Invitations: Jamie and Austin, Pt.1

For my last back porch post from Binghamton (granted my plane to Atlanta actually leaves in the middle of this hurricane tomorrow), I'm going to share Jamie and Austin's save the dates. I'll miss shooting invites on our old wood deck surrounded by luscious green trees... I'll have to stop thinking about it or I'll get sad, haha.

Jamie sent me a few inspiration images for her wedding. What stuck with me the most was her affinity for a more subtle, rustic approach - her wedding colors are leaf and navy with cream accents. The wedding is this fall in Atlanta, so I wanted to make sure to give the suite some classic Southern charm.

I've seen lots of julep cups featured in various weddings lately...  And I can't seem to forget the cover of the April/May 2010 issue of Garden&Gun Magazine... what's more southern than gardens and guns, can I get an amen? I drew lots of inspiration from the beaded edges of the julep cup, as you can see.  I loved the architectural structure that started to form, and I decided to add a little quirkiness with some hand-drawn banners.

The invitation suite is being printed as we speak, and follows the same vein as the save the dates. By the way, these are magnets, one of my favorite options for save the dates. Keep checking for the rest of Jamie and Austin's beautiful set - I'll be blogging about them again soon!

Travel: Binghamton, NY

Why in the world would anybody write a travel post about Binghamton, NY? Only if they were forced to live there by Minor League Baseball - and that's exactly why I'm doing it.  Where is Binghamton, you ask? Well, let's take a look (you can click the picture to see it bigger):

Binghamton is, essentially, in the middle of nowhere. It's about 3 hours from NYC to the east, Buffalo to the west and Philadelphia to the south. It's about 5 hours from Canada in a couple of directions, and about an hour from Syracuse to the north and Scranton to the south. Binghamton is surrounded by mountains and divided by rivers, specifically the Susquehanna and the Chenango.

There are a lot of semi-interesting things I could note about Binghamton. Mostly things that seem highly forgettable until you live here for a month or two - especially considering that there are giant cities within driving distance. I could mention to you that Binghamton's famous food is the Spiedie or that Binghamton University (alma mater of Ingrid Michaelson) has a nationally ranked School of Education. However, since Binghamton is not that interesting and I'm fairly sure you will never visit, I'd rather just talk about my backyard.

When I first came "home" here in New York, I was moved to tears. Our house is old. There is a sink-hole in front of the dishwasher from what I can only assume is moldy decay. There is no air conditioning. The linoleum is peeling off the floor in the kitchen. It has absolutely no echo of the Floridian fabulousness of our previous golf course condo. I had one very bratty fit of tears over it, and moved on.

However, after a couple days sulking at the breakfast table, gazing out the window, I realized we have a host of woodland animals that like to play in our backyard. We see one or two deer almost every day, yesterday I chased around a rafter of turkeys (that's what you call a group of turkeys, I swear).  There's actually a rather picturesque little field of grass and trees behind our house, edging up to the woods.



On a brief exploration, Collin and I realized that we have a few apple trees growing back there - six, to be exact. And a pear tree. And two Christmas trees! Today we took about an hour to run around in our bare feet, breathing deep the chilly wet air and picking apples to make into a pie later tonight.  See for yourself.








I had such a good time today, appreciating the fact that God takes care of me no matter how much I refuse to see it. Before I moved to Binghamton, I took a look at the pace of my life in Atlanta and knew that I needed rest. I needed visual rest, social rest, emotional rest. Even if that rest looks like peeling linoleum on the surface, it holds a sweet harvest if I'll let myself notice the deer and turkeys and apples. I have a proper first Thanksgiving landscape in my backyard - how simple and wonderful is that?

Accessories: Julia and Dan's Wedding (and Programs)

Not too long ago, I posted images of Julia and Dan's wedding invitation suite in a bright yellow and grey color combination. Julia asked me a few weeks later to do two more things for her: design her programs, and teach her how to make the fabric flowers I made for my wedding (and posted on the blog ages ago).

I'm always happy to teach friends and clients how to do things themselves, but when you're planning a wedding, do you really want to add another thing to your to-do list?  I assumed no, so I told Julia I could either teach her or just make them for her - she was happy to delegate the responsibility! Take a look:



I bought satin fabric in ivory, white, and grey. I bought chiffon in yellow and white, and an ivory sparkle tulle. The key to making interesting flowers is to use multiple colors and textures - I prefer making my color changes subtle and my texture changes diverse. I made sure my yellow fabric was a sheer - I didn't want the yellow to stick out like a sore thumb.

I made two of each kind of "flower" in five different (loosely based) styles: orchid, poppy, peony, chrysanthemum and lisianthus. I also do roses, but not for this bunch. I love to do hydrangeas, but they look best as headbands.






I used three ecru glass pearls in the center of each flower, and an alligator hair clip on the back to either pin in straight hair, updos or on clothing.



I thought they ended up being a pretty cute bunch!



As far as the programs, I used the same design elements from the invitations, but just kept the color to grey for cost effectiveness and visual simplicity - there's a lot of information on a program and there's no need to busy it up with lots of color.





I wasn't able to attend Julia and Dan's wedding but it heard it was beautiful, relaxed and fun. That's from the bridesmaids, so you know it's true! Haha!

Invitations: Susan and Christo

In Boston today. You may wonder, "How did she get to Boston?" The answer is: Greyhound. The good news is I got to stop in NYC and have lunch with an old friend. The bad news? Too many hours on a bus!  But Boston is good news for you blog readers, because I'm staying with my old roomiefriend Taylor (check out her blog, seriously, she has fantastic taste) and she has a much better camera than I do!  I used it to finally get some decent shots of Susan and Christo's wedding suite - I don't think they translate well to photo because of their unique coloring, but these are the best shots I've taken so far.



These invitations are printed in coral and aqua thermography with a wave pattern - because Susan and Christo got married at the beach!  I designed these while I lived in Port Saint Lucie, and I channeled the spirit of South Florida, haha.




Here's a detail of the response card - Susan and I both really liked the starfish, a little nod to the ocean setting.



The accessories for the suite were printed on natural white paper instead of bright white for a more subtle, sandy effect.  These pieces were printed flat (or lithography) to accommodate using two colors on both sides of the paper. Here you see the program, front and back of the menu, and a flat placecard.




I particularly enjoyed the quietness of the menu card in comparison to the rest of the suite. I imagined it looking very nice set atop a perfectly pressed dinner napkin...



Hopefully these pictures are enough to give you an impression of the set. I will say, in person, they are very summery and breezy. One day I will hire a professional to take better pictures for you. :)

Craftery Approved Wedding Ideas: Pinterest

I was raving about Pinterest to someone this afternoon, and then it hit me: I should blog about this!  I know some of you already know what Pinterest is, and you also understand why it can be such an awesome tool in wedding planning. If you don't already know, you're about to find out how to use it and why it's so great!

In my dream world, every wedding stationery client of mine would put together an inspiration board for their wedding and send it to me. There is nothing more useful in getting an overall feel for the look and style of an entire wedding - which tremendously helps design the stationery for said event. From the perfect shoes to the dream flowers, the dress to the ideal menu cards - all of this pinning and collecting can help me, your stationer, design an invitation suite that really reflects what you love.

I put together this board I call "wedding: whites" with images I've found all over the internet. Once you take a look at the board as a whole, you start to get an idea of what I like, what I'm attracted to - what I want.



For the newcomers, I have another board called "wedding: driftwood" with images that include neutral color themes, water, nautical inspiration, etc. I'm going to add a pin to that board and show you how it's done!

First, you have to go to pinterest.com and request an invitation. (Or, if you want to comment on this post with your email address, I'll send you an invite!) Once you recieve your invitation email, you can go to pinterest and set up your account. I have mine linked to my Twitter account, but you can also use email or Facebook. I thought it was easier to use my Twitter so I wouldn't have to register again, and I can choose to tweet about my new pins if I want!  Once you sign in to pinterest, it will prompt you to add the "Pin It" tab to your shortcut bar... here's what it looks like:



After you've installed the shortcut, you can go to any website. I chose 100 Layer Cake since it's so pretty. Once you click "Pin It," a window of all the images on the current web page will appear, and you can hover over the images and choose "pin this"...



Once you choose an image to pin, a new window will appear, asking you describe your pin and choose which board to pin it to:



Once you're done, you can see your new pin on your Pinterest board!



You can sign on to Pinterest to create new boards and organize your pins, as well as specify details about your boards like category, name, etc.  You can also follow your friends' boards and repin things they've found that you also like.  It's a great way to find new images and see what's popular - some images are repinned hundreds of times! If you're planning a wedding, or just want a way to keep track of all the things you find online and love, start thinking on Pinterest. And to any brides who are interested in getting Buzzy Craftery to design your wedding - start a board!

Recap: The NotWedding

You may have seen my post from a few weeks ago about The NotWedding 2011 in Atlanta.  Well, the professional pictures are in, and it's time to recap!

All pictures are by Chelsea Patricia Photography, The Long Farewell, and Once Like A Spark.

The beautiful Not Bride and Groom were Caroline and Drew McClure...



Her dress was designed by Laurel & Fife, hair piece by Fine and Fleurie.



Bridesmaids, dressed (fabulously) by Core Bridesmaid Couture.



These beautiful sewn lanterns were made by Abany at Brown Linen & Co. and hung over the stage - made from old shipping pallets!



Amy Osaba and stylist Ginny Branch (a contributor at Design*Sponge) did a great job with the head table... this picture was so beautiful I couldn't keep it from you!



And another standout vendor - Gertie Mae's Floral Studio - she did an outstanding job... above and beyond everyone's expectations.



And now for my bit: stationery!  Here's my board displayed at the front, near the registration table. You can see all my pieces - the invitation (front and back), the menu, pencil favors, envelope front with Abany's calligraphy, envelope reverse and the custom-printed envelope liner (my favorite part).

My inspiration for this suite came from the theme of the NotWedding as a whole, Frosted Poetry. I wanted the set to be reminiscent of an old book, I used the raised texture of thermography to give the invite an embossed book cover feel. I hand-drew the calligraphy for Caroline and Drew's names, as well as parts of the menu.  I used an old Roman typeface for the set type, and hand-drawn frames to vignette the type.  The envelope liner is printed in my handwriting (Shakespeare's sonnets), and I wanted that part to feel like a journal entry or a love note.  I also took couplets from love poems to make the pennant flags for the pencils.



A close-up:


a detail of the pennant pencils...


menus...


In the Tunnel of Love, I had a small "booth" for brides to come and visit, here's a couple of shots of what I set out. The flowers are from GARDEN atlanta... beautiful.




Overall, it was a wonderful experience. I had so much fun with all of the vendors, and once the guests arrived, it felt like a real wedding - even from my perspective!  Everyone really brought their best, and I think the guests got a LOT of great ideas - I know I did!

The next NotWeddings will take place in Atlanta, Orlando and San Diego - stay on the lookout for the next one near you!