Annoucement

Nate and I are so grateful to share this happy news.

Penelope and the Baby Shower

Weddings and babies. That's just the way it is right now so why not make sure these people have some decent invites and a nice looking place to party.

This invite is for the baby shower of an expecting mother who was keeping the gender of the baby a surprise. Well...baby came early, really early, and now we know that baby is a little girl named Penelope. She is healthy and doing great! Welcome to the world, Penelope. Congratulations Amanda and Jeremy. (Some info has been altered for privacy.)

My artist pal, Christina Prestidge, and I threw the shower. Let's just say this isn't our first rodeo. A few ideas to share for those who are searching:

★   We arranged fresh flowers in a vintage baby bouncer. Search for vintage blocks and toys on Craigslist, in antique malls, or in thrift stores. In the past I've used magnetic letters on the party favors.

★   We used baby photos of the mom and dad to-be + vintage illustration as garland. Asking the grandmas-to-be for photos includes them in the process, especially if they are long distance. Check out this flickr photo pool for all the vintage illustration your heart desires.

★    Tissue paper flowers. Don't knock 'em. They are pretty and help fill the room quickly. Here's a tutorial from Nesting in the Bluegrass.

★   Set up a "Mama"mosas station substituting sparkling juices for champagne. Add some sliced fresh fruit to garnish. (We had real champagne too - some of just need a little help in a room full of chattering women)

★    Tip: If you feel overwhelmed - allocate the food. People are more than happy to bring a sweet treat to share. Christina made that pretty little cake.

Penelope was born at 4lbs, 14oz, but she since gained a whole pound when this photo was taken. Go Penny!

Wedding Shower Invite

I sort of forgot about this little invite I did this summer for a friends wedding shower. I think I felt it was a bit intimate, but I omitted some of the info to compensate. We wanted to make sure the guests shopped with Amanda's style in mind, which leaned on the side of vintage. We even slipped in a little piece of vintage lace into each envelope :) It was a lovely shower, and we hung the unmentionables on clothes lines around the room so we could admire it all. If you need ideas for shopping lingerie for cheap, you can do what I did, and splurge on the underwear and pair them with a sheer, loose-fitting top from a thriftier place (Forever 21/ H&M/ Target). I threw in some of my other drawings below. See the invite for her wedding here.

Wedding Invitation: Ingrid and Brian

It really is a fun challenge work with a couple to create a wedding invitation that captures the mood of their anticipated big day. Brian and Ingrid wanted hand done, natural, and pretty for their July wedding in Cleveland. The velum envelopes allow the illustration to peek through. They are hand addressed by KC artist Dillion Kinnison and topped with a Jessica Hische "Love" stamp. Congratulations Ingrid and Brian!

Cristo Vive!

Our friends Janie and Kenzo hosted us in Cuzco, Peru this March and we had an amazing time. We kicked of the trip painting a mural at the Fundacion Cristo Vive’s newly opened "hidden house" for abuse victims and their kids. Janie captured the two day project and posted on her and Kenzo's blog, Peruzco, about their life in Peru volunteering with the Doctors for Global Heath. Thanks so much for everything guys!

 All photos copyright of Life Writing Photography. More photos from Peru coming soon!

Certified Lettering

Lettering for Jacob's Well's dedication certificates.

Jennifer Gennari NYC

I was so excited when my friend, Jen Gennari, asked me to do these invites for her gallery show this Fall. She has recently graduated from the Florence Academy of Art where she worked very hard at perfecting classic, figurative painting. She was my roomate at Ringling in Sarasota, my neighbor in Kansas City, and now she's my friend with the gallery show in NYC! Congrats on your accomplishments, friend.

A dark, and romantic hand lettered invite fits Jen and her style well. I'm not sure I can make the show, but here's to hoping...

Save the Dates

Here are the save the dates from the wedding invitation below. I drew everything in graphite, but we decided to print them in black thermography. You can see how thermography ink is raised and shiny in the detail shot. Thermography prints with solid shapes but I thought it would fun to see the process. For both the save the dates and the invites, I hand drew the elements and composed them together digitally.

Beth and Tim's wedding invites

Classy invites for classy people. These were hand lettered and printed with thermography. I will update the post with some photos soon. Also, I know it's a little backwards, but I have the Save the Dates to post as well. Congrats Tim and Beth!

*This post has been updated with photos.

Aimee to please

An invite for Nate's cousin Aimee and fiancee Don, getting married in a wine vineyard in Michigan this summer. Congrats! It unfolds from the middle, the willow branches wrap around to the back.

How inviting: New Orleans!

This March Nate and I get to go to New Orleans to a wedding! Fun. I designed the invites, hand lettering every piece of this thing. It was fun to design for someone willing to stray off the traditional path. We're really looking forward to the celebration!

Advent Conspiracy 2009

Well, the holidays are upon us and once again we are trying to stay in line with the Advent Conspiracy over at Jacob's Well. The goal is to focus on Christ and avoid the pull of consumerism that has taken over Christmas. Nate and I were asked to do some artwork again this year, which is always fun and conceptual. This year we are going with water drops to signify not only the fresh water wells our advent events help fund for the Pekot tribe in Africa, but also the overflow of love that happens when you follow Christ. The theme of "awe and wonder" will also be a part of the sermon messages, and so we decided those would make some pretty great t-shirts. "Wonder" is designed by Amber Goodvin, an amazing lettering artist. So come on down and be a part of some really great reflection, art, and music as you wind down instead of up this Christmas.

Pie Night!

Part of an invite I designed for a friends party. Did the type myself. I feel proud about that.

Babies and Chocolate...need I say more?

Nate's sister Abbey and brother-n-law, Aaron, are having a baby boy this May. We were in Iowa this weekend where I helped host her shower with my Mom-in-law, Ruth. It was in a winery, the space was great, and the shower went very well. For the occasion, I designed these chocolate bar wrappers and re-wrapped three kinds of chocolate by Gillham and Grand, Hallmark's own chocolate brand.

This was done for the back cover of the Avant Ministries publication, which they are in the process of redesigning, along with the website. They gave me this quote and some demensions, and this is what I came up with.

Mixed Music, YES?

My favorite thing about making a mix for someone is making the artwork for it. The title is in Polish and it says "mixed music" or something like that. I have no idea if it's even how you would say that in Polish, I used an online translater. Well it looks cool anyway.