The After Christmas Review

Luscious papers!

Lovely new Christmas stamp this year!

Have you enjoyed all the cards that came in your mailbox this year? I like to sit down a few days after Christmas and paw over them again. And read some of the letters that I didn't get around to reading as well. And while doing that I realized I should post a couple cards I did this year. I hope your 2012 was a lovely year and the new year even better!

Eat Drink and be Merry Christmas Party

'Tis the season for parties, that's for sure. And for me it means invitations to create and this one put a couple hole punches to good use. Pretty satin fabric peeks through a large hole punch making for a very pretty singular ornament. And the smaller half-inch hole punch is the perfect size for wine drink tags that match. Eat, drink and be merry!

Cell Phone Case Cookie Exchange Invitation

What 8th grade girl doesn't want a cell phone in a cute alligator case with a touch of bling? And an invitation to a party? The gals invited to this party get both, sort of! And I bet they won't want to miss this Christmas cookie exchange. Envelopments has this great faux alligator skin paper and I am so happy that it comes in green because that helped this green, white and silver themed invitation come together. A shimmery white liner for the cell case printed with snowflakes matches the snowflakes on the shimmery white envelopes. And the glitter paper snowflake hopefully looks like a snap closure on the front. I think it is the perfect finishing touch.

For the Love of Tartan and Stationery

I'm in the mood to decorate in Christmas plaids right now. I do believe our trip to Scotland last month has invaded my soul. Upon our return I received a request from a customer to create a new Stewart Tartan for my plaid stationery that I sell in my Etsy shop. While I was printing I decided I needed to make some cute tags with this plaid on them as well. Now I'm on the hunt for the perfect plaid ribbon. This year all gifts from me will have a touch of tartan.

Thanksgiving Flowers

my first attempt at a chalkboard lettering 'how to' i found on pinterest. love pinterest!

one of my scarred pumpkins

a vintage fire board with chalkboard paint on the back resides on my kitchen island. usually it has my grocery list on it!

My favorite part of a gathering is setting the scene. Food comes in a distant second. Even on Thanksgiving when it's supposed to be all about the food. I am blessed to live where flower markets and growers are plentiful. I spent $45 on flowers, went out in my yard and snipped from our trees and wild grasses in the neighborhood and made three arrangements. And with the addition of the pumpkins from my garden I think it will feel like Thanksgiving at our house. Except for the 70 degree weather!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Picnic Save the Dates!

A set of wooden flatware wrapped in a napkin and tied with twine. Of course the recipients will save-the-date!

A matchbook style tag has all the pertinent info

Nestled in their boxes and ready to go!

Let me start by telling you that this couple met on a park bench in Boston Common. Randomly, a couple years later Joe found a lovely pendant to give to Kristen that captured a scene similar to theirs. Super talented Papercut artist Tina Tarnoff made the pendant using a print of her original papercut piece called "Divine Intervention". I was able to use it as a part of their logo on the tag. I can't believe how perfect it is! Check out her shop on Etsy.

Have you seen the Eco-friendly wooden flatware out there? I have, and I've seen pieces stamped with the cutest of phrases like "dig in", "eat more cake" and so perfect for a wedding "spread the love". Darling! For a French Picnic themed wedding this seemed like the perfect way to go, stamping the flatware with "Save the Date", "June 8, 2013" and this couples names "Kristen & Joe". The lavender gingham is perfectly picnic-y and reasonably priced too. Stems of lavender as well as the color lavender will be part of the wedding and picnic reception decor. I can't wait to see it all come together!

Pumpkin Scarring, Year Two

Last year was my first attempt at scarring pumpkins and the outcome was pretty darn good, if I say so myself! So I decided to try it again this year with a variety of pumpkins; fairytale, yellow Cinderellas, green as well as traditional orange jack o' lantern type. Oh my scarring was going to be soooo much better and I was going to sell them and make a million dollars. Well, maybe not quite that much. I purchased and planted my seeds and waited and waited for some serious vines to start growing. It seemed like it took forever but flowers did begin to bloom. Flower after flower came and went and no cute little pumpkins. Okay, so there were some but not near as many as last year and I had 3 times as many plants. Apparently I'm still learning how to be a farmer. My meager results from Pumpkin Scarring Year Two are proudly pictured below.

The tiny orange guy in the middle says "seriously?"

This guy is my favorite. A sneaky snail tried to do some scarring of it's own on the back side of it but it survived.

Just after scarring

About a month later. Sadly this little one started to rot within a week of clipping it from the dying vine.

Copper and Teal Invitation for the Patron Party

Casa de Amparo is a foster care facility that my husband and I heartily support. I was honored to be asked to create this 3-layer copper and teal colored Patron Party invitation for them. The generous patron level supporters of Casa's annual fundraiser, the Crystal Ball Gala, are always invited to a special pre-event party that honors them. This years party is at a spectacular hacienda style home with views in every direction. I thought it might be fun to Photoshop a photograph of their home to give a little preview to the guests of the party location. It should be a spectacular evening with yummy food donated by chef Frey of La Costa Resort's BlueFire Grill

Woodsy Wedding Details

Upon arrival the guests need the 411

The program - this stylized photo was taken in the exact spot that the wedding guests were seated.

The "lift ticket" escort card, one side with the guest name and the other the image of the vintage mini posters of ski resorts that were at each table.

It hit me! I never shared the details to the woodsy wedding. I did a post of the invitations if you want to check them out but somehow never followed up.

These are some of the printed details that I created. And please do note the invitation and the program use the same stylized photo which was taken by the groom 9 months earlier when the couple decided on their perfect ceremony location.

For more fabulous photos and even more fabulous photos please go to the blog of their fabulous photographer, Braedon Flynn!

Popular Peacock for Wedding Invitation

This bride and groom are having an elegant wedding and reception. Rich jewel tones, peacock feathers and gold accents. When I found this peacock feather paper I thought it would be a perfect way to set the tone for the day. And that gold wax seal with the letter "E" added a bit of an old world feel which I thought went perfectly with the wedding location, the gorgeous historic Mission Inn in Riverside, California. I used a champagnium pocket card from Envelopments that held the rsvp and its envelope in the back.

Happy First Anniversary! A Collage

The Daughter and her husband just celebrated their First Anniversary. It seems the first year is full of wedding related thoughts and things and then it's time to move on. I too love to reminisce about that fabulous weekend up in Sunriver, Oregon. It's easy because I still have the remainder papers and such floating about in my studio office. So I decided to take some of those papers and create a card for them. And as you already know, "paper" is the traditional first anniversary gift. You can check out their wedding invitation suite here.

Our Vintage Wedding Invitation... that looks so current!

1981 screen printed invitations!

cocktail napkins and the wedding program too!

this is the front of the invitation

I still love the handmade paper that was used as the 'tissue'

This is a poem from a card that my husband gave to me. We had it included in the program.

Over 30 years ago I laid eyes on the creative works of two women that were acquaintances of my mom and I was completely inspired. I remember wanting to do what Mrs. Pace and Mrs.Campbell did. They combined their talents of graphic design, calligraphy and screen printing and made calendars and invitations and other paper goods that were truly works of art. 

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary. As I gaze upon my little box of memories of that long ago day I am more in awe of how fabulous our invitations, made by Mrs. Pace and Mrs. Campbell, were then and still are today. They were ahead of their time! As a young twenty-something I remember being a bit nervous because they weren't engraved, which of course was the proper thing. What would people say? But I knew I loved them.

People often ask me, "When looking back at your own wedding, what would you do differently?" And my answer always is "I'd marry the same man and have the same invitations but I'd change everything else."