spring 2014 stationery

With the heat wave this week, I have to admit; I've got floral fever. I'm ready for lots of fresh wildflower bouquets on the kitchen table, and tiny crocuses poking out along our front walk any day now. I'm going full force with the bright colors, and I aim to not stop until fall. Who's with me?!

I printed a handful of new stationery designs for the Boutique Bridal Party a few weeks back, and I'm hoping to get them in the shop by the end of the week (maybe wednesday night, as 10 more inches of snow pummel Rochester).  After this next storm, I'm sure everyone will be in the market for some thank you's!

crazy love

There is a soft spot in my heart for Van Morrison when it comes to weddings. Michael and I had our first dance to a Van Morrison song, and when it comes right down to it, I'm just a fan. This was special request for a custom 'crazy love' calligraphy piece for a wedding card. And you know what? I dig it. That lone dusty miller leaf makes MY heart beat! I'm beginning to prefer gray ink over black ink lately, too. Anyone else with me on that one?

card sale!

Trying to clear out of some cards from past years to help inspire new designs and hopefully increase production. Head over to my sale page to catch some bargain cards - maybe you'll even snag some of the remaining valentines!

brides & babies

Well look at me. Getting all fancy with my matching coffee, twine, & binder; and my table, specifically cleaned off for my first bridal consultation of the year! wooo weee!  I'm excited because my calendar for January and February is quickly filling up with new weddings, and it's a nice mix of different colors, themes, and responsibilities.  I like to alternate between envelope calligraphy jobs and custom invitations to give my hand a break or test out some new design ideas.

This calligraphy piece is heading to the nursery of a cute little girl, of this super awesome bride, and is meant to coordinate with a most beautiful rug from Anthropologie. It's one of my more colorful pieces to date, and I'm thinking it will look pretty darn magnificent to a child's eyes!

And finally, the thank you notes that we sent out for Liam's 1st birthday. That boy makes me melt!

to our son, who is one!

Honestly, I just can't believe it's 2013. Really, truly. I spent all new year's eve thinking about where I was one year ago on that day: at home with michael, my parents & brothers, playing board games, counting minutes & contractions, and walking many laps around our kitchen. Who knew (we did. or at least hoped) that half a day later we would be snuggling our new son, and knowing in that moment that nothing else would ever steal our hearts away from that little boy.

Happy 1st birthday to you, Liam! You have made our hearts so full of joy, our lives so richly blessed, and our house just a little bit cuter.

you're so kind!

New lino-cut thank you notes with kraft paper envelopes from last week's show.  Although I really love carving stamps by hand, I currently prefer printing them with ink pads rather than block printing ink.  Who knows, I may return to the traditional way if i decide to use a light ink on darker paper (and have room to spare on the floor while they dry), but for now this is oh so convenient. Oh, the beauty of being able to change my mind! I'm hoping to get them up in my etsy shop for the new year, along with a selection of sale cards from past seasons. Everyone loves a good deal, am I right?

And some photos from the RIT winter show last week.

A tiny original painting from last year that I finally framed.

RIT winter craft sale 2012

I've been busy with last minute holiday card preparations for the annual RIT winter craft sale.  This will be the only craft show I am doing this holiday season, featuring several new holiday designs and thank you's, along with some clearance cards from past years.  I am also proud to announce that I will be able to accept credit cards this year. I'm making it easy! So stop by the SAU lobby & Fireside Lounge on Friday, December 14 from 10-4pm for a jolly good time supporting fellow RIT staff and alumni!

it's free shipping time, friends!

I know I've said this before, but I quite dislike venturing out for holiday shopping. Too many people in a hurry.  Too much time wasted, thinking the perfect items are going to jump out at me as obvious gifts for people I love.  Sometimes it happens so easily like that. It does. But more often I come home after having carried something around the store for far too long, only to put it back on the shelf and leave.  I have to admit, for the last few years I've been taking a more comfortable route; sitting at my computer in my sweatpants with a mug of coffee, clicking on the shopping cart icon, and waiting for my presents to show up on the doorstep.  As an added bonus- it's so much easier to enjoy the snow when I don't have to scrape off my car and drive through it. Liam agrees with me. So here's my gift to you, friends: free shipping on anything from my etsy shop until the new year- weee! Ornaments, cards, prints, gift sets, pure joy. Go on and find something for someone (or for yourself)!

little kid parties (get it?)

Alright, I need to say this:  I have the coolest clients.  When I received a request for a custom sound of music/alpine/heidi party invitation, I couldn't say 'heck yes' fast enough. I think we reached a nice balance of having  an obvious theme, but not being completely over the top.  I am totally in love with that goat & I think I got some nice colors going on in the background watercolor, too.

a very blessed weekend

Some photos from Liam's baptism and brunch last weekend. We had a beautiful day filled with loving family and thoughtful friends. All the details came together just as I'd hoped, and we ended the evening at a hot air balloon launch at Letchworth State Park. Even though they didn't fly across the gorge, it was pretty awesome to get a shot with them in the background since I had one on the invitations.  How cool was that?! We are so very lucky.

celebrating love

One of my newest wedding calligraphy jobs: navy ink on square envelopes. Love how classic these turned out! I am so unbelievably excited to see this invitation suite- the bride is featuring my calligraphy on the invite & enclosure cards alongside her bridesmaid's hydrangea pattern designed pocketfold.  I'll be sharing more photos of the ensemble after their big day.

Made this little gold doily for my parents' 30th wedding anniversary. Kudos to those two love birds for finding the secret to staying happily together for so long- they just create fun times!

Calligraphy for my talented friend Meredith's wedding, and a special envelope for the lovely bride herself.

A tea party bridal shower invite. Trying to mix things up a bit with some asymmetrically punched corners!

I'm really really pumped about etsy starting a wedding registry! I've been hoping to make some more printable invitations for my shop, and anticipate a large number of brides visiting etsy with this new feature. Getting married?  Go check it out and register for some awesome handmade items for your home!

comfort food power for chevron trees

Is there anything better than working in the studio with a bowl of tomato soup in front of you?  I would argue that there is not! And oyster crackers to top it off! mmmmm

These chevroned tree ornaments are getting packaged up for Saturday's show at Mercy HS. I'm hoping that they are popular grab and gift items, being paired with a handcrafted holiday card. We'll see!  Many more preparations to wrap up by this weekend.

additions to houses & families

Gosh. It's been almost a month since my last post.  We have been very busy making our new house our home, and I've also had a few projects on the back burner since my paints were buried.  I am looking forward to sharing those soon(ish). For now, here is the end result of this summer's buffet renovation. The white was actually quite simple, since the piece had such great detailing to begin with.  I love the inlaid stars on the drawer, and we ended up keeping the old hardware so that they weren't covered up.

This is another baby shower invitation that I recently made.  I am pretty happy with the lacy look of the inner envelopes. It folded in around the actual card, and felt appropriately sweet for a little baby girl.  I also used my custom logo stamp on the luxe blush envelopes, which ended up being a pretty subtle way to go about branding.

changing season creations

I am loving this weather!  It's always so refreshing to be comfortable in jeans and a tshirt or sweatshirt outside, and it's perfect for furniture refinishing.  This piece we came across at our favorite church flea market, which I mentioned a few posts back. We had been on the hunt for a buffet, and this happens to match in a quite extraordinary way to the china cabinet that we got from the salvation army a few years ago.  Can't wait to give this a good sand and polish it up!  We are planning on white for the top and sides, and sanding down to the natural wood grain for the front.  I'll post progress photos as we get working on it.

The most recent invitation that I've done, for my lovely cousin Molly.  She is accenting a very classic black and white wedding with tiffany blue and an eggplant purple, which I think will be so elegant. I loved the different elements here, especially my new baker's twine & metallic teal ink envelope calligraphy!

This is a sneak peak to something that I'm working on for my fall and holiday shows.  I've been making felt ornaments for a few years now, and thought this year that I'd create designs to coordinate with some of my more popular prints.  I plan on selling them as a packaged set, with some sort of gift wrapping. I will post more of the combinations next week.

Still keeping up with tiny little baby creations.  This one was knit from a (free!) pattern on the lion brand yarn site. I attempted making this after being inspired by the adorable blabla knit stuffed animals.

summer somethings

Is there anything more beautiful than the end of summer sunsets?  This one from the weekend made me want to slow down time and sit in that moment forever.  So much calm and peace.

Now and then it's nice to know if  someone is expecting a boy or a girl, especially when you have the opportunity to make the baby shower invitations.  Of course, I was then able to go overboard with the pinks, ginghams, and plaids, scalloped edges, flowers and hearts.  Plus, I just love onesie graphics- darling!

I think this is such a unique choice for a wedding song, and I had a fun time working on a design for this custom piece.  The bouquets were going to have sunflowers, with accent colors of eggplant and green.

the joys of summer

Hello, all!  It's been an absolutely crazy few weeks, between moving back to Rochester and several recent freelance jobs.  I'm happy about the recent pace of things, and hope that this busy-ness continues for a bit! Firstly, Hearts & Crafts is rapidly approaching again!  I'll be doing my best to create some new pieces for this show (assuming I can find where my box of essential supplies and paint is hiding).  I'll have a table on the second day- so excited to be in the same show with Cecelia again.  :)  Do come visit.

The last wedding calligraphy gig that I finished was a blast!  I got to try my hand at reproducing the 'engravers' font to match the bride's Paper Source invites- something that took me 3 pens for each envelope to manage. I am really happy with the way that they turned out, though they still have that 'consistent inconsistency' to them. Seriously, how awesome are Waste Not Paper envelopes?  WAY pumped to get started on their 'night' color envelopes with my white ink for this week's etsy gig!

Finished the most adorable baby shower invitations for my cousin today, using a template found in this post on the wren handmade blog.  It was adapted slightly to fit some blue envelopes I had here.

Lastly, a look at the progression of my baby granny square blanket. My new love: gray for nurseries!

opening the 2011 door

Just ordered new boxes to package up some stationary sets for the Hearts and Crafts show on February 6th.  I'm pleased with how official they look!  The set itself has one card of each of 8 calligraphy pieces I've done recently.  I plan on doing a set of birthday cards as well.

This is a tiny 5x7" painting that I did of a door.  I'd love for this to turn into a series.  Front doors have so much character! I have a lot of reference from a walk I took in Boston a few years back that I may have to revisit.

Quick self portrait from the end of 2010-  Hoping 2011 greets everyone with more inspiration and creative energy!

progression of a snowed in day off

Today was a blessing in that I had the option of going out in the cold, or staying parked in the driveway.  Of course, I stayed in and had quite a productive day.  I had a set of birthday cards and thank you notes to finish for a custom order, which were fun to do.  Half were original watercolor illustrations, and the thank you notes were printed from a hand cut lino block.

I haven't been overly happy with the last bunch of blocks I bought.  They seem dry, and with the compressed wood on the back, don't print well. Last week I thought I'd test out one of my old illustration concepts with the Speedball Speedy-Curve blocks.  I'm already much more satisfied, just after the first 10 prints.  I plan to sell them in February at the Hearts and Crafts show at Java's on Gibbs St.  The word bubble will read "you're steamy".

welcome back, december

Oh how I've missed you, happy christmas decorations, snowy trees, and frenzied gift making!

invitations of fall

Over the last two weeks or so, I've been working on fall wedding invitations. This first one is a bridal shower invite for my cousin's fiance. Her bouquet is going to have sunflowers in it! So pretty! The center of the flowers are hand-cut from a vintage fabric I had sitting around. A charming detail, I thought.

This invitation and rsvp design is from a recent custom order. The bride wanted it to feel very earthy and woodsy. She is printing them herself on a kraft paper colored card, which will be lovely!

And, the RSVP card.