New website is up and running!

Yes. FINALLY! My brand spanking new website is up and running so I will no longer be using this Blogspot at all.



So bookmark my new blog:

www.danellebourgeois.com/blog

I'l be leaving this blogspot alone from now on but every single post I've made is on my new blog anyway so there's no need to ever come here again. :P

Oops!

As usual, I didn't keep to my word of putting up a weekend links post. For now, this will be my last post on this Blogspot until my new website is up and running. Actually, that's a lie because I'll post again once more to direct people to my new site!

Since a lot of things link to this site I will keep what is on here to date and hope that people follow my redirect through to my new one.

For the time being please check out my Tumblr posts if you are after some graphic design, typography, stationery, wedding, event, baking and food inspiration! I'm currently lining up a whole bunch of posts for it whilst I trawl through the huge amount of blogs and sites I follow.

See you all soon!

Exciting times!

Sorry about the scarce posts at the moment. I've started to work on moving my blog to Wordpress and making more of a portfolio style site so I'm trying to hold off on the posts till I get it up and running.

I have a few fun posts lined up for when it's all sorted, like my experience at the letterpress workshop, some baking adventures and a letterpress wedding invitation. Here's a sneak peak of something we worked on at the letterpress workshop. It was so much fun!



Hopefully after tomorrow's links post the next time I will be in touch is when my new blog/site is all go! Eeee!

Happy Queen's Birthday!

I love 3 day weekends.
Although a 4 day weekend would be even better... Not that I'm complaining.

In celebration of the Queen's birthday (Well not really. Regardless of her birthday, I still would have gone to get them) I decided to FINALLY try out the J'aime les macarons from Dizengoff Cafe in Ponsonby. My friend Mel had told me they were amazing and much better than the Ma Cherie ones that seem to be stocked everywhere else in Auckland.

Boy was she right. They were AMAZING!



Sour cherry and pistachio macaron (below)
This was really great! The flavours were fantastic and the filling was super creamy with little bits of cherry and pistachio in it. YUM!



Coconut macaron (below)
I'm not usually a coconut fan but this was really good, I'd definitely get it again! The toasted coconut on the top really made the entire macaron.



Blackcurrant and chocolate macaron (below)
I don't even know what to say about this one, words cannot describe how AMAZING it was. With the added surprise of the blackcurrant jam / sauce / stuff in the middle with the chocolate ganache, it's really giving the blueberry cheesecake macaron I had in Melbourne a run for my favourite macaron.



Vanilla macaron (below left)
If you're a fan of vanilla, then this is the macaron for you. The vanilla flavour was perfection.

Rose macaron (below top)
This was the only one that had any downside to it and that's just because I realised whilst eating it that I really don't like rose flavour. Just not my thing. Otherwise the textures were still spot on, so if you like rose flavour you should try this one. It was definitely better than the rose one I had in Melbourne.

Chocolate and caramel macaron (below bottom)
Caramel and chocolate work so well together. This was yummy as! Although it was a little sickening (especially after I had eaten 5 macarons in the few hours before it - bad idea).



So if you're on the hunt for a really good macaron, look no further. There are a few stores you can get them from around the country, or you can order them direct from Christchurch and they will courier them to you. Although they are more expensive than the Ma Cherie ones, they are far more superior in flavour, texture and creative combinations.

Will definitely be buying these every time I visit Ponsonby!
I'm gonna get faaaaaat.

My heart is out at sea.

The weather isn't looking too great for this long weekend. Not that I intended on spending much time outdoors...

Tomorrow I will be on the hunt for a pointed calligraphy nib and I might hit up Dizengoff Cafe as I have been meaning to try the macarons they sell there for a while. Looking forward to it, even if I'll be spending the day alone. Then letterpress workshop on Monday! Woop!

Currently listening to: You Me At Six - Always Attract
I cannot get enough of this song. Got it on repeat at the moment. I love Josh's sisters voice!

Looking through my usual billion blogs I check weekly I have noticed that far too many of the bloggers and studios I follow are lucky enough to attend the National Stationery Show. You'll never understand just how jealous I am of them all. If I ever get to New York, I will make sure I go in May so that I can make it to this event!

So, as I am inspired by some amazing stationery, here are your links for the weekend!

P.S. The word stationery is often confused with stationary. See this cute post for further information.



  1. Neon colours used in letterpress may just be my new favourite. Fig.2 Design has pulled this off well!
  2. The gold foiling on Rifle Paper Co.'s new 'Hello' card collection is stunning. Looks like it was hand painted on!
  3. Avie Designs have put out a new range of wedding invitations, one of which is this amazing paper cut design that is based on Avis's own wedding invitation.
  4. Loving the style of these wedding invitations from Studio SloMo. Nice classic colours and look.
  5. A birthday card you can colour in? Love it! The 100 flames are blind embossed so you can colour in as many candles as the birthday number, perfect!
  6. Dingbat Press put together this fantastic post about their experience at the NSS from beginning to end. They've even put up all of their costs involved in setting up their showcase area. Great for those thinking of getting involved.

Finally!

It seems like all of my workshop wishes are coming true.

First, the Calligraphy for Designers workshop popped up last month. And now, after far too many wishes for a letterpress workshop to be in Auckland, one pops up!

I'm actually mad at myself for not looking hard enough the first time when searching for Auckland-based letterpress studios. Just a few weeks ago I stumbled upon the GTO Printers website again and noticed they had a little button called 'Workshops'. Why, oh why had I not seen this when I looked at this website last year?!

I emailed Graham, the studio owner, instantly (it happened to be 11.47pm at the time) enquiring as to when he might hold another one. He replied in the morning to tell me he was planning two for this June! I couldn't believe my luck!

Next Monday - Queens Birthday, so it's a long weekend - I will be spending the day at the letterpress workshop! I cannot wait to get my first taste of using a press. I'm going into this knowing pretty much nothing at all so it should hopefully be a real eye-opener, and I will see if it's something I'd like to pursue further in the future. Eeee!







Images above are from GTO Printers' previous workshop.

Sick, sick, sick.

This post is laaaaaaaate. My fault. Sort of.

You see, last week at work was crazy. Aishia and I ended up working about 50 hours each in 4ish days. Not cool. One night we didn't leave the office till about 1am and then had to go back at 8.30am again. Booooo. Don't you just love those jobs that escalate and take over everything in your life? NOT. Ah well. It's all over now. Yay!

I took Friday afternoon off, had a nice lunch with some girls from work and then had a celebratory cocktail with Aishia at Monsoon Poon. Then I thought I better get to the doctor (which I had to put off for weeks due to work being so busy). Little did I know, the nurses there decided to give me the works. This included the flu vaccine. I've had it before and all it did was give me a sore arm for a few days and I didn't get a cold or flu all year! However, I failed to think about the fact that I was extremely run down and that my immunity being so low at the time might mean that I would get sick from the jab.

By the end of Friday night my arm was killing me, I was so freaking tired and I was starting to feel pretty icky. It's now Monday night and I've probably only been awake a good 25 hours in the past three days. And yet I'm still yawning like crazy! It hasn't been the funnest of weekends...

Anyway... That's why this post is horribly late. It's taken me so long to do as well because my eyes really struggle with staring at the computer screen. No idea how I'm going to cope going back to work and having to stare at a computer for 8 hours a day. I'm sure I will survive.

Currently listening to: Taylor Swift - Speak Now
I cannot get enough of this album. I wish she would come to New Zealand!



  1. I'm the same as Jessica... Love coffee cake, ice coffee, tiramisu, cookies cookies, but hot coffee? YUCK. Her homemade iced mocha looks crazy good.
  2. An inspiring read for anyone thinking they are going down a career path that isn't what they really want. Love what you do!
  3. Loving this wedding station suite! It's travel themed and it's just so well designed! Love it.
  4. This soda bar and classic games wedding shoot is totally adorable! One of my favourite parts of it is the amazing calligraphy.
  5. If you're looking for something neat to add to your wedding invitation you should consider a custom hand drawn map. They're so cute!

Calligraphy For Designers.

Calligraphy is something I've always wanted to be able to do. I remember looking at the pens, nibs and ink at my old work (an art supplies store) and wishing I could use them. I'm not sure why I never just tried... I guess I had no pressing need to so I never bothered.

Since I've become more interested in wedding stationery, I've noticed how much an invitation design can benefit from fantastic custom calligraphy. So when Design Assembly sent out an email about a class called 'Calligraphy For Designers' I jumped at the chance to sign up.





We've been learning the basics of calligraphy; the different tools of the trade, the techniques and the styles.

It's hard to deviate from your own personal handwriting at times. I have trouble with the width of my letters because my normal handwriting is quite wide. But I'm learning. I'm not at all comfortable with capital letters yet either. Maybe it's just the font we are working with - a basic italic - but I just cannot get the hang of them. With more practice hopefully I will improve.



Tomorrow evening is my final class. I'm excited but also a bit sad about this. It's been fun going to classes again, having homework, etc. I'm hoping that the teacher, Peter Gilderdale, does another course to follow on from this basics one.

Anyway... I'll post some more once I've gotten more of my own style down! Hopefully I can use these skills in some wedding stationery designs and more!

Beautiful you.

I never used to wear jewellery when I was younger but recently I've started to love wearing necklaces, and sometimes the odd ring if I like it enough (and if it fits - stupid giant knuckles!).

I came across the Beautiful You store on Felt (which is sort of like New Zealand's version of Etsy) a few weeks ago and HAD to buy a few things.

I've wanted an octopus necklace for a while now so that was the first on my list. Then I made a list of about 6 others that I wanted and decided I should really cull it back and ended up adding the wishbone necklace to my cart.







Then I found these cute cream flower studs and decided that those were a necessity also.



And while I was at it I thought I'd see if any of my friends wanted to add to my order (save on shipping and all that!). Brit decided on the tea party necklace and Jessamy decided on the rawr means I love you in dinosaur necklace. So cute!



I might do another order and grab the swooping bird, mixtape and origami crane necklaces... one day...

I'll eat you up.

Sometimes work gets busy. This week was one of those weeks and next week will be no different. It's nice to be busy though. I prefer it over being bored.

I've got no plans whatsoever for the weekend. Perfect! Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on some work I've got to do at home. And maybe do some baking! Looking forward to sleeping in... Zzzzz.

What are you all up to this fine weekend?



  1. These cookies and cream cheesecake bars sounds crazy delicious. Popping that one on the list of recipes to try.
  2. I love this DIY chocolate bar label! You can download their printables, or just design your own for a wedding or party. Totally going to do this, just need to find a reason why!
  3. Wish I had some sweet illustration skills like Alyssa Nassner has. Her work just such character to it. Definitely check out her cute 'sewing sentiments' series.
  4. I think everyone needs this How To Cook Breakfast print - partly because it's hilarious and partly because of the awesome typography design.
  5. The cakes from this amazing wedding look far too pretty to eat. Ruffles!