20% off any wedding suite!

HI Brides! Okay now is your chance to relish in your invitation moment… From now until February 15th, we are taking 20 % off ANY custom order (that means your dream invitation can be designed for a fraction of the price) or any suite from our current wedding collection! Not sure of all your details yet? No worries, as long as you fill out the order form (Enter 42LOVESVBRIDES in the additional notes section on the form) and secure your spot before February 15th at midnight, you’re in! So HURRY HURRY all you soon to be Valentine brides, we can’t wait to work with you one on one and make your dream invitation come true! xo

Therese and Amad’s Shower Suite

Do these invitations look familiar? That is because they were ours for Riley’s shower… Carrie, Therese’s sister contacted us asking if we could design the same shower invitations because they fell in love with ours… With other clients, I would never do this, but since they were ours, I felt like it was fine and we were flattered… I think they came out great. Carrie ordered a favor tag for a sweet little piece of candy, a little note for Therese that she could write to her guests after the shower, and of course the shower invitation itself… So fun!

Remembering Tracy Turpen

Yesterday I learned that one of my clients/friends Tracy Turpen passed away suddenly on Sunday, January 15. I cannot tell you how sad and shocked I am. She was an INCREDIBLE photographer, a true artist at her craft, a woman who oozed creativity throughout her work. Her photographs are chalk full of emotion, you can’t help but look at them and become inspired by her and her journey throughout life. I followed her blog religiously, probably more that any other blog out there. As soon as I would feel sad, overwhelmed, at a creative stand still, I would go to Tracy’s blog and literally my sails would become full again, that is how powerful her work is. On top of all her talent, she truly was a breath of sunshine, a beautiful person, she just had a way about her that was contagious. You just wanted to be around her.

I had the pleasure of working with Tracy while we re-vamped her collateral and identity (below) in 2009. We worked closely together to develop her brand and voice, and to have it mimic the powerful images Tracy so lovingly shot. I designed a sort of landscape logo using watercolor that I felt really captured her colors perfectly. She was a green and blue person most definitely, inside and artistically. For Tracy, it was all about the images, and how we could have the design enhance that. While I was putting together her brochure and working with all her photographs, I was just completely overwhelmed with her talent and how her images stirred something inside of me. It was truly an incredible experience to work with her. My prayers go out to her fiance Tyler, her sweet little son Evander, and her warm family that she spoke so softly about. Her spirit will hang on treasured living room walls for many years to come. Her legacy will live on through her partner/fiance Tyler, I just know it. Huge hugs Tracy, we will all miss you so much, words cannot express! xo

All images shot by Tracy Turpen www.tracyturpen.com

Anna Redfearn

My dear, sweet friend Mary and her husband are having a baby girl in March… So I wanted to print these in time for her baby shower, which I went to last weekend at home (in Charleston) it was kind of a mom’s gone wild night, so fun, love my girls. Anyways, I told Mary I would add all the factual stuff later after she was born, weight, height, birthday but I wanted Mary to have them for her shower, so she didn’t go ahead and order them after. One less thing to check off the list after having a baby, right? (hence the reason why mine were 6 months late!)

I used a magenta pink which I am absolutely crazy about along with a metallic blue, which was also a special order and couldn’t be mixed from the pantone book… xoxo

Riley Magnolia Birth Announcement

I know, I know… So I am a horrible mother, and even more so since this is what I do for a living! But I must say doing stuff for myself, especially printing, is so so difficult… I don’t know why, maybe it’s because I put all my customers and everyone else above my needs, but I finally had a little time to sit down and design/print Riley’s birth announcement. I have been OBSESSED lately with silhouettes, especially Riley’s, she has the cutest profile. When she was tiny, I called her the who from whoville (from the Grinch) her profile looked exactly like that! If you are one of our buddies, don’t look, yours is in the mail!

Hope everyone had a great New Year… I don’t know about you, but I am totally psyched about this year. Lots to look forward to and lots to accomplish! xxoo

2012 National Stationery Show Booth #2066 with a little pep talk…

So it’s official! We are headed the 2012 NSS this year and I have to say I am kind of freaking out a little bit! Last year we didn’t go to the show, because I was pregnant with Riley and the show took place a little too close to my due date, so we decided to sit out and come back the following year with tons of new product and letterpress goodies to show off… Now that I have a baby, I am trying to figure out as a new mom, how to balance my work and my career and find that really happy medium, because right now, I feel very overwhelmed. 

I have found that I can completely go off on a tangent with ideas etc. If you are a designer and a stationer, there are literally a million things you can design and put out there, so I have had to really focus and hone in on exactly what I would like to show for the 2012 nss and enter the show with a clear goal and vision. Having said that, here is our mission for the 2012 Show: We are primarily focused on weddings but will expand that focus to all things celebratory (ready mades, fill ins) with a few random moments of greatness which will include additional letterpress goodies that will serve to mark those amazing celebrations in your llife (baby updates, baby wellness book, 2013 calendar)

I feel a little vulnerable right now writing all this, because normally I am pretty determined, but with everything going on and associated with the show, money, time, will our new products do well, is my baby okay, all swirling around in my head, sometimes I get extremely overwhelmed and it is in these times especially, when it is so important to move forward and achieve my goals: Be a great mom to my sweet baby BUT also have a career that can be equally as rewarding and inspiring… I can have it all, and I will!! Now it’s time to put my head down and work but do it with a huge smile on my face, because honestly, there is really NOTHING I would rather be doing then what I do. Go 42! xo