saving this.

I am totally thinking of doing a play on this, for, oh I don't know, every event I've got coming up in the near future. SO cute! (First up: cookie exchange!) Image found here.

o. my. fekk.

This is delicious. Honestly. How could I NOT love this?!?! Peonies. Raspberries. Purple. Vintage glassware. This makes me SO excited for summer. Can you smell those warm raspberries yet? Images from Ritzy Bee Blog by Corbin Gurkin Photography.

con man (and woman)

K, seriously? So cute! Image from The Wedding Cabaret by Amelia Lyon.

favoritest invites ever

Absolutely not exaggerating. How much do I wish I had thought of this?!?! And though they went with a very "rustic" look, this could easily be reinterpreted as more modern, or classic, or vintage (maybe modeled after a favorite tea cup and saucer??), etc. ps. meant to post about this ages ago, but I've been crazy swamped lately. I'll definitely try to catch up on some blogging today (especially since I'm too sick to really do anything else :( ) Image from Design*Sponge by Lauren Venell.

other people's weddings: Allison & Mark

Wow! How cute and awesome are these details from the wedding of Allison & Mark, featured over at Oh So Beautiful Paper? Normally I stay away from "citrusy" palettes, considering my near hatred of yellow (oh, and the smell of oranges makes me nauseous. Yes. I know. I'm weird.) but this is SO cute, and SO (God I hate this word, but still) fresh, that I just can't help myself! I think my favorite part is that, other than the colour scheme, none of it was planned... from the bride:

"We didn’t start out with a theme or an idea, and because each piece was done at different time during our planning the variety became part of the charm and the colors and hand-lettering tied it all together. All we knew was that we weren’t into anything that looked too perfect or “designed” or into just stamping our monogram onto each piece."

Just goes to show how far letting things unfold naturally will go towards giving so much more character and personality to, well, anything! Yes you should have an idea or direction, but as long as you trust your instincts, and make a point to step back every once in a while and take in the big picture, I'm a big believer in a collection of wonderful ideas rather than a perfectly staged "scheme". Good job, kids!

seriously, don't even ask

I refuse to divulge how I came across baby shower game cards, but... these could sooooo easily be repurposed for a wedding shower, dontcha think?! I think it could be super sweet and really easy way to get your guests to ACTUALLY put down advice, or wishes for the couple without expecting a full paragraph or whatnot. I NEVER fill out those kinds of cards, but the super-simple, almost mad-libby tone here could be pretty fun! *hint hint shower organizers of mine* Image originally found at I *Heart* You.

how do i keep drinking the koolaid???

Ok, it's official. This has got to be one of the most "me" inspiration boards I've ever seen posted around. I literally love almost every detail, from the flowers, to the specs, the textures, the muted, soft colours, the books, the typewriter, and OMG that pink and gold dress. But... it's PINK! wtf! I am NOT the PINK girl. "Pink weddings" typically make me gag, then wince, in alternating cycles... but this? this is pink? And? I like it? I swear that koolaid's getting stronger and stronger... What's next? Organza chair covers and a white velour, rhinestone be-spangled white velour "Bride" jumpsuit??? Stop me well before that point, k? Please? Thanks, buddies. *** I'm not AT that point, am I?!?! *** Seriously, though, that inspiration board is delicisious. And... pink. sigh. Board from here.

i'd invite you but...

I already sent my invitations out! Yay! Freaking finally! So I'm still waiting on a few addresses, and several of the invites will be hand delivered, but I got a solid 30% in the mail today! And DUDE! How excited was I to see that the stamps for this month were hot pink peonies?! How freaking lucky is that?! So, with no further ado, I present you with my invitation suite... Each and every envelope is lined in a different but co-ordinating textured paper, and I went ahead and edged all the invites in gold ink which actually went a long way to adding another layer of texture. I know it's kind of hard to see here (it kind of looks more busy and chaotic than they really are) but I think one of my favorite things is the contrast of the very clean, rather tradition blue, white and gold envelopes, with the darker, more graphic linings and invites. (Though I like this collage, I might just post the actual digital files so you can get a clearer idea of the actual colour scheme. This is pretty but also makes it look much more cream and vintage, than the crisp white that is actually the lettering and envelopes.)

screw it. i'm taking the easy way out.

So, I'm sure by now there's a good chance you've seen this invitation suite from the new Martha Stewart Weddings that included templates to diy it... Well, I sure did and I totally cheaped out and ended up using it. A bunch of colour changes and some Photoshop later I finally settled on invites! YAY! I can't WAIT to unveil them! Trust me when I say I'm not really giving anything away with this preview: they're quite different. The best part is that the whole suite (including all my table cards, menus, info cards, envelopes, invitations, the whole shebang) only cost me $47... pretty reasonable since that includes the cost of a custom stamp, cutting tools, and a CRAZY amount of cardstock... I swear I'll post updates as soon as I manage to run to town for ink (ran out just before the end of the run :( ) Updates coming soon!

pretty delightful... and gray

Yep, that's gray with an "a": go Canucks! Anyways, I digress. I'm hearting this suite from itsmematt that I found over on Oh So Beautiful Paper, easily my favorite site for paper inspiration (which makes sense, you know, given the whole "Beautiful Paper" thing). Aren't they lovely?

inspiration overload

So, I've been working on my invitations for months... literally. It's not that it takes me that long to make them. Just that I keep changing my mind... Again, and again, and again... There are just SO many neat styles to pick from, and while I know that, for the most part, they'll end up in the recycling bin as soon as the dates are written down, this is a project that's pretty close to my heart! I love design (even if I'm not particularly creative) and this is a way that I feel I can really express myself. And, hopefully, I'm only going to get one chance to do this, so I'd like to do it right.
Well, I finally settled on a style but I thought I'd show you some of the inspiration pics that have been inspiring/confusing me along the way. In the end I decided to keep it simple, and I've actually decided to use those circles as a loose theme for the rest of my stationary (which was something I was struggling to come up with as well). All this just because of the boys ties... What can I say? Inspiration can come from anywhere? What are you guys going for? From top to bottom: elum, Ceci New York via Style Me Pretty, Hammerpress via Oh So Beautiful Paper, Martha Stewart Weddings.

diy: letter banner save-the-dates

Seriously, how cute are these pics for Jason and Amanda's save-the-dates? Adorable, right? And how simple would this be to put together? I'm thinking printing them as post cards... Image via Once Wed.

great jumps!

You ever see something, totally at random, and suddenly can't stop thinking of a million variations you could do on it? No? Just me? Yeah, I'm not going to lie, I don't think I'm particularly inventive, but I'm great at reinterpreting! So when I saw this killer little note from Stephanie Congdon Barnes I seriously couldn't stop thinking of new variations! Think of the fun! Great idea, Stephanie!

Sweet suite

I've been seriously mulling over the idea of incorporating various styles into our stationary by having a suite, rather than a single invite. This pretty from Snippet & Ink is totally inspiring in terms of combining various styles, fonts, colours, you name it, but making it all read together. A great help, indeed!

Sometimes I just don't got the words

Well, I've got words, just not the right ones! This pretty invite I found over at "Oh So Beautiful Paper" is giving me some GREAT ideas for wording for our invites, though!

Ruh Roh! I'm doing it again!

Um... so man I'm prolific today! I'm a little blogaholic, it would seem!

So I found these clips from Budget Savvy Bride's Weblog that might work... actually, I seriously love them. See my problem has been that I'm having a hard time balancing the romantic, girly side with the modern, artsy side. How cute would a pic of me and A, me in my stilettos (or maybe Cons?) and him in his cowboy boots (or maybe work boots?) would be? We could even do it barefoot, with him in jeans and I'd paint my toes red maybe? Oh, so many possibilities! Loves it!

Invites and Indecision

So, you know how I had posted that draft of the invites? Now I'm waffling (shocker, I know!) There's just so many cool styles: money, vintage, classic... I'm having a hard time settling on just one. I really want something that represents us and WE are not just one style... Obviously this is going to take me longer than I thought! I'm glad I've decided to start early. Also, I was thinking that I should maybe send my invites out quite a bit earlier than the norm, considering that people are potentially going to have to make hotel and/or camping arrangements in the middle of JULY!!! On the plus side, I've found another great inspiration pic to help me out! Image from Once Wed.

Maybe we'll actually have invites on paper!

You know, if I ever get my act in gear. Now, I realize that, with as much time as we've got left, it might seem ridiculous to be stressing over invites, but for me the invites are really the anchor of ALL of the stationary that I plan on doing for the wedding, and there's a bit. From the trivia cards, to cards for the "photo station" and gift tables, not to mention (hopefully!) label cards for each of our menu items, or at least each of the desserts, oh! and possibly/probably labels for our favors, there's a lot of paper to be co-ordinated and it WILL be co-ordinated! Proud moment today: my daughter received a LARGE set of littlest pet shop toys with maybe 12-20 lil animals plus accessories. Imagine her "anti-anal" dad's horror when he noticed her cheerfully sorting the pile into: animals, accessories, food. And then proudly declaring, "There. Perfect!" He cringed. I cackled gleefully/maniacly!

So, I think I've finally settled on a starting point I can be comfortable in. I'm thinking I'll go with a landscape tri-fold which is great since it potentially gives me six surfaces for info, without having to add extra cards if I don't want to. And though that means extra work in terms of making it all fit, and "flow", the hardest part is always coming up with the initial idea! Want a sneak peek??? Okey dokey! SPOILER ALERT! So this will hopefully be the first draft of the outside of the card, with the section to the far right being the cover, with the section on the left being the inside flap...

Seriously, if it wasn't so great I WOULD go to bed... I swear!

More great invite inspiration! Though I like the silhouettes, I like better the idea of the tri-fold with the central filligree spilling across the pages, with the contrast of the strong black. And really, it could be anything, there's no reason it would HAVE to be silhouettes. Image from Brooklyn Bride.

More for the Mega-tron

So, I've got a buddy getting married a couple months after me (yay!) who's easily one of the most stylish chicks I know. So whenever I see things that are a little off kilter, maybe a little dark, it makes me think of her... This is a compliment, btw! So, just for Megs... Seriously, how cool would this look as a pose/backdrop for your invite idea?! YOU know what I mean, right?