query

My blog needs a design overhaul. Especially after reading blogs of real-life artists and designers, I'm recognizing that this place needs some sprucing up. I guess I didn't learn the daunting Adobe InDesign program for nothing...I need to put it to use!

It's sort of like how it's good to have a clean, comfortable bedroom...the place you return to at the end of every day, the place you go to recharge. I think if my blog is pretty and well-composed, I'll be more apt to visit here, to write and create.

I am extremely open to suggestions. What sort of blog "look" appeals to you most? What color schemes? I just bought some notecards and envelopes in the the "Night" and "Papaya" colors from Paper Source:

I think these might just be a color phase I'm going through. Green's my favorite and navy's creeping up in personal popularity.

What about a logo? Into deer right now. Always owls and birds, but are they cliche? Something book or craft related?

Let's hear your recommendations!

invitations - part 2

After months and months of occasional, focused work on our wedding invitations, they are complete and in the mail! I experienced a burst of happy interest in finishing them up, not to mention the return date already printed on the RSVPs was July 31st. Probably best to get the invitations out before that date arrived, yes?

As I mentioned, I designed and printed the four main components (enclosures) on our Canon inkjet printer, using a font I located on 1,001 Free Fonts. I utilized copper, dark olive green and leaf green for all details. The "main" invitation card and the map card were the largest, while the hotel/activities card and the RSVP needed to be cut to size. The latter three were tucked into the invitation pocket, with only the "title" of each card exposed.

I carved the image of an agave plant for the central invitation card. I stamped the image with a copper stamp pad and then raised it with clear embossing powder. That card was glued in next to the enclosure pocket.

I then used a Martha Stewart punch on the invitation flap, and attached a small copper closure card by threading my Paper Source "leaf" ribbon through the punched holes. Voila. The whole project was topped off with address and return address labels printed in the same "One Forty Seven" font, and wonderfully matchy 61 cent wedding cake stamps!

It was extremely gratifying to drop the 37 invitations in the mail! I have a renewed interest in all kinds of wedding craft projects and I'm so appreciative of the generous help and excitement my friends and family are offering!

invitations - part 1

This is part 1 of a 2-part entry on how I am designing and fabricating our wedding invitations! All of my photos are from the Paper Source website, with the exception of the Martha Stewart edge punch from Michael's (the photo of which I found at http://www.michaels.com/) and the MasterCarve blocks from Art Media (photo from http://www.artmediaonline.com/).

The overall form of the invitations came about from a wedding workshop Jesse and I attended at Paper Source on NW 23rd in Portland. The event was supposed to include several brides-to-be drinking champagne and crafting, but low registration led to our chance to have a private workshop session with a Paper Source teacher. We looked at a variety of different shapes and color combinations and practiced several different stamping techniques. We knew we wanted to include a few enclosure items, so we decided on the Gatefold Enclosure card in "Luxe Fino Cream." This card features an inside pocket for enclosures and a folded flap closing. For each of the 4 enclosures (invitation, map, hotel & activity info, rsvp) we chose the Half-Moon/Pocket Folder Enclosure Flat Cards in the same color. Both are shown here in "Chartreuse."

Next came the gorgeous Copper Shimmer envelopes. These were a new release when I was shopping for supplies and they were a perfect match to the copper-laden Flying J, where our reception lunch will be held. Not to mention the fact that Jesse lived in a town known for its huge copper mine when I met him!

Next, I created each of the invitation's components on the computer using Adobe InDesign. I adore the font I found on 1,001 Free Fonts - "One Forty Seven." After changing my mind ten times, I settled on a color palette of dark olive green, light leaf green and an orange-copper shade.

I purchased a copper stamp pad and clear embossing powder, to use on the invitations. I had formatted the text so a large area was left clear for a stamp...but I couldn't decide on what to carve. I wobbled between some kind of quail design or one involving local Arizona plantlife. On our last trip to Sierra Vista I noticed an interesting plant, which I later identified as a desert agave. That was it! I sketched the image and then carved it in Mastercarve block (the best product ever) from Art Media.

Just last night I purchased Shimmer Copper Business Cards and thin "Leaf" ribbon from Paper Source, along with a Martha Stewart Thin Ribbon Threader Edge Punch from Michael's. I'm thinking these items will be used with some Paper Source "Superfine Soft White" Labels to create the invitation's closure.

So nearly all of the components are printed. I just need to cut the smaller ones to size and figure out some way to assemble them into a pretty, cohesive unit! Some photos of completion are hopefully on their way.