things are better with a parrott

Pretty Pen Jen Calligraphy

 

{Images via Elizabeth Ann Events, Mrs. Cowboy Boot, Pretty Pen Jen, & myself}

I received the most wonderful gift in the mail today - a custom address stamp by Jennifer Cota of Pretty Pen Jen.  I put it to use immediately!  Having a beautiful address stamp does wonders for getting thank you notes in the mail. 

Jennifer began her studio in 2003 while planning her own wedding.  After mastering all the formal styles & techniques of calligraphy, she began experimenting with her own fabulously flourished styles.  Each of her styles is named after a woman in her family {I love this personal touch!}.  It is so hard to pick a favorite style, but I do love Josphine & Ruth.  Jennifer offers services from addressing envelopes to creating high resolution files for wedding stationery, menus to escort cards, signage to business identities.  If being an incredibly talented calligraphy was not enough, Jennifer is also amazing photographer!

I highly recommend Jennifer. I have referred a few clients to her & she is wonderful!

Letterpress Lovelies for the Studio

I snuck away from working on the computer & printing some new wedding invitations the other day to print some stationery for my studio with my lovely new logo by Grace Edmands.  In the years since I began my studio, I never managed to print any stationery to exclusively use for my studio.  I suppose designing & printing stationery & always having something lovely to use any time you would like is a good excuse, however I was depleting my inventory faster than I could replace it.  

It must be something about this time of year.  Spring brings warmer weather, colorful blooms, singing birds, & new ideas & inspiration.  Last year at this time I was redesigning my website & business card.  That design stuck for less than a year when I commissioned Grace to pen a new logo for me {however the colors remained the same.  I need some consistency.} & I revamped my website.  Again!  But I am just going to put it out there &say that this design is the one I have been searching for & working on for years.  This will stay around for a long time. 

Each piece was letterpress printed in either one or two inks of bright green & warm gray.  Each piece was printed on the BEST & my most favorite {& locally sourced} paper.  I send out a lot of paper samples for potential clients & I usually send them previous invitations so they can see different papers & inks.  For my business cards, I decided to print them on a variety of paper colors so potential clients get a better of idea of the colors & impression of letterpress. 

Until the next studio logo redesign....! 

Wedding on the Ranch

Swallows are my favorite birds {I am sure I have said this multiple times} & I am always thrilled when a couple wants to include them in their invitation design.  Swallows mate for life, so they are naturally a perfect wedding motif.  I recently finished the above suite for a couple getting married in San Juan Capistrano, known for the Mission & the return of the swallows celebration.  Each year, around St. Joseph's Day, the swallows return to the ringing bells of the old church & build their mud nests within the safety of the Mission's walls.  Residents & visitors from around the world celebrate their return each year!

Zach & Nicole will be married on her family ranch, surrounded by lemon orchards.  We decided to feature a vintage illustration of a lemon with blossoms on the invitation, pairing it with a lovely script typeface.  The ranch also has a windmill so I decided to feature a similar one on the RSVP, adding two small swallows swirling about.  I created a custom map illustration of the local area & included a small illustration of the Mission & another swallow.  As a side note, this is one of the smallest maps with the smallest text I have ever dared attempt with the gocco {along with the small hang tag} & it came out perfectly crisp.  Taking inspiration from a different ranch wedding, Zach & Nicole decided they wanted to use raffia to hold the pieces together, embellished with a small {1 x 2"} hang tag featuring their names, wedding date, & a swallow. 

All of the pieces were printed with the gocco using chocolate brown & rich yellow inks on 100% cotton Lettra paper in Pearl with 100% recycled brown kraft envelopes.  Everything came out fantastic & I am so pleased with my first custom wedding stationery suite of 2010!

Bridal Extravaganza!

Jessica & I participated in our first wedding show this past Sunday!  The 8th Annual Bridal Extravaganza was held at the Regatta Room in Eliot, Maine, a new events center.  Jess & I were not sure what to expect because we had only been to one wedding show each {as brides} & never participated in one.  We decided that Jess would design a cake based on my peony letterpress invitations.  We displayed her cake & my invitations at the center of our table.  On Jess's half of the table she had hundreds of mini-cupcakes including red velvet with cream cheese frosting, lemon raspberry-filled with buttercream, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, & chocolate with salted-carmel & chocolate ganache.  It was hard resisting the urge to eat one every five minutes.  Jess also had a photo album filled to the brim with photos wedding cakes, cupcakes, candy & desert buffets, & grooms' cakes. 

On my side of the table I had my letterpress & gocco screen printed portfolio along with some of my favorite invitations I have printed. I spent the good part of last week printing hundreds of business cards for each of us, which I will share this week! 

Overall the show was a really great experience.  Who does not love hearing people say, "ooh, these are so pretty!" & "ahh, these cupcakes are the best!"...right?  Truthfully, it is difficult to say if anything will come of the show, but each of us had some positive interactions with newly engaged couples who were enthusiastic about our work.  It was fun to meet some new vendors {I am fairly positive I now need espresso catering at our wedding & found a clambake caterer for our rehearsal dinner!}.

Of course, one of the best parts was being in the show with my sister {p.s. that is her looking fabulous behind our table}!  We talked shop all day, brainstormed new ideas, & created goals for 2010.  It is really amazing about how we both set upon these creative paths - design & baking - & after two years, came together as official members of the wedding industry!

Jolly Giveaway

Congratulations Stephanie & Maggie!  I was overwhelmed by all your completely sweet & kind comments!  WOW! It made each day so fun as I read every comment.  You all make me smile, knowing you are here with me.  Thank you so much for visiting & for your support of my work.  It is what motivates me each day & I would not be here without YOU!  I will be in touch with the two winners by email.

Have a lovely weekend!  We are getting our Christmas tree, yay!