Passport Invitations

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!

Christmas Photo

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.

Bonnie Marcus Press - 20% Off

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.

Wedding Announcement Keepsake

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!

Embossing at Home

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

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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!

Paper Crush: Linda & Harriett

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.

Paper Crush: Jonathan Adler

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?

Personalize Your Style: Gadabout

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

Baby Shower Invitations

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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Nautical Wedding Invitations

I am working with a bride on creating a nautical invitation suite. I will do the design calligraphy and then we hope to have it letterpressed. We are very excited, but the wedding is a long way out so we are only in the brainstorming phase. I love the ocean. I love the color blue (can't you tell) so this has been a blast.

Here are some of the designs I found that have been inspiring me so far:

Photo Credits, clockwise from top: Square invitation from eInvite.com, Navy blue Vera Wang invitation from finestationery.com, Sand castle invitation from Exclusively Weddings, and finally my own creation which was inspired by several invitations on Wedding Paper Divas.

But amidst all this fun, I have yet to see exactly what I am looking for to meet this bride's needs, which is why I will be creating something of my own. In my searches, I did find some additional nautical eye candy on Flickr. Brass Paperclip has wonderful ideas in her photo stream that I am currently loving!

I hope you enjoy browsing through this as much as I have! Oh, and if you have any additional "nautical" ideas, send them my way! The rain in DC has dampened my creativity...

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Wedding Invitation Inspiration

Invitations set the tone for your celebration. There are now many options of affordable wedding invitations that can be customized to meet your specific needs.

Below are some of my favorite wedding invitation suppliers and inspiration from their sites:

Blue Tulip:

This invitation is perfect or any season and is helping me cope with the transition into fall! It is hard to imagine that this weekend is already Labor Day. Summer has flown by...but that is another story all together. The beauty of this invitation is that you could also replicate this concept for a homemade invite.

Broadway Paper:

Can you imagine a paisley themed wedding? There are countless ways in which you can continue this theme to make a truly unique. It also provides you a whole host of colors to jump off from. The blues in this invitation allow you to either have a rainbow effect of colors or carry a monochromatic/tone on tone color scheme.

Paper Source:

This invite immediately makes me thing of a winter wedding (December-February). The raspberry red is absolutely stunning and yet there is nothing harsh about this invitation. The use of red in the flower creates a rich tone to the invitation.

Wedding*Paper Divas:

This invite defines simple elegance. The rich slate paper strikingly offsets the gold writing. This invite is modern and sweet without all the fuss.

Check these retailers out for more inspiration as well as custom designs!