Paper Guppy Inspiration

more style me pretty love!

A couple months ago we were asked to create wedding stationery for a Style Me Pretty inspiration to reality shoot. The inspiration board had soft pink tones and ribbon details which brought us to create the ribbon flower illustrations that appeared on the invitation, menu, candle table numbers, and the escort books which also doubled as favors. Head over to Style Me Pretty to see the inspiration board that started it all, and all of the fabulous photos taken by James Christianson.

Images courtesy of James Christianson.

style me pretty feature

Rehearsal Dinner invitations for Sarah and John's wedding are featured on Style Me Pretty today! Special thanks to Stacy with Alexan Events for recommending me to the couple. Their wedding was one of my favorites from last year! Head over to Style Me Pretty to see more beautiful photos from the event from Hannah Photography!

left photo: Hannah Photography, right photo: The Paper Guppy

bella figura new 2011 designs

It's that time of year again - last fall I spent some time working on a few new designs for Bella Figura. I received the printed samples just a bit ago and the new photos are up on their website. My favorite this year? Lace! (pictured top left) I absolutely love how it turned out. A big thank you to Kelle with designsgirl who provided the calligraphy for the design.

photos courtesy of Bella Figura

hello love

Kelle, a fabulous calligrapher and artist that I love to collaborate with, has just opened up an online store called "hello love". First of all, I adore the name - so sweet. Second, she has some great products that are truly unique - which is definitely refreshing in the stationery world! One of my favorites is the rubber stamp pictured above (I'm also in love with the styling - that yellow striped bag is fabulous).

logo and image above from hello love.

sorry for the silence!

Normally around November/December I slow down a bit. There is usually a break between wedding seasons, but this year - not so much! Which is fabulous, but it just made for busy few weeks. I have so many exciting things to share - just give me a little bit to catch my breath!

Happy New Year!

 

ornate details

When Katie described her wedding and specifically her reception location I knew that we just had to use gold foil. The photos that I saw of the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville were filled with golden details. We settled on a custom flourish illustration that we were also able to use in larger pieces for the response card as well as in patterned rows for the envelope liner (one of my favorite liners from this year). Finally, for that extra personal touch, we hired Kelle of designsgirl, to hand letter Katie and Jason's names and monogram.

The invitation and response card were letterpress printed. The remaining enclosures were offset printed in a matching navy ink. Gold foil accents were added the invitation, belly band and envelope liner. For the reception we carried everything through on the program, menu, table numbers and place cards.

where lavender fields bloom and honey bees swarm UPDATED!

Heather and Tom's wedding plans sounded fabulous from the first day that I met with them. The wedding took place at a farm in California near Napa. Heather wanted to incorporate a signature honey bee as well as lavendar and orange trees - Tom wanted to incorporate a ferris wheel (plans included having a ferris wheel at the farm on the wedding day)! We decided to keep the ferris wheel a surprise for the guests so we stuck with Heather's inspirations and I can't begin to tell you how much fun it was to work on this invitation set. I referenced old vintage clip art mixed with a few new illustrations to come up with the pouch, invitation, response postcard, custom map and rehearsal dinner invitation. I can't wait to see pictures from their wedding - I'm sure it was absolutely fabulous!



Heather sent along a few reception photos taken by Meg Smith!

Place cards tied to mini jars of honey. Each illustration indicated the guest's entree selection.

Escort cards hanging by clothespins (left) and table numbers (right)

 

hitting the road

Sarah and John's invitation set is one of my favorites from this year. We started out with a bicycle theme and from there we developed a pattern based on the wheels and spokes. The invitation was letterpress printed in chocolate brown while the enclosures were offset printed. Everything tucked nicely into a chocolate brown pouch which was letterpressed in copper. In addition to the wheel pattern, one of my favorite parts is the rehearsal dinner invitation. We departed from the bicycle theme to set the tone for a Colorado style BBQ at 4 Eagle Ranch. I love the little western touch!

and i love a rainy night

This past weekend we took a quick trip out to Boston and Portsmouth for a friend's wedding. The weekend was filled with friends, fabulous food and a little rain. I took the photo above and I love how it turned it out - I would love it even more if the couple was just a touch more in focus. Guess it's time to start taking #9 on my life list a little more seriously :)

getting personal...

Before I started this blog, I had a lot of reference points - and I mean A LOT. Basically, I read quite a few blogs (we won't get into exact numbers). I follow blogs that range from wedding based to design in general to personal. Generally, I just lurk around and read them, never commenting etc. But after reading about the Mighty Summit that Maggie and a few others just hosted I was inspired to create my own life list - ahh the power of the internet.

I don't have 100 yet, but I figured I would post my first 30 or so to get started and then I'll continue to update it here. When I accomplish something, I'll blog about it and let you know. In looking back on my last few posts, I've started to go down a path where I'm just using this blog as a portfolio, which I'd like to do from time to time, but I'd also like it to be more a little more interesting :) 

So, here's my list so far....

1. have an invitation published in Martha Stewart Weddings

2. take singing lessons

3. become fluent in French

4. make my own chocolates for easter

5. visit an elephant sanctuary

6. learn enough about wine to actually know what I'm talking about (instead of just "this is yummy")

7. revamp our kitchen and bathroom

8. try 100 new cheeses

9. learn how to take great photos and not just fix ok ones in photoshop

10. volunteer

11. work on an invitation for someone famous

12. blog consistently

13. start an etsy shop full of cool projects that I've been meaning to do

14. make photo album books out of all of our digital photos

15. organize my music so it's not spread out over cd's and 3 computers

16. organize all of my invitation samples and extra papers in a way that I can do it consistently - instead of just 1 huge day

17. throw a fabulous party with all of the fun and cute details I regularly see on blogs and in Martha

18. take dance lessons

19. make dinner 5 nights in a row (and reheating left overs doesn't count)

20. take a vacation once a year (a real vacation too, not just a trip for a friend's wedding etc)

21. rent a house someplace fabulous with a group of friends

22. stand up straighter

23. have pretty hand writing

24. start sewing again - use all of the beautiful fabric I've already purchased

25. learn to kayak

26. try acupuncture

27. go whale watching in hawaii

28. own a vacation home

29. design an award winning stationery/identity package

30. know offhand what color someone is referring to when they say a pantone number

31. maintain a well manicured hand with pale pink polish

32. take a pilates class

33. play in roller derby game

34. have my own studio/retail space

35. own a koi pond