Colorful Wedding Trends!

Wedding Bells are Ringing … and we love that the biggest trends this year are details and COLOR! Twenty-ten is all about putting your own personal touch and flair to your wedding day. Lilly Pulitzer Wedding Invitations by Lifeguard Press are helping you be trendy with color. Especially the Winner’s Circle invitation suite shown above. This four (that right, F O U R!) color letterpress invitation suite on beautiful, luxious paper is sure to set the mood for an event that is full of joy and celebration. And, look at all of the other color inspired items that are sure to make your wedding day unforgetable! Darcy Miller of Martha Stewart Weddings agrees. Darcy says in Brides Guide Blog, “When I think of Lilly Pulitzer, I think bright, fun, and happy—all good things to think of when it comes to your wedding.”

Details aren’t the only things getting the attention. Even “star performers” at the wedding are getting a splash of color. Wedding dresses are even available in bright an bold colors! Pink. Orange. Turquoise. Hooray! If a colorful wedding dress isn’t for you – you can always add a splash of color with a broach, sash or shoes (our personal favorite.)

Whether sticking to tradition or going for bold – making it personal is what your day is all about.
(And, if you’d like Lilly Pulitzer Wedding Invitations, we’d love to help you find a store near you. The invitation suites are absolutely spectacular!)

What We Love!

So many things inspire us here at Lifeguard Press! Love is in the air here (which reminds us, Valentine’s Day is just a month away!) and wanted to share some items from our licensees that are currently inspiring us. We love their playful, whimsical and eye-catching designs and patterns. Lilly Pulitzer brings us sophistication with lots of details, color and fun. Jonathan Adler is bold, modern and we love his wit. Susan Branch is endearing and soft with her sweet watercolors. When our licensees send us what inspires them with their latest patterns … the hard part is narrowing it down. We would love to produce thousands of items every month! As Jonathan Adler would say, “J’adore it all!”

Top that off with just arriving back at the headquarters from Atlanta’s AmericasMart and we are on sensory overload! We are in love with so many wonderful things. We love gifts. We love our licensees (and those we private label for!). We love to develop new products. We love to shop!
Yes, love is definitely in the air!

You’re Invited to Susan Branch Shows!

We received the  Susan Branch “Willard” today and just love reading her stories! She does a great job of reminding everyone of the small things in life and helping us remember that those small things are really the big ones.

This particular Willard has two invitations for events in California and we so wish we could jet set there. These events look like a lot of fun and love how sunny it is there! (Which is very tempting to jet set there since it is 14 degrees here!) The first is the Road to California Quilt Show on January 14-17th. It is a convention for quilt and craft lovers … complete with quilt appraisals, raffles, and booths set up with various artist and quilters. This will be a great place to collect fabrics for your quilts or scrapbooks. (We adore fabrics as accent pages or cover of your books to give an even more personal touch.) And, be sure to visit Susan Branch’s booth to see her new calendars, books, and other great items.

Susan Branch's Booth at the Quilt Show last year.

The second show was the Farmstand Antique Show and Sale (sounds like the perfect day for you and your girlfriends!) on February 6th (13th if it rains)  This cute venue set up “yard sale” style is fantastic … and they have the most delightful cupcakes that you must try.  There is even a “dude section” that is perfect if your guy came with you, too.

Hope you can make it if you are in the California area. (We’re so jealous!) Let us know if you do … we’d love to hear stories and see pics of these favorite spots in January. (www.facebook.com/lifeguardpress)

Branches Farmstand in Arroyo Grande, CA

 

P.S: The wait is almost over for our Susan Branch Spring 2010 Stationery and Gift Collection by Lifeguard Press!

Holiday Time at Lifeguard Press

We may be a little late blogging on the holiday parties here at Lifeguard Press … but, we’re still celebrating our fabulous company!

We started off our holiday week with a tacky Christmas sweater contest (which turned into a tacky outfit contest). It was so much fun to see what everyone came up with! We had everything from the traditional snowman sweater with glued on furry balls and glitter to the untraditional adult onesie.

The next day we had an amazing lunch/Christmas party at Bowling Green Country Club. A couple of people got together early and decorated the room with the festive Lilly Pulitzer Party Poms and Celebration Garland. We played dirty santa (which is always a blast!), had fabulous food and laughed so much. The party was ended with a perfect surprise. Our  office manager, with the help of a couple others, got each person in the office a small personalized gift. You can tell a lot of thought was put in each one, they were perfect! One girl, who wears flip flops all the time and loves Bon Jovi, received Bon Jovi flip flops. Too perfect!

Below are just a handful of pictures from our festivities. You can find more at www.facebook.com/lifeguardpress. Enjoy!

Ta-Da! NEW Showroom in Atlanta!

We love trade shows! It is a moment to get to know our customers and  hear adoration for our product (which gives us energy and creativity to take new leaps!). One of our favorite trade shows is the Atlanta Gift Show at AmericasMart every January and July. For ten years now, we have gladly shipped our big crates in-and-out and set up twice a year. This year … we moved buildings and are leasing a permanent showroom space. The timing just seemed perfect! We are debuting the Jonathan Adler stationery & gift line, and have added lots of new products and categories for our ever-famous Lilly Pulitzer and Susan Branch stationery & gift lines. We have been gushing with excitement and planning, planning, planning to make sure that we produce something where our customers will enjoy shopping.. Ta-Da! It is here! (Come see us! Building 2, #834A)

In October, a team went to AmericasMart to hand-pick our new showroom. We knew this particular showroom would work instantly! #834A  … here we come!

 

Ahh … our new blank canvas! We switched the doors to open in the middle, added beautiful hardwood floors (painted in high gloss white!), painted the walls white, added walls to create window displays, and so much more. Now – ready for some color and product!

We put together (yes, wired and assembled!) seven chandeliers for the showroom. We love sparkle! And, painted a few accent walls – some pink, some orange, and even wallpapered a wall in a gorgeous Jonathan Adler print.

Accent walls painted and furniture installed – Ready for the merchandising of product and window displays!

 

Ta-Da! Three cheers for our showroom … ready for YOU! Each brand (Jonathan Adler, Lilly Pulitzer and Susan Branch) has their own section and statement.

Come see Lifeguard Press’ newest showroom in Atlanta on January 6-13th in AmericasMart, Building 2, #834A.
Join us at www.facebook.com/lifeguardpress to hear the latest details of the show and see more pictures.

Fa La Lilly

With less than one week left until Christmas, everyone is busy with last-minute shopping and holiday decorating. Here are some quick and easy tips for wrapping your gifts and decorating your house to keep your holidays merry and bright!

The Lilly Pulitzer® Party Poms make unique bows for gifts that are extra special or extra big. Visit one of our favorite websites www.katespaperie.com for step by step directions to perfectly wrap your gifts in true Lilly fashion.

Another way to make your gifts rise above the rest is with Lilly Pulitzer® Photo Ornaments. They make creative gift tags and add a little something extra to the gift. Write your “to” and “from” inside the ornament and your gift recipient can hang it on their tree.

You can also use the  custom Lilly Pulitzer® stickers as gift tags this season. Match them to your decor and wrapping paper and get them printed with your names. Or you could get them blank and write the names in yourself. Either way they make a colorful and fun addition to any gift!

If you prefer a more classic approach for your name tags, stick to the Lilly Pulitzer® Gift Enclosures. They are the perfect size to use for tags or to write a note and send a little holiday cheer.For a more outside of the box option, the Lilly Pulitzer® drink umbrellas can be used as a tag or a creative bow for gifts. They are a fun way to decorate too! Just stick them in your tree to add a unique touch to your holiday decor!

There are even ways to combine gift giving and gift wrapping to make your  holiday to-do list a little shorter. Give someone a Lilly Pulitzer® Cocktail Shaker filled with a holiday treat and your favorite Lilly Pulitzer® gift (Hit Me! Playing Cards and Ink Pens shown). You could also fill one of the Lilly Pulitzer® Ceramic Mugs with cocoa mix and marshmallows (a classic gift for the holiday season). Add a tag to either of these gifts and no wrapping is necessary.

The Lilly Pulitzer® Celebration Garland is not just for trimming your tree anymore! Another great use for it is to make a tree of its own. Wrap the garland around a cone or wire form to make a garland tree. You could also wrap it around the bottom of a smaller tree for a unique tree skirt.

The countdown is on and time is running out! Get your gifts wrapped and under the tree and use these great tips to make everything more fun this season.

Sneak Preview of our Spring 2010 colors!

If you venture into our art department here at Lifeguard Press … you’ll see visions of Pantone Matching Books floating around. It is amazing how many different shades of pink and turquoise and green and yellow there are! We have most of them memorized by heart and can almost quote them all of to you in a code that will bedazzle most. If you are looking outside your window today and have the winter blues - our color swatches from 2010 are sure to make things sunny and cheery! Here is a sneak preview of the colors of the Lifeguard Press Spring 2010 product line.

Our  Lilly Pulitzer® stationery and gift collection include the fun and whimsical pinks and greens (of course!). This spring there will be splashes of yellows and blues too!

And, our newest addition of  Jonathan Adler stationery and gifts are introducing colors that are bold, modern and playful … which will include colorful patterns of blues, greens, reds, oranges and yellows!

Hopefully these colors will give you something to look forward to when the cold weather is gone. (We’re thinking about making our computer wallpaper these fun and festive swatches!)  Watch out for these colorful products coming soon!

A list you won’t have to check twice!

We can’t believe it is almost Christmas already! (Time flies when you’re having fun!) Throughout the year we find ourselves having new “favorites” almost weekly. So, when it comes to picking out holiday gifts to give to our friends and family from Lifeguard Press, we tend to wrap a few more gifts than initially intended.  Calendars are definitely on the gift giving list every year! And, this year we have our classic Susan Wallace Barnes calendars, as well as new and addictive calendars from Lilly Pulitzer and Susan Branch. We also love our pens as gifts, and our new Lilly Pulitzer kids items have been very popular. We could go on and on … so, here are a few of our favorites. These items are so colorful and bright (best of all they are under $25)!

H A P P Y  S H O P P I N G !

There is still time to order from Lifeguard Press for this Holiday Season.
Call 800.992.3006 – and one of our elves would be happy to assist you.

Behind the Scenes of our photo shoot!

Photoshoots are some of our most favorite days of the year! (Also some of the most fast-paced.) We do our catalogs twice a year and a few weeks ago we photographed our Spring 2010 catalogs. In 2010 we are pleased to continue producing stationery and gifts for Lilly Pulitzer and Susan Branch. And, we are excited to announce that we will be introducing Jonathan Adler stationery and gifts to our licensed collection!

We spend the weeks before our photoshoot checking out our locations, gathering fun props (candy, paper critters, fruit loops!) and supplies. The best part? Opening the boxes of samples. After months of brain storming, chatting and designing exactly what we want … there is nothing like opening a box with the actual samples that brings all of that hard work to reality! So, we gathered up everything and headed to our locations for four fun-filled and creative days. For this catalog we choose the actual stores of our licensees to get the best sense of their brand and display the items like you, our stores, would display it. Off to the Lilly Pulitzer and Jonathan Adler stores in Los Angeles we go …

Once again, working on the Lifeguard Press catalog photoshoots were a TON of fun! We completed more than 100 shots in less than 4 days! WOW! We are back in Kentucky now, working on placing the pictures in the Jonathan Alder, Lilly Pulitzer and Susan Branch stationery & gift catalogs and can’t wait to share them with you. Watch your mailboxes … 2010 is just a month away.

Fall Recipe Ideas From Susan Branch

Fall is the the perfect season to entertain. Especially with Thanksgiving coming up, it is a great time to have family and friends over for dinner.

Here is an autumn inspired plate from Susan Branch with Potatoes Anna, classic tenderloin of beef topped with horseradish sauce, Indian shuck bread baked in a strip of corn husk with a side of maple butter, and red pear, grape, and pecan salad.

Potaotes Anna

Ingredients:

1/2 cup(s)	(1 stick) butter
7 large	russet potatoes, peeled
1 3/4 teaspoon(s)	salt
1/2 teaspoon(s)	ground black pepper
2 large	purple potatoes, peeled
1 large	yam, peeled
1 tablespoon(s)	canola oil

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Heat the butter in a small saucepan until foamy. Remove from heat, skim off and discard the foam.
2. Slice 6 russet potatoes to about 1/8-inch thickness. Pour 1 tablespoon butter into a 12-inch skillet. Line the skillet with a layer of potato slices slightly overlapping one another. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and brush with butter. Repeat, adding layers until the sliced potatoes and all but 1/4 teaspoon salt are used. Flatten by pressing down with a spatula and sprinkle with black pepper. Bake for 50 minutes and press down again with spatula.
3. Slice remaining russet, purple potatoes, and yam to about 1/8-inch thickness lengthwise and use mini-leaf-shaped cutters to punch out shapes using cookie cutters. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small skillet and fry the leaf cutouts over medium-high heat until golden around edges. Toss with remaining salt. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.
4. Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees F and continue to bake until golden around edges–about 10 more minutes. Run a rubber spatula around the edges to loosen and invert onto large plate. Arrange the yam and purple potato leaves on top to decorate. Serve warm.

Indian Shuck Bread

Ingredients:

12	corn husks
2 cup(s)	yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon(s)	light brown sugar
1 teaspoon(s)	ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon(s)	baking powder
1/2 teaspoon(s)	salt
1/4 teaspoon(s)	cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Soak corn husks in water until softened–about 1 hour. Blot dry and tear off 24 quarter-inch strips from the husks and set them and the larger husks aside.
2. Stir together the cornmeal, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and cayenne with 1 1/2 cups boiling water until a soft dough forms. Pat the dough into 1- by 3-inch logs using about 2 1/2 tablespoons dough per log. Wrap each log with the larger corn husk pieces and tie the ends, to form a packet, with the reserved strips.
3. Fill a large saucepan halfway with water and bring to a boil. Add the packets and cook for 15 minutes. Remove and serve while still hot, in the husks, along with Maple Butter.

Maple Butter

Ingredients:

1 cup(s)	(2 sticks) butter, softened
1/4 cup(s)	maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon(s)	Mexican hot sauce, such as Cholula

Directions:

1. Beat the butter, syrup, and hot sauce together until combined. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking pan and cover with another sheet of parchment paper. Press, using a rolling pin to pack the butter to 1/2-inch-thick slab. Chill for 30 minutes. Remove top sheet of parchment paper and cut butter into pats.

Red Pear, Grape, and Pecan Salad

Ingredients:

3/4 cup(s)	balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup(s)	olive oil
6 tablespoon(s)	brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon(s)	salt
1/4 teaspoon(s)	ground black pepper
1 pound(s)	red leaf or butter lettuce
1	pomegranate, seeded
32 large	dark seedless grapes, halved
1 large	red onion, sliced into thin rings
1/2 cup(s)	crumbled blue cheese
4	ripe red pears, cored and sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 cup(s)	Spiced Pecans, see directions for link to recipe
2	oranges, zested

Directions:

1. Prepare Spiced Pecans.
2. Combine vinegar, oil, brown sugar, salt and pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Tear lettuce into 1-inch pieces. Wash and drain in a salad spinner. Divide evenly on 8 plates. Evenly divide and sprinkle pomegranate seeds, grape halves, red onion, cheese, pears, and pecans on each plate. Drizzle vinaigrette on each and sprinkle with orange zest. Serve immediately.

Dessert time is a great time to gather around the fire in the living room and enjoy good conversation. Try this great recipe for cranberry apple crisp to share with your guests.

Cranberry Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

4 large	green apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/2 inch
1 cup(s)	fresh cranberries
3/4 cup(s)	brown sugar
1/2 cup(s)	flour
1/2 cup(s)	rolled oats
3/4 teaspoon(s)	ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon(s)	ground nutmeg
1/3 cup(s)	butter, softened

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Lightly coat an 8-inch-square baking pan with butter. Add apples and cranberries to the pan. Combine the sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, and softened butter in a bowl. Sprinkle over the fruit and bake until golden brown–about 30 minutes.
3. Serve hot with ice cream or cold with whipped cream.

Top off the meal with a festive table setting. This is and idea from Susan Branch to decorate your table with a touch of Fall.

These are great ideas for an autumn dinner to enjoy with friends and family. Tell us about some Fall recipes that you enjoy or if you have tried any of these!