Black + White Stripe Birth Announcements for Baby Felix

I’ve always had special affection for fun and creative baby announcements, but of course these days I’m paying extra special close attention to baby-related stationery.  I was thrilled when my friend Claudia from Fig. 2 Design Studio sent over the announcements that she created for her new baby nephew!  Claudia is known for her love of super bright colors and patterns, and for these announcements she went with graphic black and white stripes paired with bright blue neon accents.  I love the playful yet masculine design – perfect for a baby boy!

From Claudia:  I designed this baby announcement for my nephew Felix.  Inspiration came partly from the baby shower invitations I designed earlier, where we used a chevron pattern.  My sister and  brother-in-law like graphic patterns, however, I decided to go with stripes to vary things and not make it too matchy-matchy.  I’ve been feeling black and white patterns a lot lately and was dying to try neon blue ink!

 

I’ve also had a thing for arrows recently and I thought using arrowheads was friendly enough for a baby announcement, while still having that masculine feel.  I was so touched when my good friend and super talented calligrapher Michele of Meant To Be Calligraphy offered to do his name as a gift to my sister!  It was the sweetest touch and now little Felix has lovely letterpress printed personal stationery.

So awesome!  Thanks Claudia!

Design: Fig. 2 Design Studio

Calligraphy: Meant To Be Calligraphy

Styling: My Simple Details

Fig. 2 Design Studio is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of Claudia’s fabulous work right here!

Photo Credits: Mary Kate McKenna

Wedding Invitations from Blackbird Letterpress

I’m a huge fan of the custom wedding work from Kathryn of Blackbird Letterpress.  Kathryn has created some of my all-time favorite wedding invitations, from Riley and Robert’s modern New Orleans-inspired invitations to Margie and Morgan’s fabulous Art Deco postalgram wedding invitations.  Kathryn recently released a gorgeous wedding invitation collection that reflects her unique mix of whimsical illustrated elements with classic design.  Here are a few of my favorites from the collection…

Congrats Kathryn!  Check out the full collection and lots of additional photos here.

Black­bird Let­ter­press is a mem­ber of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of Kathryn’s beau­ti­ful work and custom wedding invitations right here!

Photo Credits: Ben Christensen for Blackbird Letterpress

Christina + Tristan’s Illustrated Western Wedding Invitations

Today’s wedding invitations feature the beautiful desert landscape of the bride and groom’s home state of Arizona.  Richele from Richie Designs worked with illustrator Serena Chang, balancing the Western motif with a modern blue and orange color palette and classic typography.  I love the majestic mountains in the illustration – so pretty!

From Richele: Christina and Tristan were married in their home state of Arizona.  They wanted to incorporate the landscape of Arizona as the motif for their wedding invitations.  Illustrator Serena Chang created the desert mountain illustration, which we used throughout the wedding stationery.

 

The main invitation was letterpress printed in two colors, while the additional pieces were digitally printed.  Christina and Tristan used Arizona parks and other noteworthy landmarks as table names for their reception.  It was a fun project to put together!

Thanks Richele!

Design and Printing: Richie Designs

Illustration: Serena Chang

Richie Designs is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can check out more of Richele’s work right here or visit the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Richie Designs

Erin + Andrew’s Ombre Watercolor and Letterpress Wedding Invitations

I’m constantly amazed at what happens when talented individuals pool their efforts on a single project – and these incredible wedding invitations are no exception.  Photographer Laura Murray sent over the gorgeous invitations for her sister Erin’s wedding.  Erin worked with Roger from Flourish Letterpress and Victoria of Calligraphos to create a custom invitation suite that combines hand painted watercolor (DIY’d by the bride and groom!), letterpress, calligraphy, and even laser cutting!

From Erin, the bride: Ombre, calligraphy, and letterpress printing.  These are three things I adore and all elements that I wanted in my wedding invitation suite.  After we finalized the design, Roger from Flourish Letterpress cut the paper for the save the dates, wedding invitations, and reception cards and passed them off to me to be watercolored in an ombre effect.

My fiancé and I did an ombre wash on all the paper using a mixture of Holbein Artist’ Water Color inks in Jaune Brilliant No. 2, Shell Pink, and Brilliant Pink.  Once everything had dried, we handed the paper back off to Roger for letterpress printing.

 

Roger used Crane Lettra 220# pearl white paper for the invitations and matching 110# Lettra paper for the save the dates and reception card.  Lettra paper is made from 100% cotton, giving it a unique, smooth texture and the ability to absorb the letterpress impression.  We found that this paper took the watercolor well and maintained its ability to really hold the letterpress texture.

From Roger of Flourish Letterpress: I wanted to combine elegance with a slightly rustic feel for the invitation design.  I incorporated the kraft paper for a nice contrast while tying in the feeling of their wedding venue.  I wanted to try something new, so I used my laser engraving abilities to make a paper wrap with the look of lace and also incorporates Erin and Andrew’s initials.  Erin’s ombre watercolor painting really made the lace wrap pop.

 

Lastly, we created a rubber stamp with their wedding logo so they could stamp their logo on the hang tag and envelopes.  It’s a fun, extra element that they could play with and use to customize each piece.

Gah – so amazing!  Thank you so much ladies!

Design and Letterpress Printing: Flourish Letterpress

Calligraphy: Victoria Lane, Calligraphos

Watercolor: DIY by the bride and groom

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Laura Murray Photography

Thalia’s Spring-Inspired Fabric Pocket Birth Announcements

Happy Monday everyone!  I’m thrilled to be back after a wonderful week of vacation in St. Lucia (more from that later) – and I hope you all enjoyed our little mini guide to Washington, DC while I was away.  Today I’m jumping right back into the wonderful world of paper with these sweet spring-inspired fabric pocket birth announcements from Elpitha at Print in Cursive!

From Elpitha: Staci and Jason welcomed sweet Thalia just the day before Christmas Eve.  Despite the frigid winter air outside, she brightened the room as if spring had suddenly appeared (How appropriate she was to be named Efthalia, which means ‘to blossom’).

 

When it came time to think about a design for Thalia’s announcement, Staci knew she wanted a way to send multiple photos to family and friends.  A fabric pocket, lovingly sewn by Grandma, was the perfect way to package these photos along with a sweet note.  The announcement was letterpress printed in 3 colors on 220# Lettra cotton paper. 

Thank you so much Elpitha!

Design and Letterpress Printing: Print in Cursive

Newborn Photos: Katie Dudley Photography

Photo Credits: Print in Cursive

p.s. Thank you all so very much for all of your sweet comments, tweets, and emails regarding our happy news!  I can’t even begin to tell you how much all of your love and support has meant to us over the last week… we’re so excited to share this exciting journey with you!