Happy 2017!

You guys, I’m such a bad blogger! Between holiday travels and some big exciting projects, I haven’t had much time to write, but this rainy morning seems the perfect opportunity.

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First things first, if you’re here trying to find out more about the Kindness is Everything, I’ve licensed the design to the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health and you can shop for signs, shirts and more here. Follow our Kindness is Everything facebook page for updates and to connect with people across the nation that identified with the movement that began as a simple sign.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about above, check out my original post for the back story. Hundreds of emails and thousands of orders later, we’ve raised more than $7,000 for the ACLU with our Midwest sign distribution, and dozens of other groups across the country have raised even more! There were three of us managing all the requests and etsy page (completely pro bono of course) and it just got to be too much, so we started seeking a nonprofit with the capability to sell branded merchandise. Two of us had worked with WAWH previously, were familiar the good work the organization was doing in Wisconsin and nationally and thought it was the perfect fit (plus we knew the executive director would make the most of the opportunity!). It’s been really exciting to have something I made “go viral” and more importantly, to be able to connect with like-minded people across the world.

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I also took a step toward expanding the flower arm of 622 press in December. I offered my first flower making class in December! We ended up having to cancel it, but now that I’ve got the instruction booklets and material kits made—I even hosted a practice class with friends!—I’ve totally got the bug. I’m talking with a few venues in different cities about 2017 classes, so stay tuned! (And if you’re interested in having me teach a class in your area, get in touch, I’m available to travel!)

Speaking of flowers, I felt like they were starting to take over my Instagram feed, so I started a second account completely devoted to paper flowers. Follow here!

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I also had quite a few engaged couples get in touch before the holidays for save the dates and invitations. I can’t share any of those until after the big day of course, but here’s a lovely piece I received in late fall—nothing better than getting your own work in the mail! I’m so excited to work on more wedding invitations in 2017—get in touch if you’re planning your nuptials!

Real Wedding: Krista & Chris

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Apologies if you’re sick of hearing about Krista and Chris’ wedding (or if you haven’t, check out the story behind their stationery here and here), but when I saw Sara Smile’s gorgeous photography from the big day, I knew I just had to share.

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I’ll let Krista tell you their story in her own words.

“The ideas and concepts all came together so well on our big day. The color palette of greys, pinks, and blues in the flowers coupled with the green grass and grey skies the day of the wedding was a breathtaking combination. The opaque light from the sky made the flowers and bridesmaid dresses stand out so much more than we anticipated. We didn’t mind the overcast day at all, in fact, it added a bit of drama to the ambiance of the day.”

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“The growlers filled with flowers, beer caps, and twinkling lights inside were a fun combination that added to the playfulness of the day. We absolutely loved our wedding!” The table above features another project I made for the couple: A custom coaster garland, watercolor painted to match their color scheme and letterpress printed. I love when clients include me in their brainstorming—great things result!

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This photo doesn’t have anything to do with my part in the wedding, but I just loved it and asked Krista the story behind the shot: “Our wedding fell on the weekend of mothers day, so we wanted to make our mothers feel extra special on our big day. The pin on my bridal bouquet was my grandmothers on my mothers side. The three generations of hands included my mothers, grandmothers on my father side, and mine. During the ceremony, we had our mothers hold our wedding rings. We joked that we didn’t trust the best man to hold them, but really we wanted to honor our mothers who had played such an important part in shaping the people we are today. Holding the rings was a way of warming them with love, support, and well wished for our wedding.”

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Back to my favorite piece of stationery I designed for the couple—which was totally Krista’s idea:

“Often times at weddings we find that people write the same thing over and over again in the guest book. We wanted our guest book to be fun and interactive, and the mad libs idea was the perfect fit for this! Almost all of our guests filled it out, some people even filled out two. The best part was that no two were the same. We were able to make the guest book entertaining for people to fill out, and our guests left us some hilarious advice at the end of the mad libs as well. We plan to make a book out of all the response and leave it on our coffee table to reminisce over for years to come!”

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Love and laughter for years to come—I’ll cheers to that!

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Lush Fall Fairy Tale Wedding

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Just in time for Halloween, I finally get to share a Brothers Grimm inspired styled shoot featuring my gorgeous Burgundy and Blush Watercolor Floral invitation suite.

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Coordinated and photographed by the enormously talented sara smile photography, this shoot absolutely exceeded my expectations and imbues a magical quality into every thing and person involved.

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Here are the rest of the amazing vendors:

 

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Burgundy & Blush Watercolor Floral Wedding Invitations

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Well friends, we’re at the end of my month of weddings and I’ve saved the best for last!

burgundy_floral_7216Remember Krista and Chris’ gorgeous letterpress wedding invitations from earlier this year? After the big day, I reached out to their photographer, Sara Smile about sharing a few of the gorgeous photos (which she did, so stay tuned!).

She also mentioned a romantic Brothers Grimm-themed fairy tale styled wedding photo shoot she was working on. After checking out her inspiration board, I offered to design stationery for the shoot—and my new favorite invitations were born!

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I started by breaking out the watercolors to paint deep burgundy peonies, mauve anemones and snapdragons, and the palest blush poppies, along with sticks and leaves to fill out the arrangements. They might be my favorite illustrations I’ve created so far!

I’ve been wanting to create a looser typography design and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity! I love this new calligraphic typeface, it’s almost as beautiful as Kelsey Malie’s beautiful envelope calligraphy!

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Speaking of envelopes, did you spot these custom-lined envelopes? This is the first time I’ve ordered them and they are AMAZING! They’ll be another a la carte option in my shop, but in the mean time feel free to get in touch for custom envelopes!

Order these invites in my etsy shop and stay tuned for the stunning photos from Sara’s shoot!

Boho Bride: Unique Orange, Pink and Purple Floral Wedding Invitations

Well friends, we’re getting close to the end of my month of weddings, so I thought we’d go out with a bang. Originally created for a late-summer boho styled shoot (pics to come this fall!), I painted the watercolor flowers for these myself.

boho_floral_6004I love the energy and colors in this suite, but I think my favorite part is actually the whimsical design of the RSVP! Such a fun way to pack in a lot of information for your guests.

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Too much floral can get repetitive, so for the boho save the date, I let the brush lettering shine on an ombré watercolor background. My new offset printer offers a variety of die-cut shapes, which really makes this piece stand out!boho_savethedate_5990