{our new years cards}

Ever since we have been married, I started sending out holiday cards (see 2012 here and 2013 here).  It wasn't so much prompted by the fact that we were married, but more so because the first holiday season after we got married was shortly after we moved to Chicago and I conveniently had nice high resolution wedding photos to use.  This year December was insanely busy for us and while I could have still made it time to get out holiday cards to our friends and family before Christmas Eve, I just wasn't that excited by the idea of rushing it.  Plus, I love celebrating the New Years Eve and the fresh start of a brand new year so sending out Happy New Year cards just sounded like a lot more "us."

I usually like to design the invites myself and have them printed locally at my fave printer in DTLA, but as I stated previously time was not my biggest asset this holiday season so I looked to Paperless Post's real paper options since I am obsessed with pretty much every single one of their digital invites.  Obviously I filtered it to only show me the options that came with gold foil...because when gold foil is on the table that's the only option there is. Period.  I toyed around with a few options for photos and since Muji refused to cooperate this year he got cut. (sorry muji!) I loved the way the black and white photo really made the gold foil pop even more so even though my dress was a banging holiday red I choose to lose the style points in favor of artistic points with the crisp B&W filter.

I've always loved those little details that make paper goods special whether it's a kick-ass liner (ahem Palm Leaves #humblebrag) or small enclosure cards like this one from the beer tasting invites I designed (I'm clearly in the mood to be patting myself on the back right now eh?).  In spirit of adding a little something extra to the cards (and also because I had a sweet coupon code!) we decided to add in a little 3" by 5" envelope with a cocktail recipe to ring in the new year!  I went with the extra thick paper on the recipe card and it was truly worth every penny so if you ever end up ordering anything through Paperless Post then...treat yo self!

I think I've discussed our holiday cards in way more detail than is truly necessary so I'll stop here and let ya check em out below including some awesome outtakes that landed on the virtual cutting room floor.

Happy New Year!

{this little envelope just kills me. in a good way.}

 {2015...the year of drinking}

and now...the outtakes...

 {strategically placed gold foil to preserve muji's dignitiy}

 {loved this one so much and was like 2 seconds from ordering it but it was a bit too candid}

{maybe next year muji will decide to be a part of this family}

{our moving announcements + free printable}

When we moved to Chicago I had every intention to send out some fun snail mail moving announcements, but my good intentions got overtaken by the moving process, busy schedules and lots of travel.  I promised myself I would find the time to get some simple address change announcements out to our friends and family this time around.  Inspired my obsession with palm prints (evidence here & here) and wanting another reason to use color seams envelopes, I designed these simple 4 bar sized moving announcements.  I absolutely love how the color palette of stark black and white with pale peach and the punchy palm print work off each other.  I have also removed my personal text and made this simple design available for free download!  Scroll down to the bottom of the post for sources and download links.

SOURCES:

envelopes:  black color seams in 4 bar size
paper: 120lb cardstock uncoated printed at Columbia Printing
liners: DIY using this template kit
fonts:  Sackers Gothic & Engravers MT

Free template downloads for FRONT & BACK.  

{manly beer tasting party invitations + free printables}

Remember this masculine party inspiration for a fun craft beer tasting party that I posted a little while back?  Well today I am back with the invitations to accompany this fun party.  Inspired by some amazing specialty paper from Paper Source that I picked up the other day, I created a simple invitation suite using a neutral color palette of off-white, black and kraft paper.  I used the specialty paper as both a liner for the main envelope and as a handmade envelope for a mini details card.  I kept the rest of the invite straight forward with a bold to the point front to the invite and simple party info on the back.  See more details on assembling these invites below as well as links to download the printables!

Main Invite: Sized in a 6.5" square and printed on off-white 100lb cardstock. Download the front and back of the invites.  To type your own message/details on the back simply drop the jpeg file into Microsoft Word or Adobe Illustrator and type in your party details.  Fonts used are "Bebas" for the words "Beer Tasting" and "Engravers MT" for the words "Come Celebrate."

Main Envelope: I used leftover kraft envelopes from our wedding invites which you can purchase here. Or you can purchase this envelope template kit and make your own from a roll of kraft paper.  The liner is a hand-painted specialty paper from Paper Source- you can find similar ones here, but since this one is brand new it isn't on their site yet.  Use this envelope liner template to cut out the liner.

Details Card:  Download the front and back details card pdfs. These are sized to print 8 to a page.  Print the back first since it has less detail and then flip the paper and print the front side.  I recommend using a paper cutter like this one to cut these out. They are sized 2" by 3"

Details Envelope:  Use the mini envelope template in the this pack to make a custom envelope or buy mini envelopes right here. 

Here are all the download links once more:

Main Invite Front

Main Invite Back

Details Card Front

Details Card Back

{ashlee + stephen's wedding invites}

{adorable save the date photo by www.bvaphoto.com}

I recently got the chance to create Ashlee's & Stephen's wedding invitation suite (you might remember seeing a sneak peek right here).  Ashlee's wedding is taking place in early September and based off our conversations about her vision, I was inspired to create her invite designs based around an idea of a laid back yet glam summer dinner party.  The wedding ceremony and reception will be outdoors at an estate on a golf course in Northern California with touches of black, white, silver & cabana stripes.  I absolutely love how these turned out so I thought I would share them with you today.  And don't forget to go check out Ashlee's blog that she recently started!

{terra's mint+ fuchsia bridal shower invite}

Next weekend, my girlfriend Terra will be having her bridal shower in Southern California.  Her aunts graciously offered to throw her shower, but I couldn't help forcing myself into the paper goods situation by offering to do the invites.  Terra gave me the freedom to do what I wanted with the invites- her only request being that I use some pink since she wont be incorporating the color too much into their upcoming summer wedding. 

Sometimes it is much more difficult to focus in on a design when someone gives you carte blanche rather than being overly specific about they want, but luckily I stumbled upon this fabulous fuchsia zebra paper from Paper Source which served as the inspiration for the entire invite as well as the envelope lining.  

I absolutely love a double sided invite that leaves a little mystery when the guest first pulls out the invite from the envelope so I kept the front of the invite ambiguous with a simple "you're invited" placed upon a minty striped background.  Using the bright fuchsia as the color for all the text, I decided to keep the main information on the back of the invite simple with a fun mix of Luella font and Reina font on a plain white background.   I tied all the colors together by printing the guest's addresses in fuchsia and the host's return address in mint on the envelope flap. 

I am so happy with how these turned out- especially the unexpected zebra paper!  I love that they still feel girly and fun, but really capture a less traditional feel for a bridal shower invite. 

If you are looking for custom paper goods design, you can contact me through my etsy shop to get some pink zebra action for yourself!