A Little Bit About Me
Hello! If you are here, I am guessing you are wondering who the person is behind Alba Marie Designs. My name is Dawn, and I am a one-woman company. I create a variety of designs for the Catholic and Christian communities, churches and small businesses:
- Event stationery (weddings, baptisms, communions, confirmations, funerals)
- Church and small business stationery (business cards, letterhead, bulletings, signage, invitations to events, Christmas cards and more)
- Church and small business branding, social media content and websites
I work in English, Italian and Spanish and serve customers all over the world through my shops on Zazzle.com and Etsy. com
Why I started this work
For twenty years I translated from Italian into English, then one day, in 2018, I was browsing through Zazzle looking for some baptism invitations for a friend, I I noticed that there was a major lack of elegant, modern designs for Catholic nuptials. I am a creative person at heart and decided to try my hand at designing something. It began as a fun hobby, something I did alongside my translating. Before long, I saw the people were really loving my designs and reaching out to ask for custom ones.
When Covid hit and my translation work slowed down, I decided to go fully into designing, and I have never looked back! Since then, my business has continued to grow and has become a blessing for me and my family, and it feels nice to know that my work is also a blessing for my customers.
My Background
I was born and raised in New Jersey in the United States, but Italy has been a major theme running through my life.
I studied abroad in Florence and Siena in the 1990s while pursuing my Bachelor’s Degree in History and International Studies and fell in love with the place. As soon as I graduated I knew I would go back, and go back I did.
I worked as an au pair and English teacher in the lake country of Northern Italy from 1994 to 1996 before returning to the States to complete a Master’s Degree in Early Modern European History at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia in 1998.
Next, I worked for an Italian tour planner in New York City which led to, you guessed it, the allure of Italy called me back again. I wound up living in Rome for several years until 2008.
As my parents grew older and needed help, I wound up moving back to the States to the coastal city of Savannah, Georgia, which my home for 17 years. It is an artsy, historic gem of a city with a planned historic downtown featuring lovely squares with gorgeous architecture and an abudance of greenery and flowers. If you ever get a chance, go visit it!
A few years ago my life took another turn when I found out I could get Italian citizenship through my great-grandparents. Before long, I was packing my bags again, and in the summer of 2025 my family moved to a small town in the Le Marche Region of Central Italy, which I believe is going to be our “forever home”. There is so much natural and artistic beauty in this area. We are surrounded by the foothills of the Appenines and just down the road from us is Urbino, the epitome of a Renaissance town that was home to the Duke of Montefeltro and the birthplace of Raphael and is now a World Heritage Site. My activities here include lots of hiking in the hills, sing in my local church choir and traveling to all of the beautiful towns that surround me.
Projects I am working on
I am the kind of person who always has LOTS of ideas rolling around in her head. Although I primarily serve Christian and Catholic communities as well as small businesses, I also work on other projects. As you will see below, Alba Marie is a true expression of who I am as a person. Below are some projects I have been working on that will soon be released.
Joyful Catholic Wedding Planner & Workbook
I have been working on a wedding planner and workbook for Catholic weddings for the past two years, and it is almost finished! I will soon be uploading the chapters to my blog, where you can access them for free. If you would like to download the entire guide, I will be providing a link to do so in exchange for your email address.
Educational Content
Another source of joy in my life are my four children whom I homeschooled for many years until we moved to Italy. I am a huge fan of Charlotte Mason, Classical Education, Marie Montessori, and John Holt. I believe that children learn best when they are actively involved in pursuing projects that excite them. In the past few years I have been thinking about taking the things I learned while teaching my own kids to create workbooks and curriculum. I have already started working on some ideas (for example, a Bible verse handwriting workbook), which will soon be up in my shop on Etsy.
Church & Small Business Websites and Social Media Content
Recently, I have begun to focus on creating stationery, websites and social media content for churches and small businesses. I started creating templates for business cards and letterhead a few years ago, which led to customers reaching out to me to create other items (flyers, bulletins, newsletters and Christmas cards). I have now started offering this service as a regular part of my business. My latest additions is creating WordPress websites and social media content
Cottage Food Business Guide
Since I was a child I have always loved baking, and when my kids were young and we were in the midst of homeschooling, I wanted to come up with a creative project that could teach them about starting a small business. This led to us running a cookie delivery business entirely from home thanks to the cottage food laws that had been recently institued by the State of Georgia and are now in place for all 50 US states. Lately, I have been working on creating a guide to teach others how to run a business just like mine. It will not only teach you the basics of setting everything up but provide you with all of the templates and worksheets you need to run your business smoothly and easily. It should be out soon!
Looking forward to hearing from you
I love it when people reach out to me with projects or ideas that they need help with. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have an idea in mind!
Lots of love,
Dawn