Martha's Vineyard Wine Fest 2014

I love Martha's Vineyard. I've written a few times about my family's travels to the vineyard, but today's post I'm sharing my recent solo trip to MV! That's right... this wife/mother of 2/small business owner took a lovely trip sans family.

The weekend of May 8-11 found the island filled with visitors welcoming the Spring season, enjoying the Pink & Green Weekend and the Martha's Vineyard Wine Fest(benefiting the Martha's Vineyard Boys and Girls Club). My dear friend, Marnely, author at Cooking with Books, is in charge of the MVWF Social Media/Public Relations, so it was also a chance for the two of us to catch up and enjoy a glass of wine and a few meals together.

I was thrilled when Marnely asked if I would design the insert cards for the "Swag Bags".  These cards listed the websites and twitter accounts for the wine fest donors! Take a look at all the amazing businesses who so generously gave samples (and sometimes full sizes) of their goods.

I arrived Friday around noon, giving me plenty of time to rest up from the long drive and ferry ride before meeting up with Marnely and another friend, Brandy O'Neill of Nutmeg Nanny. The three of us had dinner at Atria. This event was appropriately called "King of Cabernets". The five course meal was paired with five different Cabernets from the following wineries: Frog's Leap Winery, Hewitt Vineyards, Beaulieu Vineyard, Louis Martini, Faust Winery and Trinchero. The meal was prepared by Chef & Atria Owner Christian Thornton.

Saturday morning, breakfast was at The Harbor View Hotel with Marnely, Brandy, and Gina of Running to the Kitchen. Later that afternoon we all met up for the grand tasting where I also got to meet Gianne of Organic Bath Company. Wine after wine samplings, tasty canapés, local artisans and even a little sangria made the event fantastic. So much hard work went into making this festival special. Please be sure to read about the hard-working men and women who made this event a success!

Sunday was my last day on the Vineyard. It began with an amazing brunch at Detente. A trip to MV wouldn't be complete without a little shopping, and a stop for some chocolate from Not Your Sugar Mamas. This was truly one of the nicest visits to the Vineyard. A special thank you to all the people who made the MVWF so enjoyable and a BIG thank you to Marnely Rodriguez-Murray for being such a wonderful hostess and friend.

Cheers!
-Patti

Latest Web Design Client: Martha's Vineyard Wedding Studio

Wedding season is in full swing and I just had the pleasure of working with India Rose, of Martha's Vineyard Wedding Studio, designing and uploading her new website. As you may recall I gave you a sneak peek at the elements here. Today I'm thrilled to announce the site has officially launched!

Martha's Vineyard Wedding Studio is located in Vineyard Haven. It offers brides & grooms, their families or anyone planning a lovely event, a place to relax while having the finest wedding and event vendors' information at their fingertips. If you're looking for more hands-on assistance from the studio, India is happy to help with whatever is needed in planning your wedding or event. What a great business to run. I wish there had been such a place when I was planning my wedding!

It was a pleasure working with India... basically from the ground up! From the beginning we had a terrific level of communication between the two of us. When all was said and done I designed her logo, business cards (shown in the photo), website, blog, letterhead and envelopes, welcome letter and contract. Truly a special opportunity.

Please take a moment to visit Martha's Vineyard Wedding Studio online and if you're lucky enough to be on the Vineyard this summer, stop into the studio in Vineyard Haven! You can also keep up with India and this new venture on Facebook, Twitter and her Blog!

Again, I would like to thank our friend, Nelly Rodriguez of Cooking with Books for introducing me to India and for the glowing review of my design work! (xoxo) And I'd like to take this opportunity to thank India for being such a lovely client. I wish her all the best in her beautiful new business!

Photography & Cooking with Books

Holiday 2010 my wonderful husband bought me a new camera; the Nikon D3100. And since then it's as if I'm seeing in color for the first time. What a difference from the last camera I had... which wasn't a bad camera, but it wasn't even close to being in the same league as the Nikon.

My latest design project was possible largely due to the fact I have this amazing camera. Nelly Rodriguez, of Cooking with Books, was in need of a more personal blog banner and I was thrilled to be able to design one for her. Nelly is a baker by trade, studying baking and pastry making at the Culinary Institute of America. So it was no surprise when she said she wanted dough in the photo of her banner. She had also asked for a specific font she'd seen on another design of mine. Nelly decided to go with a crisp white sidebar which looks like freshly pressed baking whites. A perfect touch! And the end result is the following...

Stop by Nelly's blog. She has so much to share from recipes and utensil spotlights, to travel tips and reviews. I learn something every time I read one of her post!

I look forward to sharing my design clients with you on my Design Portfolio page. Up next is a complete blog redo! So excited to share it with you. Stay tuned!