{Exclusive Interview} and Anders Ruff Custom Designs Valentine's Day Shoot

I am absolutely smitten with the darling Valentine's Day photo shoot styled by {& new printable collection created by} the major talents at Anders Ruff Custom Designs!

I personally am incredibly impressed by the party styling and creative talent of Maureen & Adria. They have such an eye for detail and many of their custom printables have knocked my socks off!!!

I have no doubt these two will go far with their tremendous talent, and it is a great honor to feature my exclusive interview with them today.

Also, enjoy this breathtaking eye candy from their Valentine's Day Shoot and RESOURCE GUIDE at the bottom of the post!  {Note that they are offering 50% off the collection through January 25th. You can purchase your set from their shop here!}

1) Tell us about about the launch of Anders Ruff Custom Designs--the inspiration, motivation, and how you turned it from a dream into a reality!



Adria’s background was in the fashion industry and Maureen has an engineering and medical sales background.

After having kids, we were both stay-at-home moms that did freelance design work on the side. Adria worked in photography and graphic design, Maureen created artwork and hand made invitations.

We were complete strangers until a preschool open-house in January 2010.

In the hallway before parting, we realized that we had a lot in common – the love of all things paper, design and parties. From there a wonderful friendship formed and we decided to embark upon a business together. With both of us devoted and passionate about graphic design, we hoped to change the face of celebration style for those who love it as well.



We opened our shop in February of 2010 and didn’t plan for it to grow as fast as it did. We are so thankful for all of our clients and fans and we truly believe we have the dream job!

2) You have created a number of darling collections of invitations with coordinating party products! Can you give us a hint about what we can expect to see in 2011? Any specific themes, color-schemes or patterns?



This year has been a learning experience for us. We started the business in February of 2010. Within 6 months, we were so busy that we had to hire design editors to help us fulfill the demand of orders so that we could continue creating new designs. Now that we have the assistance, we have more time to work on custom designs and new collections.



We learned through our customers that everyone is really interested in coordinating their entire party from start to finish, so we want to be able to offer printable packages that coordinate with all of our invitations.




{A few upcoming collections}

We just created 2 new Valentine’s printable collections. The “I Heart Valentine’s Day” collection that you are showcasing today, as well as the “Romantic Valentine” collection.

For the “Romantic Valentine” collection, we collaborated with Calligraphy by Jennifer to incorporate beautiful handwritten calligraphy into the printable package. (we digitized her actual calligraphy into our design program to create this fun package!) Mara of LMG Events styled an amazing “Valentine’s wedding inspirations” photo shoot using this new collection that should be released soon. We used the Pantone color of the year as the focal color for this collection.

You can expect to see a classic feeling Easter Collection in February or March. We will be coming out with a small St. Patty’s Day printable collection in February. We are going to change gears for 4th of July and Halloween this year. (Last year we stuck to traditional colors, this year will be different!) Thanksgiving and Christmas will be totally different, as well. We like to offer a variety of styles because we know our clients are all so unique!

3) We would love to know more about you! Please share a bit about yourselves (hobbies, passions, favorite desserts, favorite color--anything and everything--you can specify who loves what since I know there are two of you).




{Things about Maureen Anders}:

- I love Zumba and Tennis (Zumba is more of a love hate relationship)

- I love Not drinking alcohol

- I love to find creative ways to use everyday items and create art (i.e. paper plate polyhedron shown here!).
- Cheese and Pomegranates are my favorite foods.

- Handbags are my obsession.

- Art and Real Estate are things I will never get sick of looking at and shopping for.

- My boys - J, Pierson, Jeffrey and our Jack Russell Terrier, Cotton.

- Colors - I love color combos more than I love colors themselves. Aqua and red together, blues and oranges together, yellows and grays together, navy with bright colors like pink or green.

- I am very conservative in how I dress, which is a change that I made once I graduated college and became a professional. Some call me the Bree Vandekamp of fashion because I love cardigans and blazers. I wish I owned every color of my favorite Tory Burch blouse.

- Stockpiling. I feel much better if I have a lot of something versus only 1. I guess I am a little OCD.

{Adria Ruff: Things I Love}:

- Wine: cocktail hour starts early at my house

- Anthropologie Store and Window Displays - Whenever I need inspiration, I look to see what Anthropologie is doing!

-Shoes, shoes and more shoes! - No matter what you are wearing, or if you are having a bad hair day - if you have the perfect shoes, you always feel better!

-Pedicures - I love have my toes done - nothing better than pretty toes!

-The Beach - I don’t even have to be on the beach... just knowing its near me, makes me happy.

-Cooking (not baking!) - I am a fabulous cook and a terrible baker... what more can I say?

-Decorating my house (but I don’t seem to have very much time for it anymore) - I love surrounding myself with beautiful things, and I love making every room in my home feel like artwork

- NYC - I can never have enough NYC - I feel at home, when I am there, and wish I could spend more time there!!!

- My family (most days)

-My work - creating new designs!!!

4) What are your future goals for Anders Ruff Custom Designs, and what steps are you taking now to achieve them?



Our goal is to become a nationally recognized brand. We have enjoyed collaborating and working with lots of talented people in the party planning business. We hope to continue to grow by offering more creative and unique designs.

5) Your newest collection for Valentine's Day is absolutely darling (as is the entire photo shoot!) Please tell us more about your inspiration behind this set, as well as any favorite moments from the shoot! Will either of you be hosting a Valentine's Day Party this year? Any creative or fun uses of your printables you will be using for your party?




Maureen was obsessed with Anthropologie’s fall window display that featured yellow and orange folded cardboard circles and was determined to use something similar in our next shoot. We decided to make a paper plate polyhedron to be the hanging focal point of the table. It felt very kid friendly and was a craft that children can easily do with their parents.



The collection is called “I Heart Valentine’s Day” because we both LOVE Valentine’s Day. We wanted to incorporate hearts in to the collection in the most creative ways possible.



We wanted to make this printable package both kid friendly but versatile enough or adults to use, too. We wanted to bring back some of our childhood favorites such as the “cootie catcher/fortune teller” printable template that we included.



We wanted to mix both contemporary with old school style in this photo shoot. We pulled in elements from the past by using the custom vintage clothing line by MiniMooh, the fabric layered flowers, chalkboard for tic-tac-toe (XOXO), cootie catcher and hand made valentine letter/envelopes.

To keep things fresh and contemporary, the designs focused on simple shades of red and pinks with unique patterns of “X’s and O’s”, geometric hearts and stripes.

We had our Valentine’s Day party early after finishing this photo shoot. We brought over some neighborhood children after the shoot to enjoy the treats and displays. The kids had a ball!

We included patterned papers so that our creative clients can have flexibility with the use of the package. For example, we used a heart punch with the papers to create heart garland that was strung on the front of the table. We also used the heart box template to create whimsical treat containers for our table. We always love to see what our clients do with our packages!
 
 
 
 
Want more of Anders Ruff Custom Designs?
 
You can find them on their blog here, facebook here, twitter here, or their shop here!
 
 
 
{Credits and Sources}


Styling and Printable Graphic Design Package by Anders Ruff Custom Designs

Photography by Becca Bond Photography
 Handmade Dresses and Bow Ties by Mini Mooh
Cupcakes by Cupcrazed Cakery in Baxter

 Lollipops by This Charming Candy
Fondant Decor by Sweet Petal Bakery

Macarons by Sparkles Kitchen

Sugar Cookies by Allyson Jane
Cupcake Liners from The Cupcake Social 
Paper Straws from Bake It Pretty



Thank you so much Maureen and Adria, for this fabulous interview and sharing your gorgeous Valentine's Day Collection and Shoot with us!