Pretty. Purple. Swirly.

Pretty purple swirlies have become very popular. I know why - they're beautiful!

Michelle and Tim are more friends from Truman. Michelle and I were bridesmaids together in Joanna's wedding (another purple girl!) and I remember her talking about her future with Tim. A couple years have passed, and Michelle's back in STL, and she and Tim are MARRIED, and Joanna and Adam brought their baby to the wedding! So crazy.

Another Michele! (but with only one "L"). Michele and Matthew found me through the longest chain of referrals I've had so far. Here it is: Chelsea Brandel-Harrison is one of my best friends from college. Her sister Erica Brandel-Bruns lived with Megan Buechter-Marty, whose invitations I did. Laura Fretschel-Stavas found me through Megan. Danae Koopman-Eitzmann found me through Laura. And Michele found me through Danae! And Michele is from St. Louis! None of the others are... so it's funny that the chain made it all the way back here. Like all the others, I've loved getting to know Michele as well. I got to meet with Michele and her mom twice last week, and they're just wonderful! Michele had the idea to do purple on white for the invitations, and the reverse for the enclosure cards. I LOVE how they turned out!

Thanks ladies! I love your style!

Fun designs

I love designing invitations. One of my favorite parts about it is that I get to work with all different types of brides. Some brides want swirls, elegant lines, ribbons, or fancy papers. And some have really fun ideas in mind that go along with their wedding themes. I've recently done a few really unique designs that I want to share! [I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures... I was in a hurry to get some before I left town and my camera is having issues!]

Lauren and Lee wanted dragonflies for their fall wedding. We used kraft paper for the backing.

 

Melissa and Rob wanted hibiscus flowers for their Hawaiian theme. 

Ashley is another friend from Cardinal Key at Truman! She and Tyler had a really cute idea for a tree with their initials "carved" inside a heart on the tree trunk. Adorable!

I have a few more really unique ones that I didn't get pictures of yet. But I spread them out on my coffee table so I'll have to take pictures when I get home :)

Jordyn & Mitchell: invitations and lined envelopes

Jordyn and Mitchell found me through Erica. They had an idea in mind for the invitations, and when I met with Mitchell's mom, she mentioned wanting lined envelopes as well. She had found a fabric she really liked and wanted something like that printed on the liners. She sent me a picture of the fabric, and I was able to print a pattern that looked very much like her fabric. In the past, I have stayed away from lined envelopes. But I think these turned out so beautifully and made the invitations more elegant... I think I'll be recommending them now! They really don't require a lot of extra assembly either. Worth it!

I love the contrast of the simple invitations with the ornate lined envelopes. The invitations are printed on textured paper.

I've been busy!

So I've lost count of how many weddings I'm working on this year. I have a cute little ribbon clothesline in my room with a card for each wedding... but somehow I still can't keep track. The number is more than 15 now though! CRAZY! With the school year coming to a close and the spring weddings in full swing, my blog has been completely neglected. I have pictures of some great stuff though... hopefully I'll get a chance to post in the next couple weeks. The paper and envelopes have completely overtaken my house though. I definitely need a crafting/designing room for this "little" business I've got going. Someday!
Here's what my coffee table looked like a month ago:

:)

Megan & Mike: Rock & Roll wedding

I'm on spring break, so of course I have to use the opportunity to do a little blogging! I worked with Megan and Mike at Spanky's Frozen Custard for several years. We always had a great time together! Megan started talking with me last summer about doing invitations for their "Rock & Roll" themed wedding. She said they were having a hard time finding invitations that fit. I was nervous and excited to try something totally new! We ended up including Sailor Jerry swallows and tattoo-type fonts. I was happy with how they turned out :)

Thanks you two! I had so much fun with this!

Ashley & Daniel: invitations

Here's another client referred to me by Erica at Bella Sera Wedding Designs. I always love working with Erica! 

We used kraft paper and black ribbon to create a kind of folder around the invitation that held the enclosures in place. These were really unique!

Thanks again Erica!

Ali & Josh: invitations [finally]

Today as I was taking photos of some of my more recent designs, I realized I STILL never posted Ali and Josh's invitations. Obviously it's LONG overdue; I've posted their baby announcements months ago, and that little boy is turning 1 next month! Still, these invitations are some of my favorites and I wanted to post them! 

Ali and Josh met at Champagne Jewelers, where Ali worked. That's also where he proposed :) 

So, champagne was a natural and beautiful choice for a theme! 

Just like champagne, everything was sparkly and bubbly :)

 

I got to design a map for them! I was pretty happy with how it turned out :)

We also did coordinating programs.

They chose to include the story of how they met inside the program, which I think is adorable! I just love their story too :)

I love you Ali and Josh! (and baby Aidan of course!) It was an honor to be your "reader/stationer/calligrapher."

Ellen & Daniel: invitations & programs

Since I've been off school for THREE days in a row now, I decided to take a break from hanging out with friends, designing, emailing, facebooking, cleaning, laying around, crafting, and all the other random things I've been doing and finally update the blog!

We'll start with Ellen and Daniel. Ellen is the daughter of our school nurse, and working with her was delightful! Everything was so classy and beautiful. We used a blue Stardream paper for the backing as well as for a band on the back that held the enclosures in place.

These were her programs.

Diana & Mike: invitations

Diana is my sister's best friend... since forever. So, it was fun, and strange to design her invitations. Strange because I still think of her (and Maggie) as little... even though they obviously aren't!

She chose a long style, with a perforated RSVP/directions/reception information card slipped behind the invitation. 

Katie & Aaron: invitations

Katie contacted me this summer (yep it's been that long since I've posted...) about designing her invitations. She had already gotten some invitations elsewhere, but decided she really wanted something different. Her wonderful friend, Heather, recommended me! I'm glad I was able to help her get what she really wanted.

We layered Stardream papers and did a monogrammed band... some of my favorite details.

This is getting silly.

I have not blogged in FOREVER and I have SO MANY weddings to post!

So I'm sitting here, watching the hour-long Office Christmas episode, and have to decide once again whether to grade papers or blog. I guess we can all see which I prefer :)

At this point, it's been so long I don't know where to start! I had a ton of fall weddings, so I think we'll begin there.

Theresa is a friend of mine from Cardinal Key at Truman. Of course I was excited to work with her... and I LOVED her style. Monograms, Stardream paper, swirlies, Tiffany blue and brown... :)

It was so much fun working with you Theresa!

Rachael & Gabe: invitations

Rachael and Gabe got married this past Sunday, so I decided to (finally) post their invitations. They were really fun and kind of whimsical, with some cute love birds and a pretty tree.

For their programs, we did cute little fans... but pictures of those will come later... lovely Lisa Hessel was their photographer :)

Brittany & BT: invitations

Summer is flying by! I say that in present tense, but really it's already over for me :(

I completed a lot of "projects" that I had saved for summer, but one that only got partly finished is catching up on my blog and creating a website. It's just going to have to wait... and I'm going to try to find some time once school starts. 

Anyway, I still have some photos I want to share :)

You've seen some photos of Brittany's programs and save-the-dates; here are the coordinating invitations. She chose to use beautiful stardream paper and swirlies - a combination I always love.

We also got to put a swirly printed band on the back to hold the enclosures in place. Pretty!

Thanks Brittany! It was so fun to work with you :)

Lara & Matt: invitations

I showed Lara's programs here, and these are the beautiful coordinating invitations. Again, she and her mother were a joy to work with!

Shanna & Matt: invitations

Tonight I was faced with a decision that is becoming more and more common for me: grade papers OR blog/design/etc. The blog won again just now; at least it's going to happen first, further postponing entering grades. Part of the reason I chose to blog first though is because I'm so excited to post pictures of Shanna & Matt's invitations. Shanna is a dear friend of mine from Truman. We were suitemates together for a year and we got really close through CCF. Matt and I got to enjoy some business and accounting classes together... what a great time ;) It's been a joy to help them with their invitations. The wedding is fast approaching! How exciting!
We originally started with swirlies... but then Shanna decided she wanted something that looked lacy. So we went with it... and here's what we got! These invitations are so unique and so Shanna. So neat!

Some of the details :)

They are "matchbook" style with multiple pages. The second page is larger than the first so that the bottom page actually looks like blue cardstock. But as you'll see in the following photo... it's not! It's the edge of the directions/RSVP card. This piece is perforated so the RSVP card can be removed and returned.

Love you Shanna!

Paya & Shawn: invitations

Paya was my mentor for my full year of student teaching in Clayton last year. I could not have asked for a better mentor. She is an incredible teacher and we had so much fun. I feel so blessed to have been placed with her; I wouldn't be the teacher I am without the ideas, support, and help she gave me last year. Last February we went on a trip to a reading convention in Arizona. We had a lot of funny, crazy experiences and we came back with a lot of strategies to use in our second-grade classroom. Paya had just started dating Shawn when we went on the trip, and they talked on the phone a lot throughout the trip. I just knew she was falling in love ;)
So... last summer when they got engaged, I was more than excited to help out with the invitations. These two are adorable. We played around with a lot of different flower ideas and weren't finding the perfect thing. I knew that Paya was artsy, so I asked her if she thought she could draw the perfect flower for the design. She drew a few and I was able to scan them in and put them into the design. I LOVE that her art is part of her invitation design.

Thanks so much Paya... for everything!

Megan & Eric: invitations

When Megan emailed me a couple months ago wanting help with some purple swirly invitations, I was totally in :) I can't help but love purple swirlies! She also went with the ruby Stardream paper, which I always love!

Megan was so fun and wonderful to work with! Congratulations!

Crystal & Rex: invitations

Chelsea's sister, Erica Bruns, recently started a wedding planning business (Bella Sera Wedding Designs) with her husband in Columbia, Missouri. It's been a wonderful connection; Erica has referred a couple of her clients to me for their invitations. One of the couples was Crystal and Rex, and we made some beautiful invitations! I did the designs and printing, and shipped them to Erica and Dave, who assembled. When Erica sent me these photos of the finished products, I was so excited! We ended up using really wide purple ribbon and knotting it in the center. I love these. 

I made a monogram with their initials that we put on all of the enclosures as well as the invitation.

Thanks so much Erica! 

Ellen & Jay: invitations & programs

I've mentioned Ellen and Jay several times now; they are so wonderful! I loved designing for their wedding. And congratulations to them - they are expecting a baby! I've posted their save-the-dates, bridal shower, bachelorette party, and wedding video - and finally (!) here are her invitations. Photos by - my favorite - Lisa Hessel.

The "love bird" theme was so cute!

The programs were made like matchbooks, and they had an engagement photo that Lisa took printed on vellum as the cover. The fall colors are so pretty. 

Joanna & Adam

One of my favorite friends, Joanna, married one of my favorite people, Adam, this past summer. Lucky me got to do the invitations, programs, favors, thank-yous - and be a bridesmaid. Being in KC with Jo before the wedding was one of my favorite times of the summer. These two are absolutely adorable and a perfect couple. 
Jo was my first client to do #10 sized invitations, and they turned out beautifully! We mounted them on purple Stardream (metallic) paper. 

We printed the response postcard, reception info, and directions to the church all on the same card. Then we perforated it so guests sent back the reply card and kept the directions and reception info. It's similar to what we did with Anna & Micah's, except the layout is different. They also had guests write in song requests on the reply card, which they then downloaded and put on an ipod that their "DJ" used. I love that idea! 

I had snow days yesterday AND today, so I'm getting caught up on designing and blogging!