Blustery Day Design

Kevin & Claire's Wedding - Real Wedding Pictures

2010-07-28T14:15:00.001-04:00

It's always so great to see what happens to our wedding pieces once they leave us and end up with the couple. Here's a snippet of Kevin & Claire's "Real Wedding" on The Knot, where they show a picture of the program we designed for them. (It doubles as a fan!) Great photos by Mark Tiderman.

We also designed their invites — see pictures in our gallery. We're happy we could be a part of your day, Claire & Kevin!

My Real Wedding from The Knot and The Nest.

Logo: Soup Bowl Benefit

2010-07-09T11:44:00.006-04:00

Love this logo we're working on for the first annual Soup Bowl Benefit in Terre Haute, Indiana, a fundraiser to combat hunger. The final version might change a little bit, but this start was too fun not to share!

Michelle & Daniel's graduation cake

2010-06-14T12:36:00.000-04:00

We designed an invitation for Michelle & Daniel's joint high school/college graduation, and their parents had this great invitation cake made based on the invite! Super cool. Also super tasty.

Hellooooo, Etsy!

2010-06-10T13:10:00.000-04:00

We're really excited to announce our new Blustery Day Design shop on Etsy! Etsy is great website whose tagline is "Buy, sell, and live handmade," where all sorts of artisans and creative people offer their wares. You can find a number of our retail products for sale there, including blank notecard sets, packs of notepads, and cards specifically for people fighting cancer or dealing with loss. Stop by and check it out — if you're on Etsy yourself, be sure to give us some hearts! :)

You can also stop by and see our recently posted items by visiting our Blustery Day Design Facebook page and clicking the "Etsy" tab.

Invite: An Evening with Yearbook Committee

2010-05-12T12:15:00.000-04:00

A simple little invite for a wonderful little performance! Terre Haute-based band Yearbook Committee (that I happen to be a member of) recorded the show to release as an album. Can't wait to see/hear how it turns out!

Simple and meaningful

2010-05-01T10:09:00.000-04:00

This invitation to a memorial service is simple and straight-forward without being drab. I really like how the color bars turned out — this sort of design is so versatile!

Shiny happy new gallery pictures

2010-04-21T21:25:00.009-04:00

It was too nice of a day today to not spend some of it outside! We took new pictures of some of our more recent invites at a nearby community park and are excited to share them with you. Check out our online gallery for all of the new pictures.

Congrats to Meghan & Brad, and Michelle & Rob, who just got married recently! We had fun working on each of their very unique invitation sets. Meghan's art-deco inspired final design really complemented her retro venue of The Redmoor in Mount Lookout Square. Michelle asked for a color-filled vintage vibe and playful flair for her New York City wedding, and we think our yellow and pink design really delivered. Hooray for thinking outside the box!

Logo: Retirement Plan Advisors LLC

2010-04-05T16:50:00.003-04:00

We just finished up a logo for Retirement Plan Advisors, LLC, in Olde Montgomery. The more I look at it, the more I like it! Lauren at RPA was a joy to work with. We went through a few different ideas for the motif in the logo, but I really find the lamppost inviting, comforting, and established. Nice.

What Women's History Month means to us

2010-03-12T16:51:00.002-05:00

March is Women's History Month, and there is no shortage of amazing women to celebrate! But this year in particular we feel special poignancy in how we look at the future of women and of women's health.

Most of you know that Blustery Day Design is made up of three sisters. The three of us have been inseperable since birth! Many of you also know that Vanessa was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2007 at the age of 25. After chemo and surgeries, she got back in the swing of things. Unfortunately, we just learned last month that her cancer has returned.

This news leaves all of us looking for ideas: how can we help? How can Blustery Day Design help?

As individuals, we look to organizations like the Army of Women, a pool of women (with breast cancer and without) who are willing to participate in research studies seeking answers to questions about breast cancer. They have a great blog post about how they have chosen to celebrate Women's History Month. We encourage all women to join the movement.

As a company, we're continuing to work on our Rain Drops line of cards for the sad days in each family's story: the cancers, the miscarriages, the illnesses and the losses. Vanessa has gotten first hand experience in the quality (or lack of quality!) of cards for persons in her situation, and we hope to help others find the right bit of sincerity to show that they're thinking of their loved ones. We'll keep you up to date and let you know when they're available for wider purchase.

Blustery Sounds

2010-02-02T17:10:00.009-05:00

Every once in awhile we like to pat ourselves on the back, so this time lets recognize Christina's superb job on her CD Sudden Amaryllis. Her music is poetically reviewed by Mark Stalcup in the January/February Terre Haute Living. We are beyond proud of her, but it's always neat to see when others appreciate all her hard work. Besides her brilliant lyrics and music, Christina also designed all the album art. See more pics in the BDD Gallery. Most musicians call themselves "artists" but Christina truly is!

Our first billboard

2010-01-22T11:13:00.000-05:00

We've done all sorts of things for Terre Foods Cooperative Market, but this is our biggest yet! This billboard is currently hanging out on 3rd St. in Terre Haute, Indiana. I snapped this picture right at the beginning of dusk on a cold and gray day in the Haute, so just imagine how great this baby looks on a blue sky kind of day! See more our of our work with Terre Foods.

Sneak peek of our new Blueprint invitation visualizer!

2010-01-19T12:31:00.000-05:00

We've been working on an new invitation "visualizer" and wanted to share a sneak peek with you! This interactive invite generator will help you see what your color, typeface, paper, and pattern choices would look like for your Blueprint wedding invitations, taking the guesswork out of ordering our template designs. We think this will be a fun way to customize your own invite package, allowing design time savings on our end and money savings on yours. We're super excited! Stay tuned...

Learn more about Blustery Day Design's invitation design levels and what else we offer for weddings at www.blusterydaydesign.com/celebrate.

Don't forget to recycle this Christmas!

2009-12-23T12:21:00.000-05:00

Almost as much a tradition as unwrapping presents is the big garbage bag to collect all of the wrapping paper. This year, don't forget that wrapping paper is recyclable! The best solution is to save large scraps for re-use (or use reusable gift wrappings to begin with), but when the little ones tear the paper to shreds, be sure to scoop it up and save it for recycling. Unless the wrapping paper has plastic-based outer coating, toss it in with the rest of your mixed paper and you're good to go.

Be sure to reuse or recycle the boxes, too!

Christmas cards and more!

2009-12-15T12:31:00.003-05:00

We're excited to have a full online retail store in the works, but for now, check out our holiday stationery order form to see what we have for the season! We have holiday cards, gift tags, stationery and notepads for starters. If you're local to BDD (in the Northern Kentucky area) it's not too late to get them for this holiday season. We can ship the same day they're ordered, or you can conveniently pick them up to save on shipping costs.

Stay tuned for more stationery and gift items from BDD! We've got a lot of plans...

Announcing the new BDD web site!

2009-11-20T12:36:00.002-05:00

We're super pumped about our new site. Stop by http://www.blusterydaydesign.com/ and check it out!

You'll notice one big change: we've divided the site into three site sections, each with its own navigation menu for ease of use and to accommodate our varying audiences. If you accidentally get in the wrong section, don't worry — the helpful site map at the footer of each page allows you to move easily between the sections. The sections are:

BDD Every Day: main site. Your home base for items for you and your family: baby announcements, holiday cards, stationery, party invites... Also includes information about Blustery Day Design, testimonials, in the press, and more.

BDD Celebrate: wedding & event. Where to start for invitations, programs, reception materials, and more for your wedding or big event.

BDD Identity: business & promo. Information about services like logo design, correspondence, promo pieces, web art & set-up, etc. From small businesses to non-profits to musicians to artists, this is the section for you.

There are all kinds of other goodies in the site or in the works, but we don't want to spoil it for you. Go check it out! Look around! There are still some little tweaks and bugs to work out, but we're pretty proud of it. Don't forget to let us know what you think!

America Recycles Day Nov. 15

2009-11-10T13:25:00.005-05:00

November 15th is America Recycles Day, sponsored by Keep America Beautiful and the National Recycling Coalition. The purpose of the day is "to continue to promote the social, environmental and economic benefits of recycling and encourage more people to join the movement toward creating a better natural environment." Well, we're all about that, so we took the pledge on their website to renew our recycling efforts. You should, too!

For more about Blustery Day Design's commitment to the environment, see our Environmental Pledge on our Web site.

Intertwined Lives

2009-10-19T12:17:00.001-04:00

Back in August I posted about working with CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center on an exhibit for the Museum. Well, last Thursday the exhibit was unveiled with a reception and it looks great!

The exhibit is made up of 11 four-foot by four-foot panels: one title panel and ten that each tell a bit of the story. Eva Mozes Kor, the museum's founder, and her twin sister Miriam were part of experiments in Auschwitz under the direction of Dr. Josef Mengele. Eva and Miriam were freed in the liberation of Auschwitz, and over the years Eva became interested in educating the public about the Mengele twins as well as the power of forgiveness. This exhibit, entitled "Intertwined Lives: Dr. Mengele, Eugenics, and the Mozes Twins," is a pilot exhibit that Eva and the Museum hope to expand upon in coming years. (Learn more about CANDLES.)

Here, Eva is being interviewed by the local media. (You can watch WTWO's clip on the opening here.)

See more photos of the exhibit in the BDD Gallery.

Stickers stickers stickers!

2009-10-13T16:59:00.002-04:00

People love free stuff. We do, at any rate. Vanessa's husband Billy in particular goes out of his way to find free things, from the Cincinnati Reds visors free to the first 1,000 fans or the Walgreen's rebate that gets him a pack of pens for free. (Sometimes it's taxing, for instance when we don't want to go to the Reds game two hours early, but most of the time we love him for it.) :)

So, naturally, we LOVE stickers as promo pieces. They're a great way to not spend too much yourself but be able to reach hundreds of people for a few pennies a pop. Slap 'em on guitar cases, slip them in gift bags, or hand them out at your next event. These examples are for musicians (including me!), but there's no reason you couldn't utilize stickers for your business, party, or even as wedding favors! See more of the Yearbook Committee 73 stickers or the Christina Blust stickers in the BDD Gallery.

A Visit with Mary Todd Lincoln

2009-10-09T12:43:00.003-04:00

I am such a fan of public libraries. Whoa. What other institution does so much to educate the masses? So I was happy to pitch in when the Vigo County Public Library asked me to pull together some programs for their fundraiser event featuring Deborah Gentit as Mary Todd Lincoln.

This program is a great example of how organizations with small budgets can still have great-looking materials. We designed the piece to use black ink only and provided the Library with a PDF for them to print as they found best. But since the program was well designed, it'll look good no matter what. I had a lot of fun pulling the 1860s typographical style in for a simple but nice little program. See more photos here.

Sneak peek of the new BDD web site...

2009-09-05T17:24:00.004-04:00

We're working on a new web site that will hopefully make it much easier for everyone to find the information they need! Here's a sneak peek...

Pieces of the past: CANDLES Holocaust Museum

2009-08-10T17:54:00.009-04:00

I've been working on an exhibit for CANDLES Holocaust Museum. There's still a lot to be done, but we're currently at the stage where we're pulling together info and images to create display panels. I'm quite struck by what an honor it is to work with personal treasures! Pictured above are Eva Mozes Kor and her twin sister Miriam, both of whom as children were part of experiments in Auschwitz under the direction of Dr. Josef Mengele. She only has a few pictures of her family, but the photos she does have are beautiful snapshots of her loved ones.

Eva is Founding Director of CANDLES, and she's an inspiration to work with. I can't wait to see how the exhibit shapes up.

In the Press: The Knot Ohio

2009-07-16T21:15:00.002-04:00

We've popped up in the Ohio edition of The Knot magazine! Check out the Fall/Winter 2009 issue (pages 66-68 to be exact) where you can find pics of the table numbers and escort cards we designed for Kate & Todd. Knot members can also view the online feature. And if you missed it, our escort cards were featured on The Knot blog back in March. Photographer Kim Long did a beautiful job capturing the spirit of Kate & Todd's apple green theme. Thanks for the pics, Kim!

See the rest of Kate & Todd's invitation set on our gallery.

Meg & Dan's Super-Personalized Guestbook

2009-07-05T21:36:00.007-04:00

Guestbooks are always a great way to remember who came to celebrate with you, but we particularly love guestbooks like the one we pulled together for Meg & Dan. Each guest receives a half-sheet of paper at their seat at the table with the instructions to write (or draw!) something for the couple.

At the end of the night, the pages are collected, we bind them together, and the newly married couple gets an irreplaceable keepsake from the people they love the most. We especially applaud the creative souls who do much more than write their name, who leave a haiku instead! or a long story! or a drawing of that one time at the Cleveland Indians game...

See more pictures of Meg & Dan's invites, reception materials and guestbook.

Yearbook Committee 73

2009-07-01T16:01:00.006-04:00

Nearly every musician knows that you've got to have a Myspace page. It's a clunky site and leaves a lot to be desired, but for accessibility and easy upkeep it's a necessity. So, I like to tackle the challenge of taking this awkward platform and tweaking it into something that looks great and really reflects the band.

Yearbook Committee 73 is a super-awesome band/musician's collective with a fresh sound full of singalongs, handclaps, banjos, an accordion, some banging on the garage door... okay, I'm biased, because I'm a Committee member myself, but you should check them out anyway. :) At any rate, we made YbC73 a great little banner for the top of their page, as well as some additional matching art for the contact box. It's just a small example of how we could make you look better online, too!

Celebrating Cincy: Larissa & Timothy

2009-06-24T12:24:00.002-04:00

I had tons of fun making these invites, and I think they turned out great! Larissa and Timothy wanted to show their love for their city in the design, so we incorporated the skyline with their sapphire blue color to really say, "Cincinnati!" Add the super-sweet linen textured paper and metallic silver cardstock, and we ended up with an invite set that could show a little class. Nice. See the rest of their invites here.