Real Card Studio

Romantic Calligraphy and Letterpress Wedding Invitations

2017-01-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

One thing that never goes out of style: romantic weddings.

Case in point: This beautiful wedding invitation for black tie wedding at the Fairmont Hotel San Francisco. It has everything: natural edged Italian cotton paper, perfect impression letterpress printing in gold ink, a modern and relaxed calligraphic type and a darling custom monogram of the bride's and groom's initials.

Custom invitation design by Real Card Studio.

Calling Card for an Art Dealer

2016-07-08T05:30:00.000-07:00

Your business card can enhance or detract from the impression you make when you meet a potential client. You have an interesting conversation and then you hand them your card. Present a contemporary, professional and quality card. A nice cotton stock, clean typesetting and fine letterpress printing or engraving will always get you the reaction you want: "ooh, nice card!"

Real Card Studio created this beautiful calling card for an art advisor for RSVP in Roslyn, New York. Letterpress printed in cement ink on ivory cotton in sans serif type.

On My Nightstand: The Goldfinch

2016-07-07T05:30:00.000-07:00

I was an art history major in college, so any story that takes place in a museum and discusses art in any way, I'm into it. The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt, is a drizzly story about a boy who visits The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC with his mother, an art historian of some sort (I don't remember exactly, her occupation). Her life's obsession was with a particular work from one of the Dutch Masters; A petite oil painting of a goldfinch by Carel Fabritius.

This obsession with The Goldfinch painting brings the boy and his mother back to the museum one morning, on a day that 13-year old Theo Decker had been suspended from school. When the two become separated in the museum, tragedy strikes and the two are separated forever. A badly injured stranger, near Theo during the blast, urges him to take The Goldfinch painting, saying that it would be destroyed or lost in the clean up. Stunned, Theo puts the small painting in his backpack and woks his way out of the museum after the stranger dies, and in a daze finds his way home to wait for his mother, but who never makes it out of the museum.

The rest of the book follows this young boy and the priceless work of art--that he has now stolen--through the next ten, or so, years of his life. From living situations and decisions both good and bad, his destiny is intertwined with that painting.

Well written, suspenseful, intriguing. I'll definitely read it again one day.

Engraved and Edge Painted Save the Date Wedding Card

2016-07-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

Think of your Save the Date card as a teaser: give guests enough to get excited and make plans, but no spoilers! This stylish wedding card does just that. The type design and colors of the event to come are represented, but the invitation won't be redundant. You'll recognize the deep blue and lavendar color palette from this card, but maybe the invitation will be on dark blue cardstock with lavender engraving, and fill in the blanks regarding ceremony time, and pre- and post-wedding festivities.

What if you haven't chosen your wedding invitation yet? In that case, it's best to keep it very simple on the save the date so as not to clash with the invitation when you do make your selection. You probably have a good idea of the color scheme you'll be working with, but maybe keep some of the extra pop for the invitation.

The job of the wedding save the date card is to get the word out to your future wedding guests that you're planning something big and that you want them to have advance notice so they can make plans to be there. Whether you have every detail nailed down or not, invitations only go out 6-8 weeks ahead of your event, and in this busy world, that may not be enough notice for some. So send a save the date to get the ball rolling, and then follow up with all the details with the invitation when it's about 2 months out.

Real Card Studio's "Berry" save the date is on double-thick cotton paper, engraved in navy blue ink and edge painted in lilac.

Rachel + Ashley's Same-Sex Wedding in Seattle

2016-06-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

I know this is what people always say after weddings, but this was truly one of the sweetest weddings I've witnessed. Rachel and Ashley are friends of mine--family, really (Rachel is my sister-in-law's sister), so naturally I bullied my way in to their wedding-planning-business and insisted on designing their invitations. And I'll tell you about those in a moment. First, I want to talk about what I kind of love about same-sex weddings right now.

While gay couples aren't anything new, their participation in the mainstream wedding scene is. As states are slowly changing laws to make their union a legal entity, these couples are blazing new trails because many wedding traditions simply do not apply. Questions come up pretty quickly in the whole business of weddings. For starters, who proposes? Who's name goes first on the invitation: the bride's or the... bride's? Does one walk down the aisle while the other waits down at the front? Should they both wear dresses? Which one of them gets to toss the bouquet (or remove a garter)? And who takes who's last name once married? For two grooms and their vow-taking ceremony, there are just as many questions. And it seems to me that there are exactly as many correct answers to all these questions as there are couples asking them. So guess what, you guys! They get to make up all their own rules. And I love that.

But charting new territories aside, they also had millions of the same detailed decisions that anyone planning an important event has to make. For starters, there was no question that Ashley and Rachel's wedding would be in Seattle. They wanted a chic wedding in the city, but with a natural organic feel, too. Their wedding invitations needed to reflect that, so after reviewing a number of neutral options, we decided on real wood cards backed in brown paper bag kraft. These two exude modern style, so I designed a clean layout with a simple border, mixing an all-caps sans serif type for their names with a petite serifed type accented with italics, and we letterpress printed in navy blue ink with navy blue mailing envelopes. (They used a white gel pen to address, but another great option for addressing dark envelopes that also enhances the personalized feel is white, metallic, or light colored pencils.)

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The love-of-whiskey inspired urban invitations, by Real Card Studio, were letterpress printed on cherry veneer in navy blue.

Their wedding invitation host line read like most do these days--same-sex and traditional weddings alike--with the simple and inclusive “Together with their families”, since the couple paid for the wedding mostly on their own. Had one or more of their parents paid for a majority of the event, then those names would have been listed on the top “host line”. Listing parents’ names is only required when they are paying for, or hosting the event. Because they that pay for the wedding technically do the inviting as well.

As an etiquette junkie, I wanted to find a rule to follow for listing their names, even if it’s not a rule universally followed for same-sex wedding invitation wording. I was thinking either alphabetically or possibly by age, as you would do in a proper introductory manor. But they're pretty much the same age, so alphabetical made the most sense.

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Getting dressed for the big day with Best Sister, Alyssa. Rachel's jumpsuit by Nicole Miller.

Shoes by Louise et Cie.

Calmly taking in the view while dressing for the exciting day ahead. Ashley's suit by J. Crew.

Pinning Ashley's boutonnière before pictures, Rachel held a bouquet by Ballard Blossoms.

Pre-wedding photos in the Conservatory at Volunteer Park.

Like many weddings these days, the couple asked a friend to officiate their ceremony, undoubtedly ordained via the internet. So the message was funny and crazy personal and engaging. The couple wrote their own touching vows and they shared communion in the form of a can of Rainier Beer, because Seattle. Overall their service followed the same flow and order of a traditional wedding.

Wedding programs were placed on each seat before the guests arrived. Digitally printed in dark blue on a tall kraft card was a simple order of service with wedding party participants listed on the front. Since the brides share all the same friends, they didn't have traditional sides that each person represented; Eschewing the usual title of "bridesmaids" for all, excepting Rachel's only sister Alyssa (Ashley is an only child). We needed a title to highlight Alyssa's elevated importance, and since "Matron of Honor" simply didn't feel right, I came up with the title "Best Sister", which everyone loved.

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Ceremony and reception was held on Capital Hill's Melrose Market in Seattle.

During the processional, the brides walked down the aisle together.

Exchanging vows and rings while their (very funny) friend officiated.

Elated newlyweds held hands as they recede the aisle.

Big gold metallic R & A balloons beckoned guests to the dance floor.

After the service and during the recessional, the wedding party boogied, and the Best Sister rode piggy-back, down the aisle, letting everyone know that the ceremony was over and the party had now started. Guests lined up at the bar for their Rachel's Ginger Beer mules and iced tea while the DJ kept the crowd busy until dinner.

The reception was catered by local favorite food truck and restaurant, Skillet Diner, and we all dined on the most delicious fried chicken and corn bread that I've ever had followed by to-die-for doughnut holes. The couple and some members of the wedding party made the table centerpieces, wrapping jars with twine and placed them on rounds of fir tree. Throughout the meal, there were thoughtful and funny speeches by family and friends, plenty of roasts on Rachel, who took them all in great stride and enjoying every minute of it. And everyone danced late into the night. •

Table tops were decorated in winter white with baby's breath and cedar greenery displayed with candles on cut fir platters.

Home cookin'. Fried chicken, coleslaw and cornbread catered by Skillet.

Family and friends cheer for the couple's first dance.

Guests took a traveler of whiskey home with them after the party.

A game of telephone among the wedding party to keep the pose interesting.

When your very best friends are also your family.

Rachel + Ashley / January 16, 2016 / Seattle, Washington

Vendor resources for this wedding in Seattle:

PHOTOGRAPHER: Julie Harmsen
BRIDE'S JUMPSUIT: Nicole Miller - Vow to Be Chic
BRIDE'S SUIT: J. Crew
EVENT VENUE: Melrose Market Studios
PRE-WEDDING PHOTOS VENUE: Conservatory at Volunteer Park
CATERING: Skillet Mobile Diner
BAR: Rachel's Ginger Beer
FLORIST: Ballard Blossoms
INVITATIONS: Real Card Studio
DJ: DJ Res

Outdoor Wedding Invitations that are more modern than rustic

2016-06-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Outdoor weddings lend unlimited inspiration for iconography on the invitations. But they don't have to be woodsy and floral. Put a modern spin on the outdoors and you'll yield high-impact and beautiful results.

This dazzling bride wanted a chartreuse floral that we balanced with eggplant ink. The silhouetted dandelion comes off more modern than sweet which worked well for their summer evening nuptials in Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park with expansive views of Elliott Bay and the Olympic Mountains alongside world-class sculpture.

See more of this beautiful wedding here.

Real Card Studio designed this custom save the date and invitation suite, letterpress printed in lime leaf and eggplant on bright white cotton paper.

When You Don't Want A Big Wedding

2016-06-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

Not everyone dreams of a big wedding. For some, a walk down the aisle with all eyes on them sounds more like a nightmare. If a more intimate ceremony witnessed by just a few close friends and family is more your style, you don't have to forgo the celebration all together. Gather your favorite people for dinner after the deed is done, and enjoy a nice meal and a great party instead.

Aqua and red is a contemporary color combination that is fresh and modern. Serifed roman text paired with an elegant calligraphy bring a little formality, the colors lend levity.

Save the Date by Real Card Studio, Calligraphy by Lee Ann Clark.

Classic Bar Mitzvah Invitation

2016-06-24T12:34:00.000-07:00

Trendy designs are exciting and fun, but often look dated after a few years. And while it's fun to be part of a specific time and trend, some people regret not going for something more timeless.

Classic color schemes, this one in gold, ivory and navy blue, with text layouts using an all caps or small caps (that's an all caps font with taller caps for titles and sentence beginnings) keep the overall look tidy and clean, and will never ever go out of style. If you want to keep it classy, but have a little fun, choose a coordinating script or other display font for the name. Used sparingly, you get to be a little trendy without sacrificing the timelessness of your keepsake invitation. In this example, we used a calligrapher to hand letter the boy's name in a loose script to lend a little levity to the occasion.

Real Card Studio letterpress printed this Bar Mitzvah invitation in gold ink on a ivory cotton card, layered with metallic gold and navy blue. Hand lettering by Karen Yee Chan.

Chic Save the Date Cards with Silver Foil Printing

2016-06-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

A shiny silver save the date creates anticipation for the main event. When you're planning an important and extravagant event, you want to make sure everyone will attend. Giving your guests plenty of notice is the first step in making that possible.

But don't give them too much information...save some of it for the invitation! What guests really need to know in advance is when and where. If you're planning festivities that will span several days, be sure to include the full date range. But don't list the times, and maybe even leave the venue off the card if it's not pertinent to their planning purposes. Don't make the invitation redundant, or worse, confusing if you update details between sending the save the date and invitations if times or venues change.

Save the dates, ideally, will coordinate with your invitations but they don't have to match exactly. Sometimes it's nice to be a little more casual with the Save the Date card and use a photo. Other times, the details are not complete and maybe the colors or theme are not yet fully developed. In this instance, something clean, simple and beautiful will do nicely.

Real Card Studio created this simple and elegant Save the Date for Mark Harris Stationers in Newton, Massachusetts.

Throwing a Woodland Themed First Birthday Party

2016-06-22T12:04:00.001-07:00

Sweet occasions call for wild blueberries and woodland florals. For this first birthday party for twins set the tone for a delightful celebration.

Real Card Studio designed a simple fern wreath floral to surround the script for the birthday girl's and boy's names, and foil printed in matte white for a nice pop on a bright purple metallic. For RSVP Stationery in Virginia Beach.

Wedding Color Trend: Crisp White, Delft Blue and Lemon Yellow

2016-06-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

There's a fantastic color trend in the wedding industry right now, that harkens to the old addage: Something Old and Something Blue.

Classic chintz and dutch delft pottery and china make for classic and sophisticated wedding palette inspiration. The patterns are plentiful and easy to incorporate from envelope liners to bridal party dress patterns. The color scheme also adapts well to wedding in any season, especially breezy summers and cool winters.

Photography by Fresh Outtakes, Styling by Real Card Studio.

Elegant Calligraphy Calling Cards

2016-06-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

There is something so elegant about being able to hand a beautiful calling card to new acquaintances when exchanging contact information. With a card this lovely, you'll be looking for excuses to make friends just so you can hand out your card.

Ivory cotton paper is a classic favorite, with luxurious letterpress printing in black ink, the crisp detail of the hand calligraphed name stands out beautifully as well as tactilely.

Real Card Studio created these elegant calling cards for Union Street Papery in San Francisco. Hand lettering by the incomparable Lee Ann Clark in Maryland.

Accordion Booklets for Wedding Weekend Events

2016-04-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

Having a big wedding weekend with lots of events? Help your guests keep track of where the fun will be with a pocket-sized event brochure. These sweet accordion save-the-dates are not only cute, they are super functional.

Each panel has room for you to give important details about each event in your wedding weekend extravaganza. Cute icons keep it fun, and an orderly repeat of the day, time and location of your brunch, rehearsal dinner, and other sight-seeing events so your guests have the details they need at their fingertips.

When putting together a weekend guide to your wedding, be sure to include contact information for not only the events venues, but also for someone in your wedding party or event planner, in case guests get lost or cannot find where they need to be.

These simple accordion booklets are more work than they appear to be, so plan ahead and be sure to allow time for design and revisions. Check your facts and especially addresses so your guests don't end up at the wrong place wondering where to find the party.

If budget allows, hire and illustrator, like Juli Douglas, to create custom--and more importantly--style-matching icons for each of your events. The more cohesive the illustrations the better your accordion guide will look.

Real Card Studio created this darling accordion wedding event guide for Magnificent Milestones in Chicago.

Wedding Invitaitons with a Romantic Color Palette of Burgundy, Blush and Gold

2016-04-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

One of the most beautiful ways to add depth and interest to your palette--for invitations, your walls, or your wardrobe--layer colors. For invitations especially, I think using multiple materials and shades of paper colors can create much more interest in an invitation suite over just matching all your cards and envelopes in the same shade of white. Today's featured wedding invitation proves adding color can be just as elegant, if not more, than traditional whites alone.

Of course, I love the combination of burgundy and blush. Wine colors can be heavy, but pairing it with blush pink lightens the overall effect. Now add the natural warmth that the wood card brings to the suite and tuck it into a soft bamboo white sleeve so that the monogram is revealed, and you've got yourself a rich, warm and beautiful invitation suite.

The gold foil printed beautifully on the wood card, the key to its success being that the art was not too small. Foil catches light and can be more difficult to read at certain angles, so having just the names and monogram in the foil was key to the success of this piece. Turning the card in your hands and when that gold foil catches the light, the names seem to light up. Tying in the outer envelope, we used the rich burgundy ink for the smaller text, which worked beautifully.

Design wise, pairing hand lettered script for the names and the couple's pre-married monogram (just their first initials; after the wedding, if she takes his last name, they can begin to use his last name initial in their monogram. But absolutely not before) with classic small caps typesetting keeps the look formal and elegant.

Diecut sleeve takes the place of the more traditional inner envelop

Mixing pearl white, blush, natural wood and burgundy for a rich and beautiful invitation suite.

Real Card Studio created these wedding invitations for Magnificent Milestones in Chicago. Photographed by Fresh Outtakes, photos styled by Heather van Breda.

Pink Glitter and Letterpress Bat Mitzvah Invitation

2016-04-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

Oh, to be thirteen again! Who else could pull off so much fun and beautiful pink glitter? When we were working on the design for this bat mitzvah invitation, the mother was a little nervous about the glitter and thought maybe we should do white to tone it down; but I easily convinced her that once you're doing glitter... it may as well be pink! Because it was handily balanced by the elegance of the hand lettered name and delicate classic typesetting in a soft pink ink.

Pretty in pink, forever.

Bat Mitzvah invitation by Real Card Studio :: Beautiful and age-appropriate pink glitter card duplexed with metallic rose, and mounted bright white cotton invitation with hand lettering letterpress printed in rose pink.

Real Card Studio created this Bat Mitzvah invitation for Notes by Nanette in New York City. Photos by Fresh Outtakes.

Influenced by Fashion: Inspired by the work of Lee Alexander McQueen

2016-04-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

"I don't think like the average person on the street. I think quite perversely sometimes." –Lee Alexander McQueen

"Bumsters" skirt by Alexander McQueen, Highland Rape collection, autumn/winter 1995-96

I love couture fashion. And I don't mean that in a "I-always-wear-amazing-clothes" kind of way. (I really, really don't.) But being in a creative career, I crave inspiration. I need input. Looking at other stationery designers and graphic designers is a must, and I pick up ideas there, but usually it mostly makes me feel unoriginal. So I like to seek out inspiration that needs a little translation to my application, like apparel design. Color combinations, textures, folds, patterns all relate to my work. So while my own uniform is rather simple, I still love love LOVE high fashion.

One of my favorite designers to go to for creative refreshment is Alexander McQueen. At first glance, his work can be startling. But I have his book Savage Beauty on my shelf and the more I look, the more I want to look, and eventually I start to see. Lee Alexander McQueen left an indelible mark on the world of art and fashion.

"Voss" ensemble by Alexander McQueen, spring/summer 2001

"Widow of Calludon" by Alexander McQueen, Highland Rape collection, autumn/winter 2006-7

Although exquisite, to the average observer, a lot of his designs are rather absurd. Exposed breasts, straight-jacket restrained arms, bird-skulls-as-shoulder-adornments. I see it. And imagining your average mall-shopper trying one on of Alexander McQueen's skirts in the dressing room, it is absurd. But fashion was his artistic medium where he put his exquisite tailoring skills to work while exploring and bringing to light his ideas related to gender, sexuality, nature and even history, and he expressed these themes in such a unusual and, well, savagely beautiful way.

When I say that Alexander McQueen inspires me, I'm not saying that I want to come out with a tartan envelope liner to remember his Highland Rape collection (which is about Scotland, and not about women, by the way). I mean that seeing his work reminds me that I do my best work when I express something that matters to me. When I'm exploring an idea that is bigger than just using Pantone's Color of the Year and the latest pattern trend, because those aren't meaningful, and they're not personal.

But if I express my experience of going to back to where my husband was born in Johannesburg, and I pick a color to match the red dirt of Africa and use letterpress printing to give it depth and texture and choose a tribal pattern for the liner, then there's a chance someone will connect with it. They may not even know why they like it, or maybe they think they just like the colors and patterns. But if I operate in this manner, my designs will have soul and come from a real place and I hope people will sense that.

"When we put the antlers on the model and then draped over it the lace embroidery that we had made, we had to poke them through a £2,000 piece of work. But then it worked because it looks like she's rammed the piece of lace with her antlers. There's always spontaneity." –Lee Alexander McQueen

"Widows of Culloden" Alexander McQueen, Autumn/Winter 2006-7

Lee Alexander McQueen images and quotations are from the book Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty by Andrew Bolton published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, with contributions by Susannah Frankel and Tim Blanks. Photography by Sølve Sundsbø.

Dress for Success: How what you wear effects confidence and creativity

2016-04-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, a fantastic pair of new spring sandals is all it takes for me to feel like I'm the shit and then the creativity just pours out of me.

What's your go-to outfit when you need to kick-ass?

Calling Cards That Leave a Memorable Impression

2016-04-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

Fun with typography! Letterpress printed calling cards by Real Card Studio

Here's the thing about calling cards: you personally hand them to people that have met/are meeting you. So the job of the card is not to inform people about you, it's to help them remember you, and let them know how to get in touch.

So why do something memorable?

Typography is my passion. I love playing with fonts, carefully pairing contrasting styles and sizing lines by importance to best fit the space. Lately, I've been having fun breaking words onto separate lines, like in the "Vanessa" card shown above. Admittedly, it's a little tough if Vanessa hands you her card and hasn't introduced herself, you'll be looking at it longer as your brain processes the line breaks and slowly comes up with the answer. But after Vanessa Mazursky introduces herself and then hands her card to you, your brain will recognize it immediately. A lot of reading is simply recognition, it would be too slow if we had to truly read every word every time.You don't always have to read a complete word to know what it says. And sometimes, that's more than okay, it's intriguing.

Letterpress printed calling cards by Real Card Studio are available at Blacker and Kooby in NYC. For more stores, please visit our website.

Beach Destination Wedding Invitations in Aqua Letterpress

2016-04-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

A little detail goes a long way on this sea-worthy invitation to an engagement party.

The focal point of this invitation is the beautiful calligraphy by Karen Yee Chan for the couple's names. We wanted to frame the layout, but with the name bleeding off, we had to blow the frame out further as well. The frame detail is from a quatrefoil outline, but zoomed in so we just see the corner details. The aqua letterpress printing gives the card it's sunny oceanside feel.

Real Card Studio's "Daiquiri" invitation is available at Union Street Papery in San Francisco, and select stationers nationwide. Please visit our website for Stores.

One of My Favorite Books: All The King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

2016-04-11T10:47:00.001-07:00

Let me just say, my blog is not where you'll find reviews of the latest books. First of all, I'm not a book reviewer, per se. And second, I often like to find my next good read at second hand and thrift stores, so the newest books (unless they're terrible) don't make it there right away. Today I'm sharing a little about my favorite book, that was first published in 1946.

All The Kings Men by Robert Penn Warren is narrated by Jack Burden, primarily in a conversational style of Louisiana in the 1930s, a journalist following the campaign and career of one of Louisiana's most colorful and energetic governors. Fiction, of course, but said to be based on a real life politician of the same place and time.

I can't help but love them all, but Jack is my favorite character. He tries so hard not to care, not to get invested and merely observe and record. But the events that unfold become increasingly personal to him, despite his trying very hard 'not to know what anyone anywhere is doing at any time', and he is no longer able to escape the burden of being intricately involved.

At an innocuous meeting in the back room of a bar one afternoon, Jack meets a local do-gooder councilman named Willie Stark who appears to be there for inspection to be set up as a vote-splitter for the reigning corrupt politician. Convinced to run for Governor of Louisiana, when Stark goes on the campaign trail, Burden follows him to report the story, all the while knowing that Stark's encouragement to run is not as authentic as he thinks it is and that he's certainly not expected to win. Stark is full of heart, but it's not until he realizes he's been set up that he truly finds his voice, and then he takes the election by a landslide. When Jack is hired by Stark to be part of his personal entourage, his position as intellectual observer begins to disappear and the politics of the state become entwined with Jack's past, his family, his best friend, and his first love.

A few years after I first read the book, the movie came out (the 2007 version, anyway. It was also made into a movie back in 1949 that I have yet to see). It was hard for me at first because the characters I knew so well from the detailed descriptions by author Robert Penn Warren looked different on screen. Willie Stark was a large man, James-Gandolfini-esque in my mind (Gandolfini actually plays a different character in the film named "Tiny" Duffy), but he is played by not-very-large Sean Penn. And Stark's associate and mistress Sadie Burke (my second favorite character), a chain-smoker with nervous energy and jet black hair, is played by the refined and strawberry-blonde Patricia Clarkson. But they nailed the ethos of the story so I have long since forgiven the visual disconnect.

All the King's Men is one of only a handful of books I've read more than once, and I'm sure will read again. You won't regret it. At the very least, see the movie!

Encouraging Artistic Expression vs. Over-Instruction

2016-04-08T07:55:00.002-07:00

Big Mouth sculpture by Jude

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Ah, Jude. My oldest child has such a funny and fearless artistic style. Pictured above is a sculpture he made at school that I will cherish forever. I'm positive there was very little art direction here by anyone, and left to his own imagination, he came up with this crazy big-mouthed creature. Mouth open so wide, you can't see his face, just his two front teeth topped with a villain's curled moustache.

Art requires freedom. Freedom to express creativity without worrying what people will think, or if it's good enough. And opportunity vs. over-instruction to allow the artist to interpret the project and execute as he or she sees fitting. As a parent I hope Jude keeps that carefree instinct and don't become stifled trying to please. As an artist, I admire him and aspire to be that fearless in my own work.

My younger son, Noah, has the expression part down for sure. Pictured below, I can see how he might not realize that once the chalkboard ends and his wall begins he's not supposed to color on the wall anymore. But Noah is generally a pleaser, so my favorite thing about this (naughty) expression is his strike-through commentary on the graphic art we have hanging in his room. His mark making is unrestrained. (That's gold Sharpie, by the way, not chalk.) I couldn't get mad about this. In fact, I kind of love it.

Mark making by Noah

Strike-through expression. (I think he's over the farm animals.)

City Skyline Save the Date with Gold Foil Printing

2016-04-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

When many of your guests will be traveling from out of town to your wedding, or if the city is majorly important thematically to your entire event, an illustration of its skyline makes a great save the date card. Add some gold foil on a cotton card, et voilà! Chic and modern without breaking a sweat.

Real Card Studio printed this save the date for Rock Paper Scissors in Franklin, Tennessee.

Fashion First When Hiking in the PNW

2016-03-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

Fashion first when it comes to shoes, even in the forest. Because the squirrels do in fact care what you wear.

One of the reasons I enjoy social media is that it gives me an excuse to set up styled photo shoots with my friend and photographer Kim Mitchell, owner of Fresh Outtakes. It feels like we're pretending to work because it's so much fun. If you've ever seen a photo you like on my blog... she shot it. Although sometimes I get anxious and a little out of hand ("Kim! I'm going to bake a cake... should you come over with your camera and take pictures?"), we actually try and keep it authentic.

One such shoot, she dragged me out of bed at 6AM on a Saturday to meet her and go on an easy hike to scenic Franklin Falls, not too far out of town. Admittedly, this outing was a little more "authentic" for her to be doing than for me, but once I was there, it was a lot of fun. We were there to get some scenery shots and try and show off some of my stationery in the wild. And in the process, she got some funny action shots of what its like to be me out in the woods.

(Pretend) reading about fishing, but not actually planning to fish.

Snail mail.

The outdoorsy profile pic.

And the windy outtake.

Four Times Pretty Postage Stamps Made Your Invitations Better

2016-03-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

You can always tell when someone has put in the extra effort to match their stamps to their stationery or invitation. Sometimes we even design custom printed postage to go with an invitation design. But as an art nerd, I'm surprisingly far more impressed when standard issue postage stamps are used and they match as well, if not better than custom postage. And the more stamps the better--as long as they're all different! Collecting stamps for your big mailing project does take a little work. There are a few ways to find stamps for your special mailing.

If you're lucky, there's a great post office in your area where you can go in person and find a patient postal worker willing to pull out all the available options. There are even some post offices that stock older out of print stamps, where you'll find more variety. And actually, I have pretty good luck finding great postage on the USPS website. Be sure to browse all postage denominations, sometimes the perfect stamp might is a 10-center; find something to pair with it to get enough to make your mailing rate (always, always have your special mailings weighed for postage rate at the post office; it would be a pity to go to all this trouble and have it all come back to you because you didn't put enough postage). Splurge if you have to--paying an extra ten-cents for perfect looking postage wouldn't be the end of the world. Plan ahead, if you can order online they'll mail it to you so you can avoid hoofing it to the post office.

Here are four times the postage matched so well, it actually improved the overall mailing:

1. CALLIGRAPHIC IN LAVENDAR
Her stationery is gorgeous--beautiful hand lettered name by Karen Yee Chan, letterpress printed in the most beautiful shade of lavender ink. You wouldn't think it could get any better, but look what happened when we paired it with postage in purple, magenta and chartreuse! Yes, we cheated, these are vintage stamps, but it just goes to show you that it's worth the effort to shop around for stamps.

2. ARCHER IN EARTH TONES
On the trendy side, this charming stationery features a crossed-arrows motif and chevron envelope liner in an earthy taupe color with kraft envelopes. To make it pop, we paired it with postage we found in bright neutrals like oxblood and olive, and even matched it thematically with an owl stamp with an earthy green background. See? Better.

3. ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAM IN BLIND IMPRESSION
This felt like a trick question because, what matches no color? The answer of course is everything. So to make this postage pairing work with the stationery--a masculine monogram with architectural design, deeply letterpress printed without ink into double-thick pearly white cotton--we chose earthtone colors in reds, greens and rusty browns that matched the card's character: masculine and organic.

4. ABSTRACT PAINTERLY PATTERN IN PERIWINKLE, NAVY AND WARM RED
Sometimes, you just get really lucky. This stationery design was inspired by the frivolous, energetic and sometimes irreverent art of Donald "Drawbertson" Robertson. The liner design looks like it could have been drawn with Sharpies in bold shades of blue and red. Finding stamps (with a fun outer space motif, no less) that matched the three colors exactly was amazing. #meanttobe

Shopping for Nostalgia and Creating a Good Old Fashioned Childhood

2016-03-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

Slide of me and my mom in her blue Pontiac LeMans, circa 1973.

I'm a bit of a thrift store junkie. There's something about finding treasured objects that you can't always buy in stores anymore that keeps me going back for more. When I shop, I keep a few prizes in mind that I'm always searching for (the perfect cookie jar, for example) but I'm more interested in the unexpected. I don't want my house ever to look like I just bought the store display somewhere, as lovely as it may be. I want it to feel cultivated and real.

Recently, I spied on a high shelf (I'm 5' 2" so that could be almost any shelf, really) a yellow box that contained a working Kodak Carousel projector. (You know, the one Don Draper named in an episode of Mad Men.) When my father passed away a few years ago, I inherited a box of old family photos, letters my siblings and I had written as kids, and also a bunch of slides. The slide boxes were labeled things like "Heather's 1st Birthday" and "Giveout Creek" a rustic ranch property my parents bought in the 1970s in north eastern Washington. When I first went through the box, I held up a few to the light and could kind of see what was going on, but with the projector, it's a whole new experience.

One of my favorite thrift store finds: Kodak Carousel projector.

My boys got a kick out of seeing me as a baby, and noting our resemblances. The images of "the ranch" as we always referred to the property, remind me of the times we spent there, being kids in the country, playing in the barn and chasing mice in the field. And later, as a teenager, I remember arriving at the ranch, pulling in to the field and I'm listening to Depeche Mode on my Walkman, and my dad says to me 'turn that off now, you're in John Denver country'. I'm not even sure he was a John Denver fan, but Country Roads (now the official state song of West Virginia) will always be the song that reminds me of him.

And suddenly I realize that I'm now trying to recreate that experience for my own family, with our cabin we bought in the mountains last year. I spent a lot of time in the country as a kid, and I want my own kids to have the kind of memories and connection to the region that I feel. Tearing them away from technology, they seem to go through some sort of drug withdrawl, but once they finally break free, I know they're building the most wonderful memories.