National Girlfriend's Day Invite

Here's another fun invitation I designed for Avenue Five Jewelry. I love designing things for them because they love using bright colors and fun, swirly fonts. They have the best events, too! This time it's to celebrate National Girlfriend's Day, which is August 1st. Last year they had foofy drinks and passed around tiaras for the girls to wear while they shopped (with 40% discounts, hello!) This year there are more fun things in store. So ladies in the Portland area, grab your best friend, mother, sister, grandmother-in-law-- whoever!!-- and head down to Avenue Five for some fun.

Rehearsal Dinner invitation

A friend of a friend contacted me a couple months ago about designing invitations to her brother-in-law's rehearsal dinner that she and her husband are hosting. She told me the dinner would be held at a small restaurant in New York, so I wanted to make sure the invitation wasn't too formal for the event but also not too casual. I checked out the restaurant's website and found a few things to inspire me– the photos of the outdoor courtyard seating and the deep red color on the site definitely stood out in my mind. We went through several design ideas (contact me if you want to see them!) but below was the winning design! It was printed digitally on natural colored cardstock with a matching RSVP postcard.

Heidi & Justin's Invitation

Heidi and Justin received their invitations a couple weeks ago and I'm very happy with the outcome! They chose the Kelli Invitation and added some great, bright colors to make it their own. I love the vines (Heidi's idea!) and thinks it's such a cool way to tie in their venue, a winery! It was great working with these two once again and I wish them nothing but the best.

Vote for me!

I recently submitted a holiday card design to Minted.com's contest and would love you to vote for mine! First place prize is $1000, and they will sell the winning design on their site. Needless to say, I'd love to win :) I sent in two designs and they chose one of them for the contest (not my favorite of the two, but oh well!) There are some amazing designs on there so check it out: www.minted.com/vote. The link to mine is here: http://www.minted.com/design-rating&id=98#.

The chosen design:

This one didn't make the cut (does it look familiar?!):

Paul Potts

If you know me, you know that I'm a crier. When I see things that move me (in a good or bad way), I tear up. A couple weeks ago, I posted a link to a slideshow of a couple on their engagement shoot (when the guy actually proposed during the shoot!), and of course, I cried. Last night I watched re-runs of The Bachelorette with Trista and Ryan, and I cried. Well I re-discovered this video of Paul Potts auditioning for Britain's Got Talent, and what do you know... The tears were flowin'! It's just amazing how everyone expected this guy to suck, and he's just incredible. And he totally won the entire competition. Stuff like this just makes my day :)

Oops, I did it again...

I was totally just listening to Britney so I apologize to the headline :) But... I really did do it again. Remember a couple months (or weeks?!?!) ago, I said I have ADD when it comes to my logo? How I always want to update and change it? Well... I kinda sorta want to do it again. But not a drastic change, just something a little more interesting. The other day, my co-worker Holly and I were talking about cool colors, and I mentioned that I've always loved blue/greens, similar to the Pool used in Beth & Ken's invitations. I said, "I should've used that in my logo..." Well, it got me thinking. Why don't I try it? So I switched out the black damask for a softer pool-color, and I was pleased, but not totally satisfied. I decided to push the logo off to the side and let it "wrap" around to the other size of the business card. The open space on the front side (to the right of the logo) makes me uncomfortable, and for that reason I like it! So now I have to ask all you readers out there-- which do you prefer? The old or the new? I appreciate your feedback, so be honest!

Avenue Five's Summer Brunch

Here's an invite I designed for Avenue Five's summer event next month. I got to use my new favorite font called Fling (used in the "Celebrate the first day...")! I think it's be perfect for a baby or bridal shower invitation, but I totally think it would work for a wedding, too. Sure it's a less formal, but if you pair it with romantic swirls or a nice damask or brocade pattern, it would look so great!

Missy & Patrick's Save the Date

Talk about a hot couple! Missy and Patrick are a sweet pair I met through one of my good friends. They took a bunch of great photos for their engagement session and sent me several to choose from. This one struck me right away and I totally fell in love with it! The passion and love between them is so apparent, and I just think it's so damn sexy!! Missy is a photographer and did all the great photoshop work, and then passed it over to me. I applied a simple design so the awesome photo stood out. Enjoy!