Country Wedding Save the Date

This save the date for a country wedding has the most gorgeous illustration on it! The bride and I decided that the location of her wedding at her family farm was so unique and special to her family history, that it should be highlighted in the save the date. I contacted Christina Wald, who is a professional book illustrator and asked her to create something for Emily's save the date. Of course, she exceded our expectations with a stunning colorful and historically accurate painting. We are using the scanned artwork in the save the date (as you can see here) and also in the invitation. No doubt, we will not stop there and possibly use it on the sweet tags for the home made apple butter favors too. The best part? The bride is going to frame the painting and present it to her grandparents as a gift.

Hello from Oh So Pinteresting!

Are you a fan of Pinterest? One of my favorite and informationally packed podcasts and blogs is Oh So Pinteresting. Cynthia Sanchez has made a career out of helping people make more of their Pinterest accounts than just eye candy. I've used it successfully in my business for over 2 years now (such LONG time in Pinterest years, right?) and wrote about it in this guest post on her blog.

Here is a link to my Pinterest boards created to enhance my clients' event with much more than the invitations. I pin decor ideas, links to tutorials and resources for products that make the planning and decorating of the event easy-peasy.

More beautiful hand lettering from Jenna Blazevich

Jenna Blazevich does it again: incredible hand lettered typography AND a sweet gift. I received this in the mail this week and had to share. It makes me remember how nice it is to receive sweet little notes and more importantly, makes me want to give some of my own. Only mine will never look as good, but it's the thought that counts, right? ;o)

Obscura Wedding Invitation and Styling

I finally have some beautiful professionally shot photos (thank you Ryan Kurtz) from the Cincinnati Magazine Summer 2014 feature at Obscura in Cincinnati, Ohio. The colors used were from Pantone's Spring 2014 Color palette, shown here:

The women from Haven Cincinnati were the ones to style that amazing dessert table. Didn't they use a great variety of formal and natural vessels and risers? I'm still obsessed with those gold touched marshmallows. I'm selling the invitations here in my Etsy shop and I pulled together some styling and wedding decor ideas in this curated board on Pinterest.

Baseball, Blue and Tweed: Ben's Bar Mitzvah Invitation

Ben's style requests for his Bar Mitzvah theme were baseball, blue and a custom logo. His mom had some aesthetic ideas too: handsome, classic, colorful. Could we put those together and make everyone happy? Of course we can! And we did.

I created a tweed pattern to mix with the clean, modern fonts. And did you see what I did there with the shape on the logo? (It's the shape of a baseball base!) Not being a baseball lover, I actually had to look up what exactly the baseball bases looked like. Lame, I know. :o) As always, the inserts and RSVP cards were coordinated with the invitation so it looked like a cohesive package of fun. Thanks Marnie and Ben!

My gold foil and calligraphy invitation featured in New York Magazine, Wedding Issue!

Well, it is very exciting that my gold foil and calligraphy invitation created for now newlywed featured in New York Magazine, Wedding Issue! I don't have the issue in my hands yet, but the bride and I conspired to get her brother from New Jersey to get the copy and send a photo of the spread. Again, one of my all time favorite invitations gives me more joy! Brilliant work by calligrapher Jenna Blazevich and beautiful, bold style by newlywed Jen Trokhan Patterson. Woohoo!

Travel Themed Wedding Invitation

Are you considering a travel theme for your party or wedding? Travelling is what brought my client Jeanette closer to her fiancé and so the theme was close to her heart when planning her wedding. I hand-illustrated the quote "Love is the Greatest Adventure" on the top of the watercolor painted invitation background. Jeanette loved the idea of a touch of gold, so we highlighted the names and the airplane with a sparkly gold foil. The invitation is now available in my etsy store here.

Amy Butler: Blossom Magazine, Issue 2

If I had to describe what I love most about graphic design, it would be the pattern and color. I am drawn to bold and bright, multicolored and graphic patterns every time, whether they are Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern, Swedish or Dutch. This love of pattern has me swooning over pretty much anything Amy Butler designs. Amy has been sharing her inspirations about her art and her personal life in her online magazine Blossom. I spent some time last night looking at all the beautiful pages in the magazine. Really, it's not going to be enough time for me. Amy can fill a page with so much color and pattern that it boggles my mind and I'm left craving a hold-in-my-hand copy of the magazine so that I can really look inside and see all that there is. I'm left sighing a silent, "Wow".

Here are two of my favorite spreads. Here is the link to look at the mag on your own time.

I want my hall way to look like this.

I stared at this spread a good long time.

"Farm To Table" Rehearsal Dinner

Know an engaged couple who loves good food, good beer and a good gathering of family and friends? This rehearsal dinner was created for a couple just like that. I set about capturing the butchering history of Cincinnati (we aren't called 'Porkopolis' for nothing!) with a pig silhouette and chalkboard style text for the details of the rehearsal dinner invitation. Those same red pops of color and pattern were echoed in the event design with red checked linens and khaki colored burlap as you'll see.

Thanks to Christy for being the easiest and sweetest client ever, to Jeff Thomas Catering for their edible tablescape genius and Gina Weathersby for sharing some of her amazing-as-always photos from the event, and The Taft Museum for having such a wonderful space for outdoor dinner parties!

A burlap covered pin board was placed in front of the entrance for host card pins. Guests wore the pins to help meet all the new family and friends.

Edible centerpieces and chalkboard style signage for placecards and table numbers. Photo by Gina Weathersby.

Chalboard style menus were created with black construction paper and chalk pens.

A bar with beers especially chosen by the groom. Photo by Gina Weathersby.

I used old church slate roofing tiles to make this signage, adding the lettering with chalk pens.

I think the happy couple looks like they had a great time, don't you?

Surprise Party Invitations for Men

I've been doing some fun surprise birthday party invitations lately. Of course, I can't share some invitations until the actual event happens but this one is safely behind us. It is always entertaining to use an old photo of the birthday boy. Happy Birthday Bob!

A DIY Valentine Door Decor

Do you ever make things too complicated that you can't even get started? I do that more than I'd like to admit, I must say. I've been hemming and hawing for YEARS about a Valentine door decoration. It's ridiculous now that I see this confession in print. It's not Christmas, it's not spring, it should be sweet but you know, not too cutsie, it shouldn't cost any money. It's very tiring being in my head.

For some reason, yesterday I popped out of that funk. I quit working for the day, whipped out an unused sample of burlap, grabbed my fluorescent pink paint and one of my quilting hoops and just made something. I didn't make a template. I didn't think about what else needed to be done to it. I stopped before my over analyzing self realized what I was doing and took over. I hung this little guy on the door while the paint was still drying! Badaboom.

I think you can probably figure this out yourself, but in case you want the cheat sheet and irrelevent commentary:

Supplies:
Quilting hoop (this is about 18")
Burlap fabric (mine is cream colored rather than brown)
Fluorescent Pink paint (fabric paint if your door is more exposed and could get wet)
Black Sharpie with a wide chisel tip, or black paint
Paint brushes
Paper to protect your workspace

Process:
Put down the protective paper on a flat work surface. Lay the burlap over that and place one quilting hoop ring on top of that, so you have an idea where your heart should go and how big it should be. Free-hand the heart and paint it in. Add the arrow details with your Sharpie or black paint. Don't listen when your daughter tells you that your arrow is a little crooked. Imperfections are charming! Fit the painted burlap into the hoop and hang that cute thing on your door for heaven's sake.

Christmas Felting Fun

This is not a tutorial, just a sharing post on what I made this year for my holiday decorations. I've been pretty obsessed with candy colors for Christmas for over a year. I love those ribbon candies so much, because of their beautiful combination of colors and the nostalgia they bring. Not that we ever had such ribbon candy growing up--my mom was more of a chocolate kind of lady so our sweets were of that nature. Is it not my right to live in a fantasy nostalgia? You can do anything you want a Christmas, that's what I say.

So I set out to create some felted ornaments in the "candy colors" style. I'm so thankful for Sarah Miller of Moonforest Studio for teaching me how to felt and keeping me stocked with fluffy white wool and the beautiful colored felting wool. Felting has been a relaxing activity to do while the tv is on or while the kids are doing their homework. And I like that if you make a wrong shape, the felting process is very forgiving--a few more pokes in the other direction and some aggressive squashing and you're back where you wanted to be.

I keep thinking I'm going to make them into ornaments and give them away to friends, but I'm not sure I'm ready to part with them yet.

Hope you are enjoying the art of holiday decorating too!