{new paperie item} colorful luggage tags

now i'm still in the process of producing some more of these guys to show off as samples, but here's the first one...  i joked on the JDV facebook page that my samples would go out to my friends with upcoming birthays, well, Meagan is the lucky first recipient! she's a newlywed who will celebrate their 1at month anniversary and her golden birthday tomorrow, so who better to create the first sample for? =)

and yes Megs, i used your married name, gotta start getting used to seeing it on everything!
love you and happy birthday a day early!

front side

back side

these tags are laminated in a thick plastic to help them stand up to the beatings TSA gives your checked baggage, but they are cute and can certainly be colorful enough that you won't mistake your black suitcase for one of the hundred and something that had been checked onto your flight too!


i will be designing mr. & mrs. ones in the future, but i'd like to show off a few more cute custom designed ones first!

these make a great little gift for the person who has everything, or if you just need a little something gift-wise!  feel free to drop me a line if you're interested jdvpaperie{at}gmail.com





ps. sorry the lighting was horrible since i took them tonight =/

Bella Collina event invites

wow! 

i just got home just a bit ago from a gorgeous event at Bella Collina Town and Golf in San Clemente, it was hosted by one of my favorite people, Mary Lallande, of Jay's Catering, and sponsored by many other wonderful vendors!  in my last post i gave a little peek at some top secret invites i had been working on, well those were for tonight's event... they really had an awesome turn out, the Bella Collina dining room was filled with event professionals ranging from event planners, to musicians and entertainers, photographers, and even some other local wedding venue professionals.

recently i commissioned a photog friend of mine Marcella Treybig Photography to shoot my growing paper goods collection.. and luckily i had just finished the Bella Collina invites in time to have them captured on film.  and if you've followed my blog any length of time, or even have just looked at my photos, you know that was a good thing since i really don't have a clue how to use anything other than a point and shoot camera. =) {yay me!}

anywho, here's how they turned out....

the outer envelope... i have to say, calligraphy always makes invites feel that much more personalized

then i collaborated with the calligrapher to create a digital image of her calligraphy for the return address, which i then had printed on the back of the envelope flap - unifying the typestyles 

{this is a great idea budget-wise, a digital calligraphy file can make the 

same statement as hand written for items that need to be reproduced}

here's the whole suite:

we used stardream opal inner envelopes, which we lined with this GORGEOUS gold metallic Fiori Italian liner, the main invite incorporated custom calligraphy elements mixed with an all caps font and digitally printed on a textured cardstock {again digital printing is a very budget friendly option}.  

then we mounted the invite card on a bronze stardream backing. 

{and in case you haven't seen stardream before, it has a wonderful shimmery, opalescent sheen to it}

and we included a two sided smaller insert to list the participating event sponsors and on the backside, the card introduced the guest speaker for the evening... which was Thea Lignos-Hargrove. 

{the editor of Your Wedding Day Magazine}

and just because i LOOOVE that liner so much, here's one more shot of it =)

you may be thinking... these aren't wedding invites? well, if so you're right, but for me the objective was to create these event invites in the fashion i would for any of my wedding clients, so if you happen to love this style/design, please let me know and i'd be happy to provide you with an estimate for a comparable design suite!

a big shout out and thank you to Katrina of Calligraphy Katrina for lending her talent and time to collaborate on this project, and if you are looking for a talented calligrapher - you will love her work!

{sneak peek} exciting upcoming project

i just have to show off these gorgeous liners from a project i finished up last night... the paper is none other that this gorgeous italian paper by Rossi 1931

i can't tell you what these are for other than to say they're for an upcoming event! 

sorry for the crummy phone photo...

i am so honored to have the opportunity to participate in this event, and i am so stoked to know that my work is going to be placed in the hands of some of my wedding industry heros and some other big shots in the industry... what a HUGE blessing for me!

i promise to post the finished product once i can share them, without ruining anything... man, i'm terrible with staying hush, hush about things.  and yes i always ruin surprises i plan for my hubby, he always knows because excitement just kills me =) 

{follow up} custom collage necklaces

wow, i'm amazed at how crazy this wedding season turned out to be, crazy busy, but absolutely amazing all the opportunities that have been presented to me... but to start catching y'all up on all of my projects from this past wedding season, i figured i'd start you off with the follow up to the sneak peek i showed of the custom collage necklaces i had been working on back in june.  

if you don't remember them you can see the sneak peek post here. 

so... it's no secret that i work on jewelry while i hang by the pool {it's a rough life designing jewelry sometimes} =)... here's a gratuitous pool side day designing and prep'ing

and here's another photo as i was finishing up the necklaces

and here they are being modeled by the bridesmaids on the wedding day... also i did create some earrings for some of the other bridesmaids with different dress necklines.

if you're wondering why some had earrings and some had necklaces, it's because the bride let her gals pick from varying necklines of their dresses {great idea imo} so she did earrings for the BMs with higher necklines and necklaces for the gals with strapless necklines... what a great way to naturally create some visual interest and variation between your gals' styles and looks!

if you're wondering why you don't see pieces like this in my etsy shop, well... that's because while i love doing work like this, it's really difficult to create, list, and successfully sell pieces like this in my shop.  these are such custom pieces that if you're interested in having me create something similar, i'd love to chat with you about it!  i'd be happy to chat about colors, metals, components, etc... and would love to create one, three, or as many as you need of custom necklaces!

you can contact me at JDVJewelry{at}gmail.com

decisions, decisions

i find it funny that at times i can go back and forth in my brain about what to some may seem like a minor detail... such as deciding between two fonts.... i need an open-faced font for an upcoming wedding invite order and i'm down to these two... i know i probably sound nuts, but hear me out! =)

font #1} love it's lined counterpart {view here}, it's chunky, kinda masculine 

{making it a great balance to some of my more feminine *bridal * fonts } 

however the downside to #1 is that it doesn't come with lowercase options, and if you've followed my blog, or known me long, you know i don't particularly like to CAPITALIZE much! hence the dilemma...

font #2} it has lowercase characters!!! but it's a little less bold compared w/ font #1... 

it's a sleeker font, yet not nearly as masculine as #1.... 

oh boy... decisions decisions =)

coming out of hiding...

no, i haven't forgotten about all of you lovely folks who follow along... i've been just swamped {in such a good way}

here's what i've been up to:
  * did full event design & coordination of a gorgeous {even if i say so myself} wedding back in june
  * my other biz, Blair Britt Events was featured on Amy Atlas' blog, and it was not just one post, but 3 individual posts about my june wedding {yippee!}
  * been really busy with lots of custom orders {mostly paper} *photos to come*
  * traveled to a Park City family wedding and then to a friend's gorgeous wedding in Santa Barbara last       weekend!
  * also, it was during this time we learned that my momma was diagnosed with lymphoma, so that's   been a whole new adventure in my personal life... 
  * i'm also helping a long time/dear friend finalize her august wedding details... for 8/28

wow, when i summarize the last 2 months of my life like that, it doesn't sound like a whole lot... but, hopefully all the pictures i'll be sharing will make up for my absence. =)

{real weddings} stasia & john - 5.15.10

last month i had the pleasure of working with a fabulous client... i'm always blown away and super humbled by the fact that potential clients from all over the place find little 'ol me online.  people that if it weren't for this blog, my etsy shop, and of course God, i would never have had the opportunity to work with! and Stasia was one of those clients... her friend found some previous work of mine that she passed along to Stasia and she became interested and we got to work to get some custom hydrangea napkins made.
       .... then, she thought, hey, what about incorporating escort cards, table numbers, menus, and what the heck, why not programs too! so that's exactly what we did... they all used the blue color scheme and/or the hydrangea design Stasia had been so interested in.

- and here's how Stasia and John's wedding goods turned out in Charleston, SC -

escort cards tied to favors... if you look closely you'll see the hydrangea =)

the napkins that started it all

programs: i love this design - modern, simple, yet visually very interesting

table numbers... there's that hydrangea again

notice the menus at each place setting adorned with the motif of the day

and here's two photos for fun

fyi: i visited Charleston last summer... what a wonderful place to get married, so much charm and hospitality there... and truthfully, i had a touch of wedding envy when she 

told me where her nuptials would be taking place!

stasia and her dad, i'm always touched by father/daughter wedding pics... gotta love Charleston, SC - beautiful churches... EVERYWHERE!

and look at that bow! don't you just love the combo of the bow and the buttons?

i'm such a sucker for buttons on wedding dresses, i feel it adds just a little touch of nostalgia...

thanks again Stasia, 

i'm so glad you were so happy with your wedding day paper goodies!

: : : photos courtesy of Kate Fine Art Photography : : :

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