Plated: Alabama Crimson Tide

I think this might be the first request I've ever had to create an Alabama-themed baby shower invitation. Although honestly I am shocked I haven't encountered this sooner.

But since the mommy-to-be is doing her soon-to-be son's nursery in Alabama colors, it's not too far-fetched. And really elephants are always appropriate for baby things, yes?

So I took the colors, the houndstooth print, an elephant image and even incorporated a flag pennant banner that you might typically think of for football season and made this cute lil invitation below. I have to say, I'm kind of smitten with it.

Plated: That's a hoot baby girl!

Yall.  It is my niece's one year old birthday party this weekend. Bananas! Where does the time go?

Anyhow, I was ecstatic when my sister-in-law asked me to do the invitations for the party. And it only helped matters that she had chosen an adorable owl-themed party. Owls seem to still be the trendiest of all birds these days. So I was able to find some really cute inspiration pieces.

The colors are all based around the owl decorations my sister-in-law had chosen, so I just searched for baby girl furniture with those colors and I found the cutest stuff to help me choose my color palette and pattern.

Oh and yeah, feel free to go ahead and ooh and ahh over how adorable my niece Callie is. Yeah, she's pretty darn beautiful. I'm currently fixed on calling her baby girl ever since I found out that my friend Ashley was called that by her grandmother. I have a feeling I will change it to CJ (her initials) when she gets a bit older, but for now (and ok, maybe always) she's baby girl.

Hope your weekend is filled with love, family and fun...just like mine!

Plated: Southern tradition

I've been really blessed lately to have some friends with amazing taste that are on their way to walk down the aisle, and they've chosen me to help them with their invitation and design needs. (lucky girl!) So when my friend Lauren who I traveled to Africa with last summer asked me to design her invitations, programs, etc I was honored and excited. She showed me a few invitations that she liked and I could see that we were going for something somewhat simple, close to traditional and definitely southern.

The fonts were easy to pick, just had to be something ornate and beautiful yet still readable. (I hate those curly fonts you can't even read!). And the colors were even easier since I could swipe the right shade from her bridemaids dresses. But the icon image that Lauren wanted to be associated with her wedding weekend was just a little bit trickier. We played around with the idea of a magnolia or their initials or something similar, but then one day I got an email from her saying she liked the idea of a nest and wanted three eggs—one to represent each child that she will become the mother of after her nuptials are complete.

Yes, Lauren is incredible and will soon be the official mother of three, though she has been pretty much playing that role since she and Sam have been dating. It is a long and beautiful story of redemption, just trust me on that.

So I loved and fully embraced this idea and went to work trying my best to draw a nest image with eggs similar to the one she sent me for inspiration. We had a few drafts back and forth until I got the bridal gasp of "Oh how I love it" that we designers can't wait to hear and voila! Here are the final products (invitation, reply card & accommodations), with names changed to protect my clients, of course.

I think I love the whole package almost as much as Lauren does. Now let's just hope the bride finds a different dress to wear other than this one she found in Uganda!

Plated: Put a bird on it

With all the cute bird images on clothing, jewelry, furniture etc, it wasn't too hard to gather some inspiration for a bird invitation that my coworker wanted me to design for her daughter's first birthday.

However, the spin was that it couldn't be too girly since it was also a surprise party for her husband Sae. I figured I could just keep the pink to a minimum and throw in a blue and a green color, add a funky and not too girly background to the mix, and boom, there was a little bit of cute bird magic.

I guess those crazy kids from Portlandia we're right. Put a bird on it!

Plated: Company lake party

Some days at work are just more fun than others (and honestly some aren't very much fun at all, but thankfully those are few and far between). For me, a good fun day at work is when I get to be a little more "creative" with designing something. So a month or so ago when my boss asked me to whip up an invitation for our company lake party, I was totally game.

I had complete creative reign so I wanted to make it cute and fun and not at all corporate. So basically I just conjured up everything I thought of when I thought about the lake, added a smidgen of our company's branding color of purple and boom, here's what I created.

I feel so lucky to work for such a great company that will take the time and spend the money to show their employees how much they appreciate them and want everyone to get to know each other better by throwing a big party like this. It was a super fun day. Hope you guys get to make it to a lake party as well sometime this summer! 

Plated: Mid-century mod

If only blog posts could have a drum roll....I would totally use one for this post.

I am so excited about these invitations I designed for an amazing good friend of mine's wedding reception. You might remember Natasha? I've already completed one plated post for her save the dates and then she also had the smashing guest blog post about her thrifting finds for the month of May.

Clearly Natasha is a huge fan of all things mid-century America right now (who isn't though, right?). So when talking with her, she mentioned wanting that type of aesthetic incorporated into the "real" invitations. I told her that I had already been thinking about using the movie "Catch Me If You Can" as inspiration because I felt like her reception and vow renewal ceremony involved transportation for most people and somehow that movie popped in my head when considering this. Then the fact that she told me she had been thinking "Mad Men" as well for inspiration only further validated by initial thoughts and I was ecstatic.

The first draft I created was ok. I used her same colors as last time and drew out a little red Chevy and used an app to "Mad Men" the happy couple—Greg and Natasha. Then for the insert regarding the Jamaica trip, I kept the transportation theme and drew out a plane and of course, a tropical island. It was cute, but maybe a little too casual and cutesy. So Natasha and I talked and she threw a couple of ideas my way and said she and Greg really like streamlined fonts and boom, that was all I needed.

I scratched the illustrated image of the couple and let the focus be on the font and words instead. I kept thinking about how this was kind of an annoucement too, so I continued to utilize little banners as a sneaky way to illustrate the main idea of each invitation. I also used the shape of old school signs to further enhance the announcement vibe I was going for. And here's the end product of what I think is a pretty swanky collaboration from me, Natasha and Greg. Maybe the three of should work together more often!

What do you guys think? Are you "swept away" by our final design?

Plated: Simple and southern

Recently I was given two easy requirements for invitations my mom needed for a wedding shower she was hosting: create something southern and use the colors turquiose and brown.

Easy enough!

Luckily I had already been working on some pretty amazing invitations for my friend Lauren (expect a plated post on hers later next month!) and she was keeping things elegantly southern, so I was able to swipe the fonts I used for her invite.

Then all I needed was a southern image. What else could I use other than a magnolia?

Add in the colors requested and viola, a simple and southern wedding shower invitation. See final achieved product below.

What do you think? Sweet and simple? Or plain and boring? 

Plated: Classic stripes & navy blue

Today is one of my very best friend's birthday (happy bday Ashley!) and tonight we're celebrating with a cookout at my house. I designed a little backyard barbeque invitation last week based more on her  personal style instead of choosing an overall bbq theme.

When I think of Ashley, I think "classic" and navy blue for some reason. So I headed over to J. Crew and took a look around and came across this killer lilac and navy striped tee shirt. Then upon further inspection, I found more than a couple leading ladies who were rocking the navy/white stripe or polka dot trend. These two photos of Mollie King and Taylor Swift were my favorite, so I put them in the mix as well for me to pull design inspiration from.

I didn't want to do literal stripes each way on the invitation, so I allowed for the font colors and choices to represent the horizontal stripes and then created the navy and white vertical stripes. Then I threw in a tiny polka dot detail to add just a little something. I did have to include some type of image that alluded to a bbq, so I topped it all off with an old school Weber grill.

Here's the final end product (names addresses have been changed to protect the innocent :)

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Plated: Natasha & Greg

I was posed with a big challenge recently...designing some invitations for my friend Natasha's reception/save-the-
date for her upcoming tropical vow ceremony. It was a challenge to me because Natasha is one of the coolest girls I know, so I was putting pressure on myself big time to design something that would reflect her personality and style.

Natasha and I met while she interned for The Progressive Farmer, the magazine I worked at for seven years. I was immediately drawn to her gorgeous hair and funky vintage, thrifted style. Then as I got to know her and also
learned she was heading to Bonnaroo in a couple of weeks, I knew we'd be the best of friends. And since she was
new in town and didn't have a car, I made it my personal goal to see to it that we did in fact become BFFs that
summer. Thankfully it has just worked out that we still keep in touch and that we've been able to visit each other
usually at least once a year.

So back to the invitation. Even though I had the inspiration board she sent me (which, I mean, how cool is that?!) I
still struggled at first. I loved the colors she chose, so that was easy. But incorporating all the info and trying to make
it "hip" was a problem for me. At first I used her idea of using the design on her wedding dress (pictured above on a
different bride). But then she and Greg decided they wanted photos, which makes total sense, so we replaced that
design with the photo strip on the side instead and I think it's pretty cute. I also took a lot of the design elements from the books pictured. Even so, I still wasn't in love with my first draft so of course I had to make another version, which
I do like better, but I'm still not 100% sold on it.

I think I might just be being too hard on myself because Natasha is still perfectly happy with the first version and I
think Greg ended up liking the second option better! Funny.

So naturally I'm curious, what do you guys think? And which of these do you like best? Leave me a comment and
let me know!

Plated: Jake & Kristin

So this inspiration board is just a tad bit random. Ok. It's a lot random. But this is sadly just how my brain works sometimes. I was asked by one of my favorite clients recently to create a shower invitation and all I was really told
was "shades of purple." Which immediately conjured up the thought of a Grapico in my mind for some reason
(fat kid?!). So I went with it.

For some reason, even though I do not know her at all,  I got the impression that the bride was not a super girly girl.
So I wanted the invitation to be feminine enough to say bridal shower, but not too much. Which meant I ended up
taking the majority of pattern inspiration from an iphone cover I had seen on this website last week. For some reason
I thought I could tweak it and it would work. I made the outlining circles "squiggly" which immediately made me
think of the Spirograph arts and crafts game we had when I was growing up.

At the last minute I felt something was missing, so I added the bride and groom cake topper and I think I am a fan
of the final product! And it turned out that the pattern I created for her was extremely close to the pattern on her
actual wedding invites. I love it when I have that rare design intuition. So glad it all worked out.

What do you guys think?!

Plated: Iron Bowl

Recently my boss asked me to simply print off some invitations for his son's upcoming Iron Bowl birthday party. First of all, for those who don't live in the great state of Alabama, the Iron Bowl is THE football game of the year for most Alabamians. It's Alabama vs. Auburn which is the state rivalry, so it's always our last game of the regular season. So besides just absolutely loving to design birthday invitations, I also am a pretty big Alabama football fan, so I think it's humorous that he thought I could actually simply print the word doc invitations he gave me. I mean, here was a chance to combine two of my favorite hobbies. So naturally, I had to ask if he minded that I try to design up something fancy instead and of course, he was game (pun intended).

So I thought about it for a while and started on a clever catchy phrase in a collegiate font with a football field as the main background, when out of nowhere it hit me. What if this was like a ticket to get into the party? And what if it looked like a real Alabama football ticket? So I took a photo that I had taken of my own tickets to the AL/TN game earlier this season and designed the invite based on that design, changing it up only a little to add some houndstooth and to reflect more of a child's birthday party type theme. And voila! I think I've got a championship winning birthday invitation on my hands here people!

Happy Friday y'all! And of course, Roll Tide!

Plated: Retro toys

It seems like I always slack on the "plated" posts. Most likely because I am too busy working on other things to find the time to design for funsies. But luckily I was recently asked to create some baby shower invitations, so I was forced to get creative.

This invitation was a challenge because I did actually have complete creative license to do whatever I wanted. This is so rare that I had no idea what to do. The only parameters I was given was to use blue and brown and maybe the idea of the baby blocks could be incorporated. So I started working with that and realized that I really wanted to add a third color. I knew the daddy-to-be was an Auburn fan, so I figured I would be in no trouble at all if I threw some orange on the page as an accent color.

As I started putting this all together I thought the shade of orange I chose with the blue and brown created a nice nostalgic feel, almost like an old western poster or something. I thought I still needed a border and settled on a retro one that looked almost like "jacks" and complemented the baby blocks element. Ta da! I was done. Then it was on to the next challenge of creating the decorative circles that will be used on the cups for the punch, but could also be used as cupcake toppers. I simply used the same fonts and colors and kept everything in the same scheme of things for uniformity sake and I think everything turned out nicely! But see below for yourselves.

Have a great weekend!

Plated: Kendi is Dino-might!

It seems I've been in some dire need of creative inspiration lately—both with my wardrobe and in an effort to expand my personal stationery collection. Well, enter in a new fav blogger of mine (thanks Em for passing her blog over to me!) Kendi from kendieveryday.blogspot.com and a cute lil critter from a long time fav website of mine, modcloth.com.

I heart Kendi because her style is just ah-mazing and she is also cute and very funny to boot! So if you haven't seen her blog before, I suggest you go there sometime soon!

I heart ModCloth for similar reasons: 1) they support bloggers - BIG TIME 2) they always offer awesome, affordable dresses that are also unique and 3) I recently found their accessories to be just as adorable, unique and affordable!

Anyhow, putting these things together—one hawt color combo from Kendi and one rad little necklace from ModCloth ($12.99)—I think I came up with a couple of pretty cute stationery pieces. It just seemed right that I put Kendi's namesake on it. I'm not sure if it's her style or not...but here's hoping she approves!

I couldn't decide which design I liked best: the chevron stripes background or the chain-influenced background that resonates with both of the necklaces—the one seen in Kendi's photo and the one on the actual Dino-Might necklace. So of course I decided to post both....which do you like best?

I was infatuated from the very first time I saw this WhoWhatWearDaily "inspired by" post on Isabel Marant about two years ago. I just loved the color choices and "hippie-chic" vibe I got from it. So much so, that I have kept it all this time in my email to refer to it for future Fourth of July wardrobe decisions. But I never thought I would refer to it for stationery inspiration, until now.

It's been a while since I've done a "plated" post so I thought with the Fourth of July holiday here, it would be perfect timing. In addition to the colors and beautiful ornate detailing I used from the Isabel Marant collection, I also took the headline words from a Swoozie's koozie. One of my best friends, Emily, actually bought my friends and I a cup with this same wording last summer because, believe it or not, my friends started the whole "boom" thing that started last year. (I swear they were saying it way before anyone else was or the Nike commercial came out. Scout's honor!)

Anyhow, I thought with the combination of these items, it would make for a perfect Fourth of July lake party invitation. I know I love it, but what do you guys think?!

Plated: Lilly Pulitzer

Above images taken from www.lillypulitzer.com

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, but my sister-in-law is pregnant with her second child. Not only am I stoked to have another little "youngun" around in the family, but this time she’s having a...GIRL! I love my nephew like no other, but I am thrilled to be able to start buying adorable little girl clothes in pinks and purples and yellows.

Anyways, her due date of late August will be here before you know it, so my mom and I are throwing her a little shower next month. This means I am in charge of invitations of course. My mom wanted to use pinks and greens since that is what the nursery will be decorated in, which to me, is synonymous with Lilly Pulitzer (I mean, you’ve got to hand it to them that they are branded well). I never thought I was a fan of Lilly Pulitzer but as I was clicking around their site, gathering inspiration for a stationery design, I decided that she has some pretty amazing 60s Jacqueline Kennedy style dresses that I do in fact dig....even if the price tag is entirely too far out of my range.

So taking these pretty little items, here’s what I created for my sister-in-law’s upcoming baby shower. (Names and addresses have been changed to protect the innocent, of course).

I toned down the pinks and greens just a little to make it softer for a baby girl and also to keep things more traditional for a southern style shower. What do you think?!