Author: Rose

Cat Links Budget Friendly Ideas, DIY, DIY Gifts, Weddings

Inexpensive Wedding Gift: DIY State Art Love!

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I’ll never forget the year I attended 12 weddings in five months. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE weddings. But celebrating all that love and happiness can do a number on a guest’s pocket-book. And since we’re in the thick of wedding season right now, I thought I’d help you all out. Here’s an inexpensive DIY wedding present that’s both beautiful and meaningful for the happy couple. I made this for my dear cousin who married the love of her life last December. Their story involves so many states it was hard to decide which to include. She grew up outside Chicago while he spent his childhood in a small Ohio town. When they met she was living in Kansas and he was in Nebraska. They dated long distance for awhile and got engaged. Then a new job found them moving together to Cleveland. Does your head hurt yet? Mine too. I decided to go with hometown love. Illinois and Ohio it is! Step One: Make your states. 1. Find and print an image of your selected states. 2. Carefully cut out your states. I found it was much easier to get around all the curvy lines using these tiny scissors

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Cat Links Adult Birthday, Centerpiece Idea, Event Design, Rosy Events!, Theme parties

Party like it’s 1969!

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Remember this groovy 60th birthday party invitation? Well, here’s all the super fun details from the party! Is there a better way to celebrate turning 60 than throwing a big, 1960’s themed party? This party (in honor of a “reformed hippie”) was at the beautiful Bridgeview Boathouse in Knoxville, TN. Stunning river views surround the gorgeous event space. It was a blast working with Kevin Clark of UT Catering to create an authentic 1960’s themed menu with a modern twist. We included all the things you’d expect to see from that era –  shrimp cocktail, deviled eggs, Waldorf salad, pot roast sandwiches, ham skewers on a pineapple tree, mini casseroles, fondue, hostess cupcakes, etc. We even had a porcupine cheese ball and jello salad just for fun! This party screamed 1960’s fun from the menu to the music to the decor, which included custom posters, tie-dyed paper flowers, and garden gnomes!!! These ladies kept the dance floor rockin’ all night! They even had a special choreographed dance to “She Works Hard for the Money” in honor of the birthday girl. We added so many personal touches to this shindig to make it extra special. Guests were greeted coming off the

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Cat Links event technology, meeting and conferences, Rosy Events!, Uncategorized

Meeting Technology Trends: Fighting Fire with Fire

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Let’s face it. We can plan the most amazing meeting with dynamic speakers, relevant information, ample breaks, upbeat teaser music, and maybe even something out of the box thrown in just for fun. But when presenters look out at the crowd these days, what do they see? About half of the attendees staring down at a tiny screen checking email, surfing Facebook, or sending a text to the guy sitting next to him. And that’s on a good day. This is a problem that (aside from ordering all attendees to relinquish their devices at the door) is nearly impossible to beat. And you know what they say. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em! Meeting Apps Meeting apps are nothing new. In fact, they’ve become increasingly popular over the last five years. Many include maps, agendas, badge or business card scanning, speaker bios, sponsor information and more. It’s too soon to tell if these programs will result in the demise of today’s clunky, time consuming (and often expensive), printed conference guides, but some experts are predicting that will be the case. What is new is the price to create a custom meeting app. Thankfully, it seems the days of apps

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Cat Links Event Design, meeting and conferences, Rosy Events!, Theme parties, Uncategorized

Viva, Las Vegas!

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Last month I had the pleasure of producing a three day industrial real estate conference for Cushman & Wakefield. That may not sound very exciting, but this conference was in beautiful Las Vegas and attended by nearly 450 of the happiest industrial real estate professionals I’ve ever met. Seriously, I have never encountered so many people who love what they do in one place. Cushman & Wakefield is doing something right. The conference consisted of seminars, break-out sessions, round tables, exhibits, and networking opportunities. We were very lucky to partner with the amazing folks at Nice Meeting to bring some cutting edge technology to this year’s conference. You can read more about Nice Meeting here. The conference culminated with a fire and ice themed cocktail party complete with an ice bar and luge, themed signature drinks, and fire dancers. Because it is Vegas, after all. Surrender Nightclub at the Encore Resort took such good care of us! We wanted to get the theme across as soon as our guests came through the door. We had waitresses welcoming them serving our signature drinks, the Fireball and the Blue Icicle. These massive, 4ftX8ft lit signs also helped. It’s a little hard to make out in the

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Groovy, 1960's Inspired Birthday Invitation
Cat Links Adult Birthday, Event Design, Invitation Ideas, Theme parties

Sixties Inspired 60th Birthday Invitation

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The guest of honor for this super fun 1960’s themed bash is a reformed hippie who is into quilting, batik fabric, reptiles, tree species, and dog training. She also happens to be my mom. I searched high and low for the perfect 1960’s inspired invitation. I tried to design it myself, but my self-taught graphic design skills just didn’t cut it. After all, this lady has been amazing for 60 years. It had to be perfect. Luckily, I stumbled across Nadia Ink. (And lucky for you, Nadia will customize this design for your next party by clicking here.) A huge thank you to Nadia, who was able to take my ambiguous ideas and return a first draft that was nearly perfect. She was kind enough to work within my tight timeline even though she was working on another party simultaneously. What a pro! If you live in the Toronto area, Nadia will even custom style a candy/sweets tables at your next event. Check out her facebook page for more info! And check back soon for all the groovy details on this swinging party!