Wood Veneer Bar + Bat Mitzvah Invitations

I'm always thrilled to see my favorite design studios doing their own take on modern Bar and Bat Mitzvah invitations, which can often leave parents totally frustrated as they search for something different yet still respectful of the event itself.  These wood veneer invitations from Night Owl Paper Goods do just the trick:

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Herringbone strips and ornamental flourishes?  Awesome.  Check out the full Bar and Bat Mitzvah invitation collection from Night Owl Paper Goods right here.

{image credits: night owl paper goods}

Modern Bat Mitzvah Invitations

As I discovered last year, while helping my sister research invitations for my nephew's Bar Mitzvah, finding fresh and modern invitation designs for a Bar or Bat Mitzvah can be a huge challenge.  Invitation designs are often either a bit too far on the traditional side (ahem, boring) or are so theme-centric that they border on tacky.  So I was totally thrilled to see this fantastic custom Bat Mitzvah invitation by SeeSaw: 

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I love the balance of the modern design elements with the giraffe illustration by Rebeca Raney, which along with the illustrated foliage ties in perfectly to the Bat Mitzvah venue of the American Museum for Natural History without coming across as too childish.  So pretty!

{image credits: Seesaw}

Whimsical Baby Shower Invitations + Announcements

After I posted these baby shower invitations a couple of weeks ago, I received the sweetest e-mail from Tovah at Brighten My Day studio.  Tovah creates entirely custom wedding invitations, Bar and Bat Mitzvah invitations, and — of course — baby announcements!  The amazing thing, particularly in this era, is that Tovah operates entirely by word of mouth and does not maintain a website (!) — and as a result, Tovah forms a personal relationship with each of her clients that is reflected in the final design.  Here are a few examples — along with some background from Tovah on each of the designs:

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LEAH WALDMAN

I have worked with this family for years, and was honored to create the invitation for their granddaughter’s naming ceremony.  They wanted an invitation that was warm and sophisticated, and while they wanted a little sweetness, they did not want the invitation to feel juvenile nor whimsical.  We letterpress printed the invitation on a heavy, nearly white board in a warm tangerine hue, a compliment both to the décor in their home and a match to the warmth of this family.  The invitation is monarch sized and paired with a kraft colored enveloped, also letterpress printed in the orange ink.  The floral image has a hand-drawn feel, and is carried through to wrap around the envelope flap.


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JAREN ROSE

This is my daughter’s birth announcement.  I wanted some sweetness, but still clean and contemporary.  This one was a 4Bar announcement {petite and girly} letterpress printed in latté and petal inks.  The “relief” dot detail on the flowers has a great feel when letterpress-printed, and the pink was a translucent, delicate shade that I just loved.


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NOAH SAGE

This is the birth announcement of my now 4-year old son.  I wanted something that felt modern, but with a softness that still felt ‘baby.’  The announcement was letterpress printed in light blue and chocolate inks on a gorgeous soft white stock.  His name was lettered by the amazing Gail Brill.


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SCOTT AND SHANE

This couple had gone through the surrogate process and were soon bringing home twin baby girls.  We used their nursery — a contemporary room of orange and pink with vintage elements — as inspiration for the both their shower invitation as well as their baby announcement.  The shower invite (top) featured a floral illustration that was letterpress printed into heavy, nearly white board in blossom and tangerine inks.  The announcement (bottom) was a tri-fold design printed on fluorescent white 110 lb. cotton Lettra and featured a gorgeous black and white photo of the newborns. 


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ZEV MATTHEW

This couple were using whimsical animals throughout Zev’s new nursery, so I used that as inspiration, knowing that Mom and Dad also had a clean, unfussy personal style.  They wanted to keep the design to  a single color {for budget reasons} and loved the sweetness of a 4-bar card.  The announcement was paired with bluebell envelopes, letterpress printed tone-on-tone in a deeper bluebell ink.

Thanks so much Tovah!  If you're interested in working with Tovah for baby announcements or Bar and Bat Mitzvah invitations, you can contact her via e-mail by clicking here!

{image credits: tovah glenn}

Blog Anniversary Giveaway – Two Trick Pony!

Today's first giveaway is a big one, and it's from one of my favorite invitation design studios — Two Trick Pony!  In addition to screen printing, Two Trick Pony recently began offering digital printing to cover every budget and occasion. I profiled the Two Trick Pony invitation portfolio back in July, but here are a few of their invitations just in case:

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I'm absolutely thrilled to say that the Ponies are giving away up to $750 toward a single invitation suite from the Two Trick Pony Shindigs collection!  That's enough for 100 screen printed, one-color invitations, including an RSVP postcard and printed envelopes!  This giveaway can be applied towards any digital or screen printed wedding or social invitations, including wedding showers, bar or bat mitzvahs, and anniversaries, or save the dates.

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So here's how to enter:  Head on over to the Two Trick Pony Shindigs collection and pick your favorite invitation design.  Then come back here and leave a comment below with your choice of invitation design, a quick description of the event that the invitations would be used for, and three ways that you are making your shindig more eco-friendly.  You must leave a valid e-mail address for your entry to qualify.  You'll have until 11:59 p.m. EST tomorrow, September 9, to enter.  Bonne chance!


UPDATE: As if they weren't already awesome enough, Two Trick Pony chose two winners for this giveaway! Isn't that amazing?

Our first winner is Nicole, who is planning an eco-friendly wedding complete with local and organic foods and flowers, carbon offsets, and vintage games!  For the second winner, the Ponies also offered to donate a set of invitations to the second winner, Christina, who is planning a fundraiser for a Community Center in Boston (the Ponies' home town).  Congratulations Nicole and Christina!  I can't wait to see both Nicole's wedding invitations and Christina's fundraiser invitations a bit later on!


{image credits: Two Trick Pony}

NSS – Booth round-up, part four

I'm heading out for some early anniversary celebrations (one year on Monday!) with my husband, but before I do, I wanted to share a few more photos from the NSS. 

First up, the jam-packed booth of Small Square Design:

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{I love these small book notes journals!}

I also loved the unusual presentation at the twig + fig booth…

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…and twig + fig's wonderful line of Bar + Bat Mitzvah invitations (in addition to some pretty amazing wedding invitations):

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Next up, some gorgeous new cards + invitations from our friends over at Copper Willow:

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{this last set of invitations is letterpress printed on BOTH sides on super-thick paper – so that green + brown bird pattern? that's actually the reverse side of the invitation. gorgeous!}

I was also absolutely delighted to meet the husband + wife design team behind Embellished Ink, a new DC-based (yay!) design studio that made their official launch at this year's NSS:

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{how gorgeous is this foil-stamped holiday card?!?}

And finally, at least for this segment, the cuteness was in full effect over at the Dee & LaLa booth:

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{I absolutely LOVE the card with the skunks – too cute!}

I've still got a few more booths to share with you, so check back for the rest of my coverage from NSS '09!

{photos by Oh So Beautiful Paper}