that is some tasty paper

If I ever get around to creating a blogroll here, I will definitely be adding Coveiter, a style blog updated daily by two designers down south in Louisiana.  (I promise that improving this old blog is definitley on my ever-expanding list of things to do!  I have ideas!)

Coveiter is a verb that means to desire avidly.  Lindsey and Julie approached me about printing their gorgeous notecards sometime last year.  I am in love with what they created — they are truly spectacular — and I feel lucky I got to pull each print off my press for them.  I totally coveted them, I admit it!

The note cards (below) required 3 separate runs:  The purple and light gray you see easily, plus an un-inked pattern printed in the background.  This technique is called “blind printing.”  The texture created by the blind printing combined with the contrast in design elements is just to-die for…

The matching envelope flaps (below, left) also featured more of the same the blind-printed background, with the text overlaid in light gray.

I think this kind of look would translate really well to a booklet-style or folding invitation — anything that has a cover that needs to stand out and command attention.  So stylish!

Thanks Lindsey and Julie!  Keep up the great blogging and wonderful work .

–Tara

What? Something that isn’t green?

I feel like we’ve been a bit heavy on the green around here lately, so here’s something to mix it up — our cute Floral Whimsy design in a combination of wine and antique gold for Jennifer and Geoffrey’s September wedding in New Jersey.  These two are adorable together, so their invitations had to match!

The Feel Script typeface Jennifer fell in love with goes perfectly with this design.  Brigitte did her usual calligraphy magic by matching the typeface perfectly when she addressed the accompanying envelopes in a great purply-wine gouache.  Of course, I have no picture.  I promise I will start taking pictures of the calligraphy she does — it is to-die-for!

These two love cupcakes, so the cake above was actually designed by Pink Cake Box to look like 3 large cupcakes on top of each other.  The ruffles represent cupcake wrappers, and are made from glistening fondant with a tiny little dotted swirl pattern, à la the invitations.  How cute is that?!

My favorite thing about this wedding is pictured below: the seating “cards” Jennifer made for each guest.  The rocks are something you can buy in any craft-type store, and she simply used a metallic Sharpie to label them with each guest’s name and table assignment.  Definitely labor-intensive, but what a great visual impact for minimal cost.

Jennifer and Geoff — thank you so much for sharing all these with us.  It was a pleasure working with you, and I wish you all the best in your new house!  Wedding photos courtesy of Patten Photography (New Jersey).

–Tara

pick a flower, any flower

I love this project because of its simplicity (and the fact that it is purple — one of my favorite colors).  As you can see from the photos below, the iris played a big role in Tracey and Ben’s June wedding.  Tracey loved the vintage iris illustration in our ornament collection, and so we set about creating a pretty purple invitation with prominent florals bleeding off the edges.  This 1-color design was printed in violet ink, paired with violet envelopes, and done on 100% handmade, recycled Porridge Paper.

The Porridge Paper is so fun to use!  It has such an organic, oatmealy texture.  This project was done in their standard eggshell color, but they have quite a few different colors available, with cool names like Guacamole, Bad Taste, Coffee and Burque Dirt.  Many have prominent flecks, threads and other inclusions, creating a really interesting of-the-earth kind of look.

If violet or irises are not your cup of tea, the flower could easily be changed to any of those in our Ornament Collection, and printed in any color you like:

Thanks so much, Tracey and Ben, and also to Rebecca Ferrier Photography (of New Jersey) for sharing the wedding day photos with us.  It looks like it was such a peaceful and beautiful day!

–Tara

It’s a rainbow of fruit flavors…

When I was 10 years old, my three favorite colors were purple, blue and pink (in that order).  I remember actually telling my mother this on several occasions, as if she should care.  (Thanks mom!)  Anyway, when Lu Lu linked me to the photos from her June wedding, my jaw just dropped!  How did she do that?!  She took my childhood favorites and created the most beautiful and vibrant color palette I have ever seen for a wedding:

Lu Lu and Charles’ palette was inspired by Monet’s Waterlilies, and that gave me a pretty cool idea for their invitations.  With my newer Vandercook press, I can blend two colors together.  If you look closely at the main flourish on the invitation card, and at the “Lu Lu and Charles” from the thank you card, you can see that the ink blends from blue to purple.  It was so fun to experiment with this technique, and I can’t wait to do it again.

Sadly, I don’t have a photo of the calligraphy .  Brigitte did another amazing job  — a gorgeous deep lilac colored gouache that looked stunning against the shimmery aquamarine envelopes.  I really did not want to send those puppies off, but what was I going to do with all those envelopes?  (Hoard.)

This blending technique even gave way to the cake design, which you can see above — it morphs from deep purple on the bottom tier to just the palest hint of lavender at the top.

Thank you so much, Lu Lu and Charles, for your business, and for sharing your spectacular day with us!  It’s always so lovely to see how it all came together, especially in this case.  A very special thanks also to the way-talented Leigh Miller of Leigh Miller Photography for sharing these photos with us.

All the best!

–Tara