emerg(in)!

attention!  some of my prints and cards are now being sold on emerg(in), a fabulous online boutique run by aussie naomi andrews.  i love how she's curated her shop, so i'm honored to be included in the mix.  pop over and check it out!

vintage camp invitations!

i am so stoked to finally share some pictures of another project i worked on last month - designing the wedding invitations for my good friends oliver and naya!  of course it doesn't hurt to work on a project for someone you already know, especially when they are planning an epic weekend-long wedding party set at a vintage summer camp, so there was no way this wasn't going to be fun.  naya and i have very similar color inclinations to begin with, a good starting point, but the rest of the inspiration really came from the camp itself - the rustic cabins are tipped in bright teal paint, and the archery targets pop out of the natural setting with their yellow, red and blue concentric circles.  vintage camp ephemera and signage also helped define the mood and typography choices. 

aside from the main invitation, everything was digitally printed, cut, and folded in house by me! the invite was printed on maple veneer by the lovely folks at cards of wood, located in western michigan.  the veneer is flexible, but sturdy enough to survive the journey that invites have to make through the mail, and the wood was a perfect material for the theme. the maple was nice because it had a distinct, noticeable grain that made each piece unique.

my favorite parts to work on were the fold-out map and wedding weekend checklist.  since this is a days-long event with loads of activities sprinkled throughout the gorgeous camp property, i thought it would be most fun to create a map and legend that guests could bring with them on their stay.  the layout was inspired by vintage travel postcards, though i took a more modern approach with the illustration itself.  for those staying at the camp, i created a small checklist with hand-drawn illustrations of the items needed to survive the weekend.  my favorite?  outdoor finery.  my feathery fascinator is lined up and ready to go.

last but not least, the icing on the invitation cake was a custom return address stamp, designed by me and made by los angeles based company paperwink (their made-to-order stamps are great as well!).  so now that the invites are out and there's less than a month to go, all i have left to do is sit back and look forward to the big event!  that, and practice my archery stance.  in heels.

a san francisco wedding!

i've been so excited to share a project i worked on recently - a set of wedding invitations for my coworker teresa, a super sweet girl planning a laid back san francisco-themed wedding.  teresa is classy preppy, but also very casual, so she wanted these to have a friendly and fun vibe.  we decided to go with a hand-done look, and there is literally no part of these invites, type or illustration, that i didn't draw out on paper first!  luckily she had already chosen a tight palette of red, blue, gray, and navy, with pops of yellow, so that dictated the colors for the invitations.  the san francisco theme (and location of the ceremony) made it incredibly easy to pull iconic landmarks for the illustrations.  the main invite was digitally printed with pigment inks on velvet matte fine-art paper, while the details and RSVP cards were printed on premium matte card stock.  

in addition to the invites, i also helped create some of the decorations for the reception and ceremony!  i'll update later with some of her professional pics from the big day, but for now i'll give you a sneak peek of one of the four banners that i worked on (carried by the flower girl!)...

i am increasingly more and more excited by the projects i take on in my personal creative business and can't wait to continue on at this pace.  keep posted, as i will be sharing more goodies soon!