Month: September 2012

gender reveal party

Gender Reveal Party

Heather and Matt got married at the Dayton Art Institute in November 2010 and are expecting their first bundle of joy. They decided to find out the sex of the baby at a “Gender Reveal Party” that included all of their closest friends and family members. The Gender Reveal is a new trend that just recently started making headlines across the country as couples started coming up with unique ways to find out the sex of their baby at a celebration with family and friends. Heather scheduled their Gender Reveal Party for the day after her 20-week ultrasound…she and Matt shielded their eyes at the appointment and had the ultrasound technician put the determining photo into a sealed envelope, which was then delivered to the bakery that was responsible for creating the shower cake. The bakery was instructed to use pink filling for a girl and blue for a boy, and to carefully frost the cake to conceal its contents so it wouldn’t ruin the surprise before the big moment. Heather cut into the cake at the shower to reveal……blueberries! They’re expecting a little boy in early 2013, and couldn’t be more thrilled. Congrats to the parents-to-be! (To see Heather and Matt’s beautiful winter wedding invitation, click here.)

 

Spotlight: Envelopments

We do custom.

This is where it all begins…Consistently over the past decade, I haven’t seen any one company rival the popularity of this custom design invitation line. Envelopments offers the ability to create your own one-of-a-kind invitation using layers of gorgeous card stock, original artwork, pocket folds, ribbon and more. Meet with one of our consultants to design the perfect invitation to represent the theme and colors of your wedding. Once you experience Envelopments, we’re pretty sure you won’t turn back!

Envelopments was recognized as America’s favorite Invitation (2000) on the Today Show “Ties the Knot” – the first reality TV wedding where the audience could go online to vote first for the couple then the honeymoon, dress, cake and the invitation. Today, the Envelopments brand is recognized as a leader in premium, quality, custom communiqués and their products are used by thousands of designers in all 50 states and 32 countries around the world. With more than 230 card stocks, papers, liners and envelopes and more than 90 shapes and sizes with signature names like Envelofolds®, Portable Pockets®, Pocket Folds® and more, the Envelopments products are a constantly changing collection of fresh ideas and innovative designs you can tailor to fit your event.

Check out the Envelopments blog for fresh inspiration!

Baby, it’s cold outside

This is my baby (who isn’t a baby anymore) staying warm on a chilly Fall morning in 2007. The morning I snapped this pic he had gotten into my closet and dug out my pink slipper socks and some striped hot pink fuzzy gloves. Still in his pj’s, he brought them out into the living room, took all the cushions off the couch, put on the socks and slippers and proceeded to sit in his cushion fort watching Bob the Builder, oblivious to me taking about a dozen photos of this precious morning moment that I might not have remembered had it not been for the camera (another reason I love photography so much).

I’m one of those people who prefers candid shots over staged photos, and as soon as I started planning my Christmas card in 2007 I kept thinking of this picture of him with the fuzzy gloves, and the expression “Baby, it’s cold outside….” In the end I opted for a different sentiment and decided to tone down the hot pink by converting the photo to sepia, but this was the most elaborate holiday card I’d done to date. There were about nine layers of paper and ribbon, including a 5×7 Envelofold from Envelopments, layered with a light blue polka dot paper and rich chocolate brown accents. I went with a lustrous silver printed card and matching envelope; most of the layers were handcut from larger pieces of card stock in order to create the framed look around the photo, the “Peace” seal on the back, and the greeting itself. It was worth it- every time I look at this custom creation I remember what the holidays mean to me- embracing love and family, and appreciating those moments in life that sometimes you’re just lucky enough to capture on film.

Holiday Splendor

All year I look forward to my annual October-ish visit from Mary Ann…She’s one of these awesome fiery ladies with a personality that keeps me laughing almost constantly. And every year when she and her friend stop in to work on Mary Ann’s holiday cards, we are tasked with coming up with something “even better than last year’s” (which is no small accomplishment since we’ve been designing her holiday cards since we opened in 2005.) Last year’s card was a beautiful creation from Tag & Co.  but in 2010, we created this whimsical dancing reindeer card. Mary Ann loves bright colors, particularly red, so that was an obvious choice as the top layer, and the tiny dot pattern adds a sweet and simple touch. The most important decision each year with her cards is the sentiment- always unique, heartfelt and sincere, it can’t be something we’ve ever used before. Mary Ann challenges me to keep reinventing her cards, and keeps me giggling well into the New Year.