Custom Save the Dates, Unique Wedding Invitations & Personalized Stationery

Sneak a peek of Katie’s custom letterpress wedding invitations! I never get tired of looking at our (James’) letterpress print work. Gorgeeeeous! We always try to keep our client’s details private here on our blog and online, so you won’t be able to see the entire stationery suite right now. However, as soon as we whip up a version we can share, we certainly will. What you can not see is the champagne pocketfolder, beautiful layers of colorful cardstock in rose metallic and pistachio green. Hand lined envelopes in rose to match! Of course.

It may be snowing here in Ohio, but SPRING is in the air in the studio!

{private photo} Our designs worked their way to the front for this competitive Indy Car driver and his fiancé! Handmade and custom embellished starfish wedding invitations in opulent silver, white, and rich aqua blue boasting hand-illustrated starfish motif. This elegant starfish invite nestles in an aqua blue box. The perfect combination. Truly beach chic!

Great talent must be shared. From time to time I stumble upon amazing photography by fabulous photographers. The four shown here today are from  Scott Shaw Photography. You can contact him at [email protected] or call 216-870-0376 if you wish. I love the adorable ring bearer boy in the first photo. Scott’s perspective in his photography tells an awesome story! Don’t you agree?

Woweeeee! James and I have designing, printing, letterpressing, and painting so many new custom invitations! We wish we could show you all of them. I just had to stop the presses to show you Cassidy’s custom Bat Mitzvah invitation design. Super bright pink, sparkly, hand painted zebra print with splashes of the brightest lime green.

The envelopes will arrive here in the studio tomorrow. They are silver sparkly stock and we will hand-line them with hand-painted zebra stripes! Cassidy and her mom are thrilled and so excited to mail them to her guests! Another incredible ‘custom invitation challenge’ accomplished. NEXT up Peggy’s beach theme invite with a hand painted boardwalk and Sarah’s custom save the dates with a blue row boat and more. I hope to share those with you soon if time allows.

UPDATE: The Cassidy Design in quartz, white, zebra animal print, and pink.

UPDATE: My Personal Artist is now MOSPENS STUDIO!

As promised! Another charming anemone wedding inspiration board. SWOON! Black and white anemone flowers perfectly match soft hues. This is by far the most unique anemone floral bouquet I have found. The unexpected black feathers break up the whites and add lovely texture. Add modern ruffles to your wedding cake for a vintage twist. Layered modern anemone wedding invitations in black and white with a soft hue colorful layered background card. The fabulous French anemone flower boutonnière… I am completely smitten! Fluffy white hydrangeas with white anemone flowers wrapped with black material and bling create the perfect wedding table centerpiece. Styling your wedding or party with anemones sets a chic black and white design for your event!

Fabulous sources: Anemone wedding bouquet \ Anemone wedding cake \ Anemone wedding invitations\ Anemone flower boutonnière \ Anemone centerpiece

The sweet white French anemone has me completely captivated by its spirit and sweet nature. Yesterday I went on a pinning binge on Pinterest. I was in awe of the anemone’s simply design and elegance. I will post yet another charming anemone wedding style board after this is published. Anemones are so fresh, chic, and sweet! They are TRULY hard to resist.

Fabulous Sources: Anemone floral wedding bouquet \ Pink anemone wedding cake \ Anemone boutonniere \ Anemone wedding invitations

Summer wedding color love!!! So vibrant and fun. If you are a lover of daisies you will find using colorful daisies and roses add the perfect touch to a spring or summer wedding. Our painted daisy folder wedding invitations give your guests a taste of your event style.

When you match up the color of flowers, bridesmaid dresses, centerpieces, wedding invitations and stationery you create a distinct cohesive look for your wedding. Remember, when you are styling any fabulous event you can match your colors to different hues of the same one color. For instance, view the two oranges {paint circles} above, if you can’t seem to find tablecloths or a rose in that ONE orange color you love. Lean toward the lighter or darker hue. Personally, I find a floral bouquet or an invitation design boasting different shades of one color to be much more appealing and full of dimension than one color.

A really great tip a bride-to-be told me her florist shared with her is when using WHITE flowers add a light yellow or light green flowers scattered throughout to break up the white. You can just visualize how this will give your bouquets more dimension.

The more 2012 wedding couples I talk with the more I am finding out they are incorporating at least 3 colors into their wedding style. Color LOVE!

Are you having fun with color too? Let us know!

Fabulous Sources: Floral centerpiece \ Daisy wedding invitations \ Aqua blue bridesmaid dress

I am beyond thrilled to share with you  Root Candles  NEW candle line American Experiences featuring my watercolor artwork!

Each candle is truly an experience! I hope you will get to enjoy them in your near future friends!!!! xoxox

Choosing colors for your beach wedding or beach themed event is a piece of cake! You do not have to correspond colors with a photo of a wreath, bouquet, or socks. Look to nature for your palette. Natural hues, only nature can create. Take a few moments to notice the clouds, the sky color, the sunrise, and sunset right in front of you. Be grateful, for today is another gift. Another day full of delight.

Have a SPARKLING day full of color and inspiration my friend.

We thought sending save the date cards with flip flops was such a great idea, we designed it TEN YEARS AGO! Yes, in 2001.

What a creative and truly unique way to give your guests a taste of your tropical beach wedding!

Today, this is a super easy D.I.Y. project! Yes, trust me YOU CAN DO IT! Because, as we know, everyone can buy flip flops and tie a bow!  As we suggested on our website in 2006, you can find them at Old Navy or Target. Of course now-a-days you can go online to buy them. Piece of cake.

To create your own save the dates with REAL flip flops: Just layout and print out a tag on your home computer, tear the edging for a beachy look. Hole punch the corner with 2 holes using an 1/8″ hole punch and attach to the flip flops with wraphia. Insert your flip flops into a bubble envelope and mail to your guest! THEN wait for the phone calls regarding how creative YOU are!

Have fun!

How to make a party perfect!

At our annual lakeside July 4th party our neighbor/friend broke out his guitar and started playing and singing. What a surprise! And our guests just sat in awe of his talent. Smiling. Enjoying. No matter the size of your party or event, live music is a must. Even if you have a smaller budget, you can find a lovely acoustic guitarist and set an amazing mood for your celebration! If you are having a Christmas open house have the guitarist seated at your entrance on the right side for a WOW factor! You will set the mood and your guests will be thrilled and truly impressed.

I asked our friends on Facebook what they thought made a perfect party. Here’s the list and can you guess what topped it?

1. Wonderful friends.
2. Background music.
3. Delicious food. Creative dishes to start conversations.
4. Gorgeous flowers.
5. A party planner to make the party fabulous!
6. Good wine.
7. A “token” gift / favor for your guests, as they leave.
8. Cocktail hour at the start.
9. Lovely dinner.
10. Candles.

I would love to add “custom invitations“, “a theme” and “entertainment” to this list.

Years ago, I threw what people said was the BEST party they have ever been to. A Hawaiian Luau. They still talk about the Luau today!! Several keep their Bottle Invitations displayed in their homes as a reminder of the fun they had. The highlight of the party was the entertainment. I had professional Hawaiian Luau hula dancers and an amazing fire dancer! Not only did they dance. They inspired our guests to learn the hula and dance as well!!

I *HIGHLY* recommend them to EVERYONE who wants to share the very best Hawaiian entertainment for their guests. Visit their website now HAWAIIAN SHOWS / ENTERTAINMENT or watch a small sample of them in action…

Tuika Faumuina and his dancers are truly amazing.

Enjoy and have fun!!!

This weekend I painted on a large canvas for 4 hours in public. I have not painted on such a large scale for 20 years! {cough} Yes, I said 20. And my how the paint has changed. It dries so much faster than before. But still slower than my go to watercolor paint. I still prefer painting smaller watercolor paintings. AND watercolor is STILL my number one medium.

When I started the acrylic painting, I did remember you must lay a base of color. Very similar to how you would start a watercolor painting. This is where {Progress, Not Perfection} comes to my mind. This part is the hardest for me. I blame my (60%) left-brained dominance. I want perfect, I want the blossoms to be defined and POP.

“Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts.” ~ Sigmund Freud

After 4 hours of painting and 7ish layers of paint applied to the upper right corner the “cherry blossoms” start to take shape.

A close up. Looks a bit abstract to me, but I’ll let is slide for now. I may or may not add the tiny veins to the petals.

We shall see next Sunday when I paint again in public, as I promised I’d be there. Due to my schedule of commissioned artworks and custom invitation / stationery designs, painting on large canvases will have to wait. I’m guessing about 5-7 years.

Remember friends, things in life take time. We may not always get to finish what we start. Or we may not always have all of the answers to our life’s questions. Time will tell. Hang in there and remember… {Progress, Not Perfection}

Have the most lovely Monday!

UPDATE: Due to an injury from August flaring up, and all of my current deadlines, I will not be painting in public at Fieldcrest.

5/31/12 UPDATE!!!: After 5 months of healing, I was able to complete my acrylic painting at 12:54 AM this morning. I already have the next painting lined up to begin. I can not wait. xo

Effervescence

Cherry Blossoms. 24″ square. Acrylic.

One of the clients I’ve been working with is Nicole. She fell in love with our TULIP wedding invitation design and wanted to change the flower color to red. She wanted to see the opal metallic and black card layer backings to make her final decision. Which one do you think she went with?

And the winner is! … The elegant black background layered card. Great choice Nicole!

If you find one of my artworks you love but would LOVE even more if it was a different color, just ask! We love to customize our designs for you.

P.S. ~ If you are wondering WHY the name on the card doesn’t match my client’s name, I NEVER post my client’s REAL wedding details for the public to see. We truly respect our clients’ privacy. xo

I am TICKLED to share my whimsical Peacock Feather Wedding Invitations and Stationery with you today! Purple, royal blue, gold, and teal green jewel tone watercolors make up this vintage wedding invitations design. Colorful, vibrant, and fun! As always you can customize fonts, ink colors, and cardstock to create a stylish look for your wedding.

{ KATE MARIE PEACOCK FEATHER LAYERED INVITATIONS }

Remember, wedding invitations should be ordered 4 months before your wedding day and  mailed to your guests 2 months before. Plan ahead and keep a check list timeline to ensure stress free planning.

{ KATE ANN PEACOCK FEATHER WEDDING INVITATIONS }

A layered wedding invitation is gorgeous to the touch and gives your guests the ultimate taste of rich elegance without breaking the bank.

{ KATE PEACOCK FEATHER  INVITATIONS }

Either way, layered or not, this fabulous feather invite design is truly inviting!

{ PEACOCK FEATHERS SAVE THE DATE CARDS }

If your guests have to make travel arrangements, send a save the date card 12 months before your wedding day to ensure they have ample time to plan their trip. Have the names,  addresses, and phone numbers of 2-3 hotels in the area to assist your guests with planning.

Carry the design throughout your wedding events stationery for a unique harmonious theme. Matching bridal shower invitations, thank you cards, table cards, place cards, wedding programs, menus, and more are available.

Enjoy!

Recently I had the GREATEST pleasure of hand illustrating artworks Root Candle Company’s newest line of candles.

Their new fragrances are truly amazing and fabulous! They evoke memories and tickle your senses.

After finishing up the last batch of watercolor illustrations, I was completely inspired to whip up one of my most favorite breakfast foods.

A warm waffle and juicy blueberries drizzled in maple syrup. Yummm.

What a fabulous November it is so far! And it is just the beginning.

Enjoy!