Trend Watch: Sun Prints

sun print cake see on OnceWed

So a year and a half ago I did a little post on flag bunting as inspiration for wedding stationery. Lo and behold, the bunting craze erupted into a mega-huge trend. You see it EVERYWHERE now so in an effort to find out if my post was prophecy or dumb luck I am throwing an official prediction out there for a future wedding and event trend ... the sun print.

I know that artists have been doing this for ages and that there are a great many souls using the cyanotype method of printing for artistic and education applications, but I am guessing that this easy to use method (you can buy kits for cheap at www.sunprints.org) may catch on as a trendy element of weddings and parties. The possibilities are endless! Everything from place and escort cards, table numbers, photobooth props, custom table linens and more will benefit of that pop of blue.

I LOVE cobalt hues (thanks to my Grandma's legendary "blue bathroom" and the collection of cobalt glass she passed down to me) so I couldn't help but try my hand at a sun print-like save-the-date design for Minted's latest challenge.


save the date cards - Sun Print

Do you think sun printing will be a big trend for the coming wedding season? Or should I go buy a lottery ticket and leave trend prediction to the pros?

Need more sun print ideas? Check out these links:
http://www.marthastewart.com/273140/baby-clothes-sun-prints
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2006/09/how_to_make_sunprint_paper_pat.html
http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/diy/get-inspired-by-sunprints-148995

Castle Howard, England

We visited Castle Howard this summer with my in-laws. It's an absolutely amazing Baroque mansion in Yorkshire. Here are a few iPhone (thus the quality) pics of the details I found most beautiful there.

(Look at the light coming through that bust!)

This house is worth an entire day's visit and I am in love with the Yorkshire countryside.

Something Old, Something New Wedding Invitation Challenge

Is open for voting! This challenge focused on designing for different cultures, religions and traditions. There are a ton of great submissions that will allow for brides and grooms around the world to find the perfect invitation for their event. Go now, and let your rating finger do the talking.


wedding invitations - Lucky Horseshoe

wedding invitations - A Comic Book Love Story

wedding invitations - Sales Pitch

wedding invitations - Coral Beach

Imitation or Inspiration?

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery ... or so they say.

Bodrum, Turkey

Head Over Heels Wedding Invitation Challenge

Is open for voting! There are many brilliant designs to rate, everything from the perfect rustic barn wedding invitation to clean and modern ones perfect for a wedding in a science museum. Go now, and let your opinion be known.


wedding invitations - Seaglass Floral

wedding invitations - Bistro Board
wedding invitations - Graphic Photo
wedding invitations - Certified Wed

Minted has announced the winners and editor's picks for the Quickfire Children's Stationery challenge. There are many great designs and they'll be for sale just in time for holiday season gift giving! Check them out here.


Two of my designs were selected as editor's picks; "Simple Badge" and "Chic Stripes" have made the cut and will be available for purchase this holiday season.

Quickfire Holiday Minibook and New Year Cards

The winners of Minted's last holiday challenge of the year have been announced and one of my New Year designs has been selected as an editor's pick. Yacht Club was lots of fun for me and really pushed my comfort zone with a more creative approach to typography. It's nice to be rewarded with an editor's pick and $100! The winners and other editor's picks are all beautiful, so if you never get around to sending that Christmas card don't despair. There are plenty of great designs for ringing in 2012!



Yacht Club was also selected as a runner-up in the special prize category of "Best Bold Typography Design." So I must be doing something right, right? See the rest of the very deserving special prize winners here.

Sending Good Cheer for 2011

A non-traditional holiday color to be sure but Pantone's 2011 color
of the year, Honeysuckle, makes a joyful statement.

It's that time of year again! While the rest of the world enjoyed their summer drinking ice cold lemonade and thinking of sand and sun, the world's holiday card designers have locked themselves in their offices. Listening to holiday music and drinking hot cocoa (maybe wearing a woolly hat and scarf for added effect) they attempted to get into the holiday spirit to produce the coming season's best Christmas and holiday stationery designs.

I was lucky enough to have one of my designs selected for sale this season. Minted's Sending Good Cheer challenge was a huge one and produced the best holiday card assortment I've seen yet. "Christmas Cafe" was my best work thus far and one of those designs that just "happened" without much work or thought, it just came pouring out of my stylus and onto the screen. I remember the biggest issue I had with it was what kind of edge to use overlapping the photo, not my normal conundrum with typography. I was so excited about this particular design that I forced my poor husband to "come look!" over five times and each time he played along like a good sport.

So with great pride and a big, silly grin, I ask you to "come look!"


"Christmas Cafe" scored in the top 30 designs of nearly 2250 and was also selected as a runner-up in the special prizes categories of "Best Type-Driven Design" and "Best Retro or Vintage Design." See the rest of the very deserving special prize winners here.

The Typography Business Card Challenge

Minted has finally announced the winners and boy are they well deserving! You can marvel over them here.

Two of my designs were selected as editor's picks; "Ladylike" and "Color Wash" have made the cut and will be available for purchase in the coming months.

"Ladylike" was also selected as a runner-up in the special prizes category of "Best Over-the-Top Pretty Design." Check out the rest of the special prize winners here.

Love Under the Stars

Is there anything more romantic than a night under the stars with the one you love? I'm not convinced that there is.

When I sat down to create wedding invitations for the Happily Ever After challenge over at Minted, I started thinking of romantic scenes and how those would translate to wedding stationery. Vintage constellation maps fit perfectly and the idea behind Star Map was born.

If you're not sure how to incorporate more celestial beauty into your wedding let this inspiration board be your starting point.


[ 1. Starlette Crown by giant dwarf 2. Starry night sky reception by Preston Bailey 3. Midnight Blue Sunstone Gold Necklace by friedasophie 4. Reading the Stars cross stitch by MiniatureRhino 5. Star Cluster NGC 290 from HubbleSite 6. tent under stars by Lissy Elle via Gypsy Girl Guide 7. liberty star and t-bar ballet flats from ASOS ]

Still want more starry goodness? Check out these great links:

-Decorate with easy DIY paper stars, tutorial from Annekata
-Sign a night-themed print with white ink for a unique guest book and art combo, Yearning Soul print by Andres Kal
-Gold star sparklers for the perfect reception getaway from Tops Malibu
-Line the aisle with glittered paper stars - Martha
-Wish upon a star wedding band set by BethCyrWeddings

Three Year Anniversary: color inspiration

The fifth of July marks the third year I've been married to my one and only. In order to selfishly relive some of the excitement of wedding planning (without feeling guilty about it) I'll be sharing my inspirations and the details that created my final vision for that awesome day three years ago.

PS: My husband was the best part of that day and continues to brighten my life with his smile, laughter and love ... but that's not what you're here for!

-------------------------------------------------------

The first thing I tackled was a tentative color palette. I knew I wanted bright and bold colors and something that would work with blue because of the uniform my husband would wear. When I discovered the world of inspiration boards I was in heaven!

orange, red and blue color palette
[ Snippet + Ink: board #123 ]




orange and lemon color palette
[ Snippet + Ink: board #109 ]




aqua blue and orange color palette
[ Snippet + Ink: board #157 ]



bright yellow and navy color palette
[ Snippet + Ink: board #315 ]

As you can probably tell, Snippet + Ink was one of my first "wedding blog" discoveries and quickly became my number one site for wedding eye candy. Don't tell but it's still a favorite today.

One Pretty Thing

Look at the packaging of these pretty sparkling juices by Bottle Green that I spotted in ASDA.

These limited edition bottles are part of the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign
and support the work of Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

One Pretty Thing

I'm sure most of you are probably aware of Jessica Hische's project the Daily Drop Cap, but have you seen the guest artists' drop caps? One of my favorites comes from Gina & Matt.

Check out the rest of the guest drop caps here, they're all beautiful.

Painted Eggs featured!

Thanks to Minted via Twitter I was informed that my winning Easter design had been featured on Gabrielle Blair's beautiful blog, Design Mom. She worked with Minted to create a custom Easter party invitation out of the card by adding an area for text to the back. How smart is that?!

I love how they look all laid out like this!
[all photography by Design Mom]

Thanks so much for the write-up Design Mom!

Dublin, Ireland

We took a quick three day trip to Dublin while Mr's brother was in town. We hopped on a pretty cheap Ryan Air flight and stayed at the Anchor House bed and breakfast. I found it via Trip Advisor and we were thrilled with the location, value and the friendliness of the staff. (Trip Advisor hasn't let me down yet!)

Now for some pictures:

Dover Castle, England

After two failed attempts, the Mr. and I finally got into Dover Castle. Luckily it was a beautiful day and my brother in law was in town too so we made a day of it! Dover Castle is a definite "must see" attraction in England if you're on the island.

Here are some of my favorite phone pics of the day.

Found in Town

3+ Holiday Challenge

Rating is now open for Minted's 3+ Holiday Card Challenge. Designers were asked to submit cards for Easter, Halloween and Thanksgiving, and here are my submissions.

Easter

Painted Eggs


Tissue Papers

Halloween

Sanguine


Spider Ribbon

Thanksgiving

Mustard Groove