Golden Autumn Leaves Invitation Design

 

One of the best things I ever did was to join an online group consisting entirely of stationery business owners. Working from home by myself can be very isolating at times {E doesn't have any appreciation for fine papers except to try and eat them} and the inspiration and support I receive from the wonderful community on Let's Talk Stationery is priceless.

In fact I think that whatever your passion or profession is it is a good idea to see if there is an online forum dedicated to that particular activity. It is amazing to me what kind of forums there are out there on the world wide web- my husband belongs to one that is specifically for owners of his particular make and model of car. Yes, he is a geek- probably why we are perfect for each other :-)

Anyway, I digress - recently a fellow member of LTS suggested a monthly design challenge where we are given certain perameters to design around and at the end of the month everyone posts photos of their creations. I love that kind of thing so I was super excited to complete our first challenge- like three weeks ago. I am a little bit of an overachiever if you haven't guessed that yet.

 

This months design challenge was to use leaves and the color gold. Fall being in full swing for the month of October there was tons of inspiration all around me. I happened to have some beautiful bronze metallic cardstock from Envelopments laying around and I decided to give it an organic feel with a kraft paper envelope. Some super shiny vellum became an envelope liner and a simple illustration of delicately layered fall leaves completed my vision.

I am pretty excited with how it all turned out and can't wait for next months challenge! Oh, and in case you are wondering, this design will definitely be making it's way into my Signature collection soon.

First Birthday | Teddy Bear Picnic

 

The Teddy Bear Picnic invitation is now part of my Signature line!

Well this post has been a little delayed in the making- funny how life has a way of speeding up just as things are getting good! We celebrated Eli's first birthday back in September and I wanted to share these pics of all the goodies I put together.

During his first year I tried my darndest to have a mini photoshoot every month, including these adorable shots of E with his giant teddy bear. I love the idea of watching him change in size with the ever constant bear in the background. Of course the older he got the less he wanted to sit still for the shots, but I managed to get 10 out of 12 months!

The cupcake toppers- we had chocolate devils food and apple spice cupcakes- yum!

 
I knew I wanted to incorporate the photos into his party and thus the idea of a Teddy Bear Picnic themed party was born. I lucked out and it was a beautiful, sunny and warm weekend - perfect for having a picnic in the backyard. I gathered up all of the quilts and blankets I could find and made sure to instruct guests to bring their teddy bears to the party.

 

Yummy Ham, Cheddar and Apple sandwiches and my favorite pic of Eli from the day.

With a limited budget I found the picnic idea to be perfect for easy to make and easy on the wallet food choices. I whipped up a couple of tasty sandwich options on mini rolls and made a homemade pasta salad the night before. Paired with some bags of goldfish crackers (E's favorite), apples and cupcakes for dessert it made a perfect casual lunch.

 

For the kiddies I just put out juice boxes which were easy for them to carry around outside. But for the adults I mixed up some Papa and Mama Bear Juice, being careful to label it such so no one was confused which juice was for whom. For favors I took a pinwheel and attached it to a bottle of bubbles which I labeled with custom stickers that went along with the theme.

 

I made this banner following this tutorial from the Moda Bake Shop

A few years ago I made a homemade Happy Birthday banner for my nephew and its blue, white and red color scheme went perfectly with E's party too! I got some red gingham fabric at Walmart and put it over a plain white tablecloth for the buffet table. And of course, as I mentioned in a previous post, I had my super awesome cupcake stand from All Custom Gifts on Etsy.

 

Gah! Can you believe how cute those plaid pants are!?

And of course I had to create a little wall display for the teddy bear pics chronicling E's growth over the year. It was a wonderful day and even though E looked at us like we were crazy when we sang him Happy Birthday I think he had a pretty good time, too.

Check out E's party recap on Catch My Party too!

Real Weddings | Amanda & Reid

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending my friends Amanda and Reid's wedding in Cornelius, North Carolina. It also was my first weekend away without a tiny toddler in tow. Bliss is pretty much the perfect word to describe both events.

Reid and Amanda moved up to Burlington, Vermont a few years ago but shortly after becoming engaged, they decided to head back to their home state of North Carolina. We were sad to see them go but excited for the excuse to travel down south for their nuptials. While there for our whirlwind weekend we were more than happy to take advantage of the (much) warmer weather and the amazing authentic Mexican food that Reid and Amanda were constantly pining for in the Green Mountain State.

Their wedding was beautiful and many of the details were DIY'd by the bride and groom and their friends and families. The ceremony itself took place in Jettison Park in a peaceful clearing of trees called The Formal Garden. I loved the chalkboard signs that were handwritten directing guests on their way. They played a theme throughout the wedding day. I especially liked the idea of the chalkboard sign detailing the wedding party, propped against a wooden chair with a bouquet of flowers casually laying on it's seat.

A delicate arbor was constructed from branches, potted flowers and a lovely crocheted lace throw. It's ivory color against the woodsy backdrop gave the setting a vintage, old-world feel. We all gathered in friendly clusters around the arbor, something I had never encountered at a wedding before, which gave it a homey, informal feel. Everything from the color of the bridesmaid's dresses to the soft guitar accompaniment created an earthy, bohemian feel to the event.

That earthy, bohemain feel carried over to the reception, which took place at the home of the Groom's parents. Right on the shore of Lake Norman, the setting could not have been any prettier. We arrived right at sunset, just in time for me to snap some shots of the view and table settings. Each table had a cluster of glass jars containing flowers that the Bride and her Aunt purchased at the flower market in Charlotte the day before. Heirloom crocheted throws warmed up the standard white linen tablecloths and echoed the feel of the arbor from the ceremony.

 

When Amanda asked me to design her wedding invitations she had a clear vision of what she wanted. She knew that the reception would have charming cafe lights strung under the tent and so she wanted to play up that element in the design. I loved the warm glow that the cafe lights lent to the reception- it is definitely becoming a popular choice for adding charm and an old-world feel.

The reception was labeled 'heavy hors d'oeuvres and lawn party' so there were lots of tasty treats for guest's to help themselves to, in addition to some passed goodies. The chalkboard signs came in to play with the different tables set-up for self service. I loved the row of drink dispensers, each with it's own sign telling you what it contained. Of course there was the southern favorites of 'Sweet Tea' and 'Lemonade'. The cupcakes were almost too lovely to eat. I said 'almost' :-)

Overall the wedding was simple and elegant, charming and casual, filled with warmth and sentiment. The perfect beginning for Reid and Amanda's new life together.

Summer Flies By

Ice Cream Social Birthday Party Invite

It seems like just yesterday Spring was just starting to unravel it's fragile fingers and then suddenly August was halfway over. Time seems to fly by fast each year and this Summer went in record time. Now all I see on TV are ads for Back To School sales and previews for this Falls new sitcoms.

Summer is Wedding Season and this was by far my best yet. Of course I contribute a lot of that to the fact that I was working at building my business full-time and devoting all of my spare moments to designing, marketing, printing, cutting...etc. I learned a lot, my business grew and I am finally feeling settled into this new routine.

There is still a lot to do and finding the time proves harder than 'before baby', but I wouldn't change a thing. I recently designed the invitations for Eli's 1st birthday party, a mere month away. I am in shock that it came so soon and yet it seems like light years ago that I was pregnant, waddling around my house hoping and wishing that today would be the day our little boy would make his appearance. Now he is close to walking, eats spaghetti and is obsessed with climbing stairs. I was warned and yet so unprepared!

Balloon and Banner Birthday Invitation

Planning his birthday party has sparked a few new invitation designs which I am happy to add to my Baby and Kids section. I am hoping this is just the beginning of many children themed stationery items I will add to my shop in the coming months. Now that I hired a dear friend to help me with the website re-design I am feeling more confident (and less stressed!) that it will get done sometime this year.

Oh, hello there!

Despite my lack of blogging lately, I am indeed still here. Not only am I here, I am officially working my butt off. I figured being a work-at-home-mom would be a big job, but I never figured on working harder than I ever have in my whole life. And yet, I love every single moment of it!

Each day whizzes by and each morning comes too soon. Some days it is a struggle to get down to my office and do much more than stay barely on top of the projects I have already. Then there is the occasional afternoon where inspiration strikes just right and I manage to whip up a few more designs for the Etsy shop.

My goal was to have 50 things for sale in my Etsy store, and I am excited to say that as of today I have a total of 60! Now I have the goal of going through and getting rid of some old designs that no one seems interested in and reviving others. Gotta keep it fresh!

Here is a sampling of some of the new stuff in the Truly Noted shop.

This Tree On A Hill design reminds me of the view out my front door. Majestic, yet somehow soft looking mountains on the horizon and a lush tree that makes you feel like there is a breeze even if there isn't one. The colors I picked are some of my favorites, but I think this would look dynamite in a few other Summer and Fall color combos as well.

I have done a few skyline invitations in the past and have wanted to add a line of them to my shop for a while. This is the first in a series of simple and classy cityscape designs I hope to introduce over the next month or so. I love the idea of a wedding in the big city, with the bustle and the grand buildings adding to the excitement and buzz in the air! Boston is a city I have visited many times and the old-fashioned banner illustration seems to fit the feeling there.

I have also been trying to add more Baby Shower invitations to the mix. Wedding season has been so busy that this area of my shop sort of sat on the back burner for a few weeks. But I want to really try and pump up this portion of the shop, as well as start adding in birthday party invitations to the mix. I just finished a few new baby shower designs and this Red Umbrella design is my favorite! I love umbrellas and I love the bright red and navy combination. It's modern and sweet with just a touch of humor. I think this design would also work for a bridal shower as well!

So that is what I have been up to the last few weeks. Hopefully I will have time to post some more new designs soon! Or you can just check out the shop. ;-)

Cristina & Jeffrey | Invitation Booklets

Things have been pretty busy over here in the studio. I have been working hard at finding new ways to connect with customers and re-evaluating where I spend my advertising dollars. It has been exciting and rewarding, and hopefully it will be producing real results soon!

One of my bigger project over the last couple of weeks are these beautiful booklet invitations I did for a charming Maine couple, Cristina and Jeffrey. They were married in a traditional ceremony in Scotland, in the ruins of Jeffrey's ancient Scottish clan's castle. How romantic! Now they are having a celebration in the states for their family and friends.

To fill everyone in on their Scottish nuptials and all the other details, they opted for a five page booklet, bound by brass eyelets. The pages are staggered so you can see the title indicating what you can find on each page. And the last page is a tear-out RSVP post card.

They were very fun to put design and put together! I even got to buy a fun new tool since they are the first booklet style invitation I have created. Looking forward to making more of these beauties in the future.

Let It Snow!

***Time is running out to enter the giveaway for 2 FREE TICKETS to the VT Vows Wedding Affair this Saturday! So enter now!***



I just finished working on a new snowflake design! It occurred to me that I didn't have anything very wintery available in my shop yet, so I set out to create something elegant and classy.



Looking around it seemed like most winter themed invitations were red and black, dark, rich colors with a heavy, almost depressing sort of feel to them. But (and maybe this is because I grew up in the Northeast) Winter is something different to me. It is fun and magical- light and airy. Where every branch is encased in glassy ice that makes the whole world sparkle in the morning sun.



Something whimsical and fun was what I had in mind and I am very happy with the results! Now available in my Etsy store.

Fall Wedding Details

Many months ago I got to create some Engagement Party Invites for Jenn and Jason, so I was thrilled when Jenn contacted me recently to do her wedding elements. Above is a sweet sign (ha! pun was so intended) for the candy bar.


Here is the menu, which sounded delicious bytheway. It's hard to tell, but around most of the signs and the menus was a great textured paper that looked like the bark of a tree.


A fun sign for the apple cider and donut pre-ceremony gathering.



The programs were one of my favorite projects that I put together for Jenn. A rich chocolate background with white reverse type, then rolled and tied with satin ribbon in a cranberry red.

Tom & KK

I just finished these gorgeous Wedding Announcements for Tom & KK. They got married in a small ceremony on Prince Edward Island and wanted something to send to all of their friends and family. The text is printed on vellum overlayed over their picture and secured with dupioni silk ribbon.


I love the bag piper in the background. So lovely.


One of my favorite Robert Frost poems. Love the fringe on the ribbon.

A Little More Progress

New design just posted over on Etsy. So far so good on my goal of two new designs a week! Got a couple more done today, plus had a bunch of good brainstorms on more. I need to put together a couple of complete suites to showcase at the show next month- this one is looking like it might make the cut.

New Design and Random Thoughts

Just posted this beauty up on the Etsy shop. Very summery and refreshing looking. Makes me want a nice tall glass of lemonade.

Whew! I feel like I have been on a roll for the last couple of days. For the month of June and half of July I felt like I was in a little bit of a funk- couldn't really motivate myself to do anything and just feeling a little down about things. I guess everyone goes through that once in a while, but I sure am glad to be getting out of it!

All of the sudden I feel like being productive and getting stuff done! Clean the office, get those designs out of my head and onto the computer, then onto paper, and then on to Etsy! Return some phone calls, emails and attend to all that paperwork piled up on my desk. It sure feels good.

I also have been doing some research on doing a bridal show that is going on in ONE MONTH! I just heard about it and for kicks asked if there was any space open still. The idea of doing some shows has been in the back of my mind lately as a good way to get my name out there locally. Well I didn't think it would happen quite so fast! I don't really have a table, or a banner, or anything really set up to go to a show, and its cares the crap out of me, but I really think I should do it!

Nothing better than just throwing yourself out there, right?

Folk Art Wedding Invitation

Just posted a new invite on my Etsy shop. This one is inspired by folk art and is a little different than your traditional invite. I am pretty much in love with it!

Oh Baby!

Here is a little peak of what I have been working on lately. One of my friends recently gave birth to this bundle of joy and asked if I would do her birth announcements. I was thrilled! Especially since I have been wanting to branch out into doing stuff that is not wedding related.


These are just a few of the mock-ups I sent her. Ruby has an 'Under The Sea' nursery theme so I tried to incorporate that into some of the designs.


I can't wait to get them up on my Etsy store! Eventually I would love to do birthday invitations too. I need to work on some more Baby Shower invite designs too. So many ideas and so little time!

New Items!

I was a total slacker about my Etsy store during the month of June- what with a vacation, a wedding, and a very important one year birthday party. So I am determined to get some new stuff up there during this month. I really need to get cracking on this thing if it is going to get anywhere, that I am well aware of....


So this week I managed to put up some new custom address labels! So far I have two designs up there, but I have lots more waiting in the wings. (Been trying to spread out posting the new stuff so I have something new every day or so.)


These are really simple but make a nice clean and crisp alternative to just scribbling the address onto the front of the envelope. I especially love the wrap around feature, so that the return address is on the back. I can even print these on paper that matches the envelope so that it blends in, or on a contrasting color so it sticks out- the choices are endless!


I am also working on some birth announcement and baby shower invite designs that I am really excited about! Hopefully I can share next week!

Hey, wanna see the invitation?

I thought you all might be interested in seeing the invitation I designed for the Thai wedding I went to this weekend! Cus, you know, that's why I'm here- ha!



It was a very simple, elegant flat invitation with multiple layers of off white and pyrite cardstock. There is a layer of patterned cardstock in there too to break up the solid colors.



It went rather nicely with the whole ambiance of the wedding since the reception hall was done in all white- white table cloths, white orchids, white candles hanging from silver trees, and an arbor done up in white roses.

Simple and gorgeous.

Everything's Peachy

A while ago I was asked by VT Vows for a 'Peach' themed invitation for a photo shoot they were doing. I didn't have one in my repertoire but I wasn't about to pass the opportunity up so I quickly created a beautiful metallic pocket-fold with RSVP and Direction/Accomodation card.


I love the way it came out so much I wish it was really for someone's wedding! My favorite part is the vellum band around the outside that has the same pattern as the paper on the background inside. It's those little touches that inspire me the most. Creating a 'fake' invitation was really fun and allowed me to go a little crazy since it was just for a small amount and cost was not a problem.

{Oh, and in case you are wondering, I used the names of a couple of friends of mine- shhhh}

The new issue of VT Vows should be on newsstands any day now and I can't wait to get my hands on it!