Bright Painted and Gold Foil Wedding Save the Dates

Sometimes you get to work on a design that seems like it's going to be tough but then turns out great. This was one of those designs. I was a little worried when I was told the color palette was yellow orange and coral, I was a little unsure how it was all going to come together, but I have to say, after playing with a couple watercolor washes and font combos, I worked with the large hand done calligraphy names and modern serif font, and it all just worked!

You can see the first proof options below. This is a little sneak peek into how the whole process works, these were the couple initial digital proofs which we edited and ended up with this final design. I was so happy when this was the design they went with, is it the one you would have picked?

Daylight Saving Time….. FINALLY

I can't fully explain how glad I am that we are turning the clocks forward this weekend. For you to grasp how happy it makes me, you'd have to see my jump up and down like a crazy person. Winter blows. I know I shouldn't complain. I've lived in New England all my life, but every year, when we move the clocks back in November, I die a little inside. I LOVE getting home and walking the dogs…. when it's light out that is. So next week, despite the fact that it's still freezing, I won't mind taking the dogs out when I get home from work. Instead, it's something to look forward to! THEN, before we know it, it'll be spring, and we'll be opening the pool, and we'll be hanging out in the backyard, grilling, doing flips off the diving board, playing catch with the dogs in a backyard that doesn't look like an iceberg. Basically we'll be living in Clark Griswalds pool fantasy from Christmas Vacation. Plus, I can do projects outside again instead of covering our living room with sawdust. EVERYTHING gets better once daylight saving starts! So I'm going to throw daylight saving time a little party, because it rocks my world. 

Save the Dates in Progress...

It's funny how wedding season starts in the dead of winter when you're in the wedding biz! I've been  working like a maniac since the beginning of the year. With 7 weddings on the books so far, between May and October, it's already panning out to be a busy and exciting year.

Today I'm sharing some process pictures for a set of save the dates I'm working on. I'm really excited about this wedding. The bride has an awesome vision that I am so excited to help bring to life. I've been ordering some beautiful Japanese papers that I'll start running print tests on in the next couple days. As you can see, I've also been playing around with a couple different calligraphy styles for their names on their save the dates.

In case you've been wondering, my typical home DIYs have been put on hold this week and possibly for the next couple weeks unless I miraculously find myself with time on my hands! But have no fear, I'll be filling that space with lots of process photos of all the wedding projects I'm working on!

Jetlag, ugh.

Normally, before I travel, I get all my posts ready so I can have a week of jetlag recovery time when I get back. I did not do that this time. BIG MISTAKE my friends. My migraine meds were just kicking in, leaving me with the ghost of a migraine kicking around in my skull, when I realized I didn't have a post for Friday (it's Thursday night as I write this) so this is what you get! All my energy is going into the invites and save the dates I'm currently working on, which means no quippy calligraphy quotes today! Hopefully I'll get a good nights sleep, because I have a lot of exciting projects to work on this weekend! Have a good one kids! 

2014 New Year Resolutions

With the New Year comes resolutions. I'm not really big on them, "loose weight," "give up chocolate" and the other standards always seem like someone saying they are planning to learn how to fly this year. So here are a couple basic things I want to be better about in general, and now seems like a good time to lay them out....

Reach out more- I'm not big on phone calls, and as my friends are all over the US, that means I need to make an effort to see and talk to them. I want to be better about sending text messages, snail mail, and making the occasional phone call to remind people that I love them and am thinking of them!

Look good- so this is about taking the extra effort to look like a polished adult. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, it can feel a lot of effort to blow dry my hair, put on makeup and heels. But here's the thing, I ALWAYS feel better when I do those things. People are just nicer to you when you look cute, I know I get way more help at the hardware store when my hair looks nice! So here's to not giving in when I want to dress like a shlub.

Turn of tunnel vision- I am a focused person, I can work for hours and hours and completely forget the rest of the world exists. Though this is a great quality in lots of ways, but I can sometimes forget about all the good things around me, and taking an hour to relax with my husband and dogs, or go out to dinner with some friends will not make me any less of a designer!

Learn something new- no matter how old you are or what you're doing I think it's super important to learn new skills! I'm thinking screen printing might be something I'd like to try.

Be a better business woman- I love love love designing for Wouldn't it be Lovely, but I HATE marketing, accounting, and networking. I think this is a pretty common problem with designers. I do what I do because I LOVE it, but really, I need to learn to love the business bit too!

Here's to a New Year! May it be everything you hope for and better than the last! As great as 2013 was, I'm hoping for even bigger and better things in 2014!