Modern Swirls

This is a beautiful invitation we did for Beth Wells' engagement party. It has the calligraphic swirl in the left corner (note the little bling at the bottom!) that I created to enhance the beautiful calligraphy for the names. It's a contemporary turn on such classic beauty. This is in turquoise and chocolate brown, but it looks just as beautiful in purples, or silver gray/marigold.
I've got it for sale in my etsy shop.

White on Back

This is a fabulous invitation. The white engraving on black cardstock is so crisp and classy. One of my favorite details is the address sticker for the black envelope. It carries the ornament design from the front to the back of the envelope and has the return address as well as white space for writing the guest's address. Engraving can be pricey in this budget-challenging world, but Margot Madison Stationery offers lots of cost-saving ideas for the reply card and other inserts, keeping this a budget-friendly luxury item for your wedding.

Webbed Wallets

I have not figured out what to do for Father's Day this weekend, but that is not at all on my mind today! These are such great Father's Day gifts I had to pass this etsy seller along to you.

Out of Portland, Oregon, Rosewebs repurposes and reclaims lawn furniture webbing to make these colorful wallets and purses. The wallets are only $14!

Have a great weekend and be happy for the Dads of the world.

Kenny Wedding Invitations

This is a lovely design we did for the equally lovely Claire Kenny. The theme was blue hydrangeas. We printed the hydrangea design on the backing card and placed the letterpressed invitation on the top. The outcome was a classy invitation full of texture and color. We used the artwork in the remaining pieces of her wedding, including programs and thank you cards.

While this invitation looks fabulous with the letterpress printing, it is also available to be printed in-house which makes it one of our budget-friendly but beautiful options.

Thanks Claire for a wonderful opportunity to work with you (and mom, Kate)! We wish you the best of luck in your journey forward...

Babycakes Inspiration

So it's inspiration Monday and I hesitated just a little bit to show this one. The competitive side of me hates to give away my secrets but then again, all creations are re-creations with our own spin, and this blog is all about inspiration, so I've decided to share.

One of our most popular Margot Madison Stationery lines are the Babycakes illustrated cards and announcements. They were inspired by that adorable little antique pail I picked up at an estate sale a few years ago. I loved the bold colors and the graphic animals so I tried my hand at recreating the lion. When the Lion and I became friends, I was ready to try my own so the kangaroo, turtles, elephants and giraffes were born and the rest is history!

Cupcakes!

Who doesn't love cupcakes?? They are the perfect amount of cake and icing, they are always the life of the party. The word cupcake even sounds nice to say.

I stumbled upon this etsy store the other day and I think it's really handy. I always do cupcakes for my kids birthdays and I really, really, really don't like the pastel, silver or Barbie options that are offered at my grocery store. The ones at Cupcake Social are bright colors, delicate patterns and designs and make a fun food even funer-er...er

Fabric Inspiration Monday

We started the "Inspiration Monday" feature last week with the lace invitation. This week I am sharing about an amazing fabrics store, Fabric Shack Stores in (of all places) Waynesville, OH. I discovered this store while searching for curtain fabrics for my sister's new house. There are several rooms, packed with designer fabrics. I could have stayed all day, creating and recreating projects with the groups of designs. I've been looking for some fun fabrics to re-do my girls bedroom and, miracle of all miracles, WE ALL AGREED on some. Best of all, they carry their entire store on-line and I think it's one of the best on-line fabric stores I've seen.

I love this grouping so much I keep it in my purse. Just in case I need a little eye candy...

A great purse for Friday

For those of you who do not yet know, Etsy shopping is amazing shopping. There are the most wonderful designers (I mean, not just me ;o)) selling their hand made or created products. I've decided to share the love with you and post some of my favorite etsy folks on Fridays.

So today it is a favorite bag of mine. I haven't ordered it yet, because I believe in keeping a purse until it falls to shreds or becomes so filthy that I wouldn't let my kids use it anymore. BUT! I always keep my eye out for the next purse for me.

This is a wonderful purse that I keep coming back to. It's by the designer "Dalinda" and her etsy shop is called Plonka. These are probably very clever Norwegian words that are unfortunately lost on this American but if I had to guess a translation it would be: "awesome purses"

I love the clever insertion of the folksy pattered fabric in the middle. I like the subtle beige linen (at least I think it's linen). I like how it can add a splash of color to anything and I think red goes with everything. Of course, she's from Norway and I like all things Norse.

And it wouldn't be right if I didn't plug the Margot Madison esty shop. Have a great weekend!

Front Page of Etsy!

Hey! Our black damask laptop cover was featured today on etsy's home page.

From Inspiration to Creation

With "contemporary vintage" being a big trend these days Margot and I have been wanting to incorporate lace into one of our creations. I started looking for inspiration by doing random dives on the web. I came across an image of a chain linked fence that had taken the traditional pattern and incorporated a lace design into it. (Leave it to the Dutch designers to create something so cool! Demakersvan)
This contemporary spin on lace was exactly what we needed to motivate us. Margot then went to the local fabric store to look for some traditional lace that we could scan in as a design. Having good taste, she found a beautiful piece of lace that ended up being $75.00 a yard! Luckily a small swatch was all we needed to get the whole lace pattern.


Once the fabric was scanned in, I turned it into an inverted bitmap that allowed me to manipulate the color, shape and, size. I made it a very light shade of gray and placed it in the background of the invitation and reply card. The pattern is also shown as a sage green "tone on tone" element on the envelope. It is printed so that the design is on the front and carries over to the back flap with the return address. For an added touch I had a custom stamp created to continue the flow of the lace pattern.