Perfect for spring, summer or outdoor garden weddings, these are our new layered ceremony programs with diecut butterfly.

This design features our pattern based on a traditional Indian print. We’ve started using our own designs as decorative paper so brides and party hosts can have more freedom on color choices. See more handmade designs in our www.KembaCelebrations.etsy.com shop.

Butterfly wedding motif

Layered panel ceremony program

Natacha Atlas

I love how some artists are able to mix the music of different cultures, times or tones and make something new and beautiful. One of my favorites is Natacha Atlas, who mixes the sounds of North Africa and the Middle East with modern dance beats. And that voice! Wow.

She’s great for background music when you’re entertaining your most interesting group of friends or when you just want to dance around your home (I know I do!). My favorite song of hers is a cover of “I Put a Spell on You”. Brilliant!

Here are some other clips to introduce you to Natacha Atlas.

I love being part of the Etsy wedding team. Usually it’s just because I’m inspired by the wonderful designs and crafts that my fellow team members create for beautiful weddings.

But recently we’ve banded together to donate our items to raise money for Haiti Relief. From now until Feb 12, this Friday, the team has donated items for sale, and not just for weddings. All proceeds benefit the American Red Cross. Visit the team shop: www.etsywedteam.etsy.com for more info.

Here are some of my favorite items from the Etsy Wedding Team Haiti Relief shop. Get them before they’re gone…and it’s for a great cause.

I actually wasn’t sure I was going to develop designs for Valentine’s Day this year. But love got the better of me and next thing you know I was designing away!

One of my favorite designs is an icon/slogan Justin and I developed that means “love makes the world go round”. Behind the icons we’ve translated love into 14 languages for a subtle graphic print. It’s a message that I hope lasts beyond Valentine’s Day.

Card: Love Makes the World Go Round

Here are some of our other designs for Valentine’s Day, using world inspired prints and global style. We’ve designed cards and gifts, from cute to sexy. See the entire Valentine’s Day gift collection here.

I’m still designing, so hopefully, I’ll have more v-day designs with global style to share with you soon!

10 Modern Indian Wedding Designs from Etsy

Today Justin and I are surrounded by beautiful red and gold handmade paisley paper for these layered Indian wedding invitations we are working on for a bride.

Indian Paisley Invitation

And that has gotten me thinking about other Indian wedding design. I love the colors and patterns with Indian design.  So I went looking for more! Here are 10 modern and beautiful Etsy finds for modern Indian weddings or Indian theme celebrations.

Indian print purse

The Clutch. For a modern take on traditional Indian prints, look for a tighter, more geometric pattern with few colors. This purse with Indian print has a very modern, sleek look. {handmade by www.BrianaEdelmanDesigns.etsy.com}

Indian silk ring pillow

The Ceremony. I love wedding items that can live beyond your wedding day. And I can see this ring pillow at home on a sofa or a favorite chair as a reminder of the day you got married. {handmade by www.karenyee.etsy.com}

Gold necklace

The Jewelry. Gold jewelry is an important part of traditional Indian bridal wear.  For brides who aren’t going to don the full traditional jewelry, a necklace like this, with an intricate gold pendant can be a modern and elegant choice. {handmade by www.eluniaBride.etsy.com}

Indian lotus save the date

The Stationery. For a cohesive wedding design, announce your theme or style as early as possible…starting with the save the dates. This is actually a new layered Indian wedding suite design of ours. It’s inspired by Indian architecture and the lotus, which we’ve turned into a custom pattern.
{handmade by www.KembaCelebrations.etsy.com}

custom wedding flutes

The Toast. Again, these champagne flutes with Indian pattern are a keeper from your wedding day. Great for re-toasts on your anniversary or special holidays. {handmade by www.Laserbird.etsy.com}

Indian cake topper

The Cake Topper. For weddings blending traditional Indian and American ceremony elements, an Indian couple cake topper can bring the styles together. {handmade by www.weddingcollectibles.etsy.com}

Paisley guest book

The Guestbook. The rich deep purple of this custom bound this guestbook is stunning. A beautiful keepsake for a lush, vibrant wedding. {handmade by www.EmersonBindery.etsy.com}

Sari favor magnets

Magnet Favors. How clever. These favor magnets made from Indian patterned fabric are a beautiful way to keep Indian design alive in the home of your guests. {handmade by www.tweedylane.etsy.com}

Mehndi favor bookmarks

Bookmark Favors. For style your guests can take with them, these mehndi patterned bookmarks are cute favors.
{handmade by www.tuccipaperco.etsy.com}

handmade Indian style card

The Thank You. How beautiful are these? As thank you cards, these are almost a second favor for your guests, some of whom just might frame them. {handmade by www.withanindiantouch.etsy.com}

For more Indian design inspiration, check out these pictures.

Lately, we’ve been seeing a lot of interest in our handmade diecut seashell beach wedding invitation.

Seashell and Seahorse Beach Invitation

Beach wedding planning season must be on. And so to help narrow down the many choices out there, here are 10 of my favorite handmade designs for beach weddings found on Etsy.

Beach theme save the date bookmarks

Save the Date. Not only does this save the date announce your theme early on, it’s a bookmark your guests can use again and again…maybe while relaxing on the beach with a good book. {handmade by www.SunshineandRavioli.etsy.com}

Wedding dress shrug

Dress Up the Dress. Beach wedding gowns are often light and airy. But if you want to add a little more va-voom…and still be able to walk easily on sand, this glamorous shrug could be your answer. {handmade by www.Countessa.etsy.com}

Handmade beach wedding signs

The Signage. Handmade custom signs point your guests in the right direction, in a fun personal way. {handmade by www.Funkifolkart.etsy.com}

Shell aisle decoration

The Aisle Decor. These shell balls are a beachy alternative to floral balls for the back of chairs lining the aisle. {handmade by www.magartsypartycrafts.etsy.com}

Handmade beach starfish guest book

The Guest Book. This map covered handmade guest book is a real heirloom piece, not just because of the guests’ words within. But also because of the hand bookbinding work, including coptic stitching.
{handmade by www.OliveArt.etsy.com}

Anchor wedding place cards

The Placecards. Anchors are a nautical alternative to shells and starfish for beach weddings. And these are very unique, very fun placecards. {handmade by www.TimelessPaper.etsy.com}

Starfish place card holders

The Placeholders. Real makes an impact. So as much as you can include real shells, starfish, anchors, etc. to your wedding decor, the more you immerse your guests in your theme. {handmade by www.seasidedesigns.etsy.com}

Handmade shell cake cutting set

The Cake Cutting. The cake cutting is often the signature event of the wedding (after the “I dos” of course!). Beach it up with elegant shell covered cake servers that become a memento of your special day.
{handmade by www.Beadz2Pleaz.etsy.com}

Fish glass sculpture

The Centerpiece. Wow. Forget ice-sculpture, this glass fish inspired centerpiece is elegant eye-candy you can keep. And can I say it again…wow! {handmade by www.ConfectionsInGlass.etsy.com}

Starfish favor tags

The Takeaway. Clean, friendly design makes these favor tags appropriate for a variety of beach weddings, from casual to elegant. {handmade by www.maidavale.etsy.com}

For more ideas for beach theme weddings and parties see this three-part celebrations guide on Polynesian-style beach designs.

Caravan Palace

StumbleUpon has really improved the quality and uniqueness of music that we’ve been listening to lately. I told you about Niyaz a while ago. And now we’ve found Caravan Palace.

Caravan Palace is a French band that fuses modern jazz swing with dance club music. And it’s so catchy that it’s been on repeat in our house for days.

But I’ll let the music speak for itself.

Hear More: http://www.last.fm/music/Caravan+Palace

Unique Corporate Gift

Even though you design something doesn’t mean you necessarily know how other people will use it. And that’s kinda fun. This week someone saw our chalkboard coasters as a holiday gift for her company’s clients.

Very surprising.

But when I stopped to think about it, very fitting. Handmade gifts can be an affordable, personal way to say thank you in a tough economy when each client kept and won is a triumph…and a gift.

Now, I’ve got to go wrap 88 coasters.

Our Gift Cards

Chalkboard Coaster Gift Set

Why I am a Subtitle Snob

By Guest Blogger: Justin Margulski

Gandahar Movie Poster

The other day I was watching Light Years, one of my favorite cartoon movies, and it occurred to me that I have become a subtitle snob.

I wasn’t always a subtitle snob. Once, I could watch foreign movies with English speaking voices dubbed over the foreign footage, and if the translation was decent, and the voice acting good, I would genuinely enjoy myself. But recently, more and more, I find myself wanting to hear the foreign dialog.

Light Years is the English language version of the film Gandahar, by René Laloux. Light Years is noteworthy in that it is the only time I have heard Teller’s voice (from Penn and Teller; I still haven’t seen Spanking Lessons).

The film takes place in a land called Gandahar. (No mention is made of the rest of Afghanistan, so it may just be another place with the same name, you know, like Georgia, just north of Florida, and Georgia, just north of Turkey.) In the film, there is no mention of any astronomical units at all, certainly not light years. There are also several scenes cut from the English version. But let’s leave all that aside.

The reasons I like the French version better are linguistic. In French, the ocean that the hero has to traverse is called “L’Océan Excentrique”. In English it is called the “Circumscribing Ocean”, because, unfortunately, the English word “eccentric” has lost its original meaning: “ex” – away from, “centric”, that which lies in the center. So they had to use the word, “circumscribing”. But in French, “excentrique” still retains that meaning, as well as having the meaning we have in English, odd, unusual, and perhaps foreign. I know it’s a simple change, and it is snobbish for it to bother me, but the French word means so much more than the English word.

And there is another reason. The mutants in the film have an unusual way of speaking. They never say something “is”. They always say something “was-will be”. In English it gets on my nerves, because “was” is one word and “will be” is two words so it sounds horribly awkward. I’m sure it sounds weird in French for the mutant guy to find the hero and say, “il était sera de Gandahar.” But in French the word for “was” is “était”, and the word for “will be” is “sera”. So each is one word, and it flows and sounds better to me.

I know. I’m a snob for letting it upset me, especially when Christopher Plummer kicks butt as the Metamorphis. Georges Wilson in the French version is good, but he is certainly not Christopher Plummer. But there is it. It upsets me, and that makes me a bit of a subtitle snob.

And another example:

The last time I visited my mum, we watched a Japanese cartoon called DNAngel. There was one episode in which the high school boy, Daiské coaxes a magical bunny, Wiz to transform into a copy of him. Once Wiz looks exactly like Daiské, Daiské repeats his name to the polymorphic bunny. In the English dub I watched with my mum, the bunny then says something along the lines of “I like you.” It’s kind of weird and cute that Wiz can say nothing else, and hilarity ensues.

In the Japanese version Daiské repeats his name to Wiz and Wiz repeats it back, but the bunny cannot quite manage to say Daiské’s name properly. Instead, Wiz says “daiski”. Now, I don’t speak Japanese, but… (Actually, my friends would say that I do speak Japanese, so I’ll meet them halfway.) Now, I barely speak Japanese, but I know what the word “daiski” means, “dai” – great, “suki” – affection. Because of the way Japanese grammar works you really don’t need to say anything else to mean, “I love you,” or “I love it,” or “That girl is crushing really hard on that guy.” People tend to understand based on what they were already talking about or where you were looking or what was going on when you said it.

Obviously “daiski” is very different from “I like you”. But the biggest difference is that I did not laugh at all when I heard the dialog in English, and I nearly laughed my popcorn right out of my mouth when I heard it in Japanese. In Japanese it’s a really funny joke, and in English the joke doesn’t work at all. My mum and I didn’t notice it was a joke, and simply moved on with the episode. Oh and in the Japanese dialog, when he says “daiski” to a girl there is this moment when she freezes, terrified because he might not just be complementing her apron, he might be confessing his love for her, and of course, the funny ambiguity was totally taken out of the English version.

There’s got to be hoards of these things. I’ve noticed that kung fu movies are full of them, weird little Chinese figures of speech that don’t translate, but mean a lot.

Because I don’t want to feel like some fussy elitist, please, everyone, add your own comments of things that got lost in translation, things that you would never notice if you were watching a dubbed version, but that you can still catch in the subtitled version even if you don’t speak the language particularly well.

Inspiration is a wonderful thing. And thanks to smart friends and new designers, I’m getting oodles of it lately.

So even though Justin and I started out designing invitations, we’ve been branching out into clothes, stationery, and now home and office decor. (And no, my head hasn’t exploded quite yet, but it might soon) One thing I’ve relearned along the away is that I love painting boxes!

Here are some of our new handmade designs, soon-to-be-seen in our www.CoolHot.etsy.com shop (and here on www.KembaCelebrations.com of course!)

handpainted jewelry box

handpainted wood trinket box

I’ll say it again: I love painting boxes. So putting our patterns on these wooden boxes was a no-brainer. Each one is painted and decorated by hand by me, and I love every second of it. Check out the beautiful necklace in the top photo. It was handmade by my mother-in-law.  And it’s one of my favorite things!

handmade Japanese journal

handmade journals with world prints

In our home, I’m surrounded by papers. Every once in a while, I like to think of new things to do with them. The latest result was these journals. Read the story behind the Italian paper used in the handmade journal here.

Polish inspired paper cut stationery

handmade Korean inspired holiday card

Holiday cards and Stationery in 3D: Justin and I picked up a digital die-cutter a couple of years ago. Who could say no to cutting out your own designs on paper…we couldn’t. And yes it collected dust for a while, but no longer.

By the way, to make room for all these new creations, we are in the process of moving all our wedding and soon-to-be-created social invitations and baby shower designs to a new Etsy shop: www.KembaCelebrations.etsy.com. And the CoolHot shop will be for our handmade office and home decor, stationery and holiday designs.