Extra! Extra! Read all about it… These adorable vintage photos of the two kiddos matched up nicely with an old newspaper themed moving announcement.

“Tell me- what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” This Mary Oliver quote was a request from a customer who wanted to give these framed as gifts. We fully justified the text and made key words stand out, turning a quote into a piece of art.

This year’s triumphant return of the Pig Roast invitation adhered to the ultra-trend of using reverse type and a chalkboard background (don’t knock it too much- it’s part of our logo, too…). The stripes on the back were a fun surprise for anyone who turned the card over, or happened to drop it and have it land back-side up. Whatever will we think of next year to top this design?

Oh buddy… this invitation kept us laughing from the moment the customer brought the idea to us. She saw something similar elsewhere and wanted to know if we could recreate it for her… and it was truly our pleasure. This surprise 40th birthday party for the client’s husband played up the golf theme while humorously incorporating various innuendos throughout.

This First Communion invitation could easily be turned into a baptism or birth announcement. The bottom layer is a white faux wood grain card stock, accented with charcoal and powder blue.

These VIP backstage pass invitations were being inserted into lanyards and distributed to the party guests. We tried to make them fun and authentic at the same time, complete with a bar code at the bottom.

Clothes That Work has kept us busy creating designs for their very exciting boutique expansion, and in the process we have done several open house and preview party invitations, as well as the design for the boutique logo itself, new pledge cards, plaques, and signs.

It’s that time again! PIG ROAST TIME! This was the 2013 edition….as I’ve said before, every year is my favorite to date. This was no exception.

In addition to designing business cards for many of the stylists at Utopia Salon, I recently put together some new gift certificates for the salon. The tea length ivory card slides into a black portable pocket sleeve, which is then paired with an ivory envelope bearing the Utopia logo. The certificate is intentionally worded so it would work for many potential services or dollar amounts.

Five years after we did a birth announcement for this family, they moved to Colorado and asked us to find a truly unique moving announcement that would include a photo of their new digs. After looking through some ideas, we landed on a cool tri-fold announcement patterned after a design featured on the Envelopments website. It worked beautifully with the photo of their house and the fact that they moved from here to there (love the zig zag line.)

The Van Overs roast a pig every year and I adore that even though they live in Indiana, they call me every summer and ask for new ideas for their annual shindig. (That just gave me an idea for next year’s invitations….hmmm, “Pig Shindig”!) This year’s invitations blew the others out of the water- this was by far, the prize hog at the county fair. We used an indigo bottom layer of cardstock and a nice deep blue ink to match, coupled with a rusty red envelope and accent ink to coordinate, and printed everything on a pale grey stock called London Fog that gave it just the right amount of grit. I particularly like the “seal of approval” we used as a design element- this is one of those invitations that makes me happy just looking at it because it’s such a happy marriage of things I love…fonts, graphics, stocks, colors… it’s bacon-tacular (much like this clever site, which meat-lover computer nerds will appreciate).

Bre came into the store for the first time with her mom, brimming with excitement over her upcoming graduation from medical school. She informed me that she never goes “all out” for things, but she wanted something really special to announce the graduation she had worked so hard for, and the degree she was so proud to earn. She chose a fun geometric pattern in a cool chartreuse green and paired it with a navy blue border which gave it a tailored look. We kept the feeling lighthearted with a casual and fun script for her name, and lent a modern lilt to the invitations with one of my favorite go-to fonts, Century Gothic for the rest of her text.

This was a “think outside the box” project, to say the least…when I got an email from a long-time customer telling me her latest theme (she’s a Party Planner Extraordinaire), I couldn’t wait to sit down and design it. Her father is a Sweepstakes fanatic and she decided to have a Sweepstakes-themed party for his 75th birthday. We used parchment paper, found some cheesy graphics and bold fonts, and even added gold seals and manila envelopes to make them look more official. How awesome is that?!

Courtney is one of my favorite 6-year olds because she loves paper so much. She even came in to order her own stationery before she started school! This special invitation was for her sixth birthday party, and since it was a princess party we had to make it extra sparkly. We used two layers of metallic card stock and finished it off with a glitter tiara at the top.

This was the most elaborate Bat Mitzvah invitation we have done to date, with three colors layered inside a pocket, a delicate satin ribbon, a Star of David punch and plenty of purple. The pocket worked well because there were plenty of family members coming in from out of town to celebrate with Sarah, and her mom wanted to make sure we included a directions card for the guests as well as a celebration card detailing the events of the weekend. We frequently use this format for wedding invitations and it worked beautifully to incorporate all of the elements of Sarah’s Bat Mitzvah celebration.

Every Memorial Day Weekend, Dorothy Lane Market hosts what is known as “Lobstermania”, which is an all day event at which they sell {super cheap} lobsters until they run out. It’s first come, first served; you get in line as early as you want, you get as many lobsters as you want, and you take them home, invite over a couple dozen people, and feast on lobster as you welcome Summer.

Disclaimer: the first major thing to note about this invitation is that due to licensing laws I was only able to use the Scooby Doo graphics because it was for private use- these invitations were for Ryan’s 5th Birthday. I’m not legally allowed to sell invitations with licensed or protected graphics, however I wanted to post this invitation because it would be easy to do a more general scavenger hunt or mystery-themed birthday invitation. The best thing about this invitation was that I included the first clue for the scavenger hunt in the invitation and instructed guests to bring it to the party to receive their next clue. We played on the idea of a “birthday bandit” stealing the party favors, and the kids had to read the clues and follow the trail to eventually lead to the party favors and balloons, which the kids got to take home with them. It was a really fun activity and kept them busy and running around outside as they tried to figure out where the next clue was hidden and work as a team to find it.

Whitney, oh Whitney, where do I start…..Whitney bounced into the store one day applying for our internship position, and even though the first time I met her she reminded me of a bubbly, red-headed Hannah Montana, she quickly found a niche at the shop and was a complete joy to work alongside. Whitney became one of our legendary interns at the shop, and this energetic, Texas-bred girl taught me a lot in her time at The Envelope: she explained the ways of Cotillion and hair weaves, taught me how much pugs love to “dress up,” and discovered that it’s never a good idea to use a shrink-wrap gun as a blow dryer (she ended up burning a hole in her shirt).

When she graduated from the University of Dayton she moved to London to study design, and like most things Whitney did, she wanted to announce her commencement in her own unique style. We designed a 4×5 portable pocket in hot metallic pink, and incorporated a lime green paisley accent stock and a swirly, handwritten font. Simply put, her announcement was *almost* as much fun as she is.

Occasionally we have the honor of creating invitations for milestone events- this 50th Wedding Anniversary was on the contemporary side, as reflected in the chocolate and turquoise kaleidoscope patterned backing. We kept in the 50th Anniversary tradition of gold by printing the top layer on a pyrite stock.

Julie was turning 35 and decided it was time to get the girls together to celebrate with a night on the town. She liked the compact size of the portable pocket card, but we jazzed it up a bit by adding a cool patterned black and white accent layer which made it feel a little bit more sophisticated. The seal on the front announced the event and gave a sneak peak at the layers we used for the invitation inside the pocket. The hot pink and Tiffany blue were just the right combination of city style and girlish fun (which was exactly what her birthday turned out to be!)

Yep, this one belongs to me…One of the perks of owning an invitation business is that you get to have the coolest invitations (and tend to have more parties just so you can send out fun invites). The thing that makes me laugh about this invitation is how I made a (failed) attempt at making it look as though the invitations were from my then husband. Like anyone who received one wouldn’t know that I sent my own invites, ha….

This design says it all…turning 30 means “kissing goodbye” to a lot of things – that it turns out you won’t actually miss (and for the record, tequila hasn’t been completely banned). Now at 34, I can actually say I have enjoyed my 30’s way more than my 20’s….I’m more settled, I have some amazing people in my life, and I feel like I finally know myself and my niche in this world.

This invitation was so much fun to design…the multiple fonts, layers, and graphics blend beautifully, and the bright green and orange create just the right statement to go with a gathering of friends at El Meson. The only downside was that they were $1/invitation to mail but I have to say…it was worth it. The overall feel wouldn’t have been the same without the square detail. I particularly love the oversized seal on the front featuring a chandelier and a reminder that “29 is so last year…”

If you’re turning 30, I recommend you do it in style with a portable pocket invitation like this one, complete with a list of all of the things you’ll be saying goodbye to….I have a hunch that even if 30 seems old now, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with this new chapter in your life, just like I have been. Welcome to the club. 🙂

Small pockets are perfect for graduation because they give all the details in a tiny, succinct package, and let’s face it- by the time we graduate, sometimes less reading is better! Caroline decided she was up to the task of additional reading and went on to law school, which she announced on a petite bright green and metallic brown textured announcement, with just enough sophisticated patterned border to make it interesting.

Fore! I don’t recommend taking a bunch of 3 year olds putt-putting…however, if you do, and it happens to be for a birthday party, I highly recommend this custom invitation complete with a faux suede putting green. Ryan is now 8 and doesn’t get into birthday parties as much anymore (this year he just wants to “hang out” at home with us) but when he was younger there was ALWAYS a theme. His first birthday was a monkey safari, his second had a cars and trucks theme, fourth was Hot Wheels, fifth we had a Scooby Doo scavenger hunt complete with clues, sixth at the Boonshoft Museum was a “Land and Sea” party (think dinosaurs and sharks), seventh was all about Angry Birds….whew! And I got a little crazier every year with his invitations- check the links- but the golf theme was one of the best. I designed the insert card to look like a score card that fit inside a green square pocket, used popsicle sticks for the flag poles and found an awesome green faux suede for the putting green.