Things I've Seen that I Like

I've never been into making inspiration boards (except for one). 

I can either never find what I'm looking for. Or I lose interest around page 6 of my search results. Or there are so many good ones out there - just search Google images for "wedding inspiration board [insert color here]" - why should I make another?

I mean seriously, look at all this gorgeous inspiration...I can get lots of inspiration just handed to me :)

However, I do see things I like, like all the time. And I want to share them with people, like all the time. So instead of inspiration boards, how about I just post things I like? I make no promises of them matching or falling into a similar theme, or even making sense or that matter :) And all you have to do is sit back and enjoy.

Deal?

Great!

First, the only thing I love more than DIY is DIY using recycled materials. 

Like these gorgeous and delicate flowers made from vintage sewing patterns by MontclairMade on Etsy:

And I know I made no promises about things coordinating, but wouldn't they go perfectly with this Vera Wang dress?

And maybe pair it with this adorable and simple necklace from ANORIGINALJEWELRY on Etsy.

You can flip the necklace from "Ms." to "Mrs." after the ceremony!

I (because I'm a giant dinosaur nerd) also love these (hey husband, hint, hint) tiny dinosaur earrings.

Speaking of dinosaur nerds...

I definitely debating having our wedding at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.

But A) not everyone is as much of a nerd as I am; and B) the dinosaur hall wasn't large enough for all our guests. 

If we did have it at the Natural History Museum, you know I would ask Kevin Dart to make my invitations.

Was that random enough for you? 

:)

And they're off!

It's official,

no turning back now,

no more spell checking,

no more fact checking...

the invitations are sent!

Makes me a little nauseous to be honest.

I have to say, I really love how they came out.

(you'll have to click on it for the full size)

(and I'll take photos when I'm home during daylight again)

If you see a typo - other than the one on the small info card, I caught that one - don't let me know.

As for the boring technical info: I designed it in Adobe Illustrator with purchased clip art. Used my laser printer and printed on Paper Source cardstock (eco white, bluebell, and navy). Then I used this trick to hand-addresses the envelopes.

The stamps are my favorite part though!

I spent a couple weeks (ok, maybe months) searching ebay for american, off-paper, unused, blue, stamps and bought up everything I could find. For the record, the older the stamp, the worst it tastes. I'm very happy the USPS decided to make self-adhesive stamps.

It was so hard saying goodbye to my precious invitations. It makes everything so real. Not in the sense that I'm scared to get married, but what if I put the wrong time? or date? or is says "Remee"? what if the automatic letter sorting machine eats my entire set for brunch? or the hotel phone number is wrong and it turns out to be an adult entertainment number instead?

(that last one actually happened to my friend - luckily they have a good sense of humor)

Well, at least I was able to take care of hungry letter sorting beast fear. The nice people at the USPS let me hand-cancel each one. So they wouldn't have to force fed through the sorter.

They went out Thursday and we even got our first RSVP back today!

So exciting!!

DIY Calligraphy - Addressing Envelopes

For someone who's so fabulously artistic, I have terrible handwriting. Not only do I have terrible handwriting, I make typos. I didn't even know you could make typos while handwriting, but I miss letters or they run together all the time. It's not that I don't know how to spell the word (usually), but someone that doesn't translate on paper very well. And, even when I get the words spelled correctly, I'm lucky if anyone else can interpret them.

So, when it came to my wedding invitation envelopes, I was left with a dilemma. What was the best way to address them? I figured I had a couple options:

1. Be traditional and handwrite the addresses, drop them off at the post office, and, like a mother dropping her kids off at school for the first time, wave at my little darlings, cry softly, and whisper, "Godspeed little doodles" in the hopes that the post office would be able to read my chicken scratch.

2. Buy labels and *gasp* computer print them. Well that might work, just don't tell grandma.

3. Pay a calligrapher to write each one with a gorgeous sweeping, elegant, style that I can only dream of...Hmm...let's see. $2.00 x 150 invitations = how much were labels again?

4. Run the envelopes through my computer printer! Oh wait, the haste of a 20% Paper Source sale, I already purchased 200 A7 envelopes in "night." And, unless HP has come out with the best printer since sliced bread (i.e., can print light ink on dark paper), that's not going to work.

What's a DIY-er to do?

and then...I found the solution!

Look, I did these myself!

Was it calligraphy class?

Bribing a relative with good handwriting?

Surgically transplanting my hand with Laura Hooper?

Nope!

It was...Wedding Bee and the AMAZINGLY clever Jennifer.

Ok, here's the secret: tracing (shhh...don't tell)

Start by computer printing the address in a color similar to the color or your envelope.

Can you see that?

What about this one?

It is hard to see, but with the right light, and some patience, it's not so bad.

Templates and printer settings will vary from computer/printer to computer/printer, but I can tell you that I used Adobe Illustrator to make sure everything was lined up correctly, changed my printer settings to "5.25 x 7.25" and "envelope" and just ran them through one at a time. I did have to copy/paste each address into Illustrator, but I got into a rhythm and it went pretty quickly. (Plus, I've computer-printed addresses for wedding invitation clients in the past, so I'm kind of use to it by now).

Then I used a Uni-Ball Singo broad white gel pen and just traced! The ink wasn't perfect, and I had to trace a few lines over as I wrote, but overall, I think the one's I've completed came out gorgeous!

They have a wonderful handmade quality, but I didn't have to pay a lot or risk people knowing what my actual handwriting looks like.

A couple vintage stamps to complete the look... and ta-da!

So I still have a lot more to do, but at least it's progress, right?

DIY Envelope Upgrades

Check out my guest post on the WedLoft Blog by WeddingWindow.com on how simple touches to your envelopes can really make them special!

Bonus points for using recycled materials!

I've got STDs!

I once had a client email me about "custom STD cards." After a few minutes of thinking, "she wants what kind of cards???" I realized that she was asking about save the dates. It's been a joke in our house ever since.

Anyway, our save the dates arrived and I'm thrilled!

They're 4x6 magnets that I designed myself. I had them printed by overnightprints.com, who I have to say, was fantastic. They came out perfectly! My only compliant is that I couldn't figure out how to order a number other than their preset quantities. I had to place two orders (100 magnets and 50 magnets), but it was totally worth it.

If you want the technical info, I purchased some clip art, designed it in Adobe Illustrator, and uploaded a pdf file to the site.

For the addresses, I bought some light blue envelopes and just ran them through my ink jet printer. I figured it would take less time (and would be much nicer) than trying to handwrite them.

My favorite part though is that we're using Simpsons stamps :). They may not be the fanciest, but they're perfect for us - gotta have some fun, right?