Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo of ABCD Designs Bespoke Stationery

Summer is going great, other than this icky cold that is working it’s way through my house this week.  We have been languishing in trips to the pool, vacations, and cool evening drinks on the patio just the way a family should during these months.  However, I can’t help but to find myself looking forward to my most favorite season- fall.  School buses, vibrant color changes, leaf-jumping, festivals, and baking bring out giddiness and energy.  That’s why when Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo’s (aka: ABCD) profile for the debut of Creatives Cook came in, I almost jumped out of my seat after seeing the recipe for one of my absolute fall favorites, Pumpkin Bread.  She’s a girl after my own heart!

ABCD is the bundle of positive energy behind ABCD Designs Bespoke Stationery.  She brings a giant bag of talents to her work, with a background that includes culinary studies, event planning, interior design, floral arrangement, and more.  Her mind is always working and she is constantly achieving aesthetic harmony in her work, her home, and her style.  She puts her many of her aesthetic musings down in her gorgeous blog, ABCD Designs, each day for readers to marvel over, and each entry is truly a treat for the eyes!

ABCD Designs Bespoke Stationery

What different types of stationery do you design? (events only, or personal stationery as well?)

The ABCD Designs Bespoke Stationery tag line is Weddings, New Babies, Big Announcements – Milestones in life set the tone. I will design stationery for any personal project. The lion’s share of my focus is on Wedding Stationery because I am able to start with a seed of an idea and grow it into an entire set and that is really gratifying to me.

Since 2006 we’ve spent about half of each year living in London. Playing off of the Bespoke Menswear Design on Saville Row, I call wedding stationery suites “Wedding Stationery Wardrobes.” There are multiple events during an engagement where (if the bride is game) I am able to tell their story not just with their invitation but also throughout their stationery wardrobe. The more pieces we do together, the more opportunity we have to incorporate their personality with different “accessories.” I love to incorporate the teeny tiny details in a couples story so that the wedding guests not only get really excited about being invited, but also so that they feel like they know the couple on another level after receiving their invitation set in the mail.

When I designed our wedding stationery wardrobe, I had images I wanted to tell our personal story with. For instance, after we had been dating about a month Mr.D took me out for my 30th Birthday dinner. After dinner I ordered a double espresso. There were so many grounds in the bottom of the cup after I finished it that I said “If you were an old Turkish lady you’d tell me my fortune.” He took the cup, swirled it around and within a moment he lost all color in his face. He put it down and said “look.” There was a heart shape in the middle of the cup. Luckily, it was my birthday and we had a camera. I used that image on our rehearsal dinner invitation. Another example: I caught the bouquet at my best girlfriend’s wedding – only two days before Mr. D popped the question. The old wives tale came true! I used the photos from that event in my bridal shower invitation. When the wedding was over and we moved in together, I made a “Change of a Dress” card. I actually made a collage that included my dress with an old-fashioned map of our neighborhood cut out in the pattern of my dress.

What were you doing before you started ABCD Designs Bespoke?

After studying fine art at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, I worked for a cottage industry knit wear designer. We would take trips to NYC for buying trips. I fell in love with NYC. After a very serious car accident, I realized I should not be scared of making the move – I could be dead for goodness sake! My family was very supportive. They put me up in NYC for six months while I attended cooking school. It was incredibly hot in the kitchen and I was not cut out for the intensity of working with egomaniacal chefs. They’d yell at me to cook faster and instead my eyes would fill with tears! Needless to say, the first job I took in NYC was in event management and coordination. It married both my fine arts background and my knowledge from culinary school.

After 9/11 there were a lot less events in the City. I worked freelance and took creative jobs in interior styling, home decor, photo shoot and event styling, window display and I had several weekly clients that I would do floral design for. I had also designed my personal business card and everyone who got one said “I love it. Will you design one for me?” I actually did not get into stationery design as a business until I designed my personal wedding stationery in 2006. Mr. D worked for a London based company at the time that asked us to spend half a year (each year) in London. It made sense for me to take a job I could work from either side of the pond.

How have your other talents/fields of study helped you in your stationery design?

Graphic design is a natural progression from my painting, drawing and print design studies during college. It also is great to be telling stories with pattern and color again like I was when I worked in knitwear design. I have always believed no matter what design medium you are working with – a painting or sculpture, design of an interior space, an arrangement of flowers or styling a beautiful plate of food – one must always follow the same elements of design. In order to create a beautiful product there must be unity, flow, texture, harmonizing color, balance and a focal point to please the eye. It is this design philosophy that drives the inspiration for my designs today.

How would you describe your personal style when entertaining?

Unfortunately I am a complete and utter perfectionist. I am not a “pot luck” kind of gal. When entertaining, I love to have the entire meal planned and thoughtfully organized down to the coordinating flower arrangement and linens. When friends say “What can I bring?” I always suggest wine or champagne and a hungry stomach.

The kitchen in ABCD's recent home in SoHo, which she renovated and designed.

What is your favorite recipe? I love all food and the act of putting together a meal – from making the shopping list to the chopping, execution, presentation and (of course) the eating! Making “dinner” is a lot about emotion. A little of this a lot of that … add a little salt … It’s very impromptu. My husband will often say “I love this, I hope you kept the recipe.” My answer is always “There is no recipe!”

When I was 25 my mom went through all the tried and true recipes that she made when I was growing up. She hand wrote each and every one on a separate sheet, placed them in a plastic sheet protector and organized the entire list in a three ring binder complete with different sections. From Salads, to Main Dishes, Cocktail recipes, to Pies and Cookies, I have all the recipes she is known for. She presented it to me on my birthday “To my favorite Chef.” If I ever follow a dinner recipe, it’s my attempt at recreating a dinner “like mom made.” I own hundreds of cookbooks – I am an addict. I love the photographs! The only recipe book I use is the one my mother wrote.

What really and truly makes my heart sing is baking. Maybe it’s the *perfectionist* Virgo in me? {winkwink} The fact that if you follow a baking recipe down to a T it will look, taste and be exactly what the photo looks like in the cookbook. I love that. It is so incredibly satisfying! I always say “it’s hard to go wrong with butter, sugar, eggs and flour!” Who doesn’t love a good cookie, cake or sweet dish?

Oh, so back to it… What is my favorite recipe? Pumpkin Bread. It’s easy.

It tastes amazing. The nostalgic taste of this cake makes my heart sing.

How did you find it?

It is from my mother’s recipe book, of course! winkwink

Do you have a favorite memory involving this dish?

When I was a kid we never started our holiday bakery session until Christmas Eve. It became our tradition. My mom only would bake this cake once a year – I however changed the rules once the recipe changed hands. I start making this cake at the start of October and continue to bake it through my last bakery session of the holiday season.

ABCD's Pumpkin Bread. YUM!

Pumpkin Bread

Set your oven to 350

Ingredients:

3 Cups Sugar

1 Cup Vegetable Oil

4 Eggs, Beaten

1 15oz can of pumpkin (you can use plain pumpkin – OR – pumpkin pie filling for a little extra Fall flavor)

3.5 Cups of Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

2 Teaspoons of Baking Soda

2 Teaspoons of Salt

½ Teaspoon Ground Cloves

1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon of Nutmeg

1 Teaspoon of Allspice

2/3 Cup of Water

Optional Ingredients:

1 Cup chopped nuts

- OR -

A package of Nestle Tollhouse Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions

In a large bowl, combine:

3 Cups Sugar

1 Cup Vegetable Oil

4 Eggs, Beaten

Add to that:

1 15oz can of pumpkin (you can use plain pumpkin – OR – pumpkin pie filling for a little extra Fall flavor

3.5 Cups of Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

2 Teaspoons of Baking Soda

2 Teaspoons of Salt

½ Teaspoon Ground Cloves

1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon of Nutmeg

1 Teaspoon of Allspice

2/3 Cup of Water

*If desired, you can add 1 Cup chopped nuts.

**Better yet … Skip the nuts and put in a package of Nestle Tollhouse Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips – DELICIOUS!

Bake in a greased and lightly floured loaf pan – OR  – place in muffin tins. You’ll bake it slightly longer for the loaf and for a shorter amount of time if you prefer the muffin sized portions.

Bake in the oven at 350 for an hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.