As a young child, Stephanie would go to the local stationery/toy store and purchase small bottles of Testors paints, rather than stuffed animals or other toys.  She was intrigued by the colors and would stack the bottles next to each other to see how the colors worked together.  As she got older, a true love for painting emerged, and everything became a canvas on which to paint.   You will find her hand painted artwork and murals in most rooms in her home; on the walls, the fireplace mantel and the fronts of the kitchen cabinets.  Friends have joked that they wouldn’t even recognize her without a paintbrush in her hand!

It was in 1998 when she painted the aisle runner for her own wedding.  She did a climbing morning glory vine on both edges that went the length of the 125’ runner.  It took every free moment of several weeks to complete, but was worth every minute of it. 

She was thrilled with the morning glory design and the finished aisle runner, and so she painted the design on the wedding invitations (hand drawn and hand painted on each and every invite!).  They came out great too, so she just kept going.  The design was repeated on petal cones, place cards, and the table number cards – each and every piece painted by hand.   The entire wedding had a theme that was a reflection of the mood being created for the day, and was completely unique.

She enjoyed the process of turning a simple sketch into an exquisite backdrop for a wedding ceremony, as well as coordinating stationery suite, and she did several more runners after that for friends and family.

She worked as an artist for a high-end invitation design and manufacturing company for 11 years until they closed their doors in 2009.  With growing popularity for her artwork, she found herself in a perfect position to start Starry Night Design Studio.   She now combines her love for painting, with her skill and talent for invitation design to give you a memorable backdrop for your wedding day!

stephanie@starrynightdesignstudio.com