Tech Savvy

Today's Agenda:  Finally going through that bag of phone cords, blackberry chargers and other random tech stuff that I keep moving from closet to closet...we finally got rid of our home phone and I'm also (finally!) blackberry-free so really really no need for ALL of this stuff...

BUT maybe I should have saved all of those floppy disks I had from law school...this is pretty cute!  Especially if the couple were both really into technology...or really NOT into technology...

Party Planning

Today's Agenda:  Getting ready to make baby shower invites!  I haven't made invites in awhile and forgot how fun it is!  And, that I still need to post pictures of the wedding stationery I have done this year...so much on the to do list...at least it's all pretty fun, so no complaints :)

Color scheme for the invitations and the shower is based off of these napkins from Capari -- found at Marshalls for $1.99 for 20 medium sized napkins.  And coordinating square, stylish plates -- awesome!

And found these and these @ Paper Source!

Save the Date! Classy + Fun

Today's Agenda: Making some tweaks to the wedding invitations for one of my favorite couples!

But first, here are the save the dates that we sent out a few weeks ago!

I'm really excited about how they turned out (especially the envelope liners -- I'm also excited that they seem to be just as obsessed as I am with envelope liners now!).

Here they are!

We were going for simple, clean lines, modern with a touch of traditional.  To achieve the simple, clean-lined look I added extra spacing between each letter and used small caps {doesn't small caps make everything look classy??} 

For the modern touch the date is in numbers with periods offsetting month/date/year and the bride and groom's names are in all lowercase with coordinating colored font with no spacing between the first and last names.

For the traditional touch, I found this scrolly stamp at Paper Source.  It's bad but I think I could stamp everything with this!  You could use the full face of the stamp or half of it or just an edge or keep repeating it.  And then, just for fun, I used a clear embossing powder over the black ink on the stamp and then used the heating tool to seal the embossing powder and create a raised effect.

We continued the scrolly stamp theme onto the invitation in two ways.  First, on the left edge of the front of the envelope and then repeated it on the right edge of the back of the envelope.

Then, the envelope liner!

 

The gift wrap I used for this comes from The Container Store.  {Although, they have since discontinued it which I have no idea why since it was such a nice, heavier weight of paper to work with and the texture and just amount of shine was great.  I'm trying to reach their buyer to change her mind...}  The same pattern of gift wrap also comes in red and I am integrating that into the Bride & Groom's wedding invitations. 

And I love to send the Bride & Groom off with their very own invitation!

{Thank Yous}

Don't you love both sending and receiving a gracious thank you note in the mail?

Turns out, I may love making them even more.  My mother-in-law asked if I could make some thank you notes to give to her parents as a gift for their 60th wedding anniversary party we were all going to in Michigan.  Turn down a chance to get crafty?  Not me!

I took a look around at what I had and came up with this!

Remember how I had written about this line of stationery they have at Target and Office Depot?

Well, even better, I found this box of stationery at Marshalls...for...$7.99 for a box of 50 full size cards (usually $34.99 at Target -- still a great deal), response size cards and envelopes.  Let's just say it was a good day. 

So, I decided to use those for the thank you cards since the larger ones were the perfect size.  But they needed a little embellishment.

Add a cute little note a la Kate Spade.

Another color and a stamp.

And done!

I used these labels for the addressee labels and these for the return address -- both from Paper Source (aka "best labels ever"!)

And then the really fun part.  Yes, it is possible for this to get more fun.

The packaging. I found these stationery boxes at Paper Source for half off.  The stationery fit perfectly in them and made it so easy to travel with them by plane.

Added a grossgrain ribbon I picked up at Pottery Barn's after-Christmas sale last year.  And repeated the "Merci" theme from the thank you note.  With a little help from some gold embossing powder.  All on labels from Paper Source.

 

But this was even more fun -- to see grandma and grandpa having a great time at their party!  Aren't they cute??!

And this was just a few years back at our wedding -- I love these photos of them!

I hope we're still having just as much fun in 55 years! 

  {may.22.2004}

Invitations, Folders and More...

Today's Agenda: This morning I was searching online to see just how great of a deal my purchase of letterpress invites at Marshall's yesterday actually was. Turns out not too bad. I bought these pink peony invitations for $9.99 and they retail online for $34.99 (a great price too for the quality of these invites!). But this leads me to a broader item on my agenda - an obsession with Gartner Studios products. Check out their website. Or look out for their products at Office Depot and Target (pros: the website notes where each product can be purchased + they have templates to help you easily print the invites at home; cons: it's hard to see the full size image on some items so click on "shop" to be able to zoom in + some of the designs get, at least in my opinion, a little cheesy/over the top).

Here are my top 5 faves (some of the images above):

1. Blue and White Squares Presentation Folders
2. Green Dandelion Invitation Kit
{& Save the Date Cards!}
3. Love Bird Collection Sticker
4. Brown Border Invitation Collection
5. Animal Crackers Baby Buggy Invitation