weeks of waiting, sentimentally.
To begin, it’s certainly not cheating if I am in love with a font, or twenty. Here’s one I desire. It’s called Desire, and it’s designed by lettering artist Charles Borges de Oliveira. With hundreds of ligatures and alternates, the sky’s the limit.Yippee.
“Always choose the right font.” People notice even though they don’t realize it. Heirloom’s –The Art of Marriage– Wedding Suite created for Stephanie and Clayton Kissel and their wedding at Fonthill Castle, told their true love story, with text.
This font is Absinthe. It’s just perfect.
In September, I was honoured to design a special “Bat Mitzvah Invitation Suite” for Miss Audrey Cole, a dear friend of my daughter, Kate.
Audrey’s parents shared a family photoshoot from 11 years ago, and with that I began to build a custom book invitation. On the spread below I featured a very sentimental letter written by her parents, paired with a touching portrait converted to black and white.
Inside the book, I included bible verses and more gorgeous monochromatic childhood images.
To accent, I designed a custom logo for Audrey which anchored the invitation book and was also used throughout the event, on t-shirts and other give-aways.
A portrait session with Robyn Graham, Photographer, provided the current image below which was placed opposite the formal invitation to the event.
Celebrating with good friends is absolutely the best way to celebrate. Audrey with Kate at the Waterwheel, Doylestown, PA.
Auxiliary pieces with the full Invitation Suite.
Contact Heirloom to create something special to memorialize your next life or business event.
Memories matter.
Graduation Creation
Graduations are a time to have fun with announcements and personalize them extensively. Above, a journalist’s announcement to his family and friends. Keep it interesting, make it special.
Happy New Year to all my Heirloom friends. It’s been a very long time since my last blog, so here is one to get you thinking about summer again. This is a blog about the ART of creating a party from scratch. Brought to you by the Heirloom Studio in Doylestown, PA, BUT brought to life in Rehoboth, DE. last July.
After years of enjoying the royal treatment from my husband’s parents, it was my turn to treat them. This is how it all went down. I decided on a 70th surprise party ….with lots of twists. It all began with the creation of custom designed wearable TARGET props and a scrolled list of invitation directions, uniquely wrapped in a mailing tube. You’ll see these again soon. All props and party supplies were secretly transported to Rehoboth Beach for the grand unveiling.
Here are my in-laws. Susanne and Jeff Bensing. Two of the jolliest folks I have ever known. They both celebrated their 70th birthdays this summer, which I know is hard to believe just looking at them.
After we tricked them into dressing up for dinner, we laughed instead and handed them a tube with these colorful instructions inside. Instructions read: “Because you were lucky enough to survive the last 70 years, today you have to go on a beach scavenger hunt, while being video-recorded.” Wait til you hear some of the things we had them do.
1. Place these “younger you” faces in front of your current faces, and walk up and down the street introducing yourself to complete strangers. 2. Walk toward the beach and draw a hopscotch on the boardwalk, and begin jumping. 3. Go into a boardwalk shop and ask for shark teeth to replace yours when the fall out. Buy them for the future.
Yes complete strangers. They did it.
4. Choose a spot on the boardwalk to sing a Beach Boys song to the masses. Good sports that they are, they also did this.
5. Place these artfully-designed front/back targets on your shoulders and walk back to the beachhouse. Targets read: “Shoot me because I’m 70!” and “Shoot me because I am nearly 70!”.
Kids and Grands all hid behind trees, cars and houses with water guns waiting for the “AMBUSH”. Yes, we got them…good!
They hid behind me, the camera girl, but I was simply too fast.
After they dried off, we surprised them with polka dot cupcakes, popcorn cups, ice cream sodas and an assortment of fun games and activities they played against their grandkids for prizes!
All the games had my in-laws competing against their grandkids. Prizes included great memory makers such as: “A morning walk with nana”, “An ice cream treat with Doc (my father in law)”, “A trip to candy kitchen”, “A breakfast alone with your grandchild”.
Here we have the “Great Bubble Blow”. Judges chose the largest soap bubble blown.
This was probably the hardest contest to judge.
Next we had a “Bubble gum blowing contest”.
“The Great Lick Off – A lollipop licking contest”. The fastest wins.
“Traditional apple bobbing”.
Even “Rubber Duckie Water Races” in the pool. No hands, just current. First one to the other side wins!
It was a great day, and a forever young way to celebrate 2 very happy lives.
Back to front: Kim, Mike, Kyle, Angie, Doc, Susanne, Tessa, Kate, Anya, Luke, Noah, Blake and Nick.
I was recently asked to become a founding member and designer for an elite group of specialists, the Bucks County Event Specialists. We are all award-winning Bucks County Artisans, creating together and inspiring each other, to elevate upcoming special events. So whatever your event, holiday party, birthday, anniversary brunch, wedding, backyard picnic…let us help you elevate. Follow us on facebook.
*Design
*Illustration
*Invitations
*Calligraphy
*Photography
*Printing
*Florals
*Favors
*Make-up
*Music
*Culinary
It feels good to win. Recently Heirloom held a facebook contest and Katie Hopkins Kessell of Bucks County won our GRAND PRIZE DESIGN: her very own LOGO!
Several designs were submitted and this is the one she chose. It’s nice to have your own piece of graphic art to use whenever you want, on whatever you want. Here are some great uses:
Gobo lights for a party or event
Gigantic wall art for a kids room
Box design for homemade holiday sweets
Fabulous family t-shirts for a vacation or reunion
Rubber stamps for classy mail
Trendy designed cake topper for an anniversary or birthday
Cocktail napkins for funky backyard events
Wine or beer bottle labels
Thank you cards for everyone
Custom designed hair ribbons
Fabric or wallpaper design
Designer luggage tags
Personal gift tags
Personal logos $100, Corporate logo design by appointment
Happy New Year. After that cold spell a few days ago, aren’t we all ready for a little snow shower? If it’s going to freeze, I think we should shiver in a blanket of white. There is something very pretty about a simple snowflake. Here is the story of how one transformed a July wedding. Yes, you heard me, July.
Several years ago, my sister and brother-in-law came to me searching for the perfect wedding story to enhance their invitations. After a few conversations we settled on a sweet and simple story they told me about their engagement. The entire suite consisted of several 4″x 4″ stacked square cards tucked into a hand-sewn cream fabric pocket and placed into a decorative square envelope.
Quickly we had the story, then the words developed, but we still needed the ART. We decided to commission a dear friend of the bride. This subtle cream snowflake illustration was painted with watercolors and then used as the central focus throughout the wedding. Taking advantage of the talents of a friend or family member to create your artwork, saves on costs and adds that “something sentimental” to your day.
Small response cards, doubling as escort cards, were die-cut into circles and hung on a tree of brown branches to look like snow. Guests removed them to find their table.
Little square Thank You Cards were included in the stationary suite. They were printed at the same time to save money, but sent after the affair. If you or someone you know is planning a winter event (or even one in July), Take a look a this blog by the Offbeat Bride – Alter your thinking. I hope it alters your plans.
Thank you to my dear loyal readers. Contact Kim at Heirloom to design your next event whether large or just a simple snowflake of an idea.
Each year around this time I find myself becoming impatient with ever frantic TV ads and the crazy “gift-giving scramble”. Each season Mike and I try to buy a few gifts for our own three children in November and then try to rest, enjoy and create homemade treats for everyone else on our list during December. We tried to pass that value along to our children this year. They are creating home-sewn pillows, crocheted bracelets and model cars for one side of cousins and have opted for a day of lunch, music, play and laughter with their other set of cousins. Stress levels are down, but anticipation for a fun time is up.
Here is a gift idea we like to use around the Bensing house often. When another kid birthday or holiday sneaks up on you and you have limited gift shopping time and/or you just don’t know what to buy, try this: Create a “Friendship or Cousin Coupon®”, like we often do. This coupon is good for one arranged activity of the recipient’s choice. It’s a great alternative to more STUFF, commercialism and wasteful shopping. In the case of a birthday gift, your child actually gets to plan the activity, and interact one-on-one with their special friend. Tie a balloon or flower to one of your own “Friendship Coupons®” next time you just don’t feel like another trip to the mall, or call or email Kim at Heirloom. Many designs in stock. Complete customization free of charge. Sent to your computer within 24 hours. $5 each. Give one for the holidays, it will help you remember why we celebrate in the first place.
Heirloom
– Award-winning, CUSTOM DESIGNED STORY INVITATIONS for EVERY EVENT –
Creating Heirlooms 