Baptism Invitations

This is the baptism announcement that I did for our son, Campbell's upcoming day. I wanted to stay away from the traditional baptism announcement with the typical cross at the top. I opted for the non-literal design of a dot pattern. It's different and I like the springy colors. Plus, check out my grass! Not bad for April in Michigan! I need thank my husband for all of his fertilizing efforts!

This is also my new favorite font, Chevalier. Not that it's new. It has been around for awhile, but I have been using it much more lately and I like it!

Damask Save the Dates

We were one of the first vendors Stephani met with, which was a change because deciding upon invitations is usually one of the last things a bride does. She didn't even have her dress yet! It was fun because we had a big part in developing the overall look for her wedding. Stephani and Dan wanted a somewhat formal invitation suite, that wasn't stuffy. They definitely wanted to convey their fun side! Stephani came with many of examples of styles that she liked. She ended up choosing the damask invitation with their monogram. I love the bold look of the black pattern. To add a little "fun" we put the date of their wedding along the curved initial of their monogram. It's probably hard to see. My amateur photography skills just don't do these things justice! Can't wait to start the invitations!

PQ Sale!!

Hello Everyone! I wanted to let you know that we are offering 15% off all custom invitation orders if booked by May 24th!

Vintage Paperdolls

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, my Grandmother was an artist as well as a talented seamstress from a very young age, until her arthritic hands couldn't do it anymore. When she was a girl, she would walk up and down the streets, studying all of the pretty dresses in the store windows. She would sketch the dresses in her sketch book and then go home, make her own patterns and create the dress she saw in the store window by hand. Not only did my Grandmother teach all of her daughters how to sew, bust she taught me as well at around age 8. I learned on an antique Singer that she had growing up. It was just my size and worked like it was brand new! 

When she was young, for entertainment, she made her own paper dolls. She would cut a model out of an advertisement and use that for the doll itself. She would then draw all the clothes to fit the body, with great care and detail.  The dolls you see below are the ones that she did in the 1920's. She saved them in an old cigar box for when she had daughters of her own.

When my mom was growing up, she played with her mother's paper dolls, and also made her own. She modeled hers after Veronica, the curvaceous comic book character. The doll has disappeared, but we still have the fun outfits from the 1950s. My mother saved hers, along with my grandmother's in the same old cigar box for when she had daughters.

When my sister and I came along, my mother pulled out the paper dolls and we played with them all the time, and made our own as well. I kick myself now for selling mine in a garage sale, but can you imagine the style of clothing on my dolls?!!! Stirrup pants and shoulder pads! Good Lord...you have to wonder about the fashion of the early 80's. Maybe it is better that they are gone along with that hideous fashion. :)

It is amazing that these dolls have held up so well after all of these years of being handled. I am now in the process of putting them in frames where I can display them and look at them everyday. They are after all, a work of art and if I ever have a little girl, I will teach her how to make paper dolls.

A Tuscan Wedding

Lia came to us with a very specific theme for her wedding invitations. Both Lia and her fiance had spent a good deal of time in Italy and fell in love with the Italian countryside of Tuscany. She wanted to convey that throughout her invitation suite. She wanted a very organic, natural feel, and lemons! I did some research and found an image of lemons that she liked. Once we decided on that, I incorporated the swirling, vine design to add to the softer, natural feel of things.

The bride chose a gate fold, instead of the traditional pocket fold that we have been doing so much of lately. It was nice to do something thing different. She is a details girl which I can appreciate and love! She sees the importance of envelope liners, calligraphy and the right printing style. We chose a lemon hued envelope liner, a textured gate fold, which was offset by the smooth, white card stock for the interior cards and she is having a friend do the calligraphy on the mailing envelopes. Lia liked the look and feel of thermography printing. It is a printing technique that raises the ink on the page, giving it a textured feel. Very elegant.

She also opted for the timeline, instead of the standard reception card. It's a fun way to personalize your invitations. Her Aunt is making Italian cookies for everyone at the reception and Lia wanted to give her recognition for it. We were able to give her Aunt a "shout out" on the timeline as a thank you for her hard work. The response card and envelope is held in place with a pretty, gold cord and there is space on the card for guests to write a special message to the bride and groom!

The reception is being held on the beautiful grounds of the Cuneo Mansion in the suburbs of Chicago. What most people don't know is that this is also the site of where the movie, My Best Friend's Wedding, with Julia Roberts was filmed! Can't wait to see the pictures! This is going to be a spectacular event!

Inkwell

These are two of my favorite designs from our inkwell collection. The vintage option with the whimsical banner and the classic and traditional option were both color-customized to the bride's wedding colors. both designs include the invitation, response card, a directions card and coordinating envelope.

The Westin Book Cadillac Hotel

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting with Rebecca Mazairz, the Social Catering Sales Manager at the Westin Book Cadillac in Detroit.  Rebecca was kind enough to give me a tour of the newly renovated hotel. It is stunning! If I could get married all over again, I would do it here! The design is a combination of contemporary and Italian-Renaissance styles. With four ballrooms to choose from, including the famous Venetian Ballroom which has been completely renovated to look as it did back in the 1920's is the perfect place for your reception. The hotel has many other great ammenities so that you wouldn't ever have to leave! They offer spa services and 3 restaurants, including Roast, A Michael Symon restaurant. I have been dying to see the renovated hotel as I love old buildings with history, especially in Detroit, where there are so many of them. It is nice to see one being brought back to its original beauty! The Book Cadillac is still booking weddings and events for 2009. Contact Rebecca at rebecca.maziarz@westin.com for more information.

Penned and Pretty

Hello all! I am very excited to tell you about Penned and Pretty. I happened to stumble upon her blog yesterday and was so excited at what I saw. Not only is it a blog that features some of the most talented wedding professionals in the industry, but also Jessica Lynn has her own shop, with some of the most unique "calligraphy" I've seen! I'm all about putting a different spin on the traditional, and this is right up my alley. Not to mention that it is super affordable! Her pricing is as follows: Outer envelopes: 75 cents for the first 100 and 70 cents for every envelope after that. Inner envelopes are 25 cents and RSVP envelopes are 50 cents! Very reasonable! She offers 3 different styles to chose from, as shown above. The sooner you get in touch with her the better. She books up fast!

Go Green! Go White!

In honor of my Alma Mater, Michigan State, who is playing in the Championship Game in the Final Four tonight, I thought I would post a little green love! Not to mention that I am taking the babe to his grandparents for an over night so that my husband and I can go out, minus child for the first time in 10 weeks and watch our Spartans! I customized one of our inkwell invitations to a green color scheme. The bouquets are from Martha Stewart and the other green invitation is Kerry Doyle for minted.com.  I love, love, love this invitation! It is so crisp and clean...plus, green is my favorite color! So go Spartans! Michigan needs a little positivity these days!

Vintage Bride

Talk about inspiration! I love this image and it is none other, than my very stylish and classy Grandmother, Ruth Leonard. She has since passed away, and we are coming up on the 5 year anniversary of her death. She is a constant inspiration and I owe much of my artistic talent and ability to both her and my mother as they were both creative and talented ladies.

My Grandmother and Grandfather were married on March, 22, 1940 in a Methodist church, surrounded by skyscrapers in New York City. They held their reception at the Waldorf Astoria, (how glamorous :) and the following day, set sail for South America on a 6 week cruise.

The dress in the picture was made of ivory peau du soie, with tiny seed pearl beading sewn on and around the neckline with a veil made of tulle. One of the reasons that I love this dress is that she used to let us play dress up in it when we were kids!! Can you imagine?! By the time my sister and I got our hands on it, the veil was practically crumbling in our hands and the dress was yellowed with age, but it was still beautiful. I remember how heavy it was and wondering how my Grandma could wear such a thing for as tiny as she was...more to come.

Bridal Show - Wedding Expressions

Come visit us on Saturday, April 4 at the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester! We will be a participating vendor in the Weddings Express Bridal Show from 9 AM to 1 PM. I am so excited for this event. It is the modeled after the speed dating concept. Signaled by the striking of a gong every five minutes, 80 brides-to-be get the opportunity to meet with every vendor for 5 minutes each. For those brides who are interested in attending, there is still time and it is free! Send me an email at info@paisleyquill.com and I will email you the information needed. For those of you who are already attending, we look forward to seeing you there!