Calligraphy by Shannon

Pink and Green Polk-A-Dots

2011-11-01T13:26:00.000-04:00

When a client contacted me about a pink and green polk-a-dot themed first birthday party for her daughter Keeli, I was thrilled to help create a vision for the day. Keeli's parents were looking for a mix of high end and diy to make their party special, personable, and most significantly memorable. Keeping the party age appropriate added to the whimsy of the event. With pom-poms and lolipops and cupcakes with sprinkles, this birthday bash is sure to please.

inspirations:

lemonade glasses and pink striped straws

spiral lollipops

pom-pom garland (similar diy guide - use tulle instead of yarn)

wall pinwheels (diy guide)

place settings

polk-a-dot cupcake papers

birthday candle

favor boxes (and other polk-a-dot goods)

cupcakes

Idea Board 4: Purple, Violet, Lilac

2011-07-07T07:21:00.000-04:00

Can you guest who inspired this board?

1/2/3/4
5/6/7
8/9

DIY Flowers by Carly

2011-06-28T09:14:00.000-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, she has done it again. Carly is back with another incredible way to save money without sacrificing fabulousness!

.....

As I mentioned in a previous post, we are going to DIY the flowers for my wedding. Bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, you name it. Why? Because flowers are expensive and not very high on my priority list. So when I was back home in PA for my best friend’s wedding a few weeks ago I extended my trip a few extra days to do some things for our wedding with my mom. The most important (and daunting) thing on our to-do list was a flower trial run. We knew we wanted hydrangeas to be the main flower in all our arrangements. Not only are they big (big flowers= fewer flowers needed=less money) but you can get a great price buying them in bulk from a place like Sam’s Club. We also want to use roses (preferably big, peony-like garden roses), ranunculus, lavender or other purple buds, and probably some green hypericum berries and dusty miller for fillers. These are my main inspiration pictures:

both via

For the trial my mom bought hydrangeas from a florist and two different types of roses, plus purple wax flowers, dusty millers, and some eucalyptus from the grocery store. I watched a few YouTube videos on flower arranging, and took some advice from those who did their own flowers. Other supplies needed: nice sharp gardening sheers, vases, floral tape, ribbon to wrap the bouquet, and a glue gun or pins to keep the ribbon in place. Oh yeah, and the sticks.

Manzanita branches and other curly sticks are really “in” right now in the world of weddings. Case in point:

left / both on right

I love the look of that bottom right picture, and it’s actually serving as the inspiration for my centerpieces. But branches are expensive! Like, ridiculously expensive. Sorry, but I am not paying $15 for one bunch of branches. And those aren’t even the Manzanita branches, which retail for at least $10 per branch. So my ever resourceful mom had been eying a tree with very pretty, curly, perfect-for-centerpieces, branches on her daily walks with the dog. Problem was, these branches were not in our own yard, they were in the yard of a neighbor she didn’t know. So she did what every great mother of the bride would do- she walked up to their house, knocked on their door, and asked the woman if she could cut the branches off her tree. And the woman said yes. So my mom went back the next day in her SUV, armed with a saw, and cut those babies down. Unfortunately I deleted the picture she sent me of a trunk full of curly branches. But you can imagine my surprise getting that text! {hooray, we finally get to hear THE story that Carly eluded to so many months ago!}

Awesome. So those were part of our supplies too. A tip for anyone else going this route: cut the branches in the winter before they start to bloom again in spring, and then store them in a dark, dry place. We had most of them in the garage, and also some under our back deck. The ones in the garage stayed dried, but the ones under the deck start to bud. We are planning on spray painting them a dark brown to really make them “pop.”

So after a little prep work and an hour or two of assembling, we ended up with these:

bouquet - close up - all together - boutonnieres

Overall I am really happy with how they all turned out. {Ignore the brown spots on some of the hydrangeas. We asked the florist a few days later why that happened and she apologized profusely, saying we must have gotten a bad batch.}

A few changes: I want to add more color to the bouquet, mainly purples and greens. The bridesmaids bouquet especially are a little too white for me. Plus once we get all the flowers we’re actually using (garden roses, ranunculus, etc.) it will give the bouquets added detail and variety. I also want to add more sticks to the centerpieces. I’m glad we did a trial run, because not only do I now know the changes I want to make, but it also helped us determine exactly how many flowers we need to order. We stored everything down in our finished basement since it was nice and cool, and all the arrangement lasted several days and looked great. Doing the trial run made me more confident that we can do this.

You can also do this. Some yourself some moolah and be really proud of yourself when you carry that beautiful bouquet down the aisle. Some suggestions:

Make sure you think over all the logistics. We are going to order the majority of our flowers from Samsclub.com and fiftyflowers.com. They recommend Thursday delivery for a Saturday wedding, to all the flowers to rehydrate and open up in time. This means we need to be home when they’re delivered, unpack them, and put them all in water. This requires manpower and lots of buckets.
Think about where you will do all your assembling. Fortunately, our venue told us that as long as there is no event there on Friday (which so far there isn’t), that we can assemble there on Friday. The process does get messy (lots of clippings, petals, glue gun gunk, etc.) so be prepared for that.
Know what flowers are in season during the time of year your wedding will take place. I love peonies (who doesn’t?) but for an August wedding they are just not happening, unless I want to pay an arm and a leg. Which I don’t. Knowing what’s in season will keep your costs down and also mentally prepare you for what is realistic and what is not.
Do a trial run, do a trial run, do a trial run. How else would we have learned that the eucalyptus we used in the centerpieces would turn the water bright green by morning? Yikes.

Any other brides out there having any DIY flower tips and tricks?

Free Wedding Clip Art

2011-06-24T11:33:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday Lovelies! A treat for you today. Just Something I Made had free wedding printables! What could be better? Enjoy these, and the glorious weekend ahead.

MFB: A FREE Way to Organize Your Inspiration -- Pinterest

2011-06-10T08:30:00.000-04:00

Hey folks! So this post is less about a project I'm working on (though there are many of those), but rather about a way to organize your inspirations.

You may remember my faux corkboard project from a few months back. I'm still using and loving them, but they have one main drawback -- they're at home, in my room -- meaning not near a computer, which gives me the greatest amount of sources of wedding inspiration.

What's an inspired lass to do? Sign-up for Pinterest!

Basically, Pinterest allows you to save all the beautiful pictures you love for your wedding (or anything else) all in one convenient location. No more saving to your hard drive, emailing yourself, or printing out random pictures. Instead, "pin" something to your board, leave notes about the image, and access it from anywhere. Best of all, you can share it with your friends (or fiance) easily by email or by "following" you !

Here's a screen shot of my main entry page, so you can get a sense of it:

I've already told two people about Pinterest today (not counting the millions of you following this blog! Ha!). I'm that obsessed, and I think you will be, too.

Here's a look at "my" page that features just my boards and the images I've pinned to them. You'll see a nifty "Vintage Americana Wedding" board in the bottom left corner. It probably even has some of the images from the inspiration board Shannon made for me a while back.

Anyway, I think Pinterest might be by invitation only right now, so if you need an invite, please feel free to leave your email in the comments section, and I'd be happy to send you one!

Happy pinning!

MFB: DIY Website Reply Cards

2011-05-13T15:46:00.003-04:00

Happy Friday! I may have mentioned a while back that I'm a cheapskate. This is still true, which is why my fiance and I have decided to nix a paper reply card in lieu of alternate forms of RSVP-ing.

When I was doing some airmail research, I came upon this most excellent invitation suite over at Jeremy + Kathleen. Their suite was absolutely darling, but not in the budget (which is, as I told a man at the jewelry store, is "as close to $1 as I can get").

Not only is this suite Life Aquatic (my favorite of Wes Anderson's generally hilarious films) and airmail inspired, it features a cute no-envelope-nor-stamp-RSVP!

JACKPOT!

So, of course, I fired up my Microsoft Publisher and set off to make something similar for our wedding. This is what I have so far -- pretty similar, but with a few tweaks.

I'm going to have them printed as postcards at Vistaprint, since I was so happy with how the Save the Dates turned out, and then I am going to ask some *dear* friends to come over with their sharpest pair of shears.

Then, I'm going to use the infamous Airmail Twine to tie the response card to the invitation.

{via Etsy seller HeyYoYo}

Here's a mock-up I did using the dimensions of the postcard from VP, but with the sides snipped, and the rubber tag from my CVS Green Bag Tag that I removed, so that leafy little piece of goodness could fit in my wallet.

I'm on the fence about the size. I will probably make it a bit smaller, though I hesitate to add more cutting to the invitation assembly; cutting is not my forte, and my friends will probably kill me.

Any thoughts from the peanut gallery by someone who decided to do away with a traditional reply card? Any regrets?

Mason Jar Save the Dates

2011-05-02T11:25:00.002-04:00

Lina has inspired me with her jar place cards/drinking vessels. When I came across this lovely save the date, I almost jumped out of my seat with excitement. View the full invitation suite over at Oh So Beautiful Paper.

source

Chair Signs DIY by Carly

2011-04-27T09:17:00.002-04:00

The lovely Carly is sharing a few more of her wedding details with us today.

Enjoy!

..........

The topic for today is DIY decor! Some brides love it, some dread it- I probably fall somewhere in between. I’m not overly crafty, but there are a lot of times when I see something I like and think “I could make that for way cheaper!” Case in point: chair signs. Lots of couples are putting something on their reception chairs to distinguish their chairs (and get a cute picture). Here are some examples:

source

After deciding I wanted to do something like this, I did a little Googling, and came across this very helpful blog: Happily After All.

You’ll notice that her inspiration sells for $30 plus shipping. I can definitely do better than that! So I set out on one of my first DIY projects. Fortunately I had already purchased two signs at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago, since they were marked down from $2.99 each to $0.99 each, post- Valentines days. (I knew they’d come in handy for something!) My signs are a thin tin/metal material, and looked like this:

They actually came with pink ribbon threaded through predrilled holes, but I forgot to take a picture before I took out the ribbon. I’m just glad the holes are already there and I don’t need to do anything involving power tools.

I pretty much followed Happily After All’s painting directions exactly, using two coats of black acrylic as the base, followed by one coat of crackle medium, and then one coat of off-white acrylic. You don’t need much paint- small bottles will definitely suffice. I let each coat dry completely before moving on, including the backs of the signs which I painted plain black. As soon as I started to paint on the white the crackling started happening! It was way more exciting than watching paint dry (sorry, had to do it).

Unlike Happily After All, I did not free hand my words. I blew up the words Mrs. And Mr. in Microsoft Word, using Edwardian Script ITC font and 375 point text. (Note- all you really need to do is print Mrs. Just do that sign first, and then when you make the Mr. just cut off the “s” first!). The trickiest part of this whole project was cutting out the thin stencils. Printing them on cardstock would have helped make the words less flimsy. After the word was cut out, I traced it on the sign in pencil, then went over it and filled it all in with Sharpie. It looks like paint unless you really look closely. Now all I need to do is put in the ribbon and hang them from our chairs!

The finished product:

Costs 2 signs: $1.98 (Clearance at HL)

White paint: $1 (Sale at Michaels)

Black Paint: $1 (Sale at Michaels)

Crackle Medium: $3.59 (Using Michaels 40% coupon)

Paintbrushes & Sharpie: Already owned

TOTAL= $7.57 plus tax! (Take that, $30 + shipping!)

Anyone have any easy DIY projects you’d like to share? You provide the materials, I’ll provide the wine!

Wanna know more? Follow Carly on Twitter.

Paper Crush: Egg Press

2011-04-26T11:27:00.000-04:00

Are you a letterpress junkie like me? Yup, thought so. Head on over to Design/Story and check out the fabulous buys from Egg Press.

Idea Board 2: Raspberry and Green Apple

2011-04-25T11:24:00.002-04:00

Custom idea board for Karlene and Mike

Row 1: Tea Bag Favors “Love is Brewing”, Green Wreath, Monogram, Grass Menu
Row 2: Wedding Shoes, Limeade, Flowers, Cake
Row 3: Apple Place Cards, Flowers, Tie, Izze, Raspberry Champagne

MFB: Drinking Jar Tags

2011-04-15T11:15:00.003-04:00

Hey all! Is anyone else as preoccupied with jars as I am? Mason, or otherwise, I love this trend in wedding decor for chic, homestyle, and fun decor. I think it will go great with our laid-back reception style.

I'm on a quest to collect as many jars as possible (at least 150) for our guests to drink from.

How to keep them all straight on the day of?

Enter the price tags my future-mother-in-law graciously gave me, left over from her real estate days. (A box of 1000 will run you $9.99).

{via Staples.com}

Add various Sharpies and pens, and you have yourself a party.

{via Amazon.com - $20.40}

I then created a rough draft of a legend of how these lovely folks are related to us.

Hearts and shades of pink for folks related to me and stars and shades of blue for those corresponding to my fiance. (I promise the end version of this, which will get displayed where folks pick up their glasses, will look much nicer)! Still, having this cheat sheet was clutch for keeping everyone straight, as was my guest list from Wedding Wire.

You can see the sea of red from my Irish Catholic family.

We'll tie the tags to the jars with AirMail Divine Twine.

{via Etsy seller HeyYoYo}

The guests will pick them up when they are served Blackberry Limeade and Tamarind Iced Tea when they first arrive at the reception venue. It's DC in the summer; they'll need a cool drink!

The tags will then serve the purpose of place cards (when we add their table info on the back later), name tags, and to keep drinking glasses straight!

Fingers crossed that my next trip through the recycling bin will yield me some more glasses than the other night. Though more on that some other time. Enjoy the weekend!

Party Supplies

2011-04-13T10:21:00.001-04:00

Planning a party? Be sure to snag this sweet deal from ACME party box company {hosted by Zulily}. Get $30 worth of swag for half price {$15}

Some great goodies from ACME

via

MFB: Invitation Draft

2011-04-01T15:58:00.003-04:00

Hey folks! Just a quick post today on what I've been working on and a few quick tips for designing your own invitations in Microsoft Publisher that I've learned the hard way.

If you recall my post two weeks ago, I've been crushing hard on airmail-anything. As a result, this is what I've come up with so far. Keep in mind -- this is just a draft (the "and" is still bugging me, and the justification isn't quite right). Progress will be posted in a future MFB post.

A few Publisher tips I've learned along the way:

- Use "Word Art" for any large "banner" sort of items, like for our names here. It keeps you from having to adjust the font size a million times. Plus, you can stretch, turn, flip, and pretty much abuse it any way you need if you do so. Using a text box is much more limiting. Plus, you get all the outlining features, which are pretty neat.

- Shapes are your friends. In this example, I made the blue circle to mimic a button and string closure, as well as the airmail / par avion "sticker" to pay homage to some of the great airmail stickers I've seen on vintage airmail postage. Easy pee-zy.

- Save multiple files/versions. Trust me, you'll second think some of your changes, and it's great to be able to go back to a past version without trying to re-create you've already done.

That's it for now! Back to invitation creating for me. Comments and constructive criticism welcome. Updates to come. Enjoy your weekend!

Winner Announced

2011-04-01T11:22:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Carly S. who won the Calligraphy by Shannon Giveaway hosted on The Scribble Pad! Carly has chosen to receive $50 offer the calligraphy for her wedding this August.

Guest Blogger: Carly and Bobby

2011-03-27T07:26:00.000-04:00

You remember Carly and Bobby right? We voted for them, they won, and then had an adorable engagement photo shoot? Well, Carly is going to be sharing a bit of her wedding process here with us! We are so excited to have her blogging and cannot wait to hear what she has to say.

When Shannon asked me to write a few guest blogs about my upcoming wedding, I was thrilled! My fiancé and I got engaged in October of last year, and are getting married this August in my hometown. Which happens to be about nine hours away from where we currently live. Oy. So needless to say, the planning process has been a little tricky, but at the same time, a total blast. We’re DIYing as much as we can and shopping for lots of good deals (I consider bargain shopping one of my hobbies anyway, so it’s really no different than my everyday life), all while trying to not get overwhelmed with the pressure to have a “perfect day”. Let’s be real, we all know nothing is perfect, weddings included. We just want our wedding to be us; classic, casual, and fun, both for us and our guests. We don’t have a wedding theme, our guys aren’t wearing tuxes, and we’re doing our own flowers instead of hiring a florist (brilliant idea or disaster waiting to happen? Time will tell).

Fortunately we’ve had a lot of help along the way. I’m very thankful for my super creative and crafty mother, who is probably making crepe-paper flowers as we speak (or hacking pretty curly branches out of a neighbor’s tree. But that’s a story for another day). I am equally appreciative of my future mother-in-law, who is a coupon champion and has happily taken on a few projects that involve hunting down the best bargains possible. Combine that with my dad who makes a mean Excel spreadsheet, my future sister in law who sends me regular emails with various price comparisons from different websites, and my darling fiancé who is great at reminding me what matters and what doesn’t (aka- no one will care if the invitations are printed on “white” or “pure white” cardstock), I am one lucky lady.

Of course, I’ve also taken a lot of help from various blogs. Google “wedding blog” and you will get a zillion results, but I’ve found a few favorites along the way. I prefer blogs that offer inspiring pictures of real weddings, lots of doable DIY projects, and words of wisdom to keep this whole wedding thing in check. I try to stay away from blogs that insist I must wear a tiara, have a 7 tier cake, and dictate my bridesmaids’ outfits, down to their nail polish color. No thanks. My top favs are four blogs that are regularly recommended right here on Calligraphy by Shannon:

www.stylempretty.com

www.apracticalwedding.com

www.weddingchicks.com

www.greenweddingshoes.com

I hope these can be of some help to the future brides (and grooms!) out there. If Shannon allows, I will continue to write some updates throughout the next five months or so until our wedding. If you’re lucky, I might even tell the story of my mom, a saw, and an SUV full of tree branches. Happy planning ☺

{Carly, we totally want you back! Write more, please. And do tell about your mom. What I am picturing is not very wedding related...}

DIY Moss Monogram

2011-03-24T07:07:00.001-04:00

Remember our past DIY floral monograms here and here? Well, another blogger has lister her own how to, so I decided to share this simple craft that can add so much class to your wedding.

Life. Love. Larson. shared this fabulously simple diy moss monogram.

Found via Money Saving Mom

Giveaway Hosted on The Scribble Pad

2011-03-20T05:10:00.006-04:00

...so glad you came over to enter the giveaway. Here are the details just to remind you:

The winner will have a choice between two options:

$50 off Addressing Envelopes

{project must be at least $100, standard rates apply}

~ or ~

Custom Idea Board

{view idea board samples here}

let me craft a vision for your event

provide images and inspirations to guide your planning

and show you how your own style can shine through on your special day

to enter:

leave a comment telling us about which prize you would select and why

follow this blog
(and leave a comment saying you did so)

retweet this giveaway
(and leave a comment)

like The Calligraphy Pad on Facebook
(and leave a comment)

blog about this giveaway
(and leave a comment with the link)

maximum of 6 entries (comments) per person
be sure to leave a comment letting me know for each additional entry.
and don't forget your email address in at least one of the comments!

Don't forget to check The Scribble Pad each and every day for a new giveaway this week.

Closes March 31.

{US residents only}

MFB: Airmail Obsessed

2011-03-18T18:16:00.004-04:00

Happy Spring! Goodness knows, it has not come to Washington, DC a minute too soon. 75 and gorgeous. And Friday. Sigh. Life doesn't get better than this.

So, our Save the Dates are in the mail, and hopefully have been received by many of our guests. Of course, since there is no rest for the weary, it's on to the next thing: invitations!

I've know for a long while that we were going to go the "airmail" route for the invites, and I am enthralled by the sheer number of wonderful airmail related paraphernalia in the interwebs.

Here are a few of my favorites, so you can get a sense of my direction. There are a good number of invites, but also a few other bits of ephemera as well.

{via Oh So Beautiful Paper}

{Etsy Seller Champage Sunday}

This picture is from Etsy seller Huntershideaway, but I actually found these same envelopes much cheaper on Amazon, for $2.15 / box of 40 (free shipping, too)! We'll be using those.

{via Etsy Seller buddyandbean}

{via Etsy Seller marchare}

{courtesy of dafont, Postage Stamps by Dixie's Delight -- Mr. Washington is the letter "G"}

{I wish I could recall where this was from besides my archives!}

{via Oh So Beautiful Paper}

{via Etsy Seller SilverCrow}

You'll note that these are no longer available...hmm...I wonder why...?

If you see any inspiration, feel free to leave it in the comments!

Costco Wedding Dresses

2011-03-16T12:34:00.000-04:00

Did you watch Good Morning America today? If you missed it check this out:

Would you go to costco to look for your wedding dress?

I think I would be willing to give it a shot!

MFB: Save the Dates Revealed (Finally)!

2011-03-04T12:31:00.005-05:00

It is a happy MFB Friday for me indeed, since I get to finally reveal our finished Save the Date (100 printed at Vistaprint for the low low price of $19.95, including expedited shipping)!

As my MOH, Christie, can testify, these have been a real labor of love. It was really difficult for me to figure out how best to get our information on the front of the card. Luckily, I got some very cute inspiration from the (fully customizable and FREE!) biplane STD featured over at the Wedding Chicks.

I loved the look of these so much, I almost just went with them, full stop and abandoned my previous plans. But, my poor little DC vintage postcard cried out to me, "don't forget me! Use me! Waaaah!" and so I couldn't just leave it out in the cold. But how to combine the two?

It finally clicked in my brain that having a biplane "sky-write" our information would be an excellent way to combine the vintage postcard that I wanted to use with the cute airmail theme we'll be using for the rest of the stationery. A perfect solution! So here it is, without further ado!

The front:

and the back:

The quality is a bit fuzzier in my upload than in the final product, but what do you think? And have you taken on crafting your Save the Dates yourself?

Anyway, I hope you love these as much as I do!

Vintage Books

2011-02-21T06:24:00.000-05:00

Many brides ask themselves a similar set of questions,

how do I properly thank my guests?

how do I make this day memorable for everyone?

is it possible to make each guest feel important and hand chosen for my special day?

where can I add personal touches?

Well, my friend Caroline found a perfect answer. As a very thoughtful bride, she adorned each persons place setting with a vintage book, hand picked for each guest. What a wonderful token of appreciation. The time and effort put into this "favor" clearly informs each guest that they are not only special but an important part of the couple's wedding day.

{images by bridget}

BHLDN Inspiration: Green and Embelished

2011-02-19T07:26:00.001-05:00

{via bhldn}

BHLDN Inspiration: Polka Dots

2011-02-17T07:25:00.000-05:00

{via bhldn}

BHLDN Inspiration: Coral

2011-02-16T07:23:00.000-05:00

{via bhldn}

Shop Beholden Now

2011-02-15T13:16:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful Valentine's Day gift, Beholden has opened its doors.

BHLDN is an Inspiration

each day this week we will share how BHLDN inspires us with custom idea boards

we are excited

and hope you are too!

BHLDN

2011-02-10T17:12:00.000-05:00

Months ago we eagerly announced the new bridal line by anthropologie. Well, it has finally arrived!

Want to learn more? Sign up for BHLDN emails.

MFB: Vintage Postcards

2011-02-04T14:54:00.004-05:00

Happy Friday! So here's a wedding project that's been and is on-going: our Save the Dates (STDs -- hilarious, I know).

I have been really inspired by the vintage postcards created by a lot of Etsy designers like Serendipity Beyond Design:

and Shadowboxer, Inc.:

These are some talented folks! However, like everything else, our STDs are going to be a budget affair, and I don't have $225 or $300 smackeroos (for approx. 150 cards) to spend on something that will eventually just be thrown out or lost.

Enter eBay and its lots of vintage Washington, D.C. postcards. I knew I could make something sweet myself.

I found one that enamored me instantly, so I bought it, along with 47 of its friends (good things come in pairs...of 23).

I scanned the image, using a flatbed color scanner, and uploaded the image into Microsoft Publisher to play around with. (I should add that I pain-stakingly blended out the words "Greetings From" that were in the right hand sand of the Capitol).

Sadly, try as I might, I couldn't figure out a way to fit the writing I wanted on the card and still have it be both large enough and legible enough to send out to some of our bi-focaled relatives.

So, it was back to eBay, and another lot of postcards (I was planning on buying more vintage DC postcards anyway, for another project, so it was no harm, no foul).

Enter this beauty. Great colors, vintage charm, and lots of space to write!

I even substituted out the back of the actual card with another DC postcard because the second one had a Capitol logo in the Postcard part.

I also moved the header and postage stamp around a bit to leave more room to write on the left side.

So that's where this project stands. I'm in the process of working some easy-to-read type onto the front of the card, along with creating the back that will give more info and a link to our website.

This is actually a pretty easy project that I've turned into something more complicated. YOU can certainly do this in a snap if you find the right postcard, and, on the cheap. I plan to get our postcards printed at Vistaprint or Overnightprints for less than $50. Not too shabby, eh?

How about you? Have you taken on any of the paper projects for your wedding or for a party yourself?

I'll update in two weeks with the designs I've come up with. Until then, happy MFBing!

MFB: Inspiration -- IKEAhackers.net

2011-01-21T12:00:00.005-05:00

Greetings everyone! And, a hearty congratulations to Shannon, who recently had her first baby! What a cute patoot!

I have a few wedding DIY projects in the cooker right now, but none quite so ready to be unveiled to the world wide web. So, for this installment of MFB, I wanted to share a site that has long been inspiring me, IKEA Hackers.

The site is an aggregator for all the creative, inspiring, DIY or DIT (do-it-together) projects that the readers submit. Some of them are a bit wack-a-doodle, but some are truly inspiring. One of my all-time favorites is Spring Chick's craft room.

Wanting a craft room to suit her needs and tastes, she and her husband customized a work table by securing four IKEA base kitchen cabinets together and topping it off with an attractive MDF table top. She then added some legs to make it pretty.

She used the same technique to make a matching desk.

Et, voila! C'est une tres magnifique craft room!

Head over to IKEA Hackers to get some inspiration yourself! The archives are stupendous.

Chalkboards

2011-01-12T07:19:00.001-05:00

Have you considered the ways in which you will communicate with your wedding guests? Directions, menus, where to sign the guest book even?

Chalkboards are an incredible medium for this. Two great options (pictured below) can be found in The Inspired Room Shop.

Carly and Bobby - Engagement Photos

2011-01-10T08:13:00.000-05:00

Remember Carly and Bobby? Here are the fabulous engagement pictures we have all be dying to see!

all photos by Shay Cochrane

MFB: Faux Cork Inspiration Board

2011-01-07T10:48:00.008-05:00

Hello! Hope you all had joyous Christmas and New Year's celebrations and are ready to stick to that NY Resolution that said you were going to be more creative and frugal this year. I'm here to help you do both!

The first MFB project for 2011 is quick, easy, and probably free because you likely have the supplies on hand.

I've always appreciated the usefulness of cork / memo boards. PulpProducts has a really cute one that served as my inspiration.

I liked the idea of having an easy way to keep track of the wedding ephemera that has been tickling my fancy and taking over my dresser.

But paying $36 + shippping is just not my cup of tea.

Instead, I decided to FAKE IT using a cardboard box and some wrapping paper I had on hand in two of the colors I'm using for the wedding.

First, cut the box to the desired size. Mine is about 12" x 12" by the only limit is really your space constraints. This project is easily sized up or down.

You can trim up the sides to make it more even, but it's not a huge deal because the paper will even things out.

Then, cut the paper to about two inches longer than the box on each side.

Next, tape up the sides using masking tape....

....and voila!

A simple, easy place to stash my inspiration.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-23T07:31:00.001-05:00

Passport Invitations

2010-12-20T07:12:00.002-05:00

Are you having a destination wedding? Why not consider a passport? I recently stumbled upon Sproullie Designs and have been captivated ever since. They are beautiful, unique, and a terrific way to personalize all of the information your guest require for a destination celebration.

Here are a few pictures from their passport gallery. Check out all of the photos here.

And...don't forget to check out their boarding passes while you are over there!

MFB: Curbside Chairs: Part III -- The Finale

2010-12-10T10:45:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday all and welcome to the last installment of the Curbside Chair project!

Two weeks ago, you saw a sneak preview of my fabric selection. Today, you'll see the finished result.

If you are attempting to similarly recover a chair, let me recommend this handy tool.

The staple gun.

And let me also recommend getting one at a garage sale, like I did last weekend, for $8 + with free heavy duty staples! Just watch your fingers.

To cover the chair seat itself, cut a swath of fabric about 1 and 1/2 to 2 inches wider than your seat. (I cut it a bit wider than that, but to save fabric, next time I'd scale it back). A fat quarter is about the size.

Place the seat cover, seat side down, on the wrong side (dull side) of the fabric.

Always make your first staples, on the top and on the bottom. This helps to stabilize the fabric. Make sure you have pulled the fabric tightly, but evenly.

Continue stapling all the way around, until you have something that looks like this.

Though it looks a bit jank on the wrong side, it looks great on the right side!

And ta da!

I think the fabric matches the vintage look of the chair.

What do you think? Do you have any projects you are working on?

Trees

2010-12-06T07:34:00.000-05:00

It is a season of trees...

...all of the beautiful fall colors are falling and fading away as trees lose the last of their leaves.
...some trees are getting bundled up and riding home on cars to be loved and cared for just in time for Christmas.
...others still are an excellent addition to your wedding! Check out these mini topiary escort cards I made for a wedding last year:

Displayed on a round table at the end of an entry hallway, these beauties were fanned out for all the guests to see. What an adorable way to greet your guests!

Christmas Photo

2010-12-03T10:24:00.000-05:00

Among the many things we crammed into our weekend with family over Thanksgiving, the annual Christmas photo may have been my favorite! Here we are looking our finest:

Yuletide Tree Christmas

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Does your family have Christmas card traditions? Will you be sending cards through the post this year, or opting for an electronic version?

Click here for instruction on how to get a $25 giftcard to Shutterfly by sharing a Christmas card project on your blog.

MFB: Curbside Chairs Part II

2010-11-26T18:16:00.005-05:00

Since I'm still on Thanksgiving break, this entry is going to be short & sweet. Just want to unveil the cute fabric I picked out for the Curbside Chair Project.

Drumrolllllll please....

Ta da!

I went with Amy Butler's Midwest Modern line, in the "Ohio Sky" family. I picked "Garden Maze" in Green for its whimsy, vibrancy, and retro vibe. Though it retails for about $8.50 per yard, I was able to score 5 yards on eBay for only $25, including shipping!

Here's a sneak peak of how I think the chairs will look:

Cute, right?

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and I can't wait to finish and unveil the final project!

Idea Board 1: Vintage Americana

2010-11-17T05:42:00.002-05:00

Many of you know that the mastermind behind our "Make It, Fake It, or Buy It" series, Lina, is newly engaged. Lina is using her creative genius, and serious repurposing skills to create a Vintage Americana theme for her wedding. To thank her for all of her hard work, we are kicking off our very first official Idea Board, specifically for her.

Sources: Vintage Soda Crates, Daisies in a Ball Glass, Fabric Place Cards Photographed by Daniel Kiyoi, Vintage Blue Mason Jars, Apple Table Numbers, Blue Shoes

For more information about ordering your own custom idea board, contact me at:

CalligraphyByShannon {at} gmail {dot} com

Bonnie Marcus Press - 20% Off

2010-11-16T08:58:00.001-05:00

Shop Early & Save 20%

Visit Bonnie Marcus for a Great Discount

+ a free gift for orders over $30

while supplies last!!

Hurry! Offer ends WEDNESDAY, November 17th!

Use Code: HOLIDAY20 at checkout.

Antique Picture Frames = Awesome Photo Booth

2010-11-15T07:37:00.001-05:00

Can you imaging your wedding guests creating a lifetime of memories with a masterpiece like this?

Found via: A Cup of Jo

Pictures by: Kiss the Groom

MFB: Curbside Chairs: PART I

2010-11-12T10:24:00.006-05:00

At my day job, my boss keeps a delightful set of 2 vintage folding chairs. They have an adorable organic hand-carved look (sorry, no picture) and bright orange vinyl cushions. Anyway, I've deco-crushed on them for a while.

So, when my fiance and I were walking to his car after dinner one night on the Hill, and I saw four of these beauties on the curb....

...my heart skipped a beat and I knew they would have to be mine despite his two door car.

Needless to say, we made it work, and I put rehabbing these chairs to the top of my DIY project list.

First, I got my supplies together:
- Plastic baggie
- "Screwdriver" (aka an old knife because I couldn't find ours)
- Sandpaper
- 3 cans white primer spraypaint
- 4 cans semi-gloss white spraypaint

For the first step of the rehab, I removed the seat covers with my "screwdriver."

Then I placed all the parts into my plastic baggie for safekeeping.

Next, I sanded the heck out of the chairs to get their old finish off.

After that, I primed...

...and primed.

Then, you guessed it, I painted, painted...

...painted

and then went back to spray paint some more!

Part II in two weeks when I recover the old vinyl with some hip, but "vintage-y" new fabric from eBay. What do you think? Fabric Suggestions? Leave your comments below!

Brown and White

2010-11-10T06:04:00.002-05:00

Nothing gets me ready for fall like the rich earth tone and cozy sweaters. That is exactly what this bride was thinking when she chose rich chocolate inner envelopes for her October wedding. With creamy white calligraphy, these invitations were presented beautifully.

Close up of the style, crafted to coordinate with the invitation typeface.

This project held special significance. Of the 150+ invitations, the most important one was being delivered to an APO overseas, for the bride's father who spent her engagement serving in Afghanistan. He arrived home safely just before the big day.

Baby Shower Invites

2010-11-09T05:04:00.002-05:00

When Bryanna found out that her second was a boy, her family decided to throw her a ~~shower~~ sprinkle! A sprinkle is a great way to celebrate the second child, especially when your house if full of pink tutus, purple ribbons and lots of flower power from a little girl. A little bit of blue goes a long way for a newborn! Here is the sprinkle invitation:

Note: The hole in the top of the invite is going to be adorned with an adorable blue ribbon bow...I never said Bryanna had to give up ribbons entirely!

Carly and Bobby Won!

2010-11-07T08:39:00.000-05:00

Thank you for everyone who voted for Carly and Bobby. They won the photo shoot by the fabulous Shay Cochrane with over 7,000 votes. We cannot wait to feature the no doubt beautiful pictures once they have their photo shoot.

Red Letter Words

2010-11-05T06:47:00.002-04:00

Words can be truly beautiful. As a calligrapher, it is no surprise that I am drawn to artfully displayed typography. However, when I stumbled upon Red Letter Words, I was blown away by the beauty of simplicity. Check it out:

These would make great gifts for any occasion; weddings, a housewarming gift, anniversaries, or even Christmas, which is just around the corner!

{Found via Nesting Place}

Dora Birthday Invitations

2010-11-02T16:42:00.000-04:00

Check out these a-DORA-ble {cheesy, but I couldn't resist} invitations I just made for a 2nd birthday. I especially love how the embossed 2 tuned out so well on the envelope and the purple stars coordinate to pull it all together.

p.s. If you have a moment, pop over to Shay Cochrane Photography to vote for Carly and Bobby!

Shay Cochrane Photography

2010-11-01T12:51:00.001-04:00

Shay is hosting an incredible giveaway: Fall into Love, a free couple's session with the one and only, Shay Cochrane.

Although it is too late to enter, you can still vote for the winner. Over here at Calligraphy by Shannon, we are voting for Carly and Bobby and hope you will too!

Click here to vote!

MFB: Knock-Off Wood

2010-10-29T09:58:00.005-04:00

This post is dedicated to one of my very favorite websites on the internet for its amazing designs, practicality, and frugality: Knock-Off Wood by Ana White. When I visited, it was love at first click.

Ana's website is one place I first received inspiration to start this MFB series -- so I owe her a big thanks! Her FREE furniture and design plans tell you how to make the stylish pieces you see at Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Crate and Barrel and tons of other high falutin' places for pennies on the dollar.

My dream would be to have this huge farmhouse table from Restoration Hardware. (Though in my future "dining room," this would mean there would be more table than room).

However, like Ana, I don't have $3000 for a dining room table laying around.

Instead, when I have a few hours of downtime (whenever that may be!), I plan to have the Engineer (my future hubby) help me put one like Ana made together. Honestly, I think hers looks better anyway! Plus, she gives you a step by step plan on how to make it yourself. And, did I mention that it cost her $9.98 + scrap lumber?!?!

Since this is an ambitious project, in the short term, I may just have to "settle" for these darling magnetic boards.

Check out http://ana-white.com/ to find tons of inspiration for your next project. You'll be happy you did! Let us know what you plan to make!

All Wrapped Up!

2010-10-28T20:51:00.000-04:00

Completed Project for a Bride in Devon, PA

One of the best parts of working with wedding calligraphy is the incredible gift I have the privilege of giving each bride. When I finish a project, I take great care in reviewing all of the envelopes and packaging them. Tissue paper, ribbon, twine, and hand written notes accompany each box I send back to a bride. It brings great joy to imagine the opening of their precious package. A bride who desires calligraphy is someone who pays attention to details, and no detail goes unnoticed when working with Calligraphy by Shannon. {psst...my love language is gifts!}

MFB: Creating a Brand through Found Objects

2010-10-15T16:15:00.006-04:00

This week, along with about 314,345 other ideas floating around in my mind, I had the idea of creating a "brand" for the wedding. Basically, this would be a little emblem or decal for use all over our wedding "products" -- Save the Dates, invites, website, thank yous, placecards, yada yada.

I was very inspired by the sweet "S" of a Snapple bottle I found in the recycling bin.

My new last name will start with "S," and the font has the charm I am looking for, without being overly showy or saccharine.

I think a few of these bottles, spraypainted turquoise or white, placed next to the aqua Bell mason jars I have been collecting like mad, will make for a very sweet display.

What do you think? Did you create a repeating "brand" or theme for your wedding in any way?

And, if you have any Snapple bottles to spare, I'd be happy to take them off of your hands!

Ultimate Plane Ride

2010-10-13T13:27:00.000-04:00

Remember the post about getting away a few weeks ago? Well here is the ultimate "getting away" for your wedding: chartering a plane for you and your guests to island hop in Hawaii!

This was originally featured on Snippet & Ink

Photography by Kristopher Orr

Custom Writings, Great Gifts

2010-10-04T23:30:00.002-04:00

Often I am asked to calligraphy verses for clients. This framed pieces of art make wonderful wedding gifts. Capturing a verse or poem used in someone's wedding is a fantastic way to help cherish their big day for years to come. In addition, these gifts make excellent anniversary gifts for the special couple in your life. Here is one of my most recent projects:

For more information about ordering your own custom writing, please refer to my rates.

MFB: Hand-drawn Save The Dates

2010-10-01T11:01:00.006-04:00

I'm a sucker for paper. Shannon and I share a love of the heft and texture and colors of a well-crafted paper product. As a (very recently!) engaged woman (woohoo!), I find my mouse zooming not over to Vera Wang, but rather to Hello Lucky! and other fine paper establishments. My heart is aflutter looking at all of the beautiful paper products they offer.

I'm particularly smitten with the Heartland suite in Bluebell, Chocolate & Lucky Red.

Look how sweet that little ranch house is! Here it is a little bit closer-up.

My swooning continued for a while until, as usual, my heart skiped a beat when I saw the price.

For 150 Save the Dates, the cost is $1.77 each (before postage), for a total of $265.00.

Hmm, considering that there are invitations and reply cards and food to consider, this just seems a bit steep to me.

Thus, we are contemplating a little DIY for the Save the Dates. The drawing that I adore is pretty simple and my meager artistic skills might be up to the challenge of emulating the spirit of the graphic. I would draw the scene and then we would get it copied onto postcards to be sent out. Here is a quick first draft of what I'm thinking.

Please ignore my inability to follow the curvy line on the right side. That'll get worked out in a future draft. I hope.

So what do you think? Are hand-made Save the Dates cute or cheesy? Home-spun and charming or tacky? Leave your answer in the comments section below.

Enjoy the crisp weekend!

4 Years!

2010-09-30T06:38:00.000-04:00

I have been married to my wonderful husband for 4 blissful years.

Here are some of the major {and not so major} milestones of the past 4 years:

traveling to London just for fun

moving from Boston to DC

starting this calligraphy business and blog

becoming members of our church

developing our own traditions

learning "our" favorite foods - the things we both love

establishing our home, nesting

and now most significantly, carrying our first child, due in January!

Trees on Tables

2010-09-28T23:29:00.000-04:00

Now that fall has officially arrived, I have begun to embrace the fanciful decorations that fill table tops and mantles this time of year. Check out these two options whether it be for your wedding, or simply your autumn dinner party:

{image from Pottery Barn}

While I have never decorated with branches before, this just might have to be the season to give it a shot. Will you be putting trees on your table top this season?

Wanna Get Away?

2010-09-20T06:33:00.009-04:00

...and no I am not talking about a South West Airlines commercial. I am talking about your wedding photos! Have you thought about how you will be leaving your ceremony or reception? Here are some stunners:

Kate and Scott's Fantastic Smooch!

Probably the cutest punch buggy ever!

Photo by: Tony Hoffer

Transporting your guest by school bus or trolly? Don't foget the photo op!

Photo by: Joy Moody

Whit and JD's Big Kiss!

Photo by: The Smiths

Don't these pictures make you want to hop in a car and practice kissing?

Just don't forget to ask your photographer to capture the moment!

Make It, FAKE IT, or Buy It: Pottery Barn's Found Oversized Wine Bottles

2010-09-18T12:11:00.012-04:00

Hi, Calligraphy by Shannon Blog Readers! I'm Lina, and I'm the co-owner of Square 3 Ventures, a micro-consignment business that focuses on turning one person's trash into another person's treasure. Thanks to Shannon for asking me to guest blog this feature, Make it, Fake It, or Buy It, which fits right in with what S3V does!

For MFB, I will share pretty things from the world wide web that I covet (and usually can't afford) and ways to get them without spending a lot of money. I will detail ways you can make it yourself, fake it with inexpensive materials, or, in a blue moon, buy it at a shop if that makes more sense economically.

First up -- FAKE IT: Pottery Barn's Found Oversized Wine Bottles. As a aficionado of all things glass, when I first saw these bottles, it was a case of love at first sight.

...until I saw the price tag -- $99.00 – $279.00! Goo! I knew I would have to figure out an alternative.

Enter my good friend, Mr. Carlo Rossi.

After using this lovely 4.0L bottle to cook up some delicious sangria, I washed out the the (very) few wine droplets that remained. The trick to removing the label is to soak it in very hot water with dish soap for a few hours. It should then peal off easily. Any residual stickiness can be removed with nail polish remover.

The result? A gorgeous bottle that catches the light beautifully.

You can pair it with 1.5L or 3.0L sized bottles, other items in your collection, rough it up with sandpaper for a more vintage look, or leave it alone. Any combination would make a lovely centerpiece for your table or wedding!

Cost? $9.99 (including the wine)!

What do you think of this centerpiece? Have ideas for this feature? Let us know in the comments section!

Towel Wraps: Personalized Bridesmaid Gifts

2010-09-15T11:22:00.000-04:00

Why not give your bridesmaids adorable terry towels as a gift they will wear for primping on the big day as well as continue to wear post nuptials? These adorable hot pick terry towels, complete with monogram are perfect for your bridesmaids.

Find a similar look for your bridesmaids:

Initially Yours on Etsy

Sears

So Cute and Cozy

New Friday Feature: Make It, Fake It, or Buy It!

2010-09-10T06:36:00.002-04:00

Lina (like Linda without the "d") hails from O-H-I-O originally, where she grew up helping her mom re-arrange furniture and paint rooms for fun. Her favorite day of the month was when the glossy home magazines like Martha Stewart Living slid through the mail slot. Ever since, she has fostered a (mostly healthy) love of design, decor, and DIY. She believes that good design can and should be affordable.

Lina will be writing a feature on the blog called Make It, Fake It, or Buy It every other Friday, where she will select a bauble or craft that caught her eye and discuss how best to add it to your collection. She will catalog ways you can have great looking pieces for your wedding or home by making it yourself from scratch, faking it with inexpensive materials, or, in the rare instance, buying it at a retail store. She will also highlight some of the best crafting, DIY, and wedding sites she finds in her adventures.

Keep an eye out next week for the first installment of our new friday feature!

Wedding Announcement Keepsake

2010-08-27T10:57:00.007-04:00

In planning a wedding, many of the memorable paper products get tossed eventually. From announcements that hit the news paper, save the dates that ship out in the mail to personalized napkins that get soggy and crumpled.

All of these paper products are wonderful and worth saving or framing, but here is an idea that will surely hang on your wall for years to come:

I stumbled upon these works of art while visiting withTWOcats and immediately fell in love with all things "Grace Hester Designs" on etsy. But now that I am expecting...my eye is drawn to the fabulous birth announcements!

I cannot wait to find out if we are having a boy or a girl, let alone learn all the details of my little one's arrival!

Vote for The Cutest Couple!

2010-08-23T14:16:00.003-04:00

The Today Show is once again hosting their Modern Love contest. A blog reader has asked us all to go ahead and vote for her friends, Couple #4, Genevieve & David. Here is their story:

A native of Dublin, Ireland, David McKay, 23, came to the United States on a soccer scholarship five years ago. While at Belhaven University in Jackson, Miss., David met Pennsylvania-born Genevieve Tallarico, 25, in anatomy and physiology class “of all places.” The two studied together and before they knew it they were “studying each other and … both getting an A.” David is now pursing his dream of becoming a professional soccer fitness coach and Genevieve is a ballet dancer who has worked to provide underprivileged children with ballet classes.

After four years of dating, David and Genevieve are engaged, living in Orlando, and hoping to make the grade by scoring a TODAY wedding.

don't forget to vote today!

The Eastern Shore of Maryland

2010-08-22T17:54:00.004-04:00

We spent the gorgeous weekend on the Eastern Shore of Maryland visiting Mark's parents and making way for baby. Yes, I am pregnant!

Nothing gets better than the fresh air of the Chesapeake Bay and crabs! Well, except for unbelievable weddings! Check out this fabulous wedding held at the Inn at Perry Cabin (where the wedding crashers was filmed) in St. Michaels, MD:

:: Photos by Kate Headley of Washington DC ::

Learn more about the wedding at Snippet and Ink where the wedding was featured.

Embossing at Home

2010-07-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

It is incredible how a simple invitation can be enhanced and embellished to obtain an expensive professional look.

See the invitation on the left. I printed plain black text on a plain purple note card. A few minutes of rubber stamping, embossing powder and the power of heat: An entirely new invitation that actually looks exciting!

All items are available at Paper-Source

Crepe Paper

2010-07-14T06:53:00.000-04:00

{image}

A while back I posted instructions for making a custom "floral" monogram out of crepe paper. Well, How About Orange has outdone me. The recent post: 5 things to make with crepe paper will inspire you to make these adorable pomemanders as well as other great crepe paper crafts including leis and pom-poms! Be sure to check it out!

4th of July in Kennebunkport

2010-07-12T15:17:00.004-04:00

We treked to Maine for a wonderful weekend in Kennebunkport and a wedding at the Fransiscan Monastery in Kennebunk, Maine. The wedding was beautiful and I cannot wait to show you professional pictures! But we have to wait until the end of the month. Sigh.

For now I will leave you with a custom map the couple gave to all of their out of town guests listing their favorite places:

{for more information about ordering a map for your big event, please see my rates}

Old World: Wedding Suitcases

2010-05-14T09:18:00.002-04:00

I love how inspiration transforms over time. This post of pictures I found on a whim, lead my mind to the bountiful uses for suitcases in weddings. From garden showers, to black tie receptions, a thoughtfully used suitcase can add a touch of charm and character.

a spot for cards at Laurel and Jedd's wedding

{found here}

or programs

{found here}

and place cards on popsicle sticks and clothes pins

from Jennifer and James' wedding

{found here}

or even a spot for fans to "stay cool"

{from Kelly Oshiro Designs}

Paper Crush: Linda & Harriett

2010-05-14T08:23:00.000-04:00

Linda & Harriett have redesigned their site. And their stationery is as adorable as ever. Check it out:

Plus, click here to read about their new direction.

Hangers can be Beautiful

2010-05-12T07:47:00.001-04:00

Lila Frances has a way with hangers. Her beautiful works of art will lend a touch of elegance and personalization to your big day. So as you prep for your wedding, don't forget about the hanger that will hold your dress and veil!

Visit Lila Frances on Etsy

Baby Animal Shower

2010-05-10T08:34:00.001-04:00

I am very excited to be planning this baby shower. I have fallen in love with the animals I used for my inspiration! There are stripes, and polkadots, and baby animals galore. I have incorporated calligraphy, rubber stamping, and embossing for the invitations. Here is a sneak peek at animal inspiration and the envelope calligraphy. But you will have to wait until June for the full picture of how adorable this shower is going to be!

I clearly couldn't decide which envelope combination was cuter...

...so I used both!

Freebies!

2010-05-07T09:40:00.001-04:00

Wedding Chicks have done it again! They are offering free customized "printables" that get sent directly to your inbox! The steps are simple, and the designs adorable! Check it out:

Anthro Bridesmaid Dresses, Now

2010-05-04T08:03:00.000-04:00

Earlier we posted about the exciting announcement of Urban launching a wedding line, but what about the brides who are planning weddings now? Anthropologie dresses offer a wide selection of a-typical bridesmaid dresses {aka, the kind your bridesmaids REALLY will wear again!}

Paperless Wedding + Bridal Shower

2010-05-03T07:33:00.000-04:00

My friends Jerrod and Meredith, often called "Jeredith" by dear friends, are in the midst of planning a paperless wedding. The idea makes me cringe...no paper? That means no calligraphy, no pretty invitation suites, no programs, not even a menu or little labels to mark food at their buffet! {gasp}

The are economists who care deeply about living practically and responsibly. So what did they do? They set up an incredible wedding website and an e-mail account specifically for their big day. They tactfully sent their Save the Dates, Wedding Invitations, and even Rehearsal Dinner invites, all via the web.

So you can imagine my alarm when planning Meredith's bridal shower. How do we make it paperless?

I sent my very first evite!
We use real china, silverware, and napkins for the shower luncheon
We provided guest an alternative to wrapped presents - the ability to contribute to a couch fund for the couple's new apartment.

All in all, it went well. It challenged me to think outside the box and even involved an unconventional game. You see, this practical couple doesn't like to spend money, so their dates often included puzzles. Snapfish came to the rescue with the perfect shower activity. Guest put together a puzzle of the couple:

Anthro + Urban + Weddings: 2011

2010-05-02T07:51:00.000-04:00

Urban, the umbrella company of Anthropologie, Terrain, and Urban Outfitters has announced that they are branching into the wedding market with a line to be released in 2011. Check out the details from those that beat me to the punch line:

InStyle

Fashionista

A Cup of Joe

April Showers...bring May Flowers

2010-05-01T17:24:00.002-04:00

Well, I have certainly been experiencing lots of showers...just not the kind that involves any rain! You read about a margarita inspired bridal shower a few weekends ago. I also helped coordinate a paperless {gasp} bridal shower recently with an unusual game that I cannot wait to share with you.

...and then there are the babies! Between birth announcements, 1st birthdays, and baby showers, I am beginning to think I run an invitation store instead of a calligraphy business! There have been some really cute "baby" invites that will be posted here shortly, so stay tuned! For now, get outside and enjoy the beautiful mid-summer weather that the entire country is enjoying!

Paper Crush: Jonathan Adler

2010-04-24T10:38:00.005-04:00

Paper Crush: \ˈpā-pər ˈkrəsh\, noun: 1. a lustful obsession for paper products, namely fantastic new stationery lines. 2. a desire for all things paper. Not to be confused with the destruction of pulp based products.

A new paper line from one of my favorite designers, Jonathan Adler. The paper designs are so beautiful, I would be hesitant to write on them. Of the designs, my favorite is Acapulco - perfect for upcoming Cinco de Mayo festivities.

Which is your favorite design?

Do you have a paper crush?

Nautical Margarita Bridal Shower

2010-04-22T09:40:00.001-04:00

Nautical Margarita? Well, that was exactly what was in order for a bridal shower last weekend. The bride-to-be is a 'rita fan and planning a 4th of July wedding in Kennebunkport, Maine. Ever inkling in me wanted to create blue shower invites, but I couldn't resist the image of a Pink and Green drink stations with lemonade and fresh margaritas!

Here are the invites and their calligraphy:

And of course, the margarita and pink lemonade bar:

The cute cocktail napkins say:

"Don't be crabby, its cocktail time!"

Old Hollywood Calligraphy

2010-04-19T21:37:00.003-04:00

The Old Hollywood invitations for my dad's surprise birthday needed some spiffy calligraphy to go along with them. Here are some of the samples:

Calligraphy and Invitations

2010-04-07T09:28:00.004-04:00

Recently I have been adding to the scope of my calligraphy work. Many of the clients who I worked with for their weddings have been coming back with questions about other life events: birthday parties, baby showers, fundraisers, etc. I have been creating a host of invitations.

Someday I will have a catalog of custom invitation ideas to choose from, but for now I will simply share them with you here. My dad gets the first spotlight. Here is the invitation I created for his surprise 50th back in December:

The invitations were printed on Stardream Opal A6 cards from Paper Source to give them a regal Old Hollywood feel.

As seen in...

2010-03-10T13:19:00.002-05:00

We have been featured on the blog of our favorite photographers - theSmiths! Check out their blog post about calligraphy and how it can make your wedding stand apart!

Jen and Jared's Wedding Photos

2010-03-02T11:44:00.001-05:00

Do you remember Jen and Jared? They are the couple that had a wave crash over their engagement photos! Well, here are a few of their long overdue wedding photos:

For more information about their photographer, visit: www.photographybybmh.com

Personalize Your Style: Gadabout

2010-02-22T11:12:00.000-05:00

Hannah of Gadabout is incredibly talented and captures the essence of personalization like no other designer I have ever seen. Here is a sneak peek of a few of her fabulous notecards.

What better way for a Bride to begin her correspondence than with notecards like these?

Buy them for everyone you know: maid-of-honor, best friend, boss, secretary, teacher. Keep them on hand for hostess gifts and spur of the moment birthday parties.

Absolutely fabulous!

www.agadabout.com

Real Couple: A Love Story

2010-02-20T08:39:00.000-05:00

We featured pictures from Bridget and Steve's Wintery Wedding over a year ago. Well, since then, Bridget has embraced the blogging world and are you ready? She is sharing their incredible love story on her blog: "Tales of me and the Husband (plus 4 kids and a gracie)"

Warning: It is a laugh out loud tear jerker!

Glorious Giveaways

2010-02-16T20:07:00.005-05:00

Erin McDermott Jewelry giveaway hosted by: Southern Weddings. Check out Erin's fabulous jewelry and tell Southern Weddings about why you like them and you could can enter to win a pair of these pretty pearl earrings. Hurry you must enter here by February 17th.

Are you getting married near Chicago? Well than this contest is for you! Doug McGoldrick is offering free wedding photography to a lucky couple. The catch, his daughters get to pick the winner! You have to write your story and send a photo by February 22nd. For all of the details, visit Doug's blog here.

Need Invitations for your wedding? bridal shower? engagement party? Then check out Papermints. They are offering 50 free RSVP sets with purchase of 100 invitations.

Aregreyline & Lucky + Lovely have teamed up to offer free wedding photography and styling! To enter, your ideas of what your wedding will be must be super unique and you must face financial barriers. To learn more about the details, check out either of the posts above and enter to win! They will be deciding on the winner March 1st, so don't delay, enter here.

And my own very special giveaway:

A $50 discount on any calligraphy order in 2010!

3 Ways to Enter:

(in separate blog posts)

become a follower and tell me

tell me why you think calligraphy is important

blog about my giveaway and add the link in a blog post

Deadline: March 23rd

(my birthday!)

The Smiths: Family Portrait Session

2010-02-15T08:55:00.000-05:00

My favorite photography duo has come through for me again! My family decided to throw a last minute surprise party for my dad has he hit a major milestone. (literally only a week's notice) So we needed to figure out a way to get Dad out of the house. Michael and Lindsay immediately came to mind! In a pinch (from Hawaii) Lindsay was able to pencil us in after an early portrait session that same day.

Communicating via facebook and e-mail, we were able to line everything up and keep the surprise on the down low.

Michael and Lindsay were troopers and drove through snow to meet us and help us keep Dad otherwise occupied while friends set up at the house and guests began to arrive. Here are just a few of my favorites, including fantastic shots of the actual surprise!

and the Surprise:

Check out The Smiths Pictures for your special photography moment!

P.S. Their wedding photography is out of this world!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day!

2010-02-13T15:22:00.010-05:00

Can you believe it? Are you prepared? If not, here are a few quick ideas to keep your loved ones happy (and unaware).

Image: Christen's Kitchen

Oreo Truffles - with only a few ingredients that any convenient store will likely carry: Oreos, Cream Cheese, and Chocolate, this should be a cinch to pull together. But if Oreos aren't your love language, be sure to see the rest of Christen's Truffle Recipes including everything from raspberries to Bailey's Irish Creme.

Image: Decor8

Candles and Candlesticks - Candle light will set the mood for an evening at home...dinner and a movie anyone? But they also bring the promise of romance in the future. Attach bows to indicate that the candlesticks are a gift, and add in a few love coupons (Hint: you can make these yourself!) with promises of activities by candle light.

Image: Kitchen Creations

Breakfast in Bed - Pick up a heart shaped cookie cutter to make pancakes, french toast, or even fried eggs that much more special!

A Picture Frame and a Bottle of Wine - Present the frame with a note declaring your intentions to capture the moment and frame the bottle of wine you are yet to enjoy this holiday. Be sure to save the bottle. Once it is empty put it in the oven at 250 for 5-10 minutes. As the bottle heats up, the glue adhering the label with loosen. Have a piece of paper ready to stick the label to and be sure to use caution!

Image: Design*Sponge

Decorate - It is unexpected and can be a lot of fun. Just be sure to take pictures to capture your hard work! For fabulous decorating ideas, check out Design*Sponge.

Have a Lovely Valentine's Day!

Matching Calligraphy and Invitations

2009-11-20T10:14:00.000-05:00

One of the projects I have been working on is developing additional calligraphy styles or fonts. Because I am self trained and lack the "formal" foundation of the strokes, I lean heavily on my own handwriting. I could do most of my calligraphy in my sleep, but it looks like my handwriting. Not necessarily what a bride and groom have in mind when it comes to their vision of wedding calligraphy. This year I have had two great opportunities to create a new style of my calligraphy to compliment the wedding invitation.

Here are a few examples from a Newport wedding this summer. The wedding was certainly nautical with lots of flair, but very little flourish - swirly formal calligraphy was not the correct match for this modern dock-side wedding.

The bride and groom sealed their envelopes with a compass on the back flap of their envelopes. The perfect touch! They were able to find a coordinating stamp and included this on all of their wedding materials from the program to the welcome messages for out-of-town guests.

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Country Fair Bridal Shower

2009-11-18T08:16:00.001-05:00

Old fashioned country fairs hold a warm place of nostalgia in our hearts. They bring back memories of childhood for countless generations. Fairs are full of warm home-made pies, field games, checkered table clothes, and waving flags.

Well, this is exactly the emotion that the Maid of Honor had in mind for her baby sister's bridal shower!

The bridesmaids and ladies from church each brought a homemade pies from peach to cherry. We spend the day before creating a custom banner of waving flags. Tables were set up in typical old fashioned fair style. Field games included a bouquet toss into the baskets pictured above. It was a fantastic setting, a beautiful day, and certainly brought back floods of memories for everyone in attendance.

Guests were thanked with the family's whoopie pie specialty, a Pennsylvania Dutch tradition. Each treat was individually wrapped in custom labeled baggies.

And the guest finished off the table with piles of gifts which are wrapped in perfection - the bride's favorite colors, pink and green! It was the perfect bridal shower set in rural PA!

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How to Make a Floral Monogram

2009-11-16T08:31:00.000-05:00

Without the flowers? Yes! Tissue paper or crepe paper can work magic affordable solutions to costly buds. All you need is the desired styrofoam shape, beautiful tissue or crepe paper, craft glue and a few golf tees! The look is fantastic, and more important, integrating a monogram into your wedding is a simple and cost-effective way to personalize your wedding!

Preparations:

Prep your styrofoam. Trim it to your desired shape and size. We chose circles since it was easy! Outline your desired letter.
Cut your paper into 2 inch squares. This is where crepe paper is fantastic - it is quick and easy to cut!
Pour your glue. Paper plate or bowls make accessing the glue a breeze!

Now you are ready to get started!

Use a golf tee to punch a hole in the styrofoam
Remove and wrap the tee with paper
Dip the wrapped tee in glue (so the glue only gets on the paper)
Insert into previously punched hole
Remove tee (paper stays in place)
Repeat - 1,000s of times!

Here is an example of Christine and Brendan's monogram half-way through:

Tips:

Be sure to punch holes close together to create a full look - you don't want to see any styrofoam.
Don't forget the edge! Either wrap with ribbon to keep on punching holes.
Work the boarder of the letter to ensure straight lines and a clean look.
Have fun!

To see the finished product and our inspirations, see our previous post: DIY Floral Monograms

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DIY Floral Monograms

2009-11-13T19:50:00.009-05:00

Floral Monograms add a decidedly personal touch to any affair, particularly weddings. As a couple created a monogram together, what better to put on display? There are some beautiful inspirations from everyone from Martha Stewart to our friends at Wedding Bee and Style Me Pretty. We even found a new wedding blog, Manolo Bride, while looking for examples of monograms. Here is what we found:

Top: Style Me Pretty, Manolo Bride, Martha Stewart, Wedding Bee

Bottom: Martha Stewart, Manolo Bride, Martha Stewart, Wedding Bee

These beautiful monograms can often come at a hefty price, but are a project that can be done yourself. Looking for DIY inspiration led us to none other than Lindsay Smith of Smith Photo Studios! Here is the wedding monogram she created for her own wedding:

In addition to being a fabulous photographer, Lindsay is pretty crafty. Well, after Lindsay's approval and guidance one of my brides, Christine and I decided to get crafty as well! Here is what we came up with:

It is a pretty crafty DIY Monogram if I do say so myself!

Next post: How to create this monogram!

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Whit and JD are Moving to Hawaii

2009-07-16T11:13:00.005-04:00

...well actually they are just getting married, but this is how they announced their engagment!

I received notice from Whitney that they were moving to Hawaii and that she needed my address. It certainly got my attention. Who wouldn't want a friend who lives in Hawaii? Well, after getting everyone's attention, Whit and JD gleefully shared that Hawaii was just a hoax, but their engagment is the real deal!

I am so excited! They are going to make a terrific marriage.

You can follow their story on their wedding blog: http://whitandjd.blogspot.com/

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Birthday Party Calligraphy

2009-07-08T07:09:00.002-04:00

...and no gifts please!

I often have the joy of designing and creating invitations and cards for family events. This past spring, my grandfather threw a birthday brunch for my grandmother. Recognizing that her Alzheimers was not getting any better, he wanted to cherish the moments they would both remember. Well, when my grandfather wants to rally the family, he calls my mom and puts her in charge. And when my mom is in charge, she calls on me for the creative touches to pull a party together! So I started planning...

We canvased my grandmothers 3 daughters (my mom included) to build an address list of old co-workers and friends to share in the celebration. And we only had four weeks!

And I furiously worked on an invitation and lost sleep over how to convey to a lifetime of friends that no gifts were needed to celebrate another wonderful year! I tend to throw my heart into all activities involving my grandmother and this invitation was no different. The wording was very important to me, and here is what I came up with:

May your presence and good wishes be your only gifts

I decided to skip the easy route (much to my husband's dismay) and hand stamped each and every invitation...twice! Here are the supplies I used, all from Paper Source:

And the final product:

(I blurred the details for privacy)

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New Photographer: Smith Photo Studios

2009-07-06T07:22:00.000-04:00

After invitations and stationary, the second most important part of any event is the photography. I have developed a growing list of photographers I have worked with and grown to respect. All of their info is on the right side of my blog.

I recently added a new photographer, actually two; a husband and wife team from Pennsylvania, Michael and Lindsay of Smith Photo Studios.

These two young photographers are growing their business like crazy right now! They have only been doing wedding photography for a few years, but have already turned around some fabulous work. They are a terrific couple and would be certain to capture the memories of your special day. Oh, and one more plug, Linday and I grew up together, so I am particularly excited to be featuring her on my blog!

Even if you are not in the Pennsylvania area, check them out as they have frequently traveled the eastern seaboard for weddings!

Here are some of my favorite photos they have taken:

I love the rough contrast of the brick and cobble stone to the warm embrace of this couple!

A spiral staircase + a bride! What could be more fun?

This uber creative shot is fantastic...but I am not sure if my arms bend that way!

This was featured as a "sneak peek" for a wedding, and could not have enticed me more!

I love how these fancy groomsmen look infront of the tudor!

Don't you love these photos?!? Check Michael and Lindsay out at Smith Photo Studios.

They also publish a great blog: http://smithphotostudios.com/wordpress/

And you can be a fan on Facebook!

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Summer and 4th of July!

2009-07-04T15:57:00.004-04:00

Happy 4th of July!

This is how I will be spending my evening...watching the fireworks display beautifully behind the Washington Monument. It is one of the most patriotic scenes you can imagine. I hope you all have wonderful and safe 4th of July celebrations this evening.

I don't know about you, but my summer is flying by. I cannot believe it is already the 4th of July! I have three weddings to attend this month, two of which I did calligraphy for, one of which I helped plan. I am helping with three additional weddings between now and the new year...and that doesn't begin to explain the calligraphy jobs I have in the queue! Plus, I have my fingers crossed that a good friend will be firming up the details for a three day wedding bash in Maine next 4th of July weekend! :-) Needless to say, I have weddings on the brain!

Feeling a bit overwhelmed by my calendar, I decided to take some time and outline posts for the month as clearly my month is full! I was shocked to find that I did not post once in June, NOT ONCE! How have all you faithful readers let me get away with this? How did I not realize that time was slipping by? Well, now that June is behind us, I promise some excellent details for July, from new photographers I am parterning with to lots of real couple stories, I even have a few DIY projects up my sleeve! Be sure to check out all the good I have to share! It is going to be a fabulous July!

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Baby Shower Favors

2009-05-29T16:39:00.006-04:00

As promised, here are adorable baby shower favors that are as easy as pie, edible baby pacifiers!

First, the supplies:

Ring shaped mints (I used life savors)

Jelly beans or other similarly shaped candies (I used Mike'n Ikes)
White frosting
Candy Bags (available at arts and craft stores)
Ribbon
Sissors
Wax Paper (for easy clean up!)

Use the frosting to bind the colored candies to the first ring. Complete the top of all "mini pacies" and let sit for at least an hour then use frosting to attach the bottom rings like so:

Again, let sit for at least an hour. Then insert in candy bags and finish with a bow!

Here is the final display, along with a note to guests in sweet calligraphy:

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On Holiday...

2009-05-20T09:22:00.001-04:00

My hubby and I have gone on vacation...

Be back soon!

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Wedding Stamps

2009-05-19T08:18:00.000-04:00

I am impressed with the postal service. They took the wedding season into consideration and released the new wedding stamps almost immediately after the rate increase! Here are the new stamps!

Check out more at: www.USPS.com

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Baby Shower Invitations

2009-05-18T22:36:00.009-04:00

Nursery Rhyme Theme

So this is not really wedding oriented...but you know what they say:

First comes love,
Then comes marriage,
Then comes a baby in a baby carriage!

I recently was asked to help plan a baby shower, fron the invite design to the calligraphy and finally the favors. Here is what I came up with:

(Please excuse the grey boxes, they were requested to protect privacy.)

The couple did not know if they were having a girl or a boy, and the party was being thrown by the soon to be paternal grandparents. We wanted to stick to neutral colors, so we picked turquoise and yellow. The invites turned out better than I could have imagined, and I was able to match the calligraphy ink color almost perfectly.

(The paper we used was iridescent, so it was hard to capture the image!)

Added bonus: Party Favors! (Coming soon...)

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Jen and AJ: Chapter 2

2009-04-28T12:34:00.004-04:00

Have you been following Jen and AJ's story? Here are the previous to posts: Intro and Chapter 1.

Chapter 2:

AJ has given me flowers nearly every week since we’ve been dating. Yes, it has shocked me too. People have asked me whether receiving flowers each week has made them less special… I have grown to expect them on Tuesdays when he will typically pop by my office with a bouquet (my co-workers now watch for him) but it has never made them less of a gift. In fact, it has proven that he consistently cares about me and the little things I love. He is looking for ways to make me feel special even though he doesn’t need to “pursue me” in the technical sense of the word anymore… and I value that far more than the actual flowers.

As I’m working with floral designer Erica Thebarge it has been fabulous to have so many gorgeous options at my fingertips. She was wonderful at our first meeting and let my mom, sister and I look through all of her floral books; she knew every flower and how they would look in arrangements. I’m looking at my choices with the question: “what would have the most meaning?” Does the flower I choose make any difference in how happy and healthy our marriage will be? Of course not, but it is fun to honor a tradition that AJ started about 45 weeks ago!

Right now I’m leaning toward an arrangement of ivory flowers with an adorable tag hanging from the vase that reads: “Hydrangeas: The First Flower AJ Brought Jen” or “Roses: Given for the First Time at the Proposal”.

The flowers in the photograph were done by Erica Thebarge for Danielle and Warren's wedding.

Photograph taken by Faith Hall Photography.

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More Nautical Invitations

2009-04-23T07:18:00.001-04:00

Searching for Nautical themed invitations has recently taken over my spare time. I have forgotten how much fun it can be to search through millions of wedding invitation options. (...and what a daunting task it can be!) I have been focusing on "Not Just Navy." After coming across quite a few colorful, but yet still elegant nautical invitations, I thought I would expand my search. Here is what I came up with:

I love the deep orange coral of the top left invitation. The yellow boarder and evelope liner work so well with the turquise shell of the invitation on the right. And the Save the Date on the bottom left has a sublte touch of glam with gold embossed seashore items.

Teal, turquise, aqua and more. I love the light and airy feel. Any of these invitations would be perfect for a summer beach wedding, yet they all remain refined enough for a semi-formal affair. The bottom left, with the partial shell is my absolute favorite!

(all invitations above can be found at: Papyrus)

Finally, for a nautical invitation suite with an updated look and feel, check out Joycebella Invites:

I love this invitation suite so much, I am racking my brain for an occasion to use it! Perhaps I can have a second wedding planned around this incredible invitation? I am not so sure my husband would go for that one. :-)

Thanks to Michael of Smith Photo Studios for the great tip!

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Earth Day: Green Weddings

2009-04-22T08:41:00.001-04:00

Today is Earth Day. Take this reminder to view how you are planning your wedding, and how you can care for our planet in the process. Here are some tips to keeping your wedding green:

1. Earth Friendly Invitations: Earthly Affair has the most beautiful invitations that are gentle on our planet! Other places to check out:

Obligation Paper + Press

(I have mentioned this company before and have heard rave reviews!)

2. Organic and Local Food and Wine: Many restaurants and caterers now offer local options. Be sure to ask when you are inquiring about services. As for wine, check out: The Organic Wine Company and Organic Wine Journal to learn more!

3. Green Gifts: From wedding registry to favors, you can go green. Check out Beau Coup for great green favors and Sweet Earth Chocolate for edible treats. For your registry, consider items like organic bedding and bath towels, bamboo for your kitchen, and Energy Star for any major appliances your nuptuals may require!

4. Sustainable Dress Options: Visit my Save Money post about wedding dress options. And, check out this post from Style Me Pretty!

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