Happy NEW Year!!!

issey

last wednesday, i got a very cool & totally unexpected shout-out from brides.com: inclusion in their "10 best wedding invites of 2010" story! so, because of that and as part of my year-end purge, i thought i'd share one last tidbit from our wedding: the invitation suite design (and then, i'm calling it a wrap!)

the how-to for those on a real budget:
we wanted to keep the entire wedding artful, handmade, modern & simple, all on a very serious budget. inspired both by nature and the city (we call both the midwest & nyc home), we wanted the wedding & invitations to reflect that.
i started making little watercolor blots, not knowing exactly where i was going with them. i scanned some of my favorites into photoshop and realized that they made great mountains. one of my prized possessions is a drawing of mountains by husband, so i knew right away that it was the perfect image for us.
we hired the amazing betsy dunlap to do the calligraphy. she sent us a digital file of our names in her beautiful hand-written style - a very affordable way to have a customized look without the custom price! i assembled the image, names & text in photoshop.
after a long search, i found a reasonably priced printshop in soho - soho reprographics. i gave them my files, and they digitally printed & cut the invitations - about 100 invitations for under $100. i was so happy with their price, paper, & print quality, especially after many disappointing visits with some very expensive (not to mention, cheap-looking) "wedding" printers.
we included a small rsvp card that i ordered online via overnight prints for under $25. we took a small instant photo (fuji instax) of the manhattan skyline from our neighborhood in brooklyn. the photo became the front of the rsvp card, and i added the online rsvp info on the back. i printed the cards two-to-a-postcard and cut them in half myself.the invitation, rsvp card, and a small square of matching tissue paper were tucked into a kraft paper envelope (about $50 at jam paper) and sealed with matching washi tape. betsy also hand-addressed each envelope, and i had a custom return-address stamp made in the same font as our invitations (also from soho repro, about $30).the mountain design was featured throughout the wedding - on programs, fabric, signage... i got lots of mileage out of those little watercolor blots! for more of our wedding, clickie here.

now, back to the freaks & geeks marathon and plotting my new-year-all-veggie-all-the-time-run-yoga-go-to-sleep-early-read-a-book-and-make-shit-happen plan...

i recently saved this 1920's paper moon portrait (as seen on design*sponge), and i just ran across this nytimes t mag article about photographer alice o'malley which features her version of a paper moon. maybe paper moons are in the inspiration ether... sweet.

my holiday inspiration!please click to enlarge (l-r): himmeli garland, black flower wrap, wreaths, yellow wrapped package, handmade gift wrap, screenprinted gift wrap, paper & straw tree garland, confetti system ornaments (not actually available, bummer!), and red tapers/green bottles...

late last night, we drove out to a country road & took in the geminid meteor shower. we stood in the dark cold for almost an hour, saw a handful of beautiful shooting stars, and left when we realized that seven years in the city have made us complete chickens in the quiet, country night... more stars than i've seen in a good 8 years = beautiful.

every monday, i look forward to seeing jeana sohn's newest entry in her closet visit series. today's post on momoko suzuki is no joke - loads of textile & home inspiration, especially the hanging handmade straw sculpture (pendant? chandelier?) that i'm now slightly obsessing over.
google just taught me that these are himmeli - traditional finnish christmas ornaments, made of straw & string, that ensure a plentiful rye crop for the coming season - the bigger the ornament, the bigger the crop. looks like momoko better make room when the harvest comes in, and i have a new project...
reminds me a bit of the beautiful jewelry by (l-r) hanna sandin & lauren manoogian.

the lovely jamie over at a desert fete (you know, that cool lady who loves succulents even more than i do & featured our wedding on her blog??), has just launched her online design shop: cactus & quail.
she makes hand-illustrated paper products & stationery, as well as one-off items like these folky bamboo ornaments:

check it out! congrats & good luck, jamie! :)